Last Of Us 2's Rat King Inspiration Revealed

PLEASE NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD

For those of you that have played and completed the story within The Last of Us Part II, you’ll know all about the horrific moment when Abby comes face to face with the hugely gruesome Rat King. Its a section within the game that not only scares the living daylights out of you, but also stays with you for a very long time. The Last of Us Part II’s writer, Neil Druckmann hinted at Rat King’s presence during a gameplay reveal of the game in May’s PS4 State of Play announcement.

With the game now officially out and gamers around the world having now experienced the horrid nature of the Rat King, Naughty Dog has now revealed the inspiration behind the mid-game boss. In an interview with GamesRadar, it was revealed that the creature was inspired by characters within a couple of big PlayStation titles including God of War’s Magni and Modi and Bloodborne’s Eileen the Crow. Naughty Dog designer Anthony Newman and co-director Kurt Mangenau also revealed that the Rat King was originally intended to be in the first The Last of Us game, but the studio didnt think that it would fit into the story naturally and decided against using it. Thankfully, we ended up getting The Last of Us Part II as without it, we would not of seen the Rat King in all his glory.

Naughty Dog also revealed that they looked at real-life situations with Rat King and its sightings back in the 15th century with the town-folk of Antwerp, Belgium reportedly witnessed various rats all tied together to create what was then called Rat King. Im glad I wasnt about in the 15th century!

Source: GamesRadar.