Biology of Clickers (the Last of Us)

The next stage: • Biology of Bloaters (T...

[@ThoughtPotato]

The next stage: kzbin.infoJdlksplK7yw

[@MrGreenBot]

Day 2 of requesting for a cordyceps video(not short)

[@MrGreenBot]

This is interesting tho

[@WildWisdomTV-]

The scary thing is, that in the real world the cordyceps don’t even get into the brain. They control the muscles of the insects, that means the insect is basically trapped in its own body.

[@dunnlean9041]

Bruh

[@eliottpalvadeau842]

I may be very wrong, but I don't remember insects having a proper brain, and iIrc the infected host dies anyway, because they are the puppet of the cordyceps

[@winterx8292]

When playing the second game, I could sometimes hear the infected sobbing. Indicating they're conscious of their condition but can't do anything about it.

[@quanlinglingdingle5969]

@@winterx8292 they are very aware in the first stage(runner) the first last of us game there's a part where a lady runner is eating a corpse. You can clearly hear her say “I don't want to” as she's eating away its disturbing

[@quanlinglingdingle5969]

@@winterx8292 look it up there are many vids about it if you want to see it

[@TVClaireBear]

Cordyceps: exists Me: intense sweating

[@AyeshSilva-e7e]

Our badass evolved immune system : I got you homie

[@hereisonline]

As long as cordyceps doesn't evolve to survive human average temps, we good

[@CHROMIUMHEROmusic]

​@@hereisonline not only that. It would need to know how to control humans instead of ants. That would also take a fair bit of natural selection

[@CrimsonArcturus]

​@OnlineHere768 It is literally so much more complicated than that lol. The episode 1 podcast is bull.

[@targetz3843]

We are not their natural host luckily

[@jennyfeare1702]

What i *adore* of the HBO series is it building upon/improving upon the game lore, from going more in-depth with Bill and Frank's relationship to adding the cool detail of the oral roots/tendrils of the infected!

[@fieldofshadow]

I am so happy they didnt fuck up the series

[@tripple_nipple_pee_the_g7391]

Yeah like in depth interview at the beginning. Talking about the possibility and explaining the science behind it. The show is pretty wicked in the best ways possible

[@TrashRacoon1928]

@@fieldofshadowsame if they messed up the same way the Halo series did, I was going to be pissed

[@lemoncholyme]

What series is this?

[@fieldofshadow]

@@lemoncholyme the last of us. Its also a game. Have you been living under a rock?

[@Tipsy_1]

Its truly terrify because this is a real thing that only infects small insects Edit: seeing all these people comment has me scared that this will start infecting people

[@mosstdev]

It’s really scary when you realize it sticks to small insects due to lower body temps and if it were to evolve to a rapidly warming climate to be able to survive in higher temperatures, it’s very likely to move into mammals or reptiles first, (possibly birds as well but if I’m honest I’m not as well versed with birds as I am small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles)

[@Nervii_Champion]

@mosstdev this wouldn't cause people to turn into men killing monsters, though. It would kill the victim if nothing could be done, simple as that.

[@coleeckerman1390]

It works though by triggering a few chemicals in the insect to make it seek height, then it kills them and creates a stalk to release more spores. It’s a parasitic fungus and not an infection so it can’t evolve or change to infect bigger things. No mammal has been killed by one either, if you really wanted to die to it, you’d have to snort the spores like cocaine for weeks, even then I don’t know if a stalk would grow since it doesn’t know how bigger brains work. Another brain reprogrammer is the jewel wasp, it can mess with a roaches antennae and make it follow it into a hole. Something like in the last of us that is that evil, cruel and complex would have to be intentionally designed by humans to exist. Nature exists in balance and only humans disrupt that balance.

[@batra204]

​@@mosstdev You forgot that humans have an immune system to protect us from pathogens. A lot of different fungi are always around us and regularly infect those with a severely compromised immune system.

[@leopard_2A6-906]

​@@mosstdev it can't

[@EsteemedMeat]

Even if Joel let surgery get done on Ellie, killing her-there’s no way we can somehow turn clickers or bloaters back from that amount of damage caused to their skulls and brain. And there are probably less runners than bloaters to cure.

