Calico is a Hero in Deadlock, a former monster hunter turned hired assassin. Possessing her cat, Ava, Calico uses the shadows to her advantage to surprise her foes, slinging Gloom Bombs and attacking with a Leaping Slash for damage and healing. By Returning to the Shadows, she can turn any fight to her advantage, disappearing after a fight or engaging again when the enemy least expects her.
As a contract killer, Calico is glad to finally be earning significant money by assassinating other people. Despite the good that the Baxter Society did by slaying monsters, it simply didn't pay well enough for her.
Clicking Mouse 1 makes Ava meow. It can be heard by other players (including enemies).
Ava can pounce by hitting the melee key. This can break boxes and statues, but deals no damage.
Ava can enter vents in the map. If Ava's duration runs out in a space too small to transform back, Calico can activate the transformation and be pushed to the nearest walkable area. If she does not transform, she will take damage at a rate of approximately 6.7% of her max HP per second until leaving the area.
In Street Brawl, every hero draws items from a shared pool, but some items are weighted to appear more often for a given hero and others less often. For each tier below, that tier's items are grouped by how likely they are to be offered to Calico: High, Average, or Low chance.
Once a decorated member of The Baxter Society, Calico left the august order once she realized that killing monsters for free was less profitable than killing people for money.
Now an in demand contract killer, Calico is living her best life ending someone else's.
At one point in development, Calico's gameplay style was inspired by Dota's Broodmother.
Calico was an arms dealer in her original background.[1] Her background was changed when she was officially released on January 17, 2025.
Ava is a Sphynx cat. Ironically, she's not a Calico cat, as her skin has no spots of different colors. (Despite the lack of fur, Sphynx cats can have Calico markings.)
"Playing With Ava in the Hideout" is displayed as one's status in the in-game Friends List when playing as Calico in the Hideout.
When in the Hideout's Atrium, switching to Ava and then running near the smaller version of her will cause the kitten to follow you for the duration of the spell.
Calico's lead developer is Hopoo. He redesigned her abilities and weapon after asking the community a series of three questions, twice[2].
↑Calico's old bio: "Granted the dubious honor of being named Time Magazine's most dangerous woman on the planet, Calico is an enigmatic occult arms dealer that is willing to fund any and all sides of a conflict if the price is right. While her critics (and friends) would correctly identify her as being amoral, she is not without her principles... however cold and calculated those principles may be."
↑2025-12-14 - Hopoo; Deadlock Discord - "Hey yall - some quick questions about Calico (posted this in the other channel, not knowing this was a thing.) -When you see Calico as a character, what do you expect? What is the “promise”? -What parts of that fantasy is working today? -What parts are not working?"