Dead by Daylight’s myriad of survivor characters have the simultaneous fortune and misfortune of needing a lot of ingenuity in their designs. Dead by Daylight is not without its archetypal slasher horror protagonists, but it is clear that representation and diversity is celebrated in its latest original survivor characters as well. That said, it is always exciting for fans of popular franchises when protagonists from licensed IPs are also adapted into Dead by Daylight.
This has been the case with Stranger Things, Silent Hill, Evil Dead, and more, with some of its most recent survivor characters inspired by Resident Evil. Capcom’s action-horror franchise has been a wonderful source of character inspiration in both of Dead by Daylight’s DLC Chapters now, with its second Chapter having only recently been released. But while many Resident Evil characters are now a part of Dead by Daylight, there are still untapped protagonists who could make great survivor characters.
Legacy Resident Evil Protagonists Dead by Daylight Has Yet to Tap
In only two DLC Chapters, Dead by Daylight has congregated some of Resident Evil’s most prominent legacy protagonists. Leon S. Kennedy and Jill Valentine, who are arguably Resident Evil’s most beloved characters, were introduced originally with skins that cosmetically resemble Chris Redfield and Claire Redfield.
Thereafter, as part of Dead by Daylight’s latest Resident Evil Chapter, Ada Wong and Rebecca Chambers have now been introduced alongside new reskins that cosmetically resemble Carlos Oliveira and Sheva Alomar. All these characters are undoubtedly the most paramount protagonists in the Resident Evil’s franchise, and it was smart for Dead by Daylight to capitalize on all of them, but there remain a number of other classic protagonists that could be considered if Dead by Daylight was to receive a third Resident Evil DLC Chapter.
Looking back to the beginning of the franchise, a strong contender could be Barry Burton, most famous for his “Jill sandwich” quote from the original Resident Evil. Billy Coen, Rebecca’s deuteragonist in Resident Evil: Zero, could also be considered, allowing players in a lobbied queue to recreate that pair.
Sherry Birkin and Jake Muller from Resident Evil 6 are another pair that could be considered, especially considering the connection that Sherry shares with Leon and Claire. Likewise, this could create a connection between Jake Muller and his father, Albert Wesker, in Dead By Daylight.
Dead by Daylight Could Look to Resident Evil’s Winters Family
However, Dead by Daylight could also look to newer Resident Evil entries for its survivor catalog. Ethan Winters is featured as the protagonist in Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village, and while his face has been inexplicably hidden in first-person, he could still make for a fantastic survivor character in Dead by Daylight.
Ethan’s surprise abilities as a deceased Molded individual could likely make for some interesting survivor character perks in Dead by Daylight. Further, other Winters family members could be considered through Ethan’s wife, Mia Winters, or their daughter, Rosemary Winters.
Rosemary is about to feature as the protagonist in her own narrative DLC for Resident Evil Village, and a tie-in DLC Chapter for Dead by Daylight would be a perfect opportunity to celebrate this new character. Survivor characters have the luxury of reskins available to make some characters look like others without having to create three new perks for them, and any of the Winters family members could easily be seen as a DLC reskin if one or all are not considered as new survivor additions in the future.
Dead by Daylight is available on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.