Deadlock has a new hero, and he is a giant rodent who throws rats at you. His name is Rat King, and he comes with more than 100 voice lines dedicated to his favorite activity. That is not a typo.
The update arrived earlier this week, and it changed the entire town. Six new classes joined the roster, and Rat King is one of them. He started life as a fan concept before Valve made him official. Now he is a tank class, and his cape hides a whole colony of rats.
The Numbers Behind Rat King
Rat King entered the fray with a grand total of 1534 individual utterances, according to Deadlock voice line viewer. That is a similar number to most other Deadlock heroes. Of those lines, 126 are dedicated to his power “Rat Swarm,” where he unleashes a swarm of rodents from beneath his cape. They leap onto enemies and deal spirit damage over time.
The sheer volume is the joke. A tank that throws rats has more than 100 lines about throwing rats. That is a lot of talking for a guy who is basically a giant rat in a cape.
Naming the Rodents
Many of Rat King’s lines refer to individual rats by name. He yells phrases like “Get ’em Lou!” or “My boy Widget is gonna chew you up!” or “Rabies Ronnie has a gift for ya. Surprise, it’s rabies!”
Sometimes he refers to named groups of rats, implying there are whole factions beneath his cloak. His group-based callouts include:
- “The Pantegana boys say hello!”
- “Say hello to the McMullen gang!”
- “I brought Gumdrop’s whole polycule!”
It is a great example of the huge injection of personality Deadlock received from the City Never Sleeps update. The game was not short of it before, but this takes it further.
More Talkative Than Before
Rat King is not the only character to become much more talkative. Alongside the newly introduced heroes, Valve has doubled the number of voice lines for all existing characters in the game.
That means the whole roster is louder now. Players who have been with Deadlock since the beginning will notice the difference when they return.
Why So Many Lines?
The short answer is “because Valve can.” The longer answer is that some of the lines are generic power callouts, while many others name individual rats. The combination of named rats and named gangs creates a world where Rat King treats his swarm as a cast of characters rather than a disposable attack.
The sheer amount of effort behind this is worth noting. Creating 1534 lines for a single character is a lot of work, especially when so many of them are specific to one power. Valve has clearly invested heavily in making Rat King feel distinct.
Comparing Rat King’s Lines
| Character | Lines Dedicated to Rat Swarm |
|---|---|
| Rat King | 126 |
| Other heroes | Similar number |
The Verdict on Rat King
Rat King is a delightful addition to Deadlock. His 126 lines about Rat Swarm are a specific commitment to a single power, and the named rats give him a personality that feels larger than life.
If you have an invite and you want a tank that throws rats with a thousand words about it, Rat King is the guy.
Source material: “Deadlock's new hero Rat King has over 100 voice lines dedicated to throwing rats at you,” PC Gamer.
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