The Bloater is, without a doubt, the most frightening and intimidating infected to appear inThe Last of Us.Representing one of the latest stages of theCordycepsinfection, Bloaters are massive, nigh-unkillable monsters with a sole weakness: fire. The Bloater that appeared in Season 1 of HBO’sThe Last of UsTV adaptation was already terrifying, but the team at Weta FX ramped up the fear factor in Season 2.
Animation Supervisor Dennis Yoo and VFX Supervisor Nick Epstein talked to Game Rant about the process of creating a brand-new Bloater for Season 2. “[Neil Druckmannand Craig Mazin] wanted something slightly different,” Epstein revealed. “Bigger, more powerful, more imposing.” The result is a Bloater that is ten percent taller and bulkier than Season 1’s take on the creature, serving as a horrifying centerpiece to the siege of Jackson before being ultimately defeated by a fire-wielding Tommy Miller.
Season 2’s Bloater Is Bigger, Stronger, And Scarier
When designing Season 2’s Bloater, Epstein and Yoo began by referencing professional wrestlers to find the body type they wanted. “He had to look powerful without looking like a chiseled bodybuilder,” Epstein explained. They then improved upon theCordycepsarmorthat covers the creature’s body, making the Bloater’s movement feel more natural and adjusting hip armor plates that had made certain motions difficult in Season 1.
The Bloater also received a redesigned headpiece, based on a real-world fungus called Chicken of the Woods(Laetiporus sulphureus).Finally, the creature was scaled up approximately ten percent to let it really stand out among the horde of infected that menaceJackson in Season 2’s second episode.
The Bloater Bursting Through Jackson’s Wall Is An Iconic Moment
Yoo and Epstein revealed that one of the biggest challenges they encountered whendesigning the Bloaterwas the moment the enormous infected burst through the wall of logs surrounding the town of Jackson. They had to work closely with motion capture performer Ike Hamon to capture how the Bloater could realistically cause such destruction. Yoo described the process:
“It’s not like a superhero, where he just busts through and things explode - “Ta da.” It was more like he was punching through the wall. And then, we got comments on his performance from Craig [Mazin]. He’s like, “No, that doesn’t feel realistic. These are huge logs that he’s busting through, and he’s pushing and punching.””
Ultimately, Epstein and Yoo feel that they successfully rose to the challenge and that the moment when the Bloater bursts through Jackson’s wall is an effectively horrifying one. Epstein admitted that, even though he knew what was coming, he was frightened by the moment, as he was able to put himselfin the shoes of Tommy, who knows what a Bloater sounds like and immediately recognizes what is happening. “How can we make this even worse…there’s a Bloater out there. You hear the sound, and then you see him.”
The Bloater was not the only infected to have a memorable appearance in Season 2 ofThe Last of Us.A scenefeaturing agile Stalkersis described by Epstein as one of the season’s most frightening, full of “good old-fashioned jump scares,” while the massive horde of infected chasing Abby through the snow reminds viewers that even standard Clickers can be quite deadly, especially when hundreds of them are encountered at once. But the massive, looming, nearly impossible to defeat Bloater will almost certainly be the source of nightmares for severalThe Last of UsSeason 2 viewers thanks to Weta’s amazing work.
