Newcastle (character)

Newcastle
Details
Real Name	Jackson Williams
Alias	Lamont Craig
Gender	Male
Age	40
Relatives	Nana (grandmother) Ronald Williams (father) Felicia Williams (mother) Anita Williams (sister) Zeke Williams (brother, deceased) Monty Williams (brother) Zaia Williams (brother) Unnamed wife Unnamed son Larissa Craig (daughter)
Homeworld	Gridiron
Occupation	Mechanic Soldier (formerly)
Status	Alive
Real-world Info
Voice Actor	Gabe Kunda

Jackson Williams, otherwise known as Lamont Craig and most well known as Newcastle, is a Legend introduced in Season 13 of Apex Legends. A former IMC Pilot, he joined the Apex Games to protect his home from blackmail by the Forgotten Families.

Lore

Background

Jackson Williams was born in 2694 on Gridiron to Felicia & Ronald Williams. The Williams family was a military family, and he was raised with his three older brothers & little sister, Anita, to serve in the IMC armed forces, as did four generations before him. Throughout childhood, Jackson and Anita held a strong kinship and a friendly rivalry. The two created a lifeline game to see who would be the “better Williams sibling”, competing at even menial tasks. They kept a scorecard between them, including tasks such as “who said their first word first," “fastest time to disassemble an R-201." “who met Vice Admiral Graves first,” and “who spit on Vice Admiral Graves (post-betrayal) first."

One famous tradition kept by the family was the Williams Sendoff. The morning before a Williams child was to be deployed, the family would share one last round of beers together and fashion the bottle caps into a bracelet. That way, the departing soldier would have a memento to remind them that the family was always together, no matter how far apart.

The siblings entered basic training at the same time and spent the whole time together. Jackson additionally obtained the prestigious Combat Pilot Certification during this time, obtaining a Titan of an unknown class.

Jackson was known to be a prolific prankster, and he and Anita often broke into prank wars. During one, Anita spiked his rations with laxatives, only for them to be eaten by their commanding officer. As punishment, the siblings were forced to clean an Essex-class cruiser with toothbrushes. Another time, during a bow shooting competition, Jackson knocked Anita’s elbow before her final shot, causing him to win by a single point.

On the day of their graduation, the siblings’ score card was tied, with each side having completed 99 tasks. Jackson received his marching orders a few days before Anita, seemingly cementing him as the “better” Williams sibling. She tore the card to shreds in anger after this. After graduation, as Jackson approached Anita to give her a gift, the destruction of Typhon by the Frontier Militia was announced. All of the hundreds of thousands of IMC personnel on the planet had perished - including Zeke, the oldest Williams sibling.

Jackson, not trusting Anita to not go rogue after receiving this news, was granted a transfer and received the same deployment as his sister, becoming the commanding officer of the IMS Hestia-01.

Battle of Gridiron

After the Battle of Typhon, the IMC’s resources became concentrated on Gridiron. During this time, losses continued to mount - the Apex Predators departed, as their contract had been fulfilled, and Vice Admiral Spyglass' Remnant Fleet deserted. With these losses and the loss of Typhon, the IMC became desperate, and the Militia eventually surrounded the planet.

Jackson and Anita both participated in the Battle of Gridiron, with the latter being stabbed by a Militia Cloak Pilot during the fighting. After recovering his sister and becoming disillusioned with the IMC, Jackson decided that Gridiron was lost and it was against the crew of the Hestia-01’s best interest to continue fighting, and thus decided to ignore the direct order to keep fighting, opting to retreat instead. Anita protested this desertion, and Jackson was forced to sedate her to prevent her from starting a mutiny. An item from Typhon, a powerful energy source possibly related to the Ark which powered Typhon’s Fold Weapon, was used to amplify the vessel’s drives, allowing it to travel from Gridiron to the borders of the Outlands in less than a year - far less than the twenty years this trip would normally take. When the crew arrived in the Outlands, the fuel source was exhausted, and a return trip would take its normal length of decades. Additionally, the Blackout had begun, extinguishing all sources of communication with the rest of the frontier, including Gridiron.

Gridiron

After arriving in the Outlands, the Hestia-01 crash-landed on the Gaean island of Storm Point. The survivors created a small but successful settlement at the crash site, with Jackson as its leader.

In 2716, Jackson greeted a newly-awoken Anita, explaining the situation and welcoming her to their new home. Anita, bewildered by this turn of events, stormed off. Sending an SOS signal, she remembered how Jackson had effectively led the entire crew in committing treason. She confronted Jackson in a cantina, attacking him for his betrayal. Just then, Scryer, an IMC commander who had responded to the SOS signal, arrived on his personal ship and attempted to execute Jackson for treason. Anita intervened, and the siblings began to fight off Scryer.

After indiscriminately bombing the settlement, Scryer began to mock the siblings and engaged them in combat. Through their combined efforts, Jackson and Anita killed Scryer. The crew commandeered Scryer’s ship, rechristening it as the IMS Hestia-02. Jackson, resigning himself to forever running from the IMC, boarded the vessel, with Anita joining him.

Over the next five years, the crew of the Hestia-02 took odd jobs to get by. Finally, in 2721, Jackson revealed to Anita the true reason behind their truancy: the ARES Division, an archaeological unit of the IMC, was planning on using a device known as the Fold Weapon to decimate various planets across the Frontier and force the Militia into submission. The Militia had killed thousands of people to save billions.

Roughly a week after this revelation, a grenade exploded on the outer hull of the Hestia-02 when it was above Solace. Jackson shielded Anita from the blast, but was lost after losing his grip on his sister. Jackson survived this incident; however, he knew the IMC remnants would keep pursuing him and Anita. He used this opportunity to leave his old life behind, refusing to contact his sister for her own safety.

Some years later, Jackson settled in the community of Harris Valley on Solace, using the name Lamont Craig. By 2727, he met a woman there and married her. On the night of his wedding, he recorded a video, hoping to send it to his parents on Gridiron. This video was later found by Anita.

By 2729, a corpse matching Jackson’s height, weight, and blood type was recovered on Solace. The body was buried after two weeks, but the records of where were lost in a fire in 2731.

Jackson's new family later grew to include two children. His daughter, Larissa Craig was born on May 3, 2731.

Hero

The people of Harris Valley would often come together to celebrate Newcastle, a local warrior who was idolized despite his many failed attempts to enter the Apex Games. During one such celebration, Jackson purchased a stuffed toy of the hero for his daughter.

One night, Larissa lost the doll and Jackson ventured out to find it. Finding the toy outside of a local store, he heard a commotion nearby. He rounded the corner to find Rene, the true identity of Newcastle, who was being beat up by a group of mob members, as he had once again failed to join the Games in order to pay off his debts. Failing to convince the gang, Rene was shot, and Jackson intervened before the killing blow could be dealt. He ordered the thugs to leave, but they declined, stating that Rene had sold the city to a gang known as the Forgotten Families. Jackson made a deal with the men, agreeing to join the Games on his first attempt in order to pay off Rene's debts.

After the gang departed, Jackson went to assist Rene, who soon succumbed to his wounds. Taking on the mantle of Newcastle, Jackson became the newest Legend, hoping to save his town and finally reunite with his sister.

Season 13 Launch Trailer

Jackson attended Anita's farewell party, which took place on the dropship before what was intended to be Anita's final Apex Games match. As they approached the drop zone, he was placed on a team with Anita and Mirage.

Landing on Storm Point, a violent tremor caused an IMC security installation to rise from the ground. Jackson and Anita entered to find a large weapons cache, but as Anita grabbed a HAVOC, Specters were activated in defense. Together, the two defeated the robots, only to be met by a larger threat -- the large aquatic beast that had been causing the tremors came ashore. Rallying together with the other Legends, the two were able to fell the creature.

Jackson recovered against a nearby rock, attempting to hide a bottlecap bracelet. Anita approached him and removed his helmet, proving that the new legend was indeed Jackson.

Family Secrets

After a match on Storm Point, Jackson and Anita began to argue, with his sister questioning why he wouldn't give her any information. He whispers to her that they both found a family in the Outlands, but he's the only one who sees it. Soon after, Jackson received a phone call from the Forgotten Families, refusing to answer it in Anita's presence. Taking the call, he agreed to meet at an unspecified location to transfer his winnings.

Arriving at a warehouse on the outskirts of Harris Valley, Jackson was intercepted by the Forgotten Families to receive his winnings. Their leader addressed him by his real name, having learned his true identity from a contact who had witness his and Anita's engagement on Storm Point. Jackson left, warning the gang to keep their hands off of Harris Valley.

Trivia

• Newcastle is the only Legend known to be married.
• Newcastle's favorite holiday is April Fools' Day.
• Newcastle and Ash are the only known combat-certified Pilots to join the Apex Games.
• Newcastle and Bangalore are the only blood-related family members to participate in the Apex Games.
• Newcastle's blood type is O+.
• Prior to taking on the identity of Newcastle, Jackson would often repair the fighter's armor.
  • Jackson seems to own a shop in Harris Valley called Lamont's Hand.
• Newcastle's fans call themselves "Castleheads".
• Newcastle is heavily associated with the rook chess piece.
  • His logo is resembles a rook. Specifically, it is a shield split in half, which embodies that duality and represents the castle, the shield, and the double life that Jackson is living.
  • His ultimate, Castle Wall, is similar to the technique of castling, where a rook is moved and jumped to protect a king.
  • In "Gridiron", Jackson is seen seated behind a chess board, with a single captured rook in front of him.
• Newcastle's voice actor, Gabe Kunda, previously provided the voice of a doctor in the "Ashes to Ash" Stories from the Outlands short. Coincidentally, the doctor he was speaking to was voiced by Erica Luttrell, the voice actress of Bangalore.