Danny St. John (Video Game)

"You understand now, don't ya?! You can have me! It's how the world works now! Give part of yourself... so others can live! --(...) --You gotta keep me alive. If you kill me, the meat gets tainted! You can't eat it!"

- Danny to Lee, pleading for his life.

Danny St. John, also referred to by some as "Dan", is an original character who first appeared in Telltale Games' The Walking Dead: Season One, and one of the main antagonists in "Starved For Help". Danny and his family conspire with the Save-Lots Bandits and lure unwary survivors to their farm where they would dismember and murder them to cook them into human meat and then trade as food to the bandits in return for protection and supplies. Unlike his mother and brother, who appear to commit their horrendous actions out of necessity and to survive, Danny appears to relish in violence and killing and enjoys in toying with his victims before dismembering them into human meat.

St. John's Dairy Farm
Danny's parents, Brenda and Terry, own a dairy farm somewhere near or in Macon, Georgia, and Danny helps out along with his brother, Andrew. Andrew, being the oldest, caused some friction between the brothers as Danny feels that his parents favored him more than himself as well as Andrew attending college. Danny, on the other hand, excelled in sports and even won a trophy in baseball. Danny returned home to the farm when the attacks started.

"Starved For Help"
He is first seen walking over to the Travelier Motel and introducing himself along with his brother, Andrew. As he and his brother are held at gunpoint by Kenny/Carley, Danny explains that he needs gas to power an electric fence that protected the St. John Dairy, and is willing to offer some food in exchange for any gasoline. Lilly, uncertain whether or not he could be trusted, sends Lee Everett to the farm with Danny. Along with Lee, Mark, Ben and Carley/Doug, the St. John brothers lead the hungry survivors back to their farm. Along the path, Danny tries to learn about Lee's group, asking several questions about who leads the survivors and how many of them were residing in the motel.

Upon arriving at the farm, Danny and Andy introduce Lee to their mother, who brings out freshly baked biscuits for them. Danny quietly remarks that they keep a cow in the barn, to which Brenda uses as an excuse to discuss the cow's sickness, as they had already known that there was a veterinarian in Lee's group. Danny then helps his mother out in the kitchen while Andy gives Lee and Mark a job.

After Lee and Mark had been ambushed by bandits on the outskirts of the dairy, Danny asks Lee to come with him and scope out the nearby forest for the bandits' camp, but they end up finding a smaller camp, which Danny guesses is not the main base. Lee recovers a camera, but as its batteries are empty, Danny expresses his relief, giving off that he is hiding something. They are soon confronted by the inhabitant of the camp, a deranged woman named Jolene, who threatens them with a crossbow. If Lee refrains from shooting her, she starts addressing Danny, telling him that she knows exactly who he is and what his family does, but before she can tell the full story to Lee, Danny shoots her, and mumbles "what a waste", before leaving the camp with Lee and Jolene's crossbow.

Back at the dairy, Lee has short conversation with Danny, who is reveling in his kill, stroking his gun which he calls "Charlotte", which Lee finds disturbing. Lee can also confront Danny about a wheelbarrow filled with old, bloody clothes, and he will claim that he cut himself badly, despite not being visibly wounded or scarred.

Back in the house at dinner time, Lee excuses himself, and investigates the second floor, where he finds a barely living Mark with both his legs cut off, revealing the St. Johns to be cannibals. Announcing his findings to the group which had assembled for dinner, Danny reacting first mumbles, "Everything could have turned out okay for you folks...", before grabbing his rifle and pointing it at Kenny, while Andrew takes Clementine hostage. When Lee attempts to attack Andy, Danny stops him by pointing his rifle at him. Then, the injured Mark comes crawling down the stairs begging for help, which distracts Lee, and Danny knocks him out with the butt of the rifle, and locks him in their meat locker.

After having escaped from the meat locker along with Lilly and Clementine, Lee and Kenny sneak up on Danny, who guards the barn, while angrily muttering about how his family does not treat him with appropriate respect. Andrew suddenly returns and tells Danny to finish off their prisoners, forcing them to hide in a stall. Hearing Danny mumbling to himself that he will let one of them run, only for him or her to run into a bear-trap he has placed in the way, Lee peeks out from the stall to find out where he is, only to get Danny's rifle shoved in his face. Lee grabs the barrel, averts the shot, and struggles with Danny, who gets the upper hand, before either Kenny or Lilly comes to his aid, causing the wounded Danny to stumble into his own bear-trap.

With his leg stuck in the trap, Danny manically states to Lee that cannibalism is the only way to survive in the world now, and tells him that he should keep him alive and eat him, as he does not believe that he has the courage to kill him. Lee then realizes that Danny's sole motive for going into the woods was not to hunt down the bandits, whom he appears to be on good terms with, but to hunt down Jolene to either kill her or bring her back to the farm for human meat and remove her as a liability to the deal him and his family have with the bandits. Lee can retort that Danny and his family are insane and that cannibalism is never the answer.

