Joel

Joel Miller is a Texan American construction worker and single father who is estranged from his parents. Before the apocalypse, he was a carpenter raising his daughter Sarah in Austin, Texas. After losing his daughter at the onset of the Cordyceps outbreak, he becomes a hardened survivor and smuggler, acting as a surrogate father and protector to Ellie throughout their journey. He has a significant relationship with his younger brother Tommy, a former member of the Fireflies. Joel is resilient, cynical, protective, and resourceful, with a brooding and stubborn personality. He enjoys woodworking and fishing and has survived a house collapse incident. A key scene involves Joel's pivotal decision to save Ellie from the Fireflies' surgery, choosing her life over a potential cure for humanity.