A lot of stories use foil characters to highlight the traits of the protagonist. For example, if the protagonist in a given story is driven and selfless, the foil character would be someone who is selfish and lacks ambition. As a result, the protagonist’s characteristics are highlighted. It’s a classic literary device - and one that The Last of Us 2 turns upside-down.
In The Last of Us 2, Ellie and Abby are opposed to each other for the entire game. They are enemies, and traditionally that should mean that they are complete opposites. When looking at both Ellie and Abby from an objective point of view, however, they aren’t. The two women are actually extremely similar. Instead of highlighting character traits by using opposites, Naughty Dog uses two characters who have a lot in common to show that sometimes enemies are two sides of the same coin.
Ellie and Abby Have Similar Personalities
When breaking down personality traits, Ellie and Abby aren’t that different. They’re both incredibly brave and disciplined in combat, and both display fierce determination. Neither character backs down from a fight or quits a mission when it becomes too hard or scary.
Apart from their fiery spirits, both Ellie and Abby also have vulnerable sides. For Ellie, that’s brought out primarily by Dina. For Abby it’s Owen, and then later Lev and Yara. Ellie and Abby are incredible fighters, both physically and mentally, but they soften up when they’re around those they really care about.
Both girls love intensely, but often struggle with finding a way to express it. Abby and Ellie feel things very deeply and tend to have emotional and impulsive reactions to events rather than taking the time to make careful, thought-out plans. They both also benefit from putting their thoughts down on paper; Ellie has her journal, something that Abby doesn’t use, but in Santa Barbara players can find a letter she wrote to Owen after his death as a way of coping.
Many of the same things could be said about a lot of the characters in The Last of Us 2. However, the way Ellie and Abby are presented in the story make them feel like direct parallels of each other. They are not identical characters, but their main traits are very similar.
Ellie and Abby Have the Same Values
Even though they’re constantly fighting each other, the two women share a lot of the same values. Those values are what drive them to take the actions that they do. They both value their friends, for example, but that loyalty does have a limit. They both put Joel and Jerry above their friends in the end; Ellie leaves Dina to hunt Abby down, and Abby turns on WLF troops while trying to help Lev escape the Seraphite island. Friends are important, but they’re not the most important thing.
Both Ellie and Abby are also willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of others. Ellie’s big moment came in the original game, where she clearly wanted to sacrifice herself for the good of humanity. Ellie felt that her life would matter if the Fireflies could use her to create a vaccine that would save mankind.
Abby’s potential sacrifice isn’t quite as grand, but she risks her life multiple times for the sake of Yara and Lev. She faces her fear of heights to get the supplies Mel needs to perform surgery on Yara, a mission that results in her journeying to Seattle’s Ground Zero at the hospital and discovering the grotesque Rat King. She could have turned back at any moment, but like Ellie, Abby wanted to fight for something bigger than herself.
Both Ellie and Abby also believe that vengeance will somehow heal them, or that by avenging Joel and Jerry they are honoring their memory. Yet both men would probably be heartbroken to see the lengths they went to in order to avenge their deaths - a fact Ellie realizes for herself in the last moments of the game. They both pursue their revenge, though, believing it to be a worthwhile goal. Even when it gets tough, neither is willing to give up.
Ellie and Abby Are At Different Points of the Same Arc
The way Abby and Ellie’s character arcs mirror each other is one of the strokes of genius in The Last of Us 2. Both characters are fundamentally opposed to one another, but they are actually on the same journey. The player gets to experience different parts of that journey through each of them.
Abby’s journey started before Ellie’s. When Joel killed her father Jerry, Abby became obsessed with avenging his death by killing the man responsible. She spends years training and letting her anger simmer before finally succeeding in the opening act of the sequel. After that, players see her struggle with those actions. The violent trip to Jackson created a rift between her and her companions as they each struggle with wondering if what they did was right.
Abby seeks to redeem herself, at least in her own eyes, by helping Yara and Lev. Her revenge, while successful, did not leave her fully satisfied, and now she needs to find a new purpose.
Players interact with Ellie when she loses her father figure, Joel. Players follow Ellie as she spirals downward, driven by hatred, and leave her at rock bottom when the story ends. Abby’s story begins at rock bottom and she works her way up from there, but The Last of Us 2 chronicles Ellie’s descent.
Ellie didn’t complete her objective like Abby did, but she’ll still have similar things to work through going forward. The Last of Us 3 could very well see Ellie crawl her way toward the light like Abby did and find her new purpose. There are some nuances, of course, but broken down to the bare bones, both Ellie and Abby’s arcs are essentially the same. Abby is at the end of the arc, whereas Ellie’s is just beginning.
In Another Life, Ellie and Abby Could Have Been Friends
If Ellie and Abby were brought together in a different way, they probably would like each other. Each of them would admire the other for her strength, skill, and fearlessness. Their skills would have been complementary to one another when it comes to fighting infected, and their similar ideals and thought processes would have helped them see eye to eye - if they were on the same side.
It’s almost too easy to imagine a young Ellie and Abby working together toward a common goal, and the only reason why they hate each other is because of the circumstances they found themselves in. This was definitely done on purpose by Naughty Dog for a couple of narrative reasons.
By having Abby be a very similar character to Ellie, Naughty Dog sought to challenge player bias. Players typically side with Ellie because they know and love her from the previous game. When looking at both women side-by-side from an objective standpoint, however, there is little difference. The player learns that each character is the hero of her own story, and neither is better than the other.
Both Ellie and Abby commit horrible, violent acts during the game, but both also have similarly redeeming qualities. By the end of the story, Naughty Dog wants players to recognize that Ellie and Abby are actually two sides of the same coin; they oppose one another because of what happened to them and the people they love, but without those circumstances they could have been best friends.
The Last of Us 2 is available now on PS4.