The Infected are enemies that appear in The Last of Us. Variations in behavior and capability depend on the length of time they've been infected, and are split into three development stages (known in street terms as "Runners" (early stage) and "Clickers" (third stage). ^[1]

The Infected play a major role in the game and serve as a brooding presence throughout as the story progresses.

OverviewEdit

AppearanceEdit

The Infected creatures were once human and/or animal, but have since undergone a strange mutation by a specialized strain of Cordyceps unilateralis. The host's physical appearance has completely changed in comparison to how they typically looked prior to infection; The infection causes mushroom-like growths to distort their appearance and make their faces completely unrecognizable compared to their appearance prior to infection. At later stages their body may seem to bulge and more mushroom like growths will be seen along their skin. Their teeth are horribly rotten and jagged, likely due to the infected not feeling pain like normal humans despite still being living.

BehaviorEdit

Upon becoming Infected, the victims slowly lose any ability to think and behave as normal. Relying on instincts and aggressive behavior, the Infected mindlessly attack any creature that they come across.

Runners have very weak eyesight, while clickers have no eyesight whatsoever, due to the fungus growing through their eye sockets. Clickers got their nickname through the clicking noise they make, since they use echolocation to "see". They may also have an enhanced sense of smell, because of how quickly they located the dead survivor in the launch trailer, and dead runners.

The runners retain a sense of humanity and morality. They know what they are doing is wrong, but due to the mentally deteriorating symptoms of the fungus, their minds are slowly destroyed.

The runner stage evolves within two days, then the fungus continues growing, making the infected blind and turning them into clickers (Clicker stage takes about one year to materialize). The toughest infected developed echolocation by natural selection.

Since no one has been seen being bitten by an infected so far, and according to what Bill asks Joel when investigating him, "Got any bites?" It is very likely that the Infected can infect their victims via bites, like in most zombie media.

It is assumed that besides still being living creatures, the infected do not feel pain like ordinary humans, like when Joel kills an infected with his revolver, the infected takes two headshots before dying, the infected snapping their jagged and rotten teeth when trying to bite Joel may also give a clue of this. However, when Ellie stabs that same clicker, its growls become more stressed and it appears to jerk, which calls to question that perhaps these creatures feel crippling and/or extreme pain.

SpreadEdit

It's not fully known exactly how the fungus spreads, but the real cordyceps fungus spreads through spores that burst from the tip of the fungal growth. Its was stated in the "Hush" development trailer that at a certain point in an infected's life cycle, when a clicker feels it is close to death, it will find a dark corner to die and then the fugus grafts to the environment. When the body dies it becomes skeletal and brittle as the fungus continues to grow and it is capable of releasing infectous spores. It is also known that the dead can't be infected, and that one grab attack from a clicker is an instant kill to players likely due to an infectious bite. It has also been stated that the people in the quarantine zones are relatively safe, because the fungus needs closed tight areas to spread. It is highly likely spread through bites as well, judging from the fact that Bill asks Joel if he's been bitten after they were chased by a group of infected and because the clicker and maybe runners too can cause an instant death by a grab where the infected bites Joel. It can also be inferred it can be spread through the air, because of Bill's gasmask, but this is likely due to the spores that are emitted from the infected's cadavers.

VariationsEdit

Stage 1 - RunnersEdit

Runners are a type of the Infected that have recently entered their transformation. Since the eyes are first targeted by the fungus, runners have poor eyesight, but maintain many human instincts. For example, their moans are still human, just like their overall appearance, making them more 'disturbing' to kill than a fully transformed infected, however, a way to tell them apart from normal survivors is their usually glowing eyes. Their body language makes it seem as if they are trying to resist the fungus because they know what they are doing is wrong. Sometimes they do not attack at all. And when they do, runners are confirmed to be able to attack in packs.^[2]

Like Survivors, they can be strangled when grabbed from behind by Joel.

Stage 2 - Unknown/Premature Clickers?Edit

Stage 2 is currently unknown and yet to be shown in any released footage of the game. Stage 2 takes place anywhere between a few days after the start of the infection (Stage 1) and up to a year (Stage 3)^[3]. It is possible that the infected may already be blind by this stage, but haven't yet developed the technique of echolocation to compensate for their loss of sight.  It is possible that these infected have sticking out eyeballs which have not fallen off yet.

May also be possible that stage 2 could be an intelligent type of the infected, perhaps forming a whole new "half-conscious" faction to deal with. After all, the infection does take over the human stream of consciousness.  Although the other two stages of infected do not imply that this is true.

Stage 3 - ClickersEdit

Clickers are infected that have had prolonged exposure to the fungus. They are completely blind, but maneuver through their area by using a clicking sound that will allow them to "see" obstacles and other characters (this is known as echolocation, bats use this). They appear much less human than runners, with faces that are skewed and scarred by fungus, they are also much more aggressive than runners, and do not resist the fungus anymore because their humanity is now completely destroyed. They always attack on smell or sound. Clickers can kill the player instantly if one grabs on to them, however, this is likely due to the possibility of an infectious bite, it may be revealed that the player can shake the infected off, use the environment, use a gun with ammo or of course rely on the other supporting characters before the infected bites Joel.^[4]

Unlike runners, they don't seem to feel pain like ordinary humans. For example, in the infected gameplay, Joel kills an infected with his revolver. That infected takes two headshots before it dies. The behavior of the clickers, snapping their jagged and rotten teeth hard at Joel when trying to bite him, can also show for their lack of pain.

They are the only enemy in The Last of Us that cannot be strangled.

Stage 4 - Spore CadaverEdit

When a clicker feels it is close to death, it will search to find a dark corner where it will die, and then the fungus grafts it to the environment. When the body dies, it becomes skeletal and brittle, but the fungus continues to grow. At this stage, the fungus is capable of releasing infectious spores. ^[5]

Voice actorsEdit

• Mark Ashton
• Liam O'Brien
• Lani Minella
• Misty Lee
• Jon Olsen

GalleryEdit

Joel facing a Clicker

A close-up of a Clicker

Joel fighting a Runner

Clicker concept Art

Infected concept art

Infected concept art #2

Clicker Concept Art #2

A Spore Cadaver, the final stage of an infected individual. It appears to be grafted into the environment.

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ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/zjsym4/the-last-of-us-enter-the-apocalypse?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
2. ↑ http://www.shacknews.com/article/77676/the-stages-of-infection-in-the-last-of-us
3. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA2cuwYSIqs
4. ↑ http://www.shacknews.com/article/77676/the-stages-of-infection-in-the-last-of-us
5. ↑ http://www.shacknews.com/article/77676/the-stages-of-infection-in-the-last-of-us