Characters Of Overwatch
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The 2016
first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
video game ''
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
'', developed by
Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduat ...
, features 32 playable characters known as heroes and a number of supporting characters as part of the game's narrative, which is told through animated media and
digital comics Digital comics (also known as electronic comics,Ian Hague, ''Comics and the Senses: A Multisensory Approach to Comics and Graphic Novels'', Routledge, 2014, ch. 2: "Sight, or, the Ideal Perspective and the Physicality of Seeing". eComics, e-comi ...
outside of the game. Its sequel, ''
Overwatch 2 ''Overwatch 2'' is a 2022 first-person shooter by Blizzard Entertainment. As a sequel to the 2016 hero shooter ''Overwatch'', the game intends a shared environment for player-versus-player (PvP) modes while introducing persistent cooperative ...
'', was released in October 2022 and replaced ''Overwatch''. The sequel builds upon the same hero roster and added more characters, launching with 35 heroes. However, as ''Overwatch 2'' had been developed to be a faster game with five-versus-five teams rather than six-versus-six, several of the characters had tweaks or major rebuilds within ''Overwatch 2''. The story of ''Overwatch'' takes place on Earth in the "near future" in the years after the "Omnic Crisis," a period in which robots (called "omnics") rose up in rebellion worldwide, and the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
formed an elite group called Overwatch to combat them. Overwatch continued to protect the peace until it was disbanded years later under a cloud of suspicion, but its former members have returned to the fore in light of new threats to humanity. Blizzard wanted to create a diverse set of characters to reflect a positive outlook on this near future, incorporating non-human characters and non-standard character traits. The game launched with 21 characters, with eleven more added post-release. Nine characters reprised their role as playable heroes in the
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that im ...
game, ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bli ...
''.


Background

''Overwatch'' is primarily an online team-oriented
first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
, and an example of a "
hero shooter A hero shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games emphasize "hero" characters that have distinctive abilities and/or weapons that are specific to them. Game desig ...
" where players select from one of several pre-designed hero characters with their own unique abilities. ''Overwatch'' includes casual play modes, competitive ranked play modes, and various arcade modes where special rules apply. Most game modes bring together two teams of six players each into a match and compete in one of several objective-based game types based on the randomly selected map, including taking control points and escorting a payload. A match starts with each player selecting from one of the available hero characters. The game's characters are divided into three
role A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, moral obligation, obligations, beliefs, and social norm, norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavi ...
classifications: damage, tank, and support. Damage characters are often doing the most damage and help the team with the majority of kills. Tank characters can absorb large amounts of damage for the team, and support characters share healing abilities and similar status effects for the team or against enemies. The game will warn teams if they have an imbalance in their general role selection, and certain game modes require players to select different heroes. Players are able to switch between heroes mid-match after they are killed or if they return to their team's base. Each hero character has fundamentally different attributes such as health and movement speed, at least one basic attack, and at least one unique skill, collectively referred to as a skill kit. These skills can be used repeatedly after waiting out the skill's cooldown period. Each character also has at least one powerful ultimate ability that becomes available once its meter is charged, either slowly over time or through other actions such as killing opponents or healing teammates. Once the ultimate ability is used, the player has to wait for the meter to fill again. All characters have a close-combat, low damage melee attack that can be used at any time. Winning matches earns the player experience towards experience levels in the meta-game. The player earns a
loot box In video games, a loot box (also called a loot crate or prize crate) is a consumable virtual item which can be redeemed to receive a randomised selection of further virtual items, or Loot (video gaming), loot, ranging from simple customization ...
on reaching a new experience level, which contain a random assortment of character skins, emotes, speech lines, and other cosmetic items for each character without specific game-changing effects. Players can also purchase loot boxes with real-world money. Blizzard has provided free post-release content for the game, such as new levels and characters. Blizzard has also introduced limited-time seasonal events, offering new cosmetic items in loot boxes, themed levels, and gameplay modes.


Overview

''
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
'' originally featured 12 characters at its November 2014
BlizzCon BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', '' Diablo'', '' Hearthstone'', ''Heroes of the Storm,'' and ''Overwatch''. The first BlizzCon was hel ...
convention announcement, but expanded to 21 by the next year's convention. The game is character-driven, and reviewers noted ''Overwatch'' emphasis on the individual differences between characters in the same role (e.g., between two snipers) as a departure from dominant class-based shooter paradigms. Critics widely praised the game's accessible and detailed character design and its role in the game's overall success. Similar to Valve's initial launch of ''
Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video game), Quake'' and ...
'', in the absence of a dedicated story mode, Blizzard tells the backstory of ''Overwatch'' plot and characters through media outside the game, including animated shorts, character press events, tweets, and webcomics. The game's story centers around a
technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical future point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. According to the m ...
in which humanity assembles a team of its best heroes, Overwatch, to fight off a rogue
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
and its robotic army of Omnics in an incident called the "Omnic Crisis". After winning its battle, the Overwatch kept the peace for about three decades before infighting led to its disbandment. The game takes place approximately sixty years in the future, during a time period in which the world is slipping into disarray, and former Overwatch members along with new allies, as well as enemies, are being called on to help protect the peace in their respective favors. Among Overwatch's enemies include Talon, a global criminal network seeking wealth and power. In early 2016, Blizzard released media kits with granular character detail for fan artists and cosplayers. Preceding the game's launch,
PornHub Pornhub is a Canadian-owned internet pornography website. It is one of several pornographic video-streaming websites owned by MindGeek. , Pornhub is the 10th-most-trafficked website in the world and the second-most-trafficked adult website aft ...
reported a surge in searches for pornography including ''Overwatch'' characters. An intellectual property security firm issued multiple takedown requests to sites featuring such videos and other erotica created in
Source Filmmaker Source Filmmaker (often abbreviated as SFM) is a 3D computer graphics software toolset published by Valve for creating animated films, utilizing the Source game engine. Source Filmmaker has been used to create many community-based animated shor ...
.


Development

''Overwatch'' was developed by Blizzard following the cancellation of a
massively multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
'' Titan'', a project that had been in works for several years. A smaller team from those on ''Titan'' were given the role to come up with a new project, and they came onto the idea of a first-person shooter that emphasized teamwork, inspired by ''
Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video game), Quake'' and ...
'' and the rising popularity of
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that im ...
s, as well as their own development team unity they found to keep their morale high following ''Titan''s cancellation. The development team settled on a narrative of a near-future Earth setting following a global-scale catastrophic event - the Omnic Crisis in which robots, known as Omnics, rose up in rebellion against humanity until stopped by a peacekeeping group known as Overwatch. With selection of this global theme, the developers wanted to create a cast of playable characters to portray diverse representations of genders, ages, ethnicities, and nationalities. The heroes include human,
transhuman Transhuman, or trans-human, is the concept of an intermediary form between human and posthuman. In other words, a transhuman is a being that resembles a human in most respects but who has powers and abilities beyond those of standard humans. Th ...
, and non-human characters such as cyborgs, robots, and a talking gorilla. The need for a diverse cast was important to the developers, as some of Blizzard's previous games had been criticized before for missing this mark; Metzen explained that even his daughter had asked him why all the female characters from ''Warcraft'' seemed to be only wearing swimsuits. Metzen stated: "Specifically for ''Overwatch'' over the past year we've been really cognizant of that, trying not to oversexualize the female characters." Kaplan explained that the industry was "clearly in an age where gaming is for everybody", going on to say that "increasingly, people want to feel represented, from all walks of life, boys and girls, everybody. We feel indebted to do our best to honor that." In addition, Blizzard stated at the 2016 Blizzcon that some of the characters are
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
, though did not specify which ones at that time. Blizzard has stated that "As with any aspect of our characters' backgrounds, their sexuality is just one part of what makes our heroes who they are." Since then, Tracer has been shown to be in a romantic relationship with another woman through one of the tie-in comics published online by Blizzard. In a subset lore story, Soldier: 76 was also identified as gay, having had a romantic relationship with a man prior to joining Overwatch. A research paper analyzed this announcement and found that players avoided Soldier: 76 afterwards. However, the pick rate returned to previous levels after around three months. The team envisioned the characters akin to
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
es in this narrative, each with their own abilities, background and personality that could stand on their own, but could also fit into the larger story; this notion translated into the characters being agents for the game, which Metzen said still captures the "heroism and vibe" that superhero stories carry. The team did not want to have any characters that served solely as villains in the game, but did develop some of the characters, like Soldier: 76, to have an unsure purpose within the narrative. Several characters were envisioned for the game during its pre-planning stages, but did not make the cut, or were later incorporated into other heroes. Among characters that were considered included a jetpack-wearing cat, a hockey player that used rocket-power skates, and a Russian woman that would ride a bear and for which her ultimate ability would have the bear rear up and wield his own set of
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
rifles. Initially, Reinhardt was an Omnic, but later was settled to be a human character, with the Omnic nature later revisited when the development team crafted Orisa. Characters introduced since the game's release are generally teased a few weeks in advance or given a cold surprise announcement. The only exception to this had been Sombra, who had been teased by a months-long
alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...
(ARG) prior to her formal announcement. Blizzard found players reacted negatively to this deployment, and have opted to avoid this type of prolonged teasing for future characters. Blizzard will still seed upcoming hero characters into the game's announcement media but without making comments towards that, anticipating players would find these before the character is officially announced; for example, the 26th hero Moira had appeared in at least two works prior to her announcement. Once a character is announced, they are typically made available on the "Public Test Region" (PTR) for Windows players to try out and help provide feedback to Blizzard. Once Blizzard is satisfied with the PTR character, typically a period lasting two to three weeks, the character is then released to all players on all regions and platforms, outside of competitive play, as to give players a chance to learn the character. Roughly a week following this, the new character then becomes available for competitive play mode. Character powers are frequently tweaked and adjusted with patches, mostly incremental changes. A few characters have had major overhauls, notably
Symmetra Symmetra, real name Satya Vaswani () is a fictional, playable character of Indian origin in ''Overwatch'', a character-driven shooter video game in which players compose teams based on the complementary skills of characters to win the game's ...
(with two separate overhauls of her skill), Mercy, and Torbjörn. Like new characters, these overhauls are tested in the PTR before released to all public regions. A major notable change, reducing the number of roles from four to three (combining "offense" and "defense" heroes into the "damage" category) was implemented in the PTR before being released for all players in June 2018. ''Overwatch 2'' was announced in November 2019, with plans for both a normal PvP element as with the original game and a
Player versus Environment Player versus environment or player versus enemy (PvE, also known as player versus monster (PvM)), is a term used for both single player and online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, other online role-playing video games and survival game ...
(PVE) mode. With the introduction of Echo, the 32nd hero to ''Overwatch'', in March 2020, Kaplan stated that the team's focus was now on ''Overwatch 2'' and it was unlikely they would release any additional heroes prior to the game's release. After some delays, including the departure of Kaplan and lead character designer Geoff Goodman, ''Overwatch 2'' was released in open
early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...
with its PvP mode in October 2022, with the PvE mode to come later in 2023. While at announcement there was some intent to have a shared multiplayer experience between ''Overwatch'' and ''Overwatch 2'', ''Overwatch 2'' was instead released as a
free to play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
title, with a player's earned cosmetics brought over into ''Overwatch 2''. ''Overwatch 2'' was designed to play faster and avoid the slow pace that some ''Overwatch'' games had become, in part due to the use of "crowd control" (CC) abilities to hamper progress. To correct this, ''Overwatch 2'' is nominally played with five players on each team, with role-fixed games using two damage, two support, and one tank. This necessitated changes to several characters' skill kits to match; notably, Orisa's kit has a significant rework to remove her shield and her CC abilities, while Doomfist was reworked from damage into a tank class. ''Overwatch 2'' also launched with three new heroes, bringing the total roster to 35 by October 2022. With the free to play model, new heroes for ''Overwatch 2'' have been introduced as a free unlock on a seasonal
battle pass In the video game industry, a battle pass is a type of monetization approach that provides additional content for a game usually through a tiered system, rewarding the player with in-game items for playing the game and completing specific chal ...
.


Characters


Tank heroes

Tank characters broadly have a high number of hit points and often have some type of shielding to withstand damage, but tend to have lower range than the other roles and either tend to lack mobility or offensive strength.


D.Va

D.Va, real name Hana Song, is a
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n
mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...
pilot and former
pro gamer Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
from
Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...
. She pilots a combat mecha armed with twin ''Fusion Cannons'', shotgun-like weapons that require no ammunition or reload time. Her mecha is equipped with rocket ''Boosters'' for short bursts of flight, as well as a ''Defense Matrix'' that allows it to destroy enemy projectiles in the air. She can also fire a volley of ''Micro-Missiles'' that do splash damage on impact. D.Va's ultimate ability, ''Self-Destruct'', overloads and detonates her mecha, dealing massive damage to all enemies in a huge radius within line of sight. If her mech is destroyed (either by her ultimate or in combat), she ejects and continues to fight on foot, armed with a mid-range ''Light Gun'', until her mecha can be summoned again. To protect its cities against a massive omnic that rose from the
East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...
, the
South Korean army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國 陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...
developed automated battle mechs, deployed in a task force named MEKA (Mobile Exo-force of the Korean Army). As the omnic learned from its battles with the South Korean military, it disrupted the mechs' drone-control abilities, forcing the army to turn to human pilots. They elected to recruit professional gamers, who they believed possessed the necessary skills to pilot their mechs. Hana Song was the reigning ''
StarCraft II ''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance ...
'' world champion at the time, with a reputation for playing to win at all costs and showing no mercy to her opponents. She has since become a global icon, streaming footage of her combat missions. D.Va was the fifth ''Overwatch'' hero added to ''Heroes of the Storm'', released in May 2017 shortly after the game's version 2.0 update. D.Va is voiced by
Charlet Chung Chihye "Charlet" Takahashi Chung (born February 16, 1983) is an American actress who is best known for her works in voice acting, as well as for her various roles throughout film and television. She voices the fictional character D.Va in the mult ...
.


