The Last Of Us Part 2: Ranking Every Character From Worst To Best

Joel is a spectre throughout the narrative. He dies not long after appearing, in a way that doesn't feel as impactful as it should. He appears in the rest of the game through Ellie's flashbacks, with moments like their journey through an abandoned museum or their confrontation over the truth of the Fireflies being perfect beyond words.

The familiarity players have with him here makes the initial death hit significantly harder, every moment he appears on screen after his passing is stunningly melancholic. The killing that felt wrong at first is now almost impossible to take on board, with his absence consuming the soul of Ellie and the player. You never forget that he's gone, and it never starts feeling right that he's not with you.

The ending, where Joel and Ellie confront their issues, with Joel saying that he would save her instead of the world over and over again as Troy Baker's voice cracks, culminating with Ellie declaring that she can try to forgive him is the best cutscene of the game. On its own, it is flawless, but seeing it after what we know happens to him and Ellie changes the whole dynamic of the narrative. Ellie was taking revenge for the man she never got the chance to know, the loss of what they were supposed to have going forward.

He might not have got the sequel that most fans wanted, but Joel is still one of the best written and performed characters in gaming history and Baker is utterly phenomenal.