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Jimmy Cooper was a minor character who appears in The Last of Us. He was the neighbor of Joel and Sarah and among the first infected citizens of the city of Austin during the outbreak of the cordyceps brain infection.
Biography
Background
Not much is known about Jimmy's life before the events of The Last of Us except that he was the neighbor of Joel and Sarah and had a job in the city, which caused him to be among of the first of those infected. It is likely that he had a family and that they too were infected, since Joel refers to something being wrong with "the Coopers" not "Mr. Cooper". It is also implied that Joel and Jimmy were friends (or at least on good terms) since Joel refers to him by his first name and not by his title.
Events of The Last of Us
The manner of Jimmy's infection is never revealed. However, Tommy stated the people in the city became "sick". Over two days of working in the city, Jimmy caught the infection and turned on September 27th, 2013.
When Joel left the house late at night, likely either because he heard noises outside or witnessed something disturbing on the television, he was confronted by his sick neighbor. In the brief altercation, Joel became covered in Jimmy (and likely Jimmy's family's) blood and was forced to run back to his house. Jimmy, overcome by the infection, pursued his neighbour and began slamming against their patio door, attempting to force entry.
Eventually, he broke through and charged at Joel, ignoring the warnings of his neighbor. His continued aggression towards Joel forced him to shoot Jimmy in self-defence, killing him.
His corpse was left by Joel and his daughter, Sarah, the pair fleeing the house shortly after Jimmy's death.
Trivia
- Jimmy is one of the few characters in the game whose last name is revealed, the other one being Riley Abel. However, in the Japanese manual, Ellie and Joel's last names are mentioned as well, the latter presented as "Miller", though it is unconfirmed.
- It's possible that Jimmy was Joel's first infected kill, this is hard to tell however, as Joel already had blood on him when he returned to the house for his revolver.
- Jimmy is the first infected seen in the game, as well as the first Runner seen in the game.
