Ellis
The Mechanic
Ellis is a mechanic with a love of life, a firm belief in his own immortality, and the ability to treat any setback as a fun dare to impress his friends. Born and raised in Savannah, Ellis divvies up his time working at the local garage, hanging out with his buddies, and dropping by for Sunday dinners with Mom—why’d anybody want to live anywhere else?
Then the zombies had to go and spoil it. Now Ellis is looking for new things to occupy his time, and finding plenty. It turns out the zombie apocalypse is one big dare, and there’s no shortage of crazy stuff he can try to impress his new buddies.
Ellis had two known earlier appearances and a different animation set.
Textures
Ellis's E3 appearance utilized a grey shirt with blue sleeves, beige worker pants, and the current mechanic hat which we're familiar with in the retail version.
Animations
Ellis used an entire Bill animation base during the E3 Beta phase. Ellis did not receive exclusive animations until the PAX showcase demo.
Interface
Left 4 Dead 2's user interface, menu pannels, and icons showcase either Ellis's teaser design or E3 appearance and do not reflect the character's current appearance
Loading Screen
The original Parish and Swamp Fever campaign loading screen reflects Ellis's E3 appearance.
Marketing
Left 4 Dead 2 was heavily marketed during its development. However, most gaming news outlets used the only known appearances at that time for their advertising.
Early "Alpha" Design
Ellis's first known appearance was not his design shown in the E3 demo but is the design shown in teaser images located on the Left 4 Dead 2 Website and Steam Store page. It consisted of a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and green hat.
Did You Know
Most Left 4 Dead 2 teaser images only showcase early Ellis appearances with the Survivor Coach, therefore excluding Nick and Rochelle. This is potentially due to either Nick and Rochelle having an undecided or unfinished design at this time.
