Over the last several years, developers across the gaming world have been diversifying their casts of characters to more accurately reflect their player bases. Each of these characters have distinct personalities, traits, and interests to capture imaginations, support engaging gameplay, and reflect different communities.
Apex Legends is one of these games. One of its strongest points is its characters, all of whom are interesting, diverse, and unique. “Our studio is comprised of a diverse group of people, the playerbase of battle royale is comprised of a diverse group,” Respawn Entertainment community manager Jay Frechette told Rock, Paper, Shotgun in February 2019. “Having a diverse cast is super important. You want everyone to have someone they can connect to.”
Since the game’s release, Respawn has taken the time to expand on its characters’ backstories, including their pasts, families, sexual orientations, and gender identities. Here are all of the LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming characters in Apex.
Bloodhound
In the same Rock, Paper, Shotgun article as the one containing the above quote, Frechette said that “Bloodhound is non-binary, or at least non-specified, in terms of gender.” Indeed, both players and Respawn have consistently referred to Bloodhound with they/them pronouns. They are one of the only nonbinary or gender-nonconforming playable characters in AAA games at the moment, bringing a new angle of representation and vision to the battle royale genre and FPS titles as a whole.
Gibraltar
Gibraltar’s biography on the official Apex website reveals that prior to the events of the game, he had a boyfriend with whom he stole his father’s motorcycle. When the two of them became trapped in a mudslide and his father had to rescue them, he finally came to “understand the value of protecting others.” It’s a touching moment that both adds to his character and expands his appeal.
Fuse
The Apex Games’ most explosive hero was confirmed as pansexual last year. In response to a fan question, Respawn writer Sam Gill said on Twitter that Fuse is indeed pansexual. Being described as a “ladies’ man, man’s man, and all-around manly man” preemptively led many fans to that conclusion, but it’s always good to get official word from the developers. Fuse was recently confirmed to be in a relationship with fellow legend Bloodhound.
Valkyrie
Valkyrie is a newer addition to the roster, but she’s already become one of its most popular characters. In an interview with Erika Ishii, Valkyrie’s voice actress, it was revealed that Valkyrie is a lesbian. Valkyrie also has an intro line in the game where she proclaims, “I like my women like I like my sake – cool, unfiltered, and on someone else’s tab.”
Her attraction to women has been most notably explored through her relationship with Loba. She offered Loba a nightcap in the wake of Loba believing that Bangalore was not seeking the same romantic relationship she was, and the two have grown very close as the seasons have gone on.
Loba
Tom Casiello, previously a senior writer at Respawn, confirmed that Loba was bisexual in a tweet back in 2020. One of her voice lines also says that she’s a heartbreaker regardless of gender. But a lot of her sexuality is conveyed through the developing love triangle between her, Valkyrie, and Bangalore.
In the season nine comic, The Legacy Antigen, Loba and Bangalore’s previously quiet friendship was revealed to be more intimate and romantic. Loba was openly attempting to convince Bangalore to go on a date with her, but a moment of miscommunication left Loba believing that Bangalore only wished to remain friends. In this moment of betrayal, she turned to Valkyrie for comfort and the two developed a very public relationship of their own, where they can be heard flirting in-game in interactions with one another.
Seer
Shortly after Seer’s release, lead writer Amanda Doiron responded to a fan’s comments on Twitter by sharing that “Seer sees to the heart of people and doesn’t limit himself to a specific gender.”
Right now, it appears as though Respawn is choosing to not label Seer’s orientation and we are yet to see any explicit mention of previous relationships or love interests the Legend may have had.
Bangalore
Bangalore’s sexuality has not been officially confirmed, but her relationship with Loba and the drama of their fallout have been a driving element of the narrative in recent seasons.
In the conclusion of the season nine comic, Bangalore let slip that she loved Loba in an argument with Wraith.
“What’s the point of loving someone if all you remember is watching her die?” Wraith caught this, replying “You just said watching ‘her’ die. We’re not talking about Jackson anymore… are we?”
Her feelings toward Loba were further explored in The Williams Sendoff Chronicle event, where Bangalore recounted her first meeting with the legend, saying “I’ve faced down platoons. Pilots. Titans. But a thief in high heels had me shook like a greenhorn on my first deploy. Burnt gold eyes shooting straight through me…” She further added, “Grandma used to say, ‘You can’t prepare for the unpreparable. You just gotta listen to your heart.’ But my heart got me into this damn mess, Nana…”
No label may fit Bangalore as of right now, but she has been at the center of Apex’s biggest LGBT storyline for the past few seasons and her attraction to another woman is important to recognize.
Catalyst
Introduced in season 15, Catalyst is Apex‘s second trans legend and its first trans woman legend. In her introduction in an episode of Stories from the Outlands, she discusses her transition with her friend, highlighting how it’s influenced her life and her sense of identity. It remains to be seen how she’ll interact with the rest of the game’s cast, though she appears to have a friendship with Rampart based on her Stories from the Outlands video.
While other characters’ sexual orientations and gender identities have been hinted at by the developers and the game’s lore, these are the characters that have been specifically named as part of the LGBTQ community by Respawn. The game is a great step forward for clear representation in games, and we’re looking forward to seeing the next characters the development team comes up with for Apex.
