| David King | |
| Franchise: | Dead by Daylight |
| Image Upright: | 0.75 |
| Firstgame: | A Lullaby for the Dark (2017) |
| Creator: | Behaviour Interactive |
| Voice: | Stefan Horvath |
| Origin: | Manchester, England |
David King is a character in Dead by Daylight, an asymmetric multiplayer survival horror online game developed by Behaviour Interactive. He was first introduced as a Survivor in the game's fifth downloadable content (DLC) chapter, A Lullaby for the Dark, in July 2017. David is an Englishman from Manchester who displayed anti-social behaviour before being taken to the Entity's realm, where he now possesses abilities which make him notably skilled at protecting other Survivors and bolstering their chances of survival against Killers, rewarding the player for choosing an altruistic style of play.
A downloadable update released in April 2022 revealed that David is gay, retroactively establishing him as the first confirmed LGBT character in Dead by Daylight. According to the game's creators, this decision was made to change and improve the game's lack of LGBT representation. The revelation of his sexuality was met with varied reactions. Nevertheless, he is one of the most popular characters among Dead by Daylight players and is consistently one of the most frequently chosen Survivors.
David was first revealed as a new Survivor on 25 July 2017, to be added into the game as part of the free DLC A Lullaby for the Dark, which also included the Huntress as a new Killer and Mother's Dwelling as a new map.[1] The DLC chapter was released for computers a few days later on July 27,[2] with confirmation that it would also be available on consoles at a later date.[3]
Born and raised in Manchester, David is described as the spoiled only child of wealthy parents who spent his time indulging in delinquent behaviour such as drinking and fighting in pubs. He occasionally made his own money as a bare-knuckle boxer and violent debt collector, but took on these jobs for the thrill of violence more than the money as his parents' wealth allowing him to live comfortably. He was on track to become a successful rugby player, but his career was cut short when he earned a lifetime ban after assaulting a referee. His past is expanded with the 11th Tome of the game's Archives, Devotion, which explores his memories from before he was taken by the Entity. One such memory occurs in a pub, where a conversation about romantic relationships leads David to discuss intimate details about his life, including a past boyfriend.
As with every Survivor in Dead by Daylight, David has three unique perks that can also be unlocked for other Survivors to use:
With regards to the discrepancy between his outwardly loutish or ill-mannered presentation and his altruistic supportive abilities, Behaviour Interactive staff member Mathieu Cote explained to Rock Paper Shotgun that David's abilities reflect the company's attempts to "add something or tweak the way" that people play and the strategies they have developed. This was a departure from their usual approach of matching perks that highlight the in-universe personalities of Survivors.[5] As with other Survivors, David does not speak but can grunt and scream in pain; in these instances, he is voiced by Slovak game designer Stefan Horvath, who worked on Dead by Daylight.[6]
Dead by Daylight is noted for its popularity with LGBTQ gamers, and many content creators who identify as LGBTQ have been supported by the game's developers.[7] Dead by Daylight creative director Dave Richard noted that players from the LGBTQ community have repeatedly highlighted the lack of LGBTQ narratives within the game's lore, while heterosexual relationships have been repeatedly referenced. This prompted the developers to look for ways to rectify that omission.[7] On 27 April 2022, David's sexual orientation was confirmed through the announcement of an impending story update titled Devotion, which explains that his delinquent behaviour originated from his internal struggle to come to terms with being gay.[8]
In a press release, the developers indicated that they wanted to bring "inclusivity and representation to life in a meaningful way" within the game's lore storytelling. With the expansion of David's backstory to explore his identity as a gay man, the developers consulted with GaymerX, an organization dedicated to provide advice on best practices for the integration of LGBTQIA2+ themes into in-game content in an attempt to avoid a tokenistic portrayal of David's characterization or give undue emphasis on negative tropes about gay men.[8]
In an interview with Eurogamer, Richard explained that the team originally intended to leave the game's characters "open to interpretation" and refrain from exploring their relationships or sexuality, but they have since come to an understanding that "relationships are such an important part of narratives for characters" and acknowledged their prior creative stance as a mistake.[9] To implement this new creative direction, the team identified the Archive as the platform in Dead by Daylight which allows the creative team go in-depth into the game's narrative, as opposed to a new story content chapter where they would focus more on the horror and why the Survivor had been taken by the Entity, the game's overarching antagonistic force.[8]
