Samantha Giddings

Samantha "Sam" Giddings is the main protagonist of the 2015 horror video game . 
She was the best friend of Hannah Washington, the love interest of Josh Washington, and the leader of the main group. She opposes the harsh prank the group pulls on Hannah, and when they reunify one year later becomes, along with Mike, the main leader of the group once they start to be stalked and attacked by the Makkapitew. 
She was voiced by Hayden Panettiere.
== Early life ==
Sam grew up during her life with her friends Michael Munroe, Emily Davis, Jessica Riley, Christopher Hartley, Ashley Brown, Matthew Taylor, Josh Washington, and his sisters Hannah and Beth. Sam and Hannah ultimately became best friends. Eventually all nine went to college together. Sam also began to bond closely with Josh, with Sam even wondering if there could be something between them. Once they entered college, the nine friends began to have an annual yearly retreat to Blackwood Mountain in Alberta. Over time, Sam and the others became aware of Hannah's crush on Mike, who was then dating Emily. 
== Prologue ==
At their annual retreat at Blackwood Mountain in Alberta, which was owned by the Washington family, the gang planned a little prank to warn Hannah against pursuing Mike. Mike would act like he would return Hannah's affections, then they would film Hannah trying to seduce Mike. Josh and Chris were passed out drunk, while Beth was downstairs minding the kitchen. Sam protested the prank seeing it as too cruel, but the others were adamant it would not hurt. Sam raced upstairs to find Hannah and warn her about it, but she was too slow. Hannah entered Mike's room, but went well above everyone's expectations by removing her shirt, rather than just flirting with Mike. Their inability to contain their surprise revealed the prank to Hannah and Sam came in at the last second. Sam tried to tell Hannah she had tried to warn her, but Hannah ran out of the room and down the stairs as Sam called the gang out on their prank. When Hannah ran into the storm and Beth learned what had happened, she similarly called them out and ran out after Hannah. Mike inquired if they should go out after them, but Sam retorted that Mike was likely the last person Hannah wanted to see at the moment. Beth and Hannah later disappeared that night, and were not found again. Sam spent part of the year helping in the search and began to bond more closely with Josh, having undergone a breakdown over losing his sisters, while suffering a falling out with Mike and Jessica. Later, as the one year anniversary of their disappearance approached, Sam and the others were invited by Josh back to the mountain to honor Hannah and Beth's disappearance.
== Arrival at the Lodge ==
Sam was listening to a podcast covering the one year anniversary of Hannah and Beth's disappearance on a bus as she arrived at the path to the cable car station. Upon entering the grounds, Sam met a squirrel and attempted to feed it, with whether or not she succeeds being dependent on whether or not she moves. Upon reaching the gate to the cable car, she finds a note from Chris saying that the gate is broken and she needs to climb over it. After successfully climbing over, she finds Chris's bag, and Chris then encounters her. Chris shows off his shooting skills, impressing Sam. If Chris shoots the squirrel, a bird will attack and bite Sam. Upon entering the cable car, the two ride the car up to the lodge. Upon being let out by Jessica, Sam will be dismayed at Jessica and Mike being together if Jessica reveals it, as she is still angered by Mike and Jessica using Hannah's feelings for Mike in the prank that led to her and Beth's disappearance. When Chris opens the door to the lodge and is scared by a baby wolverine, Sam teases Chris over getting spooked by a small animal. Later, as Sam was preparing a bath, Josh called Sam to ask her for help to get the fire going. After she finishes getting the bath filled, she walks out where she hears a large screech outside the lodge. Sam can enter Hannah's room and find a shrine too Mike, showing major discomfort in how obsessive and toxic Hannah's feelings for Mike were. Upon entering the basement, Sam helps Josh fix the boiler to get the hot water running, where Sam can agree that Chris and Ashley need to get together. After the two get the furnace running, they are attacked by a man in robes and a mask, and are chased to the door leading upstairs. With the door locked, the two are cornered, only for the man to start going "Hey", revealing it is Chris who had just pranked them. A livid Sam proceeds to call the latter out for his prank, before revealing all of the movie stuff in the basement and wondered if he was supposed to resist the urge to prank them. Sam asks Josh if he was in on it, who admits he was not, but wishes he was. As Chris, Ashley and Josh plan their séance, Sam goes back upstairs to enjoy her bath. 