Doomfist

Doomfist is both the name of the titular cybernetic gauntlet and the title of its wielder, currently the
Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
-born Akande Ogundimu, businessman and mixed martial artist turned mercenary. As originally released in ''Overwatch'', Doomfist was classified as a Damage hero, but was reworked to become a Tank role in ''Overwatch 2'', giving him more health and damage resistance. In his original skill kit, he had a short-range ''Hand Cannon'' on his off-hand that fires shotgun-like bursts and regenerates ammo over time, but most of his abilities came through melee attacks from the Doomfist Gauntlet. Doomfist can charge up a ''Rocket Punch'' that lets him lunge forward and punch an opponent backwards, a ''Seismic Slam'' that launches enemies in its range a short distance towards Doomfist, and a ''Rising Uppercut'' that greatly launches a single enemy while doing damage. Each ability that successfully hits also generates personal shielding for Doomfist (''The Best Defense...''). Doomfist's ultimate ability is named ''Meteor Strike'', allowing him to jump into the air and slam the ground, damaging all enemies in a range around that point and pushing them back a short distance. Within ''Overwatch 2'', Doomfist's Uppercut is replaced with a ''Power Block'' that absorbs frontal damage for a short time. Doomfist is a generational character, the name and titular weapon passed between three people in the game's fiction. The current holder, Akande Ogundimu, was the heir to a cybernetics and
prosthetics In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...
company with a love of competitive fighting, but he lost his right arm during the Omnic Crisis and although he got a replacement prosthesis, he was barred from competing. Looking for something to fill the void, he was approached by the previous holder of the Doomfist, Akinjide Adeyemi, to join the Talon terrorist group. Ogundimu agreed and thrived within its ranks, though he eventually grew dissatisfied with Adeyemi's monetary ambitions and killed him to take his weapon, mantle, and control of Talon. Though he was later caught by Overwatch and placed in prison, Talon broke him out, and Ogundimu seized his Doomfist gauntlet to reclaim the Doomfist name and retake his position within Talon. The concept of the Doomfist has existed since the first cinematic trailer for ''Overwatch'', with the heroes fighting for control of the gauntlet, and since has been teased as a potential playable character in other game updates. Doomfist was formally introduced as the 25th hero to ''Overwatch'' and was made available to play on all platforms on July 27, 2017. Doomfist is voiced by Sahr Ngaujah.


Junker Queen

Junker Queen, real name Odessa "Dez" Stone, is the new ruler of Junkertown, a ramshackle city in the
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n
Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...
. She also oversees the city's combat arena, the Scrapyard. Junker Queen's primary weapon is a hit scan shotgun. Passively, most of her attacks deal wound damage that drains enemy health over a short time while healing her. Her ''Commanding Shout'' buffs nearby allies with speed and regeneration for a short time. Her ''Jagged Blade'' ability lashes a throwing knife at a foe and can be recalled by her magnetic fist that can cause bleeding damage to an opponent. She can use her ''Carnage'' ability to strike with her ax in a heavy melee attack. Her Ultimate ability is ''Rampage'', which wounds and debuffs all enemy players it reaches. Her backstory is elaborated on in the animated short ''The Wastelander'', revealing that she was banished from Junkertown as a child along with her family. Trained as a warrior to survive the wasteland, she returned to Junkertown thirteen years later to participate in "the Reckoning", a free-for-all combat to challenge the Junker King, Mason Howl, for control of Junkertown. The "free-for-all" turns out to be rigged, as the other two combatants, Geiger and Meri, are in Howl's service, though Odessa is able to turn them against him when she shows more concern for their lives than he does. With their aid, she defeats Howl, who pleads for mercy. She elects to show him the "same mercy" he showed her family and banishes him from the city, taking power as the Junker Queen. She opted to rule Junkertown in a more kind manner, helping the encampment to thrive while still overseeing the Scrapyard fights. Prior to ''Overwatch 2'', Junker Queen had been given a few voice lines and narrates the reveal video for the Junkertown map released in August 2017, and appears on posters around the map itself. She has shown animosity towards Junkrat and Roadhog, telling her guards to shoot the two on sight. While little else is known, the character quickly gained appeal in the ''Overwatch'' fandom, with some hoping she would be revealed as a playable hero in the future. Blizzard confirmed Junker Queen will be a playable character with the early access launch of ''Overwatch 2''. Lead hero designer Geoff Goodman said that while they had toyed around with Junker Queen's abilities before, she was designed specifically for the launch of ''Overwatch 2'' as an aggressive tank as to emphasis the faster gameplay in the sequel. Junker Queen is voiced by 
Leah de Niese Leah ''La'ya;'' from (; ) appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son ...
, except for her lines heard on the Junkertown map, where her voice is provided by Siho Ellsmore.


Orisa

Orisa is a four-legged centaur-like female Omnic built by 11-year-old robotics prodigy Efi Oladele, to be a "mechanical peacekeeper" of Numbani. Within her ''Overwatch'' skill kit, her primary weapon was the ''Fusion Driver'', a long-range projectile-based machine gun; its alternate fire mode, ''Halt!'', released a slow-moving projectile that the player could detonate to draw in nearby enemies towards the point of detonation, similar to Zarya's Graviton Surge. She could launch a deployable ''Protective Barrier'' similar to Reinhardt's shield which could be used for strategic defenses, and could ''Fortify'' herself to temporarily prevent all forms of crowd control against her, such as Lúcio's sonic blasts or Reinhardt's Earthshatter abilities. Her ultimate ability was ''Supercharger'', a deployable device which gave Orisa and her teammates, provided they were in line-of-sight, an attack boost similar to that of
Mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...
, though the Supercharger itself could be destroyed by enemy fire and deactivated after a few seconds. Orisa's skillkit was rebuilt significantly for ''Overwatch 2'', meant to speed up play and reduce dependence on shields. Her Barrier, Halt, and Supercharger abilities have been removed, and instead she gained an ''Energy Javelin'' that can be used to launch enemies away, potentially damaging them if they hit walls. Orisa can also use her ''Javelin Spin'' to surge forward, directly attacking enemies and destroying projectiles. Her ultimate ability is ''Terra Surge'' that draws enemies towards her while making her immune to stun and crowd control effects. Additionally, her Fusion Driver fires large projectiles that shrink down as they travel. Rebuilt from the wreckage of an OR15 defense robot after an attack by Doomfist in her home city of Numbani, Efi upgraded the hardware and software on the Omnic, emphasizing public safety as its primary objective. Efi's upgrades on the robot also created a sentient identity, in which Efi dubbed the robot Orisa from its designation number. Her name derives from " orisha", spirits in the
Yoruba religion The Yoruba religion (Yoruba: Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), or Isese, comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria, which comprises the majority of Oyo, Ogu ...
of West Africa. Kaplan believed that Orisa would strategically play similar to Reinhardt as the "anchor" for an advancing team that allies would focus around. Besides being a second anchor tank beyond Reinhardt, Orisa's design came out of trying to push the boundaries of what they could do with a female character in the game, giving her the quadruped tank design and other features. They developed her personality to be somewhat between that of RoboCop and
GLaDOS GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) is a fictional artificially superintelligent computer system from the video game series ''Portal''. GLaDOS later appeared in ''The Lab'' and ''Lego Dimensions''. The character was created by ...
, with the veteran experience of the existing Omnics Zenyatta and Bastion. Because of these disparate elements, the design team came upon the idea of introducing Efi, so that the strange design of Orisa would be that of the ''Overwatch'' world as seen through the eyes of an imaginative child. Orisa became the centerpoint of a popular metagame strategy for the attacking team on Escort and Hybrid maps called "pirate ship", where her barrier, resembling the sails of a pirate ship, would be placed on the payload as it moved and protect one or more players also stationed on the payload, often typically Bastion or Torbjörn's turret, making it difficult for enemies to approach the payload from that side. Orisa, the game's 24th hero, was revealed on March 2, 2017. Unlike the previously introduced hero, Sombra, which was the subject of a protracted alternate reality game that was met with some criticism, Blizzard opted to tease Orisa over a much shorter period via social media, introducing the character of Efi and new events in the ''Overwatch'' narrative happening on Numbani a few weeks before Orisa's reveal. Orisa was available on the Public Test Servers on the reveal, and was added to the game for all platforms on March 21, 2017, though her appearance in competitive mode was held off for one week as to give time for players to get used to the new character. Orisa is voiced by Cherrelle Skeete.


Ramattra

Ramattra is an Omnic tank character, originally built as a commando unit known as a Ravager during the Omnic Crisis. He later became of the Shambali Omnic monks along with Mondatta to learn the ways of peace and tranquility with the hope of coexisting with humans and put his previous life behind. He later recruited Zenyatta into the order and became close as brothers. Disappointed with the way humans had violently mistreated Omnics despite many peace attempts. Forced to watch his people dwindle in limited numbers, Ramattra grew resentful to humanity, coming to the conclusion of coexistence was impossible and that the only way to achieve a better future for omnics is by force and left the Shambali Order. He gathered a hand full of omnics who share his vision, creating the Omnic terrorist/extremist faction, ''Null Sector'' as its leader and declared war on mankind. Ramattra spends most of his time in his normal Omnic form, using his ''Void Accelerator'' to fire projectiles at enemies and protecting his teammates with his projected ''Void Barrier''. He can fire small spheres that when contacting the ground, create a ''Ravenous Vortex'' that draws enemies briefly into it and slows their movement. One skill is the ability to transform into his Nemesis form that changes his attacks to ''Pummel'', an onslaught of melee punches, as well as a secondary skill, ''Block'', that reduces incoming damage, but requires Ramattra to hold still and unable to attack. The Nemesis form only lasts for eight seconds before Ramattra reverts to his normal Omnic form. Ramattra's ultimate is ''Annihilation'', which converts Ramattra to his Nemesis form and send out a continuous beam of damaging nanobots, while blocking all incoming damage by half. He was briefly introduced during the 2022 Overwatch League playoffs. Prior to his announcement, Ramattra also appeared in the story-based game mode "Storm Rising", where he is offered an alliance with Talon by Doomfist. He was released in ''Overwatch 2'' on December 6th, 2022 along with the second season of the game. Ramattra is voiced by
Ramon Tikaram Ramon Tikaram is a British stage and screen actor of Indo-Fijian and Southeast Asian descent. He is known for playing such roles as Ferdy in the BBC television series '' This Life'' and Qadim Shah in the BBC One soap opera '' EastEnders''. Ea ...
.


Reinhardt

Reinhardt Wilhelm is a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
and adventurer, and one of the founding members of Overwatch. He wears a heavy suit of Crusader power armor, and carries a rocket-powered
war hammer A war hammer (French: ''martel-de-fer'', "iron hammer") is a weapon that was used by both foot soldiers and cavalry. It is a very old weapon and gave its name, owing to its constant use, to Judah Maccabee, a 2nd-century BC Jewish rebel, and to Ch ...
(''Rocket Hammer'') as his primary weapon. His main ability is a wide hard-light ''Barrier Field'' mounted on his arm that allows him to protect himself and teammates behind him from enemy fire. He may also launch a flaming projectile that ignores enemy barriers (''Fire Strike''), or use a rocket booster to ''Charge'' into the enemy lines, crushing them against walls. His ultimate ability, ''Earthshatter'', makes him slam his hammer against the ground, sending out a shockwave that incapacitates enemies in front of him. Reinhardt Wilhelm is a decorated
Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
veteran from
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
who lives under a knightly code of chivalry. He served as lieutenant to Colonel Balderich von Adler, commander of the Crusaders, which served alongside the regular army to act as their shield. Reckless in his younger years, Reinhardt often left his comrades behind to find glory in battle. That would change during the battle of Eichenwalde, where he lost his left eye to the blade of an OR14 assault omnic: Retreating into Eichenwalde Castle, Balderich gave Reinhardt his Overwatch initiation medal and sent him to rejoin the others, admonishing him to "be their shield". Becoming the only Crusader to survive the battle, Reinhardt remained in Overwatch service well into his fifties, his code of ethics and his blunt honesty making him a respected member of the team, until he was forced to retire due to his age and left to watch as Overwatch collapsed. When Winston issued the call to arms to his Overwatch comrades, Reinhardt - living in the ruins of Eichenwalde - answered without hesitation, despite the belief of his friend Brigitte that Overwatch had tossed him aside due to his age. Reinhardt had started as one of the characters in the cancelled ''Titan'' game, as the "Juggernaut" character. When ''Titan'' was cancelled and the Blizzard team were looking for assets, they redesigned the Juggernaut into the Reinhardt character. Between ''Titan'' and ''Overwatch'', Reinhardt had gone through eight major redesigns, with the version of Reinhardt in ''Overwatch'' having an "08" on one of his shoulder pieces to reflect these revisions. In the redesign for ''Overwatch 2'', Reinhardt had gone through another small revision, and will now have "09" on his shoulder piece. Reinhardt was the most popular tank character during the game's open beta. Reinhardt is voiced by
Darin De Paul Darin De Paul is an American voice actor known for his video game performances as Dr. Samuel Hayden / Seraphim in ''Doom'' and '' Doom Eternal'', Reinhardt in ''Overwatch'', Ardyn Izunia in ''Final Fantasy XV is an action role-playing game ...
.


