Revenant (character)

This article concerns the background of the subject in Apex Legends universe. For the subject and content related to it in the main game, see Revenant. For the subject and content related to it in *Apex Legends Mobile*, see Revenant (Mobile).

**Revenant**, once known as **Kaleb Cross**, is a Legend introduced in  Season 4 of *Apex Legends*. A prolific mercenary revived as a simulacrum, he was placed in the Apex Games to stop his rampage against the employees of Hammond Robotics.

## Lore

### Background

Kaleb Cross was born in 2356 somewhere in the Outlands. Cross was known as the greatest assassin the Mercenary Syndicate had ever employed. A man with no morals, Cross would effortlessly eliminate any target presented to him. Cross had a rough relationship with his father, and was possibly abused by him. His father, an artist, would later become his first victim.

In the year 2400, a man named Bob Woods witnessed an extortion by members of the Syndicate that resulted in a man dying. Believing these actors to be rogue Syndicate members, he told his wife what he had seen, and she told him to report it to the Syndicate. However, this was an intended action by the Syndicate, and they could not risk this information getting out. Placing a target on Woods’ back, Cross was contacted to eliminate him.

When Woods returned home that evening, he found his wife’s dismembered face in his house’s entryway, with Cross patiently waiting for him. Horrified, Woods frantically went to retrieve his children from school and left the planet for Gaea. Despite the state of mind that he and his family were safe, Woods awoke to find his children murdered by Cross. With assistance from the Gaea Global Task Force, Cross was arrested for the homicide. Soon after, the Syndicate was able to free Cross from imprisonment.

Woods, hearing about this, plotted his revenge against Cross. Poisoning the latter’s liquor, he took his family’s slaughterer to a sewage facility and gleefully drowned him. The Syndicate immediately killed Woods for this act, quickly retrieving Cross’s body for delivery to the nearest Hammond Robotics facility.

Whether or not this account is entirely true is unknown. Revenant is an unreliable narrator, and he told the story to Pathfinder as an attempt to scare the MRVN into thinking he killed his creators.

### Development of Revenant

Experiments quickly began to attempt to preserve Cross’s consciousness in a robotic body. Initial tests were very unsuccessful, with side effects ranging from data corruption to hysteria of the subject. The researchers mitigated this by storing Cross’s “source code”, or the biological remains of his brain, separately from the robotic body they were testing. This remote access proved successful. Despite this, the issue of data degradation upon transfer between bodies could not be resolved.  After twenty years of testing, the first simulacrum was brought online.

The simulacrum Revenant first booted up in 2420. For nearly three hundred years, he was used as a versatile hitman by the Mercenary Syndicate. He was the perfect assassin - one with all of the violent tendencies of Kaleb Cross, but without the mortality or limitations of a human body.

A cult supposedly followed Revenant in the 2560's.

### Season 4 Launch Trailer

 — Marcos Andrade and Revenant

In 2708, Revenant was contracted to kill the notorious thief Marcos Andrade. Attacking Tenmei, a restaurant on Olympus, he swiftly and violently killed Andrade and his entourage, additionally killing his wife Alanza after she fired at him in self defense. Preparing to leave Tenmei, he walked past a mirror, sensing something was amiss when he noticed a large shard of glass lodged in his neck, as well as the lack of a tongue in his reflection.  The glass had damaged his Ego Retention System, a mechanism that prevented him from realizing his lack of humanity. Pulling the shard out, the illusion fell apart, showing his true robotic form. At that moment, the memories and pain of all of his deaths returned to him, a result of the corruption of so many faulty data transfers. Noticing the Hammond Robotics emblem on the back of his left hand, he shattered his reflection and swore revenge on all those who had done this to him.

This event left a single survivor - Loba Andrade, the daughter of Marcos and Alanza.

After learning of his true nature, Revenant relentlessly pursued those within the Mercenary Syndicate and Hammond Robotics. He first attacked a man named Lowell, a member of the Syndicate, who told Revenant of the mechanics of his killings.  He next targets a Hammond worker, who tells him of his “deaths”, “rebirths”, and memory wipes, and informs him of when his operations began - 288 years ago.  Finding that his creators and torturers are all long gone, he shifts the focus of his revenge - not against a specific person, but against all “skinsuits.”

