Baker found great difficulty in filming the game's prologue, which features scenes with Joel and his daughter Sarah, portrayed by Hana Hayes. When auditioning for the role, Baker read a phrase on the character sheet that stated Joel had 'few moral lines left to cross', which became the 'anchor point' to the character for him. Druckmann became intrigued by players who discussed Joel's morality, distinguishing him as a hero or villain Druckmann felt that Joel was only 'a complex person who's made good and bad decisions', but allowed it to be open to interpretation. Baker believes that Joel discovers morality throughout the game's narrative, working out the difference between loss and sacrifice, and his true personality begins to show. Дruckmann felt that players, specifically parents, would be able to relate to Joel's character and his bonding with Ellie. Ultimately, the narrative became an exploration of how willing a father is to save a child initially, Joel is willing to sacrifice himself, before evolving where he is willing to sacrifice his friends, until finally feeling that he would sacrifice all of humanity in order to save Ellie. However, Baker's interpretation of Joel as a more emotional person evolved the character in a different way. When writing Joel, Druckmann initially took inspiration from Josh Brolin's portrayal of Llewelyn Moss in No Country for Old Men (2007), which he saw as 'very quiet, very cool under pressure'.

The art design team experimented with Joel's appearance throughout development to determine his age in The Last of Us. The team experimented with his appearance to determine his age in the game. His appearance was aimed to evoke 'rural Americana', referencing values of self-reliance and ingenuity when facing hardship and deprivation. When designing Joel's physical appearance, the team tried to make him look 'flexible enough' to allow for him to appear as both a 'ruthless operator in the underground of a quarantined city' as well as a 'caring father figure to Ellie'. Baker contributed greatly to the development of the character for example, he convinced Druckmann that Joel would care for Tess due to his loneliness. Creative director Neil Druckmann attributed Baker's voice and movement to the team's choice of casting him. After Troy Baker and Ellie actress Ashley Johnson played alongside each other, the team realized that the former perfectly fit the role of Joel, despite the actor's young age. The development team of The Last of Us spent more time selecting the actor for Joel than Ellie, as the chemistry between the two characters was imperative to the game. Baker's performance in both games was highly praised and received numerous awards and nominations. The likability and complexity of the character has also been commended. The character has been well-received by critics his chemistry with Ellie is a frequent subject of praise. For Part II, Druckmann felt that Joel's character arc was complete after the original, and his death was a core part of the game's development. He considered the character morally complex.

Druckmann wanted players, especially parents, to relate to Joel through his bonding with Ellie. Baker inspired aspects of Joel's personality, making the character more emotional than initially pitched. The character's casting was extensive, as his relationship with Ellie was imperative to the game it was the central focus of the first game's development, with all other elements developed around it. Joel was created by Neil Druckmann, the creative director and writer of The Last of Us. Joel is killed in The Last of Us Part II by a woman named Abby, whose father he had killed in the first game, prompting Ellie to seek revenge.

He also appears briefly in the downloadable content campaign The Last of Us: Left Behind. In the first game, Joel serves as the main protagonist and is tasked with escorting the young Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States in an attempt to create a potential cure for an infection to which Ellie is immune. In the games, he is portrayed by Troy Baker through motion capture and voice acting in the upcoming television adaptation, he will be portrayed by Pedro Pascal. Joel Miller is a fictional character in the video games The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II by Naughty Dog.

Voice of joel in the last of us