Viewers are traumatized by The Last of Us constantly killing off fan favorite characters

Although it's set during a zombie apocalypse, fans of The Last Of Us are still struggling with how regularly the HBO series kills off beloved characters.

The adaptation of the best-selling game has seemingly perfected the art of introducing characters, only to kill them off in the closing scenes of each episode.

It’s lead to some fans saying they need ‘therapy’ after watching the weekly instalments, despite still tuning in to see who will be next to succumb to the clickers.

Warning: spoilers ahead

We are just over halfway through the series and a total of 12 characters have bitten the dust.

This includes Bill and Frank, the star-crossed couple who battled terminal illness as well as the vicious brain-eating virus.

While the couple were loved by viewers at home, they barely made it through episode three of the brutal HBO series.

Even the children aren’t exempt, as Joel’s young daughter, Sara, was killed by a solider in the first episode and became a zombie shortly after being fed Ellie’s blood.

It’s left fans of the series seriously traumatized, with many taking to Twitter to express their sadness each week.

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One viewer wrote: "The Last Of Us has mastered the 'make you fall in love with a character and killing them that same episode' strategy."

Another agreed writing: “The Last of Us just rips out whatever’s left of your heart from the previous week every Sunday night.”

Some even argued that the showrunners should be held accountable, with one person tweeting a gif a woman fleeing the paparazzi with caption: “The Last of Us writers trying to escape the people asking them to pay their therapy bills.”

Nevertheless, fans are gearing up for the series final which will air on 19 March.

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The ninth episode will reportedly have a much shorter run time of just 43 minutes compared to the rest of the episodes in the series which are just under an hour long.

With the condensed episode also setting up a possible second season, fans will be concerned about the fate of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they try to reach Ohio and find a cure for the Cordyceps infection.