### Up Close and Personal

Outlands TV hosts an interview with James “The Forge” McCormick, a popular new Legend who is sponsored by Hammond Robotics. At 10:02 A.M.,  during the broadcast, McCormick is murdered by Revenant live on television.  OTV later issued a statement of condolences for McCormick.

Revenant continued to attack Hammond Robotics installations, including a facility outside of World's Edge on Talos.  This led to a great amount of unease among Hammond employees, resulting in Syndicate officials using various loopholes to induct Revenant into the Apex Games in order to satiate his unending bloodlust.

### Season 5 Launch Trailer

 — Revenant and Loba

When Loba Andrade was informed that Revenant had joined the Games, she immediately worked to join in order to exact revenge. Infiltrating a hidden facility below Skull Town on Kings Canyon, Loba discovered that it was filled with copies of Revenant’s body. Finding his source code at the center, she impulsively attempts to shoot it, causing it to be transported to a separate facility on Psamathe and activating the corps of Spectres within. Fighting her way out, she destroys the facility, causing it and Skull Town to collapse into the Duchess River. As she climbs out of the debris, she comes face to face with Revenant.

### The Broken Ghost

After joining the Games, Loba enlists the help of the other Legends to retrieve the pieces of an artifact from the Shadowfall dimension, where the Shadow Revenant rules.  Caustic enlisted himself as a mole within the group to provide Revenant with intel.  During their quest, Revenant shows up on multiple occasions to threaten or intimidate the Legends. After Wattson was injured during a trip to the Shadowfall realm,  he shows up to act menacing toward the injured Legend, while revealing that there is a traitor among the group and that he wants nothing to do with the Shadow Revenant, as he “can’t think of anything more pathetic than being King of the Skinbags.”  He later appears through Crypto’s drone, which was previously thought unhackable, in an attempt to frame him as the mole and to sow further distrust among the Legends.

After the legends retrieve the final piece of the artifact, Revenant follows Loba to her ship, revealing his wish to finally truly die. He proposes a deal with Loba to find his source code, allowing both to get what they have been seeking: for Revenant, death; for Loba, revenge.

### Overtime

One Saturday in 2733, Revenant accepted a contract from Boss Willis to retrieve a stolen communications unit from Crypto in exchange for the deactivation of his source code. He attacked the Legend inside the Paradise Lounge and pursued Crypto and Mirage through the streets of Solace City. The chase eventually ended on a rooftop, where Revenant captured Crypto before Mirage escaped with the briefcase.

Revenant brought Crypto to Willis, who took them and Mirage aboard his aircraft. The ship crashed into a local hospital after a fight aboard the vessel, leveling it and burying Revenant. After most of the patients were rescued, Revenant breaks out of the rubble and impales Willis, reminding him that he had promised death. He then handed the now-damaged communications unit to Crypto.

### Season 7

 — Revenant

During a meeting with Loba, she reveals that she has found Revenant’s source code. However, rather than destroying it as he wishes, she sent it through a phase runner to Gridiron, as she wants Revenant to suffer like she has. Enraged, a fight breaks out between the two, with Loba emerging victorious. As she walks away, Revenant declares that, when Loba finds something or someone she loves with all her heart, he will destroy it.

It was eventually revealed that the task to send the Head through the phase runner was given to Loba's friend Jaime. However, Not wishing for Loba to continue her insatiable quest for vengeance, he kept the source code with him.

### Pathfinder's Quest

Revenant begrudgingly met with Pathfinder during the latter’s search for his creators. He spoke of his history as an assassin and of his unending bloodlust. Near the end of their conversation, Revenant manages to briefly convince Pathfinder that he killed his creators.

### The Legacy Antigen

After the Legends stopped the Medusa epidemic on Olympus, Loba was devastated to hear Bangalore say that the two are “just friends.”  Valkyrie, also seemingly vying for Loba’s attention, comforted her and offered to “catch [her] again.” Revenant, wanting to make good on his promise to make Loba suffer, mused over whether he would kill Bangalore or Valkyrie first.

### Season 10

 — Ash and Revenant

Revenant encountered and attacked Horizon as she entered the destroyed facility beneath Skull town beneath Kings Canyon. Breaking free of his grasp, she reveals that she wishes to know how to awaken the original personality of a simulacrum, as Revenant was the first to ever do such a thing. He tells her that it was a “design flaw” that caused his awakening, and that modern simulacra hold codes within their systems that are required to bring back their original identity.

Horizon departs in an attempt to crack these codes, and he follows.  Upon arriving, he attacks Ash in an attempt to kill her, fracturing her faceplate. He frames this as an act of merciful euthanasia, as he considers his knowledge of his true self to be hell. He fails, however, and Ash fully awakens to her original personality.

### Season 11

 — Revenant

One evening, Revenant entered Bangalore’s apartment, wishing to strike a deal with the Legend.  Insisting that Jackson must be dead or in hiding, he proposes that the two pool their funds to shorten the length of the normally 20-year trip to Gridiron, allowing Bangalore to return to what’s left of her family, and likely wishing to search for his source code as well. He later engages with her once more on the Apex Games dropship, reiterating his offer.

Soon after, he follows Loba, Valkyrie, and Jaime to a carnival, with the simulacrum setting his sights on the latter.

### The Williams Sendoff

 — Revenant and Bangalore

Bangalore, after learning of her brother's death and breaking ties with Loba, agreed to join Revenant on a journey to Gridiron.

### Season 13 Launch Trailer

Revenant begrudgingly attended Bangalore's retirement party. Afterwards, Bangalore backed out of their deal, much to the simulacrum's anger.

### Friends Like These

Revenant was visited by Valkyrie in his bunker on Kings Canyon. During their encounter, Valkyrie claimed that she knew a contact that stated that his source code was much closer than Gridiron. An intrigued Revenant promised to keep in touch.

### Kill Code

 — Torres and Revenant

Many, including Ash, noticed that Revenant's programming seemed to be degrading, highly impacting his performance in the Apex Games and causing issues such as preventing his  Death Totem from being summoned. A team of researchers corroborated this, releasing a report that, out of 297 confirmed deaths in 2734, over 77% of them were deemed preventable.

After a series of failures, Hammond Robotics began experimenting and constructing new bodies for Revenant, with his source code falling back into the hands of the company. One of the goals of this project was to reincorporate Revenant's source code with one of his bodies, something that has proved disastrous in the past. The experiments took place on the mysterious "Floor 17" of a Hammond Robotics facility; any employee who attempted to reveal or otherwise question the operation was suspiciously "reassigned" to Floor 17. Hammond's research culminated in 2735 with a redesigned chassis for the simulacrum. At some point, Torres Silva discovered the project and gained control of Revenant.

During an Apex Games match, Revenant suddenly lost control of his abilities, later waking up with completely new ones. After Loba looted an eye from one of the simulacrum's heads in a facility on Salvo Revenant was able to view through it after it was reactivated by Crypto. A bewildered Revenant broke into the Legends' hideout and attacked Crypto, blackmailing him to discover who was attempting to control him.

Revenant was quickly apprehended by the Legends, who made a brief truce with him to break into a Hammond Robotics facility in Malta in an attempt to destroy the simulacrum's source code and keep it out of the hands of Silva. Disguising themselves as Hammond Robotics employees delivering a Revenant chassis, they were quickly discovered after Lifeline's shoddy cover was blown. They were soon cornered by a horde of Spectres, Reapers, and Ticks, and joined forces to fight their way out of the facility - despite some resistance from Loba, who wished for Revenant to stay alive and suffer. After taking out the Reaper, Revenant's source code was taken away by Silva using Loba's misplaced  staff, with Silva taunting Revenant with his human name.

After losing the source code, Revenant was able to convince Loba to finally destroy the head.

Following the trail of a tracker placed on Octane by Lifeline, Revenant and the other Legends tracked the Silvas to one final facility. After threatening Torres, Revenant reclaimed his source code, tossing it to Loba for destruction. However, before she could land a finishing blow, Torres revealed the full extent of Revenant's upgrades to the simulacrum: he was able to control any other manufactured shell as if it were his own body. Relishing the newfound control over his life, Revenant stabbed Torres, later tearing him apart with the assistance of some additional bodies. He launched an attack against the Legends, who escaped with the help of Valkyrie. At last, a newly in-control Revenant began amassing his forces for an uprising.

## Appearances

* The Legacy Antigen
* Friends Like These

**Apex Chronicles*** The Williams Sendoff

**Events*** Kill Code: A Thief's Bane
* Kill Code Interlude 1 (mentioned)

**Transition Blurbs*** Just Business (mentioned)
* Mirror Images
* Lies
* The Program
* The Cycle
* No More Lies
* Sleep with the Fishes
* Like Father, Like Daughter
* Felagi Fighters (mentioned)
* Stalking Prey (mentioned)
* Take It In Stride (mentioned)
* Biggest Fans
* Confounding Variables (mentioned)
* Paquette Repair Service (mentioned)
* Broken Hearts Break Hearts
* Legend Impressions: Mad Maggie (mentioned)
* Nothing Personal
* Research Report - Subject\_Cross (mentioned)
* Shiny and New
* Eyes of the Mona Lisa (mentioned)
* D.O.C. Audio Log 10.15.0103 (mentioned)
* The Art of Control
* *Legacy of a Thief*
* *Kill Code Part 1*
* *Kill Code Part 3*

**Trailers*** Assimilation Launch Trailer
* Fortune's Favor Launch Trailer
* Boosted Launch Trailer
* Ascension Launch Trailer
* Legacy Launch Trailer
* Emergence Launch Trailer
* Escape Launch Trailer
* Saviors Launch Trailer
* Hunted Launch Trailer
* Resurrection Launch Trailer
* Ready for Takeoff (mentioned)

**Comics*** Legacy Lost
* Finding a Path
* How to Wake Up
* You're Not Alone
* Home Is Where the Hurt Is
* An Offer She Just Can't Refuse
* Predator (mentioned)
* Addicted

**Teasers*** The Forge Interview (mentioned)
* Hammond Break-Ins
* Project 617
* Floor 17 (mentioned)
* *Overtime*

## Trivia

* Character
* Cultural References
* Voice Actor

* During his creation at Hammond Robotics' Project 617, Revenant was designated as Subject XAC. There were at least 7,578 trials before he was fully operational, and Spectres were likely used as his original bodies.
* When asked for a canonical explanation of Revenant's  Death Totem ability, former writer Tom Casiello responded that there is a story behind it, but he couldn't say what because it is tied to a future Legend.
	+ Tom has since regretted saying this and explained that plans can change easily.
* Revenant feels pain, and after learning he is a simulacrum, he remembers all the previous times in which he "died" and got transferred to a new body.
* It is confirmed by Tom Casiello that Revenant is the tallest Legend compared to Caustic and Gibraltar.
* Revenant claims to have a kill count in the millions. However, he includes those he kills in his dreams and imagination.
* Revenant is the first simulacrum that had its original identity restored, which was originally considered an impossibility. He attributed this to being the prototype of other simulacra, and thus having various design flaws, unlike other simulacra which have additional codes to prevent their awakening. Ash, another simulacrum, had her human identity restored after having her Ego Retention Code read out to her by Horizon.
* Revenant is the oldest Legend.
* While under the control of the Mercenary Syndicate, Revenant had a variety of handlers, engineers, and programmers, each having different opinions on what seems "deadly," leading to his skills and designs having a variety of cultural influences.
* A staff member at Hammond once attempted to rename Revenant to "Darkborne" or "Deathwish," but was quickly demoted out of the simulacrum department for these efforts.
* Revenant believes that, even if all of his physical bodies were to be destroyed, his source code would find a way to keep him alive and sentient.
* Prior to  Season 16, official sources listed Revenant's home planet as Solace.
* Nearly 200,000 Revenant bodies were stored in the facility beneath Kings Canyon, with just over 100,000 being recovered after its destruction.
* Revenant's eyes are able to detect any weaknesses or ailments in a target, including cancer.

