Winona

Winona
Curio Cabinet Bio	Winona is a former assembly line worker with a boisterous attitude and a love of all things mechanical.

“Ha! I know all your moves!”

–Winona, to Charlie

Winona is a Character exclusive to Don't Starve Together, released on September 13th, 2017. On March 7th, 2019 she received an update to her perks and starred in an animated short.

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

“Armed with her indomitable spirit and trusty mending tape, Winona seems to have been plucked straight off the factory line and dropped into the world of Don't Starve for something or someone's unfathomable amusement. There may be more to her arrival than it appears, however, as more than a few eyes will be watching the next move of the newest survivor...”

–Description from her introductory forum post

Don't Starve Together Next of Kin Winona Animated Short

After the disappearance of her sister Charlie in 1906, Winona began a years long search for the truth of what happened that day. She amassed a board of various pieces of evidence which lead her to believe that Robert Wagstaff, owner of the Voxola Radio Company, had something to do with Charlie's disappearance. She applied to work at the factory.

One day at work, an explosion in an office caused the factory to fall apart. After making sure all the other workers were able to get out of the factory safely, Winona rushed into the office to investigate the cause. She found a machine that produced a portal pulling someone in, their yellow-gloved hands gripping the edges. She grabbed their left hand and tried to pull them out, but to no avail. She was left with a lone yellow glove, the portal now inactive and the machine broken.

The Voxola factory going up in flames.

Determined to save them, Winona quickly got to work, using her mechanical skills to fix the portal. Once the portal was running again, she was startled to see her sister Charlie staring out of it. Charlie reached out for her and Winona grabbed her hand, trying to pull her out. However, Charlie then turned into a monstrous version of herself and pulled Winona into The Constant. The portal machine turned off and a piece of debris fell from the factory ceiling, destroying it. 

The factory went up in flames, and Winona's fellow workers presumed her dead.

Special Power

Main article: Engineering Tab

Winona has access to her own Crafting Tab called Engineering in which she can craft the following 5 items:

• Trusty Tape - Her signature item that can be used to repair damaged Clothing. It is also used to craft her other Engineering items.
• Winona's Catapult - A structure that deals AoE damage and is powered by one of her generators.
• Winona's Spotlight - A structure that illuminates nearby players and is powered by one of her generators.
• Winona's Generator - A structure that powers her Catapult and Spotlight up to one day. It is fueled by Nitre.
• Winona's G.E.M.erator - A structure that powers her Catapult and Spotlight up to 6 days. It is fueled by Gems (except the Iridescent Gem).

She starts with 3 Trusty Tapes in her Inventory. She is also able to take one free hit from Charlie per light source, meaning that she takes no damage or Sanity loss from the first attack after entering darkness. She only takes half as long (0.5 seconds) as other Characters (1 second) to craft items.

Disadvantages

When Winona speed crafts, she will lose a small amount of hunger (5 hunger). If she crafts again within one minute of the first speed craft, she will not suffer the penalty. The timer is reset for every time she crafts. Once her hunger reaches a certain threshold (below 50 hunger), her crafting will be slowed; however, she will not have the hunger penalty.

Tips

• Due to her Trusty Tape, she can effectively repair clothing items where there are no Hounds. This makes her a useful asset when Spelunking.
• When paired with a Webber, Winona can make her Tape extremely easily, so the fact that the Tape only has one use will not be a problem.
• The Tape is useful for surviving tougher seasons, as some clothing items used to delay Freezing/Overheating are not durable enough to survive an entire Winter/Summer season.
• Her building speed increase is useful when base building or building structures or items that require refined resources such as an Alchemy Engine, for if all the items are crafted in one sitting, the amount of time saved is much larger.
• The crafting speed may also prove useful in emergency escape/dodging situations, eg. being chased by a group of Spiders, Shadow Splumonkeys or Terrorbeaks. It's much easier to find the shorter time window to craft a new torch or weapon when dodging or in pursuit.
• Due to her special ability of having a free hit in the dark, she can go insane quite quickly in the dark if one wanted to farm Nightmare Fuel from Shadow Creatures.

Trivia

In-Game

• Winona's voice sounds similar to a PVC pipe instrument such as a tubulum.
• A hotfix in late March 2017 accidentally added her speech files into Don't Starve Together. 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.
• 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 does not 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.

