The Last Of Us' First Terrifying Look At The Clickers Has Fans All Saying The Same Thing

Zombie fiction has had a good run between television shows like "The Walking Dead," "iZombie," and "Z Nation," movies like "Dawn of the Dead," "Warm Bodies," and "World War Z," and all manner of video games. However, some popular franchises are trying to breathe some new life into the genre, and one of the best examples of this is the mega-hit video game "The Last of Us." Instead of undead zombies, "The Last of Us" takes a more scientific and realistic approach, and it is based on a real-life fungal infection.

Where zombies are usually brought into this world through a rogue science program or dark magic, the infection in "The Last of Us" is inspired by the Cordyceps fungus. As noted by National Geographic, Cordyceps is a parasitic fungal infection that normally affects insects. Not only does it infect these arthropods, but it also manipulates their behavior and essentially consumes them from the inside. The infected insect is then mindlessly compelled to find a location suitable for the propagation of spores, and once it has found a spot, it will wait there till a fruiting fungus body explodes from the victim to restart the process. "The Last of Us" shows what might happen if Cordyceps could infect humans, and the results are terrifying. Luckily for fans of the video game series, it seems as if HBO's take will honor the video game, and the fans are definitely enthusiastic about the look of one iteration of the infected.

There are multiple stages of Cordyceps infection in "The Last of Us" video game, and it looks like HBO's version continues this trend. According to The Last of Us Wiki, there are four different stages of Cordyceps infection. The first stage is usually two days after exposure, and it results in a loss of higher brain function and intense aggression. From there, the Cordyceps begins to physically change the bodies of its victims, and each stage sees some rather dramatic results. As such, the Stage 3 form is commonly referred to as a "Clicker," which means that the victim's body displays fungal infection, with the most noticeable being the head, which has been completely transformed. No longer able to see, these Clickers make a distinct clicking noise for echolocation, hence the name.

Now that the trailer for HBO's "The Last of Us" series has dropped over on YouTube, many are heaping praise on the look of the iconic monsters from the game. Taking to Twitter, @ZeroYear97 said, "HBO is staying truly faithful to the games and I love it, the clickers will no doubt go unbelievably hard during #TheLastofUs." Others were also impressed, like @Jimmy_Mac_4701 saying they can hardly tell the difference between the show and the video game, while @giselleb1234 added that the show has pretty much nailed it with the Clickers. @ADAMCHECKNIGHT is also excited about this new show, writing, "Looks amazing. I don't see how this series can fail unless Ellie and Joel have terrible chemistry." Ultimately, it looks like fans of the video game believe that the Clickers have been faithfully recreated in HBO's "The Last of Us." And as for Ellie and Joel, stars and "Game of Thrones" alums Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal look more than fitting to bring the dynamic duo to life.