In mid-January, “The Last of Us” is one of the most awaited series in 2022 – especially among gamers. Because after “The Walking Dead” it also offers zombies again. However, they are very different from other zombies.
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And the hype also seems to be unbroken beyond the franchise: After a long wait, the series adaptation of the celebrated video game series “The Last of Us” will finally start in Germany on January 16, 2023 on the WOW streaming service. What is it about? About the two survivors Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who are looking for a Zombie Apocalypse have to beat through the devastated USA.
But no matter how overused the premise of “The Last of Us” may sound: the video games and the series are different from the other representatives of their genre. “The Last of Us” also deals with topics such as family, loss, growing up and first love. Even the zombies are different from other zombie movies and series
The Last of Us: Why the zombies are different in the series
HBO
Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us.
In most films and series, people are attacked by a plague, a virus or a disease and then turn into walking undead. Another possibility is that they are bitten by a sick person. In the case of the zombies from “The Last of Us”, the origin of their transformation is already different.
Because in the video games and their series adaptation a fungus of the genus Cordyceps unleashes the apocalypse. Its spores enter people’s bodies like a parasite, infecting their brains and allowing them to do so mindless threats mutate. But they are not dead. Rather, they lose their sanity and consciousness from the fungal infestation. Cordyceps can enter the human body through the respiratory tract, but also through the bite of an infected person. In addition, their corpses exude the spores. So when the survivors in “The Last of Us” get closer to places infested by the Cordyceps, they put on breathing masks. Of course, weapons should not be missing either, after all, infected people are usually not far and very aggressive, since they want or have to transmit the fungus through their bites.
What many may not know: This type of mushroom really exists! It is called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis and is native to the Amazon rainforest. However, it only infests beetles. Similar to “The Last of Us”, he turns the insects into mindless “zombies”. In addition, their bodies are covered with fungal growths.
Types of Zombies in “The Last of Us”
After the infestation, it takes “The Last of Us” about a day or two for the fungus to take over the brain and the human loses his mind. The longer the Cordyceps has been infecting the host body, the more the virus transforms it. Accordingly there is different types of zombieswho populate the world of “The Last of Us”:
They are called newly infected runner. They still look like humans but are unconscious and can run fast. at stalkers you can see the first fungal growths on the body. They prefer to attack from ambush. You become a stalker about two weeks after the fungal infection. From a year infected people then develop into so-called clickers. Their bodies are almost completely covered with growths, which makes them blind. Her hearing is all the better for that. This allows them to locate their prey by echo. Their name comes from the clicking sounds they emit. the bloaters is the final form. Here the infected are completely overgrown by Cordyceps and seem almost (the name gives it away) bloated because the fungal layers have grown over the skin like armor. Accordingly, Bloaters are very difficult to injure and kill. They are also very strong and can rip off and throw mushroom shreds from themselves.
So “The Last of Us” is not for people with weak nerves. If you are still curious, you should watch the trailer (see above). That’s where you get to see some of the infected!
The Last of Us will be available on WOW on January 16, 2023. Click here to subscribe.
