Tommy Miller

Tommy Miller is a supporting character in HBO's The Last of Us. He is a survivor and Joel's younger brother.^[3]

Biography[]

Background and early life[]

Born between 1972 and 1973, Tommy is the younger brother of Joel and grew up with him in Austin, Texas. They were close growing up, with Joel greatly protective of him. Tommy dreamed of making a difference when he was young, leading him to join the United States Army when he was eighteen in 1991. Tommy served in the military in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War, as a part of the 1st Armored Division, nicknamed "Old Ironsides."^[1]

After growing disillusioned with the military, he was discharged and joined his brother's business as a contractor and ran various jobs with him. Joel ensured they worked together on most jobs, to ensure they both received a high payment for their work. Tommy also bought a pickup truck and stuck a combat veteran bumper sticker on the rear, proud of his service in the Army. After Joel had a daughter, Sarah, Tommy helped to raise her, becoming a close uncle. He regularly drove the girl to school and soccer practice for Joel, though Joel scolded him whenever he smoked in the car while she was there.^[4]

Events of HBO's The Last of Us[]

Surviving the outbreak[]

On September 26, 2003, Tommy arrived at Joel's house in the morning to inform his brother he had secured them a job for extra money. Joel insisted only he and Tommy work on it. Sarah interjected, insisting the brothers not do it and instead celebrate Joel's birthday. The brothers declined though, with Tommy assuring her they would be done by 9 PM that night and they would get a cake to celebrate.

Tommy drove Sarah to school as usual, but not before Joel made him put out a cigarette he lit while in the driver's seat. Once he dropped off Sarah, he drove himself and Joel to complete their assignment. However, the work took longer than expected, and he only dropped Joel off at 10 PM, the brothers forgetting to buy a cake they promised Sarah.

An hour later, Tommy drove to a bar in the city where he flirted with a waitress. However, in Tommy's words, a "crazy man" started to attack the waitress, so Tommy intervened, knocking the man out with a punch to the jaw. The unusually high police presence that night witnessed the attack and arrested Tommy and the crazy man. He was escorted to jail, where he frantically phoned Joel, insisting his older brother bail him out, stating that the jail was in utter chaos as police kept bringing in several crazy people. Relenting, Joel agreed and traversed to the jail.

Upon arriving, Joel managed to bail Tommy out and the pair quickly realized the city had fallen into mayhem as the news networks revealed a Cordyceps brain infection outbreak had reached the city. The pair fought their way to Joel's house, Tommy acquiring a bolt-action rifle along the way, where they arrived in time to protect Sarah from Nana, Joel's elderly neighbor who had succumbed to the Cordyceps. Panicked, Tommy asked Joel what they should do, and his brother decided to kill Nana in self-defense. They then retreated to his pickup truck and drove away to the highway to reach Travis County.

While driving, Tommy noticed Jimmy's farm was set alight, hoping he made it out. Tommy also contemplated pulling over to help a family whose car had broken down, but Joel insisted they press onward to the highway. Upon reaching it, they saw that the rest of the population was doing the same thing, leading to a traffic jam. Desperate to reach the other side where the news networks had promised it was safe as the military were guarding the area, Joel ordered Tommy to drive off-road into town. However, upon doing so, the truck was knocked off the road by an exploding plane that fell from the sky above.

Tommy managed to regain consciousness and escape the truck but was separated from Joel and Sarah, who had been trapped in an alleyway by burning debris. Rifle in hand, Tommy assured Joel he would be okay and would rendezvous with him across the river outside of town. Tommy arrived there in time to save his brother from a soldier, shooting the man in the head. However, he was too late to save Sarah, whom the soldier had shot multiple times. Knowing Sarah would die from her wounds, Tommy looked on somberly as Joel cradled her as she died.^[4]

After the outbreak, Tommy and Joel joined a group of survivors traveling to the quarantine zone that FEDRA had established in Boston. It was in this group where the two met Tess.^[1] While in this group, Tommy murdered people to survive, actions that began to haunt him.^[5] Conflicted with his morality, Tommy later met Marlene and joined the Fireflies, hoping to create a better world rather than just survive through extreme measures.^[4] While in the group, he visited their main research lab at the University of Eastern Colorado.^[5] Tommy eventually left the Fireflies at a later time.^[1]

Life in Jackson[]

Between 2018 and 2023, Tommy then made his way to Wyoming on his own, where a woman named Maria took him into her community in Jackson. Tommy integrated well into the community, putting to use his pre-apocalypse skills in construction to help construct parts of the town. He would also go out on patrol and shoot infected with his scoped hunting rifle.^[5]