In-Game Decision
Lee will have to choose to either kill Danny with a pitchfork or leave him to his fate in the modified bear-trap.

Kill Danny (Dead)
If Lee opts to kill Danny, he throws the pitchfork at him, impaling him through the chest, ultimately killing him. Clementine will witness this and become frightened.

Spare Danny (Unknown)
If left to live, Lee throws the pitchfork at at a hay-bale, and turns his back on Danny, and he is presumably still stuck in the bear-trap when the walkers overrun the dairy. If Lee assisted Kenny in killing Larry, Lilly will emerge with Clementine and expresses her distaste for sparing Danny, stating that Lee is an asshole for "murdering her father and leaving this piece of shit alive". However, If Lee tried to save Larry and before he leaves the barn, Lilly threatens to kill Danny for playing a role in her father's death. It is uncertain whether Lilly follows through with her threat.

"No Time Left"
If Danny was killed in "Starved for Help", the Stranger will criticize Lee for killing him in front of Clementine.

"In Harm's Way"
Kenny references the St. John family forcing him into the meat locker while in Carver's trailer truck. He berates the group for wanting to be prisoners, citing that he had once been a prisoner.

Killed By
After discovering that Kenny and Lee escaped the meat locker, Danny points a gun at Lee. Danny misses the shot and Lee attacks him with whatever weapon was grabbed in the meat locker. Danny will knock Lee down before being attacked by Lilly (if you tried to save Larry) or Kenny (if you ensured Larry's death) and will stumble into a bear trap that he placed at the entrance of the barn.
 * Himself (Indirectly Caused)
 * Kenny (Caused, Determinant)
 * Lilly (Caused, Determinant)

If Lee chooses to kill Danny, he is stabbed with a pitchfork and dies; if Lee does not kill him, he just leaves Danny there. If so, his fate is left unknown, but he may have been eaten by the walkers as they invaded, or died from blood loss and reanimated as a walker himself.
 * Lee Everett

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Danny has killed:
 * David Parker (Caused, Determinant) (Indirectly Caused, Alive, Determinant)
 * Travis (Indirectly Caused, Determinant) (Indirectly Caused, Alive, Determinant)
 * Jolene (Determinant)
 * Mark (Caused)
 * Larry (Indirectly Caused)
 * Himself (Indirectly Caused)
 * Numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people.

Andrew St. John
"I know he's older, but that don't make him better. And it certainly don't make him smarter."

- Danny to himself about Andy. (Determinant)

Andrew and Danny had a positive relationship and got along like friends. They often went out scavenging for supplies together and watched each other's backs. The brothers respected each other and understood the other's actions, both participating in cannibalism. They are shown working together most of the time. Despite this, Danny seems to be jealous of Andrew, this is shown when he talks to himself about his mother playing favorites with Andrew. As Lee either implies or outright states that he is dead during the final showdown with the St. Johns, Andrew breaks down in sorrow, losing the will to live.

Brenda St. John
"But Danny, he was always a momma's boy, but don't tell him I said that."

- Brenda to Lee about Danny. (Determinant)

Brenda loved Danny and had a good relationship with him, both participating in cannibalism. Danny respected Brenda's rules and protected her throughout their time in the apocalypse. However, Danny can be heard complaining to himself that he doesn't get as much respect from his mother compared to his brother, suggesting that his mother thinks of him as less than his brother. Brenda was shocked when Lee told her that he left Danny in the barn and got what he deserved.

Terry St. John
Terry and Danny had a moderately positive relationship in Danny's childhood years, and Terry would occasionally take him and Andrew out fishing in bodies of water in Georgia. Danny was considered the inferior of Terry's sons, and was treated as such by his mother and brother as well. It is unknown if Danny had any part in Terry's mysterious death or disappearance.

Lee Everett
"You ain't gonna kill me, just like you didn't kill Jolene... You don't have what it takes!... Fucking coward."

- Danny to Lee. (Determinant)

Danny was seen being kind and understanding towards Lee, striking up a friendly conversation with him on the way to the farm no matter what Lee says to him. Later, Danny asks Lee to go into the woods with him to hunt down the Save-Lots Bandits, where they encounter Jolene. When Jolene was about to reveal that the St. Johns were cannibals, Danny shot her to protect his secret. Lee was shocked and disgusted by Danny's actions, and realized that Danny was capable of murder. Their relationship starts to deteriorate as Lee has his suspicions of the St. Johns being up to no good. When Lee confronts the St. Johns with their cannibalism, Danny butts Lee in the head with his rifle, knocking him out. Danny finds Lee and Kenny hiding in the barn and attempts to shoot Lee, having no qualms about it. During the final confrontation between Lee and Danny, Lee angrily scolds him for participating in cannibalism and for killing innocent people, including Mark. Danny attempts to convince Lee into letting him live, so that Lee and his group can eat him. Lee can either kill Danny or spare him, saying that cannibalism is not the answer and that Danny won't make Lee kill him.

Mark
"What, you ain't gettin' soft on them, are ya? Not after what they did to your friend!"

- Danny to Lee about Mark and the Save-Lots Bandits.

Danny seemed to take a liking to Mark, striking up a friendly conversation on the way to the St. John Dairy Farm. Danny feigned being concerned about Mark being shot with an arrow by the bandits, but knew his family would help get rid of at least one of the group discreetly to eat. Later, Danny asked Lee to come with him to hunt down the bandits in revenge for what they had done to Mark. Danny had no qualms about chopping off Mark's legs as food alongside his brother and mother and ruined any friendship the two had with each other.

Lilly
"I should fucking kill you right now."

- Lilly to Danny. (Determinant)

Lilly seemed to trust Danny and viewed him and his family as kind people. Lilly was polite to them and said that the group should leave so that they won't be a burden to the St. Johns. Their relationship starts to deteriorate when Lee tells Lilly that Danny shot Jolene, causing her to realize that Danny was capable of murder and that the St. Johns might be up to no good. Lilly was later shocked and disgusted when it was revealed that the St. Johns were cannibals and that they chopped off Mark's legs, ruining any friendship she had with Danny. In the barn, when Lee was about to be shot by Danny, Lilly saved him by attacking Danny with a sickle and pushing him into a bear trap without any hesitation (Determinant). Lilly can angrily tell Danny that she should kill him for playing a role in her father's death, or Lilly can berate Lee if he refuses to kill Danny (Determinant).

Kenny
"Where's my family, asshole?!"

- Kenny to Danny. (Determinant)

Kenny seemed to trust Danny and viewed him and his family as kind people. Kenny voted in favor of going with Danny to his farm, showing enough trust to risk bringing his family outside of the motel's walls. (Determinant) However, after seeing Andy lock up a door in the barn, Kenny began to suspect the St. John's might be up to no good. Kenny was later shocked and disgusted when it was revealed that the St. Johns were cannibals and that they chopped off Mark's legs, ruining any friendship he had with Danny. In the barn, when Lee was about to be shot by Danny, Kenny saved him by attacking Danny with a sickle and pushing him into a bear trap without any hesitation (Determinant). Kenny then angrily yells at Danny, demanding that he tell him for where his wife and son are. (Determinant) Afterwards, he leaves Danny's fate in the hands of an angered leave to find his family.

Season 1

 * "Starved For Help"

Trivia

 * Danny named his gun "Charlotte" and displays affection towards the gun, treating it like a person.
 * Danny is one of three characters in The Walking Dead that has named their weapon. The others being Negan with "Lucille", and Molly with "Hilda".
 * According to Danny's unused audio clips he might have pedophilic intentions as he mentions how he enjoys the younger girls who visited the St. John farm in their spring time dresses.
 * This was alluded to in the game itself during a conversation between Danny and Andy when Lee and Kenny sneak out of the meat locker: Andy informs Danny that Brenda wants them to kill all but one of the hostages, as they don't have enough food for everyone. Danny excitedly asks if he can choose who to keep alive, to which Andy replies: "Not the kid," (Clementine) "there's not enough meat on her to trade."
 * Also, the unused audio claims he started and ran an insurance company in Decatur, Georgia before the outbreak. It was a steadfast, improving business.
 * There is a recurring glitch when starting Season 2 and using your Season 1 save file, Danny will appear to be spared by Lee regardless of your actions when showing the "Previously, on The Walking Dead" scene.
 * Danny is one of two characters Brian Sommer has voiced, the other being Pete.
 * When Danny fights Lee and Kenny in the barn, Kenny will always appear to use the scythe, even if Lee took it.
 * It is interesting to note that out of both St. John brothers, players were more apt to kill Danny, while opting to spare Andy. According to Gaming Statistics (roughly three months after the episode was released), 55% of players chose to kill Danny, while a notable 80% chose to spare Andy. Possible reasons could be that players potentially saw Danny as more deranged, and thus more necessary to dispose of, and/or feeling that sparing Andy and leaving him to the liberty of the approaching zombies after he essentially lost the will to live would be a far more severe punishment than simply killing him.
 * While deciding Danny's fate, if the player takes too long, Danny will look down and close his eyes, as if anticipating a killing blow. If Lee decides to kill him, his head phases towards Lee without any indication of having turned his head.
 * Danny (Determinant) is the first antagonist to be killed in the same episode he was introduced in if Lee killed him.
 * Danny is also determinately the first antagonist the player can have Lee kill.