lore-discussion

[grand wedge]

https://overwatch.blizzard.com/media/comic/a-new-empire/

Yeah all the new hero comics are read by their VA now

Which is pretty cool (even tho I wished they would localized it with local VA like they did before with the animated origin stories 😔)

[marble charm]

Okay wowza

Great comic

The BP skin is a little cooler now that I've seen where it comes from

Gala gown wasn't what I was hoping for but its alright

But what I really liked about that comic was

Holy shit Max is BIG

He looks alot smaller in the freja short

And the shop

This would be a great DF skin idc if we have formal already

And I actually really love the design of the counsel member vendetta kills top

[merry mason]

Wonder if white haired girl to the right will come back or if she’s just an extra.

[fallow mantle]

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, voice actor for Sojiro Shimada, passed away

[fallow mantle]

Lol I think it's perspective, he's closer, Vialli is behind-ish. But yeah he looks kinda big. I really love this gathering, the one Vendetta killed looked cool so does the woman next to him

[fallow mantle]

I've wanted it since the Masquerade comic 😭😭😭

[marble charm]

I mean yea but hes like

Just as broad as doom LOL

[marble charm]

Ong

[peak escarp]

Widowmaker's shot hit the scope of Ana's rifle and the shrapnel hit her eye

[elfin bane]

i was lowkey wondering too

that makes sense

[peak escarp]

one of the teasers for Ana back in 2016 was this CT scan of her head after the accident

under the name Janina Kowalska, which is the Polish equivalent of Jane Doe (Ana had amnesia from the event)

[meager geyser]

POLAND MENTIONED 🗣️ 🗣️ 🇵🇱 🇵🇱 🇵🇱 🔥 🔥 🇵🇱

(Also, Kowalska comes from the word kowal, which means smith)

[hasty sail]

Alright noted

[brittle needle]

ooof, I can see why blizzard now wants a new creative director. This new villain vendetta lore is pure hot garbage out of some intern's afternoon fanfic session. If this is what constitutes future lore, ummm blizzard just save your money and focus on the technical team/balance team

[hasty sail]

I haven’t read into it. Is it worse than Genji’s lore

[brittle needle]

way worse, it is a straight up mary sue meme

a straight up narcissistic character with massive daddy issues that is overpoweringly better then everybody else....at everything, and adored by her fans to the point of it being a cult...oh and yeah, she straight up murders a poor guy already on his knees....cause "dont kill the messenger" is not how this ...cough...hero rolls

[peak escarp]

he wasn't a messenger he was a Talon council member

one who was responsible for denying her position on the council

[brittle needle]

umm, sorry that isnt what I meant....she had to send a message...ergo, he WAS the messenger regardless of his actual position....and already defeated and on his knees she straight up murders him

[peak escarp]

she's a villain

[brittle needle]

just an odd way to do marketing to get back on the council, not like she wants talon to go away...she just wants in on the 'cool kids club'

[meager geyser]

Mfs when a villain does evil things 😭

[peak escarp]

she wants to take her rightful (in her opinion, anyway) place on the Talon council

that was denied to her by Doomfist and other council members

[brittle needle]

yup, thats the mary sue aspect....all about her rightful place! haha

[meager geyser]

Why is she a Mary Sue?

[peak escarp]

her father was a council member, as his heir she should have taken his place

[meager geyser]

I think he's ragebaiting...

[peak escarp]

clearly

[brittle needle]

ok, well (i'm just using the comic so maybe there is some other source)
1: comic says her father kept her away from the business...so how did she get all these killer skills? mary sue powers!
2: her debut in ring..defeats someone that already had multiple wins...how did she get so good? mary sue powers!

how did she make her sword? again..mary sue powers

[peak escarp]

she got the skills by training and rising to be champion of the Colloseo

[brittle needle]

no

re-read the comic

she didnt

[peak escarp]

she trained offscreen before even the first match

[brittle needle]

she already had them before she got there

nope, no training...nothing mention that in the comic anyway

[meager geyser]

What is a "Mery Sue power" according to you

[meager geyser]

You except every second of her life to be shown in her comic 😭?

[brittle needle]

Ill just copy paste out of TV Tropes: "God Mode Sue is so powerful because they often get New Powers as the Plot Demands, and without any explanation or any of the normal limitations that a good writer will insert. In most balanced fiction, we generally know the hero's going to win, Downer Ending aside (Status Quo Is God, after all), but their abilities may fail them (or something like that) and so we watch to find out HOW they do it. God Mode Sue's powers never fail, nor is there any point where you think, "I KNOW the hero's gotta win, but how are they going to get out of this mess?" The plot and the fight is so blatantly biased towards the God Mode Sue that it becomes rather boring (and sometimes insulting)."

that is literally the gladiatory scene

err gladiator..go spelling

[peak escarp]

this is the body of someone who has spent time doing physical training

not everything needs to be spelled out

[meager geyser]

You're the only overwatch player with this problem. For me she is just a really good fighter and gladiator

[brittle needle]

shows up...no explanation and goes straight to the TOP tier fighter...no working her way up, nope! straight to the A card and of course, wins so handidly its a joke to her

eh, its just super lazy fanfic writing...like really? nobody at blizzard could toss a few grand at a real writer for character development?

had to get an intern to spin this out?

[peak escarp]

not champion, rising star

she didn't start at the top

she beat another beginner

[brittle needle]

well, undefeated star

no, ...no, you dont get undefeated by being a beginner that has never beaten anyone

[peak escarp]

we don't know how many matches he has fought - could be 2 - 0

[meager geyser]

What do you except bro? That they're gonna make a whole series about her training?

[brittle needle]

right right, but that is some serious crutching on making excuses

[peak escarp]

my point is, she didn't start at the top

[brittle needle]

toxin: umm yeah..not a whole series...but hey, toss a panel or two at showing SOMETHING...hell even Rocky had moments of training

[meager geyser]

I have a starnge feeling like you're complaining only because she's a women lol

[peak escarp]

she fought her way to the top

[brittle needle]

no...she didnt fight her way to the top, what fight? she instantly won at their rising star...

[meager geyser]

This is a single comic from a sci-fi pvp shooter, not Rocky

[brittle needle]

nobody competed against her for years, there was no challenger, she was already the best

end of the day, for me...its just lazy AF writing and yeah...we kinda deserve more then this AI slop

[peak escarp]

did you miss this whole page of her taking down fighters one by one to become champion?

it's not AI

[brittle needle]

either of you could write a better fleshed out character in two days

[meager geyser]

AI slop 😭

TS gotta be a ragebait

[brittle needle]

what limitations does she have? oh...none

[meager geyser]

Then go do it yourself

[brittle needle]

no, not rage bait, just its a trope for a reason....i was hoping for a bit more

[wise grotto]

So what I’m reading is “I don’t care to listen to anythin anyone else says also gonna just rant and make statements fully false and only look at the surface level while pretending I understand it all”

[brittle needle]

not false, i can backup everything

[meager geyser]

I mean, the PFP checks out

[wise grotto]

Please back up the ai usage with something objectively true proving it then

[brittle needle]

look if you all think this is grand writing and the greatest lore ever made, well...have a beer and carry on

no need to look my way

[wise grotto]

No more random words to pretend you have it just post the link to something showing literally any proof

[wise grotto]

“I have proof” makes a strawman immediately

[brittle needle]

oh, the AI reference was to pop culture in general that these days things of low quality generally have AI slathered on them by some marketing dept

[wise grotto]

No one said it was the greatest and perfect writing
But only targeting the flaws in the smallest amount of a lore comic is the same thing

[wise grotto]

So you don’t have proof for that and are just saying it as an assumption

[brittle needle]

so no, this was made by actual human..i was being facitious in that this...artist...cough...is no better then some AI slop

that shoudl clear that up

[thorn kindle]

This channel is meant to be lore discussion, not a personal rant channel on why you think the new comic/lore terrible. If you have nothing but negative things to say I suggest keeping it to yourself

[brittle needle]

this is lore discussion, its awful lore! its mary sue fanfic! there is no character here!

genji went thru a redemption arc....that is a story, this is just...awful

[meager geyser]

"BACK IN MY DAYS there were making AN ACTUAL WRITTEN CHARACTERS like Rambo or Rocky, now every single Hollywood protagonist is a women 😡!!!