== Attack of the Psycho ==
Later on several hours later, Sam was enjoying her bath when the Psycho walked out of the room. Awoken by the door shutting, Sam called out to her friends, asking what they were doing out there before whispering they were being creepy. Getting no reply, Sam got out of the bath, and promptly wrapped a towel around herself before she went looking for her friends. To her dismay, she discovered her clothes had been removed, and she proceeded to call out her friends, stating that whoever took them would be off her Christmas list, saying it was not cool. Exiting the bathroom, Sam called out to her friends and still found no reply, before entering the main area of the house, where she was briefly startled by the clock. Continuing to call out to her friends, Sam proceeded to call them out, saying that removing her clothes and leaving her with just a towel had been a funny prank, but now asked for her clothes back. Still receiving no reply, Sam descended to the main floor, picked up a flash light and asked where her friends were, just as the Psycho began to walk behind her. 
 
Entering the home theater of the manor, Sam, tired of the silent treatment, demanded an answer from her friends, only for the doors to slam shut behind her, causing her to scream in terror and look around in fright. The Psycho then proceeded to address her over the intercom, noting that she would not find him by looking, and that she would only see what the Psycho wanted her to see, to which he stated there was much for her to see. As Sam wondered what was happening, the Psycho told her to open her eyes and then proceeded to play a video showing her bathing. Sam was horrified to learn that she had been secretly filmed while bathing and that it had been an evil stalker that had taken her clothes, while the Psycho noted her beauty, wondering if it was the last happy moments in Sam's life and wondering if she understood what was going to happen next. Sam asked why she was being shown this footage, and the Psycho asked why she was watching it anyway. Sam then saw Josh in another video, and the Psycho asked how she felt as the video showed Josh being sawed in half, killing him. Terrified, and realizing that her friends were either dead or in very real danger, Sam demanded to know what the Psycho had done, and the Psycho replied he was going to give Sam ten seconds. As he counted down, Sam began to panic and start screaming, ending with a plea for him to stop. The Psycho then burst into the room, carrying a syringe or an oxygen tank, and called Sam's name twice. The player will have to have Sam make a decision multiple times or the Psycho will catch her. Sam will yell at the Psycho to shut up while either throwing a vase at him or just running, while swearing in sheer terror. Should the player try to have Sam hide under the bed, a quick time event will have to be passed in order to avoid Sam getting caught, while moving deeper into the manor will mean Sam has to avoid tripping on the stairs. Coming to the basement, Sam can choose to hide, or keep running. Hiding will mean Sam has to pass a "Don't Move!" prompt, and failing it will mean the Psycho will either catch her, or she can hit him with a baseball bat to escape and keep running. Choosing to run will result in Sam running down the hall into a door. Horrified and frustrated that the door has no handle, the player can have Sam either break the door in, or knock a shelf of alcohol down to retrieve the door handle. Should either option be chosen, Sam will be able to get through the door and shut it, but the Psycho will then try to reach through the hatch to unlock it. If the player fails to shut the hatch fast enough, Sam will be caught, but successfully shutting it will result in the Psycho banging on the door before giving up. Sam will then come to another door that she has to force her way through. If Sam was attacked by the bird earlier, forcing through the door and falling will reopen the wound that the bird gave her at the start of the game. Sam will then be in an abandoned lobby where she will have to make her way to the center of the room. Sam will then note the option of the dumbwaiter, or another hole for her to escape. The player then has the choice to have Sam either continue to run or hide. Trying to continue hiding will result in the Psycho ambushing her and knocking her out, while hiding will result in a number of options. If Sam reopened her wound, she will be caught regardless to the blood trail and captured, while if she is uninjured, the player will have to turn off her flashlight and pass another "Don't Move!" prompt. Failing the prompt will get Sam caught, but passing it will result in Sam escaping the Psycho as he wanders off in anger over failing to catch Sam. 
