| “ | Once upon a time, I had somebody that I cared about. It was a partner. Somebody I had to look after. And in this world, that sort of shit's good for one thing: gettin' you killed.
―Bill's warning.[2]
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” |
Bill is a supporting character in The Last of Us. He is a survivor who maintains an uneasy alliance with Joel and Ellie.[3]
Biography[]
Background and early life[]
Bill was well-equipped for survival before the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak, having obtained mechanical skills at some point in his life as he is able to repair vehicles and build things from scraps. He also adapted to the new world and became a competent scavenger.[3] To protect himself from the infected and hunters, Bill constructed many barricades and traps around his hometown.[4]
After having met Joel and Tess in nearby Boston at some point, he made smuggling arrangements with them, trading food, ammunition, and occasionally medicine into the quarantine zone (QZ).[5] By summer 2033, Bill had racked up quite a few favors to Joel for unspecified reasons.[3]
In the spring of 2033, Bill and his partner Frank were the only survivors living in Lincoln, a town that was populated by an unusually large number of infected. Bill noticed that FEDRA began to send soldiers to search for supplies in the town every few weeks, and made note on what they overlooked. When one of the FEDRA trucks was overrun and crashed into Lincoln High School, Bill frequently brought up the idea of salvaging the truck's battery to Frank. Soon after this, Frank left Bill on his own and disappeared.[6]
Events of The Last of Us[]
Much to Bill's dismay, Joel and Ellie arrive at his safe house in Lincoln, disabling many of his traps and alerting an overwhelming swarm of runners to their presence in the process. Bill subdues both of them, fearful that they have been bitten, although Ellie manages to break free of her restraints and beats Bill with a pipe. Joel quickly gets up and stops Ellie from causing further harm.
After a brief argument, Joel asks Bill for a car, with Ellie reminding Bill about the favors he owes to Joel. Bill says he does not have a working car, but tells them there are car parts located in another area of the town. Bill begins to sharpen his machete, sarcastically saying Joel can have his food too.[fn 1] Ellie insults Bill's waistline, and he responds to the teenager with a threat. Joel calms Ellie down and returns to Bill, insisting the favors Bill owes him are worth the effort and asserting he won't leave without a car. Bill agrees to put a car together for Joel and Ellie, but tells them that once it is done, he owes Joel no more favors. Joel agrees to his terms.[7]
They head toward a church that Bill has converted into an armory. On the way, Bill questions Joel's need for a car and briefly trades insults with Ellie, something Joel tries to stop. While killing a trapped runner, Bill asks where Tess is. Joel states that she is busy, leading Bill to think the pair have had a falling-out.
After killing more infected, they reach the church. Bill sternly tells Ellie not to touch anything. While loading shotguns for him and Joel to use, Bill asks why Tess would allow Joel to accept such a suicidal mission. When Joel responds that Tess was the one who convinced him, Bill reveals his disappointment; having believed Tess was smarter than that. Joel does not tell Bill about Tess's death, instead brushing off his further questions by saying she is "busy". Bill begins to tell Joel about his partner Frank, trying to hide his homosexuality while doing so, saying he had to look after him. He finishes by saying that caring for someone "is good for one thing - getting you killed". Before he says more, he sees Ellie touching his comics. He shouts at her, reinforcing what he said before about not touching anything, but she replies with an obscene gesture, irritating him. He turns to Joel, saying she will get him killed. Having had enough, Joel interrupts him, asking if they can just "get on with it". Bill finishes loading the shotgun, tossing it to Joel and saying "Fine. Let's get on with it".[2]
Before they leave, Bill gives Joel a nail bomb and teaches him how to make them. He tells him that they have to reach the local high school, as a military vehicle crashed there a while ago, with a new battery still inside. Bill jokes how he wanted to get it but decided otherwise due to the numerous infected nearby, but "Fuck it. Joel needs a car".
