Being a game where the occult is normal, it’s only natural that curses and Faustian bargains are part and parcel of daily life. But Deadlock is still in development, so a lot of character backstories are filled with incomplete details. Not to mention, most of them still don’t have their finalised character models, making them look completely out of place.
But none of that is going to stop us from speculating on all the nitty-gritty details of mysteries occurring around the game. We are all aware of the maelstrom events that occur around the world of Deadlock every half a century.
An event that opens astral gates to other dimensions. Thus, sprinkling the real world with all kinds of supernatural entities. Most of these seemed to be linked with the themes of curses, temptation, and a bargain with the devil.
The most notable example has to be the Patrons, who are at the forefront of Deadlock’s gameplay. These cosmic beings are trying to enter the real world by tempting residents of the cursed apple with the power to grant anything they desire.
An ancient entity that feeds on innocent lives
But the patrons are not the only extra-dimensional entities trying to make a move in New York. A few other supernatural forces are deeply involved with the game’s story. The first one is most notably Lady Giest’s arm, which is cursed and possessed by an ancient entity known as the Oath Keeper.
In exchange for human life force, it grants Lady Giest the gift of eternal youth. This is a reference to the Faustian Bargain from the German folk legend of Johann Georg Faust. Who made a deal with the demon Mephistopheles. And has since become a point of reference in any form of pop culture media
The Oathkeeper is currently the only entity in the game about which we have the most information, mostly thanks to the Lady Giest visual novel ‘The Binding of the Oathkeeper’ that was found in the game’s files.
In it, we learn that Lady Giest is trying to securely get rid of the oathkeeper from her life because it eventually wants to break free and kill her if she is unable to keep up with its demands. The Oathkeeper wants Giest to frequently seek out innocent lives to murder and feed their souls for the rest of her life.
The visual novel has multiple endings, way too many in fact. Some of them can be dark while others are bittersweet, but we do get to see through a plethora of possibilities, providing a fitting conclusion to the Oathkeeper’s tale.
The Cursed Tome that unleashed a malevolent entity
Through its pages, we also learn about another mystery that has been brewing in Cursed Apple, and right inside the office of Detective Abrams. A Cursed Tome, which came into his possession, has turned his life upside down.
It was left to him one fine day with just an instruction written in onyx blood that read “Don’t let them have it”. Ever since then, Abrams’ life has been threatened with frequent break-ins into his office and even reached a point where he almost got car-bombed.
Needless to say, the Tome brings bad fortune and death, much like the Necronomicon in the Evil Dead franchise, which is a really popular media. In it, the book of the dead is the source of conjuring hellish creatures known as the deadites iAnto the real world.
This is in line with what we find out in The Binding of the Oathkeeper. The Tome contains a ripped page and is related to the Oathkeeper. The visual novel reveals that the Tome was once used to summon the hostile entity known as the Oathkeeper, thus resulting in bringing about Giest’s current fate.
The Tome can similarly sap away at the life of others, but it does not grant its owner the gift of eternal life. That’s because it also has a will of its own and can fly away frequently, which we get to see in the gameplay itself.
Evil can be manipulative and make one do its bidding
Deadlock’s last content update introduced us to a host of new faces who brought along with them their own quirks and fresh cursed relics. The prominent one being the Lich hand which the newcomer, Graves, found in a cemetery.
She is a person who has a natural affinity towards the dead rather than the living. This is noticeable through her interactions with other characters, such as Victor, who is a walking corpse. When Graves gets a kill on him, she expresses her wish that things could have gone differently.
This is why the Lich hand had found its perfect bearer when Graves found it in a lead-lined box buried in the cemetery. Unlike other teens of her age who would’ve probably left the hand back in its place, Graves took a liking to the Lich hand as it gave her powers to raise the dead.
Since the game is still in its alpha, we have no idea of knowing what the end motive of the Lich hand is. But we do know that it has been looking for the perfect person to pass on its knowledge to.
Multiple characters in the game warn Graves about the Lich hand, suggesting that it might be manipulating her to do its bidding. The Venator is one of the primary figures who comes forward to demand that she give up the Lich hand.
These Venators are appointed by the Church to neutralise the undead that are a direct threat to humanity. Thus, directly going against Gaves’ ideals. We find out how adamant she is in clinging to the Lich hand through her interaction with the Venator.
Even literal super villains like Seven, who should not have any affinity towards someone who is being led to their own demise, warn Graves about her impending doom. He deliberately tells her that her master, the Lich hand, is using her to “live glories they could not achieve on their own.”
