Jimmie “Forge” McCormick was destined to die all along. His short appearances only took place in promotional imagery and never in-game, which means that fans never saw a 3D model of him—until now.
An Apex player used his skills as a character artist to reconstruct Forge’s appearance based on his likeness from the Stories from the Outlands animated short and official character art earlier today. The 3D model is a keen recreation of the People’s Champion, complete with tattoos, scars, and his trademark medallion.
Character artist Daniel Hiew reconstructed Forge as an intricate piece of fan art. The People’s Champion’s stint in the Apex Games came to an early halt as part of Revenant’s vendetta against Forge’s sponsor, Hammond Robotics.
Forge’s short stint as a soon-to-be legend and his gruesome death were key parts of the build-up to Apex‘s fourth season. Respawn officially released Revenant’s appearance in the Apex Games not long after Forge’s demise, teasing a series of break-ins at Hammond Robotics facilities.
Despite his gruesome fate, some fans were still in denial about it. Several Respawn employees confirmed Forge’s demise and principal writer Manny Hagopian said the former champion was actually “too dang dead” to become a simulacrum.
Design director Jason McCord admitted that Forge’s addition to the Apex Games was a deliberate ruse to fool data miners who had uncovered Revenant before his release.
“Honestly, it started as a fun way to misdirect data miners who, at the time, felt like they had solved our next legend and had ruined our surprise,” McCord said in an interview with Dot Esports. “We actually purposefully leaked fake concept art and details of Forge’s kit in patches, so there would be a bread crumb trail by the time we announced him.”
Although Forge’s death is one of the few certainties in the Outlands, nostalgic loyalists can try to fill in the gap left by the People’s Champion with the unofficial 3D model of the legend.
