‘Anything’s possible’: Apex’s lead writer on future trans characters in game

Apex Legends is bringing the first trans woman to its roster of characters with Catalyst in season 15, which is launching next week. But there’s a sense among the team at Respawn that there’s still more to be done for representation in the future.

Catalyst is only Apex’s second explicitly confirmed trans legend, and when asked about the chance of more being added in the future, lead writer Ashley Reed said “there’s always a chance.”

“We’ve said for a long time how important representation is in Apex,” Reed explained in a recent press event, discussing how essential characters like Catalyst are to the kind of politics that Apex is aspiring to. “The real world is a diverse place and we’re surrounded by all kinds of different people in our own lives. Apex is in our future, so it’s natural that the legends would reflect that diversity.”

It’s a common mission statement, but one that rarely involves transgender people like Apex’s does. Catalyst and Bloodhound—a non-binary character from the launch cast—prominently and proudly wear their identity, leaving nothing up to interpretation. “We always want to approach work on new legends from an organic place,” Reed said. “We knew early on that Catalyst was going to be a trans woman, so that part of her identity grew with her. Our focus was on doing it genuinely and authentically.”

With Catalyst’s identity so integral to her development, the follow-up question naturally became whether there are more characters like her and Bloodhound in the pipeline for the battle royale. “Anything’s possible. We have some ideas about characters we want to create in the future,” Reed said. “But we also have a lot of possibilities we haven’t thought of yet. I don’t know for sure, but there’s always a chance.”

It seems likely any potential future trans legends would be a long way out since it is far from being the only group Apex is looking to represent in its constantly evolving diverse cast. But it was just as clear that the prospect of more down the line isn’t something that the writing team is ruling out.