Roadhog

Roadhog, real name Mako Rutledge, is Junkrat's
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n enforcer and
bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...
. He wields a ''Scrap Gun'' that fires shrapnel in a mid-range automatic firing mode, or a short-range
shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...
-like single shot. He also carries a NOS canister filled with "Hogdrogen" to self-heal (''Take a Breather''), and employs a ''Chain Hook'' to pull distant opponents towards him. His ultimate ability, ''Whole Hog'', allows him to put a top loader into his scrap gun, firing it in full auto mode with increased knockback, wider spread, and no need to reload. Mako Rutledge lived in the Australian Outback in the period after the Omnic Crisis. The government of Australia, in an effort to make peace with the omnics, allowed them to take possession of the omnium and the territory around it, displacing the human residents. Mako and other angry humans formed the Australian Liberation Front to strike against the omnium and the omnics that resided around it. In the end, the ALF overloaded the fusion core, destroying the omnium and turning the Outback into a radioactive wasteland, severely disfiguring Mako's face. Mako donned a mask and took to the broken highways on his chopper, forsaking his humanity little by little until he became a ruthless killer. He has since joined up with Junkrat as his bodyguard, in exchange for half of whatever treasure the ex-Junker knows the location of. Roadhog is voiced by
Josh Petersdorf Josh Petersdorf is an American voice actor, known for voicing Roadhog in ''Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertain ...
.


Sigma

Sigma, real name Siebren de Kuiper, is a
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
astrophysicist associated with Talon. His main weapons are ''Hyperspheres'', gravitic projectiles that can bounce off walls and damage a small area that draw foes into the explosion, and ''Accretion'', which gathers debris into a large projectile to kinetically throw at opponents, causing knockback. He also has two defensive abilities: ''Experimental Barrier'', a barrier that he can deployed outward in front of him to a variable distance and then recall it, upon which it starts regenerating any damage taken; and ''Kinetic Grasp'', which creates a field that absorbs projectiles that hit it which, upon release, coverts that into temporary shields for the character. His ultimate, ''Gravitic Flux'', allows him to fly up briefly to place a black hole on the ground. Any opponents trapped within the range of the hole are thrown up into the air for several seconds before being slammed to the ground, taking half of their maximum health on impact. De Kuiper was a pioneering figure in his field and conducted most of his research at his laboratory in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
. He established a foundation for his work to where he moved onto performing further experiments aboard an international space station. However, an experiment went wrong, briefly creating a
black hole A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...
that touched De Kuiper. De Kuiper sustained psychological damage from this, and strange gravitational fluctuations persisted around him. Returned to Earth, he was deemed too dangerous to release, and kept in a secret government facility for years, where he became known only as "Subject Sigma". De Kuiper retreated into his own mind, believing he would never see the outside world again. However, the Talon organization discovered his existence, and freed him from the facility, hoping to use his gravitational powers to their own end. Talon helped Sigma to regain his sanity and control of the gravitational fluctuations to use as weapons, though Sigma remained unaware that Talon was manipulating him for their own purposes. The skill kit for Sigma was designed to create another slow-moving anchor tank, similar to Reinhardt and Orisa, which the team would focus around; at the same time, they worked to develop this kit to avoid too much overlap with Zarya, particularly with her ultimate Graviton Surge skill. The team also knew they wanted to make this tank character related to Talon, establishing the basics of the hero concept early on. However, following the addition of Baptiste as Hero 30, Blizzard had anticipated the next hero would be Mauga, a character introduced in Baptiste's origin story, "What You Left Behind". Blizzard wanted to introduce Baptiste and Mauga back-to-back. However, as they neared release, Blizzard found that the kit did not make sense for the personality they had given Mauga. Rather than revamp the kit, they decided to develop a new character that would be better suited for the kit, holding off on Mauga's release as a hero for a later time. Blizzard quickly focused on an astrophysicist, which would readily tie into the gravity-based kit, and then adjusted the kit to incorporate additional gravitational powers that fell in line with the new character while further distinguishing his kit from Zarya's. They subsequently gave Sigma a tragic backstory as a villain who is unaware he was being used as a tool and as a weapon of mass destruction within Talon; whereas Baptiste had been in the same situation, Baptiste had the mental stability to walk away, while Sigma's ongoing dementia kept him working for Talon. On his reveal, Sigma was revealed to levitate slightly throughout the ground, and to that end, is barefoot, which drew some reaction from fans. Blizzard artist Qiu Fang explained this decision came from real-world mental health hospitals, where patients are often not given any shoes for which they potentially use to harm themselves. As such, leaving Sigma barefoot was to "sell the
asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...
look". Following a few teasers on social media in the week prior, Sigma was formally announced as the game's 31st hero on July 22, 2019, and made available on the PTR the following day. Sigma was added across all servers on August 13, 2019. He is voiced by Boris Hiestand.


Winston

Winston is a
genetically engineered Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...
, scientist, and adventurer. He wields a short-range ''Tesla Cannon'' that electrocutes enemies at close range, and wears armor that incorporates a ''Jump Pack'', allowing him to make leaps across great distances and damage foes on landing. He can also deploy a ''Barrier Projector'' that provides a temporary spherical barrier to protect himself and teammates from enemy fire. Winston's ultimate ability is ''Primal Rage'', in which he briefly gives in to "the beast within" to get massively increased health and powerful melee attacks with knockback, although he foregoes his primary weapon. Winston was among a group of genetically enhanced gorillas living at the Horizon Lunar Colony, a research base on the Moon, intended to test the effects of prolonged habitation in space. He took his name from his mentor and caretaker, Dr. Harold Winston, the colony's chief scientist, from whom he also gained his signature glasses. When the other gorillas rose up, killed the human scientists, and took over the colony, Winston escaped to Earth in a rocket he built himself. He later joined up with Overwatch, offering his scientific expertise to the team (such as building Tracer's chronal accelerator). When Overwatch disbanded, Winston went into seclusion at an old Overwatch base in Gibraltar. Winston appears in the intro cinematic, as well as the animated short ''Recall''. The short recalls how he gained his glasses from Dr. Harold Winston, as well as fending off Reaper and agents of Talon who attempt to hack his database of Overwatch agents. Winston is voiced by
Crispin Freeman Crispin Freeman is an American voice actor, voice director, and screenwriter who is best known for voicing characters in English-language dubs of Japanese anime, animation, and video games. Some of his prominent anime roles include Zelgadis Grayw ...
.


Wrecking Ball

Wrecking Ball is the
ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...
for Hammond, a super-intelligent hamster mechanic and adventurer, who competes in battles piloting a large spherical mech suit with two forms: a quadrupedal form used for firing his ''Quad Cannons'', his main attack, and a nearly perfectly spherical form which gives him the ability to ''Roll'' around the battlefield but without any primary attack. He can engage a temporary ''Adaptive Shield'' that increases in strength with the more enemies that are nearby. He can use a '' Grappling Claw'' to attach to a surface, switching the mech to its Roll form, and which he can then swing around, gaining momentum and damaging enemies in his path, and release at any time. He can execute a ''Piledriver'' that slams his mech into the ground, damaging and launching nearby enemies into the air. Hammond's ultimate is ''Minefield,'' which deploys a number of proximity mines around him that damage opponents. Hammond, previously known as "Specimen 8", had been among the genetically engineered animals who resided at the Horizon facility on the Moon when the gorillas led an uprising against the human scientists. Having displayed an ability to regularly escape from his enclosure, as well as a self-taught aptitude for mechanics, Hammond constructed a capsule attached to the scratch-built rocket built by Winston, and hitched a ride with him when Winston escaped to Earth. His capsule separated from Winston's rocket and landed in the Australian Outback, where he modified the capsule into a combat mech to fight in the Scrapyard arena in Junkertown, earning him the nickname "Wrecking Ball". With his winnings, he upgraded the mech further to escape from the Outback and travel the world. Hammond's first mention in-game was in the "Horizon Lunar Colony" map added in May 2017. Further, with gameplay changes made to the Horizon map released onto the PTR in May 2018, a new room previously blocked had been opened, showing Hammond secretly coordinating his escape from the colony alongside Winston's own plans. The Blizzard ''Overwatch'' social media accounts also began teasing a new hero starting in late June 2018. He was formally announced as the game's 28th hero on June 28, 2018, as well as being playable on the PTR that day. He was added to the full game roster on July 24, 2018. Hammond does not speak, as Kaplan said "that would be completely ridiculous", but his animal noises are voiced by
Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...
, while his mech's computer, voiced by Jonathan Lipow, translates the squeaks to understandable words.


Zarya

Zarya, full name Aleksandra Zaryanova, is a
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...
and soldier. She is armed with a ''Particle Cannon'' that can either emit a continuous beam of energy or launch an energy projectile in an arc. She is also able to project a personal ''Particle Barrier'' onto herself or onto one of her teammates (''Projected Barrier''), and soaking up damage with these barriers raises the power of her own attacks proportionally. Zarya's ultimate ability, ''Graviton Surge'', forms a gravity well that pulls enemies in and damages them, leaving them open to other attacks. In her fictional backstory, Aleksandra Zaryanova's village in
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
was on the front lines of the Omnic Crisis, which devastated the region. As she grew older, she swore to gain the strength to protect her people and homeland. She became a bodybuilder and weightlifter, expected to break a number of records in the world championships, but the dormant omnium in Siberia awakened on the eve of the tournament, and she withdrew from the competition to join the local defense forces. Zarya was initially conceived of by artist Arnold Tsang after watching a weightlifting competition. He recognized that the body shape of weightlifters was non-standard but would make for a great, tough female hero. Zarya was the second ''Overwatch'' hero added to ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bli ...
''. Zarya is voiced by Dolya Gavanski.


Damage heroes

Damage heroes are those that have the largest capacity to deal damage to enemy players, and tend to be able to move quickly around the map. However, they can be more vulnerable to attacks from the other team with lower hit points than other roles.


Ashe

Ashe, full name Elizabeth Caledonia "Calamity" Ashe, is an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
gunslinger and leader of the Deadlock Gang, a band of arms-trafficking outlaws based in Arizona. Her main weapon is ''The Viper'', a
lever action The toggle-link action used in the iconic Winchester Model 1873 rifle, one of the most famous lever-action firearms Lever-action is a type of action for repeating firearms that uses a manually operated cocking handle located around the trigger g ...
repeating rifle A repeating rifle is a single- barreled rifle capable of repeated discharges between each ammunition reloads. This is typically achieved by having multiple cartridges stored in a magazine (within or attached to the gun) and then fed individually i ...
that can be used for short-ranged quick fire or sighted long shots. She also carries a ''
Coach gun A coach gun is a modern term, coined by gun collectors, for a double-barreled shotgun, generally with barrels from in length, placed side-by-side. These weapons were known as "cut-down shotguns" or "messenger's guns" from the use of such shot ...
'' which can knock enemies back and propel her up or away from obstacles as well as enable limited
rocket jumping In shooter games, rocket jumping is the technique of using the knockback of an explosive weapon, most often a rocket launcher, to launch the shooter into the air. The aim of this technique is to reach heights and distances that standard character mo ...
, and can throw ''
Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...
'' bundles that detonate after a short delay or immediately when shot with her rifle, setting opponents on fire. Her ultimate ability summons ''B.O.B.'', her Omnic butler/bodyguard, who charges forward to knock enemies into the air before laying down suppressive fire with his built-in arm cannons. Unlike deployable assets from other heroes, such as Torbjörn's turrets, B.O.B. serves as a temporary seventh player on the team until his health is exhausted, and thus is able to capture or challenge objectives, and can be healed by allies. Born into a wealthy family with connections to the world's top CEOs, Ashe was largely neglected by her parents and left in the care of their omnic butler, B.O.B. She was regularly involved in fights at school, and also in petty crime. It was a chance meeting with a local ruffian named Cole Cassidy, a string of crimes they committed together, and a desire to make her own "family" that led her to embrace the path of the outlaw, and she was one of the four original founders of the Deadlock Gang. Spurred by Ashe's increasingly larger heists, the Deadlock Gang's quick rise to prominence resulted in violent conflicts with the other criminal organizations in the American Southwest. After years of fighting, Ashe summoned the heads of the other major groups and used her business acumen, learned from her mostly-absent parents, to convince them that they could work better, if not together, then at least not against one another, so long as they kept their word, did not work with law enforcement, respected one another's territory, and punished any sort of betrayal. No longer having to focus on squabbles with other gangs, Ashe continued to build on her reputation, earning her a place at the top of the authorities' most wanted lists. Blizzard considered Ashe a "unicorn" character in that her route from conception to implementation was straightforward, a rarity from their past experience. They wanted to create a female gunslinger, but needed to differentiate her from either Cassidy or Reaper, and some initial designs felt too goth-like. They settled on a mix of a biker and a cowboy. A similar streamlined experience was found with B.O.B., having been already drawn into the storyboard for the animated short "Reunion" and became an internal favorite to bring into the game, and only required translating his design into the game. One difficulty faced by the team was how to implement and optimize B.O.B., since he is treated as another teammate while on the field, impacting the game's memory and performance. Ashe was introduced as the 29th hero in the animated short ''Reunion'', shown at
BlizzCon BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', '' Diablo'', '' Hearthstone'', ''Heroes of the Storm,'' and ''Overwatch''. The first BlizzCon was hel ...
on November 2, 2018, and was available to play on the PTR on November 5. She was added to the main game for all players on November 13, 2018, and to competitive play on November 27, 2018. She is voiced by veteran voice actress
Jennifer Hale Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-American voice actress. She is best known for her work in video game franchises such as ''Baldur's Gate'', '' Mass Effect'', '' Metal Gear Solid'', '' BioShock Infinite'', '' Metroid Prime'', ''Overwatch'', and '' Sta ...
.