[@Mandy_Moo]

Anyone already infected would never be cured. It would as a preventative for those who have survived until then uninfected.

[@cantdothisshitanymore]

and this is why I’m a joel apologist

[@amiramn6532]

the cure is not fot that is for the people who got bit

[@cantdothisshitanymore]

@@amiramn6532 still, it would be basically impossible for it to get around and other rival survivors would likely fight to get to it, or maybe restoring the world to how it used to be would take years… but would it matter if the world’s gonna end at some point anyway? hmmm lots of thoughts

[@truthseeker7815]

@@Mandy_Moo, that’s still a lot

[@nicholasmargagliano1833]

“One, single flood spore can destroy a species” Fungus is quite a terrifying little thing when you break down it’s science and functions

[@virn333]

No they aren't there's a reason it's fiction for fucks sake

[@nicholasmargagliano1833]

@@virn333 wow, the stupidity is strong here. You realize this a real fungus that affects insects? There’s also fungi/bacteria out there that over takes the tongues of fish? Viruses that make rats kill themselves? Go research lmao

[@virn333]

@@nicholasmargagliano1833 yeah, I know all of those things but humans are very immune to those threats, they won't evolve naturally against us that way. There are brain parasites for humans but something like a zombie apocalypse could only be possible if rabies went super saiyan

[@nicholasmargagliano1833]

@@virn333 i merely said “fungus is quite a terrifying little thing when you break down its science and functions” When did i ever say this was in humans? Seems like you came in blindly swinging heavy with an assumption. My statement is true, fungus is a crazy thing. It’s not just what’s on our old bread. It’s an extremely smart organism that can do way more than it should.

[@126644]

"Were it not for the arbiters council, I would have glassed your entire planet" - Game Master(Halo 2)

[@chaosjack2385]

This is more interesting than everything I've EVER learned in school

[@psilocybicacid7667]

Yeah WW1, WW2, the plague, small pox, 911, and the founding of our country aren't interesting at all 🙃

[@sebaprime6411]

​@@psilocybicacid7667 american

[@theredwhirlwin]

​@@sebaprime6411lol

[@redspiderlilys6]

@@psilocybicacid7667 9/11 isn’t interesting yankee

[@apotato5567]

​@@sebaprime6411 shut up

[@MrChaosOK]

I was wondering what the clickers face looks like without the fungus plate infection. This sure answers my question.

[@jennyfeare1702]

A truly delightful surprise! Doing more short vids quickly explaining pop culture monsters like xenomorphs or the gill man would be great (especially if you'll leave the full episodes of Cryptobiology to mythical/folkloric fish-men like the Thetis Lake Monster or Qalupalik, and maybe even the Deep Ones)!

[@ThoughtPotato]

Love that idea. When you say short vids, are you referring to 60-seconds, like Shorts?

[@jennyfeare1702]

@@ThoughtPotato Yes, and with longer short ones maxing at like, 5 minutes tops.

[@SnailHatan]

@@jennyfeare1702 Nah, longer is better.

[@jennyfeare1702]

@@SnailHatan sounds more time-consuming to make tho, tbh, and Roanoak's got that niche filled for "extensive analysis into media monsters"

[@nemanjanemanjaa4551]

​@@ThoughtPotato can you do similar videos about monsters from Witcher 3? Like fiend and that one that attacks with tree roots?

[@iamcondescending]

The cordyceps doesn't affect the brain, in real life. In the game they made the human variant not infect the brain till the later stages. This is why, in the game, if you stop just outside an area with infected, you can hear the stalkers crying and mumbling to themselves. They're conscious of everything happening around them, but are completely helpless to control themselves. They're trapped, and all they can do is cry.

[@buffnipz]

Woah that's cool and reminds me of myself. If someone stops outside my room they can hear me crying and mumbling to myself. Conscious of everything happening around me, but completely helpless to control myself. I'm trapped, and all I can do is cry.

[@morca4238]

​@@buffnipz no

[@gangrenousgandalf2102]

Sometimes you can see runners hesitate before they attack, as if they're trying to stop themselves, and after everything, they still don't want to hurt anyone.

