She isn't just a villain. Honestly, calling her a hero feels a bit off, too. When Naughty Dog dropped The Last of Us Part II in 2020, the gaming world basically caught fire, and Abby from The Last of Us was right at the center of the blast zone. She’s the character that forced us to put down the controller and ask why we were doing what we were doing.
It was a bold move. Maybe the boldest move in AAA gaming history.
Halfway through a massive blockbuster, the developers force you to stop playing as the beloved Ellie and step into the boots of the woman who just brutally murdered Joel Miller. It felt like a betrayal. I remember sitting there, staring at the screen, thinking, "You’ve got to be kidding me." But that’s the point. Abby isn't a plot device; she’s a mirror.
The Physicality of Abby Anderson
Let’s talk about her build. People lost their minds over it. They claimed a woman couldn't look like that in the apocalypse. Except, if you look at the WLF (Washington Liberation Front) base at CenturyLink Field, it’s basically a professional athlete's training camp. They have industrial gyms. They have a surplus of burritos and agriculture.
Abby’s physique is an obsession. It’s her armor.
After her father, Jerry Anderson, was killed at the Salt Lake City hospital, Abby didn't just get sad. She transformed. She dedicated every waking second to becoming a weapon capable of taking down a man like Joel. Her body is a physical manifestation of her trauma. It's not about aesthetics; it's about the sheer weight of a revenge mission that lasted years. If you've ever seen the performance capture by Laura Bailey, you can see that weight in the way she moves. It’s heavy. It’s tired.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Hospital Scene
The core of the "Abby hate" usually stems from a misunderstanding of the fireflies' perspective. In the first game, we see the world through Joel’s eyes. He’s the dad. He’s the protector. When he kills the surgeon to save Ellie, we cheer.
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But that surgeon was a person. He was Jerry.
In The Last of Us Part II, we see the "before" for Abby from The Last of Us. We see her helping her dad rescue a trapped zebra. We see the messy, hopeful, slightly naive version of her before the world broke her. When Joel killed Jerry, he didn't just stop a surgery; he wiped out the only person Abby had left and, in her mind, the only hope for a cure for humanity. To us, Joel saved a girl. To her, Joel murdered the world.
She spent four years hunting him. Think about that. Four years of waking up every day with one name in your head. That kind of focus does something to your brain. It rots you from the inside out.
The Lev and Yara Pivot
The real story of Abby doesn't start with Joel’s death. It starts after.
She got what she wanted. She killed the man who ruined her life. And guess what? It didn't work. She didn't feel better. She still had nightmares. The "justice" she sought was hollow. This is where the game gets brilliant—and where a lot of players checked out too early.
Her encounter with Lev and Yara, two runaway Seraphites (Scars), is her path to actual redemption. She starts helping them not because she’s a "good person," but because she’s desperate to feel something other than guilt. She tells Lev, "You're my people." That line carries so much weight because she’s abandoning the WLF—the only family she had left—to protect two kids who were supposed to be her enemies.
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It’s a direct parallel to Joel and Ellie.
Abby becomes the protector. She becomes the "Joel" in her own story. She goes through the literal depths of hell—the Ground Zero basement in the hospital—to get medical supplies for Yara. That boss fight with the Rat King? It’s terrifying, sure. But it’s also the moment Abby finally stops being a killer and starts being a savior. She’s fighting for someone else's life instead of trying to take one.
The Contrast of Two Journeys
- Ellie's Path: A descent from light into darkness. She starts as the victim and becomes the monster.
- Abby's Path: An ascent from darkness toward the light. She starts as the monster and tries to find her humanity.
It’s a double helix. By the time they meet in the theater, the roles have completely flipped. We, as players, are forced to fight Ellie. It’s one of the most uncomfortable sequences in any medium. You’re hitting the square button to punch a character you’ve loved for seven years. It’s brutal. But it works because, by that point, you’ve seen Abby’s side. You know she’s just trying to survive the consequences of her own actions.
Dealing with the Backlash
We can't talk about Abby without mentioning the toxicity that followed the game's release. Laura Bailey, the actress, received actual death threats. It was a dark moment for gaming culture. People were so attached to Joel that they couldn't handle the nuance of his killer being a complex human being.
The "controversy" was largely fueled by leaks that stripped away the context. Without the 10 hours of gameplay as Abby, her killing Joel looks like a cheap shock tactic. With those 10 hours, it’s a tragedy. It’s the realization that in this world, there are no heroes. There are only survivors with different perspectives.
Why the Ending at Santa Barbara Matters
The final fight on the beach is pathetic. Not "bad" pathetic, but genuinely heart-wrenching. Abby is emaciated. Her hair is gone. Her strength—the thing she prized above all else—has been stripped away by the Rattlers. She doesn't even want to fight Ellie. She just wants to get Lev to safety.
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When Ellie forces the confrontation, it’s not a clash of titans. It’s two broken, traumatized women splashing around in the surf.
Ellie letting her go is the only way the cycle breaks. If Ellie kills Abby, she loses the last shred of her own soul. If Abby dies, Lev dies alone on that boat. By sparing her, Ellie finally accepts Joel’s death. And Abby? She gets to actually live for something.
The image of the boat reaching Catalina Island in the main menu after you finish the game is the most hopeful moment in the series. It suggests that Abby and Lev made it. They found the Fireflies. They found a reason to keep going.
How to Re-evaluate Your Playthrough
If you hated Abby the first time, I get it. Most people did. But if you're planning a replay, try looking for these specific details:
- The Fear of Heights: Notice how Abby’s camera perspective shifts and blurs when she’s near a ledge. It’s a subtle touch that humanizes her long before the plot does.
- The Coin Collection: Unlike Ellie’s trading cards, Abby collects coins. It reflects her father’s hobby. It’s a constant, quiet connection to the man she lost.
- The Relationship with Owen: Owen is the moral compass she ignored for too long. Their dialogue reveals a woman who was once full of light before she let revenge take over.
Abby from The Last of Us remains a polarizing figure because she challenges the "protagonist bias" we all have. She reminds us that the people we kill in video games have names, fathers, and friends. She’s a masterpiece of character writing precisely because she is so hard to love at first.
To truly understand the story, you have to accept that your "hero" was someone else’s "villain." Once you do that, the game transforms from a simple revenge story into a profound exploration of empathy.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the lore, your next step should be checking out the Official The Last of Us Podcast. The episodes featuring Neil Druckmann and Laura Bailey go into incredible detail about the "Day 2" hospital sequence and the psychological toll of Abby’s journey. It provides the behind-the-scenes context that makes her redemption arc feel even more earned.