Tess was a character in The Last of Us. A hardened survivor, she was the long-term "partner" of Joel. The pair made their living as smugglers; they traded with survivors outside of the city. She had a "dog-eat-dog" philosophy similar to Joel and Ellie. She was voiced and mo-capped by Annie Wersching.

Not much is known about Tess' life in the pre-pandemic world. By 2033, Tess appeared to be in her late 30s. At some point, she became a smuggler in the Boston quarantine zone, living in Area 4. While there, she met Joel. The two became partners; Joel serving as the muscle while she was the brains in their operations. The two became close, Tess even affectionately calling him "Texas" and the two flirted with each other during their missions, heavily relying upon each other in the post-pandemic world.

With Tess having various contacts in the Boston underworld and a no-holds barred approach, she and Joel earned a ruthless reputation, to the point where their fellow survivors within the QZ did not attempt to cross them. Both Tess and Joel became acquainted with Bill, a lone survivor living in Lincoln. Bill would gather supplies for the two which they would then smuggle into the Quarantine Zone. As Joel, Tess, and Ellie entered the Capitol Building, they found the group of Fireflies that were supposed to rendezvous with them lying dead in the lobby.

Determined to get Ellie out of Boston and deliver her to the Fireflies, Tess frantically searched for clues about where they were going, but Joel was reluctant to do so. As Tess questioned Joel about what he really knew about the Fireflies and about her, Ellie realized that Tess was infected, bitten on her shoulder by the Runner that she was fighting off in the museum. Tess begged Joel to get Ellie to Joel's brother and ex-Firefly, Tommy, not even taking her eyes off him whilst talking to Ellie, as she felt Joel was obligated to do so.

As soldiers arrived, Tess demanded that Joel and Ellie go on without her. She declared she would stay behind to buy them time to escape, and that she would "not turn into one of those things." Joel wanted to fight, Tess shoved him away, telling them to "just go". Once the pair left, Tess's eyes welled with tears as she turned around to face the oncoming threat. As Joel and Ellie fled, they heard Tess scream as she the soldiers shot her dead. Before her death, she managed to kill two soldiers.

Joel also saw Tess' corpse as he and Ellie escaped. Joel forbade Ellie from talking about Tess. Bill mentioned her several times when Ellie and Joel helped him find a car, something Joel tried to brush off; he doesn't tell him she had died. Later, when Bill insulted Tess, Joel defended her, greatly angered by Bill bringing her up in such a way. She was later mentioned by Ellie as a reason she has survivor's guilt, as Tess died indirectly because of the Cordyceps Brain Infection; something Ellie has avoided due to her immunity.