With Dead By Daylight's latest update introducing new killer The Dredge, as well as the arrival of a new trailer announcement for the spin off Hooked On You: A Dead By Daylight Dating Sim, much fan discussion has been ongoing about the killers of Dead By Daylight as well as ideas and speculations of new potential killers to come in future updates.
Though Dead By Daylight is known for its original killer characters like The Trapper and The Wraith, many other killers come from crossovers with other horror franchises, such as Halloween's Michael Myers as The Shape, and A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger as The Nightmare.
Pennywise
Pennywise is Stephen King's well-known creepy clown villain from the IT universe. Pennywise is a terrifying entity that takes the form of a clown to lure in, terrorize, and kill victims from the town of Derry. Pennywise is shown to be capable of many supernatural abilities, such as shape-shifting, demonic possession, mind control, telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation, and manifestation of physical illusions.
Pennywise's abilities would make him an incredibly interesting killer to see within the Dead By Daylight franchise, with the opportunity to add some unique killer perks and passive abilities to his toolkit. Teleportation around the map is possible, as it is an ability seen before in other killers, such as The Hag and The Onryo. Not only this, but there are endless opportunities to design new perks for Pennywise, such as one to create physical illusions of palettes or generators, or to interrupt actions and tasks with a mind control or telekinesis-themed perk.
Chucky
Chucky is the iconic slasher villain from the Child's Play franchise - a doll that becomes possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray. Charles uses his new life as the doll 'Chucky' as a cover to participate in yet another killing spree. Chucky could be an interesting and humorous killer in Dead By Daylight, with the opportunity to use Chucky's many iconic one-liners and quotes as potential taunts, sound effects, or voice lines.
Chucky is seen in the Child's Play franchise as a manipulative mastermind who uses his surroundings to his advantage to secure a kill, as well as his disguise as a Good Guys doll to blend in to unsuspecting victims. Transferring this over to Dead By Daylight, Chucky's killer perks and abilities could revolve around setting up traps and wearing down survivors over time, making them easier to kill.
The Slenderman
The Slenderman took the gaming world by storm when the free to play indie game Slender: The Eight Pages released in 2012. The character of The Slenderman gained such a following that a 2018 film titled Slender Man was released, as well as various sequel and spin off games. The Slenderman is an unnaturally tall humanoid entity with a blank face, known for stalking, abducting, and traumatizing his victims.
Adding The Slenderman into Dead By Daylight would be an interesting move that could bring back popularity that the horror character once had. Slenderman would be an amazing killer for stalking and interference perks, and the eight page mechanic of the Slender game could create an interesting killer-specific style of gameplay - similar to The Onryo's tapes, or The Pig's reverse bear traps.
Rose The Hat
Rose The Hat is an iconic horror villain within the Stephen King multiverse and stars as the primary antagonist in Doctor Sleep. Rose The Hat made her mark as a charming and sadistic killer, harvesting the energy of children with psychic abilities to further her own strength and immortality.
Rose The Hat's psychic abilities could transfer into some very interesting perks that involve draining survivors of their health and/or abilities, similar to her soul-sucking of psychic energies - and her iconic "Well hi there..." could make a chilling voice line for a Mori.
Bloody Face
American Horror Story is known for its many gruesome villains and cold-hearted killers, but one that has made a significant name in the franchise as the scariest villain of Season 2 (Asylum) is Bloody Face. Bloody Face, aka Dr. Oliver Thredson, is an eerily calm and composed killer who tortures and skins his victims and wears their faces as masks.
Opting for a crossover with American Horror Story would not be out of the question as the game has already added earlier content based on another popular horror show - Stranger Things. With his knack for damaging and torturing his victims, Bloody Face would be a perfect killer for perks revolving around inflicting and maximizing the hooked and dying states for survivors - wearing them out over the duration of a trial.
The Blair Witch
The Blair Witch Project is an iconic found-footage style movie from the 1990's. The film was popular enough in the horror community to not only receive a modern remake but also a video game adaptation. The Blair Witch is the main villain of this franchise, an evil entity responsible for a series of disappearances and deaths of those who set foot on her home in the Black Hills.
Though The Blair Witch is mostly an unseen entity, with only a few minor appearances captured on screen in the franchise - this could play into part of her toolkit in Dead By Daylight. The Blair Witch could work from afar, disorienting the survivors around the map, with an advantage on wearing them down when survivors are separated. This would also open the possibility of a design revamp in the Dead By Daylight adaptation, with the option of leaning more towards the robed hag-like creature in the original concept art.
Valak
Valak is the name of the terrifying nun in The Conjuring's film series. Known as one of the scariest paranormal horror villains to exist, Valak could be an interesting choice for a killer in Dead By Daylight. Valak is a ruthless and cold demon, capable of various abilities, such as heightened intelligence, shape-shifting, telepathy, and demonic possession.
Valak could have many interesting perks and abilities crafted into his toolkit to make a solid killer in Dead By Daylight. A possession themed ability, similar to The Artist's Birds of Torment, or The Doctor's Madness would be a unique addition, as well as perks based around terror radius and disruption to survivors.
Tommy Slater
Tommy Slater is the main antagonist of Fear Street Part 2: 1978, and one of the Fear Street Trology's most memorable killers. Tommy Slater is an axe-wielding slasher, making him a perfect fit for the game as a close-range killer.
Tommy's abilities and toolkit would definitely revolve around slashing and hooking survivors as efficiently as possible. Tommy's perks could involve both locating and blocking survivors in and cornering them for mass damage, making him a brutal hunter.
Jennifer Check
Jennifer Check is the antagonist from the film Jennifer's Body. When a demon possesses her body after a failed ritual, Jennifer begins to slaughter and feast on men to feed the new hunger inside of her. Jennifer's demonic powers include superhuman strength, speed, and regeneration.
Jennifer could make for a strong potential chase killer in Dead By Daylight, with abilities that give her bonuses with hits inflicted to survivors, similar to The Trickster's Showstopper and Main Event, as well as perks based around her regeneration and speed.
The Red Face Demon
The Red Face Demon is the evil entity of the Insidious franchise that seeks to bring pain and suffering to the world of the living by possessing human bodies and is capable of enhanced strength and speed, telekinesis, teleportation, and possession.
The Red Face Demon's claws add the potential to be played as a close-range killer, with a possible teleportation ability inspired by his powers - similar to The Nurse's Blink. It would also make sense for The Red Face Demon's perks to involve terrorizing and disrupting the survivors as a lurker, which could be a way to charge or power up the teleportation mobility. The Red Face Demon could also have a perk that adds disadvantage to actions or generators being repaired by survivors within his terror radius.