The Duskbloods may have an entire roster of unusual Bloodsworn, but it appears that Zork has already emerged as the game’s breakout fan favorite following its first network test. FromSoftware’s upcoming Switch 2 exclusive, The Duskbloods, just concluded its initial round of online tests, giving players their first opportunity to try several wildly different Bloodsworn before launch.
Players who take even a cursory glance at Zork can certainly tell why he would have an advantage when it comes to standing out. While characters like Sniper Layla and Senator Samir Patres already have strange visuals and abilities of their own, Zork looks like he wandered in from a completely different game. He wears a bulky early industrial diving suit, attacks with underwater equipment, launches missiles from his back, and can propel himself across the battlefield using his Human Rocket ability. His strange appearance fits the deliberately varied Duskbloods roster, where FromSoftware is pulling characters and influences from different time periods rather than limiting the game to the Victorian Gothic aesthetic associated with a few previous titles from the developer.
Zork Is Already The Duskbloods’ Breakout Star
That design has quickly turned Zork into something of an online mascot for The Duskbloods fans. Fan art like the piece shared by crabrangoon312 on Twitter has started circulating online alongside posts expressing an “almost maternal” attachment to the character, while other players have simply started using his name as a verb. Reddit discussion has largely followed the same pattern, taken to an even higher degree. A thread introducing the six characters available during The Duskbloods network test quickly filled with users posting “ZORK” and joking about “Zorking it,” while the character has continued appearing in memes and gameplay discussions throughout the weekend. The enthusiasm doesn’t necessarily mean everyone plans to main him, but Zork definitely appears to have won the all-important meme competition pretty convincingly.
As fans may find, there is also more to Zork than a funny diving suit. He is built as a slow, heavy fighter with strong melee options, missiles, and unusual mobility from his Human Rocket ability. Some testers found Zork’s heavy melee attacks effective at close range, although others noted that his slower attacks can leave him vulnerable against quicker Bloodsworn. Zork may look intentionally ridiculous, but he is still capable of being genuinely dangerous in The Duskbloods multiplayer, giving players a reason to keep using him after the novelty of his design wears off.
Zork even has Hidetaka Miyazaki on his side. The director described him as one of his favorite characters in the network test and explained that the original concept involved a Bloodsworn rising from the deep sea. Miyazaki cited Ultraman and Ultra Seven monsters emerging from the ocean as inspirations, which eventually led to the industrial diving suit seen in the game. Even Zork’s beak has a purpose, as it can extend like a straw so he can drink blood, which players can see more clearly after winning with him. Miyazaki described Zork as one of his favorite Bloodsworn to play, suggesting that FromSoftware never intended him to exist solely as comic relief.
However, the debate over the best Bloodsworn remains much closer than Zork’s meme dominance might suggest. Network test players have praised Layla’s ranged options, Samir’s transformation, and several other members of The Duskbloods’ character roster, including Albert, Jan, and Trang Lanh, which is encouraging for a multiplayer game that relies on characters remaining interesting across repeated matches. Zork has simply accomplished something different before the game even launches. FromSoftware created a strange armored vampire with a blood-drinking straw and rocket propulsion, and within days, fans turned him into the unofficial face of their first weekend with The Duskbloods.
- Released
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2026
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
- Number of Players
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1-8 players
