Season 2 of The Last of Us has left a lot of hate for Bella Ramsey in its wake. So much so that fans have found an NPC that looks like her.

If you’ve scrolled through Instagram or TikTok lately, you might have seen reels or videos criticising The Last of Us show, specifically, Bella Ramsey, the actor playing Ellie. This time, fans online have found an NPC from The Last of Us Part 2 that they think looks exactly like Bella Ramsey.

The character is Whitney Sato, a minor NPC that you might remember as Portable Gamer Girl, because we find her playing games on a small handheld that looks like a PlayStation Portable. So, does this NPC really look like Bella Ramsey? Well, yes and no.

The Last of Us fans have found a character who looks like Bella Ramsey

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Ramsey, who earned praise as Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, has been under fire ever since she was cast as Ellie. But the hate got escalated to the next level in this new season. So much so that fans have found a character in The Last of Us Part 2, who would allegedly suit the actor more.

To be clear, Whitney Sato isn’t even a central character. She’s a WLF soldier Ellie kills during one of the game’s most intense interrogation scenes. Whitney’s Asian features, brown hair, and panicked expression as Ellie holds a knife to her throat are what fans are now absurdly holding up as “proof” that the NPC looks more like Bella Ramsey than Ellie herself.

Now, is it true that Ramsey looks nothing like Ellie from the game? Yeah, it’s quite obvious. Could that warrant a level of criticism? Sure, but towards HBO, and not the actor. Does it justify the kind of hate that Ramsey is getting? Absolutely not. But it’s a very valid criticism when it’s not mixed with hate and body shaming.

But this is about more than just a silly side-by-side comparison. Since her casting was announced, Bella Ramsey has been under fire from a loud corner of the fandom. Some fans, even before watching the show, were angry that Ramsey didn’t resemble video-game Ellie closely enough. They picked apart her bone structure, her eye shape, her nonbinary identity, and even her hair.

There’s a fine line between criticism and outright hate

Let’s not be that big of haters. | Image Credit: HBO

The thing is, The Last of Us Part 2 was always controversial, even within the gaming community. The brutal, gut-wrenching story and plot twists got to us all when it launched in 2020, and adapting it for TV was never going to satisfy everyone. But it really is crazy to see how much of the fan anger has centered not on the writing, pacing, or plot, but on Bella Ramsey’s face.

Ellie, as a character, has seen a lot of changes that people aren’t quite liking. Many fans believe that Season 2 “butchered” Ellie’s character by softening her rough edges and making her less of the hardened, ruthless person she is in the games. Even with Ramsey delivering a widely praised performance, the writing has left both game fans and casual viewers divided.

In the end, the real question isn’t whether Ramsey looks like Whitney Sato or even Ellie. It’s why we keep expecting actors to perfectly mirror fictional characters. They can mirror their behavior all they want, but whether they look like the character isn’t their decision, and they can only do so much with the script they’re given. Just ask Henry Cavill about that last part.