 
Sam's next appearance will depend on if she was caught or not. If she was caught, Chris and Ashley will find her tied up in a chair, whereas if she escaped, it will instead be a dummy that is dressed in her clothes. Regardless of if she was caught or not, the Psycho will play a voice clip of Sam screaming "No!", in order to bait Ashley and Chris. If she escaped, she will be in the ventilation system and manages to find the Psycho's workshop, discovering the blueprints for his traps showing a hidden hole that would allow a person to fake their deaths by just having their head in the traps, a file showing Josh had been suffering from mental illness and had been giving antidepressants ever since his childhood, and his cellphone revealing that Josh had refused to take his antidepressants and had entered a heated dispute with his doctor, because the medicine was making him worse, since he was suffering from schizophrenia, a board filled with pictures of Hannah and Beth, a video camera, and then a dummy dressed in her stolen clothes, and finally a voice recording from the Psycho as he planned a monologue. After being dissatisfied with the draft, the Psycho deactivated the voice changer and revealed that it was Josh, to Sam's shock and horror. If Sam was caught, she will be tied to a chair in the workshop and will be found by Mike, whereas if she escaped, they will reunite when he grabs her foot. Relieved to be found by a friendly face, Sam asked about Jessica, and was horrified to learn that she was dead. Mike described a maniac hunting them on the mountain, and Sam stated that the same person attacked her, and showed her Josh being killed by a saw. However, if she escaped and found all the clues in the workshop, Sam will also voice her suspicions to Mike that Josh was involved in it, as the messages from his doctor mentioned a plan Josh was enacting and that Josh was now dead. After unlocking the door for Mike, possibly after Mike cuts her bindings, Sam changed into the clothes that were in a backpack that she had recovered, before they went to confront the Psycho. They entered the main basement area to find Chris and Ashley bound and restrained as the Psycho approached them. Chris fired at the Psycho, but the bullets only staggered him. The Psycho then taunted Chris, stating that the bullets were blanks, before unmasking and revealing himself to be Josh. As Sam and Mike untied Chris and Ashley, Sam called Josh out for his pranks, as he recounted how he pulled off his schemes, and Sam noted that Josh was crying out for help, and wanted to get caught. Josh noted that his siblings did not get to release it was a prank when they disappeared, and noted that nobody got hurt, only for an enraged Mike to state that Jessica was dead. Josh expressed confusion, due to him having nothing to do with her, but this only enraged Mike into becoming violent, angrily knocking Josh out. Mike and Chris proceeded to take Josh to the barn to lock him up until the morning, while Sam and Ashley went back into the manor. 
== The Stranger and the Makkapitew ==
If Emily manages to escape the mines, her scream will alert Sam and the others to her presence. Shortly after, Emily will come to the door begging to be let in. Once the rest of the teens in the manor let her in, Emily will stumble in and then crawl on the floor, immediately urging the door to be shut. As Sam and Ashley bring Emily to her feet, they ask if she is alright, and Emily replies she did not believe she would make it. Chris notes that Emily was screaming horribly, and Emily starts rambling about a monster chasing her. While sitting her on the couch, Emily reiterates there was something out there. Sam argues that it was all Josh, and that she was safe now since he was restrained, but Emily that what was chasing her was after her and it was not a human. Emily reveals that she managed to get through to someone just as the tower collapsed. Mike entered the room and embraced Emily, but they were then interrupted by the Stranger. The Stranger calls the teens fools for returning to his mountain after what happened last year. Mike retorted that it was not his mountain, but the Washingtons. The Stranger conceded that the mountain was not his, but it did not belong to the Washingtons. The mountain belongs to the Wendigo. Sam tells the group to hear the Stranger out. The Stranger states that there is a curse on the mountain, that anyone who resorts to cannibalism will unleash the spirit of the Wendigo, and they will be transformed into a monster. Mike then recalls the attack on Jessica, the figure looming over him when he presumed her dead, and the screech he heard in the mines and he realized that the Stranger was telling the truth. The Stranger tells the group to find somewhere safe to stay until dawn. Sam decides to have the group head down to the basement to survive. However, Mike reveals he left Josh alone when he heard Emily screaming. Chris and the Stranger head out to rescue Josh, while Sam and the rest head down to the basement.
