Dead by Daylight’s newest DLC features Cheryl Mason and Pyramid Head from theSilent Hillgame franchise. While many are excited for these characters' appearances, there are also those who aren’t familiar withSilent Hillmay not understand the history behind these characters. After all, players who’ve only seen theSilent Hillmovies would have a different memory of these characters from those who’ve played the games.
While knowing character lore isn’t integral for playing as any of the survivors or killers inDead by Daylight, knowing what characters have been through before being thrust into the realm of the entity can enhance the experience. Cheryl Mason is certainly a character that’s been through a lot in her life with a lot for players to learn about her.
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Players should note that following will contain spoilers for the originalSilent HillandSilent Hill 3. The following is also only about the originalSilent Hilltimeline from the games andnot from the movies. It is also important to note that the Cheryl Mason that appears inSilent Hill: Shattered Memoriesis an alternate version of Cheryl as that game isn’t connected to the main timeline.
Cheryl is Also Known as Heather Mason
Many people who aren’t to familiar with Silent Hill, but know of the series may be confused on why Cheryl isn’t calledHeather Mason inDead by Daylight. However, for those completed uninitiated withSilent Hill, there is some background to the issue of Cheryl’s name.While being given the name Cheryl as a baby, her name had to be changed to Heather when she was five due to being stalked by Silent Hill’s infamous cult, The Order. Her hair was also dyed from her natural brown to a blonde to help distance herself from The Order.
Afterthe events ofSilent Hill 3, Cheryl makes the decision to keep her blonde hair, but to change her name back to Cheryl out of respect for what her father originally named her. As Cheryl is taken into the realm of the entity inDead by Daylightafter the events ofSilent Hill 3presumably, it makes sense that she’s referred to as Cheryl instead of Heather.
Cheryl is the Reincarnation of Alessa Gillespie and the Original Cheryl Mason
Before the events ofthe originalSilent Hill, there was once a girl known as Alessa Gillespie. This girl lived in Silent Hill and was indoctrinated into the Order by her mother, Dahlia Gillespie, from a young age. It was discovered that she had supernatural powers that she was bullied for in school. Alessa was also physically abused and mentally by Dahlia as part of the Order’s practices and Dahlia’s own twisted parenting skills.
Alessa had only one friend growing up named Claudia Wolf, who was also a young girl forced into the Order. The two were as close as sisters until Dahlia enacted her plan for Alessa’s role in the Order. Alessa was to become the surrogate mother for the Order’s god and give birth to it. To begin the process, Alessa wasburned alive by the Orderand became impregnated by with the Order’s god at the age of seven. However, this also later had the effect of part of Alessa’s soul being split off and manifesting itself as a baby that was later found by Harry Mason and his wife, Jodie Mason. This baby was named Cheryl Mason.
Despite her injuries, Alessa was kept alive and was kept inAlchemilla Hospital’s basement. Only a few people knew Alessa survived the fire and she was treated in secret by those select few. Dahlia then kept making sure Alessa suffered in order to complete a spell to compel Cheryl Mason to come back to Silent Hill somehow. After seven years, this eventually succeeded.
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During the events of the originalSilent Hill, Harry Mason is looking for his now seven year old adopted daughter, Cheryl Mason. Alessa uses her powers to try and lure Cheryl to her so that she can kill both parts of herself so that the Order’s god cannot be born. Eventually in thecanon ending ofSilent Hill, Cheryl and Alessa are combined into one being again and a new baby is created. While Harry considers killing the baby out of anger of Alessa taking Cheryl away from him for good, he ends up raising the child and naming her Cheryl once more.
Cheryl Isn’t a Damsel in Distress
A lot offemale protagonists in horror gamestend to not have a lot of methods to fight back. Even those that do often need to be saved by others often or spend the entire game cowering in fear. While it’s understandable to act like that, especially when trapped in the hellish lands ofSilent Hill, Cheryl develops through her travels and becomes more angry than scared by the end.
Cheryl is reasonably freaked out by theterrible monstersthat remind her memories of Alessa of the fear of being pregnant with God, but after the Order kills Harry Mason to get to her, Cheryl is more angry than scared. The monsters soon become just obstacles for her as she goes on a journey to end what Dahlia had brought toSilent Hilland purge any inkling of the Order’s god from her body.
ThroughoutSilent Hill 3, Cheryl has plenty of sarcastic quips to help break tension for the player, and presumably herself. While she goes through hell and high water on her journey, she goes through a lot of growth that make her a stronger person by the end.
This strength will likely help her in theentity’s realm inDead by Daylight, as while Cheryl likely isn’t used to being without weapons for too long, she is used to dealing with nightmarish beings that want her dead. The only real shame is having to end up in the entity’s realm after escaping one other hell.
Dead by Daylightis available now for Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
