HBO’s The Last of Us will include Ellie, Riley, Tess, and one mystery character

HBO’s The Last of Us series will include familiar and fresh faces from the game, with its co-creator confirming that a new character will be shown in the show (via games radar).

And now you have Ellie, Riley, Tess, Marlene, Maria, ⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️, and a few others! https://t.co/GMozU0TaZE

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) March 8, 2020

Of course, Ellie will feature in the adaptation as the series will be replicating the plot of the first game. Joel’s partner Tess will make an appearance, and the Fireflies’ leader Marlene will be present, too. Maria will turn up once the duo reach the Jackson County settlement, and Ellie’s girlfriend Riley will play a part in the adaptation. She was introduced in the Left Behind DLC, so we could expect Riley to show up in scenes set before the series’ story. The Last of Us series co-creator Neil Druckmann confirmed all of these characters in a tweet celebrating International Women’s Day from the official HBO Twitter account.

He also mentioned a mystery character who seems to have a four-letter name. It’s anyone’s guess who this person is, but because the series is taking from the first game, we could do some sleuthing. Some suggest that this character is Anna. She is Ellie’s mother, who died tragically after giving birth to her daughter. Like Riley, she could appear in scenes set before the events of The Last of Us, or even before the apocalypse, because Anna was close with Marlene. 

In The Last of Us Part II, Ellie is dating Dina, a fellow survivor in the Jackson County settlement. This is another four-letter name of a female character, and the series could start setting up for the sequel’s story towards the end. If we get an adaptation of the second game in a second series, this would be a savvy move. Also, fans with an excellent memory have recalled that The Last of Us Part II has another unannounced character with a four-letter name. Laura Bailey is credited as their voice actress, and people are connecting the dots and theorising that she is featured in the TV show, too. 

And finally, Laura Bailey is ████. #TheLastofUsPartII pic.twitter.com/9ATCz6RELk

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) October 30, 2017

There isn’t anything to say that these two redacted identities are the same person, but it is a coincidence. Because HBO’s The Last of Us is in the very early stages of production, we won’t hear who this person is for a long while. However, the sequel is in the “final stretch,” and “regular communications” will roll out about the highly-anticipated survival action-adventure game.

The Last of Us Part II will come to PlayStation 4 on May 29, 2020.