GGA’s 8 UNTIL DAWN Character Survivor Predictions for the Film

Alicia Venter

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Characters in Until Dawn during the prologue. They are all looking at each other, concerned, outside of a house in the woods. The door is open to the house, as someone just ran through it.

Until Dawn is widely considered one of the best butterfly effect games of all time. Starting with eight major characters, players can end the game with any amount surviving, including none of them. Nearly every decision has a consequence, creating dozens of possible endings. Intense — and downright stressful at times — some Until Dawn choices can cause repercussions that appear completely unfair. Even the choice (spoiler alert!) of throwing a snowball or not towards the beginning of the game can lead to a character’s death. Fair or not, the small decisions made in Until Dawn can cause major changes at the game’s end. 

So, in the upcoming Until Dawn horror movie in the works, who will survive? Each player in the game represents a different horror stereotype, and each brings something to the storyline. However, not all of them need to live to fulfill their role. Taking a look at each of the eight main characters, here are GGA’s predictions of their survival.

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After a prank gone wrong results in the death of two sisters in their family’s lodge, eight teenagers return at the bequest of their brother a year later in their honor. Unbeknownst to them, the brother, Josh, is planning a malicious prank in retaliation for their death. As the night unfolds, the eight protagonists begin to learn something much worse than a prank is lurking in the Blackwood Mountains. Wendigos, blind flesh-eating monsters, inhabit the mountains, and it appears that one of the youngest creatures may be the sisters lost a year prior. 

Until Dawn is split into ten chapters, each starting at a different hour in the story, as the protagonists fight to survive until daylight. The titles change depending on the decisions made throughout the game. Players control each of the eight young adults at different points in the game, determining their survival.

Until Dawn Character Survivor Predictions

Sam, one of the eight protagonists in Until Dawn, is on the right side of the image, looking off into the distance. Her description is "Hannah's best friend." Her personality traits are diligent, considerate and adventurous.

As the term suggests, Sam will likely survive in the Until Dawn film, having all the characteristics of a traditional “final girl” in horror. Warm, caring, and strong-willed, her only major flaw is probably that she takes long baths while all of her friends are having life-threatening experiences. Cinematically, I can’t wait to see how this series of events is put on the screen.

Sam is widely considered the overall main protagonist in Until Dawn, and there is only one opportunity to determine Sam’s fate in the game. As long as she doesn’t move during the events in the lodge at the end of the game, she survives.

Her character is crucial to the plot of the game, having the most sympathy for Josh, and closest relationship to Beth and Hannah. In typical final girl fashion, her actions cause the climax of the game. Sam is, in short, too important to kill in the Until Dawn film.

the Until Dawn character Mike smiling, waving to someone off screen. We see his description, "Emily's Ex" alongside his characteristics: intelligent, driven, persuasive.

As any other cocky jock character in horror, Mike acts pretty terrible at the beginning of the game. It’s his role in a prank that causes the sisters to “die” (turn into grotesque, cannibalistic monsters). He completely disrespects Matt and is meeting up with his ex secretly even though he has a new, hot girlfriend with him.

Despite all his glaring flaws, it can’t be denied that he is driven. He is brave, with a genuine protective streak, and he undergoes tremendous character development by the end of the game. 

Like Sam, Mike has a lot of plot armor, and he cannot die until the last chapter. His character is crucial to the storyline, particularly his journey through the sanitorium, where we learn more about the Wendigos. It wouldn’t make sense to kill him at the end in the lodge, and he will likely survive in the film.

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the Until Dawn character Jess smiling when we are first introduced to her. Is shows her with braids, and then her characteristics written: confident, trusting, irreverent. Her descriptions says "Mike's new girlfriend."

Jessica is a unique character within the Until Dawn story because she knows the absolute least of what is going on. She spends most of the game in a mineshaft, hunted by the Wendigos. One of the most common deaths she faces is often seen as the most gruesome death in the game, contrasting her archetype as the pretty girl. While this cliche can often include being mean or aloof, Jessica isn’t just a cute face. She is feisty, willing to fight, and protective, similar to her boyfriend Mike. 

Unfortunately, as she knows the least about what is happening on Blackwood Mountain, Jessica isn’t really necessary for the plot. I expect that she will die in the Mines, witnessed by Matt, because it is the most gory. 

The only alternative to this would be if Jessica is the sole survivor of the game. She is the only character who does know not about the Psycho enemy (part of Josh’s revenge) for the entire game. To do so, they would have to kill everyone in the lodge, but it makes for an intriguing ending. That is because, at the end of the game, it shows interviews of the survivors. If only Jessica lives, then we as the player know substantially more than her. She is confused and terrified throughout the entire cutscene, which creates a very dramatic ending to a confusing and terrifying game.

Emily with an angry, hateful look on her face. It says her name by her face, alongside her traits: intelligent, resourceful and persuasive. Her descriptions says "Mike's ex."

Emily falls into the trope of the mean girl because she considers herself smarter and effectively better than most of her counterparts. The ex-girlfriend of Mike, Emily is immediately confrontational with Jessica. It is easy to dislike her towards the beginning of the game, but she quickly reveals that her witty personality is more than a persona. She is clever, resourceful, and very difficult to kill in the game. She is safe until chapter eight of the game when he faces a Wendigo.