[brittle needle]

this is just...im the best at everything..and i'm evil...done

thats a bit thin

[thorn kindle]

Lore discussion is very different to you just complaining about a new hero’s developing story, now like I said if all you’re going to do is complain please keep it to yourself then

[wise grotto]

Cause we’ve only seen the one comic
And ignore the fact that she’s still evil driven purely by revenge and spite (which are negative) hasn’t had much lore expension to show anything extra yet cause they’re brand new still

And where also using her showing in a cinematic meant heavily to hype up a new character

This ain’t mortal kombat characters don’t get shit on in there own release trailers

[brittle needle]

oh i know! hell its a game character not the grand opus to a new image comic

still..damn..this is weak sauce

[wise grotto]

Especially if we compare them to other examples in the games
Soj was this. Mary sue soldier girl for a while till they expanded on her actual story

When a characters new most of the media’s gonna be about hyping them up

[meager geyser]

Then why do you expect it to be the most complex character in the history of fiction?

[wise grotto]

Sombra was just super skilled hacker girl when she came out

[brittle needle]

and you are right, its ONE comic...why not add some exposition and make 2-3 comic arc? is she just some mentally deranged narcissistic nutjob? yeah sure, your father got killed playing a dangerious game (aside..why does he have more character development then she does?), but man...daddy issues

[wise grotto]

So your ignoring what I was saying cool I’m out I got other stuff to do

[meager geyser]

Can someone just ban this guy? He is clearly ragebaiting.

[brittle needle]

yeah, i cant type and read your stuff...but catch you later. to retort, yes...sombra is also in that vein of mary sue and yeah..they gotta get some hype going, but you know..there are slow burn stories that work well

end of the day, she could have been a much much more interesting character story arc but they went the shortcut route for [insert reasons] and im dissapointed in blizzard for that

[wise grotto]

Was also
Sombra was also if you know lore you know the difference aspects and intricacies to the characters
A majority of the characters on release lore wise where just giga strong untouchables

Wrecking balls another example
Champion or the junker arenas super smart hamster
His lores dark as shit and he’s a flawed character
Or rammattra who was originally just “oh he’s magneto but a robot” and then we had the lore expansion to it

[twin parrot]

💀

[wise grotto]

They don’t do the story arcs before the character releases
If they did it would just be a boring release

Like. “Oh we know everything about this character already no point in wanting more expansion on it”

Especially when there’s confirmed heavy exploration and expansion coming to the game and universe next year

[brittle needle]

like why not be an assassin in her fathers organisation, raised up to be a quick and dirty...but the canon lore has her father locking her out of that

[wise grotto]

The lore has her father being murdered and everything he controlled in talon being split up among others in talon and her essentially having everything she would have inherited taken away

She wasn’t the age she is now when that happened cause that happened while black watch was still an organization
There’s upwards of 10-20 years separating her father dying and current ow

[thorn kindle]

Alright let’s move on

[peak escarp]

now that I think about it... Vendetta and JQ have very similar origins

both were outcast due in some part to who their father was, both trained to get revenge and did so in a public arena against opponents wearing mech suits, both rose to have cult-like fame

[past copper]

And both are in charge of their own factions

Both of whom are about to have major impacts with whatever they've got planned

[wise grotto]

Only difference is jq did it and became a good better ruler then the past one

And vendetta just wishes for revenge

[grand wedge]

Vendetta also want to be better than her father, and not make the mistakes he did. Revenge, but also reclaiming what was taken from her.

[spare fox]

And Vendetta's story isn't going to be cast aside for years... who knows when they'll pick up the junker story again 😩

Tho of all the characters I'd like to meet in lore, Vendetta and JQ are probably second place for me... I want JQ and and Ashe to meet and get into a screaming bickering showdown somehow

It's my "Rocket Raccoon wanting Bucky's arm" moment in the OW universe

[hearty aspen]

do we actually KNOW if the overwatch agents live on the watchpoint?

im assuming they do since tracer missing emily in the last christmas comic and most of them presumably living there lol sorry i dont pay attention and i was wondering

since... Christmas comic again soon maybe 🥺

[peak escarp]

seems like they do

or at least did during the Invasion arc

[hearty aspen]

tyty

im assuming they prooobably do

all things considered, theyve got necessities on the watchpoint so

[atomic crest]

why are qeue times longer for support?
is there a LOT of people on that role or
No one on the role?

[spare fox]

Yeah I'm still bitter about not updating the Watchpoint to include other heroes that live there now

[gloomy rose]

hey so this is definitely a scam right

mods twist his balls off

[leaden hornet]

yo ajax?!?

[leaden hornet]

ya a lot of the ow chars r just built diff

[sudden wolf]

i wish so badly blizzard gave af about overwatch lore

we could've had it all....

All lore but no lore

[twilit patrol]

We still have lore

I don't know what you're trying to say

[sacred ravine]

Guys what if genji and hanzo are brothers

[marble charm]

Dont be silly genji is an omnic

[digital linden]

people just love to ride home that bc there’s no cinematics there’s no lore even though there’s been consistent lore drops

[edgy meadow]

it seems like theyre trying to put effort into it again, now its just a matter of how well do they deliver on that promise

[marble charm]

I mean they have big plans for next year right

[edgy meadow]

als o i havent seen this talked about yet in here but there was an update in one of the Busan maps that includes a new screen that reveals some plans for the MEKA squad

[marble charm]

That's why theyre shutting down a bunch of loose ends

[digital linden]

yeah it was mentioned not long ago in here

[marble charm]

And finished off the invasion arc

[edgy meadow]

i believe so

they pretty much said theyre putting all their resources into 'starting next year with something big'

[digital linden]

wouldn’t that be the yearly shakeup

like with health increases and perks

[edgy meadow]

its probably going to coincide with that yes

[marble charm]

Ah so not necessarily a lore drop

[edgy meadow]

theyre heavily implying lore drops coming up but they didnt explicitely say 'season 21 is the big lore season'

they could start dropping much earlier or much later

[marble charm]

Yea

Okay cool

Fingers crossed

[edgy meadow]

theyre being intentionally vague for whatever reason, which is why i think a lot of people are over presumptuous and talk like they know everything thats gonna happen in the next 12 months

im honestly just here for the ride

part of me feels like they just dont want to make any concrete promises before they can be guaranteed which is why theyre not jumping the gun and saying '10 cinematics next year' or something like that, in case things dont go as planned

[dusk granite]

what if you made wrecking ball upside down and blocked the hatch
how would he get out

genuine question i always thought of this lmao

[median orchid]

Uhh yeah if i read this correctly the hamster couldn't get our lol. Like as seen in game his cockpit / seat always stays upright and doesn't rotate with the ball when in gun mode (like a Gyroscope)

So yeah Hammond would be 100% stuck. Suits him well.

[dusk granite]

all of his genius and forgot one thing

[wise grotto]

The announcement came with them hiring people to work exclusively on cinematics and lore things

[wise grotto]

I’m willing to bet there’s other ways built in for him to get out or the thing can move or release in spots
I seriously doubt he built that with 1 entrance and exit and survived fighting in arenas for that long

[edgy meadow]

ye i saw that

[median orchid]

The backup exits need to be designed well for Arena combat due to fire, electricity and more hazards that could seep in trough the cracks. Generally less holes the better but you raise a good point on backup exits.

