How Agent Fade Was Made

Most recently, Riot Games published a large interview where they shared information about exactly how the process of creating their 20th Fade agent from the popular shooter VALORANT went. I will reduce the entire amount of information and convey the most interesting and key points!

Initially, the character development team was faced with the task of making another agent with the role of a scout. After all, before that, only one Sova coped with this role, shooting his arrows across the entire map. Therefore, it was decided to make an alternative and, literally, the opposite of an accurate and long-range scout.

“The idea of a bounty hunter came to me in the early stages of work. In my understanding, such a character should track down a specific target, and not obtain general information by launching an arrow from somewhere far away,”said game designer Nick “Nickwu” Smith.

At the very beginning, there was not even a thought about how to connect the anniversary agent with the theme of fears, horror and nightmares. However, along with the idea of "hunting", a very strong and common emotion came to mind - the fear that the target of Fade must have experienced.

Moreover, there are not so many “gloomy” or “sinister” agents in the game, mostly bright images. Omen alone can claim to be called that, but he's more of a community association with mystique. But the title of "bounty hunter" for the new character would speak for itself.

As many people know, Fade comes from Turkey. The developers justified this decision by the fact that VALORANT has many players from this country and, thus, they could associate the agent with themselves.

Perhaps the first thing that catches your eye is Fade heterochromia (when the eyes are of different colors). The Turkish Angora cat breed, which is famous for its eyes, was taken as a prototype. Istanbul is also considered the world capital of cats, and therefore it is this fluffy animal that is reflected in the abilities of Fade. By the way, on the sole of the shoe she has a pattern in the form of cat's paws!

In addition to the "cat" origin of the image of the agent, on her clothes and rings you can find the symbol of nazar-bondzhuk in the form of a round eye, which is part of the Turkish tradition. Exactly, like henna all over the body of the bounty hunter. Yes, yes, these are not permanent tattoos, but henna painting. You can see the same painting during the spectacular Fade ultimate.

As a result, the character development department had a great agent who was immediately loved by the community. "Bright" gloomy image: black, gray and cold blue tones. Manage nightmares and fears of an opponent through short-range reconnaissance abilities. And also, visually attractive and unique, in terms of the mechanics of muffling all sounds, the ultimate ability.

DON'T JUDGE HER BY APPEARANCE: FADE SPENDS FREE TIME READING BOOKS WITH OMEN WHILE HE KNITTING