Characters of The Last of Us (TV series)
Ratna
#### Ratna

[thumb\|right\|upright\=0\.7\|[Christine Hakim](/wiki/Christine_Hakim "Christine Hakim") portrays Ratna.](/wiki/File:Christine_Hakim.jpg "Christine Hakim.jpg")

**Ratna Pertiwi** ([Christine Hakim](/wiki/Christine_Hakim "Christine Hakim")) is a [mycology](/wiki/Mycology "Mycology") professor at the [University of Indonesia](/wiki/University_of_Indonesia "University of Indonesia"). In 2003, authorities in [Jakarta](/wiki/Jakarta "Jakarta") show Ratna a sample from a human, which she identifies as *[Ophiocordyceps](/wiki/Ophiocordyceps "Ophiocordyceps")*. She is shown a corpse of a woman with a human bite mark on its leg and fungal growths in its mouth, and informed the woman was killed after biting her co\-workers at a flour factory, while other co\-workers are missing. Ratna remarks the location provides an excellent [substrate](/wiki/Substrate_%28biology%29 "Substrate (biology)") for the fungus, adds there is no cure or vaccine for the infection, and recommends bombing Jakarta to contain the outbreak. Hakim was contacted for the series via [Instagram](/wiki/Instagram "Instagram"). She was initially hesitant to accept the role as she was caring for her mother and husband amid the [COVID\-19 pandemic](/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic "COVID-19 pandemic") but was convinced by her grandniece, a fan of the game. Her husband reassured her and told her the role "is not only for you, this is for Asia". Hakim recorded her role in Calgary in late October 2021\. She brought her traditional [batik](/wiki/Batik "Batik") scarves and Indonesian jewelry, which the costume department accepted for use in the series. *IndieWire*s Greene called Hakim "magnificent".


What are the implications of the fungal infection spreading?