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With the announcement of Dead by Daylight‘s new Chapter, All Things Wicked, comes two new characters: The Unknown Killer and Survivor Sable Ward. Although the latest DBD Chapter won’t be available across all platforms until March 12, PC players are having a field day with the PTB. After a teaser trailer granted a brief first look at The Unknown, Dead By Daylight players began speculating on who — or what — this monstrosity could be.
Many believed the design of The Unknown looked identical to that of a wendigo, a cannibalistic entity from folklore culture. Now that The Unknown is running amuck in servers, it seems to be the perfect time to narrow down the best Dead By Daylight chapters thus far — out of 31 total.
Chapter 30: Chucky
The latest Chapter prior to All things Wicked, Dead By Daylight made waves by introducing Chucky, the main antagonist from the Child’s Play trilogy. He, alongside his bride Tiffany, earned their own Chapter void of any new Survivors. Once Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, and the rest of the great horror legends were introduced, fans cried out for Chucky to make an appearance — and Behaviour listened.
There were many attractive features with the Chucky release, but in particular, his mechanics were a real stand-out. Given how Chucky has a major height disadvantage, Behaviour incorporated the spirit of Charles Lee Ray in assisting Chucky with lifting, carrying, and hooking survivors. He can also scamper under pallets, lunge at Survivors, and enter Hidey-Ho Mode to remain undetected. Overall, Chucky was a very clever, well-executed addition to the game.
Chapter 2: The HALLOWEEN Chapter
In summer 2016, when Dead By Daylight came out, the game initially struggled to attract an audience — as new titles often do. Besides the original Survivors in Meg Thomas, Dwight Fairfield, Claudette Morel, and Jake Park, the first official Chapter introduced The Nurse and Nea Karlsson. Besides Pyramid Head, the nurses are Silent Hill‘s most iconic adversaries, but no level of exposure could compare to that of Chapter 2: The HALLOWEEN Chapter.
Perhaps the most famous horror movie to ever exist, Halloween follows the rivalry of Michael Myers and his estranged sister, Laurie Strode. Not only are Michael and Laurie an infamous duo alone, they also contributed to Dead By Daylight‘s popularity. The HALLOWEEN Chapter peaked the interest of countless players, who have since stuck around almost 30 Chapters later. We would even be so bold as to say DBD owes most of its loyal fanbase to the introduction of Chapter 2 with a crossover no one ever saw coming.
Chapter 23: Sadako Rising
For a long time, at least since the Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Hellraiser Chapters came about, DBD fans were anticipating the arrival of Sadako Yamamura, the young girl from The Ring. In the U.S., we know her as Samara, but in Koji Suzuki’s famous novels, she is known as Sadako. The Ring‘s antagonist is arguably one of the most unsettling figures in all of horror, so when Behaviour announced she would be coming to the game, fans were in sent into a frenzy.
Along with Sadako came Yoichi Asakawa, a character from the 1998 film adaptation of Ring. He is based on the novel character Yoko Asakawa, daughter of Kazuyuki Asakawa. What makes Sadako Rising such an engaging Chapter is the intricate tie-ins to the Ring lore, especially those alluding to Yoichi’s future as an adult. In the film, we only see seven-year-old Yoichi, so it speaks to Behaviour’s creativity that they developed a whole personality for his older self and incorporated that into the Ring timeline.
Chapter 25: Resident Evil: PROJECT W
It goes without saying that Resident Evil is one of the most successful horror franchises ever made. In fact, as of 2023, Resident Evil sits in third place for the highest-grossing horror franchises, behind The Conjuring Universe and Alien. Five Chapters before PROJECT W, Dead By Daylight paved the way for Jill Valentine, Leon Kennedy, and Nemesis. And while that was… fine, it wasn’t a secret that fans were demanding that Albert Wesker be thrown into the mix. He is, after all, Resident Evil‘s most notorious bad guy.
And so, PROJECT W was born. With The Mastermind came Ada Wong and Rebecca Chambers, two highly respected females in the horror sphere. We could go on and on with all the positives that PROJECT W brings to the table, but the biggest reference comes with Wesker replacing his glasses after his Mori. We’re kidding, of course. The character designs are impeccable and the Perks are excellent adaptations of each character’s attributes. But the glasses are still a big bonus.
Chapter 13: Stranger Things
Resident Evil may be a huge deal for horror fans, but Stranger Things speaks to the sci-fi nerds as well. Nothing could compare to the collective excitement DBD fans experienced when it became common knowledge that a Stranger Things Chapter would be on the way. We got Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, and the Demogorgon. What else could any Stranger Things fan need? Well, we do want Eddie Munson and Vecna, but that’s a different story.
If there were ever any doubt as to how beloved the Stranger Things Chapter truly is, just compare the monthly players during the times where the Chapter was active versus when Behaviour had to remove it due to licensing issues. Once the license was reinstated, fans went bananas. And who can blame them? Everyone loves Stranger Things. Everything about the characters and the Hawkins Lab map were plucked straight from the show itself and accuracy is all a fan can ever want.