Spoiler warning: Do not read if you haven’t played the second episode of Telltale’s The Walking Dead series.
In the second chapter of Telltale’s critically acclaimed episodic Walking Dead series, the ‘gang’ finds themselves at the St. John’s Farm. The St. John’s appear to be a fairly normal cliche farming family, but Danny stood out in a peculiar way.
Danny is a character who exudes a certain subtle creepiness through the way he speaks, and a couple (optional) dialogue branches players may engage with him. But Danny was originally intended to come across as much more obviously nefarious person. After reviewing recordings of Danny’s voice actor Brian Sommers, the producers at Telltale decided to modify Danny to the perfect middle-ground, where it was clear something was ‘off’ about Danny, yet nothing particularly stood out.
“Days like this a 243 will keep ya warmer at night than any lady I ever known”
Why the specific attention to making Danny mildly disturbing, yet the rest of the family so warm, and normal by contrast? It turns out Telltale hinted to Brian Sommers that Danny may have had a very damnable past even before the world turned to hell:
Even before the walkers arrived, I think Danny had some major screws loose. It was hinted to me that he was in fact a serial killer, and a child molester before the apocalypse. So when it came time to ‘change the menu’ I don’t think Danny even batted an eyelash. It was business as usual for him. I think the rest of the family was trying to cover up for Danny. His mother and brother I think were pretty sane before the walkers. But when it came time to either starve or chow down on the neighbors, they went along with Danny. Who knows, the speculation is half the fun in experiencing folks like the St. Johns.
Did you pick up on Danny’s eerie nature early on in The Walking Dead: Episode 2 or did it pass by you unnoticed? Speculating on the past sex (and recreational) lives of fictitious characters may be a fruitless endeavor, but does Danny strike you as a child molesting serial killer?