Time and time again, Emily saves herself, making her my personal favorite in the game. She is one of the few that understands when to hide from the monsters, and when to go on the attack. I don’t see Jessica or Chris willing to shoot a Wendigo, immediately making her a tough character you can’t help but root for.

In this prediction, Emily is likely to survive because she has the best grasp on the events unfolding in the mountains. She seems to always make the right choices, and the only way I could see her dying is at the hands of the other players, which can happen if Mike (once again, her ex-boyfriend) shoots her. 

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Chris smiles, wearing a large coat with his rectangular glasses on. His description is "has a crush on Ashley." His personality traits are methodical, protective, and humorous.

Chris is nerdy, the class clown, and has a painfully clear crush on Ashley that he doesn’t act on. He is constantly acting like he isn’t scared, and can make foolish decisions to impress the girls around him. His character is loveable in a goofy way, with a genuine personality and charm. He has the devotion of Ashley and the protection of a strange, the Wendigo hunter, in the woods. As long as he doesn’t make a really stupid decision in chapter six, he has a strong chance of survival.

Together, Ashley and Chris share one of the most dramatic moments in the game at that point. The Psycho traps them, and forces Chris to either “shoot” himself or Ashley. This part of the game is critical because we finally learn that the Psycho is Josh, getting payback for his sisters.

During this chapter, I predict Chris will choose to shoot himself. This choice leads Ashley to open a door for him later in the game, which she would not have if he chose to shoot her. 

Ashley, after looking through binoculars, with a shocked look on her face. Her description is "has a crush on Chris." Her personality traits are academic, inquisitive, and forthright.

Having a fear of the dark is not ideal when fighting for survival in the wintery mountains at night. Unfortunately, that is the hand that Ashley is dealt in Until Dawn. Sweet and eager to please, Ashley comes off as the most terrified character in the game. Throughout the story, she constantly lets this part of herself overtake her strong logical side. First, she immediately believes in a ghost world — while I believe in the supernatural, it was a leap even by my standards.

Next, and most notably, she lets her fear get the best of her when she sees Emily with a bite by a Wendigo. She encourages Mike to shoot her, believing there is a chance that she will become the monster. Even though Emily has no signs of anything other than pain. It makes Ashley a character very difficult to like, and even with the protection Chris constantly gets her, I expect her flaw to become fatal later in the game.

Both Ashley and Chris are presented with the same choice. In chapter nine, Ashley falls behind the other survivors she is with. On her way to catch up with them, she hears Jessica’s voice (Jessica is not in the group). At this point, characters are presented with the choice to follow the group or investigate the voice. Fearing for Jessica combined with her inquisitive nature, Ashley is likely to go and check the voice out. She will unlock a trapdoor, causing a Wendigo to come out and decapitate her. At this point, the Wendigo is free to chase Chris and the group, making for a cinematic chase scene. Ashley’s death would make Chris’s survival that much more dramatic as well.

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Matt looking downward, in a very dark background. His description is "Emily's new boyfriend." His personality traits are motivated, ambitious and active.

Nice guys always finish last — at least, that’s what they say, and what I predict will happen with Matt. The character is slighted as soon as he is introduced in the game, watching his new girlfriend in an intimate moment with Mike, her ex. Throughout the game, that’s kind of how Matt’s character is presented. It’s like he is forgotten, even by Emily.

Many people believe he is the hardest to keep alive. Most of the decisions that must be made to save him seem insignificant, and small wrong choices can lead to his demise. In fact, he can die by as early as chapter six, falling to his death. However,  my prediction is I expect he will die with Jessica down in the mines. 

When he discovers Jessica, I predict he will ask her to run, because he himself is fit and able to. However, Jessica is clearly injured, unable to keep up, and gets caught by the Wendigo first.  Afterward, I expect him to die, reacting to Jessica’s vicious death and exposing himself to the Wendigo. 

the character Josh at the beginning of chapter one of Until Dawn is on the left. He is smiling, normal, talking in a video. On the right, in a dark photo, we see when he is transforming into a Wendigo. His face is peeling, and he has been eating human flesh.

I would bet money on Josh, our slighted sibling turned wannabe serial killer, becoming a Wendigo in the Until Dawn movie. In fact, I will be disappointed if they don’t send him down this dark path, becoming the monster his sisters turned into. Throughout the game, it is shown that he is having a mental episode, meeting with the psychiatrist Dr. Hill. Though he presented what he planned in Blackwoods Mountain as a “prank” and that he didn’t want any of his “friends” to get hurt, it doesn’t track with his behavior. Josh is not the kind of character who needs redemption, but death doesn’t serve much of a plot purpose.

In the later chapters of the game, Sam discovers Hannah’s diary, showing Josh. This will lead him to notice a butterfly tattoo on a Wendigo’s shoulder, and he realizes that the monster is Hannah, his sister. She spares his life but drags him back to her lair. In this series of events, Josh remains on the mountain after everyone is evacuated. He feeds on human flesh as his sisters did, and is transformed into a Wendigo.

This is the most compelling ending for his character and presents an incredible cinematic opportunity. It creates the perfect final scene of the film. Two rangers discover Josh feeding on the Wendigo Hunter and will turn to kill both. 

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Alicia Venter

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