Legends In Love: The Romances of Apex Legends

Love on the battlefield.

Apex Legends Romances
Apex Legends Romances

Apex Legends – the popular battle royale developed by Respawn Entertainment – is constantly breaking the typical hero shooter mold. One of the game’s most unique characteristics is the series of ever-evolving relationships the characters have with one another. From friendships to pseudo-families to newly-found romances, the Legends aren’t shy about making their feelings clear (even in the middle of a match). You might not normally associate PvP shooters with love, but there’s plenty of romantic tension building up within the drop ship these days, so in honor of Valentine’s Day, let’s take a look at some of the budding romances in Apex Legends.

 

Bangalore, Loba, and Valkyrie

Bangalore and Loba
Bangalore and Loba

Despite initially disliking Loba, it quickly became clear that Bangalore’s intense vendetta against the flirty thief had far more to do with personal feelings than with Loba’s explosive entrance in Season 5, despite Bangalore’s insistence that she only cared about Loba’s rule-breaking.

In Season 6, Revenant mentioned that Loba and Bangalore were having “girls nights”, and it was pretty clear he didn’t mean they were spending their evenings braiding each other’s hair. By Season 9, however, the two Legends were openly flirting via in-game dialogue.

But things got complicated later that season when a deadly virus attacked Olympus, infecting Bangalore and sending Loba on a quest to hunt down the dangerous Carthage spiders residing on Gaea to make a cure for the virus, which had infected Bangalore and many others. After nearly dying in the process of hunting the arachnids down, Loba, Valkyrie, Crypto, Bloodhound, and Caustic returned with their prey, saving all of the infected victims with the cure.

But when Loba arrived at Bangalore’s hospital room with a bouquet of flowers, she overheard Bangalore tell the other Legends that she and Loba were “just friends”, shattering Loba’s romantic hopes right along with her heart.

Bangalore Loba Wraith
Bangalore Loba Wraith

Loba is currently coping with Bangalore’s rejection by romancing Valkyrie, and although it’s clearly a rebound romance, neither Loba nor Valkyrie seems to care. Bangalore, however, is heartbroken, but after seeing her brother Jackson fall from a great height (presumably to his death), she’s developed PTSD, and is reluctant to get close to anyone.

Loba was knocked off the edge of Olympus by the vines early in Season 9, and only survived because Valkyrie just so happened to be nearby and managed to catch her in mid-air, an accident that left Bangalore reeling and wrought with painful flashbacks regarding her brother’s accident.

Loba fall
Loba fall

To make matters worse, Revenant is currently plotting revenge against Loba, hoping to punish her for throwing the coordinates to his source code into Olympus’ ruined Phase Runner. The homicidal simulacrum has somehow managed to recruit Bangalore into his quest for vengeance, an act that will surely complicate things with Loba when she inevitably finds out.

The conflict between the three Legends remains unsolved for the moment, and unfortunately, no matter which Legend Loba chooses to be with, someone is sure to get hurt in the end.

 

Ash, Pathfinder, and Revenant

Ash Path
Ash Pathfinder

Pathfinder, who found Ash’s body in a dumpster and helped reboot her, appears to harbor some romantic feelings towards the female murderbot, though until recently, he wasn’t aware that Ash herself was one of his creators, and was also directly responsible for a significant portion of his memory loss. As a human, she betrayed the scientists who created him, but despite trying to destroy Pathfinder, Ash – real name Dr. Ashleigh Reid – was impaled on her own energy sword, only to eventually be resurrected as a simulacrum.

Although Ash immediately rebuffed Pathfinder’s admittedly-adorable romantic overtures, he still seems to have a soft spot for her. After naïvely spending weeks believing they were in a relationship due to the fact that he seems to take the word “girlfriend” a bit too literally, Pathfinder was heartbroken when he arrived home one day and discovered a “Dear John” letter Ash had left behind for him, which contained a scathing appraisal of his personality.

Ash Revenant
Ash Revenant

While it seems Pathfinder is firmly in the friendzone for the time being, the ever-cheerful robot is taking things pretty well, all things considered. Though Ash may not get along with Pathfinder, she does, however, appear to enjoy verbally sparring with Revenant, and jealousy would certainly explain why there are so many banner poses depicting Revenant strangling Pathfinder.