Hes a biologically engineered hampter and was smart enough to design the mech (and a escape pod system which Winston allegedly stole to escape the lunar colony according to a voiceline between the two) so he should be smart enough to account for an escape

[heavy isle]

winston is a gorilla

[median orchid]

we are talking about wrecking ball, more specifically Hammond the hamster which is piloting the ball

[heavy isle]

hammond is a hamster

[median orchid]

Hampter

[past copper]

So a thought about Ramattra's plan

Basically, his plan is to place Omnics in a comatose state and wait out humanity's enviable extinction

But with Overwatch searching for Null Sector and the omnics they captured, what if his patients runs out? And he decides to speed up the process

Ramattra is literally sitting on the means to wipe out humanity. If Antarctica were to melt, it would raise sea levels and potentially engulf the land, wiping out at the least 99% of humanity

[spare fox]

it'd be a mass extinction that hasn't been seen in tens of thousands of years def... the flooding alone I'd say is def pre-flagged as important

as in Declassified they talked a lot about OW's early years helping with flooding efforts

ANOTHER thing related to what we learned in Reconcilliation that I feel a lot of people aren't talking about: the omnics that Ram has collected -without their souls are basically blank shells again that someone (like a god program) could take over again

[past copper]

Exactly. Might just be what things are leading to is Overwatch and potentially others, stopping Ramattra from causing an extinction event

But given how much damage his omnium has potentially done to Antarctica, one has to ask, is it already too late to stop him?

[wise grotto]

The same god program currently trying to excape its prison that tried to wipe out humanity the first time

[spare fox]

AND learns from defeats and comes back stronger because of its ability to learn...

[wise grotto]

Yep
They have to constantly update the software holding it in just to have a chance at keeping it from coming out

[spare fox]

very "raptors always testing the fence but never in the same place twice"

[spare fox]

honestly it's probably analyzing the software update by update to learn more about how humanity protects itself

though, with Anubis's original purpose being to protect the environment, I do wonder how it would react to Ramattra and the subsequent damage he's causing to Antarctica...

[wise grotto]

You know I just realized something

I think rammattra wants to have the ai release and take over those robots

He has enough omnium to make everone new forms easy enough
And why fight the humans directly when he can weaken them and let something far deadlier wipe them out for him

[wise grotto]

Probably not much seeing as how much damage anubis caused to the environment to

[peak escarp]

Ramattra thinks Anubis was a failure so I doubt Ramattra would want to use Anubis for anything

[merry mason]

He’s literally using one of Anubis’ factories after all

[celest terrace]

Does ramattra know talon killed Mondatta

[wise grotto]

Probably not

I don’t think it’s public knowledge cause ow was still fully not in operation when it happened

So they wouodnt have been able to report to the world about it without risking themselves

[peak escarp]

but Ramattra was working with Talon

so he might have asked if it was them

[celest terrace]

I don’t think they would’ve told him though

[peak escarp]

Ramattra's lack of reaction in Reconciliation makes me think he knew already when Zenyatta brings it up

[celest terrace]

Does he know that talon stole a core from one of his ships

[wise grotto]

Yea in that case it would kinda make sense still then

Ramm would totally allow sacrifices if it means more dead humans overall

[wise grotto]

Probably not

[peak escarp]

maybe

he knows Talon isn't trustworthy

[wise grotto]

Huh
So he probably does know seeing as he knows the talon team aren’t even loyal to eachother

[celest terrace]

I mean

We have sombra who kinda doesn’t really care

Vendetta who wants to take over talon ??

[wise grotto]

Vendetta isn’t in talon

And sombras using them for her own vain and to keep track of sigma to

[celest terrace]

Her father was

And then she was supposed to take his place

[wise grotto]

Yea but she isn’t currently and would rather take it over fully by killing everyone in her way inside talon
She isn’t actually apart of talon so counting her for this doesn’t realllly work

[celest terrace]

No I know

She’s not part of talon

But she’s going to try and fight them because she wants to be head honcho

After doom basically took everything from her

[wise grotto]

Not really just doom
All of talons higher ups

Maximillian doom and so on

And the black watch team

[cyan wedge]

At tool to rammattra and his plans, temporary solution for filling in his gaps and eventually they will be eradicated in conflicts against humankind, 2birds 1 stone.

Necessary sacrifices for the greater plan, even if it means holding the hands of people who will soon be dead.

[peak escarp]

so much for that leak

[fallow mantle]

Vendetta is 29, Feb 15

[sonic helm]

yo lore enjoyers why does hanzo got a tiger on his hack

why no dragon or wolf or something depending on skin

hashimoto stuff? idk?

[digital linden]

so she’d have been around 19 when antonio was killed i’m assuming

[fallow mantle]

Ye!

Alternate voice line for the Vendetta x DVa interaction, DVa mentions King

[lyric saffron]

Hi ppl so are vendetta and Amelie frnds

[fallow mantle]

Antarctic Peninsula has been disabled for reworks until s22 👀 tinfoil hat, omnium time?!?!!

[crystal saffron]

is it me or is patchnote empty

[fallow mantle]

Hold Your Ground music video has a super cool Vendetta video

[merry mason]

Teasing the fourth Japanese hero John Hashimoto of course

[wise grotto]

Probably cause the hashimoto clan uses tigers a bit (hanzos hashimoto gang skin as example)

[worldly lintel]

what is hanzo chewin on in his mythic skin

[rare trail]

prolly not im gonna be honest

[lyric saffron]

I hope they r

[rare trail]

"Through it all, she kept her eye on Talon, watching as Vialli led it to ruin and Doomfist failed to capitalize on its potential."

she is not a big talon fan

they might not have even met

[lyric saffron]

But they have in game interactions which idk if it’s lore wise

And they sound friendly

[rare trail]

wait how long ago was gerard killed and overawtch disbanded

7 years ago overwatch disbanded so antonio death around there

im not sure when widow joined talon but regardless idk i feel like vendetta would not be a big fan of widow just bc of talon stuff

[peak escarp]

Overwatch was disbanded 7 years ago

Gerard was killed around 10 years ago

Antonio was killed 11 years ago

so Marzia was kicked out before Widowmaker joined Talon

[celest terrace]

How long was overwatch operational for then

Was overwatch there since before the main cast of characters that we know were involved

[peak escarp]

roughly 20 years, from the start of the omnic crisis 28 years ago, to the signing of the Petras Act 7 years ago

the founding members were Jack Morrison (Soldier 76), Gabriel Reyes (Reaper), Torbjorn Lindholm, Reinhardt Wilhelm, Ana Amari and Dr. Mina Liao (the robotics expert who created Aurora, Athena and Echo)

[celest terrace]

Oh okay

[cyan star]

what became of Dr Liao anyway?

[cyan star]

I just read the lore, and apparnetly she died from an attack on an overwatch base

[meager geyser]

I tought Athena was created by Winston

[crystal saffron]

is vendetta talon?

[crystal saffron]

nah some scientist women did

winston did not make shit i think

[wise grotto]

Winston made the tech that keeps tracer functional
And allows her to control all the time skipping

[peak escarp]

correct

[vivid breach]

was

[wise grotto]

Not really she was pretty young still at the time if I recall
She would have been 18 at the oldest when her father died

[spare fox]

19 - Retribution was 10 years ago (8 years before OW1)

[grand wedge]

it's older than that - like doc says, Retribution was 11 years ago

with the new timeline

because Uprising is 10 years ago - both can't happened at the same time

[spare fox]

in OW1, Cassidy narrates Retribution as 8 years ago
OW1, Uprising is 7 years ago
OW1, Storm Rising was 6 years ago

[grand wedge]

yeah, and now, Uprising was 10 years ago

so retribution prob 11 years ago now

[spare fox]

only 2 years passed between Ow1 and 2

[grand wedge]

yes, BUT they gave us a better timeline, and it states Uprising 10 years ago

they changed that

10 years ago : uprising

this is the new canon, so we have to count from this new timeline, not the retcon one

[keen warren]

Rein's new highlight intro hits so hard

They need to add the "i have been called i must answer always" as a voice line

[wise grotto]

Ok
That’s why I said at least 18 there math could have been off

But still 19 is fairly young I doubt she was any major part of talon yet like her father she couldn’t even fight yet

