Deadlock's best girl is (judging by the fanart) a scrunkly gargoyle with a flat cap and severe back issues, who just so happens to be an absolute sweetheart

An image of Ivy who, despite everything, is becoming one of Deadlock's most beloved characters.

(Image credit: Valve)

I will never cease to be amazed, impressed, and terrified by the kinds of unexpected hotties that come out of the gaming community—earlier this year it was Bakool Ja Ja in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail, and now Deadlock's got its own fan favourite, the gargoyle Ivy.

Ivy is, under no reasonable metrics, designed to be worshipped in the way she's being idolised—she's a direct midpoint between one of those hunchbacks of Notre Dame gargoyles and Audrey Rocio Ramirez from Atlantis. Visually speaking, she is a scrambly little goblin monster with the proportions of Gollum.

You are reading this article because that hasn't stopped people.

Go onto the Deadlock subreddit or the Discord's fanart channel and you'll see dozens of (genuinely very talented) artists rendering her in either cutesy or (lore-accurate) scary ways. Here's a couple of examples which are, and I cannot stress this enough, genuinely great bits of character art (courtesy of concept artist Russel Jones and Kujalla on Twitter).

Ivy fanart sketch, Deadlock is really fun pic.twitter.com/Ckv1sqr40fSeptember 3, 2024

That Ivy from Deadlock pic.twitter.com/c7U8TyZPIRJune 7, 2024

There is also the, ahem, astute observation that Ivy appears to be a popular character to draw smut of by a vast margin. This isn't just some arms-length aesthetic appreciation—there is a significant portion of the public who want to get stoned, if you catch my drift.

This might be the part where you expect me to point and laugh, but I'm not a coward. I am going to proceed to make a genuine effort to understand why Ivy Deadlock is the current sweetheart of the game's community by such a wide margin, in the same way I made arguments for Bakool Ja Ja back when that was happening. I will look into the Medusa's eyes without fear or remorse, for I am beyond judgement. So—why is Ivy a sweetie? Let's take a look at her backstory, real quick:

A description that reads: "The gargoyle didn't know what was happening when it sprang to life... just that a big human and a small human were being hurt. And so the gargoyle leapt to action, sending the attackers fleeing in horror. The small human said thank you and asked the gargoyle's name. The gargoyle didn't have one. And so the small human said, "I'm going to call you Ivy." The gargoyle, being covered in ivy at the time, thought it was a bit obvious, but decided to go along with it for the small human's sake.The humans asked if Ivy would come home with them so they could show their appreciation, and so Ivy walked with them. That night she learned much. The family were called The Arroyo's. The little one, Sophia. Mofongo is what they called a plate of deliciousness. But most importantly, she learned that the people attacking them were called "The Mendoza Syndicate", and they were hurting people...nice people like The Arroyo's.18 years have passed since the day the Arroyo's took Ivy home... and during that time she made it her mission to dismantle the Mendoza Syndicate and free Spanish Harlem from its grasp. However the thing about dedicating your life to a single pursuit for nearly 2 decades is that you don't really know what to do once you achieve it. For the first time in her life, Ivy is prepared to venture outside of Spanish Harlem and see what the world has to offer beyond vigilante justice." — (Image credit: Valve)

Ivy is an actual gargoyle who sprang to life to protect two members of The Arroyo's, a family in Spanish Harlem: "The family were called The Arroyo's. The little one, Sophia. Mofongo is what they called a plate of deliciousness. But most importantly, she learned that the people attacking them were called 'The Mendoza Syndicate', and they were hurting people...nice people like The Arroyo's."

Ivy then spent 18 years (thank god) tearing through the Syndicate and, in a rare twist of fate, dismantled a crime family while remaining completely intact. They didn't even kill her dog for a John Wick vengeance arc or anything, she just… did it. Gargoyle gang stays winning.

So in terms of this gremlin's personality, she's genuinely a protective and cute little creature. If we're looking at her from a romantic point of view, she would probably be a supportive partner. Also, she has a rapid-fire crossbow, and she can turn herself into an "impervious stone form and smash into the ground, stunning and damaging enemies nearby", which is a green flag I look for with every date I go on.

It helps that her design is also a ton of fun. She's got a defined silhouette, a fun set of animations (she hangs from the zipline via her tail) and a cool outfit. Fun fact: there's a type of flat cap called an "Ivy Cap". It doesn't appear to line up exactly with what she's wearing, but still—it's an excellent visual gag for hat experts or furiously googling cosplayers.

Her voice is also pretty charming too—it's peppy, enthusiastic, and confident. I can't find any confirmation of who the voice actor in question is (since this is an early development build, there's no credits screen, and I can't find signs of the talent behind her stepping up to claim that crown), but they do a stellar job.

Deadlock Pre-Release - ALL ivy voicelines + translation - YouTube

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The comments on said video, provided courtesy of YouTube channel Darknessuu, are uh—they're illuminating: "First seeing that goblin, then listening to her voice lines. Now drawing la cruerta," one player writes, while another yells in all caps: "I AM GARGOYLEPILLED."

Either way, despite having a wide roster of exceptionally well-designed potential romance options to fawn over—Ivy's the top contender for prom queen, and she's genuinely enough of a sweetheart to deserve it. Nobody's paid actual money to rename themselves to "Ivy's babygirl" in an MMORPG yet, so she's on the whole had a more wholesome reception as long as you don't go on certain websites—and even then, it's 2024. People like monsters, and I'm not here to argue with them, mostly because the furry (scalie, in this case? I mean, she's a gargoyle, so—I can't keep up) community is not to be trifled with.

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.