When they do reach the school, they find the battery in the truck is gone.[8] With no other options, they force their way out the back of the school, having to kill a bloater - the strongest of the infected - to do so.
They manage to reach a house where they take refuge. Joel asks what the plan is but Bill replies that all their plans are gone, angrily insulting Tess while doing so. Joel goes to retaliate against Bill for bringing Tess up again, but Bill stops abruptly.[fn 2] Joel notices that there is a hanged corpse in the room. Joel asks if Bill knows the man. He does; it's the body of Frank, Bill's former partner. He had hung himself after becoming infected, not wanting to turn into a monster. Despite trying not to let it show, Bill is saddened by his death.[9] Joel finds a suicide note near Frank's body, in which Frank tells Bill that he hated his guts. Bill is taken aback by this, but again does his best not to let it show. He throws the note away after reading it.[10]
They find a truck in Frank's garage which contains the stolen battery. Bill finds that the battery is drained, but the cells are alive. Joel questions what that means, to which Bill replies that, if they get it started, the alternator will recharge the battery. Joel and Bill push it through the streets while Ellie tries to pop the clutch to get it working. She fails the first time, so Bill indirectly insults her. He and Joel proceed to kill several infected on the street but manage to make it to the top of a hill, where the truck actually starts to work. Hopping in the back, the pair signal Ellie to keep driving, since more infected are on the way. They safely make it back to Bill's church.
Bill makes Ellie stop the truck and goes to leave. Joel gets out to say goodbye and both men briefly admit that Ellie held her own against the infected, but Bill still believes Joel will die soon. Before leaving, he gives Joel a siphon hose so he can obtain gas from abandoned cars. Joel thanks him and expresses his sympathy for the loss of Frank. Bill asks if they're "square". Joel tells Bill that they are square; Bill no longer owes him anything. Bill then tells Joel to "get the fuck out of [his] town".[11] Joel and Ellie do so, and never see the man again.
Bill is mentioned by Joel a few months later, when he and Ellie reach the University of Eastern Colorado. Joel states that the Fireflies could be using the infected as a form of defense, like Bill did.[12]
It is unknown what happens to him after they left, though it can be assumed he is still alive given how he never goes near infected if he can help it and fortified the church and the nearby streets with several traps.
Events of The Last of Us Part II[]
Ellie mentions Bill to her girlfriend Dina five years later, while on their mission for revenge. Dina expresses disbelief at Bill having an entire town to himself. Ellie recalls Bill's traps and how Joel navigated his way through them.[13]
Personality and traits[]
Bill is an extremely paranoid and somewhat quirky man. He leaves notes around town for himself and sometimes carries on conversations or plays chess with himself. He was a fan of chess, knowing about Bobby Fischer, a world-famous American chess world champion and grandmaster.[3] His paranoia keeps him alive, but renders him mistrusting of others, even those he knows, such as when he doesn't believe Joel when he says he's not infected at first.[7] Bill was likely skeptical and mistrusting of others prior to the pandemic, but living in isolation for so long following Frank's disappearance, surrounded by infected, has clearly taken a toll on him.[9]
When talking to other people he is extremely sarcastic. He is extremely vigilant with strangers, always inspecting them to ensure they are not infected. Ironically, he is quite hasty in making decisions, adding to his uptight personality.[7] His base is heavily protected with booby traps and mines that he crafts and arms himself and lives in a self-sufficient manner, preferring isolation to the risks of living with people.[3]
It is implied that Bill is gay, due to the way he refers to his former partner, Frank. He says that, although he once cared about Frank, he decided it would be best to go it alone, fearing for his life.[2] When Joel does arrive, he wishes him gone straight away, expressing a desire to live on his own despite the isolation. Bill is clearly saddened when they later find Frank's body but represses his emotions, instead putting up a grim and dismissive front, brushing Frank's death off with a "Fuck him" though the man was once his lover.[9] Ellie steals a gay pornographic magazine from Bill's safe house, jokingly asking Joel, "Why are the pages all stuck together?", further enforcing Bill's homosexuality.
