The Last of Us 2's Rat King Was Inspired by Bloodborne and God of War

Set in a post-apocalyptical world, PlayStation 4-exclusive action-adventure game The Last of Us Part II from developer Naughty Dog and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment presents you with many challenges during story campaign.

One of the most brutal and challenging boss-fight you will come across in TLoU2 is when player character would encounter Rat King, a gruesome monstrosity that Naughty Dog took inspiration from Bloodborne and God of War to create.

While playing The Last of Us 2, you will get into a fight with Rat King at Seattle hospital, where Abby was looking for some supplies. She becomes terrified at its ghastly sight and tries her best to get out of its reach as soon as she could.

Through an amalgamation of a number of Stalkers, Clickers and a Bloater, Naughty Dog created a beast of horror, yet made it look believable. That horrifying introduction is a stuff of dreadful dream, which you can't forget anytime soon.

In a recent interview, designer Anthony Newman and Naughty Dog co-director Kurt Mangenau talks about other Sony first-party games that significantly stirred some ideas for concept of Rat King, most notably 2018 God of War reboot.

At one point amidst battle, one Stalker will free itself from Rat King's body and stat attacking as a secondary enemy. This notion of a fast-moving small enemy teaming-up with a larger one was taken from GoW villain duo Magni and Modi.

Eileen the Crow from Bloodborne also inspired some thoughts to design vicious boss character for The Last of Us 2, implying that you need not to be bigger than player to be intimidating or become less threatening in a confrontation.

Rat King was originally set to appear on The Last of Us but creators at Naughty Dog felt like that won't fit into Ellie and Joel's story. These concepts were eventually put together into The Last Us Part II redemption arc for Abby instead.