The bloater is back and better than ever! The biggest and baddest infected monster from “The Last of Us” made his triumphant return from Season 1 in the fiery Jackson battle Sunday night and […] ...

In the past, the terms “blue bloater” and “pink puffer” were used to describe COPD. “Blue bloater” referred to chronic bronchitis, and “pink puffer” referred to emphysema.

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 2 of HBO’s “ The Last of Us,” now streaming on Max. The bloater is back and better than ever! The biggest and baddest ...

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 2 of HBO’s “The Last of Us,” now streaming on Max. The bloater is back and better than ever! More from Variety ...

After his debut in Season 1, the bloater became an unexpected “sex icon” and “big daddy mushroom,” as explained by stunt performer Adam Basil, and was the inspiration for many memes.

For Season 2, VFX supervisor Alex Wang and his team started creating a new bloater from CGI starting on day one. “That gave us time to prep, understand and design the bloater,” he said.