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| “ | Hurry it up, you gutless idiots, no one should be late to their own death. | „ |
| ~ Portia taunting one of her victims. |
Portia Maye, better known as The Houndmaster, is one of the playable killers in Dead by Daylight, and serves as the main antagonist of CHAPTER 34: Doomed Course. She was a wealthy merchant navigator who became a murderous pirate due to her obsessive vendetta against a pirate crew that murdered her father.
She was voiced by Debra Wilson, who also voiced Batari in Far Cry Primal, Deborah Leevil in The Boondocks, Amanda Waller in Batman: The Enemy Within, Crying Wolf in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Renata Glasc in League of Legends, and Jormag in Guild Wars 2.
Biography[]
A young Portia Maye's father helped establish a prosperous settlement called Fortune on an uncharted Caribbean island. The port town thrived on a vast trading network, exposing Portia to various cultures and knowledge. Her father, a sailor and lover of stories, read her works like Arabian Nights and Shakespeare, and taught her sailing and celestial navigation, instilling in her a love for adventure.
Shortly before her twelfth birthday, Portia accompanied her father on a trip to Italy, where they traded goods and acquired a litter of Corso puppies. She named them Caeser, King, Shah, Athena, and the yougest, Snug. Her plan to train them was interrupted when a violent storm pushed their ship, Nightsdream, into freebooter territory. They were attacked by the pirate Mad Molak, who captured the ship and forced the survivors into brutal fights for entertainment. Portia's father refused to fight and was tortured and killed by Molak's son and right-hand, Tariq. Portia was kept alive to help the pirates bypass Fortune's defenses. Molak and Tariq planned to use her to lead them into Fortune, where they intended to attack, pillage, and burn the settlement.
Portia pretended to comply with their demands, but, determined to protect her home, instead used her navigation skills to lead the pirates into the treacherous waters of the Dragon's Tooth, an area so deadly, it was believed to be cursed. Portia hoped that this would lead the pirates to their demise, even if she herself was killed, to avenge her father, but a storm capsized the boat, leaving her stranded on an island in the Dragon's Tooth with Snug.
Portia survived on the island for years using the island's resources and accompanied by Snug, who grew into a proficient, hundred-pound hunting dog. Driven into madness by her obsession with finding Molak and making him pay for killing her father, she eventually saw what appeared to be the Nightsdream approaching the island while searching for Snug, who had vanished. The castaways attacked her, but, seeing them as Molak, Portia brutally slaughtered the entire crew, and those who she spared answered to her as she now captained the ship.
She terrorized the Caribbean for decades searching for Molak, killing and looting many freeboaters. When her bloodlust wasn't satiated, she would kill members of her own crew, hallucinating them as Molak. In fear of their lives, the remaining crew planned a mutiny, but were overpowered by Maye and her guard dogs until only five remained. After pleading for their lives, Portia spared them, knowing she would need their help to kill Molak.
Eventually locating the island Molak was using as a hideout, Portia captured Tariq while Molak was out on the ocean. When Molak finally returned, he found the island deserted, save for Portia disguised as a merchant, offering them gold and jewelry. With Molak not recognizing the woman, she claimed she wanted to join Molak's crew, and provided a feast for him and his men. While Portia and the crew enjoyed the meal and drinks, they noted that the meat was especially good, and well-prepared. When Molak asked if it was pig or deer meat, Portia revealed that it was human meat, specifically Tariq's, and produced his mutilated head, decorated with jewelry. Molak suffers a mental breakdown realizing that they had eaten his son, while Portia gloats about his anguish, not noticing a thick black fog surrounding them. As she prepared to strike him down with her blade, something pulls Molak into the darkness.
Enraged, and determined to stomp his head into a bloody pulp, Portia heard a familiar bark that she hadn't heard in years - Snug, who had captured Molak's scent. Too enraged to question his inexplicable reappearance, Portia accompanied Snug into the fog to finish her vendetta.
Trivia[]
- She is the first nautical themed killer, which could have been a response to the fan base having been requesting a pirate killer for years.
- She is the first confirmed black woman killer, being Caribbean, although it's been speculated that The Hag may have also been, due to her hairstyle and connection to Louisiana.
- Her eyes have an unnatural glow, which is in line with the common theory that some killers are brainwashed by the entity. This, along with lines in her lore about a "parasite squeezing her brain" could imply that the entity was the source of her psychosis even before she was taken to its realm.
- It's implied that she has more knowledge of the survivors and killers than most other killers; she has unique voice lines when performing a mori kill on a member of the original six survivors, Meg, Dwight, Claudette, Jake, Nea, and David that is verbally abusive in a way that appeals to their respective insecurities (such as mocking Dwight's leadership, Meg's athletic abilities, or Claudette's love of botany). When killing Nicholas Cage, she also comments on his acting career, noting that he "was entertaining."
- When killing Jake, she'll sometimes say that she'll "take his fingers for a pal."