In time, Tommy also grew close to Maria, the two eventually marrying and planning to have a child together. Knowing Maria was pregnant, Tommy became more cautious, focusing more on living in the settlement and constructing rather than going out on patrol. They lived in a house together, where Tommy made a memorial to honor Sarah's death, alongside one Maria made for her son, Kevin.^[5] Tommy also kept Joel informed that he was alive by sending radio messages to Abe in Boston daily using the Cody Radio Tower^[4], but - at Maria's insistence - did not reveal information about the Jackson community. By 2023, Tommy's messages became less frequent, with Maria eventually banning him from having any radio contact at all.^[5] Despite knowing Joel would not like him no longer contacting him, Tommy honored Maria's wishes and stopped messaging Joel in either late August or early September that year.^[4]

Reuniting with Joel[]

In the winter of 2023, Tommy was helping other residents in the community build structures when he heard a man call out to him. Tommy looked up and saw Maria's patrol had returned and had found his brother Joel along with a teenage girl, Ellie. Overcome with emotion, Tommy raced from his construction post and hugged his brother.

Soon after, Tommy and Maria treated Joel and Ellie to a meal in the town's mess hall. Tommy revealed he had married Maria and considered her as close to family as Joel was to him. Sensing Joel's bitterness as this revelation, he offered to give them a tour of the town, revealing the supplies, way of life and stability that was brought on by their collective ownership. Joel quipped that Tommy was living in a communist society, a comment he deflected but Maria insisted was correct, briefly stunning him. Maria then offered to take Ellie to freshen up at a house across from theirs, allowing Tommy to take Joel for a drink.

Inside the Tipsy Bison, Tommy broke the ice and shared a drink with Joel, taking pride in Joel's comments that the liquor was high quality, remarking he was breeding hogs and planned to be eating bacon soon. Tommy then asked how Tess was, Joel claiming she was fine and that he was really only in Jackson because he was taking Ellie to the Fireflies. Tommy sat next to his brother and told him about the Fireflies' base in the University of Eastern Colorado but insisted he would not be going with him, admitting he was going to be a father. Joel did not congratulate him, which sparked Tommy to declare that, although Joel's life had stopped after Sarah's death, his had not. Angered, Joel stormed out of the bar, leaving Tommy alone.

Hours later, Tommy was with Maria watching a movie in the mess hall with most of the community. He asked a man where Joel was, learning he was in a workshop alone. Tommy collected a pair of hiking boots and proceeded to the workshop, finding Joel sullen in a chair. He put the boots on the work bench as a gift for Joel, stating he was sorry for how he reacted earlier, understanding Joel's resentment at Tommy having secured the family life that Joel had lost.

However, Joel confessed that Ellie was in fact immune to Cordyceps. Stunned, Tommy moved to leave the workshop but relented and sat opposite Joel, asking him to tell him everything. Joel then admitted that he and Tess were hired by Marlene to smuggle Ellie out of Boston and get her to safety so the Fireflies could make a cure. However, Tess was bitten and died; her dying wish being for Joel to take Ellie. Joel then broke down, confessing he did not feel he was strong enough to care for Ellie and would only fail her as he had done Sarah twenty years earlier, admitting he was having nightmares where his failure was unrelenting. Seeing his brother's emotional state, Tommy agreed to take Ellie from him as a final favor for the years Joel had spent keeping him alive. He then directed Joel where Ellie was staying to go and join her.

By dawn, Tommy packed his bag and hunting rifle and collected Ellie from the house. However, when arriving at the ranch to collect a horse, they found Joel there already prepared to leave. Joel then gave Ellie a choice between either him or Tommy taking her, the girl choosing the former. Tommy then hugged his brother, promising the pair a place in the Jackson community should they return. Joel accepted the offer and asked to borrow Tommy's rifle, the man accepting. Tommy then hugged his brother once more before leading them out, watching as they rode away from Jackson together.^[5]

Appearance[]

Before the outbreak, Tommy had shoulder length curly black hair, was clean shaven and tended to wear red shirts with a white polo vest and jeans.^[4] After the outbreak, he grew his hair longer, had a moustache and changed his clothing while living in Jackson. Notably, he wore leather gloves, blue buttoned shirts, a blue winter coat and walking boots. He also tended to have and use a scoped-hunting rifle as his weapon of choice, remarking it was his favorite from his time serving in the Army.^[5]

Personality[]

Tommy is defined by his selflessness towards other through care and collaboration, believing when people were dependent on someone, that was a sign they truly loved them.^[4] In Joel's words, Tommy was a "joiner" and had always wanted to "fix things" and seek to make a better life in society. This started in his youth, with Tommy joining the Army to accomplish this.^[1] After leaving the Army, this selflessness continued, stretching from his efforts to help Joel run his construction business to caring for his niece Sarah. Even during the outbreak, Tommy got into a fight with a man to protect a waitress. Furthermore, when realizing how bad the outbreak had become, Tommy allied with Joel to help keep Sarah safe and even saved Joel from a soldier, risking his own life to keep him alive.^[4]