[mossy vale]

Bot ahh

[whole whale]

yo am kinda new to lore so i have some questions :
1, how is ventures lore relavant to the plot [like ow getting back together to stop the "bad guys" ], isnt venture just an archeologist
2, also is kiriko's stuff magic?
3, and can someone explain what happened between kirko and the shimada bros

[peak escarp]

1. Venture isn't really part of the plot right now - they're an archaeologist who has crossed paths with Talon, but that's about it.
2. it's unclear - the devs said that there's no magic in Overwatch, but they haven't given any technological explanation for her powers
3. Kiriko's mother Asa Yamagami was Genji and Hanzo's swordmaster, so while she trained the brothers, young Kiriko joined their training. They see her as a younger cousin (Hanzo remembers her being annoying).

also, Kiriko's father was the weaponsmith who made their weapons

[whole whale]

ah cool few follow up questoins tho, like wtf are genji and hanzos "dragons"? and is kiri's mom linked to ow in anyway? she sounds op

[peak escarp]

their dragons are energy projections that come from their weapons

Kiriko's mother isn't connected to Overwatch sadly, but I wish she was

[cyan wedge]

Oh wow I didn’t know that, I thought it was hereditary power kept within them, but if there is no magic in Overwatch then it would make more sense.

But ig that would mean kiriko’s abilities can’t exist so there must be some spiritual level to their abilities

[keen summit]

It was always implied it was tech but now confirmed to be made by kirikos dad

[keen summit]

Kiriko is spirit magic, she has outright magic

But it kinda depends on how you feel boyt spirits cuz some shows have "spirits" but no magic

[wise grotto]

Honestly we don’t have any actual confirmation on how kiriko works except that it’s somewhat spirit related maybe and that it can’t be outright magic

Kiriko exists in a unique state of wtf how

[grave arch]

Does anybody know what Ashes relationship is with her family because weaver and dooms voicelines contradict each other

[spare fox]

Ashe's family disowned her, then she started a gang and robbed them (she's from an uber-rich weapons dealer family)

[grave arch]

Ahhh makes sense now ty

[fossil wren]

https://x.com/i/status/1999389115180359999

オーバーウォッチ (@jpPlayOverwatch)

2026.01.24

X · Dec 12, 2025, 8:01 AM

I'm going to make a crazy bet

And I will say Hashimoto hero coming next year

Even though I know that date is an event for professional players in Japan, I still have that feeling

[quartz latch]

Anakin

[earnest briar]

Idk if this is for overwatch serious or not. But Let's all be honest but sigmas base skin is better then he's mythic. Now I know what you're thinking but hear me out. He's mythic skin doesn't feature he's naked feet which is a shame.

[wise grotto]

Why did I have to read this today

[fossil wren]

Great question

[digital linden]

is it the next hero in s22 said to be the next "oddball"

if so idk what to expect

[wise grotto]

The cat is finally gonna be here

[fallow mantle]

They updated Winston's computer with the Overwatch Responds to Null Sector Threat news article 😌

[median orchid]

They updated it again? Nice.

I remember when they updated it to show the in universe version of the "Sojourn lore drop" article

[fallow mantle]

Yeah that's what that is

[sturdy sierra]

Are Symmetra's photon projector and turrets standard Vishkar design, or did she build them herself?

[wise grotto]

Builds them herself I believe

[spare fox]

It's implied she designed them herself but I can't remember if they're widely used by Vishkar or if they're being held by Vishkar

[wise grotto]

She essentially has a weaker green lantern ring as an arm she’s supposed to be that insanely good at using it

[spare fox]

Like vishkar haven't used them (yet), they might be a company secret - we don't really know either way

[peak escarp]

we haven't seen much of Vishkar outside of Symmetra

[wise grotto]

And Lw

And lucios backstory

[peak escarp]

I mean I terms of what they do

what their architechs are capable of

Symmetra is our only example of a Vishkar architech

[wise grotto]

Ah yea
Sym is said to be there literal best top one so
Everyone else would just be weaker versions in terms of capabilities

[neat forum]

were zaria and rein freinds?

[keen shadow]

Mhm, I own the Heroes Ascendant book and it tells us how hard it is for her to keep up with Vishkar's social standards as an autistic lead architech. It also shows how she's starting to doubt if the company's intentions are really that pure. It's mostly because of how well the Arcology was designed by Lifeweaver who also tries to make Symmetra finally realize how harmful the company's doings are

[neat forum]

i killed a rein and she said "sleep well old friend"

[keen shadow]

Hello fellow Pole

[neat forum]

helloo

[spare fox]

they're both in the new OW together and get along pretty well

[neat forum]

oh i see ty

[meager geyser]

POLAND MENTIONED 🗣️🗣️🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱

[keen shadow]

YUPPERS

[neat forum]

Yupp

Where can I find lore?

[peak escarp]

https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/media/
https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/videos/

[fleet scaffold]

Sigma lore has so much potential. Wish there was more that was explored about him.

[toxic citrus]

they released his hero trailer and just abandoned him

[lunar mesa]

If blizzard tried implementing sig intot he current lore or story it would be like atom bomb vs coughing baby

[wise grotto]

He’s kinda kept under wraps and inside talon cause of his instability making it pretty much impossible to send on missions

[rugged warren]

He just loves ants too

[spare fox]

Yeah I wonder what Talon would want him for - something with gravity obv but in A Great Day, Doomfist mentioned being in space

Maybe trying to get him to replicate his experiment?

[bold fern]

does it hurt if genji double jumps cuz he grunts everytime

[spare fox]

I think it's just exertion, kind of like athletes or martial artists do

[coarse loom]

He just likes to moan

Well it’s just my theory

[frigid kettle]

[sand veldt]

Is it true hanzo is better than genji with a sword

[peak escarp]

he was when they fought

but he wouldn't be now

[silent lake]

can we discuss about kiriko's feet

[marble wedge]

omg yes

[peak escarp]

why

[lyric saffron]

Are we gonna see widow and vendetta team up and hug me

[silent arch]

[lost wedge]

Yo this is a question that's been on my mind lately

If Overwatch 2 takes place a year before Overwatch 1, why are all the characters who originated from Overwatch 1 two years younger than their current selves in Overwatch 2?

[glacial dome]

!!ontopic

[twilit nacelle]

This channel is only for serious, on-topic, discussion. For general discussion, please use #general-discussion.

[lost wedge]

Wait character aging isn't appropriate for lore discussion?

[glacial dome]

Overwatch 2takes place 2 years after ow1

[glacial dome]

Nah it is dw im just fucking around with cmds

[lost wedge]

Ok I get you

[lost wedge]

Ok i thought so AI overview is dumb asf it be saying the game takes place a year after which makes no sense cause genji is 35 in ow1 and 37 in ow2

[glacial dome]

Im a liar

It takes place 1 year after recall

But probably 1 year passed since the start of ow2

considering lore has continued since

[mellow narwhal]

Could it be that the Omnic Crisis was planned long before the first robots appeared, and the events of the game are connected to the real modern world, in which, say, information about the game Overwatch simply disappeared?

[lost wedge]

Yeah that would make more sense if currently in lore another year has passed since new characters were added since

[glacial dome]

or maybe

ow recall was the first cinematic of ow1

chronologically

[mellow narwhal]

Should we expect a character in the game who is also chrono-unstable, but has a completely different background and game mechanics than Tracer, or will she be the only such character in the game?

[glacial dome]

wait no that just adds to my theory of continued lore

[glacial dome]

most likely

[glacial dome]

whats a BJK

But thats literally tracers identity so its not smart to copy paste it

But maybe they can start adding into these chunibyo illnesses

[mellow narwhal]

So, a person leaves behind phantoms, becomes attached to a certain character rather than to a location when attempting to return, and is able to separate his spirit from his body in order to escape to the other side of the map, while being invulnerable, but unable to cause damage until someone destroys his body or time passes?

[glacial dome]

whats the point of the hero

[mellow narwhal]

Distraction and initial attack. He should be heavier and slightly slower than Tracer, but have higher damage output while maintaining mobility and focusing on distraction. Perhaps space control, in short.

[mellow narwhal]

I mean background

[glacial dome]

thats reaper

[mellow narwhal]

I just didn't explain it correctly. If you'll allow me, I'll explain everything from the lore itself to a detailed description of the abilities. Please give me a chance before you reject it.

[lost wedge]

That could be it

[glacial dome]

go for it

just try to summarise

[mellow narwhal]

@glacial dome I was thinking of a character who can leap through space, alone, leaving behind several phantoms to distract, as their mechanism can't spam movement like Tracer's. Then there's Recall, which returns you to where you were a few seconds ago. What if you could tether to a specific nearby player before a fight and then be right there a few seconds later, say, when they attack or flee? They remain visible, but tethering can be helpful both in support and when attacking enemies. And with the Ultimate, you separate your spirit from your body, becoming invisible and unable to deal any damage, while your body remains motionless, somewhere off to the side. Time passes, or your standing shell is destroyed, and you manifest where your incorporeal part was at that moment. It's more of a mix of Mei and Reaper than pure Reaper. And then, you can use the laser to deliver diagonal strikes like a whip or a sword, but you can also switch it to firing mode (burning the target), although the charge will drain faster. Or try slowing down time locally with a weapon (this is just an option). If that's not enough, you could add the ability to restore a shield or some other weapon, since the laser can be used not only for cutting but also for welding. I hope I've described what I wanted to suggest correctly; I'm not a native speaker and am partially translating the text.

Regarding the lore, what if the "Omnic Crisis" was planned by someone long before the omnics emerged? What if someone wanted the catastrophe to happen and orchestrated events to lead to it? Say, by infiltrating 38 key players, whose combined actions lead to the catastrophe? Politicians, inventors, artists—they all have their own goals, their own tasks, but they're unaware of them and live simple lives, despite feeling something is amiss. Moreover, these players are duplicated; if one of them fails to fulfill the assigned scenario, another takes over. They work on the same task in parallel, just as Tesla, Popov, and Marconi independently invented radio. If one of them hadn't done it, someone else would have done it instead. So let's say our character learned about his role and can now thwart this plan, preventing the "Omnic Crisis," but those who arranged it don't benefit from this and they organize a hunt for him, which leads to him ending up in the future?

Let's say he was assigned the role of creating a "nuclear cell" that allowed Omnias, robot factories, to operate autonomously years after the robot production itself had ceased. And yes, these cells could have been used in larger models, too—remember that explosion in Australia? But now that I know about my role and the key players, he can sabotage them, and those unknown rebates can eliminate him. The new hero disappears from his time, and his task is taken over by a bad guy who worked in the same direction, thereby not breaking the chain of cause and effect.

[mellow narwhal]

It all began with an innocent experiment, even a prank. This character, either out of loneliness or curiosity, writes a letter to the same Tracer. It's a regular envelope marked "deliver to addressee in 50 years," with a date, time, and place in the past. At the concert, Lena's name and street address (Willington Road) are listed, but the house number is incorrect. Time passes, and in 2076 (theoretically), Lena receives the letter. He contacts Winston to check if it's a trap. Digging through the archives, they find the character's name among those whose work was used by Omnica Corporation. Despite the risk, Lena sends him to the meeting, back in time, made possible by an additional module or a custom chronoaccelerator protocol. A few days after the letter was written, the meeting takes place. It turns out that in the future, information about the Overwatch game has been lost, and how the character learned about it comes as a shock. They then talk, and Lena learns what the guy is working on and accidentally lets slip his role in the future. He promises to sort events so that the "Omnic Crisis" doesn't happen.

Despite the risk of her own existence being lost, Lena reveals the identity of the key figures and disappears. However, that same evening, she finds the character and explains that the chronoaccelerator malfunctioned, preventing her from returning home. Plus, they're being followed by someone from outside this time, armed with weapons and advanced prosthetics—possibly cyborgs or ultra-modern omnics. They try to determine the cause of the chronoaccelerator malfunction and discover that the device has captured two anomalies in the same location (Tracer and, as it turns out, the character himself). The theory that the character himself is an anomaly is confirmed by the chronoaccelerator sensors, and then they decide to modify the device for two people and escape from the journey to the future together, but during the journey, the character's anomaly intensifies and he becomes almost as unstable, and then Winston has to create a device from two early surviving prototypes that keeps the character from dissipating, but due to the different nature of the anomaly and the specifics of the early prototypes, he has a different set of abilities more related to quantum physics (quantum entanglement, the Cheshire cat paradox, etc.). Well, he makes his laser himself from the wreckage of an old combat drone

After that, he hid for several years in his hometown in the future, hoping to lure out his "creators." He also hid from the world, since he had no documents, because his entire life ended 50 years ago, and his anomalous nature could create a scandal, completely undermining the reputation of the already banned Overwatch, but he is forced to emerge from the shadows after an incident with the theft of plutonium, which Null Sector needed for new units in its ranks. Okay, sorry, this is such nonsense that I probably shouldn't have voiced it, sorry.

Now you can ban me, because I just violated all the rules of this community, but still, perhaps, I conveyed the idea I wanted to discuss.

[peak escarp]

this sounds like bad fanfic

[mellow narwhal]

That's probably true... Sorry for wasting your time.

[fossil wren]

What

Well that was a lot of yap

[digital linden]

[spare fox]

Harsh but yeah, not the place for fanfic

[stable reef]

Guys I finally built up the courage to look into Illaris lore and in my opinion hers has to be one of the most tragic ones

[mighty vigil]

crazy to think that its been about 3 years since we've seen the attackers spawn for numbani and watchpoint gibraltar destroyed
kinda miss it icl

[peak escarp]

I miss Hanamura and Temple of Anubis

and Volskaya

[spare fox]

I would love more (frequent) lore-relevant map updates

More than just data pads

[past copper]

Give it time. They're bound to bring them back expanded

[peak escarp]

I don't want expanded maps with new modes

I want 2cp back

but anyway, not lore

[past copper]

Only really want two of them back because they more fit for Winter Wonderland

If Hanamura has snow, why can't the expanded version of it have any?

[tender moon]

How does deadye tie into mcree's (Who the hell is Cassidy) lore in the past

[peak escarp]

it's just him shooting well

like in Reunion

and if you're going to insist on using the wrong name, at least spell it right

[spare fox]

not all in-game abilities are canon

and even more of them are only slightly canon

[tender moon]

Its not wrong and I did spell it write

[peak escarp]

it's McCree, not mcree

and there is no hero in the game currently named McCree

[tender moon]

Man 😭 no one cares at the end of the day u say the word Mcree and the same sound comes out

[peak escarp]

I care

[stable reef]

Nuh uh McCree sounds like mick-c-ree and mcree sound like mick-ree

[fossil wren]

You're talking to one of Cassidy biggest fans on this server btw

[fossil wren]

Wasn't there a pinned message listing the canon abilities? Although I think it's very outdated

[peak escarp]

yeah we haven't kept up with it

[covert oak]

Why does Blizzard make a clown out of Reaper 😞. Everyone dogs on him, even Kiriko 🫩

[icy portal]

I call him mcdonger

[tacit wraith]

is doomfist carried by his gauntlet or is he a lil strong without it

[covert oak]

I think he beat the prior Doomfist (potentially his friend) and took his gauntlet to become the new Doomfist. @tacit wraith

[tacit wraith]

there's multiple doomfists??

[covert oak]

The gauntlet holds incredible power. There have been prior Doomfists who held the gauntlet until they died.

