page_title: List of The Last of Us Part II characters
section_title: Joel
hierarchical_section_title: List of The Last of Us Part II characters / Secondary characters / Joel
caption_attribution_description: English: Troy Baker speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Marvel Games", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
context_page_description: The Last of Us Part II, a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, focuses on two lead characters: Ellie, who sets out for revenge after suffering a great tragedy, and Abby Anderson, a soldier who becomes involved in a conflict between her militia and a cult. The switch between the playable characters was a major point of the game's development, based on a similar switch in the original game, 2013's The Last of Us.
  Part of the game deals with Ellie's relationship with Joel, the first game's protagonist, who lied to her. Ellie is joined by several companions in the game, including her girlfriend Dina, friend Jesse, and Joel's brother Tommy. Abby is a member of the Washington Liberation Front, which also includes her ex-boyfriend Owen and his pregnant girlfriend Mel, and is led by Isaac. Throughout her journey, Abby meets and protects Yara and Lev, siblings from the opposing cult known as the Seraphites.
  Creative director Neil Druckmann co-wrote the story and developed the characters of Part II with Halley Gross. The performances were recorded using performance capture, which records motion and voice simultaneously.
context_section_description: Joel Miller (Troy Baker) is Ellie's surrogate father, and the protagonist of the first game. In the prologue to The Last of Us Part II, Joel confesses his guilt to his brother Tommy. Flashbacks in the game reveal Joel taking Ellie on a birthday trip to a museum, and finally admitting the truth to her when she travels to the hospital. Four years after the first game, Joel and Ellie have built a life in Jackson, though their relationship is strained. While on patrol, Joel and Tommy save Abby, a stranger, from Infected and they escape a large horde, returning to an outpost run by Abby's group. Joel and Tommy are attacked by Abby's group, revealed to be ex-Fireflies who are now part of the WLF, a militia group based in Seattle. Ellie finds them but is assaulted and watches helplessly as Abby beats Joel to death.
  Druckmann felt that Joel's character arc was complete after the first game. Joel's death was a core part of the game's narrative structure from early in development. Though it initially caused some internal resistance, the team felt compelled when more of the narrative was built out. An early version of Joel's death scene had him utter "Sarah", his daughter's name, until Baker suggested that he should remain silent. While Sarah's death in the first game intended to evoke sadness, Joel's death aims to elicit anger. Druckmann felt that witnessing Joel's death through Ellie's perspective emphasized the anger of the player. He wanted it to be portrayed as "gross, unceremonious, and humiliating" instead of heroic. He predicted that it might lead to negative reactions, but felt it was necessary to tell the story; he particularly felt that Naughty Dog's notability in the industry gave it the opportunity to take risks that other developers can not. When designing Joel for Part II, the art team ensured that he maintained his identifiable look while also showing the stress of the last five years.
  GamesRadar+'s Alex Avard found that Baker "steals some of [the game's] best scenes as Joel" by adding complexities that enrich the character and relationships. Evan Lewis of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Baker "deserves every accolade possible for his heart-wrenching performance". IGN's Dornbush lauded Baker's performance for depicting the weariness of Joel.
caption: Troy Baker reprised his role as Joel in The Last of Us Part II.
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