Ellie is 14 at the beginning of The Last of Us Part 1. However, the passage of time in both games is nebulous at best. That makes tracking down how old Ellie is by the conclusion of Part 1 and her age through Part 2 challenging. We’ll take a look at the facts and try and determine Ellie’s age throughout The Last of Us series.
How old is Ellie in The Last of Us Part 1?
At the beginning of The Last of Us Part 1 (and in Left Behind) in Summer 2033, Ellie is 14. She says this herself shortly after meeting Joel, and it’s the only time the game firmly establishes her age. We know from the American Dreams comics (where Ellie was 13) that her birthday must have been shortly before Left Behind.
We don’t know Ellie’s exact birthday, but Neil Druckmann confirmed that Ellie was born in Spring. Since The Last of Us Part 1 takes place over the course of roughly a year, it’s likely that by the time of the epilogue, when she and Joel reach Jackson in mid-2034, she’s turned 15.
How old is Ellie in The Last of Us Part 2?
When The Last of Us Part 2 starts in March 2038, Ellie has just turned 19. After returning to Wyoming, she stays with Dina. JJ is born later in the year, and he seems around 18 months old when the game picks back up.
It’s not confirmed, but we can cautiously assume that it’s sometime in mid-2040 when Ellie sets out for Santa Barbara. That’d put her at 21 years old by the time she makes it back to the farmhouse in the epilogue.