X-twitter Twitch Youtube Discord Tiktok Instagram

The Animatronic

Check out top tier builds for The Animatronic from Dead by Daylight!

The Animatronic (William Afton)
Lore Overview

Once a beloved attraction at a rundown family pizzeria, The Animatronic was never meant to move on its own. Designed as a singing, dancing entertainer for children, its programming was simple—perform, delight, repeat. But as the business failed and the lights dimmed for the last time, something darker took root within its mechanical frame.

Rumors swirled about strange disappearances—children last seen near the mascot stage, staff reporting eerie sounds after hours. In time, the building was condemned, left to rot. But the Animatronic didn’t stop. Corrupted by the Entity and twisted by forgotten code and residual malice, it awoke with one directive: seek out new audiences… and silence their screams.

Now in the Fog, the Animatronic hunts with unnatural jerks and inhuman precision. Its rusted servos twitch in rhythm to a phantom music box, its voice a distorted echo of cheerful songs long past. But there’s no joy left in its performance—only programmed torment and synthetic rage.

Watch Lore Video >

When an exit gate switch reaches at least 50% progress, it regresses at 50% the normal gate opening speed. This perk is a game-changer for late-game control, especially paired with perks or abilities that punish survivors lingering at gates.

Haywire

Phantom Fear

Survivors looking directly at Springtrap within his terror radius will scream, revealing their aura to him for 2 seconds. This effect has a cooldown of 60 seconds. This perk is great for tracking and punishing survivors trying to make eye contact.

 When you damage a generator, it becomes compromised. If that compromised generator is completed, your basic attack cooldowns are reduced by 25% for 60 seconds. This perk helps keep the pressure on survivors by speeding up your attack recovery after gens get finished.

Help Wanted

The Animatronic Builds

Axe Chip & Map Pressure
"Killer on the Menu"

Knight Perk

The machinations of the weak and craven draw your ire.

Your anger forces Survivors to reveal themselves.

Performing the Damage Generator action on a Generator triggers Nowhere to Hide:

  • The Auras of all Survivors within 24 metres of your location are revealed to you for 3/4/5 seconds.

 

“Out with you, cowards! Show yourselves!” — Tarhos Kovács

Artist Perk

(Strong early pressure and slowdown when used right with your birds.)

Overwhelming pain reverberates outwards.

At the start of the Trial, 4 random Hooks are changed into Scourge Hooks:

  • The Auras of Scourge Hooks are revealed to you in white.

You start the Trial with 4 Tokens on Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance.

Each time a Survivor is hooked on a Scourge Hook for the first time, 1 Token is consumed and the following effects apply:

  • The Generator with the most Progression explodes and instantly regresses by 10/15/20 % of its total Progression.
  • Normal Generator Regression applies afterwards.
  • All Survivors repairing that Generator will scream, but not reveal their location.

 

Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance is disabled for the remainder of the Trial once all Tokens are consumed.

“The pain spills beyond flesh/darkness staining the horizon.” — Girl in the Shadow by Carmina Mora

Demogorgon Perk

Your eerie presence charges the air and interferes with technology.

Whenever you put a Survivor into the Dying State with a Basic Attack, all Generators within 32 metres of your location instantly explode and start regressing.

  • Instantly regresses affected Generators by 6/7/8 %.

 

“The creature appears to have some unknown influence over electricity and nearby electronics.” — Hawkins National Laboratory

Onryō Perk

Your psychic abilities influence technology in devastating ways.

After performing the Damage Generator action on a Generator, Call of Brine activates for 60 seconds.

  • The damaged Generator regresses at 115/120/125 % of the normal Regression speed and its Aura is highlighted to you in yellow.
  • Receive a Loud Noise Notification each time a Survivor hits a Good Skill Check on the affected Generator.

Add-ons

Axe hits apply Hemorrhage and Mangled for 70 seconds. Ideal for keeping injured Survivors vulnerable longer and slowing healing.

Allies near an axe-embedded Survivor become Oblivious and Broken if already injured. Turns one hit into team-wide pressure.

Security Zone Control
“Through the Door”

Clown Perk

After vaulting a Window, Bamboozle calls upon The Entity to block that Window for the next 8/12/16 seconds.

  • Blocked Windows cannot be vaulted by Survivors.
  • Increases your general Vaulting speed by 5/10/15 %.

 

Bamboozle only blocks one Window at a time and does not apply either of its effects to vaulting Pallets.

Plague Perk

Your prayers invoke a dark power that meddles with the Survivors’ chances of survival.

  • At the start of the Trial, the 3 Generators located farthest from you are blocked by The Entity for 80/100/120 seconds.

 

Corrupt Intervention deactivates prematurely once the first Survivor is put into the Dying State.

“It shall be known across the land that the Gods curse the unfaithful.” — (The Tablet of Adiris, 3.7)

Doctor Perk

You are fuelled by your hate for progress.

Performing the Damage Generator action on a Generator applies Overcharge:

  • The next Survivor interacting with that Generator is faced with a difficult Skill Check.
    • Failing that Skill Check instantly regresses the Generator by 2/3/4 % of its maximum possible Progression in addition to the default Progression penalty.

 

After Overcharge is applied to a Generator, the following effect also applies:

  • Increases the Regression speed from 85 % to 130 % over the next 30 seconds.

