Wilson

 Wilson Percival Higgsbury  is the first available character and the main character in Don't Starve. He is the only canon character with a backstory, and as such he is the main protagonist of the game. His backstory can be found below. He is known in-game as Wilson. He has no character-specific item, and his only perk is that he grows a magnificent Beard.

Origin
With a Forbidden Knowledge Video published to Klei Entertainment's YouTube channel and hidden in their website, Wilson's origin was revealed, and he's the only character with an official origin.

Wilson used to live in a rickety wooden house in the mountains, doing experiments all day. After a mixture of some sort exploded in a puff in his face, he sat down, agitated that he just can't seem to do anything right. He didn't have too much time to do so however, as he heard a mysterious voice coming from his radio (revealed to be Maxwell later on in the video). Maxwell offered Wilson secret and forbidden knowledge, and Wilson, willing and hungry for this said knowledge, hastily agreed. This caused massive amounts of information being inserted into his head.

With this newfound knowledge, he began building a mysterious machine. When the machine was finished, he gazed upon it in wonder. Maxwell told him to throw the switch - Wilson, however, was hesitant. Only with a bit of egging on - Maxwell shouting "DO IT!" - does he pull the lever. Wilson then realized that this machine was some sort of portal, only meant to lead him to his demise. As Maxwell laughed maniacally, dark shadowy hands appeared from the floor and pulled Wilson into the mysterious wilderness world where Don't Starve takes place.

Strategy
As of the The End of the Beginning update, the only factor that differentiates Wilson from any other character is his beard. The beard provides only advantages, and literally no disadvantage. Naturally, any strategies regarding Wilson will revolve around his beard, or lack of disadvantages.

Beard Based Survival (BBS)
Wilson's beard has two basic characteristics:
 * The beard provides a maximum of 135 insulation against Freezing
 * The beard can be shaved for beard hair, allowing the player to make a  Meat Effigy

The beard will take exactly 16 days to grow to its full length, and since Winter usually starts around day 20 on default settings, this proves advantageous for winter survival. In fact, with a Puffy Vest, a Beefalo Hat , a Heat Stone and the beard at full length, Wilson can have the highest insulation factor in the game at 735. Assuming the player leaves a heat source with a 40 degree body temperature, with 735 insulation he will have about 16.67 minutes before taking damage from freezing, 40.2 seconds longer than two full  Day-Night Cycles. This allows him more freedom during the winter days to gather supplies and food. Also, in the event t hat combat with  other monsters in the dead of winter has proven to take longer than  expected, Wilson  will be able to fight longer before he needs to find a source of heat. This is especially useful when tracking a  Winter Koalefant , which usually requires extended time away from fire to follow its trail.

The player should also consider the fact that with the beard at full length, obtaining sufficient insulatio n to survive the winter is less difficult, meaning the player can spend time preparing for winter in other ways. For example, instead of tracking down a Koalefant in order to make a Breezy Vest, the player could focus on ensuring enough Rabbit Traps have been pl aced, or plenty of Logs have been gathered in preparation for the reduced effectiveness of fuel during the winter days. If the player is entering winter with little more than Rabbit Earmuffs, it would be wise to keep the beard for the added insulation.  If plenty of insulated clothing has been gathered pre-winter, shaving may be a good option. Bear in mind that a meat effigy will require 4 beard hair, and the soonest this can be obtained outside of lowering Sanity to hunt Beardlings is 16 days with a total yield of 9 hair. This means the player will be with less insulation for the winter days, but with the nice insurance policy a meat effigy provides. Shaving the beard at any stage before full length will not provide enough hair in a single shaving, but hair can always be stored for later as it does not degrade.

Overall, Wilson is meant for better winter survival and efficiency, as well as easier access to creating meat effigies due to the fact that he can create them without losing his sanity. He is a good all-around character, and many players from beginner to advanced find that Wilson, as well as his beard, provide welcome advantages to surviving in the wilderness.

Trivia

 * Wilson's voice is sounded by a trumpet, explained as a "Harmon muted trumpet (mixed with some cup muted trumpet as well)".
 * Team Fortress 2 promoted Don't Starve with a hat that resembles Wilson's hair.
 * With the introduction of the Insanity update, Wilson was no longer the only character that could build Meat Effigies.
 * Wilson is the only character unaffected by the 'Character Rebalance' update, aside from Maxwell, who was not finished in time.
 * Wilson has a skull.