Joel's appearance indicates that he is in his late 40s. He has a heavy build, with dark hair and a beard. Unlike his past self, when Sarah was still alive, he had less facial hair, and not as many wrinkles on his face. Compared to Ellie in-game, his height appears to be around 6 feet tall. Joel has many cuts and scars, which can be seen on his face and arms (if the player equips Joel with a t-shirt.)
Joel wears a watch that was a gift from Sarah for his birthday the day before the outbreak; twenty years later, it has broken, likely from two decades of surviving in a post-outbreak world. He keeps the watch in remembrance of Sarah. Joel seems to sigh sadly when Ellie mentions that it is broken in the early chapters of The Last of Us.
Joel also looks down at the watch when Ellie was mentioning how beautiful the view was to Joel as they were about to leave. The ending scene also shows Joel slightly rubbing his watch after he said he "struggled for a long time with survivin'" as he encountered major difficulties in accepting Sarah's death and sympathises with Ellie's survivor's guilt.
Joel also wears a plaid shirt and a leather back-pack that I could possibly incorporate into my character some way.
