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Dead By Daylight currently awaits Chapter 31: All Things Wicked, set to introduce Survivor Sable Ward and Killer The Unknown. Before that, the multiplayer survival horror finally brought Chucky to its servers, alongside his deranged bride, Tiffany Valentine. But despite Behaviour Interactive spoiling its fanbase with licensed and original characters galore, there’s always one area severely lacking in content among the horror legends: Creepypasta.
Originally, the DBD community believed The Unknown to be a bipedal wendigo, inspired by the folklore of possessed, cannibalistic humans. Others believed it to be a rendition of Jeff The Killer, ironically a famous Creepypasta. But as Dead By Daylight continues to pump out content every few months, which Creepypasta characters would make a suitable addition to the fray?
The Rake
Although it bares some resemblance to the Demogorgon, The Rake belongs in a similar category to the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot. It could be real, but no one has ever found concrete, irrefutable evidence of its existence. The Rake is depicted as an unusually tall, hairless, pale, humanoid creature who generally crouches or crawls on all fours. The legend of The Rake originates from the website 4chan. In 2005, an anonymous user posted a thread where they uploaded many ideas of new Creepypasta monsters. Once the thread gained traction, users began inputting their own takes on a creature that would become known as The Rake.
Since Dead By Daylight recently announced The Unknown and the concerts are uncannily similar, the possibility of The Rake coming to the game is unlikely. However, if any incident ever occurs with the Stranger Things licensing again in the future, this might be a good substitute for a less legally restrictive but identical character.
Slenderman
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Slenderman made the list. This urban legend is perhaps the most popular in Creepypasta history. Even if someone isn’t overly familiar with the vast Creepypasta universe, Slenderman has graduated from a folk tale to a pop culture icon. There was a whole movie made about him in 2018, after all, and he’s been the subject of countless indie horror games, namely the cultural phenomenon Slender: The Eight Pages. All of this to say, Slenderman is undoubtedly a frontrunner for Dead By Daylight.
His mechanics would be decidedly unique, his status as a well-known figure would attract many players, and he would be absolutely terrifying — so it’s a win-win situation. If they wanted to, Behaviour could even introduce a separate game mode that mimics The Eight Pages, similar to how it branched out with the all-new Lights Out mode. Needless to say, the possibilities are quite literally endless. Plus, the character offers room for reinvention, so Behaviour could create a loosely-inspired Killer if need be.
Jeff The Killer
No, not The Unknown, despite what the community originally thought. We’re talking about the actual Jeff The Killer. According to his origin story, Jeff was an adolescent boy who survived an attack by a group of bullies that left him severely disfigured. After he experienced a Joker-esque rebirth, Jeff’s mind snapped and he slaughtered his entire family. Besides Slenderman, it wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that Jeff The Killer is the second-most famous Creepypasta there is. He does fall too closely in line with The Legion to be entirely unique gameplay-wise, but there’s some degree of wiggle room.
If we just imagine for a moment how much potential Jeff’s Mori could have, that already sets the stage for a completely unhinged Killer. The only obstacle would be Jeff’s age, considering it would be inappropriate to fashion a Killer after a 13-year-old, but Behaviour could easily tweak the backstory to reference a much older Jeff still at large. If we’re being honest with ourselves, who wouldn’t freak out with Jeff sprinting towards them?
The Expressionless
If Dead By Daylight wants to up the scare factor, this is how to do it. The Expressionless is said to be a demonic woman with an insatiable craving for blood and paranormal abilities. She has a mannequin-like appearance, yet moves just about as fluidly as any other ordinary human. According to the Creepypasta, The Expressionless arrives at a hospital with a kitten clamped between her teeth. She pulls it out before collapsing to the ground. The hospital staff prepare to sedate her, but they’re too scared to look at her. The Expressionless attacks the head doctor and several nurses, who survive to recall the incident.
If DBD players thought Sadako was creepy, wait until they get a load of this. For starters, Automatonophobia (the fear of human-like figures, often inanimate) supposedly affects around 7.6% of the global population, so it must be statistically possible for some of these afflicted few to be Dead By Daylight regulars. Playing on common phobias isn’t uncommon for Behaviour, who introduced The Clown (Coulrophobia), The Dredge (Nyctophobia), The Doctor (Iatrophobia), and more. Why would this be any different?
Goatman
Now, this one sounds a little ridiculous, but we’re not talking about South Park‘s ManBearPig here. The Goatman Creepypasta is horrifically unsettling to put it lightly. If handed incorrectly, the Goatman could look about as unthreatening as the Goat Simulator game. However, if Behaviour sticks to the source material and studies the ‘eye-witness accounts’ of Goatman to develop a historically accurate depiction, it would be petrifying. It’s a lengthy Creepypasta by all means, but the way Anansi builds tension around this Goatman creature is something Behaviour could ultimately capitalize on.
It isn’t as well-known of an entity as Slenderman or Jeff The Killer, so there’s no real ‘accurate’ description of what it looks like or what Anansi was going for. This means that even if Behaviour doesn’t want to directly copy the idea of the Goatman, the raw concept is up for grabs and open to interpretation. It may not be marketed as an exact replica of the Creepypasta, but fans will recognize the inspiration a mile away.
