Catalyst (Apex Legends)

Appearances

Catalyst appears in the 2019 video game Apex Legends, where players control characters called Legends in a death game competition known as the Apex Games. She was added in the game's fifteenth season in 2022. According to lore, she grew up on the planet Boreas and later moved to its moon, Cleo, where she applied to become a terraformer. On Cleo she learned to control ferrofluid, using it to create protective barriers. After losing her job, she joined the Apex Games to support herself and her family. Multiple alternate skins for her have been released through game updates.

Concept and creation

Respawn Entertainment designs Apex Legends characters to reflect real-world experiences, including those of the development team. Catalyst was created by lead writer Ashley Reed and designed by Mirim Lee. Reed provided dialogue, a personality description, and a music playlist for the design process, the latter idea from concept artist Brett Marting. The character is a transgender woman who goes by the moniker 'techno-witch', described as a 'big sister type' who is introverted and goth-y. Her art uses colors from the transgender flag, and she speaks openly about her identity. The team consulted transgender women on staff as well as the LGBTQ organization GLAAD. Senior game designer Samanta Kalman coined the 'techno-witch' description, which excited the team. Kalman sought involvement in character creation despite not being on the character development team.

Reception

The reveal that Catalyst was transgender generated fairly unanimous excitement and applause for expanding the roster's diversity, according to Pink News writer Amelia Hansford, though some transphobic reactions claimed the game had gone 'woke'. Gayming Magazine nominated Catalyst for best LGBTQ character of 2023, citing GLAAD's involvement and the casting of a trans woman. The Loadout writer Natalie Raine praised Respawn for handling Catalyst 'with love', saying she felt 'seen' and calling her a 'big step forward' for playable trans characters.

Raine commended the goth witch aesthetic, almost-magical abilities, and voice direction, noting the strong reaction showed how rare well-designed trans characters are. Author Jackson McLaren, analyzing eight transgender video game characters, considered Catalyst among the most meaningful. He noted that positive reception often discussed her being played by a trans woman, and that her presence in the game forces players to reckon with her existence, offering increased visibility.

McLaren contrasted her dialogue with that of other characters, finding it treated her trans experience as a relevant part without feeling inappropriate.