Hello people of the fog! We’re excited to announce that the new chapter of Dead by Daylight is out now, bringing with it a new resilient survivor, Yun-Jin Lee, and a sadistic and flamboyant new killer, The Trickster. Read on for a closer look at how one of the most unique killers to ever join the Dead by Daylight roster was born.
The Trickster is a crazy pop-idol named Ji-Woon Hak, and her thirst for fan worship is only surpassed by her desire to kill in the most extravagant way possible. On and off the stage, Ji-Woon has a decadent personality and a giant ego. He considers both his music and his murders to be great art, even going so far as to mix the cries of his victims into his own pieces.
In order to create her look, we put ourselves in the shoes of a K-Pop entertainment company and created a brand around this character. The goal was to make him stand out in our world, while standing out from the real idols of the industry. The K-Pop universe has a wide palette – it can be light and bright, but also dark and edgy. We felt this gave us enough leeway to interpret what K-Pop meant in a DBD context.
The Trickster’s primary weapon
“One thing we really wanted to push with the Trickster was its flamboyant style and color scheme. Being an artist and wanting to be in the spotlight, it’s all-in. He wants to be seen and he doesn’t try to hide. – Filip Ivanovic, artistic director
In the spirit of The Trickster, he always performs for an adoring crowd that has created fun opportunities for us to develop his personality. You’ll see him break through the fourth wall and wink directly at the camera, for example. Ji-Woon is unique in that he is not a supernatural being and does not wear a mask. He’s a killer who shows his real face, and he’s also the first to actually speak in the game!
Visual exploration of the Trickster knives
From a gameplay standpoint, The Trickster has some very interesting mechanics, including a new adrenaline boost called “Showstopper”. The player can quickly and accurately launch a burst of sharp blades from a distance in order to take down a Survivor. As a Killer you also have the choice of throwing a single knife with greater precision or going all out and throwing a lot of knives at high speed. We like to think of The Trickster as the machine gun from Dead by Daylight Killers, which makes it even more unique.
The Trickster can fill its stock of knives using lockers
“One of our challenges in working on this specific chapter was to make sure that we remained authentic and true to the K-Pop identity. We immersed ourselves in K-Pop culture by watching, reading and listening to whatever we could get our hands on.
To ensure this authenticity, we’ve made sure to collaborate with industry insiders like K-Pop star Kevin Woo, famed K-Pop band U-Kiss, and DJ Swivel, a Canadian music producer who has worked with bands like BTS to make sure you stay true to the K-Pop world in everything we’ve created. Even the chapter name is deeply rooted in this universe as it refers to when a song or album simultaneously reaches number one on all eight K-Pop charts.
The All-Kill Chapter In-Game Lobby
Dead by Daylight is a universe where it is possible to transform various styles, stories and themes into horror. The team is fantastic for taking on these types of challenges. The vibrant and highly refined aesthetic of K-Pop culture juxtaposed with the dark and sick world of Dead by Daylight makes for an alluring combination. We saw it as an opportunity to expand the creative space within our universe.