I think the last Doomfist was the mentor to our current Doomfist or at least knew him

Until our current Doomfist defeated the prior one in combat and took the gauntlet for himself

[cosmic sigil]

theres like 4

[covert oak]

Yeah 4

[tacit wraith]

does the power like depend on who is using it because that kid in the cinematic punched widowmaker with it and she was fine

[covert oak]

He almost killed her I think

He didn't because he was a kid

If it were a grown up, I'm sure it'd have killed her

[tacit wraith]

she got sent through two thick walls of glass i think

[covert oak]

In Nubani, the payload is actually the Doomfist gauntlet.

[tacit wraith]

never noticed that

is there a reason to why it broke after the kid used it though

[covert oak]

He probably used it wrong. I think I remember something being said about that. It can break I believe.

[runic mauve]

man

throughout most of cassidy's interactions, it's very apparent that he regrets a lot from his blackwatch days

but

his interactions with vendetta dont seem to portray that as well

[tacit wraith]

why did reaper turn into like

reaper

had something to do with moira right

[elfin bane]

yes

[covert oak]

Him and Jack Morrison (Soldier 67) had a massive fight at an Overwatch base and it "led" to the entire base exploding. It was believed that both Jack Morrison and Reaper died during the blast.

I THINK Moira found Reaper and with her healing powers she mended him back but it caused him to y'know, do that thing where he becomes heavy smoke or whatever.

[elfin bane]

yeah he was dead or almost dead but moria kept him alive in this shadow form

but apparently it’s super painful all the time for him

[tacit wraith]

is he immortal

[covert oak]

I think so

He decays and then heals

So he can't really be killed

[cosmic sigil]

its basically cancer that he is now

hes a living formation of cancer cells now

[covert oak]

Deadpool but stronger bc he doesn't burst into pieces, he literally breaks down into atoms and gets rebuilt.

[tacit wraith]

what happened to tracer where she needs the device on her to not travel through time or something

[cosmic sigil]

It’s so she doesn’t get lost in time

[tacit wraith]

but why would she get lost in time

[cosmic sigil]

cuz she cant properly control her powers without the device

[covert oak]

How did she get lost in time tho

[cosmic sigil]

from a plane accident, I think the plane basically had the powers she has now

[covert oak]

She was a pilot??

[cosmic sigil]

yea

[cosmic sigil]

thats the whole reason for the slip stream skin

[tacit wraith]

how did she get back after doomfist broke it

[elfin bane]

she was test flying a time traveling plane for overwatch when she crashed and she kept phasing into different times until winston created that thing on her chest which anchors her in the present and lets her control her phasing

[cosmic sigil]

winston repaired it

[tacit wraith]

yeah but like how did they get her, herself back because she like disappeared

[cosmic sigil]

waited for her to phase back into existence and put it on her

she just becomes a ghost basically without it

and will reappear/disappear for random amounts of time

[tacit wraith]

ok thank you

[peak escarp]

there have been 3 Doomfists:
Adhabu Ngumi, the Savior: he was a hero during the omnic crisis and singlehandedly fought back the omnics in Nigeria using his gauntlet. He was killed shortly before the crisis ended and his gauntlet was buried with him.
Akinjide Adeyemi, the Scourge: he was a warlord who rose to power post crisis and somehow got a hold of Adhabu's gauntlet. He became a prominent member of Talon until he was killed by his own protégé...
Akande Ogundimu, the Successor: he was a martial artist in Nigeria in his youth, until the crisis broke out and he was injured, leading to the loss of his right arm. His family's cybernetics company could replace the arm, but it made him ineligible to compete in martial arts tournaments. Instead, he found a new mentor (Akinjide) and joined Talon, quickly rising to prominence and leadership, striking down his own mentor and taking the Doomfist gauntlet and title for himself.

[cosmic sigil]

I knew it was around that number just wasnt sure lol

[wise grotto]

Not really deadpool can be fully deleted and come back he’s been given by thanos using the gauntlet essentially Mr immortal level of immortality

If not the literal slightly lesser version of mr immortals level of immortality

[mellow narwhal]

Good evening, I wanted to ask about a lore-related issue: in your opinion, how much did Eastern Europe suffer from the "Omnic Crisis"?

[meager geyser]

We don't know much, except the fact that Russia didn't accept overwatch and formed their own anti-omnic forces

I think those mechs you see on Volskaya were also part of these forces if I'm not wrong

[mellow narwhal]

Well, that's also unclear. On the one hand, one might assume that Omnics were less common in these regions, but on the other hand, these countries are seemingly less protected.

[dusk granite]

how does doomfist look without his gauntlet

[covert oak]

He can never cease to exist?

[dusk granite]

somehow still as scary

[shy dagger]

Isn’t he an amputee?

[wise grotto]

In that version of deadpool not really
The writer can’t write him out cause deadpool would sock the mf if he tried

[fossil wren]

His arms are cybernetic

His family company specialized in cybernetic prosthetics

[shy dagger]

Oh right

[wind schooner]

hi , im rly interested in widowmakers lore. could anyone tell me about it?

[cosmic sigil]

She was a wife of an overwatch agent and a french ballerina (makes sense cuz her emotes and what not), she was kidnapped by talon and brainwashed into killing her husband, basically making her a secret agent. As for the specifics of how the brainwashing affected her she became cold/emotionless, her heart rate was slowed, basically turning her into a spider and making her as efficient as one at killing.

[peak escarp]

the conditioning (not brainwashing) only made her a sleeper agent, primed to kill her husband - the cold, emotionless persona came later when she returned to Talon and asked them to numb the pleasure she felt at killing the man she loved

I really want a story from her POV

[leaden hornet]

so sad

y did she have to return to talon

and y did they brainwash her now we have dis one shot char in my games

[peak escarp]

because her husband had thwarted several assassination attempts before that

and Talon was getting frustrated

[ancient mauve]

This was actually quite interesting to read. I need to look at the lore videos again

[echo oasis]

I think bastion is a robot

[covert oak]

Actually an omnic 🤓

[keen summit]

Next heroes are said to be more based on lore

[covert oak]

Hopefully we get an omnic 🙏🏽

[covert oak]

Is Mei Juno's sister or something. How did they know each other.

[keen summit]

Moms friend

That's all

She saw her in a pic with her mom

[keen summit]

Which is a robot, just like how all iphones are phones but not all phones are iphones

[shy dagger]

I want Susie (Hazard’s partner), as a supp so bad

[wind schooner]

how sad:( thank u so much for the response

[meager geyser]

It's gonna be the jetpack cat

Fr this time

Trust me

[ancient mauve]

OH I FORGOT ABOUT THATT

It’s giving rocket

[hollow spoke]

Scrim 8 to 10

[wise grotto]

Next one we have however is supposed to be an oddball hero

I want that old Chinese grandma from the reallly old designs

[dim horizon]

Mama Hong?

[peak escarp]

Mama Hong was a joke reference to the movie Kung Fu Hustle, she's never going to be a hero

and Jetpack Cat became Hammond

[elfin bane]

nooo

[wise grotto]

I can dream

Mama hong will stay in my cope of new heroes forever

[flat blade]

fat butt

[dim horizon]

If Mama Hong ever had a chance of making it to the game, it was at launch or one of the early post launch heroes.

No way present day Overwatch is putting her in the game now. No matter how glorious she might be.

At best I could see them using the name/appearance as a supporting character in a comic or something. A wink-and-nudge cameo.

[wise grotto]

That’s why I say it’s Cole I know it ain’t gonna happen but a mf can dream

[spring turret]

mama hong should be added anyway
burst fire cannon time

[wise grotto]

I really wish ow had a character who just beat the shit out of you that wasn’t doomfist

[sturdy sierra]

Is there any Shambali Monastary lore?

If so, where?

[opaque tundra]

Zenyatta’s bio on the website has a good summary

[sturdy sierra]

Cool. I heard that voiceline interaction between Ramattra and Venture today, and I thought it'd be interesting to know more

Also Shambali Monastary itself is a pretty beautiful map

[thorny hollow]

Yall, there is alot of obscure lore with echo and her creator

There is that one voiceline with moira and echo which sheds some context

But I feel like theres something deeper in echo

[shy dagger]

Not only would she and hazard be our first canonical couple in game, but also our first instance of Omnic-human relationship in the roster. We already know that omnics and humans get into relationships in the Overwatch world but seeing it in our hero roster would be so good

[thorny hollow]

I also think Echo is the real medium between omnics and humans

[shy dagger]

Kinda yeah

She’s a super intelligent ai like Orisa

[thorny hollow]

Why kids though....