Bastion

Bastion is a combat robot-turned-explorer. In ''Overwatch'', it could ''Reconfigure'' between a mobile form outfitted with a submachine gun (''Configuration: Recon'') and a stationary form equipped with a
Gatling gun The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon. The Gatling gun's operation centered on a cyc ...
(''Configuration: Sentry''). It also had the ability to ''Self-Repair'' and quickly regain lost health, and its ''Ironclad'' passive reduced damage taken. Its ultimate ability was ''Configuration: Tank'', which allowed it to roll on treads and fire explosive rounds from a smooth-bore cannon for a short period of time. Bastion underwent a major rework for ''Overwatch 2'', losing the Tank reconfiguration in favor of an artillery form that can bomb three locations on the current map. It lost the Self-Repair ability, instead gaining the ability to launch grenades as alternative fire. Its sentry form is now mobile, with a main gun that has more range and less spread, but it is also a temporary transformation with a cooldown. Bastion is a SST Laboratories Siege Automaton E54, a battle automaton originally designed for peacekeeping purposes; during the Omnic Crisis, they were deployed against their human makers becoming a symbol of the horrors of the war. Bastion was severely damaged in the field near the German village of Eichenwalde in the
Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
during the final days of the war, and was left dormant and exposed to the elements. For more than a decade, it became overgrown with plant life and the nests of small animals, until it unexpectedly reactivated. It had developed a fascination with nature, but its combat programming still took over whenever it encountered anything it perceived as a threat. Due to conflicts with fearful humans, Bastion largely avoids populated areas in favor of exploring the wild. It is usually accompanied by a small bird named Ganymede, who was building a nest on it when it reactivated, and both humanizes Bastion and makes it relatable. Bastion is the focus of the animated short ''The Last Bastion'', showing the moments when Ganymede inadvertently reactivated it. Bastion was also the first character to be made available in
Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...
form through official collaboration between Blizzard and
The Lego Group Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aroun ...
. A limited-time event in 2019 allowed players the opportunity to earn a Bastion skin based on the Lego version. Bastion is voiced by Chris Metzen.


Cassidy

Cole Cassidy is an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...
and vigilante with a cybernetic arm and a
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
motif. He carries his ''Peacekeeper''
six-shooter A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six r ...
, with its primary fire that can shoot single shots with high accuracy at moderate range, and its alternate fire allowing him to ''Fan the Hammer'' to quickly unload any remaining ammo at close range in rapid fire with some loss of accuracy. He can quickly dodge attacks using his ''Combat Roll'' ability which also instantly reloads his
revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
. In ''Overwatch'' he could throw a '' Flashbang'' grenade a short distance which stunned enemies and interrupted their abilities. In ''Overwatch 2'', the Flashbang ability was replaced with a short-range Magnetic Grenade that deals high damage on a direct hit, but no longer stuns the enemy. Cassidy's ultimate ability is ''Deadeye'', which allows him to line up shots on every enemy in his sight, with resulting damage proportional to the time spent aiming. In ''Overwatch'', Cassidy was considered one of the easiest characters to learn, enabled by the Flashbang/Fan the Hammer combo which could kill most low- to mid-health opponents in one shot. In the ''Overwatch'' narrative, Cassidy came from
Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...
, and is a former member of the Deadlock Gang, a group of traffickers in military hardware operating in the
American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...
. He and his fellows were captured in an Overwatch sting operation, and he was given a choice: prison, or serving in Blackwatch, the
black ops A black operation or black op is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it i ...
division of Overwatch. He chose the latter, believing he could make amends for his past crimes, and revelling in the lack of bureaucratic oversight. When Overwatch began to collapse and Blackwatch sought to reform it to its own ends, Cassidy went underground, resurfacing years later as a gunslinger for hire. Cassidy was one of the few characters developed for the game based on a
stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
, often compared to the
Man with No Name The Man with No Name ( it, Uomo senza nome) is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "''Dollars Trilogy''" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), ...
, but they developed his character and narratives to embrace that stereotype. The visual appearance of Cassidy came about based on a ''
StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...
'' tie-in game that the ''Overwatch'' team, following the cancellation of '' Titan'', has considered before settling on ''Overwatch''. Blizzard wanted Cassidy to be a hero strong against agile opponents and to counter close-range abilities, according to Geoff Goodman. To achieve this, Cassidy has seen a confusing sequence of buffs and nerfs in the months after the game's initial release, which led some to jokingly call him "the most indecisive character" of the game. Initially, his burst damage output and versatility on all ranges made him a popular pick in almost any situation, but after numerous tweaks, he lost his main role of a tank killer and became a somewhat ambiguous anti-flanker with additional long-range capability. When these updates were made, Kaplan said that they were necessary to bring more in line with their vision for Cassidy's role, saying that "We want assidyto be a counter to people like Tracer, Genji and Reaper. What we're not crazy about, right now, is the way in which assidycan absolutely shred tanks." The character was originally named Jesse McCree when ''Overwatch'' first launched, named after former Blizzard staff member Jesse McCree. In the wake of the July 2021 lawsuit filed by California's Department of Fair Employment against Activision Blizzard related to workplace misconduct and discrimination against female employees, Jesse McCree was confirmed to be no longer working for the company after he had been connected to some of the alleged behavior. In the weeks that followed, during
Overwatch League The Overwatch League (OWL) is a professional esports league for the video game ''Overwatch'', produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. The Overwatch League follows the model of other traditional North American professional sporting lea ...
broadcasts, announcers opted to use "the cowboy" instead of "McCree" when calling matches. Blizzard confirmed in late August 2021 that they will rename McCree "to something that better represents what ''Overwatch'' stands for", though will need to review their narrative state before deciding on a new name, as well as alternating plans for release content to make this change. Blizzard announced that with an October 2021 patch, the McCree name would be removed and replaced with Cassidy. Blizzard stated "We know that actions speak louder than words, and we hope to show you our commitment to making Overwatch a better experience in-game and continue to make our team the best it can be." One of ''Overwatch'' character-specific events had been planned for McCree but was pushed back at the onset of legal action, and later ran as "Cole Cassidy's New Blood Challenge" in November 2021, featuring a new digital comic that spoke to Cassidy finding a new identity for himself. Cassidy is voiced by
Matthew Mercer Matthew Christopher Miller (born June 29, 1982), better known as Matthew Mercer, is an American voice actor. He is best known for his work with Studiopolis, Funimation, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Viz Media, and NYAV Post in anime, cartoons, and ...
.


Echo

Echo is a female Omnic created by Dr. Mina Liao after the Omnic Crisis. Her primary attack is a ''Tri-Shot'' that is a set of three projectiles at a time, and she can fire a ''Sticky Bomb'' that does initial damage on striking a target and then after a short time explodes that does damage in a small area. She also has a ''Focusing Beam'' that damages a target in the beam, with damage intensified for targets that are below half-health, including barriers. She also has a ''Flight'' ability that can launch her into the air, and her ''Glide'' passive ability allows her to hover and descend at a controlled rate with good horizontal control. Her ultimate ability is ''Duplicate'', which allows Echo to take the appearance and ability of any Hero on the opposing team (save for Echo) for 15 seconds, with an accelerated ultimate gain rate. Dr. Liao was one of the scientists that had created the Omnics while part of the Omnica Corporation, and who had joined the newly-found Overwatch to deal with the Omnic Crisis. She had created Echo as part of the Echo Project as a more benevolent artificial intelligence to try to overcome her guilt for creating the more harmful Omnics, hoping that AI could be used to save humanity. An attack on Overwatch headquarters killed Dr. Liao. Echo took on part of Dr. Liao's personality, and thus became "her promise, her legacy, her Echo". Echo was the 32nd Hero to be introduced to ''Overwatch'' in March 2020. She started as a planned character for ''Titan'', though initially was more functional and less human-like, with her more human appearance coming about by the fourth iteration of her design. Her design had always been very light and elegant, so she was envisioned to be a support character at the start. But once they established the character's name as Echo, implying what her abilities may be including her Duplicate ultimate, this made the choice of a support role a poor one, as during the use of Duplicate her teammates would not have her normal support abilities. By making her a damage hero, this did not interfere with the team's support roles, nor overlapped extensively with Pharah, an existing flying hero who does not have as significant control over her flying movements as Echo. Prior to her announcement, Echo had also appeared in the animated short ''Reunion'', released alongside Ashe's reveal as the 29th hero. Ashe attempts to steal her while she is in a state of hibernation, but she is rescued by Cassidy. When reactivated, Cassidy informs her of Winston's recall of Overwatch agents. She was also shown in the teaser cinematic for ''Overwatch 2'', joining Winston's recall of other Overwatch members to fight new threats. At the time of the ''Overwatch 2'' reveal, Kaplan stated Blizzard planned to introduce Echo as a playable hero at some point in the future. Echo was announced on March 18, 2020, available to players on the PTR the following day, and unlocked for all players on April 14, 2020. Kaplan anticipated that Echo would be the last character to be added to ''Overwatch'' roster until the release of ''Overwatch 2''. Echo is voiced by Jeannie Bolet.


Genji

Genji Shimada is a
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.
ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...
. His main attack method is to throw three ''
Shurikens A ''shuriken'' ( ja, 手裏剣; literally: "hidden hand blade") is a Japanese concealed weapon that was used as a hidden dagger or metsubushi to distract or misdirect. They are also known as throwing stars, or ninja stars, although they were ...
'', either in quick succession or simultaneously in a horizontal spread. His abilities are ''Swift Strike'', a quick dashing lunge with good range, and ''Deflect'', a defensive stance that briefly ricochets projectiles back at enemies with his
wakizashi The is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (''nihontō'') worn by the samurai in feudal Japan. History and use The production of swords in Japan is divided into specific time periods:
. His ''Cyber-Agility'' allows him to double-jump and run up walls. Genji's ultimate ability is ''Dragonblade'', during which Genji unsheathes the odachi on his back and delivers powerful, sweeping melee attacks to any targets within reach for a limited amount of time. In his origin story, Genji transforms from a slacker to a superhero. His family—the Japanese Shimada crime family—ordered his eldest brother Hanzo to kill Genji for his selfish and hedonistic behavior (as shown in the short ''Dragons'' and referenced in-game Hanamura map by a shrine devoted to Genji). Before he could die, Overwatch found him and their chief doctor, Mercy, restored Genji as a cyborg. After quelling the rogue artificial intelligence in the first Omnic Crisis, Genji left the Overwatch team to find peace with his new body, mentored by the Omnic Shambali monk Zenyatta. When Winston reactivates Overwatch years after the first Omnic Crisis, Genji is one of the first to return. He later appeared in ''Hanamura Showdown,'' a non-canon cinematic trailer for ''Heroes of the Storm'' 2.0. Genji also appeared in the animated short ''Zero Hour,'' which functioned as announcement cinematic for ''
Overwatch 2 ''Overwatch 2'' is a 2022 first-person shooter by Blizzard Entertainment. As a sequel to the 2016 hero shooter ''Overwatch'', the game intends a shared environment for player-versus-player (PvP) modes while introducing persistent cooperative ...
.'' Originally, Genji and his brother Hanzo were designed as one character. However, Blizzard Entertainment thought this arrow-firing, shuriken-tossing, and katana-wielding character was too complex, therefore splitting it into two different characters. Hanzo kept the name of the original character, as well as the general aesthetic of that character. The story and relationship between the two brothers were inspired by a documentary film titled ''
Jiro Dreams of Sushi ''Jiro Dreams of Sushi'' is a 2011 Japanese-language American documentary film directed by David Gelb. The film follows , an 85-year-old sushi master and owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, previously a Michelin three-star restaurant. Sukiyabashi Jiro ...
'', in which the older brother had to inherit the restaurant and carry on his father's legacy, while the younger brother had more free will. Gameplay-wise, Genji is a flanker and an infiltrator optimized for one-on-one fights. Genji's ''Deflect'' ability can counter many enemy ultimate abilities. While some characters function best when paired with specific teammates, Genji works best in isolation. Genji is strong against turrets like Bastion and those of Torbjörn, and is effective at flanking snipers. Genji is vulnerable against characters with energy weapons that bypass his deflection, such as Symmetra, Winston, and Zarya. Genji's agile, melee-oriented playstyle is said to be difficult to learn, yet is popular among new players who like his ninja design. A vocal minority of players began to complain about Genji's balance with other characters in August 2016, as team strategies came to be centered around his rediscovered abilities when the abilities of other offensive characters were reduced. Later that month, Blizzard rebalanced Genji by reducing the power of his abilities. At the end of 2016, Blizzard offered a special "
oni An is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. Oni are mostly known for their fierce and evil nature manifested in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. Notwithstanding their evil reputation, oni possess ...
" character skin as a promotion for players who also played the company's
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that im ...
game ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bli ...
''. Genji was added as one of the heroes in ''Heroes of the Storm'' on April 25, 2017. Genji is voiced by Gaku Space.


