| David “Dave” Wong | |
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| Dave Wong as he appears in the film. | |
Vital statistics
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| Position | Chosen by Soy Sauce |
| Age | 25 |
| Status | Deceased (Living as a clone of himself) |
Physical attributes
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| Height | |
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David “Dave” Wong is the main protagonist of John Dies at the End, as well as the protagonist of its sequel- This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously Dude, Don't Touch It.
Dave narrates both books, and is referred to in-universe as their author by John, Amy, Archie, and Falconer. Before he became an author, he worked at Wally's Videe-Oh.
He is revealed to be one of the Cosmic Saviors, alongside John Cheese, by Korrok.
Appearance[]
Dave is described to be a little under six feet tall with a chubby build. He does not give much thought to his appearance and is described with black, overgrown hair, bags under his eyes, and unshaven stubble.
In the film, Dave is portrayed by Chase Williamson; with brown hair and a shorter, leaner build.
Personality[]
Dave often has a cynical and pessimistic view of the world around him. His narration generally includes sarcastic remarks, existential quips, and incredibly low expectations in regards to humanity and his friends. He is very introverted, and reflexively pushes other people away due to his bad attitude. John describes Dave as being this way ever since high-school, while Dave himself considers his problems to have stemmed from a disrespect of authority in childhood.
Dave is shown to have issues with self-image, rendering him very self-conscious, and influencing his unique blend of self-depreciating humor and black comedy. Dave enjoys making jokes that others describe as "too dark" or "racy", but which he finds hilarious.
Despite his issues forming emotional connections, Dave is very dedicated to the few people he opens up to, and has an easier time trusting women than men.
Biography[]
Dave’s mother was a 'bipolar prostitute', and he never knew his father. His mother found it difficult to retain a house or job for a substantial amount of time, and because of this Dave was put up for adoption. Dave’s relationship with his adoptive family is described as being "very awkward"- they do not communicate very often, and Dave suspects they are ashamed of him. As a child, Dave was socially inept and constantly felt excluded. His adoptive parents signed him up for therapy, but he treated it as a joke and terrorized his therapist until he was pulled out of the program. He became reclusive in high school and refused to speak to anyone, including teachers. As a teenager, his only friend was John Cheese, who approached Dave because he found his depressed demeanor 'funny'.
Dave was a victim of severe bullying through most of his young adulthood, and was tormented by an especially cruel group of boys during his Junior year of high school. Unable to trust his teachers and fearing for his own well being, Dave began bringing a knife to school. One day the bullying escalated, and he was locked in a closet and pinned down while the other children tortured him. Although Dave refuses to describe the incident in depth, it is strongly implied that he was sexually assaulted by the leader of the gang, Billy. Once his arms were free, Dave used his switch-blade to stab Billy in the eyes until he became blind. Billy committed suicide not long after, unable to cope with his newly founded disability. Dave claims he never felt remorse for his attacker's suicide, and actually celebrated when he heard the news. Dave attributes this entire incident to the reason he sees the world in such a negative way.
After a long lawsuit against Dave’s adoptive family spurred on by the grieving parents of his assailant, he was found innocent by reason of insanity and spent his senior year in a school for special education, where he first met Amy Sullivan. Dave did not talk to her, but he would join in with the other children to harass her, even coining her ever-lingering nickname 'Sea Cucumber'. Later, he apologizes for this to Amy.
Dave remained friends with John throughout and after high-school. He made small contributions to John’s band, worked in the same places as John several times, and would constantly go to great lengths to preserve their friendship. In the beginning, Dave was shown to seek John’s approval constantly, and would go out of his way to please him. Dave has bailed John out of many dangerous situations because of this and has gotten him several jobs. He has also done things he would not normally do or agree to, for the same reason. By the end of the first book, Dave’s fear of rejection fades, and he is capable of telling John "no", as well as of accusing him of being a bad friend, and a junkie. Dave blames John for the bad things that happen to him, because a late-night phone call from John brought Dave to his house, where John introduced him to the sauce.
