Tommy reprised his role as Tommy in
The Last of Us Part II.|alt=49-year-old man with slick gray and a gray beard smiling at the camera.
Tommy (
Jeffrey Pierce) is Joel's brother, and one of the founders of the community in Jackson. In the game's prologue, Joel confesses his guilt to Tommy. Four years later, Joel dies while on patrol, but Tommy is spared by Abby and her group. After insisting that Ellie remain in Jackson, Tommy sneaks away overnight, seeking revenge in Seattle. He interrogates and kills several WLF soldiers, including Abby's friends Nick and Manny. He finds and attacks Abby, but is stabbed by Yara and pushed into the ocean. He regroups with Ellie, Dina, and Jesse, but is ambushed by Abby and Lev. He is shot in the leg by Lev and the head by Abby; he survives, but is blind in one eye and limps. Several months later, he visits Ellie and Dina on their farm, revealing he and his wife Maria had split. Tommy presents Ellie with information regarding Abby's whereabouts, asking that she kill her in his place. After Ellie refuses, Tommy berates her, accusing her of breaking her promise to avenge Joel. This prompts Dina to argue with him, but Tommy ignores her and leaves. Pierce felt that Tommy convincing Ellie to chase Abby at the farm is him attempting to erase his shame, comparing it to "
bombing the shit out of Iraq after
9/11", which is "not quite the right target there, but ... made some people feel righteous". He described the actions as "
Greek tragedy-level stupidity", but felt that it was a human action. Early iterations of the scene had Maria visit Ellie, but she was replaced with Tommy so that Ellie "would have to face Abby's impact". When designing Tommy for
Part II, the team wanted to show his advanced age while maintaining his identity from the first game. For his work on the game, Pierce was nominated for Performer in a Supporting Role at the 17th British Academy Games Awards.
Gabriel Luna portrays Tommy in the television adaptation.
Dina , who had worked with Halley Gross before, was cast as Dina in
Part II.|alt=32-year-old woman looking to the left of the camera.
Dina (
Shannon Woodward) is Ellie's girlfriend. She originally hails from
New Mexico and is Jewish, mentioning that her ancestors survived both the
Spanish Inquisition and the
Holocaust. She is an orphan who was forced to learn how to handle herself since the age of 10. The day after their first kiss at a dance, Dina and Ellie are assigned to patrol together. Taking shelter from a blizzard, they smoke marijuana and passionately kiss. When her ex-boyfriend Jesse finds them, they split up to find Joel. Dina eventually finds a beaten Ellie mourning over the death of Joel. She travels with Ellie to Seattle to seek revenge, but is forced to rest in a theater when she reveals her pregnancy with Jesse. When Abby ambushes the theater, she overpowers Dina and threatens to kill her, but ultimately spares her at Lev's insistence. Some time later, Dina and Ellie are living on a farm, raising her son, JJ. When Ellie discovers information of Abby's whereabouts, Dina pleads for her to stay, but Ellie refuses. When Ellie eventually returns, she finds the farm empty. Gross connected Woodward, with whom she had worked on
Westworld, with Druckmann. A fan of
Westworld, Druckmann spoke with Woodward for several months before offering her an audition to play Dina. Johnson recalled that the team had narrowed the potential cast to around four actors. After
testing with Woodward, Johnson felt that they immediately had chemistry; Woodward was later cast as the character. Woodward found Dina to be an extension of herself. She felt that some people deal with trauma through comedy, and would often improvise jokes while recording. Dina underwent extensive design changes in development; early iterations featured patterns that were deemed impractical for stealth, though the team wanted her style to embody pre-pandemic life. Dina's face is based on actress Cascina Caradonna. Druckmann decided that Dina would be Jewish fairly early in development. He felt that she struggles with the religion, not believing every part of the
Torah, but her relationship with it remains important to her. Her name means "judgment" in Hebrew, which he felt reflected on the game's themes. As a narrative function, Dina represented the community of Jackson, and what Ellie stood to lose from her revenge mission. Her presence allowed Ellie moments of light; the team felt that she "amplifies the better parts of Ellie". Gross had originally written an extended monologue for Ellie to perform to Dina about her fear of ruining their friendship. Her sense of humor helps her forget her traumatic past. Andrew Webster of
The Verge described Dina as a "charismatic and honest counterpart to Ellie's more headstrong personality", particularly noting the emptiness of her absence. Jonathon Dornbush of
IGN commended Woodward's performance, especially during the game's quieter moments.