* In a rare animation, Revenant will do a series of hand signs while summoning the Death Totem. The five signs are hand signs from the manga series *Naruto*, specifically that of Tiger → Snake → Dog → Dragon → Clap hands, the hand signs for "Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation".
	+ Revenant has a newer animation, his right-hand intertwines with a shadow version emerging from his wrist and they flip places when activating the totem, which is a reference to the character June Moone turning into the Enchantress from Suicide Squad.
* His Shadow on the Sun and Bird of Prey skins are based on the Egyptian god Ra, who was the god of the sun, order, kings, and the sky, and is depicted with a similar bird head. False Idol and Unholy Beast skins may also be based on the Egyptian god Ra; when he ruled the underworld, he would be in his Ram-Headed form. Alternatively, they may be based on Baphomet.
* Another reference to ancient Egypt is Revenant's  Death Totem, which resembles an obelisk. In ancient Egypt, the obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra.
* His Necro Nightmare skin is a werewolf, but could also be seen as symbolizing Anubis.
* In his reveal trailer, the "What are you? - Death" scene may be a reference to the beginning of *Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales*.
* Revenant's Revelations skin is based on Evangelion Unit-00 from the *Neon Genesis Evangelion* franchise. It specifically references the yellow coloration of its original appearance in the early episodes of *Neon Genesis Evangelion*, as well as its appearance in the *Rebuild of Evangelion* films.

* Shadow on the Sun
* Bird of Prey
* False Idol
* Unholy Beast
* Revelations

* Revenant's voice actor, Darin De Paul, has portrayed a variety of roles, including:
	+ Forge
	+ Reinhardt in *Overwatch*
	+ J. Jonah Jameson in *Spider-Man*
	+ Hulk in *Marvel's Avengers*
	+ Samuel Hayden / Samur Makyr in *Doom*
	+ Duma in *Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia*
	+ Rakdos and Angrath in *Magic: The Gathering Arena*

## References

1. ↑ Tom Casiello on Twitter
2. ↑ Shadow Royale voice line - "I once had a father who talked to me like that. Once..."
3. ↑ Transition -  The Art of Control
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Pathfinder's Quest Chapter 10 - "Drowning in Darkness"
5. ↑ Hammond test results
6. ↑ Transition -  Mirror Images
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Season 4 Launch Trailer
8. ↑ Transition -  The Program
9. ↑ Transition -  The Cycle
10. ↑ Transition -  No More Lies
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 OTV press release
12. ↑ Stories from the Outlands - Up Close and Personal
13. ↑ Hammond security email
14. ↑ Revenant entry transcript
15. ↑ Season 5 Launch Trailer
16. ↑ The Broken Ghost Prologue - "The Duplicitous Snake"
17. ↑ The Broken Ghost Chapter 8 - "The Unwavering Protector"
18. ↑ The Broken Ghost Chapter 2 - "The Detached Chaperone"
19. ↑ The Broken Ghost Chapter 3 - "The Liberated Narc"
20. ↑ The Broken Ghost Chapter 6 - "The Oblivious Mole"
21. ↑ The Broken Ghost Chapter 9 - "The Broken Ghost"
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Overtime Issue 4
23. ↑ Overtime Issue 1
24. ↑ A Worse Fate
25. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayApex/status/1579941303588388864
26. ↑ The Legacy Antigen Part 10 - "Legacy Found"
27. ↑ The Legacy Antigen Epilogue
28. ↑ How to Wake Up
29. ↑ You're Not Alone
30. ↑ Home Is Where The Hurt Is
31. ↑ An Offer She Just Can't Refuse
32. ↑ The Williams Sendoff Chapter 3 - "Broken Hearts Break Hearts"
33. ↑ Season 13 Launch Trailer
34. ↑ Friends Like These Chapter 6 - "Deal With the Devil"
35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 Resurrection Launch Trailer
36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Transition -  Research Report - Subject\_Cross
37. ↑ Floor 17
38. ↑ Stories from the Outlands - Kill Code Part 1
39. ↑  Season 18 Interactions
40. ↑ Stories from the Outlands - Kill Code Part 3
41. ↑ Stories from the Outlands - Kill Code: A Life for a Life
42. ↑ Stories from the Outlands - Kill Code Part 4
43. ↑ Project 617 Trial 7578
44. ↑ Analyzing/Reacting to "Fortune's Favor" with the Respawn Devs!! (Loba Trailer Season 5 Apex Legends)
45. ↑ Tom Casiello on Twitter
46. ↑ Tom Casiello on Twitter
47. ↑ Pathfinder's Quest
48. ↑ Tom Casiello on Twitter
49. ↑ Tom Casiello on Twitter
50. ↑ Tom Casiello on Twitter
51. ↑ FrozenFroh on Twitter
52. ↑ Transition -  Eyes of the Mona Lisa