Chris and the Stranger find that Josh has been taken by the Makkapitew when the Makkapitew returns and attacks them, decapitating the Stranger in one swift strike. Depending on the player passing the QuickTime events, it will kill Chris on his way back to the lodge, but if Chris makes it back, whether he survives will be dependent on if he shot Ashley in Josh's trap. If he did, Ashley will not open the door and the Makkapitew will kill Chris by decapitation. If Chris died before he made it to the lodge, the Makkapitew will throw his head onto the front porch to alert Ashley to his death, and Mike will lead her away. If Chris successfully makes it and did not shoot Ashley, Chris and Ashley will survive and regroup with the others in the basement. If Chris died, Sam will console Ashley over his death. Sam will inquire about the Stranger, and it is confirmed by Chris or Ashley he is dead, horrifying Sam. Mike will then suggest trying to leave, but Sam argues they should stay put until dawn when the Makkapitew leaves. However, Mike argues that being in a confined space is too dangerous, and he is adamant he will try to leave. Emily reveals that the key for the cable car is missing and Mike will realize Josh has to have it. Sam is horror stricken as Michael realizes Josh stole it to prevent anyone from leaving as a trick. Mike notes that if the Makkapitew got a hold of Josh, then they are dead. If Emily survived, Emily will state that the Makkapitew may have taken Josh to the mine, as it was where it lived. The group then goes through the Stranger's bag, finding a map, the Stranger's journal and several other supplies. If Mike found plenty of clues about the cave-in in the Fifties, then he will recall his journey through the mines and the Sanatorium, noting how the miners died due to the company's lack of safety, and that the miners had been tortured in the Sanatorium, along with a tunnel leading from the Lodge to the Sanatorium. If Emily was bitten by the Makkapitew in her escape, Ashley will notice the bite and ask for them to see it, convinced that Emily will turn into a Wendigo. Sam argues that Emily may just be bitten and nothing will happen, but Mike and Ashley want Emily in the event that she turns, despite the fact the Makkapitew is still looking for them and will kill her if she leaves. Emily repeatedly refuses, so Mike grabs a pistol and points at Emily. Horrified at Mike for threatening to shoot Emily, Sam pleads with Mike to calm down and drop the gun. If Mike cannot bring himself to shoot Emily, Sam states that Mike did the right thing and will comfort Emily over nearly getting shot. If Mike does shoot Emily, Sam will be horrified and disgusted with Mike, causing their friendship to be irreparably damaged for the rest of the game. Regardless of if Emily was bitten or not, meaning whether she gets shot or not, Mike will leave to go get the key from Josh. Ashley will then read the Stranger's journal about the Wendigo. If Emily was bitten and Mike considered or did shoot her, she has the choice to reveal the bite won't do anything, or conceal it. If Ashley reveals the bite does nothing and Emily is spared, Sam will sympathize with Ashley and defend her, arguing she was scared. If Ashley reveals that the bite does nothing and Emily was shot, Sam is horrified that Emily over absolutely nothing and will mourn her. If Ashley tries to conceal the bite and Emily is not shot, Sam will be disgusted as she will take the journal and read, causing her to realize Ashley almost got Emily killed over nothing and is not showing remorse. If Emily was shot, and Ashley does not reveal the bite, Sam will take the journal and realize the truth, causing Sam and Ashley's friendship to be irreparably damaged since Ashley's panic got a friend killed over nothing and she did not show remorse. Regardless of whether Emily was bitten or not, Sam will read the journal and learn about the Wendigos the Stranger had imprisoned in the Sanatorium. Horrified and realizing that Mike is now in severe danger, Sam immediately tells the group since they need to catch up to Mike in order to warn him, and she leads the group out of the basement after him.