The Washington Posts Gene Park described Dina as "quietly revolutionary" for the depiction of her Jewish heritage.
NPRs Kaity Kline considered Dina the first Jewish video game character that she could relate to, and
Jewish Newss Jillian Diamond called her "one of the most visible cases of Jewish representation in gaming". For her work on the game, Woodward was nominated for Performer in a Supporting Role at the 17th British Academy Games Awards.
Isabela Merced portrays Dina in the second and third seasons of the television adaptation.
Jesse Jesse (Stephen Chang) is Dina's ex-boyfriend. He leads the patrol early in the game and discovers that Joel and Tommy are not at their post. After informing Ellie and Dina, the three split to search for them. Jesse eventually finds a wounded Tommy, unconscious Ellie, and dead Joel. After Ellie, Dina, and Tommy head to Seattle to avenge Joel, Jesse sneaks out to follow. He finds Ellie in a suburban neighborhood in Seattle, regrouping with her and Dina. Jesse deciphers Dina's pregnancy, but does not discuss it with her. The following day, he heads out with Ellie, but the two eventually split when they hear of Tommy's whereabouts; Jesse tracks down Tommy, while Ellie continues her search for Abby. Jesse and Tommy eventually find Ellie and the aquarium, and the three return to Dina. That night, when Tommy is ambushed, Jesse races in to the room and is shot in the face by Abby, killing him instantly. Several months later, Dina gives birth to his child, JJ. Chang felt a connection to the character and noted that the team allowed him to "bring a lot of myself to the character". In creating Jesse, the concept team wanted him to appear experienced and loyal, with a strong moral compass. He was one of the easier characters to design, representing the "rugged, strong American cowboy".
Young Mazino portrays Jesse in the second and third seasons of the television adaptation.
Lev Lev (
Ian Alexander) is a former member of the Seraphites, and the brother of Yara. Lev, born as Lily, had wished to become a soldier like Yara; after he was assigned to become a Seraphite elder's wife, Lev shaved his head, changed his name, and openly
transitioned to male. The siblings were ostracized from the group and forced to flee. Lev saves Yara after the latter is captured by Seraphites. Abby helps the siblings find safety for the night. The following day, she takes them to her friends Owen and Mel. After being invited by Owen to escape to Santa Barbara, Lev, unwilling to leave their mother behind, travels to the Seraphites' island in an effort to convince her to leave. He kills his mother while defending himself. As they leave the island, Yara sacrifices herself so Lev and Abby can escape. They find Owen and Mel dead; Lev helps Abby track Ellie's whereabouts, but they spare her. Abby and Lev eventually travel to Santa Barbara, where they contact the Fireflies, but are captured by a bandit group. Some time later, Ellie frees Abby, who sails away on a boat with Lev. The two eventually make it to Catalina Island, the location of the Fireflies. Originally in development, Lev was not
transgender. When exploring the idea of making him transgender, the team found it to be an interesting look into the violence that can be found within
organized religion.
Queer and transgender employees of Naughty Dog gave input on the character, and the team consulted with an
LGBTQ scholar. When the developers reached out to acting agencies to cast for the character, they found that none represented transgender actors. Some members of the team were fans of
The OA (2016–2019), which starred Alexander, who was not represented by an
agency at the time; Naughty Dog contacted
The OA director
Zal Batmanglij to get in touch. Druckmann invited Alexander to audition, and the latter submitted some self-taped videos. They worked on the game for three years. Alexander was attracted to the role as they underwent similar emotions when transitioning, having come from a
Mormon background and also receiving backlash after cutting their hair. However, they noted that a significant difference was that, while Lev used his faith as a Seraphite as comfort, Alexander abandoned their religion to cope with the discrimination. They felt that Lev was forced to grow up due to his surroundings. Despite some hesitation, the team determined that Lev's
deadname being used by the Seraphites demonstrated the difference between their
transphobia and the acceptance of Abby and Yara. The team hired a religious consultant to ensure the Seraphites' response to Lev's transition was accurate without being unintentionally offensive. Druckmann considered Lev among the most important characters as he represents the same innocence that Ellie did in the first game. Lev's name is based on the Hebrew interpretation of the word "heart" and is an homage to the character from
David Benioff's
City of Thieves (2008), one of Druckmann's favorite novels. Some members of the transgender community objected to the representation of Lev. Criticism focused on the use of Lev's deadname by villains, that he was created by
cisgender writers, and the use of trans stories as tragedies. Writing for
Paste, Waverly praised the choice to have Lev played by a transgender actor, but felt there was too much emphasis on his gender identity and the suffering he experienced for it. Waverly felt that "Lev's story isn't made for trans people, but to give cisgender players a space to connect with their guilt and pity for trans people". In contrast, Stacey Henley of
VG247 wrote that, while Lev's story is not perfect, "it's a major step for trans characters in gaming, focuses on a highly charismatic and central character who is far more than this transness".