Hanzo

Hanzo Shimada is a
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
archer, assassin and mercenary. He wields the ''Storm Bow'' and is equipped with specialized arrows, including ''Sonic Arrows'' to detect enemies and ''Storm Arrows'' to fire five weaker shots in rapid succession. He is also able to ''Wall Climb'', enabling him to reach vantage points, and ''Lunge'' forward while in mid-air. His ultimate ability is ''Dragonstrike'', in which he unleashes a spiraling spirit dragon that can travel through obstacles to deal damage in a straight line. Hanzo is the elder brother of Genji, and the heir to the head of the Shimada clan. He was trained from an early age to take over the clan, becoming a skilled warrior and marksman, as well as a strategist. When his father died, Hanzo was directed by the clan elders to bring Genji into line; and when Genji refused, the two brothers battled, resulting in what appeared to be Genji's death. Guilty and grief-stricken, Hanzo abandoned the clan and traveled the world in an effort to restore his honor. Hanzo is the focus of the animated short ''Dragons'', where he visits his family's castle on the anniversary of his duel with Genji, leaving offerings at the castle shrine to honor Genji's memory. Originally, Hanzo had an ability called ''Scatter Arrows'', an arrow that split into multiple arrows that could ricochet off the environment and hit targets around corners. Players grew to find this ability cheap since it, if well-placed, could take out even Tank characters with a single shot. Blizzard addressed this with a rework update that replaced the ability with the above ''Storm Arrows'' and ''Lunge'' abilities, which went live in May 2018. Hanzo appears as a playable hero in ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bli ...
.'' Hanzo is voiced by
Paul Nakauchi Paul Nakauchi is an American actor known for voicing Hanzo Shimada in ''Overwatch'' (2016) and Shadowsan in ''Carmen Sandiego'' (2019). Career In the 1990s, he guest starred in ''Knots Landing'', ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (in the episode " ...
.


Junkrat

Junkrat, real name Jamison Fawkes, is an
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...
scavenger, mercenary and
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
. He carries a '' Frag Launcher'' that fires grenades and employs '' Steel Traps'' and remote-detonated ''Concussion Mines''; when he is killed, several primed grenades are released from his body in a final attempt to get back at the attacker (''Total Mayhem''). Junkrat's ultimate ability is ''RIP-Tire'', a self-propelled truck wheel loaded with explosives that he's able to manually steer and detonate. Junkrat was developed by Blizzard to balance out against Torbjorn's turrets. After the Omnic Crisis, an "omnium" – an A.I. controller that directs omnics as part of a hive mind – was destroyed in the
Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...
, turning it into an irradiated wasteland. Living in the ruins are the Junkers, a group of scavengers and mercenaries; Jamison Fawkes was among their numbers. The effects of the radiation awakened a sense of madness which soon developed into
pyromania Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'fi ...
. In the heart of the destroyed omnium, Junkrat found a valuable secret, making him the target of bounty hunters and rival gangs. He made a deal with the Junker enforcer Roadhog, who agreed to become his personal bodyguard in return for a 50-50 share of the profits from their finds. His loud personality often drives him into trouble, one of them is by blowing away their deception when attempting a Trojan-horse plan to get revenge on the Queen of Junkertown after banishing him and Roadhog from her dominion. Junkrat appears as a playable hero in ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bli ...
.'' Junkrat is voiced by
Chris Parson Christopher L. Parson is an American voice actor and a 2001 graduate of the USC School of Cinema Television (now USC School of Cinematic Arts). Career Parson began his career working primarily as an assistant in talent management while still a s ...
.


Mei

Mei, full name Mei-Ling Zhou (), is a
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
climatologist Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of study ...
and adventurer from
Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...
. She wields an ''Endothermic Blaster'' that can either freeze enemies in place with a short-range spray or shoot a long-range icicle projectile, and she can also use it to ''Cryo-Freeze'' herself in a solid ice block to shield herself from damage and heal injuries, as well as erect ''Ice Walls'' with many versatile uses, primarily for blocking the enemies. Her ultimate ability is ''Blizzard'', which calls down Snowball, her personal weather modification drone, to freeze all enemies in a wide radius. Mei was employed by Overwatch to help discover the cause for the planet's changing climate, which had been variously blamed on industry, the increasing Omnic population, and increased consumption of natural resources. While deployed at an Overwatch research base in
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
, Mei and the other scientists there were trapped by a polar storm that damaged the facility. Lacking sufficient resources to wait for a rescue, they decided to enter cryostasis. But the pods malfunctioned, and Mei was the only survivor when she was found close to a decade later; by that time, Overwatch had disbanded, and all of the bases set up to monitor the climate crisis had stopped functioning. Mei elected to carry on the work alone, accompanied by Snowball. As she restores the base's communication system, she hears Winston's recall for Overwatch, and sets off with Snowball to make her way back to society, joining Winston and Tracer on the first mission to fight the Null Sector off in Paris. Mei is the focus of the animated short ''Rise and Shine'', showing the moments after she awakened from cryostasis and had to find a way to call for help. She was added as a playable hero in ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bli ...
'' in June 2020. Mei is voiced by Yu "Elise" Zhang.


Pharah

Pharah, real name Fareeha Amari (), is an
Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
security officer. She wears the Raptora Mark VI, a
jetpack A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. ...
-equipped combat suit, and wields a '' Rocket Launcher'' as her primary weapon. She has a Wedjat (
Eye of Horus The Eye of Horus, ''wedjat'' eye or ''udjat'' eye is a concept and symbol in ancient Egyptian religion that represents well-being, healing, and protection. It derives from the mythical conflict between the god Horus with his rival Set, in wh ...
) tattoo around her right eye. Her abilities are ''Concussive Blast'', a rocket with powerful knockback but no damage, and ''Jump Jets'', a quick jetpack-assisted vertical ascension comparable to a
rocket jump In shooter games, rocket jumping is the technique of using the knockback of an explosive weapon, most often a rocket launcher, to launch the shooter into the air. The aim of this technique is to reach heights and distances that standard character m ...
. Her passive ability allows her to ''Hover'' in the air, which is paired well with her Jump Jets ability. Pharah's ultimate ability is ''Barrage'', where she fires a continuous stream of small air-to-ground rockets at targets, while she is frozen still in place. Fareeha Amari is the daughter of Ana Amari, one of the founding members of Overwatch. She served as an officer in the Egyptian Army and aspired to follow in her mother's footsteps, but Overwatch was disbanded before she could join its ranks. After leaving the army, Pharah took a job with Helix Security International, a private security firm contracted to protect an
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
facility below the
Giza Plateau The Giza Plateau ( ar, هضبة الجيزة) is a plateau in Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, site of the Fourth Dynasty Giza Necropolis, which includes the Great Pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, the Great Sphinx, several cemete ...
. Pharah is a solid attacker able to consistently maintain pressure on the enemy team. Her rocket launcher allows her to hold chokepoints or lay out suppressive fire onto objectives both in offense and defense, and her vertical agility renders her out of reach for characters reliant on close-range fighting. Her ''Concussion Blast'' disrupts enemy formations, and in the hands of a skilled player it can be used to score environmental kills. Pharah is a good match with Mercy, whose ''Guardian Angel'' ability allows both of them to fly alongside each other; this tactic is often called "Pharmercy". Pharah is vulnerable against long-range oriented characters, especially those wielding
hitscan Hitscan in video game design, most commonly in first-person shooters, is a type of hit registration system that determines whether an object has been hit or not simply by scanning if the item used was aimed directly at its target and then applie ...
weapons, such as Widowmaker or Cassidy. Pharah is voiced by Jen Cohn.


Reaper

Reaper, real name Gabriel Reyes, is an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
mercenary and terrorist, originally a founding member of Overwatch, now a leading member of Talon. He is attired in a black hooded trenchcoat with a white skull mask and wields twin ''Hellfire Shotguns''. His abilities are ''Shadow Step'', a medium-range line of sight teleport, and ''Wraith Form'', a brief period of invincibility and speed increase. He was able to heal himself by consuming the souls of fallen enemies, visible as red burning "Soul Globes" on the ground but later was changed to a passive ability called ''The Reaping'' which allows him to steal a 30% heal from the damage he deals. Reaper's ultimate ability is ''Death Blossom'', a twin shotgun
gun kata ''Gun fu'', a portmanteau of '' gun'' and ''kung fu'' (also known as gun kata, bullet ballet, and gymnastic gunplay), is a style of sophisticated close-quarters gunfight resembling a martial arts battle that combines firearms with hand-to-hand c ...
which deals massive damage in a short radius around him. Born in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, Gabriel Reyes was a veteran officer of the
United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
who was subjected to a "soldier enhancement program", where he and the other selectees were genetically enhanced to become "perfect soldiers"; Reyes became known as "Soldier: 24". When the United Nations formed Overwatch to combat the Omnic Crisis, Reyes was one of the two men from the program on the shortlist to join up and was initially tapped to lead it. However, he was passed over in favor of his friend Jack Morrison, causing a rift between the two men. Reyes was later named commander of Blackwatch, Overwatch's black ops division, but his jealousy of Morrison (due to Morrison's publicity as the official leader of Overwatch, versus Reyes' secret dealings with Blackwatch) eventually caused Reyes to reveal Blackwatch's existence to the public by murdering a mobster that he was ordered to arrest. This destroyed both organizations and resulted in a battle that destroyed their headquarters in
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Both men were believed dead, but in reality survived, although Reyes's cells are now simultaneously decaying and regenerating, causing his body to fall apart and rebuild itself over and over again. Reyes resurfaced years later as "the Reaper", a mysterious mercenary responsible for terrorist attacks all around the world, having been consumed by his hunger for fame to the point that he no longer cared what he was known for. Through the efforts of rogue geneticist and former Blackwatch member Moira O'Deorain, he has developed the ability to steal life essence from his enemies, and also become incorporeal to avoid harm. His true identity is unknown to the rest of the world, as are his motivations, though a pattern of his movements indicates that he is hunting down former agents of Overwatch. He appears in the cinematic trailer, teamed with Widowmaker in a raid in the Overwatch Museum to steal Doomfist's gauntlet for Talon. He also appears in the animated short ''Recall'', where he raids Winston's lab at
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
to steal his list of Overwatch agents, though he was unsuccessful. Reaper is a flanker/assassin type of character, able to teleport behind enemy lines and attack from the rear to single out targets of importance, before using ''Wraith Form'' to escape. The ability to heal from dealing damage helps him in taking out tanks, due to their large bodies and health pools making it easier for him to heal rapidly. Reaper is vulnerable while executing his ''Death Blossom'', so proper usage of it relies heavily on the element on surprise, taking enemies out with its massive damage output before they get the chance to react. Reaper is voiced by Keith Ferguson.


Soldier: 76

Soldier: 76, real name Jack Francis Morrison, is an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
soldier-turned-vigilante and a founding member of Overwatch. He wears a facemask with a visor and carries an experimental ''Heavy Pulse Rifle'' equipped with an underbarrel launcher that fires three ''Helix Rockets''. His abilities are ''Sprint'', a forward run with no duration limit or cooldown, and ''Biotic Field'', a deployable device which regenerates the health of allies in the immediate vicinity. His ultimate ability, ''Tactical Visor'', puts up a
head-up display A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...
that allows his rifle to automatically track enemies in his line of sight for a brief period. Soldier: 76 was originally developed by ''Overwatch''s creative director Chris Metzen in the early 2000s for a comic story used in ''
Digital Webbing Digital Webbing is an American comic book publishing company founded by Ed Dukeshire. Soldier: 76 was the most popular offense character during the game's open beta. He was conceived as a "gateway hero" to help players that are used to modern shooters ease into the game. Soldier: 76 is voiced by
Fred Tatasciore Fred Tatasciore (; ) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk and Beast (comics), Beast in various Marvel media and Solomon Grundy ( ...
.


Sombra

Sombra, real name Olivia Colomar, is a Mexican
hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
and infiltrator. She is equipped with a low-damage, high-capacity ''
Machine Pistol A machine pistol is an autoloading pistol capable of fully automatic fire. The term can also be used to describe a stockless handgun-style submachine gun. The term is a calque of ''Maschinenpistole'', the German word for submachine guns. Machine ...
'' for short range combat. Her trademark ability allows her to ''Hack'' enemies, turrets or neutral health kits. Hacked enemies cannot use their abilities, hacked turrets are disabled, and hacked health kits respawn faster and become unusable to the enemy team. Sombra also has ''Thermoptic Camo'' that gives her invisibility paired with a speed boost, and can throw down a ''Translocator'' beacon that she can later teleport to. Her passive ability, ''Opportunist'', enables her to track enemies that are low on health, even through walls. Sombra's ultimate ability is '' EMP'', an electromagnetic shockwave that hacks all enemies around her, as well as disabling their barriers and shields and displaying if they have fully charged ultimates. In the ''Overwatch'' narrative, Sombra had been orphaned at an early age but quickly discovered her natural gift for hacking. She initially used it as part of the Los Muertos gang that fought against a corrupt Mexican government. Over the years her hacking expanded to other global corporations and powers, managing to keep her identity secret. She was eventually discovered by a mysterious organization that forced her into hiding, destroying all records of her existence. She augmented her body with cybernetic attachments to help her hack, and joined the criminal organization Talon to discover the identity of the organization that uncovered her. Sombra was introduced into ''Overwatch'' through
alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...
(ARG) starting as early as the game's open beta, as to give "an idea of who she is and a little bit of her personality before we even unveiled her", according to Blizzard's lead hero designer Geoff Goodman. Sombra is the focus of the animated short ''Infiltration'', where she infiltrates the Volskaya Industries complex alongside Reaper and Widowmaker to assassinate the head executive. Sombra is voiced by Carolina Ravassa.


