Before the Killers, before the Survivors...there was The Entity.
Its presence is felt throughout the world of Dead by Daylight, manifesting in the gameplay and overarching story. If you’ve undergone a Trial, you’ve likely seen a spiderlike limb reaching down from above to claim a sacrifice. Maybe you’ve done a deep dive in the various fragments of lore for deeper insight into the strange and terrifying being.
Yet with every discovery comes a new question. No matter how close you think you’ve come, the truth behind The Entity remains shrouded in Fog. How can one ever hope to gain an understanding of the unknowable? All we can hope to do is interpret the breadcrumbs we’ve been given.
Cosmic Horror Incarnate
“The Entity is far more ancient than we ever suspected back home and most of our theories and conjectures were wrong. The rich presence of Auric particles and cells suggest it is one of the Original Ones—an Ancient.” - Arcus 54
To understand The Entity, one must begin with the concept of Cosmic Horror. This horror subgenre revolves around beings beyond human comprehension; to look upon one such being would shatter your mind, break your spirit, and render you a blubbering mess...if you’re lucky.
The Entity is no different. Ancient in origin, cosmic in scale, much about it remains unknown . What little information we have was collected by a mysterious character by the name of The Observer, who put forth his own theories.
“The Entity is the cosmic embodiment of evil,” he states, in a log titled Arcus 142. “Back home we witnessed how its very presence turns worlds inside out… how it seems to remove or extinguish any sense of empathy or compassion within communities… how it brings people to the brink of madness and… well… pushes them in.”
An interesting theory to be sure, driving him to the conclusion that The Entity sustains itself on the emotions of its prey, thereby creating a cycle that facilitates that process.
Enter The Trials
The Entity curses these innocents with an endless game of life and death. Each death brings an awakening into a fresh hell where the hunt begins again. I am but a mere puppet in this grim theatre.'' - Benedict Baker: Entry 1
Dead by Daylight’s gameplay revolves around a cycle of Trials, in which Killers hunts Survivors with the aim of sacrificing them to The Entity. Survivors can thwart these efforts by escaping through a pair of gates, only to find themselves right back where they started.
But what are the significance, and greater implications, of this process? Consider the various emotion each victim must experience over the course of a Trial. The thrill of the hunt. The highs of escape. A fleeting hope like a surge of electricity. The sick satisfaction whenever the light leaves a Survivor’s eyes.
It’s speculated that everything they feel over the course of a Trial somehow sustains The Entity , though many questions remain. Does it derive a cruel pleasure in the suffering of its chosen? Or is it simply feeding without thought, as a whale might feast on plankton? And perhaps most intriguingly – are its victims chosen for a reason?
It is torture and not death it seeks as there is always an escape. Perhaps it feeds off our hope as it seems to offer it to us before crushing it cruelly at the last second. With each "death" I feel myself weaken, a little piece of my soul devoured by the darkness before I awake. I fear, eventually that I will lose hope. I wonder what this dark Entity will do with me then. - Benedict Baker, Entry 17
Regardless of The Entity’s intentions, a simple truth remains: once you find yourself drawn into The Fog, not even death is an escape...
