Winona

Winona is a Character exclusive to Don't Starve Together, released on September 13th, 2017.Announcing Don't Starve: Hamlet, The Forge and other exciting news!. Posted on September 13, 2017. On March 7th, 2019, she received an update to her perks and starred in an animated short.Winona's Character Update is Coming Next Week!. Posted on March 1, 2019.Winona Character Update & Drop System Changes. Posted on March 7, 2019.
She is a former Voxola factory worker who dislikes laziness and, to a lesser degree, things from high society. She is Charlie's older sister.
== Origin==
 
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Winona's backstory was revealed in the animated short Next of Kin. Her biography in the Compendium provides a summary:
There is nothing Winona wouldn't do for her family. When her younger sister Charlie disappeared under mysterious circumstances, Winona refused to let the case grow cold and dedicated herself to finding her. For over a decade she tracked down every clue, followed every lead, poked, prodded, and questioned anyone who might have a connection to the case, until all the loose strings started to come together. There was a radio factory, founded by a peculiar old man whose genius was only matched by his secretiveness, that might hold the answers she had sought for so long. Shortly after securing employment at the factory, the building was destroyed in an accident caused by a malfunctioning portal. Having caught sight of someone getting caught in the portal and vanishing, Winona hastily repaired it in the hopes of rescuing them, only to come face to face with her missing sister. Unfortunately, Charlie seemed to be held under the sway of a shadowy influence, and she dragged Winona into the Constant.
== Trivia ==
=== In-Game ===
* Winona's voice sounds similar to a percussive PVC pipe instrument such as a tubulum.
* A hot-fix in late March 2017 accidentally added her speech files into Don't Starve Together.Charlie's Sister (Spoilers) Posted on March 29, 2017. After they were noticed and discussed on the forums, the files got removed in the next update.
** Winona's existence as an official playable Character was announced on September 6th, 2017.Winona announcement tweet Posted on September 6, 2017
* She is the first Character to be exclusive to Don't Starve Together.
* When struck by Lightning, Winona, like most other Characters, is shown to have bones in her hair.
* Winona doesn't have an animation for dodging Charlie's attack as of now.
* She is the first Character to get reworked as part of the series of Character Updates for 2019–2020 in Don't Starve Together.
* Prior to her Character update, Winona's perks were different: "Is a skilled builder. Gets one free hit from the dark. Brings her own tools."
* She has a unique idle animation in which she stretches her shoulder.
* Winona's skull was found in the DST files as of May 6, 2021.
* While Winona's name may be only to start with the letter "w", Winona also means "eldest sister" in native Dakota. This is probably a nod to the fact that appears to be the eldest sister in her family.
=== Lore ===
* She was first hinted at in the William Carter Puzzles, in which Charlie writes to Maxwell that she has a sister, then left unnamed.
* In the Metheus Puzzles, there was a small piece of writing that read 13/9/17, a hint at what would be Winona's release date.
* She may be the silhouette briefly seen through the Ancient Gateway in the What Lies Beyond? clip. In addition, her name can be seen in Charlie's dress .
* Several of her old speech file quotes reveal that she was a coal miner, and she didn't like the job. When she was released, the coal aspect was omitted from her quotes.
** In addition, a few of her leaked speech file quotes directly referenced the Great Depression (such as Hoover Stew in the Crock Pot examination), but in her official release, the more direct references were removed. This may be due to the canonical fact that she was transported to the Constant when the Voxola factory was destroyed in 1919, about ten years before the Great Depression started.
* She may have found Charlie somewhat annoying, according to her quote for a live Mandrake ("This is exactly what having a little sister's like.").
* Given her quote for a Maxwell Statue ("So THIS is 'Maxy'"), she appears to have known of Maxwell (presumably from Charlie's letters to her) but has never met him before entering the Constant.
* As confirmed in the Next of Kin animated short, Winona entered the Constant to save Charlie and possibly find Robert Wagstaff. Her quote for the Ancient Gateway in The Gorge is "I might not be good at rescue missions."
** In The Forge, she says that the Ancient Gateway is similar to the one she came through.
* As written in Charlie's second letter to Maxwell in the William Carter Puzzles, she and Winona have a "family cabin up in BC" (likely British Columbia, Canada). In examining a Bug Net, Winona is quoted "Just like vacations at the cabin."
* Winona's quotes for a Winter Hat ("Perfect for winters in the tenement house") and for an occupied Pig House ("Fuller than a downtown tenement house") suggest that she lived in a tenement.
* In her unused Adventure Mode quotes, Winona identifies the head of the Divining Rod as a Voxola radio. She also says of the Divining Rod that "[She's] probably one of the few left that knows how to use [it]." This was the earliest indication of her work in the Voxola factory.
** In examining the Divining Rod Holder, she says "Just like in the bossman's workshop," possibly talking about the Voxola founder Robert Wagstaff.
** Her original speech file contained a different examination quote for the unlocked Divining Rod Holder: "Is... this how the bossman disappeared?" referring to the disappearance of perhaps Wagstaff. Her latest examination quote is "At least I assembled this right."
** She has an especially negative relationship with fire. Her quotes for another Winona as a fire starter ("Haven't we lost enough to fires?") and for a burnt Rainometer ("Must fire take everything I love?"), plus Maxwell's quote for her as a fire starter ("You were the last one I expected to start fires"), likely all refer to the Voxola factory's destruction.
* Her first animated appearance was in the Next of Kin animated short.
** She is the second Character in the Don't Starve universe with an animated origin story, the first being Wilson.
* Winona's birthday is listed as September 13 in the Compendium. September 13, 2017 was the day Winona was added to DST.
* Sometimes a message like this may appear during the loading screen: "Growing up, Winona always looked out for her younger sister. Even now, she can't help but feel that one day she'll be able to reach out into the darkness and pull Charlie back."
=== Cultural References ===
* Winona's design strongly resembles Rosie the Riveter, a cultural icon who represented women working in factories during World War II.
== References ==
pl:Winona (DST)
ru:Винона
zh:薇諾娜
fr:Winona
vi:Winona
ko:위노나
Category:Lore
Category:Characters