Zoey Alexandria "The Unknown" Transphobia Controversy (Dead by Daylight)

Submission 15,014

Part of a series on Dead by Daylight. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Zoey Alexandria "The Unknown" Transphobia Controversy refers to a controversy surrounding the release of the Dead by Daylight killer called The Unknown, who is voiced by trans voice actor Zoey Alexandria. In the days following the release of the character, some members of the trans community expressed concerns that the character's appearance was transphobic. Following the backlash, Alexandria made a post claiming she was unhappy with the model for the character, calling it an offensive trans "stereotype."

Background

On March 12th, 2024, Behaviour Interactive released the "All Things Wicked" update for Dead by Daylight. The update includes a new killer character, The Unknown, who is a genderless shapeshifting being that can adapt its appearance as needed (trailer shown below, left, lore video shown below, right).^[1]

Trans voice actor Zoey Alexandria voices the character, using both a more masculine and feminine voice that alternates depending on the killer's lines. One of the character's costumes is a cheerleader outfit.

Following the update's release, some members of the trans community voiced concerns that the killer's depiction was transphobic. For example, on March 13th, a Dead by Daylight forum^[2] user made a post expressing concerns with the character and its skins that reads, in part:

"The cheerleader outfit in particular evokes a rather harmful stereotype of trans women, a masculinized body in feminine clothing that’s depicted as dangerous and grotesque. The fact The Unknown happens to be voiced by a trans woman (which otherwise would be a such a great excited piece of trivia) makes the choice to launch with these cosmetics feel particularly egregious."

Developments

Discussions about the character continued to spread on social media over the following days. On March 14th, 2024, X^[3] user @_rawrell posted an image of the character, writing, ">New Dead by Daylight killer is a deformed freak in a skirt >voiced by a trаոѕ VA What in the ever-living H*CK did the devs mean by this?" garnering over 15,000 likes in under a day (shown below, left).

The same X^[4] user then shared a screenshot of a post by Alexandria in which she claimed there was no model for The Unknown while she was recording the voice lines, but that she found the final model transphobic. She apologized to anyone who was harassed over the character, claims voicing the character has "ruined her reputation," writing, "The company knew that making a stereotypical 'man in a dress' as a character and having a TRANS voice actress voice it, would bring lots of money and people back to the game. I'm not dumb, I know how marketing works" (shown below, right).

Later that day, Alexandria made a follow-up post on X^[5] clarifying her original statement, writing, "I wasn’t kept in the loop with what the characters final look would be, I was given an ambiguous description for the part, and even though I tried my best to find out more, continually asking for more info, that wasn’t possible. This is why I was upset. The skins themselves were never the issue. Lack of communication was" (shown below). She discouraged people from participating in "boycotting behavior" and added, "They are NOT transphobic."

Online Reactions

The character and controversy surrounding it inspired reactions on sites like X / Twitter and 4chan, including memes many perceived as transphobic towards Alexandria and memes criticizing Behaviour Interactive. On March 14th, 2024, a thread was started on 4chan's^[6] /pol/ board about the character design, titled "Accurate Trans Depiction."

On the same day, X^[7] user @KirscheVerstahl posted an opinion on the controversy, writing, "I fully expect the studio to bend over backwards apologising, even if the idea of reparations for a VA role is ridiculous," garnering over 6,500 likes in a day (shown below).

On March 15th, another thread about the character was started on 4chan's^[8] /pol/ board titled, "Dead by daylight devs being insanely based," inspiring over 300 comments in under a day. On the same day, X^[9] user @MelonieMac posted, "Oh look, Dead by Daylight released an accurate trans character and troons are mad 🤣," garnering over 5,700 likes in under a day.

Later that day, Ricky Berwick posted a meme to X^[10] about the controversy, garnering over 21,000 likes in under a day (shown below).

Some commenters and users accused Berwick of being transphobic over the post. For example, X^[11] user @Rinne_Z_rank quote-reposted it, writing, "Not surprised Ricky Berwick is transphobic Man's a genuine piece of shit," garnering over 3,600 likes in the same span of time.