Joel

"Lyin' on the couch watchin' Sunday football. That...greasy smell of a downtown hot dog. 4th of July, family barbeques. The sound of a plane flying overhead. Just one peaceful night; a clean conscience -- all gone..."

- Joel

Joel is a ruthless survivor of the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis plague that has decimated mankind.

Not much is known about Joel prior to the events of the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis plague. Joel grew up in Texas with his brother Tommy. When he was younger, Joel married an unnamed woman and they had a daughter named Sarah. Since he got married very young, he did not have a chance to go to college. Joel and Sarah lived by themselves in central Texas, where Joel worked in construction, possibly as a carpenter due to the reasonable demand for carpenters in Texas and the contruction materials seen outside his house in the prologue. His job kept him fit, and he also owned a treadmill seen in his bedroom; in addition to this, he tells Ellie that he often went on hikes with his daughter. Despite having to work hard, he still found time to spend time with Sarah, such as supporting her during a soccer match in a photograph of the two together.

In the beginning of the game, Joel is seen arguing with his brother Tommy over the telephone about his job before he hangs up when he sees Sarah on the couch. Sarah gives him an expensive watch for his birthday. Joel leaves the house to meet up with Tommy but soon races back home after hearing explosions in the city to get Sarah. After shooting and killing his infected and mutated neighbor, he and Sarah flee the house into Tommy's truck and escape to avoid the chaos, but they are involved in a car accident in the city. Joel grabs Sarah, whose leg was in pain, and together the three of them flee to safety from the now infected people of the city. While Tommy fights off the infected people, Joel and Sarah try to flee to the highway through an embankment, where they are confronted by a soldier who is ordered to open fire on Joel and Sarah. Before the soldier can kill Joel, Tommy races in and shoots the soldier dead. Joel finds his daughter next to him, bleeding from gunshot wounds and they share final moments together as Joel cries over the loss of his daughter.

Twenty years after the initial plague that eliminated millions of people across the United States, Joel is known as a man who runs drugs and weapons through the quarantine zone in Boston. At some point he also became acquainted with a woman known as Tess, who maintains the Boston branch of the underground market and specializes in contraband. The two appear to work with each other frequently, and they seem to have a respectful alliance at the start of the game. The two are tasked with the job of transporting a fourteen year old girl named Ellie to the Fireflies' Capitol Building. Joel is reluctant to smuggle Ellie, but eventually follows Tess on the journey.

On the way there, Joel leaves the task of taking care of Ellie to Tess. Tess is usually the one who calms the frightened girl down, while Joel is the one who clears out the infected. When the three finally reach the Capitol building, they find the place filled with dead Fireflies. Tess suddenly becomes hysterical, and eventually reveals that the reason that Ellie was so important to her is because Tess herself was bitten during the trip to the Capitol Building. Joel is visibly upset and refuses to allow Tess to sacrifice herself as they escape, but he's pushed away by Tess. Joel and Ellie see Tess' dead body as the military begins to enter the building. He gets Ellie out of the building, but refuses to talk about Tess.

Joel promised Marlene he would rescue Ellie from a nearby boarding house and bring her to a secretive group known as the Fireflies because she is immune to the infection and can possibly create a cure of the infection. Some time after the escape, military authorities find out and begin pursuing them as they commence their journey west across what remains of the United States.