With regards to the decision to establish David as a gay man years after his original introduction, Richard admitted that the Archive allows the team "to do it faster, and in the right way". The team decided on David as his character makes the most sense within the context of the Archive flashback, as opposed to any potential shock value behind a typically masculine-presenting character coming out as gay.[9] From Richard's perspective, David is "a great fit to tell an amazing story" as he is a beloved character with the Dead of Daylight fanbase, and that he has already appeared in fan fiction works which fantasize about him as a gay character.[9]
In February 2018, as part of the Howling Grounds event celebrating the Chinese New Year, players could unlock a special outfit for David.[10] The Archive Tome V event, which commemorated Halloween 2020, offered the "Ruffian" outfit for David, which is available exclusively in the Rift.[11] In November 2020, David appeared in the cinematic trailer of the A Binding of Kin DLC, which introduced Élodie Rakoto as a Survivor and the Twins as a new Killer.[12]
Analyzing David's class perks as a playable character, Rich McCormick from Rock Paper Shotgun described him as a "pseudo-tank designed to rescue teammates". His abilities make him tougher than most other Survivors, which enables players to run interference to distract Killers while their teammates who control less durable characters can concentrate on repairing generators.[13] His colleague Fraser Brown described David as a "surprisingly good team player" in spite of his backstory and attitude.[5] Comic Book Resources described David as one of the game's best Survivors, particularly for his Dead Hard and We're Gonna Live Forever perks, the latter being singled out for allowing players to receive an extra percentage of Bloodpoints until this feature was removed from the perk in 2022.[14] Maria Meluso of Screen Rant also highlighted We're Gonna Live Forever as one of the two most important in the game for players that want to maximine the amount of Bloodpoints they receive.[4] Also writing for Screen Rant, Brooke Paulding similarly praised David as one of the best Survivor in Dead by Daylight.[15] She described him as unique amongst the game's Survivors as, rather than prioritising escaping from chases or repairing generators, his perks are best suited to remain in chases for as long as possible and keep the Killer away from fellow Survivors.[15]
TheGamers Noah Smith described David as one of the best Survivor for new players to use, though he warned against using the perk No Mither, given how difficult it makes the game.[16] Both Devon Ledohowski and Yesh Nair of Dot Esports highlighted Dead Hard as one of the best or useful perks available for Survivors.[17] [18] According to statistics gathered by Behaviour Interactive from July 2017 to May 2021, Dead Hard is the third most commonly used Survivor perk, after Claudette Morel's Self Care and Bill Overbeck's Borrowed Time.[19] In addition, Behaviour revealed in April 2022 that David occupies "a comfortable top 10 position" when it comes to being chosen by players.[9]
Ed Nightingale from Eurogamer observed that, up until the revelation of David's sexuality, there was visible anticipation among segments of the player base for an openly LGBT+ character in the game to reflect them, and that David himself had long been a fan favourite who is often interpreted as a non-heterosexual character.[9] TJ Denzer from Shacknews observed that the sudden revelation of David as the game's first openly gay character may be "jarring to some that have been playing the game for a long time" but opined that many others will either accept it as a "welcome surprise" or remain indifferent.[20]
In an in-depth discussion of the player feedback to the revelation of David's sexual orientation, Tyler Wilde from PC Gamer noted that "opinions are all over the place".[21] Wilde reported that many responded positively to the increased representation, with some lauding the developers for not choosing to commercially exploit the moment "as an opportunity to sell inclusion" by expanding backstory of an existing character rather than introducing a DLC character. On the other hand, Wilde said some players expressed discontent with the announcement concerning a character perceived by some as an archetypal British chav, with opinions ranging from "tacky, pandering, or didn't go far enough". Wilde claimed that a number of "negative or confused reactions" came from individuals who were unaware that the announcement coincided with a new story expansion for the character and assumed that the developers consulted with GaymerX just to write a blog post which states his sexual identity. Lastly, Wilde characterised the remainder of the negative backlash to be homophobia from "people and pundits who reject not just the idea of representation, but the identities being represented themselves, and took the announcement as a cue for outraged soapboxing".[21]