Last Of Us Part 2: What Ellie's Tattoos Really Mean

The Last of Us Part II depicts an older Ellie who has gotten a tattoo in the interim, and the design has symbolism important to the game's themes.

One of the defining features on Ellie's character model in The Last of Us Part II is the tattoo that covers her forearm, which wasn't just chosen by developer Naughty Dog for aesthetic's sake, but because of its symbolism. TLOU 2 is a narratively intense game, filled with violence, death, and the inescapable pursuit of revenge. Naughty Dog's games are deeply character-driven, and the design of Ellie's The Last of Us tattoo wasn't taken lightly, requiring the studio to seek outside help.

Releasing in June 2020 for the PlayStation 4, TLOU 2 will likely leave a grand legacy thanks to its heart-wrenching story, incredibly detailed animation, and gameplay improvements over a predecessor which many already considered a masterpiece. Naughty Dog has become known for its releases which push the video game medium forward narratively, namely through The Last of Us and the Uncharted series. A large part of the studio's impressive work can be attributed to the intricacies with which its game worlds and characters are created, and this The Last of Us tattoo proves that every detail is considered during development.

Originally reported by The Washington Post, Naughty Dog apparently tried unsuccessfully to come up with a design for Ellie's tattoo in The Last of Us Part 2 on its own. When internal attempts didn't bear fruit, the developers enlisted Californian tattoo artist Natalie Hall. The task was to come up with a sufficiently meaningful tattoo that would cover up a self-inflicted chemical burn on Ellie's arm, which in turn covered up an infected bite that serves as proof of her immunity to the Cordyceps brain infection.

The Meaning Behind Ellie's The Last Of Us Tattoo

After the game's themes were thoroughly discussed with Hall, she eventually came up with a design featuring a moth and fern. According to game director Neil Druckmann, there are a couple of layers to The Last of Us tattoo's meaning. On a more general level, moths are symbolic of death, most notably Death's-head Hawkmoths, which have a pattern resembling a skull on their backs. For Ellie specifically, though, the moth is representative of her compulsion to seek revenge for Joel's death. The idea of a moth compulsively flying toward a light was such a powerful image for the development team, that it became the concept behind TLOU 2's loading screens.

According to Druckmann, the moth symbolizes Ellie's relationship with Joel, which is why a moth appears on Ellie's guitar - a gift from Joel - as well. The moth imagery captured the themes of the game and the relationship between Ellie and Joel so well that Naughty Dog decided to make the moth on the guitar neck both the first and last shots in TLOU 2. The game is long, winding, and frequently difficult to watch, but the relationship between Joel and Ellie is at its center, making the moth on Ellie's tattoo and guitar a fitting bookend to The Last of Us Part II.

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Source: The Washington Post