One fan decided to share their artwork bringing pokemon into the world of The Last of Us. The two series could not be further apart from each other in presentation. The Last of Us has a particular focus on survival, exploring mature themes of brutality and the extent that people can go in unfortunate circumstances. In comparison, Pokemon is much more family friendly despite some very disturbing Pokedex entries.
Recently, The Last of Us has just received a TV series adaptation on HBO featuring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. The adaptation has been met with stellar reviews from critics and fans alike, with the first episode attracting over 10 million viewers. It has certainly rejuvenated interest in the series overall and attracted plenty of new players to the franchise as The Last of Us game sales overall have increased since the launch of the first episode.
One fan of both series decided to create a unique piece of art highlighting the lore of both series. In a post uploaded to Reddit, mitchturek shared an image of Joel and Ellie going through a spore-infected home and finding Paras and Parasect has the source of the spores. The artist's art style is very distinct, but it appears that the version of Joel and Ellie drawn here are based on The Last of Us TV series as opposed to the video games.
The artwork highlights both the lore of The Last of Us video game and the Pokedex entry of Paras and Parasect. Spores from brain-controlling fungi are the source of the pandemic in The Last of Us video game and Parasect's description in the Pokedex describes it as a parasitic mushroom that has taken over the host bug. Both series take inspiration from real life parasites that are known for taking over bugs and small birds and creating them into zombie-like creatures, so it is very interesting to see the overlap in inspiration highlighted so well in this fan art.
This fan art is brilliant in how it highlights similarities between very distinct series. It's also hard not to imagine a more mature Pokemon game that leans more into the horror genre as opposed to a family-friendly adventure. Considering the extent of truly bizarre and horror-themed entries included in the Pokedex as well as several subplots in the Pokemon series itself, it would certainly be an interesting concept for Game Freak to explore.
The Last of Us airs Sunday nights on HBO.