== Going after Mike, and Searching For Josh in the Mines ==
Sam led the gang through the tunnel after Mike, trying to catch up to him to warn him about the Wendigos. However, when they reach the door to the Sanatorium, they find Mike has locked it behind him. Looking for another way, Ashley suggests going through the sewer. Sam agrees due to a lack of options, and they hastily open the grate into the sewers. Ashley will urge for the hatch to be shut in the event something is following them, and Sam agrees, but urges her to hurry. Ashley closes the lid and the group resumes their walk. If Ashley investigates Jessica's voice, but does not open the trap door, she will reunite with the group and Sam will be relieved to see her alright. When they reach the mines, Sam decides to climb the rock wall, while she tells the rest to return to the lodge. Sam will make her way through the mines, and depending on the route she takes, she will have either a shovel or a pipe as a weapon after hearing the Makkapitew hiss behind her. Depending on how Mike fought the Wendigos in the Sanatorium, Mike will either burst into the mines, pursued by a burning miner Wendigo, or Sam will have to run to the Sanatorium and will save Mike there. Horrified at the creature's physical appearance, Sam will distract the Wendigo and hit it with her weapon. If it was burning, Sam will be able to kill it outright, and Mike will secure the mine entrance with his shotgun. If the fight happens at the Sanatorium, Sam will knock the Wendigo down in front of some explosive barrels, that Mike will shoot, causing an explosion that kills most of the Wendigos and destroys the Sanatorium, and the two will return to the mine. Regardless of how it happens, Mike will ask why Sam was there and she states she would warn him about the other Wendigos, though Mike will reply he had it under control. They will then head down to the mines to find the Makkapitew's nest.
If Mike found all the clues about the cave in during the Fifties, Mike will reveal that the Wendigo chasing him had a scar and was one of the miners who had gotten trapped, meaning it was 80 years old at the bare minimum. Sam commented on the deceased Wendigo's agility and speed for something that old before they came to an underground lake. Sam and Mike then have the option to find Beth's watch, revealing that someone had dug up Beth's corpse up, particularly if Emily discovered Beth's head. Another island in the lake will have a journal that Hannah wrote after she fell. If Sam finds it and reads it, she will be horrified to learn that Hannah had no choice, but to resort to cannibalism, and promptly dug up her sister's corpse to eat it out of desperation, with the journal's recounting of the next few days detailing her possession by the Makkapitew's spirit, and her subsequent transformation into a Wendigo. A horrified Sam realizes that all of the events after the twins disappearance made sense, noting that Beth had died in the fall, Hannah had buried her, and then dug her up again. Mike refused to accept it, but Sam noted that after a month of being alone in an abandoned mine, Hannah would have been desperate to survive, and that the Makkapitew transformed her into a Wendigo. Horrified, and realizing that Hannah under the Makkapitew's control was the one stalking and attacking them, Sam noted they needed to find Josh and fast. The two then come to the other side of the lake, where they find a door to another mine shaft. Upon opening the door, depending on how many of the group have been killed, either a single or several heads will fall out. Sam and Mike then enter and find the bodies of the many people the Makkapitew has killed over the years, including the Stranger and any of their friends if they were killed earlier in the game. The room was a trophy room, with the corpses decapitated and their bodies untouched, displayed and hanging in chains. Sam and Mike were horrified, both fighting the urge to vomit out of horror and sadness at finding the victims, especially if their friends were among them. However, Mike spotted Josh in the midst of a mental breakdown, and they proceeded to rush to him. Josh did not recognize them and was repeatedly talking to himself, and any attempts by Mike and Sam to verbally rouse him did not work, forcing Mike to slap him in order to bring him back to reality. Josh asked that Mike not him, and Mike informed Josh that he was in the depths of a severe breakdown, with Sam stating they did not know if they would get him back. If Sam found the journal, Sam will tell Josh about how Hannah was in the mine for a month, and Mike will be adamant that they leave. Sam asks Josh for the cable car key, and upon getting it, goes to the other side of the room, where there is light shining down. Sam knows that means there is a direct opening to the surface, though Mike notes that Josh won't be able to climb it. Sam asks for a boost so she can climb it, and tell the others they are all right, while Mike takes Josh back the way they came and they all meet up at the lodge.
== Final Confrontation and Aftermath ==
Sam climbs to the top of the cliff out of the mines, and makes her way back to the lodge, while she can hear the Makkapitew screeching and roaring. Coming to a lake, Sam wades her way across to the other side. Getting out of the lake, Sam came to a slight drop, and slid her way down. Just as she reached the lodge's barn, the Makkapitew let out a loud roar nearby. Believing the creature was right behind her, Sam broke into a run. Whether or not Sam avoids hitting her head on a tree branch, or stepping on a glass ornament will be up to the player passing the QuickTime events. Reaching the front door, Sam will beg to be let back in. She feels a hand on her shoulder, but to her relief, it was Mike. Sam asked about Josh, and Mike informed her the Makkapitew caught him, though whether Josh is killed or merely reimprisoned will be dependent on if Sam found the journal and told him about Hannah, since Josh will recognize Hannah if she told him. Regardless, Sam will mourn him, noting how horrible it was to die that way to the Makkapitew. With no one answering the knocks or her calls for help, Sam grabbed a rock and used it to break the front window, then unlock the door from the inside, allowing her and Mike to enter. Upon entering, Sam turned on the lights, only for Mike to note that would not be a good idea, since the Makkapitew would see the lights.