Sojourn

Sojourn, real name Vivian Chase, is an
Afro-Canadian Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though ...
soldier who serves as a captain within the Overwatch team. She has cybernetic implants in her head, as well as a cybernetic arm that transforms into a rail gun. Her primary weapon is a machine gun that build up energy over time, which then can be unleashed as a railgun shot through its secondary fire. She can launch an area-of-effect ''Disruptor Shot'' that traps and drains enemies while building her railgun energy. She can perform a ''Power Slide'' that can be used to finish into a high jump. Her Ultimate is ''Overclock'' which continually recharges her railgun and makes its shots piercing. Prior to her introduction as a hero to arrive with ''Overwatch 2'', she had only been seen through communication channels within the game, specifically serving as the mission commander for the "Storm Rising" co-operative event, or in the animated media, such as the short ''Recall''. According to Kaplan, Sojourn had been a character in development for the game since ''Overwatch''s inception around the same time as Wrecking Ball, around 2014, but did not say at the time whether she will be released as a playable character. According to lead hero designer Geoff Goodman, one difficulty they had in tuning Sojourn's kit was her railgun, as effectively it was similar in capabilities to Widowmaker's sniper rifle but without the cooldown making it overpowered, and eventually found a means to balance these factors. Sojourn was introduced as a playable hero with the first public beta of ''Overwatch 2'' in April 2022. According to lore, Sojourn had worked with Overwatch commander Jack Morrison during the Omnic War, which led to her joining with Overwatch, where she either commanded agents or provided long-range cover for field teams. Sojourn is voiced by Cherise Boothe.


Symmetra

Symmetra, real name Satya Vaswani, is an
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
. She wields a ''Photon Projector'' that emits a short-ranged beam that does more damage the longer it remains on an opponent. Her primary fire will charge her ammo instead of using it, making her a good counter to barriers. It can also be used to charge up and launch a slow-moving ball of energy in a straight line. She can fire up to three ''Sentry Turrets'' that attach to any surface they touch, and which damage opponents in close range. She has a ''Teleporter'' skill that allows her to place the entrance and exits points of a warp tunnel that has an infinite duration, through which teammates and certain projectiles and weapons can travel through, until the teleporter is recalled by Symmetra or destroyed by an enemy. Her ultimate ability is a ''Photon Barrier'', a powerful energy barrier that blocks opponents' fire, and large enough to cut through the entire map. The Vishkar Corporation, based in southern India, created hard light technology that allowed it to build cities, and trained its elite "architechs" - equal parts architect and engineer - to bend the hard light into any shape needed for that purpose; with this technology, they built the city of Utopaea to serve as their base. Satya Vaswani's potential was discovered at a young age, and she was taken from a life of poverty to train at Vishkar's architect academy in Utopaea. Becoming one of the top students in her class, she combined the light-bending technology with the traditional dances of her homeland. Given the name "Symmetra", Vishkar dispatched her on clandestine missions around the world to oversee their corporate interests. Kaplan also stated that Symmetra was on the autistic spectrum. Symmetra initially was defined as a support character, and was one of the more infrequently-selected characters across all game modes during the game's first two years, due to her not being considered a fun character to play and maintaining her support abilities was considered "chore-like". Blizzard has been working to revitalize the character since launch, revamping her skill kit twice in December 2016 and later in July 2018 to make her more amenable for players. Prior abilities, since removed, include the ability to give each player individual shields as well as a ranged shield projector that served as her ultimate, and a teleporter ultimate that would appear between her current position and the current spawn room for her team allowing players to quickly return to battle. Her ''Photon Projector'' also used to automatically lock onto opponents and its alternative fire used to travel through barriers and players. The July 2018 rework moved Symmetra from a support to a damage hero, better reflecting her intended function in a team composition according to Blizzard. Symmetra is voiced by
Anjali Bhimani Anjali Bhimani (born August 30, 1974 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Symmetra in the video game ''Overwatch'' and Rampart in the video game ''Apex Legends''. Early life Bhimani was born in Cleveland, O ...
.


Torbjörn

Torbjörn Lindholm is a dwarfish
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
and weapons designer, and a founding member of Overwatch. His armor comes equipped with a mobile forge, and he carries a ''Rivet Gun'' that shoots molten slag and a ''Forge Hammer'' for construction and melee attacks. His ''Deploy Turret'' allows him to toss a turret a short distance away, which will then self-deploy before targeting and firing on any opponent in its sights. His ''Overload'' ability briefly increases his armor, and improves his speed and attack attributes for a short amount of time. His ultimate ability ''Molten Core'' allows him to shoot several globs of molten metal on the ground, which damages any opponent that stands in it. Torbjörn believes that technology should serve a better vision for humanity, putting him at odds with his employers, who wanted to control the weapons with artificial intelligence. His deep-seated fear of sentient machines, dismissed at first as paranoia, became reality during the Omnic Crisis, during which he was recruited by Overwatch. His engineering knowledge proved invaluable to achieving Overwatch's aim of ending the Omnic Crisis. After Overwatch was disbanded, his weapons were stolen or stashed away, and Torbjörn has set out to ensure they are not used to harm the innocent. While Torbjörn was not the first character created for ''Overwatch'', his design, meant to bridge between ''Warcraft'' and ''Overwatch'', became the baseline for nearly all other asset design for the game. At launch, Torbjörn would have to place a turret and then hammer on it to bring it up to a higher level, while his ultimate ''Molten Core'' would be used to give him a burst of energy and speed as well as briefly upgrading the turret to its highest value. Torbjörn could also collect scrap left by fallen players, when he then could use to make armor pickups for his allies. Lead game designer Geoff Goodman called Torbjörn a "little overly defensive focused", and wanted to make the hero more capable on offense in non-payload map. These new updates were added in an October 2018 patch. Torbjörn is voiced by
Keith Silverstein Keith Silverstein is an American voice actor, known for lending his voice to English Versions of Japanese anime and video games, affiliated with Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Viz Media, Studiopolis and Funimation. He is best known for his roles as ...
.


Tracer

Tracer, real name Lena Oxton, is a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
pilot and adventurer. She wields dual rapid-fire ''Pulse Pistols'', and is equipped with a "chronal accelerator" which grants her the ability to either jump forward in time, crossing many meters in a split second (''Blink'') or rewind three seconds into the past to heal and restore ammunition (''Recall''). Her ultimate ability is ''Pulse Bomb'', an explosive charge that sticks to enemies, exploding after a brief delay for massive damage. Born in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
following the events of the Omnic Crisis, Lena Oxton became the youngest test pilot in Overwatch's experimental flight program, and was tapped to test the "Slipstream", a fighter jet that used teleportation technology. During the test flight, a malfunction caused the craft to vanish and Tracer along with it. She was presumed dead. However, she reappeared months later, though now with a condition preventing her from maintaining a physical form and which caused her to vanish for hours or even days at a time. It was discovered that the accident desynchronized her molecules from time itself, a condition eventually called "chronal disassociation." The enhanced gorilla scientist Winston invented the chronal accelerator to re-synchronize her with the normal flow of time. Tracer was the first Hero developed for the game and used to test the gameplay mechanics. Tracer features in the cinematic trailer, teamed with Winston as she tries to stop Widowmaker and Reaper from taking Doomfist's gauntlet. She also appears in the cinematic short ''Alive'', as she unsuccessfully tries to stop Widowmaker from assassinating the omnic monk Tekhartha Mondatta in London. Tracer is featured on the game's cover art, and is a playable hero in ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bli ...
''. It was revealed in an ''Overwatch'' comic that she identifies as a lesbian. Tracer is voiced by
Cara Theobold Cara Louise Theobold (born 8 January 1990) is an English actress who trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her first acting role was Ivy Stuart in the third and fourth series of television period drama ''Downton Abbey'' and is also ...
.


Widowmaker

Widowmaker, real name Amélie Lacroix, is a French
sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...
and assassin. She wields the ''Widow's Kiss'', a versatile rifle that fires in full automatic at close-range, and can convert into a sniper rifle for long-range kills. She also uses a ''Grappling Hook'' to reach high ledges and ''Venom Mines'' to disable enemies. Her ultimate ability is ''Infra-Sight'', which activates her recon visor to highlight all enemies through walls for her and her team, similar to a
wallhack Cheating in online games is the subversion of the rules or mechanics of online video games to gain an unfair advantage over other players, generally with the use of third-party software. What constitutes cheating is dependent on the game in ...
. Amélie was a ballet dancer and was the wife of Gérard Lacroix, an Overwatch agent heading operations against the terrorist organization known as Talon. When their assassins were unable to get close to Lacroix, they kidnapped Amélie and reprogrammed her as a sleeper agent. She was found and returned home by Overwatch agents, unaware of what had happened; two weeks later, she killed her husband in his sleep. Returning to Talon, she underwent extensive training in the covert arts, and her physiology was altered to slow her heart, turning her skin blue. Her emotional responses numbed by the conditioning, she feels little more than the satisfaction of the kill. Widowmaker appears in the intro cinematic, teamed with Reaper to steal Doomfist's gauntlet from the Overwatch Museum; a boy visiting the museum uses it against her. She is also featured in the animated short ''Alive'', on a mission to assassinate the omnic monk Tekhartha Mondatta, an advocate for peaceful human-omnic relations. Widowmaker was the most popular defense character during the game's open beta. Widowmaker is voiced by
Chloé Hollings Chloé Hollings is a French-born Australian voice actress. She is internationally best known for voicing the character Widowmaker in the video game ''Overwatch'' (2016) in both English and French. Early life Chloé Hollings was born on April ...
.


Support heroes

Support heroes typically lack any significant offensive abilities and instead provide support for their teammates, most often in the form of healing or other buffs. They may also be able to apply debuffs to the opposing team, making them more prone to attack. Support heroes tend to have the fewest hit points but also can self-regenerate their health at times.


Ana

Ana Amari () is an
Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
sniper and bounty hunter, and one of the founding members of Overwatch. She wields a ''Biotic Rifle'' loaded with smart darts that damage enemies and heal allies, as well as a sidearm that fires ''Sleep Darts''. She also carries ''Biotic Grenades'' that disable enemy healing and boost ally healing. Her ultimate ability is ''Nano Boost'', which grants an attack and defense boost to a teammate hero. Hailing from
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, Ana Amari was considered the best sniper in the world, and rushed in to support the unprepared Egyptian defense forces during the Omnic Crisis. Her marksmanship and her critical decision-making skills led to her being recruited by Overwatch, and she served for many years as Jack Morrison's second-in-command during the conflict, while trying to be a mother to her daughter, Fareeha. Even with her command responsibility, Ana refused to give up going on combat missions. Remaining in service well into her fifties, Ana was believed to have been killed by Widowmaker during a hostage rescue; when Ana hesitated to make the kill shot, realizing that her target had in fact been her friend Amélie Lacroix, Widowmaker shot her through her rifle's lens, destroying her right eye, then proceeded to kill the hostages. Though Ana survived, Overwatch soon disbanded. Initially choosing to remain out of combat as the world became embroiled in conflict, Ana realized she could not remain on the sidelines, and has rejoined the battle to protect her homeland. Ana had already been part of the narrative of ''Overwatch'' from the creation of the Pharah character, according to Blizzard's lead writer Michael Chu; they wanted Pharah's parents to be important characters of the Overwatch group that would influence Pharah, and Ana had been established as a sniper in Pharah's story. When they started brainstorming new playable heroes, the idea of an
alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...
was raised, leading to the concept of a "skill-based support healer", according to Chu. This led to them to consider making Ana this new playable character, as these support sniper skills would contrast well against those of the already-established character of Widowmaker. Ana was the first character to be added to ''Overwatch'' following its launch; she was announced and available to play on the Public Test regions on July 12, 2016, and was playable by all PC and console players on July 19, 2016. In January 2019, Blizzard published a short story "Bastet" that focused on Ana and her relationship with Soldier: 76. The story was written by Michael Chu and illustrated by Arnold Tsang. Alongside this, Blizzard ran the first of a mini-event, a two-week long "Ana's Bastet Challenge" that awarded players that won a number of games across any mode, or watched designated Twitch streams with cosmetics related to this story. Ana appears as a playable hero in ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bli ...
.'' Ana is voiced by Aysha Selim.


