A new teaser for Apex Legends, posted to the official Apex Twitter account on April 12, has deepened the lore surrounding the Apex Games’ favorite modder and teased the continued involvement of a mysterious figure that could have big implications for multiple characters in the game.
Rampart was introduced to Apex in the same way as many characters, with a Stories from the Outlands trailer that told the deeper story as to why she joins the Apex Games. And in her case, that story revolves around the crew of a figure only known as “Big Sister” attacking her and burning down her mod shop. Unlike many characters whose reason for joining the games is moot, however, Big Sister is still hanging around and is still interested in Rampart.
The new lore video, illustrated by lilakey (who also designed the Aftershock Wave R-301 skin with input from streamer LuluLuvely), features Rampart in her shop when a familiar face stops by. Francis, who was one of the people who burned Rampart’s old shop down in the original Stories from the Outlands, is back with an offer from Big Sister: rejoin the crew.
As it so happens, The Sisters and Rampart share plenty of history, both good and bad. Rampart scoffs at the idea immediately, and the two trade barbs about the other party’s weapon manufacturing skills. While Rampart has been responsible in the game’s lore for creating many of the reactive weapon skins that players earn for completing a seasonal battle pass, one of season 16’s unlockable transition screens revealed that the Nemesis AR was a creation of The Sisters and that Big Sister and her crew were now a fully licensed weapons manufacturer. Francis taunts Rampart about the Nemesis, which Rampart asserts is her original idea, albeit one that she never quite figured out.
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As Francis leaves, she parts with one last shot at Rampart’s fading fortunes and the dwindling business to her mod shop, while Rampart remains stubbornly opposed to the people who destroyed her last shop.
The interaction is interesting in Apex because of the continued involvement and reference to The Sisters, and specifically the shadowy figure of Big Sister. She is thought to be the masked character at the end of Rampart’s Stories from the Outlands, which players only get a glimpse of with her long red hair and distinctive mask with a crack under one eye.
With so many references in and around the game to Big Sister, it wouldn’t be too big of a surprise to see her become a playable character in Apex at some point. And if she does, that could potentially mean big news for another character in the game’s cast—Catalyst.
While Catalyst and Rampart don’t seem to share much in the way of backstory, Catalyst’s own Stories from the Outlands mainly featured her group of friends and how she lost one of her best friends, Margo. The two were attempting to stop Hammond Robotics from meddling with Cleo any further, but Margo’s plan of bombing a Hammond site goes awry when the two are found out. Margo activates the bomb as she’s being led away, giving Catalyst a chance to escape, but with no idea of what happens to her friend.
Several fans first pointed out the visual similarities between Margo and Big Sister when Catalyst was first introduced, with her red hair and the tattoo or makeup that she has in a crack pattern below her left eye, the same eye beneath which Big Sister’s mask is cracked.
The similarity goes beyond just those two things, however. The fact that Big Sister has chosen such a moniker for herself and calls her crew “The Sisters” is an echo of a statement Margo makes in that Stories from the Outlands trailer, calling their group of friends a sisterhood.
And the character that Catalyst tells the tale of Margo to in that Stories from the Outlands trailer? Rampart.
None of this guarantees that Margo is Big Sister, or that Big Sister will come to the game as a playable character. But there are a lot of coincidences connecting the two figures, and the fact that Big Sister remains such a large part of Rampart’s lore does make a future appearance in Apex seem likely.
For now, fans are still left to speculate and celebrate Rampart’s newly beefed-up lore—as well as her newly beefed-up biceps in the teaser, which drew nearly unanimous praise on Twitter.
Published: Apr 12, 2023 03:37 pm