The Final of Us’ monsters usually are not your common zombies. Sure, they’re gross. Sure, they chew. However they’re not reanimated after dying. As a substitute, they’re residing individuals who have been taken over by a fungus referred to as Cordyceps — their complete factor is multiplying and spreading the an infection as far and extensive as potential.
The Cordyceps an infection evolves over the course of an contaminated individual’s lifespan, which makes the Final of Us video games’ contaminated that a lot scarier. Every of those totally different evolutions creates a novel menace. As an illustration, the primary stage — when an individual has first turned — is tremendous quick and may detect uninfected individuals to chase. Clickers, a later stage, are blind, with mushroom-like growths splitting open their faces and obscuring their imaginative and prescient.
We haven’t seen all the contaminated varieties from the video games represented but in HBO’s The Final of Us, however they’re in all probability coming.
Runner
The primary stage of an infection occurs because the fungus spreads via the physique. In HBO’s The Final of Us, the present’s creators slipped in an infographic to clarify how lengthy it takes for the an infection to unfold inside an individual, relying on the chew location: On the top or neck, it’s fast, inside minutes. If the chew’s on an extremity, like a leg or arm, it’ll take nearer to 24 hours. The primary indicators of an infection embrace coughing, slurred speech, muscle spasms, and temper adjustments. (Keep in mind the outdated woman in episode 1? The muscle spasms have been the primary signal.)
Runners are quick — inhumanly quick — and sometimes journey in huge teams. These look so much like common zombies, as a result of they haven’t began sprouting mushrooms but.
Stalker
Stalkers are in all probability the commonest kind of contaminated. They’re barely extra superior than Runners and have seen adjustments — fungus grows out of their our bodies, and typically their flesh is visibly decaying. Stalkers usually are not as quick as Runners, however they’re very lethal, all the time lurking, and able to assault. Within the video games, Stalkers typically develop onto partitions with mushroom tendrils holding them in place. Once you stroll by, they’ll break away in a shock assault.
We’ve seen these in HBO’s The Final of Us, however utterly grown into the wall and seemingly lifeless. In some instances, it looks like the fungus community should be alive, however in others, it’s clearly lifeless and crumbling.
Clicker
Most likely the creepiest sound within the present (and the video games), Clickers are contaminated which have been round for some time, with mushrooms visibly protruding from the top, taking on the eyes. They will’t see, so it’s crucial to maneuver slowly and quietly close to them. Any noise will alert a Clicker, and so they’re superb at discovering their prey utilizing audio cues. They’re straightforward to determine due to their signature clicking noise, a type of echolocation, and due to the large fruiting mushroom sprouting from the top. We noticed a few these on HBO’s The Final of Us in Boston’s historic museum within the second episode.
Bloater/Shambler
Bloaters are probably the most superior stage, and there are a couple of totally different variants inside the group. We haven’t seen one in every of these on the present simply but, however HBO beforehand teased a Bloater in one in every of The Final of Us’ trailers. You’ll be able to inform an contaminated is a Bloater due to the scale — they’re huge, grotesque, and, naturally, bloated with decaying mushroom bubbles. Bloaters and Shamblers are slower however actually sturdy, and so they can have a surge of power to lunge towards an enemy. The layers of fungus act like armor, making them troublesome to kill, too. They will additionally rip these growths off their our bodies and throw them, sending damaging acid all over the place. In the event you get caught by a Bloater within the sport, it’s an immediate kill — and it rips your head in half via the jaw.
Shamblers are mainly waterlogged Bloaters discovered extra on the West Coast within the video games. They’re fairly comparable, however they emit an acid gasoline that they spit at enemies.
Rat King
We’ve solely seen one Rat King contaminated within the Final of Us video games, and it’s fairly gnarly: It’s a shambling mass of a number of contaminated Clickers, Runners, and Stalkers all mashed collectively. It might be an anomaly, and who is aware of if we’ll see one within the first season of The Final of Us. The battle towards the Rat King in The Final of Us Half 2 takes place in two levels, and the monster breaks aside into totally different contaminated. It’s bought all of the traits of the contaminated that comprise it, throwing mushroom bombs and emitting poison gasoline.