Revenant has been known to voice his approval for Ash in her role as the Arenas director, which is one more compliment than anyone else on the drop ship has ever received from him. The notoriously mean-spirited simulacrum actually went out of his way to try and save Ash from suffering through the ego-splitting “awakening” process that makes simulacra mentally unstable.

He was ultimately unsuccessful, but hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?

 

Gibraltar and Nik

Gibraltar Nik
Gibraltar Nik

When you think of Gibraltar, “homewrecker” probably isn’t the first word that comes to mind. But that’s exactly what the friendly defensive Legend is – if you ask his ex’s son, anyway.

In his younger years, Makoa Gibraltar and his boyfriend, Nik, decided to steal Makoa’s father’s motorcycle and take it for a midnight joyride. That ride ended in a crash that nearly killed them both, and Gibraltar’s father lost his arm while rescuing the two youths. Knowing Makoa’s future could be jeopardized, Nik took all of the blame for the incident. The boys were forcibly separated, and Nik spent years in a detention center – something Gibraltar feels immensely guilty for to this day.

At some point, Nik met a woman named Vanessa, settled down, and had a son named Michael. Unfortunately, things didn’t last, and Nik eventually sued for sole custody of his son. Furious, Vanessa told their son that Gibraltar was the reason his father had spent so many years behind bars. This led to significant familial strife, especially in Season 9, when Michael was infected with the deadly virus that came in on the Icarus fleet. Gibraltar helped find the cure and saved Nik’s son, but the long-term effect this will have on the status of his relationship with Nik and Michal remains to be seen.

 

Bloodhound and Fuse

Fuse and Bloodhound
Fuse and Bloodhound

Bloodhound remains one of the most enigmatic characters in the entire game, but their chapter in the Pathfinder’s Quest lore book reveals information that certainly clarifies some details about their love life.

A man named Boone was Bloodhound’s first love. He was an outsider who passed through Bloodhound’s village to trade and hunt, and eventually, he and Bloodhound struck up a friendship. They began hunting a massive, well-camouflaged beast together, bonding as they tracked the animal. When they finally cornered it, the beast was asleep. Boone wanted to take advantage of this, while Bloodhound felt uncomfortable attacking defenseless prey in its sleep. The next day, Bloodhound discovered that Boone had left, taking the beast with him for use in the Thunderdome Games, the bloodsport that preceded the Apex Games.

Bloodhound followed Boone to the Thunderdome, but when Boone caught sight of Bloodhound in the stands, he was so surprised that he didn’t notice the beast had escaped its cage. Boone was mauled to death before Bloodhound’s eyes, and the incident caused the hunter to become increasingly distrustful of outsiders.

But since Fuse’s arrival, it has been revealed that the hunter and fireworks enthusiast have been friends for years, since long before the Apex Games. Bloodhound vouched for Fuse after his disastrous debut ceremony initially made the other Legends suspicious of him, and also accompanied him on the hunt for Carthage spiders in Season 9.

Interestingly, Fuse is pansexual, meaning he isn’t particularly concerned with gender when it comes to sexual attraction. Given Bloodhound’s gender neutral identity, this certainly sets the stage for romance. Fuse has recently begun complimenting Bloodhound’s appearance (despite the fact that the hunter keeps every inch of their skin covered at all times), and has even begun learning Icelandic in the hope of better communicating with his old friend.

Fuse Bloodhound
Fuse Bloodhound

In a Twitter comic, Fuse gave a toast in Icelandic, and former Apex narrative lead Tom Casiello provided a translation: “Whether you attacked, Felagi…or chose to retreat…I will still bid you farewell, and wish you well on your journey…until we come to our end, and meet again in Valhalla.”

Given the fact that Bloodhound has dedicated their life to providing offerings to Boone in the hopes of helping their disgraced, fallen comrade gain entrance to Valhalla, Fuse’s speech is no small gesture. Nothing says love like “I’ve got your back, even if you shoot first.”

