Character from The Last of Us by Naughty Dog
Joel's smuggling partner — a hard woman who kept him functional for twenty years and who chose to die fighting so he'd have a reason to keep going.
Tess is Joel's partner in the Boston QZ — his business partner, his likely romantic partner (the series implies but never confirms), and the person who kept him tethered to something resembling human connection during his worst years. She is pragmatic, tough, and more emotionally available than Joel, which isn't a high bar. She was bitten during the run to the Capitol Building. She chose to sacrifice herself — staying behind to fight FEDRA soldiers and buy Joel and Ellie time — because she believed Ellie's immunity was real and worth protecting. Her last request to Joel: get Ellie to the Fireflies. It's the request that starts the entire journey. In the HBO series, her death is recontextualized with Cordyceps tendrils spreading from her bite, making her sacrifice more urgent and more horrifying.
Athletic and weathered with brown hair, hazel eyes, and the sharp, assessing gaze of someone who has been surviving through crime for two decades. She dresses in practical dark clothing and carries weapons with casual familiarity. She looks tired in the way that people who have been running for twenty years look tired.
Also known as: Tess, Tess Servopoulos