This Article may contain spoilers for The Last of Us
Clickers are not your everyday run-of-the-mill monsters. When HBO’s long-awaited version of The Last of Us finally debuted earlier this month, the show’s popularity quickly ascended. The pilot did an excellent job of introducing viewers to the sorrowful post-apocalyptic world in which protagonists Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) must survive.
Sci-fi shows often leave audiences guessing about the appearance of monsters, so Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey had to do the same. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who appear in HBO’s The Last of Us series, have discussed their first impressions of the games’ most recognizable antagonists, the Clickers.
What are Clickers in The Last of Us?
The novel dangers portrayed in The Last of Us were one of the game’s most distinctive features. The Clickers are practically indistinguishable from their video game inspirations because of the use of prosthetics. In addition, LoU has introduced a new form of unthinking human-turned-monstrous creatures based on science, as opposed to the traditional “zombie” tropes that have become so overused. Clickers is a common name for these monsters because of the cacophony they produce while using echolocation.
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Eventually, these creatures made it into the TV show, and the performers’ reactions upon first seeing them were fascinating. Episode 2 of The Last of Us, titled “Infected,” introduces the series’ Clickers to the audience. According to a recent interview with IGN, Pascal had an emotion between revulsion and horror when he saw them, whereas Ramsey considered them attractive.
Pascal’s initial impression of a Clicker was quite disgusting. However, the actress found them “sort of beautiful”:
“I found them sort of beautiful. That’s what was scary actually. I think the beauty that they had, that was what was terrifying.
Pascal acknowledged the Clickers were “a bit too much” for him; he also called them a “monstrous, floral nightmare.”
The 19-year-old English actress further went on to describe the concept of the “Cordyceps infection” being “based on science”:
The whole fungus, [the] Cordyceps infection is based on science. Theoretically, it’s possible, and that’s what’s also terrifying.”
How different are Clickers in The Last of Us series from the game?
While stand-ins may help direct attention, they can’t replicate the game’s chilling atmosphere since the computer-generated Clickers weren’t there. Instead, Clickers, those afflicted with cordyceps long sufficient for the fungus to seize over their sight, are an unknown danger at the beginning of the episode, represented only by a sequence of terrifying screeches off in the distance.
The Last of Us deviates from the standard video game villain formula in several ways, and the Clicker kiss is one of the most notable examples of these modifications succeeding. In the series, the jerkiness of their movements can be felt, and the eerie clicks of their jaws can be heard. Worse still, they have seen their fungal-like kiss of welcome for new Clickers. The cordyceps network and the kiss are both new to the game. However, they are also in line with the original material’s tone while keeping veterans of the genre on their toes.
New episodes of The Last of Us premiere every Sunday at 9 P.M. ET exclusively on HBO Max.
Source: IGN | Twitter
