#arcticsart

Joel:

Before the outbreak, his dæmon was a nine-banded armadillo. Her favorite activity was being a "teddy bear" for Joel's daughter, Sarah. After surviving the first night of the Cordycep outbreak, she changes into an American Alligator and seldom speaks.

While on the road, Joel's dæmon will hide Ellie's dæmon in her mouth when there is danger present (think an alligator mom hiding her offspring in her mouth and being extremely gentle). She is capable of quick movements when need-be, contributing to Joel's reputation as someone to be feared.

Ellie:

Her dæmon does not settle for a while. He would often take the shape of small birds, dogs, and moths. When Ellie becomes extra curious, he likes to be an opossum. When Ellie fights, he prefers being a fierce secretarybird and strike with his feet.

During and after the events at Silver Lake, he remains as a honey badger for some time. Long enough for Ellie to think he's settled and becomes another reminder of her traumatic experience. Luckily, once she and Joel reach Salt Lake City, he changes forms one more time at the top of a particular skyscraper. There, as Ellie is excitedly feeding a giraffe, he settles as a relative to that species: an okapi.

Sarah:

Her dæmon is also not settled, but liked to be a variety of butterfly species. One time, she convinced Joel to buy her a small aquarium tank so her dæmon could swim around as an axolotl and fish.

Tess:

Tess is a natural leader that is respected by her peers and friendly to those she trusts. Her dæmon is a female spotted hyena; may-or-may-not also be trans, but I'm not sure yet.

Her and Joel's dæmons get along very well, the former often napping on top of the latter.

Marlene:

A Yellow-billed Cuckoo. As the leader of the Boston Fireflies, she had to make many difficult decisions. Her dæmon reflects that, as a species that sometimes lay their eggs in the nests of other birds (brood parasitism). During stealth missions, her dæmon will command the Fireflies with various calls.

Bill:

A male Mississippi Kite. This dæmon has sharp instincts and realistically identifies what he can and cannot defeat. One inspiration for Frank planting strawberries for Bill was his dæmon's bright red eyes.

Frank:

As an artist, his dæmon is the blue Jewel flutterer dragonfly. Despite her small size, this dæmon uses her sharp senses (dragonflies being incredible hunters) to keep Frank out of danger while they traveled towards Boston. She would occasionally bring Frank insects, much to his disgust and Bill's delight.

Henry:

Henry's dæmon is a gopher snake. Despite closely resembling rattle snakes, gopher snakes lack venom and rely on mimicry when confronting danger. She reflects Henry's desire to look strong for his brother.

Sam:

She settled far earlier than most kids, being a giant pouched rat. She is friendly and enjoys wearing superhero costumes for Sam. In the HBO series, she also can sign ASL.

Kathleen (HBO):

At first, he looks like a friendly little pomeranian. Then, once her gentle voice commands death, he lunges at his enemies and helps strike down smaller dæmons.

Perry (HBO):

An African bullfrog willing to stand up to any threat.

Tommy:

A wapiti, or elk, who is a lot fiercer than she lets on. Those hooves can deliver deadly blows, enough to scare bears. Sarah used to hug her long neck fur. She likes to interact with horses and helps calm Tommy's when danger approaches.

Maria:

A Black-billed Magpie. These birds are incredibly smart, some also land on wapiti to feed off their ticks. Maybe the dæmons fell in love before Tommy and Maria did.

Riley:

Her dæmon settles during her last night with Ellie as a firefly. She never finds out which kind he is, as there's several thousand potential species and...

David: