Catalyst

Lore & Background

According to the game's lore, Catalyst grew up on the planet Boreas and later moved to the planet's moon, Cleo, where she applied to become a terraformer. On Cleo, she learned how to control a substance called ferrofluid, which she could use to create barriers to protect herself and others. After losing her job, she joined the Apex Games to make money to support herself and her family. Throughout the game's updates, she received multiple alternate skins. Catalyst is a defensive-oriented character, and the first transgender character added to Apex Legends, as well as one of the first added to a commercial multiplayer game like Apex Legends. Her character art utilizes the colors from the transgender flag, and she speaks openly of her identity, with one quote being "I am the grim trans witch your parents warned about you".

In Their Own Story

Catalyst was created by lead writer Ashley Reed, and designed by Mirim Lee. Lee asked for more information about Catalyst for the design process; Reed gave her dialogue, a personality description, and a music playlist, the latter being an idea conceived by concept artist Brett Marting. They consulted transgender women in their staff as well as GLAAD. One of these consultants was senior game designer Samanta Kalman, who coined Catalyst's description as a "techno-witch", an identifier which served as a "lightning bolt that got the whole team excited". Kalman sought to become involved in creating characters despite not being on the character development team. Prior to Catalyst's conception, the team had been attempting to create a trans female character. Reed attributed the inclusion of "true-to-life references", such as the inclusion of a meme popular in the transgender community, without assistance from her colleagues and her voice actress. She stated that, when writing these lines, they were conscious of the fact that some players ignored, downplayed, or denied the identity of LGBTQ characters in Apex Legends before, and thus wanted to be more overt. They also sought to avoid making her story be about her transition, choosing to have her have already transitioned due to the belief that transition stories are common enough. Blair Durkee, associate director of gaming at GLAAD, commented that a lot of media featuring transgender people have "horrible transphobic tropes" and feel formulaic; she said that where a lot of depictions have a "singular disclosure moment" as a "shock reveal", Catalyst is "out and proud". When creating the trailer that introduces Catalyst, her identity as a trans woman was explicitly stated in order to avoid any confusion, particularly due to the lack of a narrative in Apex Legends' gameplay. The team worried about conveying her identity both quickly and adequately. Catalyst was voiced by trans actress Meli Grant, who had been "obsessed" to land the role after hearing that they were seeking to cast a trans actress. Both Grant and Kalman expressed concern over being too subtle or not subtle enough, with Kalman stating that, while "it can’t be another story about the same tropes", not being focused on might make it "invisible". Grant stated that there needed to be more to her than being transgender, and that it's better to represent people through "the mundane" rather than "focusing on the flashpoint of transition". Grant describes Catalyst as "snarky and sardonic", stating that a lot of trans people have this personality as a defense mechanism to transphobia, which connected her to Catalyst.

Reader's Guide

Catalyst is a Controller type character, using her control over ferrofluid in various ways, which manifest in multiple abilities, including Piercing Spikes, which lets her throw spiky ferrofluid patches which activate when someone enters their proximity; Barricade, which lets her reinforce doors or fill a door frame; and Dark Veil, which creates a wall of ferrofluid that slows and blinds enemies who walk through it. She has been generally well received, with her announcement generating a lot of excitement on social media. She received praise for her design as well as the authenticity of her character, with author Jackson McLaren considering her among the best-executed trans characters in video games. Her potential in the game's metagame has also been discussed, identified as a particularly strong character prior to the game's nineteenth season. Prior to the nineteenth season, Catalyst, alongside fellow Legend Bangalore, were the center of Apex Legends' metagame. According to designer John Larson, her popularity in competitive play was due to how versatile she was. The nineteenth season introduced changes intended to make her less dominant.

Did You Know?

• Catalyst is the first trans character in Apex Legends, and one of the first to appear in a mainstream multiplayer game.
• Her character art utilizes the colors from the transgender flag.
• She was voiced by trans actress Meli Grant, who had been 'obsessed' to land the role after hearing that they were seeking to cast a trans actress.
• Senior game designer Samanta Kalman coined Catalyst's description as a 'techno-witch', which served as a 'lightning bolt that got the whole team excited'.
• Prior to the nineteenth season, Catalyst and Bangalore were the center of Apex Legends' metagame, with designer John Larson noting her versatility.