Examples of Base-Breaking Character in Until Dawn:
- Emily. She's either loathed for reasons ranging from possibly cheating on her boyfriend with her ex (as well as her general mistreatment of Matt), complaining about everything under the sun, and insulting people even when they're trying to help her, and her mean-spirited, arrogant, self-absorbed, prissy attitude in general. Lots of fans were not at all sad if she died, and quite a few were delighted to discover they could pull the trigger themselves. Likewise, the players who do like her also seem divided. All of them seem to praise her intelligence and resourcefulness while being chased by the Wendigo in the mines, as well as her overall usefulness in the game, but those who do like her can't seem to agree if this makes up for her otherwise unbearable attitude or if she was hilariously and relatably blunt and bitchy. Also worth noting that people who don't like Ashley tend to love her for slapping her after she tried to get Emily thrown out/shot because of a misunderstanding that was resolved literally the moment right after the confrontation, and people who like Matt tend to dislike her emotionally abusive tendencies towards him.
- Ashley is quite divisive as well. Her fans find her to be an incredibly kind, sweet, compassionate character who is trying to make the best out of a rough situation. Her detractors tend to see her as rather shrill and whiny, and often point out how little it takes to scare Ashley, even before the Wendigos appear. The potential for Ashley to have some serious Bitch in Sheep's Clothing moments without player intervention (being gleefully in on the prank that ended with Hannah and Beth's deaths, not opening a door and letting Chris be murdered out of spite, being the primary instigator of Emily almost getting shot by insisting the bite was infectious without evidence, suggesting that Emily be kicked out to where she knows a wendigo is lurking to ensure her own safety, insisting she and Chris leave Sam behind to save themselves, Saying “I hope you did” to Mike after Sam said he did the right thing by not shooting Emily, etc.) tends to divide the fanbase even further in regards to how likable she really is, especially in the latter case where people debate whether Ashley was justified in freaking out about the bite without evidence that it was infectious, and whether Emily was justified in slapping her after the reveal, given that it was Ashley's hysterics that nearly got her shot in the first place. There's also how her Honesty meter appears to decrease if the player chooses to be 'Sympathetic' option regarding the prank that causes Hannah and Beth to vanish, though her 'Charitability' does increase in return, thus making Ashley appear rather flexible in her moral standing, although her fans will also point out how no other character is judged by the traits system in the game except for Ashley.
- Josh might even top Emily and Ashley. He is either seen as an extremely deranged individual who took his prank way too far, where it could cause the actual unintentional deaths of his friends, never mind the massive psychological trauma he caused Chris and Ashley, and therefore deserved his possible fates of death or being left to turn into a wendigo; or he is seen as a sympathetic Jerkass Woobie who was off his meds and still grieving terribly over his sisters, giving out some Laser-Guided Karma to his friends since he felt they never atoned for what they did to Hannah and Beth and never intending to hurt anyone (outside of physically knocking out Ashley), and deserving some chance at redemption since he had no idea about the wendigos.
- Hannah, at least when she was still human, has fans of the game torn between seeing her as a sympathetic Woobie who didn't deserve anything that happened to her, and those who see her as a mild case of Bitch in Sheep's Clothing / Stalker with a Crush, given her open obsession over Mike, who was dating a friend of hers and her willingness to chase after him without any consideration for her friend's feelings. She's pretty undeniably a Woobie by the time she and Beth fall off a cliff, though, and things only get worse for the poor girl from there.
- Though not as controversial as the other examples listed here, Sam's role in the story has gained some ire from the fanbase. She is perceived as either being a boring Nice Girl and Final Girl archetypes, or having a downplayed role in the story that consists solely of her iconic bath scene and lacks a meaningful connection with Hannah, especially with how her gruesome fate as a Wendigo barely affects Sam all that much in spite of being 'Hannah's best friend' not to mention the fact that while she did try to warn Hannah about the original prank, she didn't run after her like Beth did and still stuck with the people who did the prank in the first place. Sam having an abundant Plot Armor, right until the final cutscene, doesn't do much to help her case either.
- Likewise, Mike serves as another downplayed example. Some fans see him as being a Designated Hero who can cause more harm than good (killing Emily, freeing the Wendigo spirits, forcing the group to come and 'rescue' him, potentially leading to the deaths of Ashley and/or Chris in the process, and locking Josh in the shed alone). That's to say nothing of the fact that he played a key role in the tragic prank that leads to everything going wrong, and him starting the game as a Jerk Jock regardless of player input. Much like Sam, he also has Plot Armor right until the end. Of course, others point out that, unlike other characters, Mike goes through character development regardless of the player's choices and has a notable shift in personality, taking a pro-active role in trying to keep the group alive. He can even sacrifice himself to put an end to the Wendigo's.