As they entered the basement to see if their friends were still alive, they discovered, or are warned if any of the lodge group are still alive, that a few of the miner Wendigos survived and are pursuing them. The player has the choice of either having Sam run or try to block the door, while not picking will have Mike grab Sam and urge her to run. Regardless of the decision, the three Wendigos will get into the basement and pursue them. As Sam reaches the main floor, she notices Mike, and the other members of the group if they are still alive, have come to a complete stop, and Sam herself does as well, seeing the Makkapitew on the chandelier. Mike warns her not to move at all as the vision of the Wendigo is based on movement. If Sam found the journal in the mines, she will gaze intently at the creature, clearly recognizing it is Hannah possessed by the Makkapitew. The player will have to pass multiple Don't Move prompts. Failing the first one will cause Mike to reveal himself to save Sam, but it will be impossible to keep him alive if he gets slashed by the Makkapitew. Regardless if the prompt is failed or not, two of the miner Wendigos will come up the stairs, and a fight between the Makkapitew and the other two break out. The Makkapitew, being the strongest of the Wendigo spirits and also taller, throws one of the Wendigos across the room, breaking a gas pipe. Mike and Sam realize that the gas is now flooding into the lodge, and realize that a single spark will burn the entire place, killing all the Wendigos. Sam and Mike agree to break a light bulb and hit the light switch, killing all of the Wendigos. Mike moves to break the bulb, while the Makkapitew kills one of the miner Wendigos by tearing its head off. At this point, in order to save everyone, the player has to pass multiple Don't Move prompts. Failing a single one will get Sam killed by the Makkapitew impaling her through the stomach. Once Mike has broken the bulb, the player will get repeated chances to either save the group from the Makkapitew, or to just run to the switch. Choosing to distract the Makkapitew will have Sam shout to get its attention, while one of the survivors rushes out. Should Sam simply choose to run at the earliest possibility, Mike, Emily and Ashley will be killed in the explosion. If Sam manages to get everybody out, she will run straight to the switch. Sam will be pursued by one of the miner Wendigos, but Hannah will attack and pounce on it, in what is heavily implied to be Hannah fighting back against the Makkapitew's control, allowing Sam to hit the switch as she escapes. The explosion knocks Sam backwards, killing the miner Wendigos and the Makkapitew and finally giving Hannah peace. As the police arrive on the scene as the sun rises, Sam if she survived, will be taken off the mountain and interviewed by the police. Regardless of how the night progressed, she will express shock over Josh's actions, believing they had a connection, noting the bonding they did over the disappearance of Hannah and Beth, with her tone showing her betrayed feelings, but also sympathy and compassion. Sam recognized that Josh was simply a mentally ill man who was just mourning the death of his two sisters and was in need of help, while similarly believing he never should have been a victim or prisoner of the Makkapitew. If Mike was slashed by the Makkapitew upon failing the first Don't Move prompt, or if he and anyone else died in the explosion because Sam ran for the switch, Sam will blame herself, believing that if she had stayed still, she might have been able to save them. Regardless, she will implore the police to search the mines, and when asked what is in them, she urges the police to search them, arguing that what was down there caused her to wish she had never seen it. If Sam died, she will be mentioned as some of the other survivors as they mourn her.
