Tagged as Daud

Contributors:

Blue, Hiaen, Custy

Blue: i was thinking earlier that for casual fans (aka ppl who say haven't played the dh1 dlcs or who even just played the games and were like cool :) fun game), that daud is essentially a minor character - he IS the protag of the dlcs, but they are shorter than a full game anyways. yet, theres so much daud content, lore etc. - like if i said 2 a friend who had played dh but not like. religiously nor recently "oh daud is cool" they'd probably be like who? his role in dh isn't even like. hes never the main antagonist?? like. he kills the empress - a MAJOR thing - but u dont even know his name at that point. for the first 3/4 of the game, it's all about bringing the lord regent down, then the last bit is the loyalists. dealing w daud is like, opportunistic and minor

Hiaen: I mean it's like that for most medias? If you don't get invested much you're gonna miss a lot of things that are obvious for invested fans.

Blue: YEAH - but even compared 2 other minor characters, theres SO much daud, hes really become a fan favourite despite the fact that u can like. easily forget about him since his overall presence in dh1 is so fleeting

Custy: It's weird I feel overall that the dlcs really helped boost Daud's status as a fan fave, but like even before the dlcs ppl just saw this funky assassin and went for him

Hiaen: Daud's mission is particular because it's opportunistic and entirely unplanned; however it is very emotionally charged. You're getting poisoned, you as the player are taken by surprise and then really wondering what the fuck's gonna happen to you when suddenly you get fished out by gas mask people? And then Daud has a whole introductory cutscene - in a game that has very few of them, it's notable. And then the whole Flooded District mission has a different vibe than the others (though I may be biased), what with starting at half-health without your equipment and the objective being essentially "get outta here" instead of "get rid of that guy"

Blue: flooded district vibes are so different, its more urgent and you start at the bottom again

Custy: But I think part of like, Daud's appeal just looking at the base game is like, the fact that he deeply felt regret about the empress and such, it's just such an interesting thing to explore, and also I think his design too? Like imo there's snth very distinguishing about his red whaler coat and also his voice is just so edgy and just. Sometimes you just think it's neat. I think also like Hiaen said you aren't out here to KILL Daud, just gtfo, but you just happen to NEED to get to daud to do so. Imo when I played the game, like many others, ofc you hate daud at first bc he killed jess, and a bit more so when he does his "and I know what it felt like to shove a blade into your empress", but as you actually play thru the level and get to his office and hear his regretting, you start having that sort of confliction like "damn bitch he didn't like it either", and afterwards during his speech it just further develops your thoughts on him. Daud really just subverts your expectations of edgy assassin man, i mean he"s still edgy but his behavior is kind of unexpected. And like he's so distinguishing from the other targets and "bad people" too, as you said