There are few games that make one invested in their story so deep, with The Last of Us having the honor of being one of these offerings. The Last of Us Part 2 brought new stories for fans to be invested in, but for that one needs to remember how the main characters work.
Joel was a supporting character in the second game, but he had enough characterization for fans to know what kind of man he is. He let his actions speak more often than not, but Joel did have quotes for the fans to remember him by now that he's breathed his last.
Updated on March 9, 2023 by Ritwik Mitra: The Last of Us is one of the best video games ever made, with the HBO adaptation doing justice to the mature story of this title. The series has been a blast from start to end, with each and every episode tackling the many story beats of the first game while also expanding on some of its concepts to flesh out the story even more.
Fans of the games and this show love Joel's character, and here are some of the best quotes he's said in the series that many players still remember to this day.
25 "It's Called Luck, And It Is Gonna Run Out."
While escorting Ellie, both Joel and Tess show just how adept they were at tackling the many hazardous situations people would encounter in this post-apocalyptic world. This impresses Ellie to no end, who compliments both of them and says how their skills are truly astounding.
Joel doesn't let this statement get to his head and outright states that all of this just boils down to luck. It's a statement that is called back in a chilling fashion after Tess reveals that she's been bitten by the Infected in one of the more chilling moments in the story.
24 "I Swear."
By the end of The Last of Us, Joel had developed a strong bond with Ellie and simply couldn't let her die for the sake of humanity. This led to him shooting up the entire Firefly hospital, killing innocents, and saving Ellie at the cost of his own humanity.
Given how suspicious her circumstances are, Ellie asks Joel to promise that he didn't lie to her about the Fireflies. Joel swears to his account of events, which Ellie accepts before the game ends on a rather bitter note.
23 "Yeah, Well, Just Try Not To Let Your Guard Down."
It's clear that Joel hasn't interacted with a halfway-decent human being ever since the epidemic. So, when Ellie actually commends Joel for his grit and skills, Joel reacts as awkwardly as one would expect.
Instead of thanking Ellie for complimenting him, Joel just tells her to stay alert and not let her guard down. It's one of their many endearing interactions, with Ellie outright saying that she's praising Joel for being such a reliable person.
22 "Don't You Have A Plan B?"
After meeting Bill, Joel and Ellie go through a series of events that leads to a ton of Infected chasing them down. After thwarting their approach, Joel asks if Bill has any other plans other than the one they botched.
However, it was clear that the majority of Bill's defenses had been triggered during the Infected ambush. He responds by saying that all their routes had been decimated by this assault, and anything else they'd do would be on the fly instead of being meticulously planned out.
21 "I'm Glad I Didn't Get My Head Blown Off By A Goddamn Kid."
It's clear that Ellie is pretty young and not suited for massive firefights, prompting Joel to ask her to hang back while he took care of things. However, after things went south, Ellie came to Joel's rescue and killed a hunter who was about to end his life.
Instead of appreciating this, Joel admonishes Ellie and says that her inexperience could've led to his death too. This causes Ellie to get angry at Joel, who seemed thankless despite having his life saved just a few moments back.
20 "And Just So We’re Clear About Back There... It Was Either Him Or Me."
Joel lived in a world that had gone back to its savage roots. All of a sudden it was either kill or be killed, and Joel was thrust into several situations time and time again where he needed to end a person's life to save his.
When this happened in front of Ellie, even a stone-hearted fellow like Joel knew that she needed to learn the truth of this situation. It's one of the many moments where the duo slowly starts bonding over time.
19 "Endure And Survive."
When Joel and Ellie start bonding, Ellie mentions this line before telling Joel it's from a comic called Savage Starlight, where the hero says it at the end of every battle. This line also reflects the torrid world Joel and Ellie found themselves in.
Killing dozens of beings, Infected or not, is not an easy task... but it's a necessity that needs to be carried out. So, when Joel kills all the Infected in the underground tunnel near the end of the game, the fact that he repeats this line is pretty poignant indeed. It's a moment that was added in the remastered version too, showing that Naughty Dog really knew their title inside out.
18 "They Sacrifice The Few To Save The Many."
After the Infected took over the world, the United States went into a state of military control. This prompted them to only let certain survivors in and let the unlucky rest die in dangerous areas.
This is a conversation that Joel engages in with Ellie, finally stating the need to sacrifice the few to save the many. It's a cruel act, but a necessary one during a time when humanity is on the brink of extinction.
17 "You Have No Idea What Loss Is."
The Last of Us has one of the saddest beginnings in gaming history. After the plague starts affecting the world, Joel's daughter is shot down in cold blood by the military during a fatal moment rife with misunderstanding.
It's a horrible thing for any father to have to deal with, and turned Joel into a cold and cruel being over time. This leads him to spit this line out during a verbal argument with Ellie, to which the girl replies that she's lost her fair share of friends too.
16 "You’re Right. You’re Not My Daughter- And I Sure As Hell Ain’t Your Dad. And We Are Going Our Separate Ways."