John and Dave’s relationship suffers during the third segment of Book One. Dave believes John is more trouble than he is worth, and John’s low self worth inhibits him from saying otherwise, even to defend himself to Dave. However, they reconnect as they encounter more and more paranormal phenomenon in the remainder of the book. Dave usually wants nothing to do with the supernatural, and even tries to ignore his experiences with the impossible for as long as he can.
Dave eventually learns to accept the role he was given as someone with 'the sight', and teams up with John to become some sort of consultant-exorcist despite his complete lack of interest in the subject. After taking cases and solving paranormal problems for other people, Dave realizes he is being watched. He figures out he is being haunted when things start to sound and look different to him. A case leads them to a door that goes to another dimension, and they discover that all the paranormal phenomenon that has been haunting Dave originates from behind the door.
The door leads them to a flesh-factory existing in another universe, creating clones of people and animals from our universe and sending them in as replacements. John and Dave fight their way through the factory and make their way to Korrok, an organic supercomputer controlling hundreds of dimensions. Korrok threatens that if John and Dave do not comply with it and allow it to usurp their dimension, it will kill Amy, Dave’s love interest. The two blow up the factory using a homemade bomb and narrowly escape back into their own universe with Amy.
In the finale of John Dies At The End, Dave realizes he has been dead for about half of the book. He is revealed to be a clone of himself that was created in Korrok's flesh factory, and who killed the original Dave for some yet unknown reason. He has no memory of killing his original self and does not find out he is actually dead until he discovers his own body in the toolshed. Clone Dave is no more dangerous than the Real Dave was before, much to John’s chagrin, who anticipated Clone Dave to possess some sort of 'magic abilities'. John jokes about the fact that he is a clone by calling him "Monster Dave" and is quite unafraid of him. Amy is frightened at first, but upon realizing he is harmless, quickly gets over her fear. Her dog, Molly, also seems unphased. The book ends with Dave realizing that at any moment, anyone could be replaced. He warns the reader to beware who they trust, and solves the riddle presented at the start of the book.
Relationship with Amy[]
During one of his very first cases, Dave was reunited with Amy. At first, he showed no interest in Amy because of his withdrawn personality. Amy, on the other hand, was smitten with him very quickly. On his first night on the case with Amy, the two were trapped in a car together all night by the Shadow People. During his time in the car with her, he inadvertently started an in-depth conversation about his own past. He immediately regretted sharing personal information with a stranger, but was able to see Amy in a new light after learning more about her. The next day, Amy realizes that Dave has feelings for her and it is implied they sleep together.
Dave’s feelings for Amy increase as they spend more time together and Amy continues to show a kindness Dave has never seen before. But their relationship is cut short when Dave decides he is not good for her. He forces her to leave the state, and she only agrees to move away if she could still talk to him on the phone. Amy eventually decides talking on the phone isn't good enough and moves back to Undisclosed. He attempts to push her away again by convincing her to apply to college. He helps her move into her dorm thinking he would not see her again, but they instead become engaged. Amy and Dave begin a real relationship from that point on and live together during TBIFOS.
Mental Illness[]
Though it generally goes unspecified, it is stated several times that Dave struggles with multiple mental illnesses. In JDatE, depression and symptoms of depression are referenced. He has been shown to binge eat when under stress and has an extremely low self esteem, and it is suggested that Dave has been suicidal more than once. At one point, John fears he might attempt suicide and has Amy remove all sharp objects and prescription medication from his reach. Dave reveals he has wanted to end his own life more than once, believing it would be doing the world a favor. In TBIFOS, he is shown taking anti-psychotics and anti-depressants (among other medications), though it is not specified why he takes the the anti-psychotics.
Dave admits to being afraid of his own disturbing thoughts and believes there is something very wrong with him. He sometimes does not feel remorse or guilt in situations where most people would and says he doesn't "feel things the way he is supposed to". Despite this, he is still very capable of feeling emotion and understands the concept of moral boundaries. Amy also confirms that Dave is not sociopathic or dangerous by noting how often he puts her well being before his own.