10 Most Shocking Moments From The Last Of Us & TLOU 2

Few games depict near-constant tragedy in the same way both titles do. Humans being the real threat is not an unfamiliar trope to zombie stories, but and revel in duplicitous characters and harrowing experiences born from interpersonal conflict. While nearly identical in their moment-to-moment gameplay, the games are quite different in scope. The first game centers on what may be a noble journey with world-changing implications, while its sequel is an unfortunate and saddening odyssey of violent revenge. Regardless, the world of is unforgiving, and both games deliver a slew of shocking moments.

[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part 1 and Part 2.]

series spans roughly 26 in-universe years when counting from the first game's prologue on Outbreak Day. Both games don't pull any narrative punches when it comes to prominent characters, and central figures are regularly killed off unceremoniously. It's not just death that manages to surprise the player, though. Morally questionable and selfish decisions, cathartic climaxes, and the Cordyceps brain infection itself provide plenty of shocking turns throughout the collective story of Joel, Ellie, and Abby.

At the very start of the series, players control Joel's daughter, Sarah, on the night the Cordyceps brain infection reaches critical mass. The sequence sets up Joel as a struggling, but loving single father, and succinctly depicts the horrors witnessed during Outbreak Day. The ending of the prologue is a truly heartbreaking turn, when a soldier who'd just saved Joel and Sarah from infected turns his rifle on the civilians out of extreme and unnecessary caution. Sarah's death sets the tone for the entire series, and is a foundational moment in Joel becoming the jaded smuggler players next see in the Boston Quarantine Zone.

's expansion,, centers on a night shared between a younger Ellie and her best friend, Riley, who's planning on leaving Boston as a member of the Fireflies. Since Riley