Deadlock is not a game that is set in London, and nor do the Maelstrom events take place around the same time as the infamous Jack the Ripper murders. But we know by now that this game does not exactly take its timeline too seriously.
So Valve went ahead and gave New York its own Jack the Ripper and turned him into a playable character who is participating in the ritual. Drifter is an ancient vampire who lives for the thrill of killing. Once he sets his sights on a victim, nothing can stop him from chasing them down for the perfect murder in isolation.
Being a Vampire has its own merits as a serial killer as well; Drifter can track down his victims by following their trail of blood scent. This is also revealed through Drifter’s own toolkits in the game. Moreover, if he hits an enemy with the stalker’s mark, it starts bleeding them and allows Drifter to instantly reappear behind them for more follow-ups.
Most of the participants in the ritual have their own reasons and motivations. While some have their own little selfish wishes, others are looking to destroy the patrons, and a very few are still hiding their reasons.
The Drifter is participating for the love of serial killing
The Drifter is completely indifferent to any of that; his sole purpose for participating in the ritual is just for the bloodbath. Since the patron summoning ritual has two sides fighting each other to death, it’s the perfect contest for a serial killer. So harboring no motivations makes him one of the few anomalies in Deadlock.
Drifter also enjoys the thrill of being a wanted criminal, while being hunted by multiple organisations, including the Baxter Society, bounty hunters, and even the ultra-religious cults like the Swords of Saint Benedict.
Funnily, the official government organisations like OSIC want nothing to do with Drifter as he is the least of their concerns. He also has a bad reputation in the vampire community, and from some of his voicelines with Mina, you will see that even Drifter doesn’t like mingling with them much.
One Fun fact is that the Drifter is not the only serial killer roaming the streets of the Cursed Apple. The Troubadour has a reputation for being way more dangerous, according to several characters, even though Drifter keeps claiming that he should be taken more seriously.
Deadlock is still in development, so hopefully, we will get to see the Troubadour as a playable character sometime in the future, but we will have to hold off on that for now.
