Dead By Daylight: Who Is The Ghoul?

The newest Killer to join the Dead By Daylight roster has been confirmed as Ken Kaneki, the main character of the Tokyo Ghoul manga and anime. Many Dead By Daylight players are huge horror buffs, but don't have the same depth of knowledge when it comes to manga.

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Whether you're looking for information on who Ken Kaneki is and why he deserves a spot in the so-called Museum of Horror that is Dead By Daylight, or just how he fits into the tangled lore of the game, look no further. All the answers can be found in The Fog down below.

This article contains spoilers for Tokyo Ghoul.

Who Is Ken Kaneki?

Initially, Ken Kaneki is a mild-mannered young man, optimistic and good natured. Although he doesn't have many friends, he's kind to everyone he meets, never wanting to cause suffering to anyone. That sounds more like a Dead By Daylight Survivor than a Killer, but everything changes for Ken early in Tokyo Ghoul.

He is surgically altered to become a half-Ghoul, forever afflicted with the need to consume human flesh to feed himself and granted physical attributes far beyond the range of any normal person.

What Is A Ghoul?

Ghouls are a separate species from humans, although the two are almost identical at a glance. Ghouls, however, can only survive by eating the flesh of humans, or other ghouls, with all other food tasting revolting to them and being indigestible.

They are physically stronger, faster and more durable than humans. Their senses are heightened, they can regenerate, and they can extend hardened musculature from themselves to create weaponry in the form of tentacles, blades, tails or sharp wings.

Their restricted diet and physical advantages cause many Ghouls to view humans as prey, leading them down a path of a bloodthirsty and sadistic lifestyle. Not all Ghouls are this way, however, with many trying to find a way to live peacefully.

Is Ken Kaneki A Killer?

Ken Kaneki is a Killer in Dead By Daylight, but adding him to the game in that role is an interesting choice. Kaneki is a complex character who undergoes numerous changes throughout his story. He is the main character, so labeling him a Killer might at first seem odd.

Kaneki does kill, an act he initially struggles with, and has even lost his self-control at times to go on destructive rampages. At his core, however, he is a good person struggling with the changes he is experiencing and the world around him.

The developers at Behaviour Interactive stated that making a Tokyo Ghoul chapter for Dead By Daylight without Kaneki at the front and centre didn't seem right. Knowing that they wanted to make a Killer rather than a Survivor, that left them with the task of making Kaneki make sense in this role.

The Entity, the eldritch entity which orchestrates the events of Dead By Daylight, is able to pluck people from across time and space. That means it was able to pick the perfect moment from Kaneki's life to capture him, taking the version of him that would suit its needs the best.

It's worth remembering that the Kaneki you encounter in the game is not the one from the end of the manga, but instead Kaneki at one of his lowest points when his sanity is almost completely broken, and he has given in completely to being a murderous Ghoul.

If you're curious about specifically when in the Tokyo Ghoul timeline the Dead By Daylight version of Kaneki is plucked, it is immediately after he has undergone horrific and prolonged torture at the hands of a character called Jason. As a result, Kaneki gives in entirely to his darker nature for a time.

Is He Accurate To The Anime Or The Manga?

This Ken Kaneki technically isn't accurate to either the anime or the manga, since he now finds himself in a completely different setting from either, but the question of accuracy is a little more complicated than that.

The Tokyo Ghoul anime diverges heavily from its source material, with many even arguing that it completely changes genre to become a battle anime when that was never the real focus of the manga.

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The anime is heavily criticized for the unnecessary changes it makes to the story, then going on to downplay or completely ignore some of these changes when they would make it difficult for the main plot to resume.

The first season of the anime remains largely accurate to the source material if you're looking for a Tokyo Ghoul primer, but the manga is the best way to experience the original story.

Assuming that the Dead By Daylight Kaneki is from the manga version is a safer bet, with nothing to indicate he is from the altered anime timeline, and you could even interpret that they are the same, rather than alternate instances of the same character.

It's not impossible that if Kaneki were returned to the place and time the Entity took him from that he could interpret his experiences from Dead By Daylight as hallucinations brought on by his treatment at the hands of Jason.

Yes, it's confusing that Tokyo Ghoul has a prominent character called Jason who is named after Jason Voorhees, while Dead By Daylight still doesn't have Jason Voorhees. Unfortunately, the Jason Voorhees and Friday The 13th licensing rights are a tangled mess, so it seems like mentions of the Tokyo Ghoul Jason are as close as you'll get for now.

Will Dead By Daylight Feature More Anime And Manga?

Not everyone is convinced that manga or anime have a place in Dead By Daylight, but the Tokyo Ghoul chapter isn't the first time Behaviour Interactive have included properties from those mediums in the game.

Although the Attack On Titan cosmetic collection is no longer available, it offered the option to dress several Survivors as characters from the series, and even alter multiple Killers to appear as different Titans.

Properties have left Dead By Daylight before and returned, like Stranger Things, so it isn't impossible that Attack On Titan will be back in the game someday.

More recently, there was the Junji Ito cosmetic collection with some absolutely stunning skins, particularly for the Killers, modeling characters after those featured in the works of the icon of horror manga.

Behaviour Interactive seems interested in following the thread of the horror genre wherever it takes them, so ruling out future manga or anime properties would be a mistake.

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