Apex Legends: Who is Gibraltar?

Many in the Outlands are familiar with the name Gibraltar. For generations, the Gibraltar family was there to help people and be the vanguards of progress. From search and rescue organizations to Project IRIS, the Gibraltar name always meant safety and trust.

Greetings, Legends! Since Mad Maggie’s arrival shook things up quite a bit, we’ll be talking about Gibraltar, probably the biggest victim of Mad Maggie’s meta-changing abilities. With his mostly defensive abilities and “cannot be moved” stature, Makoa Gibraltar has an imposing presence in Apex Legends. He can shield himself and his squadmates from damage and can rain fire on the opponents. Sounds incredible, right? Indeed it was until a certain insane Salvonian ruined everything. Let’s begin.

Who is Gibraltar?

Makoa Gibraltar was born on Solace to one of the most important families on the planet. The Gibraltar family is a well-established one and one of the earliest families to travel and settle in the Outlands. Nearly 200 years before Makoa Gibraltar was born, his ancestors founded SARAS, the Search and Rescue Association of Solace. SARAS is an organization of volunteers who are willing to help others. Their mission included missing people, rescuing victims of accidents, disaster relief, and community protection. The fact that SARAS would try to help even small, individual accidents was what changed Gibraltar’s life.

The family tradition of helping others also became Makoa Gibraltar’s passion, which is why he couldn’t just stand and do nothing when the Frontier War ended, and the Civil War of Outlands broke. Compelled by his sense of responsibility, a 14-year-old Makoa Gibraltar ran away from home and took a cleaning job at the Thunderdome. There, he met Nikolas “Nik” Gentile, and the two became a couple soon after. After some time, Gibraltar convinced Nik to join him in his efforts to help the victims of the Civil War. He stole his father’s motorcycle, and the couple went on their journey to join the War. While trying to take a shortcut on the way, Gibraltar lost control of the bike and drove off a cliff. He was okay, but Nik was unconscious with a broken leg.

Gibraltar is always on the frontline, protecting everyone. (Image: Respawn Entertainment)

Thankfully, SARAS would help with even smaller accidents like this, and soon enough, Gibraltar’s father, Miko Gibraltar, showed up with his squad. Nik was saved, but a mudslide caused Makoa and Miko to slide down further, and Miko ended up losing one of his arms after getting crushed under a rock. Makoa Gibraltar was ready to confess to his fault when Nik intervened and took the blame because he believed Makoa Gibraltar was “the guy who would save the world one day.”

Nik was sent to juvenile detention, leaving Gibraltar with heavy guilt over the incident. The two had a falling out for a while, during which Nik had a son named Michael. Ironically, Michael was a huge fan of Gibraltar’s. After Nik and Michael’s mother Vanessa broke up, Vanessa decided to tell Michael about Nik’s past with Gibraltar, which caused the kid to dislike his idol.

After finding out everything about Nik’s new life, Gibraltar decided he also needed to change his own life to leave everything behind. Around that time, his father handed him a bubble shield and asked him to start practicing. That’s when Makoa Gibraltar remembered all the people he knew who joined the Apex Games for fame and fortune and never came back. He decided he could protect his friends there if he joined the Games. But joining the Games never stopped him from helping other people, too. Gibraltar spends his off-time from the Games working as a volunteer for SARAS, prioritizing his volunteer job over the Apex Games.

Gibraltar’s abilities

Gibraltar’s Passive Ability is the Gun Shield. Aiming down sights deploys a shield that blocks incoming fire. This shield can take 50 damage before dissipating and takes a 9-second cooldown before it regenerates. Keep in mind that any excess damage the shield takes will be applied to you.

You can turn off the Gun Shield manually by hitting the relevant button. This will help you hide your presence better since the Gun Shield is huge and will appear orange to your opponents. Gibby himself is quite big, so don’t let the Gun Shield be the only thing to give away your position if you’ve managed to actually hide yourself.

Gibraltar’s Tactical Ability is the Dome of Protection. A bubble shield handed to Gibraltar by his father, the Dome of Protection is activated by throwing a large disc on the ground. The dome has a 6-meter radius and lasts 12 seconds. While active, the Dome blocks any and every damage incoming and outgoing. It doesn’t have a set HP and will last the full 12 seconds regardless of the amount of damage it takes. All players can walk through it as many times as they want.

A well-placed Dome Shield can easily change the course of a fight. Gibraltar can also revive squadmates 33% faster (4,5 seconds instead of 6 seconds) inside the Dome. You can use the Dome to protect yourself from incoming bombardments, third parties, or a Fuse that decided to throw all of his 12 explosives at you. Unfortunately, the Dome can now be penetrated by Mad Maggie’s Riot Drill, which takes away the complete safety of the bubble. Mad Maggie can also decide to release her ultimate ability, Wrecking Ball, into the Dome to cause all sorts of mayhem. If the Wrecking Ball explodes inside the Dome, it will push everyone away, possibly forcing you out of the Dome.

Gun Shield provides an opportunity to survive longer in fights. (Image: Respawn Entertainment)

Gibraltar’s Ultimate Ability is the Defensive Bombardment. This ability is where Gibraltar says, “best defense is a good offense,” and everyone reprimands him for quoting X-Men: The Last Stand. Defensive Bombardment works like Bangalore’s Rolling Thunder. Gibraltar throws a flare at the location you want to bombard, and fire rains from above to that location in a 24-meter radius. However, the rockets instantly explode upon touching the ground, dealing 40 damage each. They also shellshock everyone that’s exposed to the explosions, friend or foe. Defensive Bombardment can’t damage friendlies but can damage Gibraltar.

