History TheLastOfUs / TropesAToD

* AnAxeToGrind: One of the OneHitKill melee weapons towards the end of the game.

* DifficultySpike: Some points of the game are quite hard or easy depending on the circumstances. Most notable is in Boston during the parts where Joel has to sneak or fight his way past a large group of FEDRA soldiers. At this early point in the game, Joel has very few weapons or upgrades, and is taking on heavily armed professional soldiers who are far more dangerous the then the typical human bandits he usually deals with. In contrast, the Jackson County section of the game is rather easy compared to most encounters, as Joel has plenty of backup from allied [=NPCs=] in all the hostile encounters, and is very well-armed and upgraded by this point.

** A key point of the final part of the game is that [[spoiler:the Fireflies want to make a Cordyceps Brain Infection vaccine, which will require Ellie dying so they can experiment with her brain. But two things: 1.) There are no approved vaccines for fungal infections in real life at the moment, so the probability of scientists doing what hasn't been done before with so little resources is very small. 2.) A vaccine basically works by exposing people to a "weaker" version of the virus to build up their immune system for when the real thing comes around. There seem to be no weakened versions of CBI. Maybe Ellie has one, but if that's the case, killing her is the ''worst'' possible thing to do. Assuming she's steadily producing antibodies to fight the pathogen, the best thing to do is study those antibodies, which doesn't require anything more than drawing her blood.]]

** Lincoln, Massachusetts, the town where Bill lives, is apparently located in Amherst County according to an evacuation sign that Joel and Ellie come across. The real Lincoln, Massachusetts is in Middlesex County, with Amherst being the name of a town 75 miles east of Lincoln. Also, while Lincoln ''is'' relatively close to Boston, it isn't as close as Joel suggests (he says that Lincoln is "a few miles north from [Boston]". In reality, it's 17 miles from Boston, a large distance to travel on foot and it would take a couple of days for Joel and Ellie to get there.)

** Lincoln, Massachusetts, the town where Bill lives, is apparently located in Amherst County according to an evacuation sign that Joel and Ellie come across. The real Lincoln, Massachusetts is in Middlesex County, with Amherst being the name of a town 75 miles east of Lincoln. Also, Lincoln ''is'' relatively close to Boston, but not as close as Joel suggests (he says that Lincoln is "a few miles north from [Boston]". In reality, it's 17 miles from Boston, a large distance to travel on foot and it would take a few days for Joel and Ellie to get there.)

** Lincoln, Massachusetts, the town where Bill lives, is apparently located in Amherst County according to an evacuation sign that Joel and Ellie come across. The real Lincoln, Massachusetts is in Middlesex County, with Amherst being the name of a town 75 miles east of Lincoln. Also, Lincoln ''is'' relatively close to Boston, but not as close as Joel implies (he says that Lincoln is "a few miles north from [Boston]". In reality, it's 17 miles from Boston, a large distance to travel on foot.)

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: According to the sign that Ellie and Joel encounter at the beginning of the Fall chapter, Jackson, Wyoming is located in Jackson County. In reality, Jackson, Wyoming is in Teton County.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The part during Winter where Ellie is captured and wakes up to see James cutting up a human body is censored in the Japanese version, where angles are switched around to imply it instead.

** In Winter, when you're [[spoiler:playing as Ellie]], the enemies all have substantially less stamina, making them easier to defeat.

** [[spoiler:Cutscene conversations in Boston and Colorado both have Joel ask Ellie, "So, is it everything you hoped for?" Ellie's response in both instances includes the phrase, "you can't deny that view."]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to previous Naughty Dog games, this game was known for being extremely bleak. The game pulls no punches, for example: the killing of a lot of important characters left and right, the depressing, yet beautiful representation of wilderness-reclaimed America, the characters’
DarkAndTroubledPast, and the violence in this game is up to eleven as LudicrousGibs are frequent, making it one of the most violent games from Naughty Dog. It isn't helped by the game's usage of GreyAndGreyMorality, which is certainly guaranteed to make you feel angry yet able to understand most of characters' actions.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to previous Naughty Dog games, this game was known for being extremely bleak. For instance, the game pulls every punches killing off a lot of important characters left and right, the atmosphere in America is depressing (Yet beautiful in many occasions thanks to the graphics), most of the characters have DarkAndTroubledPast, and the violence in this game is up to eleven as LudicrousGibs are frequent, making it one of the most violent games from Naughty Dog. It isn't helped by the game's usage of GreyAndGreyMorality, which is certainly guaranteed to make you feel angry yet able to understand most of characters' actions.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: ''[[UpToEleven Joel.]]'' It isn't far in when it becomes apparent that Joel gets through life and survives the apocalypse by bottling up anything painful and never dealing with it.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to previous Naughty Dog games, this game was known for being extremely bleak. For instance, the game pulls every punches killing off a lot of important characters left and right, the atmosphere in America is depressing (Yet beautiful in many occasions thanks to the graphics), most of the characters have DarkAndTroubledPast, and the violence in this game is UpToEleven as LudicrousGibs are frequent, making it one of the most violent games from Naughty Dog. It isn't helped by the game's usage of GreyAndGreyMorality, which is certainly guaranteed to make you feel angry yet able to understand most of characters' actions.

