[WARNING: Spoilers for The Last of Us & The Last of Us Part 2 below.]
Joel Miller may have been the protagonist in The Last of Us, but his younger brother Tommy takes on an important role in The Last of Us: Part 2. In fact, had it not been for Tommy, many of the events of The Last of Us: Part 2 wouldn’t have taken place.
In the original game, players travel with Joel as he attempts to transport Ellie safely to the Fireflies. Since Ellie is immune from zombie bites, the Fireflies (a resistance group working on a vaccine to cure the infection) needs her delivered to them alive. In The Last of Us: Part 2, players then journey with Ellie as she deals with the fallout of what happened at the end of the original game.
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Tommy Miller, Joel’s brother, is an important character in The Last of Us: Part 2 franchise, and his actions are the catalyst for many of the series’ plot points. However, since he doesn’t get as much screen time, some players may not realize how detailed and sad his backstory truly is. But just like all of the survivors in the post-infected world of The Last of Us, Tommy had to overcome a lot in order to survive.
[FINAL WARNING: Spoilers for The Last of Us & The Last of Us Part 2 below.]
The Last of Us’ Tommy Has A Tragic Backstory
Tommy appears in both The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Part 2, but he has a more substantial role in the sequel. Had Tommy not set out to seek revenge for his brother’s death, Ellie and Dina would not have eventually gone after him. However, it is understandable why Tommy felt so compelled to get revenge for Joel. In the first game, players learn Joel basically raised his younger brother while growing up in Texas, leading the two to become extremely close. Tommy, who worked in construction pre-infection, took on a leading role in helping Joel parent his daughter Sarah as a single father. Images of Tommy spending time with Joel and Sarah can be found in the young girl’s room at the beginning of The Last of Us.
Tommy is one of the first non-playable, recurring characters players are introduced to in The Last of Us. He leaves his brother a bunch of missed calls and texts on the day of the outbreak, and later picks up Joel and Sarah. He’s beside his brother as he watches Sarah die in Joel’s arms. Following Sarah’s death and the onset of the outbreak, Tommy and Joel worked together as smugglers before eventually parting after a heated argument. The brothers spend many years estranged until Joel shows up at Tommy’s settlement with Ellie in tow in the first game. It’s at that point players learn the brothers mainly split up after Tommy grew tired of the criminal lifestyle. He also seemed particularly disturbed by some of Joel’s actions and choices, though he never elaborates on-camera exactly what Joel did.
During the period he was estranged from Joel, Tommy became briefly associated with the Fireflies, which is how Marlene later knew to contact Joel to help transport Ellie to their research lab. After leaving the group, Tommy founded a settlement in Jackson County. At some point he got married to Maria, who is featured in both the original game and its sequel. After rescuing Ellie from the Fireflies, Joel eventually heads back to Jackson County where the two of them decided to permanently stay with Tommy and Maria. In The Last of Us 2, players are able to see just how much the Jackson County settlement progressed, with more inhabitants than in the original game, all thanks to its founder Tommy.