The Madcap was the tenth playable character in Team Fortress 2. His personality is brash and even ruder than the Scout at times, yet concealed a femboy fox identity, making him the Team Fortress franchise's only representation of the tsundere archetype.[2] He hails from Argentina, with a family that has both Confederate and Native backgrounds. He often went hunting with his loyal dog JJ in his youth.[3]
His play-style was akin to the modern Demoknight mixed with the Scout, emphasizing an melee-focused approach, darting in and out of combat slowing down enemies with his Grease Gun and delivering deadly strikes with his Pummeler, before seducting them with his :3.[4] The Madcap was the only class to be added post-release, and is the second class to be removed post-release.[5][6]
In 1998, Madcap dealt a large quantity of Crack Cocaine to Kramer with a deal to be paid back in 3 weeks.[7] Kramer lost all of the crack when the van crashed in Harlem and plebs stole all the drugs. Madcap beat Kramer to death with his Pummeler outside of a comedy club after Kramer was kicked out for making racial remarks.[7][8]
Bio[]
| Name: | Lucas Martínez[1] |
| Location of Origin: | Misión Nueva Pompeya, Argentina |
| Job: | Construction worker |
| Motto: | "Hit and run" |
| Description: | Much like a lone wolf, the Madcap was left to fend for himself in the harsh Argentine forests. Neglected and overlooked, he quickly adapted to the world's rules, forging his own path to survival. With his trusted East European Shepherd, JJ, they made ends meat hunting majestic deer. His instincts are razor-sharp, and he is ready to destroy any foe that crosses his path. |
Weapons[]
Stock[]
- SMG (Primary)
- Grease Gun (Secondary)
- Pummeler (Tertiary)
Unlockable[]
- Blaster (Primary)
- Gauss Grappler (Secondary)
- Bat-perature (Tertiary)
History[]
Pre-release[]
Early development concept art.
The Madcap was conceptualized as being a South American representation for Team Fortress 2 (we almost had that with Festive Medic and Argentina), however was cut before release due to time restraints, and fears that the melee wouldn't make him be fun to play as.[3] Early drafts portrayed the Madcap as a female character.[9] Pre-release materials revealed he even had his own grenade type.[10]
Post-release[]
Many fans were anticipating the Madcap's inclusion in the shame as the only unique class to not come from Team Fortress Classic, but were left disappointed when he was cut.[11] Leftover console commands to play as both the Madcap and an early Civilian would be removed 2 months after release in a patch.[12] This version of the Madcap spawns in with an empty Pulse Rifle left over from Half-Life 2, and can only gain ammo by scoring on the leaderboard.[10]
Fans support for the Madcap was intense throughout 2007 and 2008, gaining a cult following in the community. GoldSrc Plugins that added the character to Day of Defeat and Team Fortress Classic were also largely popular.[9]
The Madcap would be officially reintroduced into the shame in the Madcap Update on 2008 February 6, to lukewarm reception, which quickly turned ice cold, which was cooler than being cool.[13] Players hated playing against the Madcap, as he dominated the leaderboards of matches and was difficult to challenge. On top of this, he was the second class to receive unlockable weapons after the Medic, which most fans felt was unfair. Most community servers banned the Madcap, with Valve quickly responding by removing Quickplay eligibility to servers that banned the character.[6][14] He would receive his first and only balance patch November 10 the same year.[15]
Removal[]
I found Madcaps' Unreleased Track
Madcap's theme, found in the leaks.
On 2008 November 20, the Madcap was removed from Team Fortress 2. Many players thought it was because of complaints, but Valve has refuted these claims, saying that their developers were greatly disturbed by the "fan-art" of the character and his dog. Some players were distraught by this, and others were relieved.[6] Some servers tried to revive the Madcap using SourceMod plugins to moderate success, replacing other classes.[15] The most popular class to replace was the Sniper.[16][17][18]
Post-removal[]
I found Madcap's REAL Theme (full version)
The finished Madcap theme, released in "The Free Expansion Pack" to the shame's soundtrack.
The Madcap has no references or cameos in official Team Fortress media. All assets relating to the Madcap was removed in 2018 due to a server-crashing exploit that involved equipping Madcap's items with Spy. This broke most reimplimentations of Madcap which depended on leftover assets. A user on ShamesCoarse named "Doksumar" made a new SourceMod Plugin that reimplimented the Madcap just hours after the patch, with the added benefit of it also not replacing any classes this time.[16]
Robin Walker has been asked many times over the years if a Meet the Madcap short was ever in development, but his responses were always vague and leaned towards no. In 2020, the Madcap's theme was included as a bonus track in the official Team Fortress 2 soundtrack.[19] Prior to this, storyboards of Meet the Madcap had leaked onto 4chan alongside an unfinished theme.[9]
On January 14 of 2023, a user named "mulemango29" on Reddit coded a VScript implementations of the Madcap, meaning he secretly could be added back into the shame if a Steam Workshop map was updated to include the code and assets.[20]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 We made it up.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 We made it up.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 We made it up.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.
- ↑ We made it up.