- This article is about the cut Survivor. For the playable character with an identical appearance, please see the following page instead: Mechanic
Female Driver, also known as Female Pilot, is a cut Survivor originating from Identity V's Early Beta period. Originally intended as a playable character, she was scrapped some time during Public Beta Testing, and her model repurposed as Mechanic's current appearance.
Appearance[]
Female Driver is a cloth doll with light rosy skin and short blonde hair, which ends in curls. Small arched eyebrows are visible beneath her tufts, with dark grey button eyes crossstitched by silvery thread and a minute nose and lips.
She wears a greenish leather aviator cap, its straps loose, with a pair of large pilot goggles pushed above. Her body is covered by a dull orange work jumpsuit, equipped with pockets on the chest and pants, with a white turtleneck sweater visible underneath. Her sleeves and pant legs are rolled up, with large tears on her right shoulder and left thigh, revealing stuffing beneath. A second pair of goggles hang around her neck, a wrench is visible inside her pant pocket, and a leather belt with a large metal buckle is fastened around her waist, with a white rag tucked under it. Her hands are protected by brown fingerless work gloves, and she wears leather iron-tipped boots on her feet.
Character Details[]
Background[]
It's currently unknown if a background story had been developed for Female Driver, and if so to which extent, as no such information is present in the game's files. Although she has an associated name and rumor in the files, these are identical to Gardener's and Lucky Guy's repsectively and aren't reflective of the character, acting instead as placeholders[1]. The comment that accompanies the design notes for Mechanic, the Survivor that would later adopt Driver's appearance, found in the First Official Reference Book mentions that her design was meant to indicate her skill in machinery. It mentions: "Another [Concept] as a capable repair technician[2]." It's however unclear whether this reflects Female Driver's own character background, or to design elements that could be adapted to fit Tracy.
Her attire, in particular her aviator cap and goggles, coupled with her being referred to as a Driver and Pilot[1] within the game strongly imply that she may have dedicated herself to planes, both maintenance and use. As no written evidence nor background are present within the game however, this remains unconfirmed. It's also plausible she might have been intended as a pilot within the military, as one of her unused concept designs shows Driver in uniform, with a badge and holstered gun, while two others appear in tactical flying gear. If this were to be the case, it's possible she could have been related to Coordinator's background story, as the latter is part of the British military as ground support for planes. It's important to note that no actual evidence of a connection exists, however.
Finally, she was featured in an official artwork announcing Identity V and International Children's Day. Alongside her, Smiley Face, Slacker, Lawyer and an unknown Survivor with a Teddy Bear are present, all characters originating from the Early Beta development period of the game. It's unknown however whether Driver was related to any of them, or was merely featured for the sake of promoting the game instead.
Gameplay[]
As no related abilities and traits can be found in the game's files, it's unknown what Female Driver's planned gameplay balance would have been, or if she was developed enough to possess specific abilities to begin with. Official design notes indicate that she would have been a skilled technician[2], though it's unknown if this was reflected in her intended gameplay or is simply a background detail.
It's possible that the wrench visible in the pocket on her leg, also held in her hands in her post-match artwork, may have been related to her gameplay, although this is entirely speculative and may have simply been an aesthetic design element.
Development[]
Female Driver's development, from her design to her current use in Identity V, saw important shifts in the role intended for the character, going from a planned Survivor to being repurposed for Mechanic's current appearance. This is a notably unique treatment among scrapped characters originating from the same period, as they would either be completely cut or receive minor uses in artworks and cosmetics.
Planned Survivor Role[]
Female Driver was designed at some point during Identity V's Early Beta period, before the game would enter its Public testing phase. As a consequence, she was never available as a character in any playable version of the game, with the only evidence of her original intended role being leftover code and assets. Unused code found in Fourth Beta Test versions of the game lists the character under the title "Female Driver[1]," with a placeholder name and rumor, although no further details are present.
Female Driver and Mechanic's early designs and notes[2] from the First Official Reference Book.
Her design suggests that she was developed around the same time as other early Survivors[3], at an unknown date before September 4th, 2017. It's also unknown when the decision to cut Female Driver as a playable character was taken, but it likely was done after notable progress on her development had already been made, as dedicated artworks for her post-match and menu icons[4], multiple designs for her Bloody Clothes Level System[5] were completed and implemented. Female Driver shared her animations with other female characters in the game.
No further information can be deduced regarding her development, as no abilities nor background story can be found in the game's files. At an unknown time, before the beginning of the Fifth Beta Test on February 9th, 2018, Female Driver was repurposed as Mechanic's Original appearance, effectively cutting the former as a character and confining the latter's previous design as a B-Tier Costume.
