The Last of Us clickers make the apocalypse frightening again
By Renee Hansen
The Last of Us series from HBO is an adaption of the wildly popular video game. But gamers aren’t the only ones enjoying this series. Speaking from a non-gamer perspective, I have not been this excited about a series in a long time. This series takes the not-so-scary ZA from The Walking Dead and ramps it back up to a level worthy of being frightened by an end-of-the-world scenario.
The idea of the end of the world should put fear into humanity, but The Walking Dead featured undead, called walkers, who, while a nuisance, weren’t always that scary. A clean headshot would take them down immediately and never evolve into anything more threatening until the final episodes.
The Last of Us shows a much more frightening version of the end of the world. If the fungus theory alone didn’t make you think more seriously about the end times, the introduction of the clickers in episode 2 certainly should.
The Last of Us – Clickers
In The Last of Us, clickers are the third stage of infection after runners and stalkers. Runners are the first and weakest, followed by stalkers. Both first stages have heightened vision and speed, with stalkers also possessing some of the ferocity of clickers.
Clickers were introduced in the second episode, even though one could be seen at the end of episode 1. At this stage, the fungus has overtaken the being to be less human and more creature. The fungus has completely scarred the face building up a protective layer over the head. This is why Tess’ (Anna Torv) ax to the head didn’t take the clicker down, and Joel (Pedro Pascal) had to use several bullets to complete the job.
Without vision to aid them, clickers rely on echolocation and utilize clicks and screeches to locate the source of sounds. The noises they make are pretty frightening until you finally see them. With a massive growth coming out of their head and awkward jerking movements, these creatures are some of the scariest undead ever created. And once they are engaged, they are more aggressive with enhanced strength.
The Last of Us gives viewers a new and scarier version of what a zombie apocalypse could look like. And the scariest part is this fungus is real, but luckily can’t live inside a human…yet.
Next. What’s next for The Walking Dead franchise?. dark
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