What Was That Terrifying New Monster on ‘The Last of Us’? Bloaters, Explained

[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Last of Us Season 1, Episode 5.]

Just when you thought the flesh-eating, fungus-infested monsters in The Last of Us couldn’t possibly get worse… along comes a Bloater.

Let’s be clear: regular Infected and Clickers are no walk in the park. Both of them can be tricky to kill, and both present clear challenges to survival. But holy moly, the thing that rose out of the massive hole in the ground during the show’s fifth episode was horrifying. Here’s what you need to know about the creature destined to give you nightmares.

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What Is a Bloater?

As was evident in the episode, a Bloater is a uniquely dangerous form of Infected that presents an even bigger threat than Runners or Clickers. Bloaters are relatively rare in the world of The Last of Us because they take a long time to form; unlike the other versions of monsters we’ve seen, they grow over a period of years. Bloaters are extremely difficult to kill because their skin is coated with thick patches of fungus. This makes guns significantly less effective against them—as was evident when Kathleen’s (Melanie Lynskey) group tried to shoot down the creature. Bloaters, like Clickers, have no eyesight and hunt via echolocation. They’re incredibly strong, too, able to tear survivors apart with their huge, freakish hands.

How Does the Show’s Bloater Differ from the Game?

By and large, the Bloater seen in Episode 5 is a faithful recreation of the monster that shows up in the video game. It has the same nasty physical characteristics, including the awful-looking growths on its skin and over its eyes. It also kills in the same way (tearing people’s heads off by pulling them apart at the jaw).

That said, it doesn’t throw any toxin-filled sacs; this Bloater’s brute strength was terrifying enough. And in the game, Joel and Ellie encounter one earlier in the story while in a school in Bill’s town. In the show, the Bloater wasn’t really their fight — it was more a decimation of Kathleen’s forces. If you can’t just shoot a Bloater to take it down, what can you do? As those who’ve played the game will know, the monster’s main weakness is fire. Once it’s been engulfed in flames, it’s much easier to destroy one—although, of course, running into a Bloater never means an easy fight.

The Last of Us Season 1, 9/8c, Sundays, HBO