Carbon Costume

Riley (played by Storm Reid) is the roommate and love interest of Ellie on HBO’s series The Last of Us.  Riley is a former classmate of Ellie’s who escaped the Fedra school where they lived together and joined the Fireflies to help liberate the Boston QZ.  Riley lives in an abandoned mall where she’s been stationed by Marlene and sneaks Ellie out of her dorm to see it before she leaves the city.  Riley wears her long blonde braids in a ponytail, with a green headband.  The rest of her attire includes a t-shirt, a navy twill button-down, a hoodie, and jeans.  She also dons sturdy boots and a burgundy backpack.

Sam (played by Keivonn Woodard) is the deaf younger brother of Henry in the HBO series The Last of Us.  When Henry and Sam are hunted by Kathleen, the two make a plan with Joel and Ellie to leave Kansas City and travel with the pair to Wyoming.  Sam is deaf, and he communicates via American Sign Language with his older brother, and also through the use of a magnetic notepad.  He wears a yellow hoodie under a blue jacket and has orange face paint that looks like a superhero mask on his face, courtesy of Henry.  If you can’t find a jacket that’s quilted exactly like Sam’s, a plain puffer jacket will do.

Marlene (played by Merle Dandridge, the only actor to reprise her role from the original game) is the leader of the Boston Fireflies in the HBO video game adaptation The Last of Us. At the start of the series, Ellie is in the custody of the Fireflies under Marlene’s command, but she asks Joel and Theresa to take custody of her after a deal gone wrong leaves her injured.  Marlene’s clothing is indicative of her status as a militia leader.  She wears sturdy boots and tactical pants with a form-fitting tank top layered over a utilitarian sports bra.

Kathleen Coghlan (played by Melanie Lynskey) is the leader of a rogue group of survivors in HBO’s The Last of Us.  After taking over the QZ and Fedra in Kansas City, Kathleen and her followers, including Perry, seek to hunt down a man responsible for reporting on her brother to the military police force they’ve since overthrown.  Kathleen has long, dark hair that she pulls back, and wears rugged jeans, sturdy boots, and a grey military jacket over a beige collared shirt.  She straps her handgun to her left thigh with a black holster.

Ellie Williams (played by Bella Ramsey) is a main character of HBO’s horror series The Last of Us.   Ellie is a young teenage girl who appears to be immune to the devastating fungal infection that has turned much of humanity into zombie-like creatures.  Ellie ends up leaving the Boston Quarantine Zone with Joel and Theresa after Marlene is injured.  Ellie’s costume is relatively simple, with lots of practical layers including jeans, a baseball tee, a hoodie, and a study jacket.  She also carries a switchblade, which a prop knife can be used in place of.

Frank (played by Murray Bartlett) is a survivor of the fungi outbreak in HBO’s video game adaptation The Last of Us.  Frank is on his way to Boston from Baltimore when he lands in a trap laid by Bill, who is initially reticent to let Frank stay on his property.  Soon enough, though, Bill demonstrates that he’s an excellent chef, and the two bond over their love of Linda Rondstadt.  It’s not long until they fall in love and spend the rest of their lives together in Bill’s fortified neighborhood.  When Frank first appears, he is dirty and disheveled from his travels.  He emerges from the trap wearing a ribbed crewneck sweater.  After a shower, he changes into one of Bill’s plaid shirts.  He continues to wear plaid as he ages, and when the two marry at the piano that first brought them together, Frank wears a black blazer over a white shirt.

Bill (played by Nick Offerman) is a survivalist in the apocalyptic series The Last of Us on HBO.  Bill evades the military when they come to round up survivors and outfits his house and neighborhood to be optimally secure.  When Frank lands himself in one of his traps, Bill’s solitude is brought to an end, and the two fall in love and share a life together for many years.  Bill’s look varies throughout the episode because it spans so many years.  When he first meets Frank, he’s wearing a grey sweatshirt and jeans, is outfitted with plenty of weaponry, and has long brown hair and a full beard.  As he ages, his hair goes grey and he wears it a little shorter, but he never quite ditches his lumberjack-inspired fashion choices, opting for sturdy clothes and plenty of plaid.  When he and Frank marry, he wears a tweed blazer.

Joel Miller (played by Pedro Pascal) is one of the main characters in HBO’s video game adaptation The Last of Us.  Joel is a smuggler working out of the Boston Quarantine Zone twenty years into the pandemic that resulted in the death of his daughter Sarah.  Soon, he is tasked with escorting Ellie Williams out of the QZ.  Joel’s clothing is rugged and durable.  He wears more than one outfit, but you can’t go wrong with a flannel shirt and jeans, maybe layered under a brown coat.  Most importantly, Joel always wears his green banded wristwatch, even though it no longer works, because having it fixed was his daughter’s last gift to him before she died.