Tuesday, April 16, 2024
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All of the LGBTQIA Characters in Apex Legends

Representation, particularly LGBTQIA representation, has been present in Apex Legends since the very beginning. However, it hasn’t been obvious and there is always that question of ‘how can developers of games like Overwatch and Apex Legends have authentic representation?’ The reality, the answer, is a lot more complicated than that.

But that’s an article for another time. Regardless, the question hasn’t stopped Respawn from including more LGBTQIA characters in the roster of Apex Legends, and it certainly hasn’t stopped players from feeling invested in these characters and making them one of their own.

Currently, there are 8 Legends that have been confirmed to be part of the LGBTQIA community, with Catalyst being the latest. Relationships haven’t exactly been confirmed – outside of Gibraltar, who seems to be at ‘it’s complicated’ with his ex, Nikolas, as well as Loba and Valkyrie – but Legends don’t have to be in a relationship for their sexuality to be confirmed.

All of the Apex Legends confirmed so far, are:

Fuse – Pansexual

Fuse, the legend to join the roster in Apex Legends Season 8, has become a fan favourite already among the LGBTQIA community. He is known to blow things up, slap butts – particularly Caustic’s – and hails from Salvo.

But more importantly, he was confirmed as pansexual after a fan noticed that he was described as a ‘Ladies’ man, man’s man, and all-round manly man’ and wanted some clarification on what that meant. Thankfully, Respawn writer Sam Gill was happy to confirm Fuse’s sexuality.

LGBTQIA Apex Legends
Loba – Bisexual

Loba Andrade, femme fatale and survivor of Revenant’s brutal assassination from when she was a young child, was added to Apex Legends during Season 5. A thief and socialite, she joined the games to get her revenge but her goal has since changed.

Loba was confirmed as bisexual by Senior Writer of Apex Legends, Tom Casiello. She also has a voice line where she implies she’s a heartbreaker, no matter if you’re a man or a woman. Yeowch.

Apex Legends LGBTQ
Bangalore – Sapphic / Questioning

Bangalore aka Anita Williams is a character that, at the start of Apex Legends, was portrayed as strictly no-nonsense, there-to-get-the-job-done. As time and seasons have passed however, players have got to know our favourite soldier a little more – particularly when it comes to her romantic tastes.

When Loba was introduced in Season 5, the tension between the thief and Bangalore could be cut with a knife! As time progressed the ‘will-they-won’t-they’ between the two women unfortunately came to a close due to a misunderstanding between Loba and Bangalore, with Loba overhearing Bangalore (a private person already) telling Gibraltar and Rampart that she and Loba were just friends. A hell of a lot of Seasons later, Loba is with Valkyrie and Bangalore is busy with Newcastle and Wraith, though she did let slip to the latter that she does love and want Loba.

With all this information in mind, and Apex Legend’s previous Pride tweet implying Ms Williams might be a little bit fruity, we’ll put Bangalore down as Sapphic / Questioning.

LGBTQIA Apex Legends
Gibraltar – Gay

Gibraltar was the very first Apex Legend confirmed to be part of the LGBTQIA community. In his official bio, an explanation of Gibraltar’s background and why he started protecting others was revealed to be due to an accident that put him and his boyfriend, Nikolas, in danger. It is said that after that day he truly learned the value in protecting people.

Gibraltar being confirmed as the first gay legend really mattered to a lot of people, especially as it was a character who wasn’t just your average white guy.

His complicated relationship with Nikolas has been expanded on in the Apex Legends comics.

LGBTQIA Apex Legends
Bloodhound – Non-Binary

Bloodhound is a technological tracker that is both highly spiritual and open-minded. Respawn have used they/them pronouns for Bloodhound the moment they were revealed, and a variety of writers have stated that Bloodhound is non-binary.

While not a sexual orientation, Bloodhound’s identity is very important to a lot of players. Even their voice actor, Allegra Clarke, has expressed their love for Bloodhound and their identity, as well as their disdain for the misgendering of Bloodhound.

Mirage – Questioning

Mirage is a tricky one to place, as there hasn’t been any real confirmation on what his sexuality is. There has been a numerous amount of jokes in fandom spaces, but we most certainly don’t count those as definitive proof.

However, what made us include Mirage in this guide is the Season 6 comic: The First Ship. It focuses around Pathfinder, his girlfriend (a friend? who is a girl?) Rampart, and Mirage. When Mirage explains to Rampart about Pathfinder having a girlfriend, Rampart acuses him of being jealous of her. Mirage replies “don’t you go using my already-standing-in-quicksand sexuality issues to confuse me.” It’s no real confirmation, but it’s definitely something fans of Mirage should keep an eye on.

Valkyrie – Lesbian

Valkyrie has only just released this week on May 4th, but that hasn’t stopped fans from absolutely losing their marbles over her cool design, her awesome tactical abilities, and, of course, her connection to Titanfall 2’s Viper.

She’s also just been confirmed as a lesbian, via an interview with Erika Ishii – courtesy of MoonLiteWolfPro. Even further confirmation of Valkyrie’s sexuality was found via a voice line in-game where Valkyrie states ‘I like my women like I like my sake – cool and on someone else’s tab.’ Okay, girl. And we thought Loba was a womanizer.

Respawn writer Tom Casiello has also made it clear that Valkyrie is a lesbian and that it was important to disclose that. And for anyone who has a problem with it? Well, check out what Casiello had to say for yourself.

At this point, Respawn should just do us all a favour and state ‘everyone is queer in the future’ and save themselves sometime.

Apex Seer gay
Seer – Pansexual

Seer, also known as Obi Edolasim, is an enigma of a character. He was first introduced back in July, where players got to see him in action. We now know that he is more of a tracker-like character and, to be honest, is surpassing Bloodhound on how good he is at doing just that.

More importantly, Seer has been confirmed to be pansexual by the lead writer of Apex Legends, Amanda Doiron. In a tweet from a fan that was curious about the new Legend’s sexuality – and asked whether Seer was straight – Doiron responded in the negative.

“Nope. Seer sees to the heart of people and doesn’t limit himself to a specific gender.” Doiron replied. So there you have it folks, yet another Legend to add to the roster. But let’s be honest, there’s no way this hottie was straight when he looks like he belongs in a Lil Nas X video. No bloody way.

Apex Legends Catalyst trans
Image Source: EA
Catalyst – Transgender woman

The newest addition to the Arena’s roster of Legends is Tressa, aka Catalyst. She’s a transgender woman with a penchant for crystals who just debuted in a Stories From the Outlands cinematic called Last Hope.

During a conversation she has with her friend Margo in this short, Catalyst openly talks about her transition.

“I feel like the whole world has opened up now that I’m…myself,” she says. She goes on to expressly mention her transition when Margo starts talking with her about her inner strength. There’s also some sapphic vibes between Catalyst and Margo, but we’ll have to see how that pans out further down the line of this particular Legend’s storyline.

Thanks Respawn, love you.

Aimee Hart

[She/They] Aimee Hart specializes in queer fandom, video games and tabletop, having started her career writing for numerous websites like The Verge, Polygon, Input Magazine and more. Her goal now is to boost LGBTQ+ voices in the video games industry.