** The flamethrower also counts. It's the last regular weapon you find, and unlike the above it's a OneHitKill weapon against anything that isn't a bloater. However, only Joel can use it, and by the time you get it, there aren't that many battles left where he could reasonably deploy it. Though like all your other weapons, you'll have it already on you when playing on a NewGamePlus, giving you the opportunity to use it much earlier.

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:The ultimate outcome of Ellie and Joel's journey. Upon learning that Ellie has to die for a possible vaccine to be made, Joel refuses and rescues her from the surgery, killing her pursuers. While he is happy with having saved his surrogate daughter, Ellie suffers under this trope and WordOfGod states part of her resented him for it.]]

* DynamicCharacter: As the game progresses, Joel and Ellie become more familiar with one another and it begins to show. Not only does it appear blatantly (such as Joel and Ellie starting to chat about comics and billboards before getting more in-depth), but it includes the subtle things like Ellie learning to whistle and quietly singing to herself.

** The flamethrower also counts. It's the last regular weapon you find, and unlike the above it's a OneHitKill weapon against anything that isn't a bloater. However, only Joel can use it, and by the time you get it, there aren't that many battles left where he could reasonably deploy it.

* AnyoneCanDie: At any time, anywhere, with little to no warning before it happens. [[spoiler:A perfect example is Joel's daughter, who is killed by a soldier very, very suddenly. [[UpToEleven In the first minutes of the game.]]]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.

* AfterTheEnd: The game's setting, with "the end" being the fungal infection.

* [[spoiler: AMillionIsAStatistic: Creating a vaccine would (eventually) save thousands or millions of lives, but the process of making it would kill Ellie. Joel chooses to save the girl he cares about personally, ignoring what this does to everyone else. The sequel is an extended rebuttal of this mindset, pointing out that everyone's life is precious.]]

* AdultFear:
** [[spoiler:The death of Sarah and Sam, and possibly any kids that the Hunters find, as implied by dialogue overheard in Pittsburgh]].
** [[spoiler:In the sewers--"[[MercyKill They Did Not Suffer]]"]].

** NPCs will squint and look away if you shine your flashlight in their face.

** Your characters' flashlights will never run out of juice no matter how long you play, and there is never any mention of battery replacements. Seeing as the flashlights are necessary for seeing anything well when you aren't outdoors in direct sunlight, it's a welcome relief to not have to worry about them failing.

* CycleOfHurting: Whenever you control Joel, ''any'' hit between him and a human-sized enemy staggers the target for several seconds, leaving them open to follow-up attacks while they recover. This applies to himself just as much as it does to any hunter or infected short of [[BossInMookClothing bloaters]]. A single runner or stalker can be enough to stunlock Joel to death if you're unlucky, and two or more whaling on him are practically a death sentence regardless of difficulty, especially when Ellie is not around to help him out. Ellie on the other hand, being a waifish young girl instead of a burly hunk like Joel, doesn't even get the courtesy of a stunlock; she just ''dies'' if someone or something gets their hands on her. Her hits also don't stagger enemies due to her lacking the required physical strength and only wielding a light switchblade instead of Joel's much heavier melee weapons.

* CannibalLarder: During the Winter segment, Ellie finds herself locked in a cage, with James butchering a corpse on a nearby table, in a room full of bloodstains.

* BuryYourGays: Frank, Bill's former partner, is found dead hanging from a noose with several bite marks on his body from the infected.