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The Last of Us Part I is now available for fans to experience after the game met its September 2, 2022, release date. In addition, the HBO TV series’ premiere in early 2023 has hyped fans to great lengths, with many looking back at the characters across both games.

Whether it’s a hardened survivor like Joel or a kind-hearted one such as Dina, there are many moments in the story where the characters’ integrity was in question. This ranges from where their moralities skewed to the choices they made that negatively or positively affected the rest. It’s interesting to see which ones were more in the right than wrong and vice versa.

Abby Anderson

Abby forewent her integrity in the name of revenge, not only killing Joel after he’d saved her but also making a show out of it. Moreover, Abby had an adulterous entanglement with her ex-boyfriend Owen when he already had a pregnant girlfriend. This suggested that neither Abby nor Owen had much regard for the feelings of those around them, although Abby is shown to be conflicted by what they had done.

Her arc was to regain her morality, as seen when she ultimately grew as a person by caring for Lev and didn’t want to fight Ellie in their final exchange. Still, the fact that Abby was so willing to kill the pregnant Dina and was gleeful at the prospect shows that integrity, at least initially, wasn’t much of a factor for her.

Joel Miller

Although Joel is largely seen as the best character in The Last of Us, his morality mainly applied to those he loved. After all, Joel had lied, cheated, and killed for two decades with Tommy before he came across Ellie, and even then it took a long time for Joel to actually care for her.

There can be divided opinions of Joel’s integrity, as he went through great lengths to save Ellie from being killed by Marlene but doomed the world by preventing the creation of the vaccine. His claim that he would make the same choice again once again can reap mixed opinions based on how people measure integrity and morality.

Tommy Miller

Tommy was shown to have a conscience during The Last of Us Part I, although Joel revealed that the brothers had been part of illicit activities for almost two decades during which they slew many innocents. Tommy still went a long way in establishing himself as an honorable leader in the first part.

But The Last of Us Part II showed some of his manipulative tendencies, as Tommy was able to lure Ellie into seeking revenge from Abby which effectively destroyed Ellie’s life. Tommy was a good man during times of peace, but he wasn’t above crossing moral boundaries when revenge was on the table.

Ellie

Ellie is credited as being among the best companions in video game history during The Last of Us Part I, where she was very much on the right side of morality. Her integrity was without question since Ellie kept her promises and was empathetic toward people like Sam.

However, The Last of Us Part II showed the worst side of Ellie, who took the life of the pregnant Mel to get to Abby, tortured the latter’s friends, and was willing to kill young Lev. Ellie regained some of her integrity when she spared Abby and Lev to overcome her bid for revenge, but too much blood had been spilled by then for her ever to fully go back to who she had been before.

Bill

Bill was a man rough around the edges who wanted to be left alone from the rest of the world. And yet, he did uphold his debt to Joel and went through a lot to get him and Ellie safely out. Bill also honored his late partner’s wishes to separate despite hating him for it.

Of course, there’s also the fact that Bill had rigged his town in such a way that anybody venturing in would be killed by the traps. This meant he didn’t care about innocent strangers, which doesn’t bode well as far as his moral principles are concerned.

Tess

As Joel’s partner, Tess engaged in a lot of illicit dealings that made her conclude that she and Joel were simply terrible people. But the fact that Tess actually accepted her flaws and died to do right by Ellie showed that she had quite a bit of integrity.

Tess was quite motherly toward Ellie, especially at a time when Joel was horrible to her. And while Tess was introduced wanting to kill Robert, the latter did betray her and Joel which somewhat justified her reaction. Tess was far from a morally sound person, but her multifaceted quality is the reason why many consider The Last of Us among the best zombie horror survival games for delivering such a layered character.

Yara

Yara had a few stumbles in judgment earlier on when she didn’t accept Lev, but she made up for it by being the only one to later understand and protect him. Yara’s integrity can be slightly questioned for her aiding Abby when she was the one who had done wrong to Ellie and company, although Yara wasn’t really a part of that conflict.

Yara’s character was on display when she sacrificed herself for Lev and Abby, proving she would do anything for them. She took her time in getting the inner strength needed to challenge people like her mother who treated Lev wrong, yet Yara did make up for it in the end.

Lev

Lev was too young to be in charge of making the hardest of decisions like many other characters, although he was very high in the morality chain. His integrity was best seen when Lev persuaded Abby to not slay the pregnant Dina, which Abby was very willing to do.

Lev’s integrity was slightly low given he stayed with Abby despite learning about the terrible things she’d done, but there’s also the fact that he’s the reason she let go of the violence that had plagued her life. Lev was also openhearted enough to try and bring back the mother who tried to kill him, which showed his capacity to love and accept.

Riley

The Last of Us: Left Behind is considered to be among the best DLCs to ever be made, with Riley’s well-rounded role serving as a big plus point. Ellie saw Riley as all the good she had in the world, as the latter was a happy, positive person who saw the best in things.

Riley did become hardened by the brutal world she was a part of and was willing to kill, yet she was also the one who believed there was humanity even in the worst of people. Riley’s integrity can be seen through her friendship with Ellie, as she remained loyal to her and wanted to become a zombie after they were bitten just so the two could be together.

Dina

Dina deserves credit for holding onto her morality in a world where that doesn’t mean anything anymore. Dina’s integrity comes through her acceptance of the faults of everyone involved, along with seeking peaceful resolutions over the hatred the others were consumed with.

Dina stood by Ellie’s side during her bid for revenge before realizing that Joel had pretty much brought Abby’s wrath upon his people. She was morally sound enough to let go of the need to kill Abby and made the right decision to leave Ellie when she saw the latter wasn’t going to do the same.

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