== Personality ==
Sam was a tomboyish young woman, showing skills in rock climbing, athletics, and staying still. Sam was also highly compassionate, being one of the few people who befriended Hannah and Beth. This compassion was shown when she harshly called out the prank that the rest pulled on Hannah, and tried to warn Hannah about. She also played an active role looking for the twins after they disappeared. Despite being reluctant to return, Sam came back to the lodge in order to put the horrible event behind her and to help heal the old wounds. This compassionate nature was shown to all living things, due to the fact that she sternly called out Chris for shooting a squirrel if he chooses to shoot one at the start of the game. She also showed out when she was told by Mike that Jessica was dead, as Sam was horror stricken, despite the fact that Jessica was the mastermind of the prank that led to Beth and Hannah disappearing. This nature was also shown if she found all the clues in the Psycho's workshop and discovered that it was Josh, being horrified by his betrayal, but also heavily sympathizing with him, recognizing him as mentally ill, being misdiagnosed and given ineffective medication his whole life, along with sympathizing with why he felt so bitter that the people behind the prank got to walk away without recognizing the severity of the damage it did to him, since Josh was passed out on the night of the prank. It also gets shown, in that despite everything he did, she will always grieve for him when he gets either killed, or recaptured by the Makkapitew.
Sam was also very brave and courageous. Upon being shown videos by the Psycho, showing Josh seemingly being killed, despite being terrified, Sam won't hesitate to either throw a vase at the Psycho or hit him with a baseball bat if the player manages to pass the Quick Time events for those actions. This bravery is also shown in that she won't hesitate to attack a Wendigo attacking Mike or race after him in order to warn him that there are other Wendigos in the Sanatorium the Stranger had imprisoned, along with keeping the Makkapitew distracted despite it will find her and kill her in order to get everyone else out of the lodge. Sam, while not averse to swearing in sheer panic or terror, rarely swore in anger at anybody. The only time she ever swears in anger at someone in the game is at Mike if he kills Emily over being bitten, where it is depicted as completely justified, since Mike just killed his ex-girlfriend over possibly nothing. Very tellingly, should Emily be shot and killed by Mike, and Ashley attempt to conceal the truth of the bites, Sam will throw a disgusted glare at Ashley for getting Emily killed over nothing. Overall, Sam was the most empathetic and moral of the group, serving as the leader who tries to save them through their long night of terror.
== Trivia ==
* Since Until Dawn is a homage to the horror/slasher films of the 1980's, when those films were in their zenith, Sam clearly represents the Final Girl, the good girl who has none of the dangerous vices as the res of the cast, and often serves as the leader of the group.
* Sam has the most playable segments out of all the cast, with 8, with the second longest being Mike, who has 7 playable segments.
* Sam only has a single death scene, where she gets impaled by the Makkapitew in the stomach. The second lowest is Mike, where he can die either by getting slashed by the Makkapitew, and killed in the explosion if Sam runs to the switch early, or if Sam is killed, Mike will detonate the explosion with his lighter, killing him that way.
* Sam is the only one where passing a specific event will be needed to complete a clue line. She will need to escape the Psycho in order to get into his workshop, since all of the clues that will reveal his identity will not be accessible if she is captured and no other character will be able to access the workshop. 
* Sam can find 4 totems, which makes her tied with Emily, who can find the same amount of totems in the game.
* Sam is shown to have a fear of the supernatural, as stated by Dr. Hill, and shown by her unease of the Ouija board Chris and Ashley find in the basement. Befitting the horror genre, which relies on the plot twist, it turns out the real threat of the game are the supernatural Wendigos, and Sam, befitting the Final Girl archetype she embodies, must overcome her fear to save herself and her friends through the Makkapitew.
* Sam is playable the most times in the game at eight, whereas Chris has seven confirmed playable sequences, and that is only if he does not die to the Makkapitew outside the lodge, and stays behind in the sewers.
Category:Mature
Category:Horror Heroes
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Victims
Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice
Category:Leaders
Category:Selfless
Category:Chaste
Category:Deal Makers
Category:Pragmatists
Category:Deceased
Category:Determinators
Category:Teenagers
Category:Tragic
Category:The Hero
Category:Pawn of the Villain
Category:Betrayed
Category:Successful
Category:In Love
Category:Nature-Lovers
Category:Voice of Reason
Category:Harmonizers
Category:Bond Protectors
Category:Protectors
Category:Friend of a Villain
Category:Loyal
Category:Rescuers
Category:Honest
Category:Adventurers
Category:Hope Bringers
Category:Counterparts
Category:Supporters
Category:Nurturers
Category:Damsels
Category:Merciful
Category:Pacifists
Category:Thriller Heroes
Category:Truth-Seekers