Deadlock wins the award for best placeholder UI text I've ever read with this one-line character bio calling one of its heroes an a**hole

GamesMOBADeadlockDeadlock wins the award for best placeholder UI text I’ve ever read with this one-line character bio calling one of its heroes an a**holeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Valve)

Lash, a whip-wielding hero from Deadlock.

Now that Valve is acknowledging that okay, yes, Deadlock exists, we’re free to discussits excellent vibes. A major piece of the hero shooter MOBA’s aesthetic is of course the heroes themselves: a colorful cast of occultists, interplanar anomalies, and—according to its unfinalized character backgrounds—at least one asshole.

As you’ll read in the message that pops up when you launchDeadlock’s closed playtest, Valve considers the project to be in early development: All of the art, abilities, UI text, and just about everything else currently in-game could change before its unspecified release date.

The backgrounds are in varying degrees of completion. Some have interesting quirks—Yamato, a sword-wielding yokai who’sdue for an upcoming redesign, has a bio that’s written entirely in untranslated Japanese. Others have some probably-unintentional punctuation goofs. And then there’s the single-sentence biography for Lash, which reads:

“Jacob Lash is an asshole.”

That’s it. That’s all we get. No backstory, no tragic past. Just a note to say this guy sucks.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

(Image credit: Valve)

Lash’s background text in the current testing version of Deadlock, which reads: “Jacob Lash is an asshole."

It’s clearly very placeholder—although I’d love to see Valve be ballsy and leave it as is, no notes—but it’s also a fun window into the ever-changing nature of game development, where juggled production priorities might mean that a character’s background remains a single-line dev dunk for an indefinite amount of time.

I will say, looking at Lash’s abilities, I can understand how someone might end up in a place where they need to mark, however briefly, that he’s a trash man. Lash’s kit includes a whip that lets him grapple and pull himself towards targets, and his ultimate lets him tangle up the enemy team in a big ball. He’s a big guy with a big moustache who can launch himself through the air and toss you and your friends into the worst possible places with his horrible whips.

Here’s an example:

funniest thing that happened to me in deadlock, lash throwing my entire team into the enemy’s fountain pic.twitter.com/EbeSB0lXdwAugust 24, 2024

I get it, is what I’m saying. Whoever was responsible for that placeholder text: I see you, and I understand. Lash: Be better.

Deadlock beta: How to get inDeadlock characters: Full heroes and abilities listDeadlock crosshair: How to customize yours

More about moba

Vindicta standing next to a shop

Mel from Arcane stares, contemplatively, in a new trailer for Season 1 of League of Legends 2025.

League of Legends' new season trailer is basically an epilogue to Arcane with 6 new Fortiche champion redesigns in it—so if it’s not a preview of the upcoming Noxus show, I’ll eat my hat

LatestLords of the Fallen studio embraces the DEI bugbear, says it will not include ‘any social or political agendas’ in its gamesSee more latest►

Latest

Lords of the Fallen studio embraces the DEI bugbear, says it will not include ‘any social or political agendas’ in its games

Lords of the Fallen (2023) promotional image - very large man with a very large hammer on a very large horse charging a very small man with a very small magic sword

Lords of the Fallen studio embraces the DEI bugbear, says it will not include ‘any social or political agendas’ in its games

See more latest►

Most PopularSorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our faultTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fabI tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bayFinal Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their altsTikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ itMSI intros cheaper ‘back connect’ Project Zero Intel motherboards for super-clean PC builds you might actually be able to affordThermaltake’s new 2000 W PSU is too powerful to be sold in the USA and comes with four PCIe 5.0 GPU power connectors

Most Popular

Sorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our fault

Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40K

Is the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything

If you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 off

AMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fab

I tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bay

Final Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their alts

TikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ it

MSI intros cheaper ‘back connect’ Project Zero Intel motherboards for super-clean PC builds you might actually be able to afford

Thermaltake’s new 2000 W PSU is too powerful to be sold in the USA and comes with four PCIe 5.0 GPU power connectors

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals