Breaking Down the Secret and Unreleased Deadlock Characters

Deadlock is a new project from Valve, which is still in development. The game remains quite raw, meaning improvements and additional content are expected in the future.

However, Valve fans can already try Deadlock in closed beta and experiment with various mechanics, abilities, and heroes — currently, there are 21 available. But players also have the opportunity to check out and try a few secret heroes in Deadlock, who haven’t been officially released yet. Here’s how you can do that.

How to try the secret heroes in Deadlock?

To try the secret heroes in Deadlock, follow these simple steps:

1. Enter the game in Sandbox Mode.
2. Select any hero.
3. Press the F7 key on your keyboard to open the console.
4. Enter the appropriate console command or paste the copied line into the developer panel.
5. Press Enter to activate the command.

A secret hero will appear, whose abilities you can test and get a glimpse of a potential future Deadlock hero.

List of console commands for secret heroes in Deadlock

There are currently 13 known secret heroes in Deadlock that you can try:

• selecthero hero_astro – A female cowboy who throws a barrel and a grenade at enemies, sets a trampoline, and uses a lasso to capture opponents.

• selecthero hero_bomber – The character’s appearance is unclear due to a lack of textures. Three out of four abilities don’t work. The first ability charges a bomb under the hero, allowing them to jump.

• selecthero hero_cadence – A plus-sized female Viking with singing abilities, one of which puts enemies to sleep. During her ultimate, she performs a fragment of a melody from Portal 2, which is likely just a filler.

• selecthero hero_gunslinger – Another cowboy hero who can put enemies to sleep, has precise shooting abilities, and can throw a projectile. The passive ability is unknown.

• selecthero hero_kali – A humanoid lizard capable of throwing a boomerang and immobilizing targets with an ultimate.

• selecthero hero_mirage – A hero of unknown appearance whose abilities involve elemental forces: they can charge electricity around themselves and summon a tornado.

• selecthero hero_nano – A character whose abilities are tied to an Egyptian theme, particularly cats, including a sphinx-like cat on her shoulder.

• selecthero hero_rutger – A male cyborg who can launch plasma charges and barriers.

• selecthero hero_slork – A human-amphibian whose abilities revolve around a water theme.

• selecthero hero_thumper – Some sort of engineer who can release an explosive charge, deploy barbed wire, and create a vortex.

• selecthero hero_tokamak – Another robotic character who emits a fire wave, performs a fiery leap, and has a laser ability.

• selecthero hero_wrecker – An anthropomorphic alien-like creature that throws a stone boulder and launches itself like a guided missile at enemies under the player’s control.

• selecthero hero_yakuza – A member of the Yakuza clan who can immobilize targets, deal periodic damage, and apply effects to allies.

Most of these heroes are still very rough and unfinished. Their movement and ability animations are underdeveloped, and there are no descriptions explaining how their abilities work. Some unreleased character models use placeholder elements (mannequin-like figures) with no textures, or no models at all.

Additionally, playing as secret heroes may cause game issues, such as crashes or freezes. But thanks to this method, we can get a preview of many of the heroes likely to be featured in future Deadlock game updates.