[@elizaleorowe8384]

I’m pretty sure stalkers have their brains taken over but the runners brains haven’t in pretty sure one in the game you hear them say “I don’t want to” do much detail super cool

[@forestdude5168]

@@buffnipz Loser.

[@mysteriumxarxes3990]

the worst part abt last of us is that the person is still inside. Different from other zombies who becomes zombies after the person dies, in this one the person never dies, it just goes insane like dementia

[@Name_has_been_stolen]

Don't they lose consciousness once they "upgrade" from a stalker to a clicker tho?

[@mysteriumxarxes3990]

@@Name_has_been_stolen its not a black and white thing, its more like a gradual process

[@jimihayes150]

Being infected would be like having a permanent bad acid trip

[@rawhidelamp]

More like an extremely painful coma where youre conscious of everything happening. And i guess your brain would be all messed up chemically anyways too

[@saberbyte3989]

So glad I decided to watch this right before bed 🤦‍♀️

[@nemanjanemanjaa4551]

Just don't search for cordyceps in nature It gave me nightmares 🤢

[@Akshayaniii]

😂

[@wnoo5844]

I've learned you can actually buy and grow your own cordyceps as superfoods and their fungi look really weird

[@insultlk]

This guy wants it to happen💀💀. Wtf man

[@yasinhenfs4540]

​@@insultlk i was so confused when i searched for cordyceps and all i found first were shopping items lol

[@Sabrina-sc1db]

Dude if you make this game irl canon I will fucking hunt you down, mark my words

[@honeyFoxx420]

People use cordyceps as teas and soups they just don't learn lmao

[@JohnGalt1960]

This is predictive programming. 💀

[@CliveHQ]

This should have 1M views (I wrote this when it had 12,000 views)

[@ThoughtPotato]

🤞

[@fghjkl4083]

It has

[@CliveHQ]

No way it actually got 1 million views!

[@PittsburghSonido]

that's cool that you commented when it had so few views.

[@CliveHQ]

@@PittsburghSonido lol thanks

[@ryan241992]

imagine being alive inside (brain still in conscious) yet you don't have control anymore in your body

[@giveupndie4559]

somewhere underground the last of us is happening irl to some ants lmao must be terrifying

[@Bagelgeuse]

It's actually less terrifying for ants. Infected ants just leave the colony, never to be seen again. The only trace of it are the cordyceps spores hanging over the colony.

[@alanlaxton2084]

You should do a video on the biology of the clickers. I love your channel ♥️

[@Master_Of_The_Universe]

The imagery of the skull of a clicker looks quite similar to the effects of bone cancer

[@smurlix5676]

Cordyceps IRL labotomizes the ant, but leaves just enough for it to feel everything

[@errortrossity]

As a biology nerd, I find a strange fascination in learning about fictional creatures. Games like The Last of Us, Rainworld, and Subnautica, are great examples of games that use science to explain the biology of their creatures and monsters. Adding actual biology and scientific reason into your animals is an amazing way to build up world building, it doesn't just add another layer to your creatures, it makes the world feel actually alive.

[@adrsbb4711]

Such a good concept arts. It really shows the amount of research and hard work that true artists put into it

[@dontdoit468]

This, the necromorphs, and flood parasites are some of the most interesting biologies I've had the pleasure of learning

[@angienoexiste]

your biology videos are SO good, it'd be amazing if you were to cover the entire biology of all stages of infection

[@enverpasa5326]

You are my second favorite potato.

[@tolkienism3806]

who's the first

[@Graymanqa11]

Who is the first

[@MrLoverman7134]

Who's the first

[@enverpasa5326]

@@tolkienism3806 The potato that i named pato 4-5 years ago.

[@burrito5673]

2015 ass comment

[@CheeseAndCrackers_]

One of the cool details in the game is if you grab a runner and wait for a clicker to attack you, the clicker will instead kill the runner you are holding as they can’t distinguish between other infected and you so they kill the first thing they touch

[@skeletonking4119]

And the true terror is, the victim still alive and fully conscious during the whole process of transformation .