Baptiste

Baptiste, full name Jean-Baptiste Augustin, is a Haitian
combat medic A combat medic, or healthcare specialist, is responsible for providing emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury ...
and former operative of Talon. His main weapon is a ''Medic SMG'', a
submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...
alongside a secondary ''Biotic Launcher'' that fires projectiles that heal allies in their area of effect. As a passive ability, Baptiste's ''Exo Boots'' allow him to jump higher after crouching. His active abilities includes a ''Regenerative Burst'' that heals himself and nearby allies over a short period of time, and an ''Immortality Field'' device that prevents teammates from dying while in range, but the device itself can be destroyed prematurely. His ultimate is an ''Amplification Matrix'' that increases damage and healing effects of allies' shots that pass through it. Originally from Tortuga, Baptiste was among the thirty million children orphaned by the Omnic Crisis. He enlisted in the military of the Caribbean Coalition, an alliance of island nations united by the crisis, as a combat medic, driven by his desire to help others; he would eventually rise to become part of the Coalition's special ops division. After the end of the war, Baptiste struggled to find work until he was recruited by Talon, one of a number of mercenary groups that arose in the aftermath of the crisis. At first, he thrived within Talon, which gave him easy assignments that paid well enough for him to establish a clinic in his hometown. As time went on, however, the missions his unit was sent on became increasingly violent, including assassinations of rivals and operations that involved civilian casualties. Disgusted, Baptiste abandoned Talon and set out to wander the world, offering his aid where he could. Realizing that Baptiste knew too much about their operations, Talon regularly sent assassins, including members of his former unit, to silence him, without success; those few who were able to locate him were never seen again. After approximately a week of teases through their social media sites, Blizzard formally introduced Baptiste as the game's 30th hero with an origin story video on February 25, 2019, and was added to the PTR the following day. Baptiste was made live for all servers on March 19, 2019. In June 2019, Blizzard released "What You Left Behind" a short story about Baptiste's background written by
Alissa Wong Alisa is a female given name, a version of Alice (name), Alice in used in Russia, Finland, Estonia and other countries. Notable people with the names Alisa and Alissa include: Alisa People *Alisa Agafonova (born 1991), Ukrainian former competit ...
and illustrated by
Arnold Tsang Arnold may refer to: People * Arnold (given name), a masculine given name * Arnold (surname), a German and English surname Places Australia * Arnold, Victoria, a small town in the Australian state of Victoria Canada * Arnold, Nova Scotia Uni ...
. Alongside the story, Blizzard ran a mini 2-week "Reunion" event that allowed players to earn skins and other cosmetics related to the story by winning matches across any mode and watching specific Twitch streams. Baptiste is voiced by
Benz Antoine Benz Antoine (born June 22, 1972) is a Haitian-Canadian actor who has made over 100 film and television appearances. Early life and education Benz Antoine was born in 1972 in Montreal, Canada and is the oldest of the three children raised by hi ...
. Antoine had gotten the role in part for his ability to speak Creole with a French accent.


Brigitte

Brigitte Lindholm is a
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
engineer and adventurer, who wears powered armor similar to Reinhardt. She wields a ''Rocket
Flail A flail is an agricultural tool used for threshing, the process of separating grains from their husks. It is usually made from two or more large sticks attached by a short chain; one stick is held and swung, causing the other (the swipple) to st ...
'' that allows her to strike several enemies in close range, and can be thrown in a ''Whip Shot'' to hit distant targets and knock them back. She has the ability to engage a ''Barrier Shield'' to protect herself and others behind it from damage for a limited time, and when it is active, she can charge a short distance forward in a ''Shield Bash'', stunning the first enemy she hits. She is also able to throw ''Repair Packs'' that can help heal other allies. Her Ultimate ability is ''Rally'' that allows her to move faster, and provide nearby allies with additional armor while the ability is active. Brigitte is the youngest daughter of Torbjörn Lindholm, Overwatch's former chief engineer. She was named by her godfather Reinhardt Wilhelm, to whom Torbjörn and his pregnant wife Ingrid were indebted to after Reinhardt saved his life during "Operation White Dome" in
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
. As such, Brigitte became close friends with Reinhardt, and grew up on his tales of heroes and chivalry. While Torbjörn was more interested in creating weapons, Brigitte's aptitudes were for creating armor and defensive systems. After the fall of Overwatch, Reinhardt elected to travel the world as something of a knight-errant, and Brigitte, to his surprise, asked him if she could accompany him as his squire, to which he agreed. Her job included maintaining Reinhardt's Crusader armor, to which she was well-suited as it was based on a design created by her father, but as time went on, she was often required to take care of Reinhardt himself, who maintained an overenthusiasm for combat in spite of his increasing age and frailty. Eventually she decided that just maintaining Reinhardt's armor was not enough, and had Reinhardt train her in combat while she created her own suit of armor in secret, so that she could fight alongside him. She accompanies Reinhardt to answer Winston's Overwatch recall. She appears in the digital comics ''Dragon Slayer'' and ''Reflections''. She also appears in the animated short ''Honor and Glory'', where she protests Reinhardt rejoining Overwatch, only for him to explain why he must go back. After about a week of teasing her announcement, Brigitte was confirmed to be the 27th Hero on February 28, 2018, and was made available to try on the PTR the same day. Brigitte was released for play on all servers on March 20, 2018. Kaplan described Brigitte as an "interesting hybrid character", as while she is classified as support, she has many similarities to a tank character. She combines certain elements of Reinhardt (armor and shield) and Torbjörn (providing armor to her allies); as her chosen weapon is a flail, she also bears some similarities to the Crusader class in ''Diablo III''. Brigitte's reveal brought a return of a joking comparison between ''Overwatch'' and ''
Paladins The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's royal court, court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of F ...
'' by
Hi-Rez Studios Hi-Rez Studios is an American video game company. The company was established in 2005 by Erez Goren and Todd Harris. Hi-Rez Studios' games include the squad-based shooter ''Global Agenda'', the critically acclaimed '' Tribes: Ascend'', the third- ...
, a game that also used pre-determine hero characters which had earlier been accused by players of copying the style of ''Overwatch'' though ultimately dropped; Hi-Rez's Stewart Chisam pointed out on social media how Brigitte appeared similar in looks and abilities to their character Ash, released in mid-2017. Brigitte is voiced by Matilda Smedius.


Kiriko

Kiriko Kamori is a
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
ninja who was trained by her mother alongside the Shimada brothers, Genji and Hanzo. Her primary tools are ''Healing
Ofuda In Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, an is a talisman made out of various materials such as paper, wood, cloth or metal. are commonly found in both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and are considered to be imbued with the power of the deities ...
'', paper projectiles imbued with healing powers that can home in on allies in line of sight. Her secondary tools are fast, low-damage ''Kunai'' knife projectiles that do increased damage if they land a critical hit. She can also ''Wall Climb'' as Genji and Hanzo do. She is able to ''Swift Step'' and teleport to an ally even through walls, and cast a ''Protection Suzu'' to grant allies within range a debuff cleanse and temporary invulnerability. Her Ultimate ability is the ''
Kitsune In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to ''yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employing t ...
Rush'', which creates a fox spirit that runs through
torii A is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred. The presence of a ''torii'' at the entrance is usually the simplest ...
gates. Allies near this path will gain improved ground speed and buffs to attack, reload, and cooldown speeds. Kiriko’s grandmother taught her to worship the fox spirit, which helped shape her fighting style. Her mother, Asa Yamagami, trained both Kiriko and the Shimada brothers in the way of the sword. As a result, Kiriko grew up and learned alongside Genji and Hanzo. She was also considered a “cute little niece figure” and a close family friend to the Shimada brothers. Her father, Toshiro Yamagami, was abducted by the Hashimoto clan years prior and forced to produce weapons for them. The Hashimoto took over Kanezaka following the fall of the Shimada and caused suffering among the populace. In response, Kiriko joins the vigilante group, Yokai, and currently fights to protect her home from the Hashimoto and other threats. Kiriko was the first hero to be introduced following ''Overwatch 2'' launch in October 2022, and the first to be made available as a free reward on a seasonal
battle pass In the video game industry, a battle pass is a type of monetization approach that provides additional content for a game usually through a tiered system, rewarding the player with in-game items for playing the game and completing specific chal ...
. Her design was based on the new 5 vs. 5 approach used in ''Overwatch 2''. Kiriko is voiced by Sally Amaki.


Lúcio

Lúcio Correia dos Santos is a Brazilian DJ and freedom fighter. He is equipped with futuristic
roller blades Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned by Nordica, part of the Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy. The company was started by Scott Olson (b. 1960), Brennan Olson (b. 1964) and Christopher Middlebrook in Minneapolis ...
that allow him to skate on walls, (''Wall Ride'') which gives him large speed boosts when jumping off said walls. He is also armed with a ''Sonic Amplifier'' gun that can damage enemies in bursts of four. He can also use his Sonic Amplifier to knock enemies back with the ability ''Soundwave'' (Commonly called a ''Boop''). He can use music to either heal his teammates or increase their movement speed (''Crossfade''), and can amplify his music to boost the effects (''Amp It Up''). His ultimate ability, ''Sound Barrier'', grants powerful temporary shielding to himself and nearby allies. Jeff Kaplan stated that Lucio was based on the tabletop role-playing game archetype of
bards In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...
who are able to cast ability-boosting auras on their party. Lúcio Correia dos Santos grew up in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
during the financial upheaval caused by the Omnic Crisis. He turned to music to lift up the spirits of his disheartened people by performing on street corners and at block parties. When the Vishkar Corporation, a multinational conglomerate, moved in to redevelop Rio, they began to crack down on its citizens with curfews and exploit them as cheap labor. Lúcio stole a Vishkar sonic weapon and used it against them, thus rallying the people to rise up and drive Vishkar out of their neighborhoods. His leadership made him a global celebrity, and he began to perform in filled arenas worldwide. Blizzard announced in February 2017 that Lúcio would be added as a hero character to ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bli ...
'' and would possess similar healing and support capabilities in that game. Blizzard also distributed "Lúcio-Ohs"
breakfast cereal Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in ...
through
Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...
in early 2019, inspired by one of Lúcio's in-game sprays. Lúcio is voiced by
Jonny Cruz Jonny Cruz (born Jonathan Willie Hernández; December 1, 1982) is an American actor, scriptwriter, producer, filmmaker and musician. He has been featured as an actor in movies like '' Walking Tall: Lone Justice'', '' Infiltrators'' and '' Ha ...
.


Mercy

Mercy, real name Angela Ziegler, is a
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...
field medic and first responder. She wears a winged Valkyrie suit, which allows her to rush towards targeted teammates through the air (''Guardian Angel''), as well as slow her own descent while falling (''Angelic Descent''). She wields a ''Caduceus Staff'' that alternately heals her teammates or boosts their damage output, and also carries a medium-range ''Caduceus Blaster'' as a sidearm. Her ''Resurrect'' ability allows her to revive one fallen ally. Her ultimate ability is ''Valkyrie'', which boosts her healing and attack boosts, firing rate, and Resurrect cooldown; gives her the ability to fly; and gives her infinite ammunition for a brief period. Angela Ziegler was head of surgery at a Swiss hospital when she developed specialized applied
nanobiology Nanobiotechnology, bionanotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as bla ...
to heal injuries. Her work earned her the attention of Overwatch, who recruited her as their chief medical researcher. The Valkyrie suit she wears was her own design. Though opposed to Overwatch's militaristic approach as a result of losing her parents to war, she knew that their resources allowed her to save lives on a global scale. When Overwatch disbanded, she dedicated herself to helping those who were affected by decades of global war. Mercy was the most popular support character during the game's open beta. Like Symmetra, Mercy saw a major redesign in a September 2017 update, as her initial ultimate ability, ''Resurrect'', which could be used to bring all downed players in a small radius back to full health, encouraged Mercy players to stay out of battle. Mercy is voiced by
Lucie Pohl Lucie Pohl (born April 15, 1983) is a German actress and stand-up comedian. Pohl is the daughter of theater director and singer Sanda Weigl and the actor and dramatist Klaus Pohl. She is sister of writer Marie Pohl and cousin of actress Anna Tha ...
.


Moira

Moira O'Deorain is an
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...
, a leading member of Talon, and Minister of Genetics for the city of Oasis. Her main weapon is the ''Biotic Grasp'', which drains the health and biotic energy of enemies; this biotic energy can then be sprayed out in a cone to heal her allies. Her skills include ''Fade'', allowing her to teleport a short distance, and ''Biotic Orb'', a rebounding sphere that can either heal nearby allies or damage nearby enemies. Her ultimate ability is ''Coalescence'', a beam that heals all allies and injures all opponents it passes, bypassing any barriers that may be in place. Originally from
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, Moira O'Deorain made waves in the scientific community more than a decade prior to the game, after publishing a controversial paper detailing a methodology for creating custom genetic programs that could alter DNA at a cellular level. Most scientists found her research dangerous due to its perceived ethical shortfalls, with some even going so far as to accuse her of having the same obsession with scientific advancement that started the Omnic Crisis. Adding to the controversy, other geneticists were unable to reproduce the results of her research. With her career stalled, Moira received a lifeline from an unlikely source: Blackwatch, the covert ops division of Overwatch under the command of Gabriel Reyes. Her involvement with Blackwatch was kept a secret until inquiries following an incident in Venice (played out in the story-based game mode "Retribution") revealed her work, forcing Overwatch to publicly disavow any ties to her or her work. After Overwatch disbanded, Moira was employed by the Ministries, the scientific collective that founded the city of Oasis in southern
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, as the head of the Ministry of Genetics. She was also financed by Talon, and (along with Doomfist and Reaper) is among the members of its ruling council who appear in the game. Her origin story video reveals that she is responsible for transforming Gabriel Reyes into Reaper. She had made an appearance in Doomfist's introductory comic, released earlier in 2017. Moira was announced at BlizzCon 2017 as the game's 26th hero on November 3, 2017, and was made available to play on the Public Test Region a few days later. Moira was added for all players in all regions on November 16, 2017. Kaplan said that Moira had been in the works for months well prior to this, having anticipated that the ''Overwatch'' player base had been asking for another healer character. Kaplan believed that Moira's fit as a healer depended on team compositions where teammates stay in close proximity to each other, but that her abilities could help support those that tend to separate from the group, like Genji. Art-wise, she was envisioned by Arnold Tsang to be a
warlock A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft. Etymology and terminology The most commonly accepted etymology derives '' warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicati ...
- or
mage Mage most commonly refers to: * Mage (paranormal) or magician, a practitioner of magic derived from supernatural or occult sources * Mage (fantasy) or magician, a type of character in mythology, folklore, and fiction *Mage, a character class in s ...
-like character, with robes, sleeves and hand motions that evoked the use of magic. This subsequently created some difficulty with her character animations, specifically her sleeves; while the artists had previously animated long flowing clothes for Reaper, animating sleeves with Moira's complex hand movements took several months. This particularly was true for her Legendary skins, which animator Hak Lee said took between three and five months to properly animate. Moira's animations in game were found by some journalists to be close references to various
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
, such as her running animation being similar to that of
Naruto Uzumaki () is the titular protagonist of the manga ''Naruto'', created by Masashi Kishimoto. As the series progresses, he is a young ninja from the fictional village of Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village). The villagers ridicule and ostracize Naruto on ...
from the anime ''
Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...
''. Chu acknowledged that many members of Blizzard's animation team are anime fans and some references had filtered into characters and customization items, and for Moira, the anime-like touches helped to make her character visually distinctive during fast-paced battles. Moira is voiced by
Genevieve O'Reilly Genevieve O'Reilly (born 6 January 1977) is an Irish actress. She is known for her work in the ''Star Wars'' franchise as Mon Mothma, having portrayed the character in ''Revenge of the Sith'', ''Rogue One'', and the Disney+ series '' Andor'', ...
, an Irish voice actress that Chu said was perfect for the role.


