The Last of Us’ action-adventure is much more than a simple post-apocalyptic story, but it is still comparable to others that also feature a viral outbreak that produces hostile monsters. InThe Last of Us, however, the prototypical zombie is substituted with individuals who suffer the Cordyceps brain infection.
Even if the Cordyceps brain infection is a backdrop to the more emotionally wrought narrative beats inThe Last of Us, it is still perhaps what makes it unique with regard to the iconography and design of those that are infected. Infected enemies include runners, stalkers, clickers, bloaters, andThe Last of Us 2’s shamblers. The infected are so distinctly misshapen, in fact, that fans have found a coincidental reference to a clicker in an unsuspecting real-world item.
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Redditor DirectAd5936 had originally shared a photograph of a particular 1959-D Abraham Lincoln penny, asking the community if they could discern what the cause of a strange deformation is that has disfigured Lincoln’s likeness on the copper coin. The community has since shared what they believe to be the cause, but the image itself has since been shared toThe Last of Usfans due how closely the coin’s deformation resembles an infected clicker. Indeed, this coin looks as if Lincoln himself had developed fungal plates that erupted through his face.
Clickers depict a stage in the infection that succeeds runners, who are still facially distinguishable and lack the worsened physical characteristics that develop later on. Rather, clickers are blind and adapt to echolocation because the fungi that has grown on their brains protrudes out from their faces, completely disfiguring them as they also become more rabid. But clickers still have their ordinary, anatomical bodies, which cannot be said forThe Last of Us' bloaters.
This coin is especially remarkable due to the precision of where the coin had been cosmetically impaired, seeing as how the deformation only protrudes from Lincoln’s face and retains the structure of the back of his head, as well as his body. Just as some fans have stated, it would makean excellent addition to Abby’s coin collection inThe Last of Us 2.
Clickers are perhapsthe most distinct infected type inThe Last of Us’ iconography, though, and maybe because of how often they appear. Clickers are not as frequently encountered as runners or stalkers, for instance, but are certainly more frequent than bloaters. Therefore, the presence of one or multiple clickers inThe Last of Uspresents a suspenseful and harrowing encounter, and it will be especially interesting to see these moments overhauled and remade inThe Last of Us Part 1this September.
The Last of Us Part 1is scheduled to release on September 2 for PS5. A PC version is also in development.
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