What is 'Madcap'? Rejected video game character has been memed so much that some players actually think it's real
“Team Fortress 2” has become one of the most popular multiplayer video games on the internet since it was first released back in 2007. Thanks to its highly engaged and loyal fanbase, it continues to be a trending topic online.
But now, one of the many running inside jokes within the “Team Fortress” community is leading to mass confusion among newer players. It all has to do with Madcap, a rejected character that some people have started to think is real.
According to Know Your Meme, Madcap was originally created by a user named Bog in 2012 and submitted to the Steam Workshop, where fans can share, create and download gaming content for public use.
At the time, Bog modeled Madcap after the existing character Scout and simply added some extra flair. Despite the model being rejected from the Workshop, Madcap has somehow managed to live on in “Team Fortress” lore, mostly for being perceived as comically bad.
For over a decade now, Madcap has been featured in endless works of fan art and memes that poke fun at just how terrible fans think the concept was. In 2018, a Reddit user posted an image of Madcap and jokingly referred to it as a “reminder of the best cosmetic to grace to steam workshop.”
Recently, though, fans have taken things to the next level by tricking new players into believing that Madcap was a real character who is no longer in the game.
Is Madcap real?
In one Reddit post, a player shared a fan-made rendering of Madcap and pretended to miss the non-existent character.
“What happened to Madcap?” u/Doksumar titled the post. “I Haven’t played since 2008 if that matters. He was my favorite class and I was quite taken aback not seeing him ingame.”
In the comments, other users happily played along.
“Ah the scouts older brother,” wrote u/A-literal-sandwich. “sadly he discovered the truth about spy and was assinated for it. I vaugely recall him having a cockney british accent.”
“It was strange when they got rid of him and gave the scout the Boston basher instead,” added u/SwingyWingyShoes.
Confusion quickly spread online among newer players who either weren’t around when the game came out or hadn’t been involved in the community for long enough yet to know that the character isn’t real.
who even is madcap he just looks like scout wearing a halloween costume
— the digital skeleton (@Skelessant) October 23, 2023
The confusion has only grown as other players continue to keep the inside joke alive.
In another popular Reddit post, the user u/i-am-sandvich went so far as to create a slideshow “retrospective” of who Madcap was. It described the fake character as being part of the tenth class in “Team Fortress 2,” with impeccable health and the ability to “run as fast as a medic.” However, according to u/i-am-sandvich, Madcap was eventually removed from the game in 2008 after too many complaints.
In the comments, Redditors marveled at how far the jokes about Madcap have gone in essentially bringing the fake character to life.
“r/tf2 on its way to meme a character into existence through the power of mass gaslighting,” u/Weedenheimer wrote.
“By continuing this joke you have successfully designed a character that genuinely sounds fun to play,” added u/sword0115, who argues that “they should release madcap for real.”
In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News — follow us here!
The post What is ‘Madcap’? Rejected game character lore tricks new players into thinking it’s real appeared first on In The Know.
More from In The Know:
Who is AdeptTheBest? Streamer gets permanently banned from Twitch amid ongoing drama