Zenyatta

Tekhartha Zenyatta is an omnic
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
and wanderer. Rather than moving on foot, he floats above the ground in a meditative pose. He is surrounded by a circle of 8 floating metal orbs named the ''Orbs of Destruction'' (resembling
prayer beads Prayer beads are a form of beadwork used to count the repetitions of prayers, chants, or mantras by members of various religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Umbanda, Islam, Sikhism, the Baháʼí Faith, and some Christian denominati ...
), which he can use to launch a form of energy to damage foes either one at a time or through a charged-shot. He can also cast these orbs onto teammates as ''Orbs of Harmony'' to regenerate health, or onto enemies as ''Orbs of Discord'' to lower their defenses. His ultimate ability is ''Transcendence'', which makes him temporarily invulnerable and applies massive regenerative effects to his allies in a large radius around him. Zenyatta belonged to the Shambali, an order of omnic monks that had settled in a monastery deep within the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
in northern
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, after experiencing a "spiritual awakening" that led them to believe that, like humans, omnics also possessed a soul. Their leader, Tekhartha Mondatta, sought to heal the rift between humans and omnics and bring them into societal harmony through peaceful public rallies, one of which resulted in Mondatta's assassination by Widowmaker in London. Zenyatta disagreed with this approach, believing that only directly engaging humans and connecting with them person-to-person would bridge the divide between man and machine. He left the Shambali monastery and wandered the world, seeking to help those he met to find inner peace, including cyborg warrior Genji. He aided Genji in becoming more relaxed and understanding the purpose of his metallic body. Zenyatta is voiced by
Feodor Chin Feodor Chin is an American actor, producer, writer and director. Chin starred as the antagonist "Benny" in Juwan Chung's ''Baby'' opposite David Huynh, the protagonist. ''Baby'' won a Special Jury Award for Best Feature Length Film, Narrative at ...
.


Non-playable characters

The following are characters who appear in other ''Overwatch'' media.


Antonio Bartalotti

Antonio Bartalotti was an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
businessman and member of Talon who orchestrated a terrorist attack on Overwatch's headquarters in Oslo, Norway, in the comic "Retribution". He was killed by Gabriel Reyes during the events of the story-based game mode of the same name.


Athena

Athena is Winston's personal artificial intelligence, who supervises his vitals and keeps track of all former Overwatch agents. Together, she and Winston were able to activate the Recall that contacted all the agents at the beginning of the Second Omnic Crisis, which initiates the events of the game. She also serves as the in-game announcer. Athena is voiced by Evelyn Duah.


Balderich von Adler

Colonel Balderich von Adler was the commander of the Crusaders, a German paramilitary unit composed of armored warriors with rocket hammers and hard-light shields that served as support to the
Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
, the regular German military. Balderich was approached by Overwatch to become one of its founding members during the Omnic Crisis, but was forced to lead a defense against an army of Bastions in his home village of Eichenwalde, in the
Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
near
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
. It was during this battle that the omnics unleashed the OR14 (a progenitor to the OR15 on which Orisa is based), which overwhelmed the Crusaders and their army comrades. Retreating into Eichenwalde Castle with his friend and lieutenant Reinhardt Wilhelm, Balderich intended to stand his ground there, sending Reinhardt to protect the other troops, and giving him his Overwatch initiation medal. Armed with both his and Reinhardt's rocket hammers, Balderich held the line inside Eichenwalde Castle, destroying at least a large number of omnics to prevent them from overwhelming Reinhardt and the remaining troops, who at that point were at full retreat, that he was protecting, after which then he collapsed into the throne in the castle's great hall and died from his injuries. Many years later, Reinhardt - living in the ruins of Eichenwalde - left his tarnished Overwatch medallion on the arm of the throne next to his friend's body, before leaving to answer Winston's call to arms. These events are briefly shown in the animated short ''The Last Bastion'', and in more detail in ''Honor and Glory'', while the "Eichenwalde" map sees one team trying to protect Balderich's remains in the castle from the other advancing team. Balderich von Adler is voiced by Michael Piatt.


Dae-hyun

Dae-hyun is a MEKA mechanic assigned to
D.Va D.Va is a fictional player character developed by Blizzard Entertainment for their ''Overwatch'' franchise. She was introduced at launch in their 2016 first-person shooter, first-person hero shooter video game Overwatch (video game), of the sam ...
and a childhood friend of hers. He and D.Va have been working together in the MEKA unit. He was introduced in August 2018 in the animated short ''Shooting Star'', in which he helps D.Va defend
Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...
from the recurring omnic threat known locally as gwishin. Dae-hyun is voiced by Johnny Young.


Efi Oladele

Efi Oladele is an 11-year-old scientist and inventor from the in-universe region of Numbani. After her parents gave her a robotic kit, she became interested in robotics and artificial intelligence. She witnessed Doomfist's attack on Numbani, which damaged several OR15 defensive Omnics, and was inspired to use her skills to create Orisa from one of the damaged units. The introduction of Orisa as a playable character in February 2017 was preceded by biographical introductions to Efi on the various ''Overwatch'' social media sites.


Emily

Emily is Tracer's girlfriend. She is an English woman living in London, with whom Tracer and Winston spent the holidays. She first appears in the comic "Reflections", where Tracer shops for her Christmas present. It is unknown how long she and Tracer have been dating, but Winston does consider her family. The introduction of Emily was lauded by critics and the LGBT community for confirming Tracer as the game's first LGBT character.


Hal-Fred Glitchbot

Hal-Fred Glitchbot is a famous omnic film director, known for his works such as ''They Came From Beyond the Moon''. As an omnic, he receives much prejudice from society, including being the recipient of assassination attempts. On the map Hollywood, the offensive team must escort his limousine to his trailer, while the defense must stop them. He is known for hurling insults at the players, which vary depending on which characters are being played. His name is a play on famous real-world director
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
, and the computer
HAL 9000 HAL 9000 is a fictional artificial intelligence character and the main antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's ''Space Odyssey'' series. First appearing in the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', HAL ( Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) ...
from the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. Hal-Fred Glitchbot is voiced by
Travis Willingham Travis Willingham is an American voice actor. His most notable roles include Roy Mustang in the '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' franchise, Portgas D. Ace in ''One Piece'', Ginko in '' Mushishi'', Knuckles the Echidna in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franc ...
.


Dr. Harold Winston

Dr. Harold Winston was the chief scientist of the Horizon Lunar Colony, a research base on the Moon where a group of genetically engineered gorillas and primates resided to test the long-term effects of living in space. Harold took a special interest in one young gorilla who showed a great curiosity for the world around him, beginning with stealing Harold's glasses because he thought there would be more to see. Showing the young gorilla a view of Earth, Harold gave him a piece of advice he remembered years later: "Never accept the world as it appears to be. Dare to see it for what it ''could'' be." When the other gorillas on the moon base rebelled, Harold and the other human scientists were killed; his prodigy took his name "Winston" to honor his fallen mentor, and escaped to Earth in a scratch-built rocket. Winston also kept Harold's glasses, as well as a photograph of the two of them at the Horizon colony. Dr. Harold Winston is voiced by
Greg Chun Greg Chun is an American voice actor and musician who is known for his work in English-dubbed anime and video games. Personal life Chun is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Stanford University and has found himself in a dilemma in ...
.


Katya Volskaya

Katya Volskaya is the CEO and head of the Volskaya Industries, a robotic company with the purpose of ending the lives of the Omnic. Volskaya was first seen in the animated short ''Infiltration'' where she was subject to an assassination by Sombra, Reaper and Widowmaker. However, Sombra hacks the alarms and puts the events into motion that ensures her safety. It is then revealed by Sombra, when she confronts Volskaya, that she has information that the technology she uses in her mechs was actually Omnic to start. Sombra blackmails Katya and in return, she is kept alive. In the final scene, Volskaya hires Zarya to hunt down and kill Sombra. Katya Volskaya is voiced by Gulmira Mamedova.


Mauga

Mauga is a close companion of Baptiste, introduced in Baptiste's origin story "What You Left Behind". A giant of a man, Mauga befriended Baptiste in his early days in the Talon organization. Baptiste, in turn, became one of the few people to be able to try to calm Mauga's wild tendencies. While Mauga thrived within Talon, Baptiste soon grew distant from it and left. In the years that followed, the two still met once in a while on questionable terms but treating each other as old friends. Mauga was intended to be Hero 31, but according to Kaplan, as they developed the skill kit for this character, they found it didn't fit the personality that they had established for Mauga in the media. Kaplan states they still plan to introduce Mauga as a hero character in the future. Instead, they designed a new character, Sigma, to use that developed kit.


Maximilien

Maximilien is a wealthy omnic and a member of Talon's inner council, who handles the organization's finances. He first appears in the comic "Masquerade", where he is seen operating a casino in
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. In the story-based game mode "Storm Rising" he is captured by Tracer, Genji, Winston, and Mercy after a pursuit in
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
,
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. Maximilien is voiced by Stéphane Cornicard.


MEKA

MEKA, the Mobile Exo-Force of the Korean Army, is a
Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...
-based squad of
mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...
pilots, including
D.Va D.Va is a fictional player character developed by Blizzard Entertainment for their ''Overwatch'' franchise. She was introduced at launch in their 2016 first-person shooter, first-person hero shooter video game Overwatch (video game), of the sam ...
, that protect Korea and nearby states from regular attacks by an omnic colossus known locally as the gwishin. MEKA's pilots were drawn from pro-
esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
and other similarly skilled areas, such as
auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
, after the gwishin disrupted the ability to use
drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...
mechs. The MEKA squad is overseen by Captain Myung (voiced by Cathy Shim in-game, on Busan), and besides D.Va, includes pilots Kyung-soo "King" Han, Yuna "D.mon" Lee, Seung-hwa "Overlord" Si, and Jae-Eun "Casino" Gwon. D.Va herself is supported by Dae-hyun, a childhood friend and mechanic. While MEKA was discussed in prior ''Overwatch'' media, more details of the squad were revealed as part of the August 2018 release of ''Shooting Star'', an animation short focused on D.Va, and the release of the Busan map that incorporates more of the MEKA lore.


Mina Liao

Dr. Mina Liao is one of the scientists at the Omnica Corporation that created the Omnics, and upon Omnic Crisis, was invited to join Overwatch to fight them as a founding member, along with Jack Morrison, Gabriel Reyes, Ana Amari, Torbjörn Lindholm, and Reinhardt Wilhelm. During her time at Overwatch, she created the Omnic Echo as a benevolent artificial intelligence hoping that it would help save humanity. She was killed during an attack on Overwatch headquarters, and Echo took her personality as part of her legacy.


Pachimari

Pachimari are toys that appear through various ''Overwatch'' maps, customization items, and additional media. They are anime-like creatures shaped like an upside-down onion with
cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...
-type legs. Blizzard created the Pachimaris as they needed toys to populate UFO catchers on the Hanamura map. Their design was created by concept artist David Kang, who named them Pachimari after the Korean word for "onion". Blizzard did not expect there to be much interest in Pachimari, but there was a great deal of fan attention in the characters, with unlicensed plush toys, clothing, and other merchandise made by fans. Seeing this, Blizzard incorporated additional Pachimari into the game and its media, including placing a "King Pachimari" atop the payload for the Junkertown map, and licensed official plush toys for purchase. Since then, Blizzard has stated there is lore behind Pachimari that they are waiting to introduce.


Tekhartha Mondatta

Tekhartha Mondatta was an omnic monk and leader of the Shambali. In the years following the Omnic Crisis, Mondatta and a group of other omnics abandoned their pre-programmed lives and settled in a communal monastery in Nepal, where they meditated on the nature of existence and came to believe that they were more than just "artificial"—they possessed their own souls, just as humans did. Mondatta was a leader in advocating peace between humans and omnics and healing the wounds following the Omnic Crisis, and traveled the world spreading his message. Mondatta was assassinated by Widowmaker during a rally in London, despite heavy security and the efforts of Tracer. In the King's Row map, a statue of him holding the hand of a human child stands near the spot where he was killed. Mondatta and Zenyatta take their names from ''
Zenyatta Mondatta ''Zenyatta Mondatta'' (stylised as ''Zenyattà Mondatta'' on the album cover artwork) is the third studio album by English rock band the Police, released on 3 October 1980 by A&M Records. It was co-produced by the band and Nigel Gray. ''Zenyatta ...
'', a 1980 album by English rock band
The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...
. Tekharha Mondatta is voiced by Sendhil Ramamurthy.


Notes


References


External links

* {{Overwatch
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
Fictional soldiers in video games Overwatch