Last of Us 2 fan spots hidden mural dedicated to iconic moment from the first game

The Last of Us Giraffe scene
(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

A The Last of Us 2 fan has spotted a seemingly hidden mural in Jackson based on an iconic scene from the first game.

Originally shared on Reddit, user u/Mystic_Shogun explains that they found the wall art near the playground in Ellie and Joel’s Jackson base that looks as if it was inspired by the giraffe scene in the first The Last of Us game. 

Created with bright contrasting colors, the mural features a giraffe munching on a nearby tree which is pretty much exactly what happens in the first game when Joel and Ellie encounter a “wild” giraffe herd in Utah. Giraffes seem to be a common motif within the series with a plush giraffe popping up in Joel’s daughter Sarah’s room as well as found in dilapidated houses throughout your journey in Part 2. 

The comments of the post suggest that this small reference was missed by a large percentage of players during their playthroughs of The Last of Us 2, with some people stating that they’ve played the game three or even five times and have never stumbled across this call-back to the first game. 

The Last of Us 2 is chock-full of references to the first game, as well as other games made by Naughty Dog. This includes the likes of the Uncharted series - of which there are multiple Easter eggs and references to - Jak and Daxter, and even a small nod to Crash Bandicoot. 

Want to discover more hidden references in the game? Take a look at our The Last of Us 2 Easter eggs list. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.