[@normanlu8382]

As a person with quite a lot of knowledge in biology and chemistry, something I don’t understand about all these zombie related apocalypse shows is how these zombies and things are not decomposing into bare skeletons in the open environment or becoming extremely stiff and fossilized corpses. All these zombies type of things are dead, therefore there cells do not regenerate. I don’t believe the fungus in The Last of Us can somehow make human cells regenerate nor stop fast rates of decomposition in the open environment despite the production of penicillin. Furthermore, there has been bacteria that have developed antibiotic-resistant abilities. What are y’all’s thoughts?

[@noobplays-saslow2920]

Because they are TV shows and not meant to be realistic, if it was going for realism it would be a bit shit. It has a pseudo-explanation, that being the Fungus replaces the decayed human tissue, which is why in the show there are ones at different levels of infection, with the “bloaters” literally just being fungus.

[@patoti292]

Because otherwise the zombies wouldn’t work, and then there would be no game

[@user-mf7bn5gq7d]

Imagine in the future, alien archeologists found these strange skulls that are different from the human skulls.

[@FrstSpctr88]

Watched a vid that talked about how understanding of cordyceps infection is changing, as in the fungus doesn't touch the brain, instead grows through the muscles, making the victim truly a "prisoner in their own body".

[@gastly4454]

“Is it hard? .. knowing they were people once?”

[@marisuzuki0108]

Literally got the "are clickers breedable" short right after this one

[@Mr.klocPL]

It's really scary if you will realise it's still life human, and that a some of them is infected around 20 years...

[@Gryphondork.]

Truly terrifying yet beautiful in an incredibly morbid way

[@l0rd0f5k33p]

Actually clickers are the most feared since most haven’t seen a Bloater or a Shambler. Good point

[@CCJJ160Channels]

“You want mushrooms on your pizza?” Me: ‘Nah, I’m good.’

[@whixizz]

Bro I learn more on KZbin than in school💀

[@AdamNisenziSpisak]

Yeah they should teach about Last of us in school, so educative

[@whixizz]

@@AdamNisenziSpisak I never said we learn more about Last of us in school literally has nothing else to talk about.

[@This.Heres.A.URL.Handle]

Start paying attention in school then.

[@schools6555]

This was such a brilliant idea to refine the Zombie making it actually terrifying and interesting.

[@dannonpayne6627]

No cause they have always been my favorites, their designs are always so terrifyingly gorgeous

[@Sqequ]

"Are clickers breedable?"

[@rattler_boss1101]

Real question fr

[@davidschreck1321]

If echolocation were used, the clickers could see you standing still. How they can only see you if you make noise would just mean they have really good hearing, not echolocation. Echolocation works just as well as eyesight. A good rule of thumb is, could they see me rn if they had regular sight? If yes, they could see you with echolocation. Kind of a big and obvious mess up on the games part. They could’ve just said their hearing was heightened and they were blind.

[@Okratron-rr8we]

They can see you standing still, but they don't know what you look like. What the clickers see is probably more like a radar than a picture.

[@deepdungeon8465]

​@@Okratron-rr8we in short, they don't have the brain or processing method to distinguished what the echoes have pictured after bouncing back.

[@Okratron-rr8we]

@@deepdungeon8465 i think that's a good way to put it

[@Wasifaurko]

Wrong, they sometimes screech in front of them regardless of noise and if you happen to be standing in front of them, they detect and start chasing you, it happened to me outside bill's church. Regardless clickers are easier to deal with as 1 shotgun shell to the head removes them and also they are slower

[@Korvidcore]

Crazy how infected go straight from the easiest stage to avoid (clickers) to the most terrifying, frightening, thing you can find in TLOU1 (bloaters).

[@RichardYou2ube]

Should do the rest of the stages, I'd like that !

[@Dense0cactus]

They forgot to mention the victim isn't fully dead they still have consciousness and they know what is happening

[@MattB-xi3rb]

Full video in the future?

[@mrblahbah2522]

This is the most entertaining biology video I have ever watched…..

[@MANTUEFLIE2]

Honestly the cliggers walking is creepy in itself. They walk like they have broken bones

[@LowestHonor]

“Are clickers breedable?”

