Alexander Nox

Alexander Nox used to be one of the brightest scientists in the employ of Humbert Labs, the Frontier’s leading manufacturer of pesticide gases. Nox worked day and night developing new formulas for the glut of pesticides needed to protect the crops that sustained the Outlands. But he soon realized that progress was being hampered by his testing methods. He needed to test on more than just inert tissue: he needed living subjects.

Details

Male
Alias: Caustic
Age: 50
Status: Alive (and thriving)
Birth Date: February 25, 2685
Home World: Gaea (Hollygrove)
Specialization: Field Experimentation
Apex Legends Official Website

Appreciation

One of the greatest characters from Apex Legends, in my opinion.

I started maining Caustic almost exclusively since Season 8, continuing until 2023 when I stopped playing altogether. Moving with intention and strategy around gas traps was my favorite, and probably the only viable playstyle against the increasingly fast-paced meta that other players were so eager to bring from previous video games.

I also didn't want to rely solely on reflexes and speed, but rather on discretion and strategy. Unfortunately, this didn't help my case, especially since Caustic had a slow walking speed until very recently in the game. I was barely a decent player, but nevertheless, the more I played, the more I grew to appreciate this cold, direct, and cynical character.

Nox is a character that embodies obsession, cynicism, and abrasiveness, but more importantly, intelligence and brilliance. Obsessed with scientific research, experimentation, and not surprisingly, philosophy in death, though this last one was more focused around other people dying.

It's not a character that you or I will easily relate to, or even become acquainted with. And that's pretty much the point of his character design.

More or less, my interest and fixation with Caustic as a character stems from his immense devotion to science and research, which, for a brief period of time, I also shared in high school, more specifically in Biology. It's almost riveting to imagine what it must be like to engage in any of the activities across all fields of science, whether it's gathering data, writing theories, hypotheses, reading officially published and peer-reviewed papers, observing phenomena, or storing and managing knowledge in software or meticulously organized notebooks. At times, it feels like I've done many of these activities in different contexts, except in the realm of science itself.

Of course, all of this in him, is amplified with a sense of morbidity, but I still relate to him when it comes to the passion and devotion towards data, research, observation, reading, etc., even though my current job and even my background studies have nothing to do with it.

That said, forgive me if I've butchered, oversimplified, or even romanticized the real complexities and intricacies of everything involved in this branch of study.

Another reason for my interest in Caustic is, as Richard Lemarchand puts it in Eggsy Zhang's zine, my attraction to big, tall stocky men. I'm also attracted to him because at the same time, I take their danger and violence and simmer it down into something more manageable, human, or even cuddly. We know that Alexander is not a decent man, and he's not the type to function as a productive citizen in society. However, when you tone down some of his more extreme traits, when you tweak a few things here and there, you start to view him through new and interesting lens.

An angry, dangerous, menacing, cynical, and dark character suddenly becomes an over-dramatic, introvert, dry-witted, grumpy and data-obsessive man. A lot of people might throw out their favorite buzzword and claim this is all flanderization, but I disagree. One of the most enjoyable parts of "toning down" characters is getting to write headcanons, features, and dynamics that could very still fit the original character. There is still an air of respect to the original character.

We can even go further and add funny headcanons just for the sake of it, with no respect for canon. Because it's still a fun way to explore and talk about the complex dynamics and representations of a fictional character.

Of course, I'm attracted to big, bulky men like Caustic. Because he's not only bulky, his other attributes can also contribute to my own self indulgent case of interest, he's well-spoken, intelligent, highly confident, experienced in command presence, intimidating, dominant and mysterious. He could break my spine. But I would also be attracted if this same man could help me with my taxes while wearing his usual bath robe.

I just like him, officer.

Due to prolonged exposure to social media, some people believe I have to argue, or even justify myself to them in why I would take a character like Caustic and run him through deliberate characterization changes, but I have no patient nor interest in entertaining this useless, subjective and pointless discussion, especially if this "flanderization" comes from internet strangers and not from the official source.

Besides, it's my own website, and shrine.