📦 Death Stranding Recap & Character Cheatsheet
A post-apocalyptic America ravaged by a phenomenon called the Death Stranding, which collapsed the barrier between the living and the dead.
- 👻 BTs (Beached Things): Ghostly entities that cause deadly "voidouts" (explosions).
- 🌧️ Timefall: Rain that rapidly ages anything it touches.
- 🌐 Chiral Network: A super-internet reconnecting cities across the UCA (United Cities of America).
- 👶 BBs (Bridge Babies): Infants used to detect BTs. Taken from brain-dead "stillmothers."
You play as Sam Porter Bridges, a courier with the rare ability to return from death ("repatriate"). Tasked with reconnecting the fractured U.S., Sam carries a BB named Lou, who helps detect BTs. He fights against Higgs, a terrorist aligned with supernatural forces, and uncovers the truth about Amelie, who is both the daughter of the late U.S. President and an Extinction Entity.
Sam persuades Amelie not to trigger the end of the world. The game ends with hope: the possibility of life continuing if people choose connection over isolation.
| Name | Role | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Sam Porter Bridges | Protagonist | Deliveryman with the ability to return from the dead ("repatriate"). Tasked with reconnecting America. Played by Norman Reedus. |
| Amelie / Bridget Strand | U.S. President’s daughter / Extinction Entity | Appears as two people. She's both Sam’s adoptive sister and the force behind the Death Stranding. |
| Die-Hardman | Commander of Bridges | Once a loyal ally, he has a complex relationship with Sam. Becomes President of the UCA at the end. |
| Fragile | CEO of Fragile Express | Courier with the ability to "jump" through time-space. Betrayed by Higgs, who aged parts of her body with Timefall. |
| Higgs Monaghan | Antagonist | A nihilistic terrorist who believes extinction is inevitable and works with Amelie to speed it up. |
| Clifford Unger | Soldier tied to the afterlife | The soul of a U.S. soldier. Searching for his son (revealed to be Sam). Played by Mads Mikkelsen. |
| Lou (BB-28) | Bridge Baby | A Bridge Baby assigned to Sam. Sam forms a deep emotional bond and chooses to raise her as Louise. She is not related to Cliff or Sam biologically. |
| Mama (Malingen) & Lockne | Scientists | Twin sisters—Mama is a tech expert; Lockne helps connect the Chiral Network. |
| Heartman | Chiral expert | Dies every 21 minutes due to a heart condition, uses it to search for his dead family in the afterlife. |
| Deadman | Medical specialist | Constructed from multiple dead bodies; assists Sam with BB systems and biological data. |
- 👶 Sam's choice to keep Lou alive.
- 🧟 Higgs may not be fully gone.
- 🚛 Fragile’s arc could be central (trailers show her leading a group).
- 🌐 The fate of the Chiral Network and how humanity adapts to the Death Stranding.