“Melanie Lynskey was perfect”: The Last of Us Creators Shares How They Fleshed Out the NPC Characters such as Kathleen

The biggest difference between television shows and video games is the repercussions of killing people. Where in the games there are numerous side characters, named NPCs, who only exist to be killed by the protagonist. On television, every death counts and hits deeply to the audience. The team behind HBO’s Last of Us did a fantastic job in handling the NPC characters. 

The show is nowhere lax in tackling the deaths, and heavy themes compared to the games. But in the games, killing is a very frequent occurrence. Almost at every turn, Joel and Ellie are met with enemies whom they have to eliminate in order to progress. In the show, the enemies are there too, but the audience feels every single body that hit the floor in a much more intimate manner. 

How did Neil and Craig handle the NPCs of the Last of Us?

In developing the show based on the game, the biggest problem that the writers faced was how to tackle the NPCs. It was very clear that they can’t let the show’s side characters be as empty as the game’s NPCs. They have to make them feel much more impactful as each character is a human being with their respective lives and stories. 

Read more: ‘The Last of Us’ Creators Break Down “The Most Father-Daughter Moment” Between Joel and Ellie in Episode 4

“When you are making television and there is no gameplay aspect, we wanted as best we could to give these people a sense of justification,” said Craig about the mindset they had developing the characters of the game. While working to flesh out the newly introduced enemy faction of the game, Hunters, the showrunners kept true to this sentiment.

Even with the main characters, such as the leader of the Hunters Kathleen (played by Melanie Lynskey), the showrunners took a new avenue. “Melanie Lynskey was perfect,” added the producers. Instead of portraying her as a rugged veteran, they chose an actress who has a much warmer personality than the show, yet even she is a stern leader who never shies away from making tough choices and spilling blood. 

And at last, they talked about the parallel protagonists of the new episodes Sam and Henry. Although Henry is allegedly a reflection of Joel, the character has some drastic differences in some vital aspects. One of them is, unlike Joel, Henry has never taken anyone’s life, which makes the end of the episode much more tragic and devastating to watch. 

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