Bill's weight is often the subject of insults from Ellie. She repeatedly tells him that he could afford to lose some of his food. The banter and witty remarks between Bill and Ellie escalate when, immediately before setting out into the streets of Lincoln to scavenge auto parts, he implores Joel and Ellie to "Stay right on my ass". Ellie replies "Can't miss it."[7] Ellie's sharp tongue reveals how easy Bill is to anger, and he often threatens Ellie for her remarks.[2] However, he is an honorable man, willing to pay off debts and assist certain allies, as seen in his eventual agreement to repair a vehicle for Joel if they can source the parts.[9]
Skills and abilities[]
Bill is a skilled mechanic who knows how to repair cars and craft things with just scraps and spare parts. He carries most of his equipment in his backpack.[fn 3] Perhaps the most impressive display of his crafting skills is his invention of the nail bomb.[2] He uses these to set several traps around his town to kill infected and ward off intruders.
According to Joel, Bill is also skilled with a bow, using it to kill infected from a distance and in high areas. Despite this, he prefers to use a shotgun and his kukri knife for close-quarter combat. With Joel assisting, Bill uses his shotgun to kill a bloater, the strongest type of infected. He also uses a 9mm pistol, notably when threatening Joel, though only uses it when his shotgun isn't on hand.[7]
Bill is also incredibly strong, able to force a clicker off of him,[8] something Joel, a strong and capable combatant,[14] and several other survivors are unable to do.[15] In close combat, Bill uses a unique type of machete known as a kukri to fight the infected.[3]
Quotes[]
- Bill: "Yeah, sure Joel, go ahead, take my car. Take all of my food too while you're at it."
- Ellie: "By the looks of it, you could lose some of that food."
- Bill: "You listen to me, you little shit–"
- Ellie: "No, fuck you. You handcuffed me!"
- Bill: "But after this, I owe you nothin'."
- Joel: "That's fine, couple days from now we'll probably be dead anyway."
- Ellie: "So… why don't you fix one of these cars?"
- Bill: [sarcastic] "Oh, my god, you're a genius. I mean the whole time, why on earth hadn't I thought about fixin' one of these cars?"
- Bill: "What are you delivering? That little brat?"
- Ellie: "Haha. Fuck you too."
- Bill: "Alright… You gotta check the barricades again. You neglect the simple shit and now you're paying for it."
- Ellie: "Okay, well now he's talking to himself."
- Bill: "You know, as bad as those things are, at least they're predictable. It's the normal people that scare me."
- Bill: "Once upon a time I had someone I cared about. It was a partner. Somebody I had to look after. And in this world that sort of shit's good for one thing: gettin' ya killed. So, you know what I did? I wisened the fuck up. And I realized it's gotta be just me."
- Joel: "Bill what now?"
- Bill: "You're lucky you're still drawing breath. That was plan A, B, C, all the way to fuckin' Z!"
- Bill: "We square?"
- Joel: "We're square."
- Bill: "Then get the fuck out of my town."
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- ↑ According to the cinematic commentary, the moment when Bill sharpens his machete when confronting Joel and Ellie was actually improvised by actor Earl Brown on the spot, initially not included in the script.
- ↑ According to Troy Baker and Neil Druckmann in the commentary for He was my partner, Joel and Bill's brief argument was improvised by Troy and Earl.
- ↑ Bill's backpack is the model used for the Hunters in the multiplayer.
References[]
- ↑ The Last of Us: Cast and Crew
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Let's get on with it
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Bill's Town"
- ↑ Hunters note
- ↑ Pills note
- ↑ Note from Frank
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 I need a car
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 It's empty
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 He was my partner
- ↑ Note from Frank (crumpled)
- ↑ He ain't even hurt
- ↑ "The University"
- ↑ "Seattle Day 1"
- ↑ "The Outskirts"
- ↑ "The Enemy of My Enemy"