Lore

• She was first hinted at in the William Carter Puzzles in which Charlie mentioned having an unnamed sister in letters to Maxwell.
• In the Metheus Puzzles, there was a small piece of writing that read 13/9/17, a hint at 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 ^{[Verification Needed]}.
• Several of her speech file quotes reveal that she used to be a coal miner, but didn't like the job. When she was released, her official quotes were changed to omit the coal aspect.
  • 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 were changed to remove the more direct references in her official release. This may be due in part to the fact that her canonical transportation to the Constant occurred during the destruction of the Voxola factory in 1919, about ten years before the Great Depression started.
• She may have found Charlie at least somewhat annoying, according to her quote for a live Mandrake ("This is exactly what having a little sister's like.").
• She appears to have heard of Maxwell (presumably from Charlie's letters to her) but has never met him in person before entering the Constant, given her quote for a Maxwell Statue ("So THIS is 'Maxy'.").
• Winona appears to have entered the Constant in search of Charlie and possibly Robert Wagstaff (as confirmed in the Next of Kin animated short), given her quote for the Ancient Gateway in the Gorge ("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.
• Her speech file quote for a Bug Net ("Just like vacations at the cabin.") refers to the "family cabin up in BC" (likely British Columbia) mentioned by Charlie in her second letter to Maxwell in the William Carter Puzzles.
• Her quotes for a Winter Hat ("Perfect for winters in the tenement house.") and an occupied Pig House ("Fuller than a downtown tenement house.") suggest she might have 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 first indication that she previously worked in the Voxola factory.
  • In regards to the Divining Rod Holder, she says "Just like in the bossman's workshop," possibly referring to 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?" perhaps referring to Wagstaff's disappearance. The current quote for this state is "At least I assembled this right."
  • She seems to be uncomfortable with fire, possibly due to the fate of the Voxola factory. This can be seen in her quote for another Winona as a firestarter ("Haven't we lost enough to fires?") and burnt Rainometer ("Must fire take everything I love?"), as well as Maxwell's quote for her as a firestarter ("You were the last one I expected to start fires.").
• She made her first animated appearance in the Next of Kin animated short.
  • She is the second character in the Don't Starve universe to get an origin story in animated form, the first being Wilson.

Cultural References

• Her character design bears a strong resemblance to Rosie the Riveter, a cultural icon who represented women that worked in factories during World War II.

Gallery

Winona's Portrait. Winona in-game. Winona's icon on the Map. Winona struck by Lightning in Don't Starve Together, showing she has bones in her hair. Winona frozen in Don't Starve Together. Winona put to sleep by a Mandrake. Winona's ghost. Winona as seen by the Werebeaver, not performing any animation as she dodges Charlie's first attack. Winona's idle animation. Winona Guest of Honor Skin Portrait.png Portrait of Winona's "Guest of Honor" skin. Winona Survivor Skin Portrait.png Portrait of Winona's "The Survivor" skin. Winona Shadow Skin Portrait.png Portrait of Winona's "The Triumphant" skin. Winona's Hallowed Nights Grass Gekko costume skin. Portait of Winona's "The Gladiator" skin. Winona Rose.png Portait of Winona's "The Roseate" skin. Winona Verdant Skin Portrait.png Portrait of Winona's "The Verdant" skin. Portrait of Winona's "The Victorian" skin. Portrait of Winona's "The Creature" Skin. Portrait of Winona's "The Magmatic" skin. Portrait of Winona's "The Industrious" skin. Portrait of Winona's "The Fixer" skin in DST. Portrait of Winona's "The Merrymaker" skin in DST. Winona in the character selection screen. A promo poster for Winona, and her first appearance. Winona as seen in a promotional image for the 2019 DST character refresh announcement. Winona in a promotional image for an animated short associated with her Character Update. Winona in a promotional animation for her Character Update. Winona looking at Wilson improperly tinkering with a broken Alchemy Engine in a drawing from Rhymes with Play #158. A sketch of Winona's Shadow skin from Rhymes with Play #181. Winona as seen in a summer-themed DST drawing from Rhymes with Play #189. Winona as seen in a summer-themed drawing from Rhymes with Play #201. Winona as seen in a New Year themed drawing from Rhymes with Play #220. Winona as seen in a drawing from Rhymes with Play #235. Winona as seen in a Hallowed Nights 2019 comic from Rhymes With Play # 264. Winona as seen in a drawing from Art Stream # 59. Winona as seen on the 2018 Valentine Cards. Winona in her Victorian skin from a vignette exclusive to The Gorge. Winona in a comic for Winter's Feast 2018. Winona in a loading screen from Winter's Feast 2018. Winona featured in the Hallowed Nights 2019 comic. Winona's turnarounds for the Next of Kin animated short. Photo of Winona's family from Next of Kin. Winona saving her coworker Genny in Next of Kin. Winona fixing the Voxola factory portal in Next of Kin. Winona trying to save Charlie in Next of Kin. Winona just before being captured by Monster Charlie in Next of Kin.

Sounds

Winona's voice.
Winona getting hurt.
Winona dying.
Winona sinking.
Winona's ghost voice.
Winona's voice as she performs the /pose emote.
Winona sighing, as part of the /sleepy emote.
Winona yawning, as part of the /yawn emote.
Winona singing the Starver's Carol, as part of the /carol emote.