Kotakus Riley MacLeod saw Lev's character as simply a way of the game acknowledging trans people exist and wrote that it was up to players to create their own meaning from the character. Kyriana Kratter is set to portray Lev in the third season of the television adaptation.
Yara Yara (Victoria Grace) is Lev's sister, and a member of the Seraphites. After Lev transitioned to male, the siblings were forced to flee. Yara is captured by Seraphites and has her left arm shattered before being saved by Lev. Abby helps the siblings find safety for the night. The following day, she takes them to her friends Owen and Mel; the latter, a surgeon, determines that Yara has
compartment syndrome and is forced to amputate her arm. Yara accepts Owen's invitation to escape to Santa Barbara, but Lev, unwilling to leave their mother behind, travels to the Seraphites' island. Yara and Abby track Lev and find that he has killed their mother while defending himself. As they leave the island, Yara kills the WLF leader, sacrificing herself so Lev and Abby can escape. An early pitch in development was for Yara to be transgender instead of Lev, but Druckmann preferred to keep her a more traditional follower of the Seraphites. Grace was familiar with
The Last of Us prior to receiving the role. Her mother found the role through a job listing under a code name. Grace was immediately interested in the role due to Yara's "strength, bravery, and selflessness". After sending a tape, she was invited for a callback, where she met with Druckmann and acted alongside Bailey and Gross. Grace felt that, as the youngest of five siblings, her close bond with her family was carried across to the role: "I would take a hammer to the arm for any of my siblings". She appreciated that the writers allowed the characters to be defined by their personalities instead of just their
Asian American background. Yara's casual clothing represents her transition to a carefree outlook, in contrast to her restrictive upbringing.
Michelle Mao is set to portray Yara in the third season of the television adaptation.
Manny Emanuel "Manny" Alvarez (
Alejandro Edda) is a former Firefly who serves with Abby, his friend, as a soldier of the Washington Liberation Front. When Abby beats Joel to death, Manny spits on Joel's corpse. He drives Abby and Mel towards the WLF base when they are attacked by Seraphites, forcing them to continue on foot. That night, he helps Abby sneak out from the base to find Owen. Two days later, Manny is sent to the marina to secure boats for the planned invasion of the Seraphites, but his crew is killed in a shootout with Tommy. He soon encounters Abby and the two work their way towards Tommy, but Tommy shoots Manny in the head, killing him instantly. Edda previously worked with Naughty Dog on ''
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' (2016). Naughty Dog's casting director, Becky Todd, contacted Edda while he was spending
Christmas with his grandmother in
Mexico, informing him that Druckmann wanted to speak with him; the two spoke on the phone, and Druckmann offered him the role of Manny. Edda, who has little other experience with video games, accepted as he found it to be a unique and creative experience. During production, Druckmann allowed Edda to be creative with his performance, adding small details to the character as he deemed appropriate; for example, Edda felt that Manny would drink
mezcal instead of whiskey, as had been suggested in the script, and the line was changed. During Joel's death scene, Edda portrayed Manny as Abby's bodyguard, with a cold and tough disposition, though he acknowledged that the scene was emotional as it was his final shot with Baker. Edda felt that, with Manny, Abby was able to speak more comfortably and openly. Manny's final scenes on the marina were among the last to be shot in the day, and Edda felt that the fatigue of the actors added to the intensity and desperation of their performances. Manny's design was based on Edda's physical appearance, which added more time to his work on the game; he worked on it for about two years.
Danny Ramirez portrays Manny in the second season of the television adaptation, recast with
Jorge Lendeborg Jr. in the third season due to scheduling conflicts. == Reception ==