What Does Uncharted's Tenzin Have in Common with The Last of Us' Ellie?

Tenzin was one of the more interesting characters from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The Tibetan explorer couldn't speak a word of English, making his relationship with protagonist Nathan Drake pretty unique. However, according to an excellent feature on GameSpot, the character was originally conceived as a mute female, who would form a bond with the rugged adventurer throughout the course of the campaign.

Forever friends

"The girl would wake you up in the middle of the night and gesture for you to follow her," creative director Neil Druckmann told the website. "She'd lead you up to this rooftop and point to the horizon, and you'd see the sun just coming up over the village, one beautiful moment against a backdrop of violence and war."

The character wasn’t to be, but Naughty Dog never gave up on the idea. When the studio splintered into two teams, the new group immediately started work on a new Jak & Daxter game, but the concept was trashed. Instead, Druckmann and his partner in crime, game director Bruce Straley, returned to the mute girl idea, and created The Last of Us' Joel and Ellie as a result.

There’s tons more about the development of the post-apocalyptic exclusive – including some snippets about the world itself – over on GameSpot. You could do worse things with your Saturday than read the whole thing.

[source us.gamespot.com]