Its always the kids as smart ones

[wise grotto]

Echo is a learning ai that had a persons consciousness installed into it

Specifically a really impactful scientist if I recall

[peak escarp]

incorrect

Echo is a highly advanced learning AI

that's it

she does not have the consciousness of Dr. Liao

she took on some of Dr. Liao's mannerisms because as I said, learning AI - she copies what she sees

Dr. Liao was her creator and the person she spent most of her time around

[sturdy sierra]

I loved 'Stone by Stone'. Getting a better sense of Zen's personality and the relationship between him and Symmetra was great

[grand wedge]

This story is definitely is a must read!

[sturdy sierra]

Also the culture the monks had in Suravasa was equally interesting

[ember harness]

we need more characters that are canonically lesbians

at least 80% of females characters need to be lesbians

[fallow mantle]

we need more characters that are 'sons' of lore characters - we've got Juno, Vendetta, Pharah, Brigitte, Kiriko (Orisa? lmao) as daughters of various lore characters

I guess Hanzo and Genji count - but

[sturdy sierra]

Is anyone worried the Overwatch universe is gonna run into the same issue as the 'MCU' - too large and nebulous?

Too many different stories and perspectives

[fallow mantle]

Not me, personally - they seem to be making efforts to draw it back into a cohesive narrative nowadays

It's actually focusing on Overwatch and Talon again

[twilit patrol]

I think about it sometimes

[sturdy sierra]

I'm just now catching up on all the past short stories

[uneven vector]

Put the Fries in the bag

[fallow mantle]

wut

[covert oak]

https://tenor.com/view/sybau-ts-pmo-gif-2102579015947246168

[wise grotto]

I don’t think so because it isn’t forcing itself to include every aspect like the mcu was

[sturdy sierra]

True

[meager geyser]

Maybe, but they were giving that vibe for a moment, by adding heros with no connection to the lore in any way.

Like I bet Hazard, Ilarii and Venture WILL NOT be mentioned in the lore a single time ever again.

[spare fox]

I get your sentiment, but those guys I'm not so sure about
Hazard - he's now basically Moira's experiment. It's an interesting dynamic (look at Reaper and Widow, Hazard is a totally different personality)
Illari - she was just set up in Soldier's recent story to possibly have a conflict with Oasis. She's also known to be in contact w Sombra, I doubt that's over
Venture - DF/Talon is looking for some kind of artefact. I doubt that that's over either

[sturdy sierra]

God, I hope Illari doesn't just disappear from the lore

Futures Past was great, and I hope it gets expanded upon next year

[wise grotto]

They have connections to lore which cakes explains after
You just pretty much HAVE to read into the short stories and shit

[dim horizon]

Yeah - Hazard, Illari and Venture all have routes into the main Overwatch-Talon narrative that are easy enough to link up later down the line. Oasis seems to be coming to the foreground in the lore at the moment (perhaps more so with the upcoming Arcology map, which features a similar "city of science" vibe), which brings in Hazard and Illari.

Venture is basically a ready-made questgiver NPC waiting to enter the story as soon as the writers are ready for Overwatch to pick up the "Talon are seeking an artifact" thread.

[mellow narwhal]

Good day. Could you please explain how magic came to be present in the Overwatch universe, a fantasy world of the future, given that the original lore focused more on futuristic science and technology?

This concerns Kirioko and Wuyang

[dim horizon]

I believe the only "magic" that doesn't have a pseudo sci-fi explanation so far is Kiriko.

Which I'm hoping we get some day, even if it's just a hand-wavey Doctor-Who-style technobabble explanation. I don't personally like the idea of outright magic in Overwatch.

I believe Wuyang's abilities are technological, not magical.

[mellow narwhal]

A device built into the staff?

[dim horizon]

Yeah, the Wuxing University that he attended with his sister focuses on different areas of technology, linking them to an element.

Water College focuses on healing tech, so his staff is a result of his education there.

[meager geyser]

Wuyang is confirmed to not use magic, but they haven't said how he is able to control the water and spam it out of nothing, which in my opinion is very stupid.
I get that overwatch is not a hard sci-fi, but I'm just tired of: "He uses science and technology, but we're not going to explain how this technology works"
I don't need a realistic, super scientific and detailed explanation, I just need an explanation.
It pisses me of a little ngl.

As for Kirko

Yeah, she uses magic

And of story

[elfin bane]

well the spam is out of nothing thing

he has water in his staff

i mean like in game obvi he has no limit he can just reload infinitely

but in lore he probably has to refill his staff with water

or he has something on his staff that sucks in water vapor and condenses it or something

[covert oak]

https://tenor.com/view/84-years-titanic-old-ancient-gif-5071803

[wise grotto]

It isn’t actually magic in the game at all but only kiri doesn’t have any in lore or game explanations as to how she works yet

The only thing we have confirmed is she doesn’t use magic since it doesn’t exist
Nothing else is helped with kiri unlike every other hero in the cast

[sturdy sierra]

It's really clear that the creative team behind Illari put so much care into her character design, so it'd be such a shame if she got left in the dust

[digital linden]

that is what happens if i remember correctly from a dev post

[peak escarp]

I believe Wuyang's staff has a condenser in it that pulls moisture from the air to provide his water source

[tired bough]

is there a long form video that discusses all the lore my friend just got heavily into overwatch the other day and i wanna send one to her but i cant really find any other than short explained in 10 minute ones

[peak escarp]

Hammeh has one

https://youtu.be/4wVaqOQS-xU?si=lSudhKYqf8w8X_7F

[tired bough]

tyyy

[azure flint]

where is the big vendetta lore blizzard

[fossil wren]

Let them work

A house isn't built in a day

[sturdy sierra]

I want to see the story started in 'Thoughtless Gods' continued next year

The Junkers & associated factions within Junkertown don't really like omnics, and are aware of Null Sector's war against humanity, so it'll be interesting to see what they bring to the fight

[spare fox]

Dr Chao def being set up to be a Big Bad

[sturdy sierra]

Also hopeful the Horizon Lunar Colony situation is revisited, since Lucheng Interstellar clearly hasn't forgotten about it

But I might be getting ahead of myself

[past copper]

Rome

[fossil wren]

Oh yeah it was Rome, I had forgotten it ngl

[past copper]

Just remember the song Brighter. First lyric

But the song will get stuck in your head

[pseudo marlin]

Lf a good tank trapped in elo hell EU

[sturdy sierra]

This isn't a lfg channel - you'd have more luck posting that to #lfg-console-ranked

[pseudo marlin]

Thanks

[oak sedge]

whats lfg

[cosmic sigil]

looking for group

[oak sedge]

ohhh

im slow lol

[frigid latch]

can someone help explain to me why mercy speaks german instead of swiss?

in the english version at least

[fossil moat]

she is from switzerland in which one of the main languages are german

[frigid latch]

thnx

[fossil moat]

Your welcome

I have some kind of feeling that sojourn dedicated her life to fighting evil because one of her family members could have turned on her and the rest of her family and became evil and Sojourn had to battle them to save her family and so after that she just decided that she was going to make sure there was no more (at least that she knew of) evil around her or anyone else.

And since she was born with an autoimmune and is now a cyborg it gives her the strength to continue fighting off the evil.

[peak escarp]

what

[fossil moat]

hm?

[peak escarp]

nobody in her family turned evil

[fossil moat]

well maybe not, I just thought of that

[peak escarp]

this isn't the place for fanfic

[fossil moat]

oh mb

[acoustic flax]

Mods?

