Kairi "Valkyrie" Imahara
| "Kairi "Valkyrie" Imahara" redirects here. For the weapon with the same name, see Valkyrie Sniper Rifle |
| “ | The skies belong to me now.
— Valkyrie
|
” |
Kairi Imahara, also known by her alias and callsign Valkyrie, is a playable Legend in Apex Legends, introduced in the ninth season of the Apex Games. She is the daughter of the late Apex Predator Pilot, callsign "Viper".
Biography
Winged Avenger
Bold, brash, fiery and fierce, Kairi Imahara isn’t above greasing palms and bending the law. When she was a child, she stole a Titan. It belonged to her dad: callsign Viper. She wanted to be just like him when she grew up. But the next day he left on a mission and never returned. In some ways, she still followed in his footsteps: it wasn't a Titan, but her ship offered a decent living. Her personal life, however, was anything but. During the day, she smuggled precious cargo, and at night, went shot for shot with the outlaws and mercenaries in the bars. But even though she had her ladies, her liquor, and her love of the sky, she was still obsessed with finding the man who’d put her father in harm’s way: his commander, Kuben Blisk.
She tracked Blisk down, prepared to kill him. But he spoke of her father with respect -- and challenged her to be better. She shot him anyway. But not to kill. Knowing she could get to him was enough. Well, that, and the Apex Games card she took from Blisk’s grasp.
Using the intact flight core from Viper’s Northstar, she built a sleek new jetpack that honored her father’s memory. And that was when Kairi could finally soar on her own… and in a version of her dad’s Titan, that ended up being hers after all.
Origins
Kairi "Valkyrie" Imahara, born in 2704 on Angelia, the daughter of Viper, a notorious mercenary who worked for the Apex Predators. She held great respect and admiration for her father, and wished to follow in his footsteps as a Pilot. Viper would often humour her by taking her for joyrides in his modified Northstar. However, he frowned upon his daughter becoming a Pilot, telling her that these Titans were dangerous death traps. As a result of her father’s working for the Apex Predators, Imahara would often see Kuben Blisk, who ran the Apex Predators in her home.
In 2715, Imahara hijacked her father’s Northstar, flying it solo around and above her family’s home. Despite her father’s commands for her to land, she continued to fly, eventually reaching an altitude where an aircraft battle was taking place. Caught in the crossfire (and likely due to inaction from its pilot), the Titan engaged its autopilot, firing a salvo of missiles at its nearest target. In return, an aircraft fired and struck the Northstar, causing it to fall uncontrollably to Angelia’s surface. Viper followed in his own aircraft and took control of the Titan, ejecting his daughter and crash landing in a nearby field. Imahara and Viper both escaped relatively unharmed.
Soon after this incident, Viper left to escort the Ark during the Battle of Typhon, where he was killed by Jack Cooper and his Vanguard-class Titan BT-7274. Not knowing who killed him, Imahara blamed Kuben Blisk for her father’s death.
19 years after Viper’s death, Imahara and her mother moved from Angelia to The Outlands, settling in Gaea. The trip was prohibitively expensive and to obtain funds, she stole a slot machine from a casino. Soon after arriving, she met Rampart at a bar.
Imahara received a smuggling job from Kuben Blisk in 2731 to retrieve Viper’s Northstar from the wreckage of Typhon. While searching for the Titan, she encountered a mass of Medusa vines, which were being weaponized by the IMC under the codename Project: Legacy. Taking the Northstar and her father’s corpse, she arranged a meeting with Blisk, where she intended to kill him as revenge for Viper’s demise. Blisk was able to talk her out of the act, handing her an Apex card and telling Imahara that her father wanted her to forge her own legacy. Shooting the glass of liquor in Blisk’s hand, she left his vessel, declaring her callsign as Valkyrie. Taking the wreckage of the Titan to Rampart’s shop, she had it reforged into a custom jetpack and set of armor and she cremated Viper’s body. Some of his ashes were left at the family’s home on Angelia, near the barn where his Northstar was stored, while some were kept in their new residence in Gaea. The rest were scattered on a sudden gust of wind by Imahara’s mother so that he would always have “a sky-high view."
Season 9
The Legacy Antigen
While the Legends were investigating the Icarus Fleet’s sudden arrival in Olympus, Loba fell through a suddenly-opened hatch on the deck. She was saved by Imahara, who flew beneath and rescued Loba. Whilst discussing the cure for the disease caused by the Fleet’s rapidly spreading Medusa vines - or lack thereof - it was found that Bangalore had been infected with the terminal illness. A potential cure was revealed to lie within the venom of the monstrous Carthage spider, native to Gaea, by Caustic. Upon arriving, Imahara searched with Loba, but the pair were soon surrounded by a horde of the arachnids. Despite capturing one spider, the pair, alongside Crypto and Caustic, were taken to the spiders’ den and bound in a net of webs. Imahara broke free of her bindings using Loba’s jump drive bracelet. She returned with Fuse and Bloodhound, helping to clear the way. After the Legends were freed, Caustic attempted to take one spider for himself, but was punched by Imahara. With these spiders, the Legends were able to end the Medusa epidemic, though the vines’ growth was merely delayed. After ending the outbreak, Loba was devastated to hear Bangalore state that they were “just friends”. Imahara comforted Loba, asking if the latter needed someone to “catch her again."
