Valorant & CSGO fans stunned as rare poisonous bird handled like knife in viral video

Valorant and CS:GO players have joined legions of confused Twitter users, as someone handles a rare poisonous bird, the Hooded Pitohui, just like knives are played with in the video games.

Knives hold a dear, niche place in the hearts of Valorant and CS:GO fans (in a metaphorical sense, of course). In July 2021, a Counter-Strike knife was estimated to be worth $800,000 and, in August, Valorant received its first CS:GO-style butterfly knife.

In both games, players get to enjoy their preferred weapon skins with nifty knife animations and camos — some of which are rare and exciting.

But there are rare and exciting things in the real world too, like the Hooded Pitohui, a poisonous bird that is dangerous to touch. And that latter part makes it all the more surprising that someone not only touched the bird, but went viral for handling it like some CS:GO knife animation.

As you can see in the original tweet, the bird is handled quite casually — moved around, held in full hand, held upside down on one finger, and the like. This has led to hundreds of responses and quote tweets, many of which center on the CS and Valorant connection.

• Read more: Valorant fan remixes Omen’s voicelines into a Corpse Husband song and it’s a banger

One user, ‘rexnah,’ said the poster was “inspecting the s**t like a cs:go knife” while another, ‘HotHotHotBoy69’ said “the inspect animation for this new valorant knife is sick.” 

There are a number of other similarly worded reactions, as well as the expected Pokemon jokes too — with people excited about the new Poison/Flying-type creature’s IRL release.

Honestly, the connection isn’t even that far off. The poster moves the Hooded Pitohui around much like Valorant agents show off their knives.

• Read more: Pokimane’s insane Valorant ace clutch proves her Immortal rank is no joke

For now, there’s been no word on the health of the person who originally handled the poisonous bird without any protective gear. Additionally, Valorant and CS:GO fans may be disappointed to find out that neither game’s developers have explained if they’re considering bringing the Pitohui onto the virtual battlefield.