Meet Zork: The Avian Deep-Sea Vampire Capturing Hearts in The Duskbloods

With the reveal of six out of ten combatants in The Duskbloods, the upcoming title from FromSoftware, one character has emerged as an unlikely fan favorite: a bizarre, avian powerhouse named Zork. Standing out from the traditional gothic aesthetic of the game, Zork has quickly become the poster child for the title’s delightfully chaotic roster.

At first glance, Zork is a confusing silhouette—a bipedal bird encased in a hulking, pressurized deep-sea diving suit. His kit is as unorthodox as his appearance; he dominates the battlefield using a heavy undersea cable and a speargun, complemented by a mobility-focused special ability that allows him to launch himself across the map like a living rocket. However, it is his post-match animation that has truly cemented his cult status: upon winning a match, Zork uses his beak to sip blood from a chalice, operating, as the developers put it, “like a mosquito.”

In a recent interview with GameSpot, series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki shed light on the origins of this peculiar character. Miyazaki noted that Zork was heavily inspired by the classic Ultraman and Ultra Seven series, aiming to subvert the standard Victorian Gothic vampire trope.

“I think Zork is basically as far off to the side as you can get, where he’s a bit of a wild card,” Miyazaki explained. “We wanted to have something that went past the Industrial Revolution… Zork is probably the far end of that.”

Miyazaki emphasized that Zork is integral to his vision of a “festive” multiplayer environment—a chaotic space where wildly different archetypes collide. “I really want the multiplayer landscape of this game to almost feel like a festival,” he added. “You have all these different kinds of characters, they feel and look very different from each other, and it feels chaotic. Zork is definitely a piece of that—just a weird guy who’s in the midst of it.”

During the recent Network Test, players got their first taste of Zork’s mechanics, though he remained a rare sight compared to characters like the sniper-wielding Layla. Those who did master him were treated to the gruesome, mosquito-like drinking animation Miyazaki teased. The director confirmed that the beak is fully functional, capable of extending like a straw to feast on the blood of the fallen—a design choice he admits is another nod to the monster designs of the Ultraman era.

The Network Test provided only a glimpse into the game’s broader, cryptic mysteries. From why a senator might transform into a dinosaur to the reason a character like Bloodhand Jan insists on battling in his pajamas, The Duskbloods is shaping up to be as enigmatic as it is eccentric. While many players are still trying to figure out what Zork is—be it bird, sea monster, or something else entirely—that confusion is exactly what fans have come to expect from the studio.

As The Duskbloods nears its official launch, the community remains eager to peel back the layers of this bizarre, gothic-inspired world and learn more about its motley crew of dorks.