Season 11
Imahara found Loba at the Firing Range, where the latter was attempting to keep her mind off of Revenant and Bangalore. The two talk, both talking about their pasts and traumas. Imahara repeated what she had told Loba in the jungles of Gaea - by not killing Revenant when she had the chance, her pride had put herself and those she cares about in danger. Soon after, the pair agreed to go out to dinner, paid for by whoever loses a shooting contest. Imahara was later seen with Loba and Jaime at a carnival. However, unbeknownst to them, Revenant had followed them, setting his sights on Jaime.
Season 13
Imahara attended Bangalore's retirement party and assisted in fighting the beast that came ashore on Storm Point, however she was quickly taken out of the fight. Bangalore helped her to recover after the creature was killed.
Season 14
Friends Like These
Seeking to help end the feud between Loba and Revenant, Imahara entered the simulacrum's bunker on Kings Canyon to speak with him. She begrudgingly claimed to have a contact that knew of the location of his source code, with the contact stating it was not on Gridiron. An amused Revenant promised to keep in touch. On her way out, Imahara attempted to call Loba, only to find Vantage on the other end saying the Jaime was injured. She quickly flew off to save her friend.
Season 17
Kill Code Part 1
On Salvo, Imahara followed Loba into a mysterious facility, hoping to stop her from delving further into her vendetta against Revenant. She later acted as a getaway driver for Loba, Lifeline, and Mad Maggie as they escaped a facility run by Torres Silva.
Some time after, Imahara received a call at a bar from Jaime, who hoped to hear about any leads regarding the stolen source code. She expressed her fear about Loba's state of mind, stating that it feels like she's somewhere else when focusing on Revenant. Telling Jaime to focus on recovering, the call was cut short by Loba peeking through the bar door.
Relationships
Kairi is shown to have complex and conflicted relationship with Kuben Blisk, knowing him as a child and holding him responsible for her father's death for most of her life. Yet Blisk convinced her otherwise and granted her entrance to the Apex Games so she could form her own legacy.
Imahara is also shown to have a good friendship with Rampart as they met in a bar not long after Imahara moved to the The Outlands and Ramya assisted with the modifications of Viper's Northstar into Valkyrie's signature jetpack.
Kairi has also entered a relationship with Loba after saving her from falling off Olympus and being inadvertently rejected by Bangalore. The two often share drinks and are shown to have a competitive streak with each other. Through Loba, she also gained a friendship with Loba's aide, Jaime.
Personality and traits
Valkyrie is shown to have a fun, flirty personality, regularly making quips. Yet is also shown to have a clipped serious side, particularly when dealing with enemies.
Physical appearance
Kairi Imahara is depicted as a short woman of Caucasian-Japanese descent with dyed white hair and brown eyes. Her build is slender and athletic due to spending years as a pilot and smuggling heavy cargo.
Apex Legends
Abilities
| Tactical Ability | Passive Ability | Ultimate Ability |
|---|---|---|
 Missile Swarm |
 VTOL Jets |
 Skyward Dive |
| Fire a swarm of mini-rockets that damage and disorient the enemy. | Use jetpack to fly. Fuel is limited but refills overtime. | Launch into the air and sky dive. Allies can hook into take-off systems to join you. |
Customization
- Main article: Kairi "Valkyrie" Imahara/Customization
Quotes
- Main article: Kairi "Valkyrie" Imahara/Quotes
Behind the scenes
Appearances
|
Update History
Gallery
Videos
- AL SFTO Northstar
- AL Valkyrie Trailer
Valkyrie Character Trailer
- Apex Legends – Legacy Launch Trailer
Legacy Launch Trailer
Images
Apex Sidestories
- Rest Easy
Viper's Eulogy (Rest Easy)
- Ready For Takeoff
Ready for Takeoff
Trivia
- Valkyrie's abilities are inspired by the Northstar Titan from Titanfall 2.
- Valkyrie has a few voice lines that are similarly quoted by Viper, most notably her "Valkyrie sent you" and "Got you in the pipe" lines.
- In voice lines when Valkyrie revives or re-spawns Rampart, she profusely begs Rampart to change the name of Sheila, due to it being the name of her ex-girlfriend.
- Valkyrie was unlockable for free between February 22nd and March 1st, 2022, in celebration of the 3rd Anniversary of Apex Legends.
- The highest possible damage that can theoretically be dealt with a single Missile Swarm is 3364.
- Valkyrie is a ship pilot. She is not a certified Titan Pilot, yet has shown considerable proficiently when using her father's Northstar Titan.
- Valkyrie is a lesbian.
- Valkyrie shares many similarities with her voice actress, Erika Ishii: They are both mixed race, they are both queer, and they have similar outgoing personalities.
- Valkyrie had a Caucasian father and a Japanese mother. Although Valkyrie was exposed to her mother's heritage, she cannot fluently speak * Japanese. Valkyrie can still understand Japanese, and she speaks Japanese to her mother at home, but she is not comfortable with speaking it in public.
| Legends |
|---|
| Ash • Bangalore • Ballistic • Bloodhound •Catalyst •Caustic • Conduit • Crypto • Fade • Fuse • Gibraltar • Horizon • Loba • Lifeline • Mad Maggie • Mirage • Newcastle • Octane • Pathfinder • Rampart • Revenant • Rhapsody •Seer • Valkyrie•Vantage • Wattson • Wraith |