The Last of Us made many "top 2013 game" lists. Whether it be for the story, characters, gameplay, or technical aspects, The Last of Us was lauded by critics. But the game's inclusion in one list in particular — the US Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's "most intriguing LGBT characters of 2013" is easily the most fascinating.
"There weren't many new LGBT characters to be found in mainstream video games this year, but one of 2013's most critically acclaimed featured a particularly interesting one," GLAAD writes. "Released for the PS3, The Last of Us is set in a post-apocalyptic world where lone plague survivors must protect themselves from the infected and each other."
"One of the characters the player encounters over the course of the game is Bill, an unstable loner in the town of Lincoln with a talent for fixing things. Through dialogue and backstory, the player learns that Bill once had a partner named Frank who he loved, but the plague drove them apart and led Frank to a bitter end. Both helpful and contentious, Bill is as deeply flawed but wholly unique a gay character found in any storytelling medium this year."
The part in the game GLAAD is referring to is when the player finds Frank in a nearby home, having hanged himself after becoming infected. Joel finds the suicide note near the body in which Frank tells Bill that he hated his guts.
The rest of the list, which you can see here, is filled with a number of noteworthy lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender characters that "truly stood out from the crowd" in television, movies, and comic books this year.