[@Z-FishInMyBreakfast]

Wth

[@Name_has_been_stolen]

I mean if they're fertile then yeah probably

[@arli6226]

Imagine anti-maskers in TLOU universe

[@glytcheout]

Ive actually done an entire research project on ophiocordeceps unalateras ! (Spelling might be off lol) Its terrifying to say the least from what i could find (done in 2015) The chance of it evolving is actually decently high as it tends to infect high populations of animals (yes ants as of right now as well as spiders and in some cases catapillars!) The chances of it infecting primates or mamals in general is low but its never zero lol As to explain the violence we see in the game humans are toxic af our flesh literally drives any who consume it insane and craves more (behavior seen in large predators such as tigers who normally are repelled by the smell of human blood will become exceedingly violent after consuming human flesh, we are in a sense poisonous) if it does by some chance evolve to infect any primate family its highly likely that it will have the infected display increasingly violent behaviors for nutrients The need for more nutrition is ever growing in fungi and they dont necessarily photosynthesis (fungi be weird af) So where would that nutrition come from in an evolved strand that infects large omnivore mammals? Protein 😊

[@visayanpeep2240]

Your voice is relaxing and satisfying

[@IDesireToUpliftOthers]

Hear me out

[@_pachycephalosaurus_]

I’m listening 😏

[@garouthedemon7401]

No i will not

[@IgnatiaWildsmith1227]

absolutely not

[@IDK-hn5vi]

Tf you mean hear you out?!!💀

[@Zeus24M]

No

[@exarcm9181]

It’s a damn shame people are interested now because of a few famous actors instead of the actual PASSION put into TLOU part 1

[@guitarguy3221]

Reminds me of that The Happening movie where plants 'crowd control' start killing humans with a neurotoxin that causes suicide

[@mhiggs8001]

“ the throne of their consciousness…” I like that sentence you made there! Very elegant way of saying they’ve turned into rabid beasts. Nice😊.

[@wolvesgirl1565]

Thankfully nothing like this will ever happen seeing how this type of fungus not only just infects insects but is also used by humans to help shrink tumors as well as help treat certain cancers as well as build a residence towards it

[@Tylerpierre99]

A video that got a respectable number of view now has exploded in view count since the TV series came out in HBO because the series has shown us like only 5 infected so far by the end of the season 1.

[@deehanhaq2098]

Considering how insect cordiceps infections work, as in the fungi leaving the brain intact and growing directly into the muscle fibers, it stands to reason that by the time the victim reaches the clicker stage, their frontal lobe of the brain is seriously damaged (a ray of hope that the victim finally isn't conscious anymore by then?) and the cordiceps essentially forms a huge ear appendage on the victim's face, taking in auditory information in much the same manner that nerves would, and possibly acting as a neural network that's using the victim's jody structure at that point. Forming an auditory appendage would be a phenomenal achievement for a fungus, but I think cordiceps, whether insect-based or human, has already proved to be quite an extraordinary species.

[@Imildlyenjoykanyewest]

That skull looks like a Nirvana stans skull

[@Fields_of_Fright1922]

Resident Evil: Lickers The Last of Us: Clickers

[@epicscythe5538]

I hope that even if the real fungus evolves to be able to control humans, it doesn't cause this zombie apocalypse creature

[@infernaldaedra]

The flood makes the Cordyceps infection seem like child play lol.

[@TheWebsOfCorruptionNeverFail]

Willing to bet that some lab somewhere is already working on weaponizing the insect strain of that Fungus.

[@0pt1cal]

It’s scary how plausible this is

[@cjones1693]

I saw a show on that fungus in like 2001 it’s just crazy to me to see a video game made after if.

[@MrQuijibo]

First Covid jumped to people from bats. After that I'm afraid I'll have to ban mushrooms in our house

[@Lord_d1ngleb33ry]

That's how people rebel

[@pugsfanarthub]

Austin allergies be like

[@ashokakash1992]

When I first played this game, I could hear the clicker sound in my dreams every night. This is way terrifying than Bloaters and Rat king.

[@The_trees_have_ears]

Original writer of this series did a fantastic job with coming up with a crazy but plausible “zombie” type infection

[@vin_rouge180]

clicker's head looks like popcorn

[@bostonbluecollarstiff8167]

I like how you described the clicker as a victim.

