LogInWhy is the Heavy dead?
Image Credit: Antoine Delak
If you know a thing or two about the state of the Team Fortress 2 community in 2023, then you are probably already aware that the legendary Voice Actors who gave life to the iconic mercenaries and The Administrator are active participants in said community, regularly delighting fans with fun skits and sketches.
One of the most well-known places where the voices of Sniper, Spy, and many others usually gather is the YouTube channel of TF2ber known as ShorK. In recent months, Robin Atkin Downes (Medic), Dennis Bateman (Spy, Pyro), Gary Schwartz (Demoman, Heavy), John Patrick Lowrie (Sniper), and Ellen McLain (The Administrator) visited ShorK's channel on numerous occasions to voice the official TF2 comics, react to fan impressions of their characters, and even play Team Fortress 2 themselves.
A few days ago, the group of actors gathered together once more and treated TF2 fans to something special – a voiceover of the "Heavy Is Dead" sketch. For those unaware, Heavy Is Dead was created by 3D Animator Antoine Delak back in 2019, and it features multiple characters from the game pondering the topic of Heavy's death. No words can describe the experience that is Heavy Is Dead, so the only thing I can say to the uninitiated is that the sketch is a hilarious embodiment of a 21st-century sense of humor and, perhaps, the second-greatest piece of TF2-inspired fan-made content, losing only to Emesis Blue.
In the new video shared by ShorK, the actors watch the iconic masterpiece for the first time in their lives, with their reactions saying it all, and then voice the lines of their characters from the sketch. You can check out the full video attached below or by visiting the TF2ber's YouTube channel:
As some of you may have noticed, the skit that the legends recreated differs ever so slightly from the one you know, and that's because it does. For this project, ShorK went a step further and collaborated with the creator of the original Heavy Is Dead, with Delak producing a "Family-Friendly Edition" of the sketch as a result.
Much like ShorK, the animator also went a step further, not only removing the moments that YouTube didn't like in the original but entirely recreating multiple sequences and even slightly changing the fates of some of the characters.
"When I asked you for a family-friendly version for the voice actors, I just meant censor the swear words, but Delak never ceases to deliver! I was BLOWN AWAY, when I saw this," commented ShorK. "So honored to work with you Delak, it was such a fun time!"
Here's the "censored" version of Heavy Is Dead that you can watch with your grandma if you want:
And here's the original sketch that YouTube hid behind not just one, but two warnings:
Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.