Joel and Ellie weren't really on the best of terms when they started out. Their relationship eventually built up over time... but a part of Joel was scared that he had started building a warm and familiar relationship with Ellie — a bond that was similar to the one he had with his own daughter, Sarah.
So, when Ellie brings her up, Joel feels a mixture of fear and anger and utters this cold line. While they eventually make up over time, it's an indication of just how much Joel was hurt with the passing of his daughter.
15 "Why Don't You Just Say Whatever Speech You've Got Rehearsed And Get This Over With."
Joel was never a man who would go out begging for his life and he proved this in his final moments. Abby wanted to gloat about killing him before she did so, but Joel realized it was a lose-lose situation and opted to die without getting into Abby’s games.
It was the last act of defiance by a man who had lived by his rules. Even in death, he chose to go out being the one in control of the situation as Abby didn’t get the satisfaction of killing him.
14 "Happy Birthday, Kiddo."
Joel had fully embraced being a father the second time around. In a flashback scene, Ellie remembered how they had celebrated her birthday, with Joel giving her the first celebration in her life to commemorate her birth.
It was the first time that Ellie was made to feel grateful to have lived, as Joel’s birthday greeting made her feel safe that there was someone who was glad that she was in his life.
13 "If Somehow The Lord Gave Me A Second Chance...I Would Do It All Over Again."
One of the ways the sequel referenced the first game was when Joel faced the truth about what he did to Marlene. Ellie found out that Joel had essentially sacrificed humanity for her sake and blamed Joel for making her decision.
Joel had no remorse over his actions, arguing that he felt justified to do so as Ellie was innocent and Joel didn’t feel she or even he owed anything to humanity. He may or may not have been wrong but his sentiments were absolute.
12 "What Is The Downside To Eating A Clock? It's Time-Consuming."
If there was ever any doubt on the dad skills that Joel possessed then look no further than this moment. Here, Joel went full-on dad mode by making the cheesiest joke one can think of.
It was the kind of stuff that only those happy in the dad life could make, which proved that Joel had started to become as he was before the apocalypse. He’d been seen as a hardened personality for so long that this quote came as a surprise but a welcome one for sure.
11 "If I Ever Were To Lose You, I'd Surely Lose Myself."
The demise of Joel became even more tragic once the scene of him playing the guitar was shown. This song was initially supposed to be something Joel sang at the moment but takes a sad turn when it’s seen in the context of his death.
It proved that Joel would very much rather die than have to see Ellie meet the same fate. He would have become broken beyond repair had that been the case. He had already lost himself after his daughter had died and the song could be seen as a way for him to reconcile this grief.
10 "...No Matter What, You Keep Finding Something To Fight For."
Throughout the twenty years he spent on his own, the viewer would have wondered what the reason was for Joel to even be fighting to live since he didn’t seem to be happy.
He answered this for us in the closing moments of the game, where Joel admitted he also had feelings of guilt over surviving while others had died; the only way he saw life was worth living was by finding things to fight for. By the end, he had more than enough reason to live now that he had Ellie.
9 "No, We Are Survivors!"
Before he came to the realization that he needed something truly worth protecting to live, Joel’s argument for doing the terrible things he once did was that he was a survivor. He revealed to Ellie that he had once been a hunter, making him no better than the many men he had killed during the game.
But nobody could’ve made Joel feel bad about this, since he saw it as a means to survive. This was a clear indication at the start of the game that our pal Joel here wasn’t the squeaky clean hero we’re used to having.
8 "You Want To Know The Best Thing About My Job? I Don't Gotta Know Why."
Joel’s grief over his daughter’s death led him down a path of darkness so bleak, that he came out as a completely apathetic person two decades later. This was needed, though, since it served as a juxtaposition to the Joel we saw later in the game.
At the time when he wasn’t a father figure, Joel told Ellie he really couldn’t care about her even if he tried, as he only saw her as part of his job. It was surprising to see how he could have spiraled into a person who had no problems seeing a child die, but that’s what formed the first part of the layers of Joel’s character.
7 "...Too Much..."
Here was a time when we saw Joel becoming a different person due to Ellie’s influence, as he showed signs of wanting to share his inner turmoil, but wasn’t developed enough to fully dive into talking about things that made him sad.
In this scene, Ellie wanted to ask about Joel’s ex-wife; while he’d been happy to share things about himself a little more than he’d used to, Joel calmly told Ellie she was asking too much by this point. It was a whole lot better than when he’d screamed at her for asking questions earlier in the story, though.
6 "If I Get In Trouble Down There, You Make Every Shot Count."
It wasn’t only Ellie who had an influence on Joel. After all, we had an example of Joel being a teacher underneath his gruff exterior when he first taught Ellie how to handle a gun under pressure moments.
Here, Joel planned on sneaking in and taking out the enemies and entrusted Ellie with a firearm to cover him. This was the first time he was trusting her with his life, and she sure did make every bullet count. It was also the beginning of their trust for one another moving onto a higher level.