Repurpose as Mechanic[]
- Main article: Mechanic#Development
Female Driver's icons and model replaced Mechanic's previous ones starting with the Fifth Beta Test[6]
The decision to turn Female Driver's assets into Mechanic's Original appearance was made at some point before the Fifth Beta Test began on February 9th, 2018. Driver's post-match icon, artworks and model entirely replaced Mechanic's existing ones in all instances. The former's Basic Portrait was also renamed to fit this change, also adopting a slightly different icon in the process, and the latter's Basic Portrait name was instead changed to Closed Beta Mechanic for differentiation.
Driver's design has been used as Mechanic's standard appearance, in models and artworks, ever since. Tracy's initial design between the Second to Fourth Test would go on to be repurposed as the limited B-Tier Costume Beta Test, awarded to testers who participated in the Rorschach Inkblot Test, beginning with the Fifth Test. It would also see continued use as a base for future costumes and in official artworks.
Trivia[]
- Female Driver is the only known instance of an unused character being repurposed for a different Survivor's assets. Mechanic's appearance update, to this day, is unique in its nature as no other character has gone through a complete redesign after implementation.
- The Hunters Ascetic Monk, Moon Face and Puppet were also cut and subsequently repurposed, but as unlockable Costumes for Hell Ember instead.
Gallery[]
Original[]
Bloody Clothes[]
- Note: This section contains images specifically related to Female Driver's development, before Mechanic's appearance update. Later works that include the character's design as Mechanic can be found at the following article: Mechanic/Gallery.
Concept Art[]
Icons[]
Promotional[]
Cosmetics[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Female Driver's career title would remain mostly unchanged throughout Identity V's development. Much like Mountaineer and Female Guard, she didn't possess a dedicated name or rumor, instead using Gardener's and Lucky Guy's, respectively, as placeholders.
Internal ID, career and placeholder name of the cut Survivor, found in the files of the Fourth Beta Test: "NVDRIVER", "Female Driver", "Emma Woods"
Original Chinese Text: "NVSIJI", "女司机", "艾玛·伍兹"
Placeholder rumor of the cut Survivor, also found in the files of the Fourth Test: "This terrifying game has consumed countless people, including him. But what truly broke him was fear.
Note: This character does not have a deduction system."
Original Chinese Text: "这个可怕的游戏不知吞没了多少人，他也是其中之一。而真正压垮他的，是恐惧。
备注：该角色无推演系统"
Name used on her matching Basic Portrait during the Fourth Beta Test: "Female Pilot"
Original Chinese Text: "女飞行员"
Localized English career, found in the files of the Open Beta: "Female Driver" - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mechanic's design notes included in her section of the Official Reference Book Volume I mention Joker Studio's struggle to settle over her appearance. It specifically mentions the indecision over maintaining Tracy's then-implemented design as a more childish individual, or adopting one that indicates a more skillful mechanic, at the time belonging to Female Driver and yet to be implemented into Identity V.
The Book reads: "A character proficient in mechanical engineering, initially had two conceptual directions: one as a young girl fascinated by tinkering with small machines, and another as a capable repair technician. When the team struggled to choose between the two, they voted for the former as the skin design for the latter. This decision also established an early direction for future costume planning. The base character design remains grounded in simplicity, reserving more elaborate elements for costume variations."
Original Chinese Text: "一个精通机械制造技能的角色,起初给她定 了两个方向的形象,一种是喜欢把玩小机器 的小女孩,另一个是干练的维修师,在两种 方案难以取舍的情况下,团队投票给前者作 为后者的皮肤设计,也从这个时候开始对往 后的时装规划有初步的定位,基础角色造型 还是以质朴为主,把更多花哨的元素则用在 时装的设计上。" - ↑ Female Driver's concept art in the First Reference Book shows designs with human-like eyes and several 20th century elements, like handheld radios and tactical aviation suits. These elements are typical of Early Beta design, and are shared by Graveyard Girl, Lucky Guy, Slacker and Paparazzi, among others, strongly implying she was designed around the same period.
- ↑ Female Driver, much like Moon Face, Puppet and Ascetic Monk, possesses dedicated artworks for her post-match appearance and for her menu icons, initially coexisting with Mechanic's first design. These likely originate from the period of her planned implementation, and were later repurposed as Mechanic's corresponding icons when equipped.
- ↑ Multiple bloodied designs can be found in the files of beta versions of Identity V, sporting varying damaged appearances compared to her used design. This implies that, much like for most characters designed during Beta Testing, Female Driver was originally planned to receive a Level System for her Bloody Clothes, with multiple unlockable variants.
