What are the Infected mouths in The Last of Us?
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The Infected mouths in The Last of Us are characterized by the emergence of dozens of slender tendrils, formed from hyphae, which are used to spread the Cordyceps fungus infection to other humans via bites. These tendrils are a distinctive feature of the Infected, and their presence is a key indicator of the infection’s progression, as they facilitate the transmission of the fungus from one host to another.
Understanding the Infection
The Cordyceps fungus infection is a central element of The Last of Us, and it is essential to understand how it spreads and affects its hosts.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the fungus in the mouth in The Last of Us show?
The fungus in the mouth in The Last of Us show is the Cordyceps fungus, which is spread through fluid-to-fluid contact, including bites and the unique mycelium threads that emerge from the mouths of Infected humans.
2. What are people Infected with in The Last of Us?
People in The Last of Us are Infected with the Cordyceps fungus, which transforms them into monstrous creatures with warped, animalistic behavior.
3. Why do the Infected eat people in The Last of Us?
The Infected, particularly the Runners, eat human flesh to spread the Cordyceps infection as far and as wide as possible, although it is worth noting that they do not need to eat to survive due to the fungus’s modification of their biology.
4. When do the Infected die in The Last of Us?
The Infected in The Last of Us do not die in the classical sense, as they are alive but controlled by the fungus; however, they can be killed through various means, such as headshots or explosions.
5. How does Joel not get Infected in The Last of Us?
Joel likely avoided becoming Infected due to his food choices, as hinted in one of the episodes, although the exact reason is not explicitly stated in the show.
6. Can clickers survive without food in The Last of Us?
Clickers, a stage of the Infected, can survive without food because the Cordyceps fungus has modified them to not require sustenance.
7. Why do clickers click in The Last of Us?
Clickers develop a form of crude echolocation by producing rapid clicking and croaking sounds due to their blindness, which is caused by the fungus’s growth.
8. Is there anyone immune in The Last of Us?
Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps fungus because her mother, Anna, was bitten during childbirth, transferring the fungus to Ellie through the umbilical cord, which somehow granted her immunity.
9. Why did the Infected kiss Tess in The Last of Us?
The Infected kissed Tess to transmit the Cordyceps fungus through fluid-to-fluid contact, allowing the mycelium threads to pass into her body.
10. Could The Last of Us happen in real life?
While there are species of fungi that can cause disease in humans, a Cordyceps-related apocalypse is considered extremely unlikely by the scientific community due to several reasons.
11. Why is Ellie immune to the Cordyceps fungus?
Ellie’s immunity is due to her mother being bitten during childbirth, which transferred the Cordyceps fungus to Ellie through the umbilical cord.
12. How did the old lady get infected in The Last of Us?
The old lady got infected after consuming contaminated food, specifically biscuits that had come into contact with the Cordyceps fungus.
13. What is the scariest Infected in The Last of Us?
The Rat King is considered the most appalling and ferocious stage of the Cordyceps infection, being a mixture of all other stages combined into a near-immortal host.
14. What eating disorder does Ellie have in The Last of Us?
Ellie does not have an eating disorder in The Last of Us; however, the actress who plays Ellie, Bella Ramsey, has spoken publicly about her own experiences with anorexia nervosa.
15. Can Ellie cure others or infect them?
While Ellie’s immunity holds the key to potentially creating a cure, it is unclear whether she can infect others, with hints from The Last of Us Part II suggesting that her immunity might prevent her from transmitting the infection to others.