The Story — Where He Came From
The Luchador actually started with a pretty practical problem.
Early on, while the team was building out Porto Morto, we realized we needed a space where players could experiment: test combos, learn mechanics, and figure out how to not immediately get wrecked by CureBots. A classic “tutorial room”… but in our world, nothing gets to stay classic for long.
A new environment opened the door for a new NPC. Someone who wouldn’t just teach you how to fight, but make it feel like fun. During a team brainstorm, someone said the magic words: “What if he’s a luchador?” Half the team being from Mexico probably had something to do with how fast that idea stuck.
If you’ve ever been to a lucha match in Mexico City, you know—it’s not just wrestling. It’s performance. It’s chaos. It’s theatre! It’s grown men in masks throwing themselves off ropes like they’re immune to knee and back injuries.
So I took that energy, ran with it, and started building out his backstory for Porto Morto.
Before the outbreak, he was a small-league luchador. Never the headline act, but always the one the crowd loved. What he lacked in athleticism he made up with pure personality. Trash talk, crowd work, weird little improvised bits…half the time it felt like a comedy show that coincidentally turned into a fight. And when he won? Full dance number. Every time.
The problem? He was fat as hell. Like… proudly, stubbornly fat. And his love of tripe tacos and carbonated beverages wasn’t exactly helping his stamina. Time passed. Injuries piled on, so did the pounds. The bookings slowed. Eventually, he was out of the ring and taking whatever work he could: teaching lucha to anyone who’d listen, performing wherever there was a crowd, even ending up on a discount cruise line as part of a questionable “luchador circus experience.”
It was bleak. Until the world (and that ill-fated cruise ship) gets hit by the zombie virus.
When the ship crash-lands in Porto Morto, the Luchador finds himself dead, missing a right hand, but running with the energy of a thousand chupacabras. He knows he’s stepped into his redemption arc.
Now he’s the island’s resident trainer, teaching players combos, pushing them to improve, and demonstrating moves on his make-shift CureBot piñata.
He’s intense. He’s sincere. He believes pain is part of the process. And he will always be found in your corner ready to motivate you.
From Words to Visuals — Bringing the Beast to Life
Once we locked in his personality, it was time to hand things over to Freddie and the art team.
The goal wasn’t to make him clean or heroic. It was to make him resilient. Like no matter how many times he’s fallen apart, he’s still showing up for training.
For Freddie, everything started with the silhouette.
“For me, the silhouette of this character was fundamental to communicate his strength and purpose within the game.”
The goal was to make him instantly recognizable in the arena, not just another fighter, but an anomaly. Bigger, heavier, and somehow still capable of pulling off moves that feel like they’re bending the rules of physics. The kind of presence you don’t question… you just react to.
“I wanted his size to make him easy to identify immediately in combat, and for his body to feel like an anomaly compared to any athlete in this or any other sport.”
From there, the mask became the heart of the design.
“All Mexicans know that a luchador’s mask represents their identity. It’s without a doubt the most valuable element in the ring.”
But this isn’t a clean, heroic luchador. This is Porto Morto. So the idea evolved into something a little more… unsettling. After a few iterations (and one very on-brand suggestion from the director), the concept of a mask made from fluids and decay started to click.
“At the beginning, we didn’t even know his name, so designing a mask that elevated his personality was tricky. During a call with our director, he suggested playing with the idea of a mask made out of vomit or fluids… and after several sketches, it actually became something really fun.”
Because at the end of the day: he’s still a zombie.
Everything else — the worn costume, the belt, the tattoos, the mismatched accessories — pulls from the folklore and colorful traditions of lucha libre, but filtered through Stay Dead’s lens. Messier. Stranger. Funnier. Every detail carries a bit of cultural humor, even when it’s falling apart.
And that’s where the character really comes together.
“This is one of the most extravagant characters I’ve designed for Stay Dead… not just because of how he looks, but because of what he represents.”
There’s something oddly magnetic about him. The confidence. The showmanship. The fact that he still tries to be seductive while looking like he crawled out of a scrapyard. It all tells you exactly who he is without needing a single line of dialogue.
“He’s probably the most inappropriate person you’ll find on the island. His worn-out clothes, the scrap turned into a sports outfit, and that seductive attitude despite his messy appearance tell you everything about who he is.”
What makes this process work, though, is the back-and-forth between writing and art.
“This collaboration is fundamental to capture the essence behind everything we do in the art department. It makes the creative process smoother and gives us a very clear purpose.”
The story sets the tone. The art pushes it further. And somewhere in between, you get a character that doesn’t just exist in Porto Morto, he belongs there.
Why This Character Matters
The Luchador isn’t just a tutorial NPC.
He’s a piece of what makes Porto Morto feel alive.
This island is full of characters who didn’t quite “make it” in their past lives, but somehow found something better after everything fell apart. He fits right into that.
He brings culture, performance, and a very specific kind of chaotic encouragement to the community. The kind that feels like a Mexican household: everyone talking at once, yelling instructions, handing you ten things to do, but it’s family, so it feels safe. And you know there’s a taco or a cold chela waiting for you on the other side.
He also reinforces something we keep coming back to in Stay Dead:
This isn’t a world about surviving, it’s a world about thriving in spite of everything.
Even if that means training with a guy who smells like a beer can.
See More + Stay Dead
We’ve been sharing more of these character explorations as they come to life, especially in our Deadly Updates sessions with the team.
If you want to see how characters like the Luchador evolve from rough ideas into full-blown 3D models, that’s where it happens.
Also… we’re still figuring out his name.
“Luchador” is just a placeholder for now, we feel like this guy definitely named himself something dramatic at some point and refuses to explain it.
If you’ve got ideas, drop them in our Discord channel!
And if you want to support Stay Dead as we keep building this world, wishlist the game on Steam.
No pressure.
But he will be disappointed in you.
