The Deer

How to get it

Encountered in the forest. If you see it, it has already seen you.

Stats

Behavior

Hostile/Allied (in a few updates).

By Biomes

The Forest

Hp

N/A (unkillable)

Damage

25+ (varies depending on day count and if the Deer is hungry)

Threat

If you see it, it has already seen you

Walkspeed

35+ (Gets faster the longer it chases you)

Appearance

The Deer is an incredibly large and tall creature resembling a deer with an unnaturally large head, twitching ears, an outstretched jaw, and cartoonish large eyes. When The Deer is hungry, the sclerae of the eyes will change from white to a blood red. It is a facultative biped, typically standing on its hind legs but using quadruped locomotion to chase players faster or run away. Its forelegs, or "arms" when standing on its hind legs, have four claws that it uses to attack. The Deer is primarily brown, with black hooves, antlers and claws that fade from brown to black. During the following events, The Deer's appearance changed slightly. These changes were temporary. 2025 Halloween event: The Deer wore a vampire costume with a red high collar, small bat wings and fangs. "The Deer is HURT" Update: The Deer started with great injuries and could be given bandages to wear as it healed. Christmas 2025 update: The Deer had colorful lights around its antlers and wore a red nose representing Rudolph. Easter 2026 update: The Deer had bunny ears.

Behavior

The Deer spawns in The Forest when night begins. There is a chance it will be replaced by The Owl if the Snow Biome is present, The Ram if the Volcanic Biome is present, or The Cat if the Jungle Biome is present. When the second night begins, there is a chance of a short scene (there are 4 different scenes) that can play: The Deer dragging a dead Alpha Wolf, The Deer eating a Bear, the Dino kid crying, or Cultists worshipping The Deer (represented by eyes in a cave/tent). After one of these scenes played, The Deer will be active every night (except when The Ram/The Owl/The Cat replaces The Deer temporarily) Once The Deer spawns, it will pathfind in a straight line towards the nearest player. Flashlights can be used to stun it, although it will recover faster every time it is stunned. The Deer can be outrun initially, but will speed up the longer it pursues the player(s). The Deer will also spawn during Cultist Raids and stand next to the Campfire, running away if all Cultists are defeated or if the player walks near it. During "The Deer is Hurt" Update Part I, The player could help The Deer heal its injuries, feed it, and take revenge on its attacker. Doing so would then make The Deer an ally to the player(s), no longer attempting to harm the player(s), while also temporarily assisting them in defeating Cultists during raids. During the Thanksgiving update, if the player(s) managed to cook all 10 dishes, a cutscene appeared of The Deer eating the BBQ Ribs. From then on, The Deer stopped attacking the player(s) and defended them from Cultist raids again.

Injury

On November 15, 2025, it had been announced that The Deer was injured. The Bat had attacked it, as you can see because during the update's cutscene, pink bat wings can be seen around the corners of the screen when The Deer is attacked, implying that the creature is bat-like and has the ability to fly. Upon entering the game, The Deer could be found near the Campfire laying on a patch of damaged ground. Upon examination, The Deer is in a horrible state, having many large gashes and cuts, one of its antlers torn off, and its right leg broken and bent the wrong way. The Deer twitches, winces, and even cries at night. If the player decides to help The Deer, they need 2 bandages for its antler and broken leg. The Deer will then rest in a sad sitting position, as it is still weak. The player will then need around 10 to 25 steaks, morsels, or 4 ribs to nurture The Deer back to a more stable and stronger state. Each piece of food will allow The Deer to regenerate its wounds gradually. Afterwards, The Deer will try to stand upright, but will fall backwards. Then it will begin wailing and frantically looking around, and two Alpha Wolves spawn around both it and the player(s). After the small battle, The Deer will start to sniff around, trying to find the scent of whatever attacked it. The player(s) can assist by giving it a purple tuft of fur. Next, The Deer will almost instantly start tracking down the source of the scent. The Deer will run to a larger cave that can be found deeper into the forest.

Tips

Due to its lackluster pathfinding and size, you could use things such as large trees or buildings to block it and gain distance away from The Deer during a chase. If the player is alerted that The Deer is hungry, it is recommended to stay near the Campfire or be back there earlier before night, as the player(s) may not be able to get back to the Campfire before nighttime arrives if they are deeper into The Forest, leaving the player(s) in a situation where death is almost guaranteed. However, if the player has a Teleporter, they can teleport back to base, escaping The Deer. During Cultist Raids, The Deer will not try to kill anyone outside of the Campfire. It'll just stand there and can be scared away simply by approaching it. However, if you are far from your camp during the raid, it will still hunt you down during the cutscene and after the Raid. On Day 1, The Deer is completely harmless and will not hunt anyone who exits the Campfire. This is a good opportunity to scavenge for necessities. If your Campfire goes out at night, immediately start running away from the Campfire, or place climbable Lighting Rods around the Campfire beforehand (The Hungry Deer will instantly spawn next to the Campfire if it goes out at night) and quickly find shelter (preferably above the ground so mobs can't get inside). Be wary, as enemies such as Wolves will start to spawn if you are away from the Campfire. Tall structures such as Watchtowers or Treehouses are recommended. Or use big trees with branches.

Notes

Category:Entities Category:Hostile Entities Category:Animals Category:Monsters Category:Mammals Category:Hostile

Patch history

The Deer is most-appearing entity in the games' promotional images and is considered the games' mascot. It's possible that it's allergic to roses. The Deer's jumpscare is so long the audio will loop once shortly before the it ends. The Deer can very rarely bug into the Campfire during daytime. The Deer seems to deal more damage as the days increase. After a certain number of days, The Deer is able to one-shot the player(s). A popular community speculation is that The Deer is the mother of the missing children. There is no strong evidence, either by developer statements or otherwise, to suggest this,however the deer is a male so the deer is not the mother of the kids Secondary to this speculation is the idea that The Deer rescued the children thinking they were lost, and is aggressively protecting them from the player(s). There is no evidence either. The Deer likely takes inspiration from cryptids such as the "not-deer" and contemporary depictions of Wendigo, both of which are predatory monsters that superficially resemble deer. The Deer is likely male due to the presence of antlers, which only develop on stags. Exceptions include hormonally imbalanced female deer, and reindeer/caribou where both male and females develop antlers. However, its antlers do not appear in the children's drawings. As they only resembles a deer, they may not exhibit the male and female characteristics seen in the family, making its gender unknown. When The Deer is hungry, they can sometimes manage to climb over shelves, thus making the shelves useless as barriers.