This selflessness left Tommy morally conflicted when Joel convinced him that surviving in the apocalypse meant they had to murder innocent people, making him believe there were no other means to survive.^[5] However, Tommy's desire to restore society eventually led to him abandoning Joel to join the Fireflies^[4] and later join Maria's community in Jackson, always choosing the chance to build a new society through cooperation and trust rather than keeping family safe through violence or isolation. He even married Maria, a leader within the group, displaying how his desire for a better world is equal to his love for family. Tommy's dedication to the community further drives conflict in Tommy when Joel later re-enters his life, the man having to choose between his old relationship with Joel and his new life with Maria, Tommy eventually deciding to honor his connection to Joel and take Ellie to the Fireflies for him.^[5]

Relationships[]

Joel Miller[]

Tommy is Joel's younger brother and the pair were close, growing up together in Austin, Texas. Tommy loved his brother, working together in his construction business and helping raise his daughter, Sarah. Joel, however, viewed this love more as a dependency on him. Indeed, in their lives together, Tommy relied on Joel to help him out in tough scenarios. This ranged from providing him a job after he left the Army to bailing him out of jail after he was locked up for fighting. This dependency continued after the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak, with Tommy relying on Joel to keep him safe in the post-apocalyptic years. Although, Tommy had the chance to also protect Joel, notably saving him from a soldier trying to shoot him during the outbreak.^[4]

Despite initially lying to Tommy about his reason for being in Jackson, Joel soon opened up to him about Ellie's immunity and pleading with him to take Ellie to the Fireflies in his place, revealing Tommy was the only man Joel completely trusted, even feeling comfortable enough to display emotion and cry in front of him.^[5]

However, the brothers did have conflict in their relationship. Unlike Joel, Tommy was an idealist, fixated on improving the wider world.^[5] As such, the two fell out over Joel's dark actions and Tommy's new cause with the Fireflies.^[4] Although Joel thought this a sign Tommy resented him, he denied this, admitting he didn't judge him for the sins they committed to survive. Tommy would even share this burden with Joel, admitting they had killed innocent people together, even if Joel was the initiator.^[5] The two also kept in contact with one another, with Joel concerned when Tommy's radio messages stopped in August 2023.^[4] Joel would remark this as another sign of Tommy's dependency on him, with Joel seeing it his duty to leave Boston and go out and help him in Wyoming.^[1]

When seeing Joel again for the first time in years in the winter of 2023, Tommy was overcome with emotion and hugged his brother tightly. However, when left alone to drink in private, Tommy recalled the pain he and Joel had caused in their efforts to survive, eventually declared his life had moved on even though Joel's had not, affirming his new life was with Maria rather than following Joel anymore. Despite this outburst, Tommy understood his brother's pain, inferring Joel's resentment at his declaration about becoming a father reminded Joel of his failure to save Sarah.^[5]

Sarah Miller[]

Tommy was Sarah's uncle and cared for her, helping Joel to raise her growing up. Although, he wasn't always the ideal uncle Joel wanted him to be, notably smoking in front of Sarah, an action Joel disliked. Because of Tommy's care for Sarah, he supported Joel's efforts to protect her during the Cordyceps outbreak, driving her to safety in his truck and even checked if she was okay when finding her again. Tommy was grief stricken when Sarah was killed, blaming himself for not being able to save her from the soldier as he did Joel.^[4] When he settled in Jackson, Tommy kept a memorial for Sarah in the home he shared with Maria.^[5]

Marlene[]

Tommy was once a loyal follower to Marlene and the Fireflies' cause. He saw in her a chance to restore the world to its civilized state.^[1] As such, for years he allied with Marlene despite it causing great tension and resentment from his brother Joel. However, by 2023, Tommy lost faith in Marlene's cause and left her group, displaying his faith in her wasn't absolute.^[4]

Maria[]

Tommy was married to Maria and was the father to her unborn child. The two were close, living together in Jackson. Tommy loved Maria so much that he stopped keeping contact with Joel via radio, choosing to respect her wishes to keep Jackson isolated rather than talk with his brother. He also affectionately held her hand when he insisted she was family to Joel, and could be privy to their conversations. This affection also led Tommy to live a more careful lifestyle, the man abandoning efforts to patrol and seek fights as he once did to keep himself safe to ensure he would be there to care for their child.

