The Last of Us: What Are Clickers and How Are They Created?

The first chapter of The Last of Us was a kind of introduction, we found out what happened to Joel the day the virus broke out that killed millions of people, but we also got to see how the survivors live and who controls everything. On one side is FEDRA, on the other the Fireflies, and in the middle of it all are Joel (Pedro Pascal), Tess (Anna Torv) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who must make a journey through the affected cities to reach the place. where Ellie can help those who are working on a cure for the Cordyceps infection.

While the cure is discovered, the infected remains a serious problem and endangers the lives of all humans, especially since there are different stages of the infection and each one becomes more dangerous than the last, and this is what leads to There are different types of zombies in the history of The Last of Us. We know that only a live infected person can infect someone, but contagion is not the only thing survivors face. One of the final stages of the infection turns people into Clickers, which the three travelers run into while trying to survive the most dangerous parts of Boston.

The Last of Us: How Are Clickers Created? 

The Cordyceps infection begins in Jakarta, Indonesia, and travels to the rest of the world, or so theories say, through products such as flour and different grains, which creates the first infection in the United States. Those early infected, like Joel and Sarah’s elderly neighbor, become violent and fast, allowing them to chase others, bite and infect them (if not kill them), and they develop symptoms within minutes (which, according to a graph in the quarantine zone, it can be from 5 to 15 minutes depending on the area of ​​the bite).

The first stage of the infection creates what is known as  Runners, due to their speed, after between two weeks and a year, the runners transform into a type of zombie called  Stalkers, who present the infection through a kind of fungus that grows on their heads and they are also fast and violent, the difference is that they do not attack just by inertia or instinct, but they can plan their attacks as if they were hunters in search of prey, they even hide and wait for the moment is perfect to attack.

If the Stalkers survive for more than a year (although it can be longer), they become creatures known as Clickers, making them no longer look exactly like the people they used to be. The Clickers are more like the Demogorgons from Stranger Things, the fungus has taken control of their heads and part of their bodies and, although they still have a human figure, they are covered by the fungus that also covers the buildings of the cities. In addition, they make a  clicking sound that allows them to locate their prey and locate them in space, they cannot see, but their clicks are very effective in finding their prey.

Clickers are very dangerous, but they do not represent the last stage of the infection, the first part of the final stage is known as Bloater, which happens many years after the initial infection. These are the zombies with the most grotesque appearance in The Last of Us, this is because they are completely covered by the fungus, which protects them and makes them look swollen as if they were going to explode at any moment.

Unlike the runners, the Bloaters are slow, but they are very difficult to kill, due to the fungus that covers them, and they are also extremely strong, which makes them even more dangerous. Eventually, the Bloaters become Shamblers, who can infect by releasing spores into the air (mentioned by Ellie while touring Boston). The advantage of this is that it is difficult for an infected person to reach the Shambler stage, and everything indicates that the series is going to stay with the Clickers.