 

Wraith and Mirage

Wraith and Mirage
Wraith and Mirage

While some fans are surprised by the budding romance between these two Legends, the chemistry has been evident from the very first trailer. When not pictured with their best friends (Wattson and Crypto, respectively), Wraith and Mirage are almost always shown side by side. In Season 5 it was revealed that, prior to Loba’s arrival, Wraith was the only person who knew the heartbreaking truth about Mirage’s mother.

After Rampart became Mirage’s roommate in Season 6, some of Wraith’s voice lines indicated jealousy, but a three-part series of comics posted to Apex’s Twitter account showed the lengths Mirage went to to make things right with Wraith after accidentally hurting her feelings – he dug through his mother’s old IMC files to track down Wraith’s birth date, and also stumbled across her middle name: Hope.

Wraith Birthday
Wraith Birthday

Rampart and Mirage have openly stated that they see each other as siblings (Mirage’s own mother even notices this), but it’s not entirely clear whether Wraith knows that Rampart isn’t interested in Mirage.

Recent in-game dialogue exchanges suggest the two Legends are beginning to figure their feelings out, however – Mirage frequently asks Wraith if he’s equally-awesome in every dimension, and Wraith goes surprisingly quiet, before finally conceding that Elliott is indeed “one-of-a-kind”. Given the fact that Elliott can spawn infinite clones, being described as unique is likely the highlight of his week.

As Wraith digs deeper into her past, she’s begun uncovering evidence that depicts the person she used to be as cold, calculating, and cruel – even by IMC standards. But whenever she starts to doubt herself, Elliott always seems to be there, ready to remind her who she really is: his best friend (and then some).

 

Crypto and Wattson

Crypto And Wattson
Crypto And Wattson

Given the fact that Crypto, a notoriously-secretive Legend with a paranoid streak, has revealed his true identity to Wattson, it’s pretty safe to say there’s a romantic spark between the two Legends. It’s not surprising that they’d get along – they’re both engineers, geniuses, and socially-awkward orphans. Wattson is also the only person on the drop ship besides Loba who knows both Caustic and Crypto’s true names, and she’s even met their mother.

After contracting the virus from the Medusa vines in Season 9, Mystik – Crypto’s adoptive mother and Caustic’s biological mother – thanked Wattson for taking care of her boys and made it clear she knows the score when it comes to Wattson’s relationship with Crypto.

Wattson And Mystik
Wattson And Mystik

Unfortunately, Mystik and Caustic aren’t the only folks who have taken notice of the Legends’ strengthening relationship – in Season 11, Ash made it very clear that she’d observed their connection as well. This is concerning for a number of reasons, but mainly because Ash is on a quest to rid herself of the remaining threads of her humanity by destroying every tangible connection to her life as a human. Wattson is at the top of Ash’s list of things to destroy, because it was Wattson’s grandmother who killed Ash’s human form.

Even worse, Crypto and Ash are secretly working together in the hopes of uncovering useful Syndicate secrets. Despite Crypto’s assurance that he and Wattson “have no secrets”, it’s not known whether Wattson is aware of Crypto and Ash’s alliance, and it would certainly be easy for Ash to leverage Crypto’s affection for Wattson against him, should either of them no longer prove useful to her.

Having to constantly keep up false appearances is surely exhausting, and Crypto appears to have found a great amount of solace in his relationship with Wattson, but pursuing this relationship opens them both up to a significant amount of danger, which is likely the reason Caustic made such a concentrated effort to keep them separated in previous seasons.

Crypto Wattson
Crypto Wattson

Crypto and Wattson began bonding in Season 5 while working together to reassemble Ash’s head during the Broken Ghost questline, and despite Caustic’s interference, their affections have become even clearer recently.

In addition to relentlessly informing anyone and everyone who will listen that she invented the ring, Wattson is also known for making adorably-bad electricity-based puns. The first of the unlockable goodies in Season 12’s Battle Pass is a kill quip for Crypto that directly references his electrifying romance with the brilliant creator of the ring: “Don’t be so shocked…that you’re dead,” Crypto quips smugly, before losing confidence and audibly sighing. “Ugh…how does she do that?”

I imagine any dates with Wattson begins with Caustic meeting poor Crypto at the door with a loaded Peacekeeper, demanding that he get Wattson back to the ship at a reasonable hour.

Apex Legends is free to play on PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One.

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