The Last of Us 1x5 - Poll!

The creators of the game said they are, this can be seen sometimes such as when the infected attack you they seem to have a look of sorrow, clickers trying to claw out the fungus from they’re face when unaware of the player…etc, when it reaches bloater though that’s when there’s not much sign of the human

KingKong

I think the consciousness is too tied up with some pretty delicate brain functions and as we have seen so far, the fungus is definitely not delicate when it invades. It may be that the fungus is meant to be penetrating through the frontal lobe or hippocampus and causing massive personality changes, like Phineas Gage, and then it's more of a philosophical question as to whether they're aware or the same person after that.

Yizing

I think after a couple days they would be completely taken over and wouldn't have any consciousness. I also wanted to add that Ellie may have just been trying to comfort Sam by sharing her blood, and probably knew it was not going to work.

I think they are, at least for a certain amount of time. My guess is until the body is "dead" and can no longer function without the fungus, they're at least somewhat alive and aware. Because if the body isn't dead, their neurons are still firing and their brain is still active, which leads me to believe they are at least partially aware of what's going on.

KobyWan17

I think the answer lays somewhere in between really. I think that it’s a very real possibility that they are very much still alive in there for a period of time after being take over by the fungus, which honestly makes it scarier. However, I think by the time an infected reaches the clicker stage of the infection all sense of humanity is gone and that person has been “dead” for a long time.

ModdedJoker

i voted yes. when we see tess die we see her let the infected put his tendrils into her mouth and at the same time shes trying to get the lighter lit. it kinda makes me think part of her was still there but part of her was submissive to the infection. so i wonder if as time goes the infection takes over but some awareness is still there.

Boxing Love

Obviously "infected" and "zombies" aren't real so they way they act and their abilities vary between content, but most infected will struggle to reach for their prey even if they are crushed or cut in half, this infected seemed to know that it couldn't move so it didn't try.

Mike B

The first infected that we see Ellie kill seemed to know that it couldn't get to her even if it tried, it looked up at her making low growls as if it was begging to be set free, either by death or by removing the debris.

Mike B

I think yes, up until their body decays to a certain degree then they die but there body still functions. Because the cordyceps feed on them from the inside.

Alpha

God I hope not

Username

There is both a scientifically and canonically correct answer to your poll question. It's the same answer. They give it in the post-episode podcast on the HBOMax channel on youtube. The answer is yes.

coladict

I wish I could vote no but as stated the game has moments where you can kind of tell the people underneath are suffering and maybe trying to fight the infection.

Atomos

Well in the games you can hear the runners and stalkers crying at some points. Implying that they are aware of what is happening to them but they can’t stop it. So yeah I think they are aware up until a certain point, and then when they become clickers they aren’t.

Bryce Young