 

“It is a trap, But a trap one must step in…” — Herman Carter

Trickster Perk

You are not going to let just anyone into the VIP room.

For each Survivor you hook for the first time, No Way Out gains 1 Token.

Once the Exit Gates have been powered, No Way Out activates:

  • When a Survivor interacts with an Exit Gate Switch, you receive a Loud Noise Notification and The Entity blocks both Exit Gate Switches for 12 seconds and an additional 6/9/12 seconds per Token in your possession, up to a combined maximum of 36/48/60 seconds.

 

“That sound when you bleed… let me hear it again.” — Ji-Woon Hak

Add-ons

Your axe travels through Security Doors—you can snipe across the map. Ideal for mid-to-late game snowballing.

Inside your axe’s AoE (area of effect), you break pallets, doors, and gens 25% faster, with a lingering buff after leaving. Great for map control and loop denial.

Bonus Add-on Combos (For Custom Builds)

Haste and Incapacitated chaos. Run down your obsession and ruin escape plans.

AoE Exhaustion trap. Stop Sprint Burst loops before they happen.

Axe becomes a roaming terror radius—distort audio queues and hit Survivors trying to hide.

Confusion, Exhaustion & Chaos
“Party Protocol”

Legion Perk

Any generator within a range of 64/96/128 metres that is being repaired by 2 or more Survivors is marked by a yellow Aura

  • When the Generator is first highlighted, Discordance triggers a Loud Noise Notification on the Generator.
  • After the Generator is no longer within range or is being repaired by just 1 Survivor, the highlighted Aura will linger for another 4 seconds.

“Smartasses get killed. We always see to that.” — The Legion

Demogorgon Perk

Your distressing presence drains and weakens your prey.

All Survivors  repairing a Generator suffer from the following afflictions:

  • Incurs the Blindness and Exhausted
     Status Effects for the duration of the Repair action.
    • If a Survivor was already suffering from Exhausted prior to Mindbreaker affecting them, the Status Effect’s timer will be paused and not recover for the duration of the Repair action.
    • Both Status Effects linger for another 3/4/5 seconds after a Survivor stops repairing.

“The specimen’s apparent telepathic ability can evoke feelings of dread and fatigue in nearby individuals.” — Hawkins National Laboratory

Skull Merchant Perk

First you pick your prey, then you pick it apart.

  • Whenever you hit the Survivor with the highest cumulative Chase time, with a Basic Attack, they become the Obsession.

While you are chasing your Obsession, Game Afoot activates its secondary effect:

  • Grants a 5 % Haste
     Status Effect for 8/9/10 seconds after damaging a Generator
    or breaking a Breakable Wall or Pallet

You can only be obsessed with one Survivor at a time.

“This one might actually be a challenge…” — Sonhadores Sombrios, Issue #3

Oni Perk

The agony of one is inflicted onto others.

  • Whenever you hook a Survivor, all other injured Survivors suffer from the Exhausted
    and Haemorrhage
    Status Effects for 20/25/30 seconds.

“Attack an enemy with precision and their allies will feel it.” — Renjiro’s Doctrine 6:3

Add-ons

Survivors inside your axe’s AoE get Exhausted for 5 seconds. Perfect for stopping Sprint Burst, Dead Hard, or Lithe loops.

Increases the time it takes Survivors to remove an embedded axe. Slows the game down passively and increases pressure value from one hit.

Aura Reading & Predictive Sniping
“Purple Protocol”

Plague Perk

The display of your Powers creates a whirlwind of panic that spreads throughout the land.

Whenever the Obsession loses a Health State by any means and thus enters the Injured State, Dark Devotion activates:

  • Your Terror Radius transfers to the Obsession for 20/25/30 seconds, and its radius is set to 32 metres.
  • Grants the Undetectable
     Status Effect for the same duration.

The Obsession with your transferred Terror Radius is also considered to be ‘inside the Terror Radius’ for other purposes.

You can only be obsessed with one Survivor at a time.

“And terror shall take hold of a defiant non-believer, who shall falsely announce my arrival.” — (The Tablet of Adiris, 48.9)

Onryō Perk

You form a psychic connection with The Entity and alter the rules of the Trial.

At the start of the Trial, 4 random Hooks are changed into Scourge Hooks:

  • The Auras of Scourge Hooks are revealed to you in white.

Each time a Survivor is unhooked from a Scourge Hook, the following effects apply:

  • The Auras of all other Survivors are revealed for 5/6/7 seconds.

Knight Perk

The machinations of the weak and craven draw your ire.

Your anger forces Survivors to reveal themselves.

Performing the Damage Generator action on a Generator triggers Nowhere to Hide:

  • The Auras of all Survivors within 24 metres of your location are revealed to you for 3/4/5 seconds.

 

“Out with you, cowards! Show yourselves!” — Tarhos Kovács

Executioner Perk

You guide your victims along a path of pain and punishment.

Performing the Damage Generator action on a Generator activates Trail of Torment:

  • Grants the Undetectable
     Status Effect until the Generator stops regressing.
  • The Aura of the damaged Generator is revealed to all Survivors in yellow.

Trail of Torment has a cool-down of 60/45/30 seconds.

Add-ons

Aura reveals after rushed actions or self-removal of axe. This turns panic into tracking.

Throwing an axe copies your terror radius to the axe while giving you Undetectable. Turns you into a stealth snipe killer.

Join the Community for Updates!

Join Us!