[@berad187]

What's interesting is that these infected people that was once people are definitely have a weakness to fire and It makes me wonder if this affects any animal's in the wild

[@Spi-G]

Funny how I wasn't really reacting in a way to this video about a horrible horrible fate provided by a fungus, until the ant fungus popped up, then I got a chill. Also funny how learning that over half a decade ago maybe more still makes me shiver while a literal humanoid fungus zombie doesnt. Poor ants.

[@rexsalama]

That skull triggered my trypophobia.

[@snowthepro22]

If the planet heats up the courtyards will adapt and technically this could happen

[@jamesarnold2399]

Cordyceps infection in reality does not cause violent behavior in it's hosts,but more like suicidal behavior.

[@brandonjackson7529]

Imagine getting bit by an insect that was infected in real life 😳

[@GoogleVideoMan]

A zombie apocalypse that’s not as far off from reality as one may think. Genius.

[@Tobenne]

The more I see TLOU stuff, the more I worry about cordyceps IRL

[@dinglebord]

When I played the og last of us as a kid the first time I saw the clicker I was so afraid to do anything I literally just sat still looking at the clicker in fear as it was making those noises and I think that was the last time I played the game

[@l1ght872]

they make the sound like that so they terrify enemy and make them breath heavier and gave them stress so they can hear it or they want to fuck around who knows

[@ihategangstalkers3912]

The sound they make is fkn scary... yet I want to hear more more and more of it

[@CatBlack0226]

That is more Scary that watching Ghost Videos

[@Yespapiii]

Imagine certain athletes are infected like Usain Bolt and he’s on that runner stage… doesn’t the infection make you faster with high durability because an infected cannot feel the pain of fatigue.. so having the fastest human on earth(in 100m) chase after you without getting tired is scary…. Imagine a sumo wrestler as a bloater…. A sumo wrestler as a bloater would just be humongous!

[@MollyHJohns]

You just won the Maths World Championship with that basic but most terrifying multiplication formula 😭😭😭

[@10nerg41]

The clickers gives me the vibes from dying light voaltiles

[@vinrave]

I like how the last of us just didn’t make a half ass zombies. But they actually put alot of thought on it that they have scientific rationales for their very detail designs!

[@xiesie_xiesie]

My forehead hurts from watching the images... but the voice 🥲

[@mikeo.4203]

Love that the last of us tv show is getting more people to know about this!

[@k4a4_gaming50]

Mouted dishka at the top of the stairs

[@starscreamjan6155]

In the show, they show a fungal infection, also seen in insects, adapted to their surroundings and to the human body. The fungal infections found in insects can't infekt the human body because its to warm. The show also showed that they adapted due to the climate warming. This could possibly happen but when the fungai would adapt to the bigger and warmer human body they'd loose their zombie like ability.

[@abellabarbie]

Omg. I love all tne paintings.

[@Elyullie]

Those freaking crusty molesto minikui ass clickers make my heart beat like why do I have to make a new knife every freaking time?!?!

[@ethans.6645]

One of the few “zombies” that make sense and have some sense of reality where it could happen

[@SiFiGamer2016]

TLoU wouldn't be TLoU without these things. It's my favorite stage of infected out of all stages. 👍

[@Theodore_J_Noiseter]

"one of the most feared amalgamations of man and fungus" the rat king:

[@robsan9017]

I see a lot of clickers everyday with their heads face down staring at their phones. 😊

[@christophergongora7885]

Thing that saddens me about the HBO show is stage 2 or stalkers never made an appearance

[@bunsenn5064]

I have to wonder if the mycelium a fungus is made out of would differ if it grew from a human. Many fungi vary greatly as they feed off many different sources of nutrients, so perhaps fungus absorbing nutrients and tissues from a human would be a bit… meatier.

[@ThatOneRandomDude2]

Well in the real world cordyceps cannot live in the human body bacause of how hot and extreme is the human body, but because of climate change and global warming, the cordyceps can evolve to adapt in the warmer condition, making the apocalypse in the TLOS can in fact happen in real life

[@ThatOneRandomDude2]

My theory might be wrong so yeah...