Why does Apex Legends’ Valkyrie not speak Japanese? 

Even though Apex Legends is set in a fictional future and features some outlandish characters, a good majority of its playable cast has its roots planted in real-world nationalities. Walter “Fuse” Fitzroy Jr. may hail from the planet Salvo, but his accent and mannerisms are like that of an Australian. Likewise, Ramya “Rampart” Parekh’s home world of Gaea plays host to a hodgepodge of cultures, with the gunsmith’s own origins drawing from the real-life countries of England and India. There are a lot of cultures that are represented in Apex Legends, with most characters occasionally speaking in their native tongues. 

One character who doesn’t speak her mother’s first language of Japanese is Kairi “Valkyrie” Imahara. Introduced in the game’s ninth season, Valkyrie was the first legend with direct ties to a character from Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall franchise. Bold, brash, and rarely short for words, players were quick to notice that Valkyrie never spoke Japanese despite having Japanese blood. 

Valkyrie’s Mixed Heritage Influenced Her Mannerisms 

This particular quirk of Valkyrie’s was addressed in a Reddit post about the same time as the character’s launch. According to Apex Legends Lead Writer Ashley Reed, Valkyrie’s nature as a “hafu” (generally referring to a person of half-Japanese and half-non-Japanese ancestry) is the reason she doesn’t speak Japanese. In the Apex Legends Stories from the Outlands “Northstar” short, a young Kairi can be seen growing up in a Japanese-style home and being exposed to the culture by her family. But seeing as she is half Caucasian and half Japanese, Valkyrie seems to have veered towards English as her first language and Japanese as her second. 

Reed further elaborates that though Valkyrie understands Japanese and may speak it when her mother is around, she may not be comfortable speaking it in public or in front of large crowds (as is the case when she competes in the Apex Games). Her more recent interactions with people close to her (like with her ex-girlfriend Loba) show that Valkyrie is extremely guarded about who she speaks Japanese to for fear that they may not understand or that those who do understand Japanese might judge her inexperience with it. 

Other Apex Legends Have Had More Exposure to Different Cultures 

Reed’s explanation lines up with how other multilingual legends behave. Before he was orphaned, Tae Joon Park, aka Crypto, would have had more than enough time during his twelve years of age to become fluent in Korean. But the most recent and concrete example of a character being exposed to a language and culture has to be Rowenna Valentina Coffey Divina, aka Conduit. Growing up on Nexus with her family and friends exposed Conduit to the Filipino culture and language. As a result, she often mentions Filipino customs and speaks Filipino just as much as she does English. 

Even though Valkyrie is currently the only playable character of Japanese descent, it is quite disheartening that she doesn’t speak the language in public. There are tons of Japanese references surrounding Valkyrie (her Suzaku heirloom has an animation that has her heating a bowl of ramen, for example) and more that can be found strewn throughout Apex Legends. If Respawn Entertainment ever decides to add another Japanese character into the game, hopefully they will be able to give Valkyrie an excuse to practice a skill she only uses around a select few.