The inspiration for the Lich hand quite possibly has been taken from the infamous horror short by English author W.W. Jacobs. In the story, a cursed monkey paw tempts people by granting wishes, which come with some enormous prices.
It is very similar to the Faustian Bargian but, but the ways of the Lich are very different from what the Oathkeeper imposes on Lady Giest. The latter deliberately threatens the life of the bearer, while the Lich is tempting Graves with power and information.
A possible, dangerous future aside, the Lich hand wants to protect Graves for now by providing information on other Deadlock characters. Especially the ones she should be wary of, like Grey Talon.
The law of equivalent exchange demands a worthy sacrifice
This brings us to the Baxter society. A group of monster hunters to which Grey Talon belongs. Their purpose is to tackle world-threatening supernatural events, but setting aside the harsh methods of someone like Venator or Warden.
Currently, we know of only three characters who belong to this group: Grey Talon, who had to come out of retirement for his personal reasons; Calico, who has now left the Baxter Society in pursuit of a career as a hired assassin; and Shiv, whose past is shrouded in criminal records but is now trying to change himself for the better.
So far, you might be wondering, what do all of them have to do with curses and deals with the devil? Well, if you haven’t noticed it yet, all three Baxter society characters have a missing arm, propped up with a prosthetic.
While that may not mean anything, it sure is an odd coincidence for now. The game does not state anything deliberately about this. But Deadlock fans have made up their own speculations about what is going on with these characters.
Both Grey Talon and Calico have supernatural familiars that follow them around. The former uses a spirit owl that can dive on enemies. And the latter moves around with a sphynx cat named Ava, which she can possess and shape shift into for quick escape.
Shiv does not take a visible familiar around him. But he does carry around a cursed relic by his belt, which is the source of his supernatural powers during his combat. This relic could also be the reason why he is said to have a ‘bloody’ and ‘torturous’ past, shrouded in mystery.
The Deadlock community has already pointed out that the design of Shiv’s amulet is suspiciously identical to the Blood Key. This is a powerful artifact from the 1995 popular horror film Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight.
It is a container that holds the blood of Jesus Christ, making it a powerful relic against the forces of evil. But in Shiv’s case, whatever is contained in the amulet could be far more dangerous for humanity. Graves even threatens Shiv during one of their kill interactions in-game, saying, “You took something that doesn’t belong to you, Shiv.”
This brings us back to the mystery around Baxter Society as a whole. By now, you may have noticed the pattern; all the members so far have a missing arm and are in contact with some sort of supernatural entity in one way or another.
Fans speculate that perhaps in order to become a demon hunter and member of the society, these characters had to give up a part of their physical selves, which is represented by the arm, thus striking a bargain with certain entities.
Pretty much a case of ‘law of equivalent exchange’, but don’t quote us on that, because Valve has not provided an official word on this matter yet.
Deadlock is no stranger to science fiction horror
The final relic I am going to touch upon in this whole context may not be a cursed one, but that’s cause it has not exhibited any signs of being a hostile presence. We would very much like to remind everyone, for the umpteenth time, that Deadlock is still in development, so the lore is constantly getting updated.
Heck, even the Patrons saw a complete design and lore overhaul in the major content update for this year. And they are supposed to be a central part of whatever is going on in the game.
When the skilled expeditioner and scientist, Kelvin, went missing on his voyage to the Arctic poles, no one batted an eye. It wasn’t until a year and a half later that he actually returned, and this is when things started taking a mysterious turn.
Kelvin went out to research the 8th astral gate, which had opened up in the Arctic Pole. The next time he woke up in the freezing lands, he found himself already dead with amnesia, bearing a physical body that was completely devoid of red blood.
The only thing that was keeping him alive was a mysterious rock with glowing runes, which he cannot let go of if he really wants to find more answers. As I have already stated, this did not seem like a hostile relic, but we cannot say for sure.
Perhaps the rock is responsible for putting Kelvin in this situation and is acting like a parasite, fueling his vitality. The whole ordeal sounds like a light reference to the horror science fiction novella, Who Goes There ?, by John W Campbell Jr.
Or you might also know the media by its film adaptation name, John Carpenter’s The Thing. Which has a similar setting with scientists in the Arctic poles coming into contact with a hostile extraterrestrial entity, exhibiting actions of a similar nature.
The interesting point that connects this whole ordeal is the Lich hand, which wants to possess the mysterious stone. We find this out through one of Grave’s dialogues, which triggers if she gets a kill on Kelvin.
Deadlock is not even out yet, and we already have a plethora of mysteries brewing throughout the game, which makes for endless discussions. And I am pretty sure this is just the tip of the iceberg because by the time the full release comes, we will have much more homework in our hands.
