Sacrifices, Death, Killers, and the Survivors Explained

[Dutch]

So, I was thinking about how death in the Entity's realm works the other day and came to a few interesting conclusions.

- First and foremost, if a Survivor is sacrificed, the Entity feasts upon their hope and thus reduces it. Successfully sacrificing a Survivor is the ultimate victory for the Entity, as it fuels its existence and ensures that, in time, there will be more Killers to do its bidding. As you know, if a Survivor loses hope entirely, they become a Killer - nothing more than a puppet of the Entity.

- If the Survivors escape, they aren't fed upon, but they just return to the campfire to await another trial. There is no escape from the Entity; by evading the Killer, they are only delaying the inevitable. Presumably, they do not lose hope.

- If a Survivor dies without being sacrificed (bleeding out or being killed by the Killer's hand), the outcome is identical to if they were to escape. The Entity cannot feed upon those who are not sacrificed, which is why granting the Killer the ability to kill them himself is a reward.

- If a Survivor is sacrificed but accomplishes a great deal beforehand (such as powering multiple generators, rescuing fellow Survivors, healing fellow Survivors, etc.), they do not lose hope.

Alright, so how long have the Survivors been held by the Entity?

I believe that Dead By Daylight takes place immediately after or shortly after the Entity captured the Survivors. This is due to their clumsiness, lack of knowledge regarding first-aid and generator repair, and lack of self-control. If they had undergone more than, say, 100 trials, they would repair generators with ease and treat wounds as if they were nothing, yet they still have difficulty accomplishing these tasks. The first to be taken was most likely Dwight, as he is considered the de-facto "leader" of the group and seems to focus on helping others.

Are the Survivors dead and in limbo?

No. For the Entity to feed, the Survivors must have hope, which means they are either still alive or unaware that they are dead. I believe that the Survivors' bodies are in a catatonic state, while the Entity controls their minds.

What do the Killers do when not hunting Survivors?

As they are simply puppets of the Entity, they are likely either rendered catatonic or allowed to wander the realm. They have no free will of their own, and if they do, they can only exhibit it when not participating in a hunt.

What is the significance of the Generators?

Beyond posing a challenge to the Survivors and preventing them from immediately escaping, there is none. The Entity likely selected something at random that would require a good bit of time to fix.

What is the significance of the Hatch?

The Hatch ensures that the Survivor who uses it remains hopeful that there is a way to escape the Entity. If the final Survivor were forced to repair generators like his fallen teammates, they would lose hope much more rapidly.

When is DBD set?

As evidenced by the Survivors' clothes (notably, Dwight's pizza outfit), all of the Survivors (save for Benedict) are from relatively modern times, most likely past the 1970's. The Killers come from various points in time; The Trapper is from the 1800's, while the Hillbilly likely originates from the 1930's or 1940's (as the chainsaw was invented in the early 1910's). The Wraith, given his backstory involving cars, most likely originates from a time period similar to where the Survivors were taken from. The maps come from various points in time ranging from the 1800's to the 1940's, all of which are simply constructs of the Entity and not actual locations. The specific year in which the game takes place is unknown, but given that the Survivors likely haven't been held by the Entity for long, my best guess is the 1970's or 1980's.

Is there any hope of stopping the Entity?

Realistically, no. Even if the Survivors were to give up, they would simply become new Killers and the Entity would capture more people from the real world. In theory, the Entity could continue to feed until the entire human population was captured and drained, resulting in extinction. There is no way of defeating the Entity or escaping its grasp.

What happened to Benedict?

He lost hope and became a Killer. This is heavily implied in his last few journal entries.

Did the Killers submit willingly?

Some, but not all of them. It probably didn't take much to convince the Wraith there was no hope, given that he had unknowingly been killing people for years and would've lived the rest of his life as a fugitive. Conversely, the Trapper most likely did not become a Killer willingly; despite his willingness to commit acts of violence, all of these acts were performed under the orders of his father, implying that he is not a naturally aggressive person. The gashes and marks coating the Trapper were not self-inflicted; most likely, the Entity tortured him into submission.

[Mari]

I strongly disagree on a lot here.

Look at every killers backstory, then the survivors.. I highly doubt the Entity would choose, say Dwight as a "new" killer.
Yes, they'd become empty shells, or god knows what. But the Entity wouldn't choose just anyone to do his bidding. He needs someone who can/knows how to kill.

Benedikt (I don't care about pronounciation now.) is not dead, because that was technically "debunked" by the DLC, the description of the killer and survivor were written by him.

Now, I know all this is your theory and stuff, but I'd just add what I think.
Really, the first part is something everyone should think of... The Trapper, Wraith, Hillbilly and even the new killer, the Nurse, all know how to kill, and has done it AT LEAST once. The survivors most likely hasn't.

[James]

Captain Latex původně napsal:

I strongly disagree on a lot here.

I highly doubt the Entity would choose, say Dwight as a "new" killer.
Yes, they'd become empty shells, or god knows what. But the Entity wouldn't choose just anyone to do his bidding. He needs someone who can/knows how to kill.

I agree that it's probably not likely and the creator is going for the feed off their "despair" route of the lore.

But I think it would be fun to flirt with idea that Dead by Daylight is about the survivors getting hopelessly mind-warped into killers themselves. It would suggest that each of the survivors had to have been a murder before they got called in by the entity. So the interesting plot twist to the story would be the Trapper, Wraith, Hill-Billy, and Nurse were all former survivors themselves trying to escape the world just like them. And the cycle of getting hooked and resurrected again and again was the entity's way of break down their will and psyche to create new potential killer to serve under him.

I do agree pretty far-fetched, so unless they decide to add a hidden background plot twist for each survivor like...

Dwight during the company retreat - "His boss belittled him once again in front of his co-worker. But something different happened that fateful night, far away from the laws of civilization. It may have been the intoxication from the moonshine, or simply years of suppressed humiliation and anger boiling out of him. But Dwight snapped. As if an entity took control of his hands, Dwight reached for the nearby hatchet use to chop firewood and with all his rage "XXXX" his boss in one stroke. More shocked by his own action than his terrified co-workers. Panic and fear took over him as he looked at each and every one of the witness's eyes. With fear gave birth to a new determination. No one will ever know his crime."

So the "Good" Dwight in the game who woke up in the woods alone with no memory of being a murder, is the other side of him getting pushed over to the killer side with other survivors who committed the first act of murder just like him, and when the process is complete. He will reawaken to the present time with the dead corpses of his boss and co-worker around him with the blood-stained clothing from the alternative clothing when you reach level 50.

As I said, it's not likely going to be the case, but part of the fun talking about the lore is trying to explain the mystery of Dead by Daylight world. Which is pretty ambiguous and very open-ended in logic.

[tasha]

Nice! I think the survivors' are more interesting and mysterious than the killers tbh.

I agree with you on Dwight being the first one to be taken by the Entity; his garb and his perks could suggest that he's been going through trials a little longer than the others and he understands that it takes teamwork to survive.

[Mari]

I'd agree with the killer thing, if it weren't for the Hillbilly.. That is what makes your theory "far-fetched". I can see the other killers as survivors, but not Hillbilly..... Though it would explain why they'd loose hope XD

Hint: his mental state..