Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends has proved to be a stalwart entry into the free-to-play battle royale genre. Apex Legends is now on its thirteenth season of content, providing balance updates, new events, bug fixes, and most importantly new characters. Kicking off earlier this month, fans have had a little time to get used to Apex Legends' Season 13 map reworks and tweaks to its ranking system, as well as the brand-new Legend Newcastle.
Its periodic additions to its diverse roster are always exciting, and players are pretty happy with Apex Legends' newest member. The shield-bearing defender is all about fortification and looks like a formidable new figure, but he's also a fairly interesting character. Each Legend has their own unique backstory and personality, but Newcastle breaks the mold slightly of what players might be expecting from an armored hero and brings his parental characteristics to the fore with his dialogue and motivations.
Introducing Newcastle
Confirmed as the long-lost brother of fellow Legend Bangalore, Newcastle is a former IMC soldier who went AWOL and was presumed dead. But the complicated nature of his backstory doesn't stop there.
In order to hide from the IMC and protect his sister Bangalore, Jackson Williams changed his name to Lamont Craig and settled in the peaceful town of Harris Valley where he started his new life, got married, and became a father. That's where he would have stayed if he didn't accidentally witness the town's hero Newcastle fall foul of some gangsters because of his unpaid debts. Witnessing Newcastle's murder, Williams took up the downed hero's shield and faced up to the gangsters, making a deal to join the Apex Games as the fallen crimefighter in order to protect the town and pay back Newcastle's debts.
More Than Just A Protector
With his complicated backstory, innate need to protect his town and his family, and his ex-soldier skills, Newcastle is an intriguing character. But what really sets him apart from his other Apex Games competitors is how he's very much embraced his role as a father. Respawn wants to emphasize that he's a family man first, Legend second, and this is apparent in everything from his dialogue to his borderline dad bod – a conscious design choice to undermine player assumptions of what a hero should look like.
His voice lines constantly highlight his domesticity and role as a dad, with comments like "I can cook, clean, and defend my teammates" and "if we win this one, I swear I'll bake y'all a big red velvet cake." In addition to his determination to protect everyone and make Harris Valley proud, Newcastle still leaves time to crack some truly terrible dad jokes, like "I must be a broken lift, 'cause I don't plan on letting you down" or the classic "I'm getting too old for this shield." He has just the right amount of cocky comments and self-deprecating humor, as well as an irresistible urge to provide players and fellow competitors with a few words of wisdom and teaching moments too like all the best parents.
It's not often that action games have such prominent father figures who embrace all sides of their parental role, and Newcastle is the only Legend known to be married as well. The "cool dad" is a rare trope in hero shooters, and it's refreshing to see a proud father with a typical corny sense of humor still hold their own on the battlefield. While it remains to be seen if Newcastle will be a popular choice for players, he's still a breath of fresh air among the character roster.
Apex Legends is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.