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It's the Fireflies. I owed the Fireflies.
―Robert's words when interrogated by Joel and Tess[2]

Robert is the first major antagonist in The Last of Us. He was an arms dealer who owed weapons to Joel and Tess but ended up selling them to the Fireflies.[3]

Biography[]

Background[]

At some point after the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak, Robert became a prominent arms dealer and leader of a group of smugglers in the Boston area. His group also dealt in smuggling other contraband such as pills.[4]

Events of The Last of Us[]

Robert was an arms dealer who was supposed to sell guns to Joel and Tess. Instead, he sold the guns to the Fireflies. In fear, he sent two men to kill Tess, but to no avail. He used to live in Area 2 of the zone but changed location to Area 5, Mission Hill Pier, to hide from Joel and Tess.[5] He also made deals with the military, usually bribing them with a portion of the supplies he gathered so he could keep trading.[6]

In retaliation, Tess and Joel decided to go after him. They managed to infiltrate Robert's warehouse in Area 5, where Robert had several men ready to protect him. After dealing with the hired protection, they finally caught up to him. Robert tried to fend them off with a 9mm pistol but quickly ran out of bullets, forcing him to flee. Joel and Tess pursued and caught up to him.[3] Robert attempted to flee once more but was knocked down. The duo questioned him, but Robert was hesitant to explain himself. After being beaten and having his arm broken by Joel, Robert revealed that he sold the guns to the Fireflies. Desperate, he suggested they take the weapons by force. Tess commented on how stupid his idea was and executed him with a gunshot to the head.[2]

Legacy[]

Robert's actions indirectly led to Joel working with Tess to smuggle Ellie Williams out of Boston for Marlene, which led to his and Ellie's year long journey to find the Fireflies. Ironically, Robert also foreshadowed Joel's attack on the Fireflies to save Ellie's life at Saint Mary's Hospital when begging for him, Tess and Joel to fight the Fireflies themselves.[7]

Personality[]

Robert was an extremely conceited, yet cowardly person. He attempted to have Tess killed after he refused to give her the weapons she and Joel had paid for (which one can assume led to their anger against him).[3] Even in defeat, Robert was quite arrogant, as shown when he refused to tell Tess what happened to their guns. Robert comes off as a coward as he tried several times to negotiate his way out of Joel and Tess' interrogation, even suggesting that the group take on the Fireflies head on (a completely absurd suggestion, considering how heavily armed and experienced the group is).[2] 

He was also disliked by the other members of his gang, as he had not paid them in quite some time. Many of his men regretted and disliked their jobs as his bodyguards and insulted him behind his back. Robert also garnered dislike from creating counterfeit ration cards as payment, as discussed between Tess and Joel when they were going to see him. Joel summarizes that "You can leave it to [Robert] to piss everyone off."[3]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. The Last of Us closing credits
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Queen Firefly
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "The Quarantine Zone"
  4. Owen, Michael and Sims, Kenny (June 14, 2013). The Last of Us Official Strategy Guide (Signature Series Guide ed.). Brady Games, p. 37. ISBN 978-0-7440-1458-7.
  5. Boston Q.Z. map
  6. Shipping manifest
  7. "The Firefly Lab"
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