Apex Legends: Octane's New Heirloom Is A Tragic Reminder

Apex Legends character Octane is a wild adrenaline junkie whose need for new thrills is why he now participates in the Apex Games. But the speed demon's heirloom, now available in Apex Legends through the System Override Collection event, takes Octavio "Octane" Silva's obsessions to an uncomfortable level, as it acts as a tragic reminder that the character doesn't have many reasons to be happy other than chasing his next high.

Octane's heirloom is a butterfly knife. This isn't an ordinary blade though--the knife is filled with Stim, the drug that Octane uses to achieve his enhanced speed. And so Octane has customized the butterfly knife so that it can be used to both slash opponents and inject the drug into his own body.

While inspecting the heirloom, as seen in the video on the Apex Legends blog, Octane will dangerously twirl the butterfly knife around and then stab himself with its plunger to get the Stim into his system. But he doesn't go on to use the drug to run faster--Octane just celebrates the rush of the Stim coursing through his veins.

It's the first time we see Octane use Stim recreationally. Both in-game and in cinematic trailers, he's only used Stim as a means of achieving greater speed in a pinch. There have been signs that Octane is addicted to a drug for a while--when standing still on the home screen or during a match, he'll start uncontrollably twitching--but this seems to confirm the long-held belief that the character is specifically addicted to the Stim he uses for the Apex Games, not a more traditional stimulant.

Which is kind of sad when you think about it. Octane now needs to inject Stim into his body just to feel anything at all--it's not enough to only use the drug to feel the rush of fighting skilled opponents during a match. When taken into consideration with his falling out with Ajay "Lifeline" Che, one of his oldest friends and perhaps the only one he's ever had other than his pet bunny Navi (who died), it's a sad reminder that even though Octane is the resident wild child of the legends, he's also one of the few individuals in the group who's totally alone.

With no friends to speak of and a family that has essentially disowned him, Octane's only joy in life comes from the Apex Games, when he can hang out with the other legends and abuse the drug he's addicted to without judgment. You can kind of see this in the Season 3: Meltdown cinematic trailer as well, where Octane isn't hanging out with any of the other legends--he's playing Titanfall 2 by himself, trying to enjoy the rush of playing a high-reflex video game while standing on a moving chair. He probably figures talking to the other legends won't be nearly as exciting because he isn't very exciting (his life has been nothing but dangerous stunts and messed up relationships) and so he can't maintain a normal conversation that people would enjoy.

On Respawn's part, it's great storytelling to use an in-game item like this--providing greater context for a character who doesn't seem all that deep at first. The developer has proven it isn't averse to unorthodox storytelling methods when it comes to fleshing out the lore in Apex Legends, and the battle royale game is made stronger for it.