You can use Defensive Bombardment to smoke out hiding opponents, finish off someone you knocked down that’s far away or prevent opponents from moving towards a certain zone. You can also call a bombardment on your own location and deploy the Dome of Protection to create a safe zone for your squad. The Dome will block the explosions, and other squads will have a very difficult time approaching it. Both the bombardment and the Dome Shield will give away your position to even far away opponents, so be ready for potential third parties after using them. Also, keep in mind that Wattson’s Interception Pylon can zap out both the first flare you throw and the bombardment itself.

Gibraltar also has the Fortified perk. Like Caustic, Gibraltar takes 15% less damage from every attack, and he won’t be slowed by getting hit by weapon fire.

How to play Gibraltar

As Gibraltar, you’re responsible for protecting your squad while making opponents’ life very difficult. Gibraltar can’t be slowed down with gunfire and takes 15% less damage thanks to his Fortified perk, which will help you stay on the frontline longer than any other Legend. He can deploy his Gun Shield and Dome Shield to provide further safety for himself and his squad. These facts alone explain his popularity among the pro scene, with nearly having a 100% pick rate in tournaments. 

You don’t want to be on his bad side. (Image: Respawn Entertainment)

Gibraltar makes great pairings with Caustic and Fuse. Especially as Fuse’s ultimate, the Motherlode, creates a great opportunity for Gibraltar to rain down fire on trapped opponents. Caustic can also deploy his own ultimate inside Fuse’s ring of fire to create maximum chaos. Together, Caustic and Gibraltar can tank tons of damage and answer with defensive positioning.

Until Mad Maggie’s release, Gibraltar had little to no counterplay that didn’t involve very high risk. While Mad Maggie will definitely give you a hard time when you’re Gibraltar, you can still answer by using your Defensive Bombardment. Anyone who dares to rush you will meet your bombardment face first and will have to either retreat or jump inside your bubble shield where they will have to face you. Take my advice, don’t fight Gibraltar around his Dome Shield. He knows it better than you do.

Gibraltar skins

Gibraltar has arguably some of the best skins in Apex Legends. He receives a lot of fan-favorite skins with each event and manages to give a happy and heroic vibe with every one of them. Gibraltar has two skins that have a story to them.

First is the Millenium Tusk. It’s the costume he stole from the mobsters who tried to hijack a Chevrex event. Makoa Gibraltar was attending the event and, being a Gibraltar, immediately jumped in to save the day. He stole a costume from the hijackers and blended in with the mobsters to take them down.

Second is the Gentle Giant. Gentle Giant skin is what Gibraltar wears during his volunteer work with SARAS. He continues the family tradition of helping people in need by spending his off-time as a volunteer for SARAS.

Gibraltar’s finishers and emotes

Gibraltar’s cultural background draws from the entirety of Polynesia, especially from Hawaiian, Samoan, and Māori culture. This is reflected in his emotes and finishers.

Two of his finishers, Warrior Spirit and Warcry, include moves from the Haka, the traditional war dance of the Māori. The Māori practiced the Haka for battle preparations and to intimidate the enemies on the battlefield. Today, it’s still being practiced but in a more ceremonial way. In both finishers, Gibraltar performs a move from the Haka and slams the opponent down.

In Force of Gravity, Gibraltar makes use of his giant stature and body slams his fallen opponent, obliterating them.

Big Boys™ are coming to ruin your day. (Image: Respawn Entertainment)

Gibraltar’s emotes also reflect his cultural background, one of them being the Haka. In a show of power and intimidation, Gibraltar performs a short version of the Haka. 

Another fan favorite emote of Gibraltar’s is the Kickflip. Gibraltar throws his shield on the ground and rides it in place as if it’s a skateboard. There used to be a bug where you could have your controlled character keep jumping forward while performing an emote. The Kickflip emote became a fan favorite during that time, with a lot of people performing “sick moves” with Gibraltar’s skateboard. Sadly, this bug also created scenarios where it could be used to gain advantage in fights, so it was fixed shortly after being discovered. RIP emote bug; you’ll be remembered.

Gibraltar’s Heirloom

Gibraltar’s Heirloom weapon is the War Club, made by Nik for him. It’s a hatchet with glowing elements on it. The Heirloom set also includes a banner pose where he showcases his hatchet with his shield, called Like a Rock. The intro quip that comes with the Heirloom says, "When this is over, they'll all know the name 'Gibraltar.'"

Conclusion

Gibraltar is a huge, friendly guy who wants to protect those who can’t protect themselves. His presence on the battlefield significantly affects how the fights will go. He’s the ultimate protector with a heart of gold, but he can also rain down hell upon you if you threaten his friends.

Here on the G-Loot Blog, we talk a lot about how to increase our performance and win rate. One way to do that is to follow the pick rates on the high-level tournaments where the pros bring their top game. Gibraltar’s pick rate is always high due to his incredible defensive abilities and his skill at evading nerfs. Mad Maggie does create some problems, yes, but you can still use Gibraltar to steadily pave your way towards victory. So pick up your Gun Shield and join G-Loot’s Weekly Brawls to win tickets for the Monthly Showdowns and get ready to win real money prizes!

See you on the hunting grounds, Legends.