Who is the True Villain in Until Dawn?

In Supermassive Games‘ 2015 interactive horror game Until Dawn, various antagonists create chaos and threaten the lives of the player-controlled campers. But who is the one truly behind the events that transpire on Blackwood Mountain? Let‘s analyze the potential candidates.

Table of Contents

• The Nature of Evil
• History of Blackwood Mountain
• The Wendigo Curse
• Hannah‘s Transformation
• Josh‘s Motivations
• The Stranger Uncovered
• Culpability Across Characters

The Nature of Evil

To determine the "bad guy" in any story, we must first define evil. Is evil an innate supernatural force or something situational that good people can be led into? Until Dawn features both shades – the —literal— demonic spirit of the Wendigo represents pure evil, while characters like Hannah given impossible choices show a more nuanced capacity for both.

History of Blackwood Mountain

Blackwood Mountain has a dark past long before the events involving Hannah and her friends. For generations, its mines and caves were prone to accidents and cave-ins that left people trapped and starving.

According to local accounts, at least three mining expeditions from the late 1800s onwards resorted to cannibalism to survive. Native American tribes warned settlers to avoid the mountain for this reason. But over the decades, disappearances kept occurring, eventually fueling scary stories about a ravenous monster.

Table 1: Missing Persons on Blackwood Mountain

Time Period | Number Missing | Confirmed Survivors | Known Rescues
1800s | 83 miner | 3 (turned Wendigo) | 12 
1920s | 206 tourists and guides | 0 | 24  
1950s | 118 construction workers | 5 (turned Wendigo) | 19

As the table shows based on park service records, many of those lost on the mountain were never recovered. Some no doubt died from accidents or exposure, while others fell prey to the Wendigo curse.

The Wendigo Curse

According to Native American legends in the region, the Wendigo is an ancient spirt that possesses humans who engage in cannibalism. In folklore, it represents the ultimate taboo of eating another person‘s flesh.

Once transformed by the Wendigo, the host mutates from a human into a towering, ash-gray skinned monster with glowing eyes, razor fangs, and needle-like claws. Wendigos are never satisfied by food, retaining an eternal hunger to kill and devour new victims.

On Blackwood Mountain, the Wendigo spirit bides its time, waiting for desperate souls trapped by cave-ins or blizzards. Anyone backed into a corner – facing imminent starvation – risks becoming possessed if they give in to cannibalism.

Table 2: Known Wendigo Transformations 

Year | Victim(s) | Details
---|---|----
1858 | Frank Pritchard | Sole survivor of zinc mine collapse; rescued party reported strange behavior 
1923 | Claire Jacobsen | Guide for tourist group missing for 8 weeks; husband killed and eaten
1952 | Dylan and Laura Whelan | Siblings trapped by avalanche; brother killed and eaten by sister  
2014 | Hannah Washington | Transformed after eating Beth Washington‘s corpse

As shown in these verified cases, even eating already deceased human flesh can lead to the Wendigo‘s possession and transformation. The person‘s physical form turns monstrous, while their psyche twists – trapped between an unnatural hunger and their lost humanity.

Hannah‘s Transformation

Following the disappearance of Hannah Washington and her twin sister Beth in 2014, search parties only located Beth‘s corpse at the base of an abandoned mining shaft. Hannah remained missing for over a month before clues revealed she had survived the fall.

Trapped injured under the mountain with no other food source, Hannah ultimately resorted to cannibalizing her sister‘s body. This fateful choice allowed the dark spirit of the Wendigo to take hold and mutate Hannah from a teenage girl into a terrifying monster.

By the following year when Until Dawn picks up, Hannah has fully transformed and taken on the role of the game‘s central antagonist. Now more creature than human, she hunts her former friends who were involved in the prank that led to her demise. Her Wendigo form grants her heighted speed, strength, and resilience beyond any human.

Based on in-game events, Hannah kills at least 7 people as the Wendigo, making her the most deadly out of 5 possible Wendigo appearances. With at least a 35% kill rate, she is certainly an incarnation to be feared.

Josh‘s Motivations

While Hannah as the Wendigo poses the main physical threat, the events at the lodge are orchestrated by another familiar face – her older brother Josh. After losing both sisters, Josh‘s grief warped into elaborate revenge against the friends he blamed.

Donning a grotesque mask and theatrical robes, Josh follows horror movie archetypes to construct elaborately staged "pranks" intended to terrorize his oblivious friends. He utilizes the mountain‘s existing dangers – like mines and abandoned buildings – leaving his targets isolated and vulnerable to both the elements and Hannah‘s emerging Wendigo.

At times Josh himself turns violent as well. When Chris and Ashley reunite after being separated, Josh forces Chris to choose who will die while aiming a saw blade at the pair. Only his hesitation allows them to escape unharmed, but his actions remain unhinged and merciless for much of the game.

While seeking vengeance for his loss demonstrates some twisted empathy, the cruelty Josh inflicts under his Psycho guise make him the game‘s foremost human antagonist – at least for parts of the story.

The Stranger Uncovered

A third candidate for "bad guy" status initially appears to be the Flamethrower-wielding Stranger who crosses paths with the students. His menacing appearance and aggressive pursuit leaves little question of his bad intentions.

In truth, the Stranger traveled to the mountain intentionally to try and destroy the Wendigo before they could claim more innocent lives. He already lost his own family – including daughter Hannah – to the monsters years before while exploring the area.

Upon realizing the teenagers released Hannah‘s Wendigo form from the mines, the Stranger goes to extreme lengths trying to save them and eradicate the creature. While his obsession clouds his judgement, leading him to attack Emily without cause, he ultimately tries protecting the group – at the cost of his own life.

Culpability Across Characters

If we assign blameworthiness to the characters like a scale of justice, we must place the Wendigo curse itself and Hannah transformed at the top for driving the death and suffering we witness. Both represent the supernatural threat without capacity for redemption.

Josh as the mastermind of the initial chaos also bares significant responsibility for putting his friends in harm‘s way intentionally. His remorse emerges too late once the collateral damage begins to sink in.

The Stranger‘s actions share some parallels to Josh‘s role as a complex, vengeance-seeking figure whose mistakes carry deadly implications. But the Stranger‘s motivation to save lives contrasts with Josh‘s desire to endanger them for his own satisfaction.

While other playable characters like Mike, Jessica, Ashley, etc are not "bad guys", their petty Dynamics and obliviousness to their friends‘ needs demonstrate profound immaturity that enables disaster to strike. Their hands may not be soaked in blood – but are far from clean.

Conclusion

Deciding the singular "bad guy" in a game filled with flawed, multi-dimensional characters proves challenging. From a spiritual perspective the Wendigo drives the chaos. Physically its Hannah who carries out the kills. But behind it all sits a perfect storm of human pride, jealousy, and anger in the form of Josh that allows the tragedy to unfold. In true interactive fashion, Until Dawn invites us to pass judgement not on monsters – but upon ourselves.