Ellis

"Kill all sons of bitches. That's my official instructions."

- Ellis

Ellis is one of the four playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2. He's a goofy, beer-loving smart guy that likes to work with machines. According to Chet, he is "extremely excited" about everything, like managing to visit a concert and kill a lot of zombies, making him more of an optimist like Louis of Left 4 Dead, but like Francis, Ellis believes himself to be indestructible.

Official Description
Age: 23

Hometown: Savannah, GA

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.

Relationships with other Survivors
As of now it is a bit unclear what Ellis' disposition towards the other survivors is.
 * Coach: Coach and Ellis don't have much of an evident relationship. Coach will be sad when Ellis dies, and vice versa. They do seem friendly when they talk to each other, however. It is interesting to note that while in the hotel, Ellis refers to Nick and Rochelle as "sir" and "miss" respectively while he refers Coach simply as Coach, it's possible Ellis went to the high school Coach taught at. They also enjoyed Whispering Oaks before the infection (though Ellis does even during the infection) and they both are fans of Jimmy Gibbs Jr. and the Midnight Riders. Ellis and Coach probably have such a friendly relationship because they are both natives of Georgia, whereas Nick recently moved in and Rochelle is a travelling reporter.
 * Nick: Nick and Ellis do not seem to have a very friendly relationship. Nick openly insults Ellis in many separate occasions, and rarely compliments him. For that reason, Ellis doesn't seem to act very friendly towards Nick normally, but will say nice things about him, and seem genuinely sad when he dies.
 * Rochelle: Ellis has a fairly strong bond with Rochelle. It is also seen that Rochelle mildly treats Ellis like a younger brother, often being supportive when Ellis is in trouble. Ellis is quite sad to see her go, and they joke around throughout the campaigns.

Quotes
"See: Ellis/Quotes"

Trivia

 * Ellis is normally the focus of the phrase "Not right in the head" by each of the survivors, including himself.
 * Ellis' recklessness and overestimation of his own abilities is likely a homage to Dawn of the Dead character Roger DeMarco.
 * It appears that Ellis was the one who drove the car from the first campaign's finale to Dark Carnival's highway.
 * In the Zombie Survival Guide trailer, Ellis is the only one that is attacked by Special Infected. A Jockey, Charger, Spitter, and a Smoker all try to attack him. This could imply that he is reckless and/or extremely unlucky.
 * Ellis was one of the only Survivors to have a skin, never featured in any game footage but screenshots. It can be seen in a picture above, featuring Ellis with a totally green cap, white shirt and jeans.
 * At 23 years old, Ellis is the youngest character in Left 4 Dead 2, like Zoey in Left 4 Dead. (Rochelle is 29, Nick is 35, Coach is 44).
 * Ellis' "Bull Shifters" shirt can be unlocked via achievements for Xbox 360 avatars.
 * Ellis also seems to be unaware of appropriate times for conversation; he seems quite happy to speak of trivial things, which seems to irritate his fellow Survivors
 * Ellis appears to have the biggest amount of lines of all the Survivors ever made(1900 lines, 100 more lines than Coach and Nick have), making the aforementioned speculation most likely be confirmed.
 * In his official photo, Ellis is sitting on a truck, with a box of beer, in a similar way to the Engineer from Team Fortress 2, another Valve game. He also says "Much obliged," when healed or helped to his feet, something the Engineer also says in similar situations.
 * Ellis had friends before meeting the Survivors, including Keith. They not only owned the parts store, but were in a band. It's unknown what happened to them.
 * Ellis has a friend called Keith who seems to suffer often fatal accidents according to Ellis. He also tells a story featuring Keith, confusing it with a real life experience he shared with the other survivors. Keith may not actually be present in most of Ellis' stories
 * Ellis' wireframe is the same one used for Team Fortress 2's Scout.
 * Ellis is the only character to hold his pistol with one hand. He also does the same with the Magnum.
 * Not only does he claim that he would take a bullet for Jimmy Gibbs Jr., he also says that "If the laws of nature allowed it, I would bear that man's children."
 * He is a big fan of the Midnight Riders, though not as much as Coach.
 * Like Louis, Ellis mentions plans (usually when something is going wrong) though neither he nor Louis mention exactly what they entail.
 * Ellis' hat and T-shirt can be purchased from the Valve Store.
 * Even during the infection Ellis is excited to be in Whispering Oaks Carnival, especially the Screaming Oak Roller Coaster.
 * He is also very excited to get to Kiddie Land, sometimes shouting "Holeeee shit, guys! KIDDIE LAAAAAAAND!" Coach may reply by saying surviving with Ellis is not unlike babysitting. Nick may also say he's like a "five-year-old with guns... And a comprehensive grasp of every swear word known to man."
 * He seems to be very polite as at the start of Dead Center when playing as Ellis and asking for Rochelle or Nick to follow you he will call them "Sir" and "Miss" (Although Coach does this somtimes too).
 * He will also ask if they should leave money for the guns at Whitaker's store.