However, after seeing how much Joel's time with Ellie had affected him, Tommy was convinced to abandon his life with Maria and risk transporting Ellie across Wyoming to Colorado, demonstrating his dedication to Maria did have limitations.^[5]

Behind the scenes[]

• Tommy is portrayed by American actor and producer Gabriel Luna.^[6] About a month after the casting of Pascal and Ramsey as Joel and Ellie respectively, Luna was asked to submit an audition tape. He was familiar with the work of co-creator Craig Mazin and executive producer Carolyn Strauss, and had previously worked on HBO's True Detective. About a week after submitting his tape, he was offered the role and, according to Luna, they instantly knew he was "the one". He was enthusiastic for the role, having lived in Austin, Texas—Joel and Tommy's hometown—around the same time as the show's setting.^[7] He was also given a PlayStation 5 during production to play the games as research.^[8]
  • Luna provided input for Tommy's costume, such as the Texan plant Indian paintbrush on his boots and his First Nations-crafted belt buckle, which he felt Tommy "found and treasured because it was just so well-made".^[9]
  • Luna partly took inspiration from popular Texans such as Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson for Tommy's personality, particularly Kristofferson for his relaxed attitude.^[10]
  • Luna believed Tommy desires a family like his brother's and a world in which people can return to peaceful living.^[11] Luna says he could also personally relate to Joel's actions as an older brother, particularly as he had been the patriarch of his own family alongside his single mother.^[12]

Quotes[]

Tommy: "Hey! Still alive you old fucker."

Sarah: "Aww, he loves you."

Joel: "He's dependent on me. It's not the same."

Sarah: "I think it's the same."

Tommy: "It's definitely the same."

Tommy: "Joel. It's me. I'm okay."

Joel: "Yeah?"

Tommy: "But I'm in jail."

Joel: "Goddamnit"

Tommy: "It wasn't my fault this time. I was at the bar, some guy goes crazy, starts swinging at a waitress. I stepped in, knocked him out, got sewn up. Look, it doesn't fucking matter, you gotta bail me out."

Joel: "Now?"

Tommy: "It's Friday. You don't get me out tonight, I'm in here all weekend. It's a fucking mad house Joel, I gotta get out."

Joel: "Which jail? Travis County?"

Tommy: "Yeah, on the 10."

Joel: "Goddamnit Tommy."

Tommy: "I'm sorry. Please."

Joel: "Okay."

Tommy: "Just because life stopped for you doesn't mean that it has to stop for me."

Gallery[]

Promotional images[]

Promotional poster featuring Gabriel Luna as Tommy.^[6]

Official stills[]

Tommy with his rifle.

A bloodied Tommy.

Tommy in Austin during the outbreak.

Tommy with his rifle during the outbreak.

Tommy outside Joel's house during the outbreak.

Tommy sees Joel.

Joel and Tommy reunite in Jackson.

Tommy and Maria watch Joel and Ellie eat.

Tommy smiles at Joel.

Tommy and Maria take Joel and Ellie on a tour around Jackson.

Tommy in the Tipsy Bison.

Tommy tells Joel about the University of Eastern Colorado

Tommy and Joel drink together.

Tommy tells Joel he will not help him with Ellie.

Tommy watches Joel leave the bar.

Tommy listens as Joel tells him about his journey with Ellie.

Tommy and Ellie prepare to leave Jackson.

References[]

v · d · e Characters and groups in HBO's The Last of Us
Groups	Cannibals · FEDRA · Fireflies · Infected (Runner · Stalker · Clicker · Bloater) · Jackson community · Kansas City resistance · Raiders · Smugglers · Survivors · United States military
Austin	Connie Adler · Danny Adler · Denise · Jimmy · Lauterstein · Mercy · Nana · Nasir · Sarah Miller · Tahira
Boston	Abe · Becca · Bethany · Carol · Ellie Williams · Gabriela · Jason Choi · Joel Miller · Maria Elisiano · Miguel · Robert · Tess
Cannibals	Alec · David · Hannah · James · Josiah · Joyce · Howard · Marco · Martin · Timothy
FEDRA	Knapp · Kwong · Lee
Fireflies	Kim Tembo · Marlene · Riley
Jackson	Maria Miller · Shimmer · Tommy Miller
Jakarta	Agus Hidayat · Ratna Pertiwi
Kansas City	The Bergquists · Carrie Schreiber · The Chans · Edelstein · Henry Burrell · Mark Anthony Halpin · Sam Burrell
Lincoln	Bill · Frank
Resistance	Anthony · Bryan · Kathleen Coghlan · Michael Coghlan · Perry
Wyoming	Florence · Marlon
Other characters	Abby Anderson · Anna · Dina · Isaac · Jesse · Kevin · Manny · Mel · Murray · Neuman · Nora · Owen · Schoenheiss