Abby Anderson – The Last of Us 2. 12 Most-Hated Video Games Characters
Table of Contents
Warning – spoilers.
Who is Abby?
Abby Anderson is a character who we meet in the second part of The Last of Us. The authors used here a rather rare patent of combining the role of the antagonist and protagonist, because technically Abby is both and in addition one of the characters we come to control. Abby has already appeared during the events of the first part, as we can see in the flashbacks in "two". It was Jerry, her father, who as the chief surgeon of the Fireflies, decided that Ellie must be sacrificed in order to create a vaccine against the rampant plague. As we know, this didn't happen thanks to Joel's courageous intervention – to him, Ellie's life was more important than anything else. Killing the surgeon was a crime of passion, leading to various consequences in the sequel and still sparks debate today.
Why do players hate Abby?
Abby Anderson's character provoked the question, "Did Micah Bell just stop being the most hated person in video games?" The reason is clear – Abby murdered one of the most loved, cherished, and admired characters in gaming history. And she did that with premeditation! With the savage delight and cruelty which we had to watch minute by minute. She did it in a far worse and more memorable way than the crude Micah did with Arthur. Nevertheless, the answer to the question posed earlier is not so obvious.
The developers at Naughty Dog left us at a loss, forcing us to take on the role of Abby and, more importantly, learn about her motives. And these turned out to be generally quite justifiable. Abby's situation was not significantly different from Ellie's when she began her main mission in the second part of the game. Two different girls, but the same determination for revenge and good reasons for it. So is it legitimate to cheer for one and stigmatize the other?
After learning of Abby's fate in the game, opinions are still divided today. This is definitely very much influenced by the fact that, unlike Joel, the character of Jerry – Abby's father – is almost completely indifferent to us. We haven't had as long a time to get to know him and relate to him in any way. While everything tells us that he was probably a righteous man and had the good of all mankind in mind, it's hard to compare to the emotions that Joel and Ellie's journey in the first installment of The Last of Us evoked. We sympathize with the series' new heroine, but gamers will forever remain divided between "team Ellie" and "team Abby" anyway. And which side did you take?
