10 Badass Gaming Heroines That Could Have The Men For Breakfast

3. Ellie

The main reason The Last of Us has been the revelatory title of 2013 is down to a young girl. For her entire life Ellie was isolated from the outside world thanks to the outbreak of a fungal infection in the years before she was born. Due to circumstances beyond either of their control she has to be taken across country by Joel, a tired middle-aged man still mourning the loss of his family, in the hope that she can help to discover a cure. While The Last of Us holds another strong female character in Tess, Ellie is something new. She doesn't conform to a single trait normally reserved for females in games. She isn't sexual, she isn't a victim, she isn't a damsel and she isn't a hard-nosed man hater. She's human. At the start Ellie is a package to be delivered, baggage for other characters to deal with, but as she learns how to survive she becomes a partner and equal to the grizzled Joel. She is sassy, clever, and crude. She is never a burden because her character is such a pleasure to be around. Her jokes are rude and tension-breaking, she has no respect for authority and, when needed, is equally as tough as anyone else in the game. (just ask David) The way she shows her wonder at the smallest things from the world before the outbreak gives the narrative a very human side. By the game's final act it is her rather than Joel who is in charge. As Ellie, who is not just female but also a child, escorts the adult male protagonist towards their conclusion.