Apex Legends dev shows Lifeline was originally a man with scrapped design

January 2022 · 2 minute read

An Apex Legends character developer has revealed one of the earliest designs for Lifeline and it turns out… she wasn’t always a woman. 

As fans will know, Lifeline is part of an exclusive club in the Apex Games.

The Combat Medic was one of the original eight Legends when the battle royale title first launched in February 2019 and has become a fan-favorite.

However, a piece of old artwork surfaced some three years after the game burst onto the scene – sketched with pencil and watercolor paints – showing that Lifeline was originally a bearded man.

Lifeline has been given many different skins since Apex launched, but they’re nowhere close to this previous design.

Old Lifeline artwork revealed by Apex Legends dev

One of the original designs for Lifeline, of which there must have been many more while the game was in development, was revealed to the public on February 10.

Respawn Entertainment’s lead animator, Moy Parra, tweeted the image out to their 63,000 followers.

It shows a hooded Legend, holding a small whiskey flask in one hand, and a giant beard – similar to some of the Fuse skins that have been released in recent seasons.

⏪ at some point this was a version of Lifeline! 😅 I LOVE GAME DEVELOPMENT 💗🎮 pic.twitter.com/xvmxqBTaBX

— Moy Parra 🎮 (@_moyparra) February 10, 2022

Talking through the development of what are now iconic characters from the Apex Legends world, the developer continued: “Character creation is one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career and what an opportunity I’ve had to help develop some that have really resonated with the community. You want to know the secret? Find the fun first.

“Characters can go in any direction. BUT if your character is not 𝙛𝙪𝙣… you could be in trouble.”

Now that we know how Lifeline could have looked, which design do you prefer? The final, published version… Or this fella, with his Mozambique and a beverage for the road.

Let us know on Twitter @alphaintel – the home of Apex Legends news.

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