- ↑ https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzQ1NTcxMjcwOA==.html?spm=a2hje.13141534.1_3.d_6&scm=20140719.manual.240103.video_XMzQ1NTcxMjcwOA== Video going over the Illusion Hall contents during the Fifth Beta Test. In all instances, Mechanic's icons and models were replaced with Driver's.
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| Character Navigation | ||||||
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THE SURVIVORS 
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| DEFAULT | 
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| Lucky Guy (Season 0)
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Doctor (Season 0)
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Lawyer (Season 0)
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Thief (Season 0)
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Gardener (Season 0)
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| SEASON 1 | 
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| Magician (Season 1)
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Explorer (Season 1)
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Mercenary (Season 1)
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Coordinator (Season 1)
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Mechanic (Season 1)
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| Forward (Season 1)
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The Mind's Eye (Season 1)
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Priestess (Season 1)
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Perfumer (Season 1)
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| SEASON 2-3 |
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| Cowboy (Season 2)
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Female Dancer (Season 2)
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Seer (Season 3)
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Embalmer (Season 3)
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| SEASON 5-7 |
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| Prospector (Season 5)
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Enchantress (Season 5)
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Wildling (Season 6)
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Acrobat (Season 6)
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First Officer (Season 7)
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| SEASON 8-11 |
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| Barmaid (Season 8)
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Postman (Season 9)
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Grave Keeper (Season 10)
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"Prisoner" (Season 10)
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Entomologist (Season 11)
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| SEASON 13-17 |
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| Painter (Season 13)
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Batter (Season 14)
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Toy Merchant (Season 16)
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"Psychologist" (Season 17)
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Patient (Season 17)
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| SEASON 18-22 |
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| Novelist (Season 18)
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"Little Girl" (Season 18)
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Weeping Clown (Season 19)
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Professor (Season 21)
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Antiquarian (Season 22)
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| SEASON 24-30 |
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| Composer (Season 24)
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Journalist (Season 26)
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Aeroplanist (Season 27)
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Cheerleader (Season 28)
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Puppeteer (Season 30)
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| SEASON 31-36 |
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| Fire Investigator (Season 31)
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"Faro Lady" (Season 32)
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"Knight" (Season 34)
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Meteorologist (Season 35)
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Archer (Season 36)
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| SEASON 37-39 |
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| "Escapologist" (Season 37)
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Lanternist (Season 39)
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THE HUNTERS 
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| DEFAULT | 
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| Hell Ember (Season 0)
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| SEASON 1-4 |
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| Smiley Face (Season 1)
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Gamekeeper (Season 1)
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The Ripper (Season 1)
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Soul Weaver (Season 1)
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Geisha (Season 1)
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| The Feaster (Season 1)
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Wu Chang (Season 2)
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Photographer (Season 2)
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Mad Eyes (Season 3)
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Dream Witch (Season 4)
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| SEASON 5-9 |
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| Axe Boy (Season 5)
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Evil Reptilian (Season 6)
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Bloody Queen (Season 7)
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Guard 26 (Season 8)
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"Disciple" (Season 9)
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| SEASON 11-16 |
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| Violinist (Season 11)
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Sculptor (Season 12)
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"Undead" (Season 13)
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Breaking Wheel (Season 15)
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Naiad (Season 16)
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| SEASON 18-25 |
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| Wax Artist (Season 18)
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"Nightmare" (Season 18)
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Clerk (Season 20)
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Hermit (Season 22)
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Night Watch (Season 25)
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| SEASON 27-34 |
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| Opera Singer (Season 27)
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"Fool's Gold" (Season 29)
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The Shadow (Season 31)
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"Goatman" (Season 33)
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"Hullabaloo" (Season 34)
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| SEASON 36-40 |
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| Peddler (Season 36)
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"Cueist" (Season 38)
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"Queen Bee" (Season 40)
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| IDENTITY SWITCH CHARACTERS | ||||||
| Novelist ⇌ "Nightmare" | Smiley Face ⇌ Weeping Clown | Evil Reptilian ⇌ Professor | ||||
| "Little Girl" ⇌ Journalist | Prospector ⇌ "Fool's Gold" | Acrobat ⇌ "Hullabaloo" | ||||
| Entomologist ⇌ "Queen Bee" | - | |||||
| STORY RELATED CHARACTERS | ||||||
 Reporter |
 Detective |
and many others... | ||||
| CUT CHARACTERS | ||||||
| CUT SURVIVORS | 
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| Female Driver | Graveyard Girl | Paparazzi | Slacker | |||
| CUT HUNTERS | 
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| Ascetic Monk | Moon Face | Puppet | ||||