[meager geyser]

There is no such language as swiss 😭

[fossil wren]

It's an image

Even so, it's a very bad joke

[sturdy sierra]

I get that it's about a deal / relationship between Doomfist & Talon and Maximillien, but how and/or where does The Pocket King fit into the overall story?

[frigid latch]

oh mb thanks though

[uneven vector]

None of yall would last in my world.

[acoustic flax]

OW the EDGE

[peak escarp]

!!loreonly

[twilit nacelle]

This channel is for serious discussion strictly related to the lore of Overwatch. Shitposting will result in a loss of access.

[median orchid]

Hmm the yearly recall mentions that lore will be a bigger thing covered during Weekly recalls during 2026.

"We can share that Weekly Recalls will be even more in-depth and educational as we hit certain beats over the next year. Expect deeper dives into narrative and lore, the development of Heroes and the world around them, and more insight from devs about updates they’ve cooked up."

https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24247150/yearly-recall-2025-and-beyond/

[merry mason]

I think they are just talking about keeping up what they already do with the recalls

[spare fox]

Yeah the whole post is just a click bait titled wrap up

[spare fox]

think they're going to have a showcase or something before s21?

ngl it's gonna suck if we have to wait for "the big 2026 content" until September...

[peak escarp]

deeper dives into narrative 👀

even if it's just the story behind the creation of characters, I'm in

[shy dagger]

Same it’s always so interesting

[spare fox]

They've been on a pretty good roll lately. We get a short story every two seasons? Can't wait to see what "deeper" and "more" mean

[pseudo marlin]

Looking for a good tank stuck in elo hell

[patent moth]

!!loreonly

frig

[pseudo marlin]

Mb

[bold fern]

what are these lines on vendetta? are they battle scars? it looks too clean to be scars.

and theres some on her arms but i cant find a good pic

[weary quarry]

Tattoos

[peak escarp]

probably tattoos, yeah

[sturdy sierra]

There's probably something about them already released, but I'm hoping for a short story centered around Reinhardt and Brigitte next year at some point

Since they've been featured in two places; the opening of Reinhardts animated short, and Mercy's short story

[ember fable]

so they exploit familial connections now? charming way to build character depth. isn't it?.

[peak escarp]

and the Dragon Slayer comic

[sturdy sierra]

Ah, thank you for the correction. Haven't gotten there yet

There's a chronological order to the comics, videos, & short stories, right?

[peak escarp]

sorta

there's this rough timeline for all the OW1 lore pieces

and all the OW2 content is post-Zero Hour

[ember fable]

a rough timeline how charmingly imprecise, for such meticulous engineers.

[peak escarp]

?

[sturdy sierra]

Yeah, what?

How is that lore-related?

Anyways, I'm hoping for an update on what Reinhardt and Brigitte have been up to post fall of Overwatch and Zero Hour

[dim horizon]

Post-Zero Hour they are fully fledged members of the revived Overwatch. They attempt to recruit Torb, who turns them down (but agrees to help them find a technical solution to Null Sector's omnic control devices).

[sturdy sierra]

And the Petras Act is still in place, yes?

Or no?

[dim horizon]

Yeah, the new Overwatch is an outside-the-law vigilante operation rather than the UN-backed global peacekeeping force it was in the golden age.

[sturdy sierra]

Right

[dim horizon]

Though given they're the only force that's proven effective at fighting off Null Sector, it's been implied that the governments of the world aren't exactly making enforcing the Petras Act a priority.

And in some cases (like South Korea) they're even willing to openly work with them. That's how D.Va came to join the group.

[sturdy sierra]

Speaking of which, can we please have more members of the MEKA squadron added to the game, or at least referenced?

I might again be showing how little I know about the lore; have they already been mentioned?

[dim horizon]

They make their first and only full-blown appearance in the New Blood comic, which details Cassidy's efforts to enlist several of the playable heroes into the new Overwatch.

[wise grotto]

Is this just random words you threw together in a blender

[meager geyser]

They look like a very strange tattoos

My theory is that they're some kind of cybernetic implants

[wise grotto]

They aren’t seperate from her skin they’re probably just strange tattoos

[half robin]

mofos be examing ANYTHING

Stop looking at her thighs bro 😭

[fossil wren]

Not related to the lore, but Merry Christmas to all the users dedicated to learn and talk about the lore in this channel especially to Doctor and Spookycakes

[wise grotto]

Tbf it’s a fair question on her design since she’s really fuckin strong and might have cybernetics for it (also prolly doesn’t)

[spare fox]

Thank you for discussing! I come here bc I enjoy it ❤️ merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

[sturdy sierra]

The lore team has amazing writers - the comics are fun to read, but man, the short stories are so descriptive and engaging

[twilit patrol]

Merry Christmas

[hushed ivy]

Merry Christmas

[hard patio]

We need Emre as a new hero so they can drop a terrabyte of lore with him.

[spare fox]

ngl I don't really care enough about Emre to want him as a hero

I really don't see the appeal

unless we learn something new about him, or why Max put a bounty on him, he's just kinda there

[digital linden]

what role would he even tie into? he rlly doesn’t strike me as a tank and i feel like that’s the upcoming thing

[peak escarp]

based on his lore Emre should be a support

[spare fox]

he could be a support, he could be any role really

[blissful mortar]

hai

[dim horizon]

Wasn't Emre the first recruit to the strike team after the Crisis ended?

So I could see him being a support, since technically the original strike team made it through the entire Crisis without a healer.

As back then, Ana was DPS (in game terms)

[sturdy sierra]

I saw it mentioned (maybe on one of the subreddits) that Widowmaker might abandon Talon at some point

Only once, though, so I can't speak to whether or not it's an actual possibility for the story

[peak escarp]

it's a possibility

Talon wouldn't like it

[spare fox]

it's true like... I can see A LOT of the heroes who haven't had updates recently moved around the chessboard of the narrative

especially if Vendetta usurps Doomfist

but even then, we've got characters like Widowmaker and Symmetra that could possibly change course

we've got Wrecking Ball pulled back into the HLC story again, maybeonly briefly maybe not

Junkerqueen wants to go on a "road trip" so who knows what'll come of that and if the Junkrat and Roadhog will stowaway or be dragged along

and last we saw Ashe, BOB, and a good part of the deadlock gang they were literally up in the air and with another gang too

Kiriko and Hanzo have finally joined forces... from a marketing perspective, I can't NOT see Kiriko be in Overwatch. I feel like that's an inevitability

just a matter if when that story will drop

[dim horizon]

If Vendetta is successful in taking over Talon, I can see Widowmaker, Mauga and possibly Sigma (barring any intervention by Sombra) being the most likely to stick around.

Sombra has been ready to cut herself loose for a while, and Reaper and Moira aren't likely to be welcome in a Vendetta regime given their involvement in Antonio's death.

[shy dagger]

I feel like people only want him so that everyone who was in the Overwatch family picture would be playable

[peak escarp]

he is the last one

it would be nice to finally have them all

[wise grotto]

Like a team of depressed adult pokemon

[sturdy sierra]

Most likely or least likely to stick around?

[dim horizon]

Most. Neither Widow, Mauga or Sigma appear to have any personal loyalty to Doomfist himself. Widow and Sigma are with Talon largely because they have nowhere else to go, and Mauga is in it for the love of the game.

There's little reason to think a change of leadership would push any of those three out of Talon.

Whereas Reaper and Moira might have issues if Vendetta takes the helm - or more specifically, Vendetta might have issues with them.

[sturdy sierra]

Ok, got it. Sombra, I gather, would leave because she never had the strongest loyalty in the first place?

[dim horizon]

Sombra could go either way. Vendetta would have no reason to get rid of her, but Sombra's always been of flimsy loyalty so the chaos of a takeover might be the nudge she needs to bail.

[sturdy sierra]

Right

[dim horizon]

I think for Sombra, the question is whether Talon helps her further her personal goals. If Talon looks like it might be stronger under Vendetta's leadership, she would probably hang around. But if she thinks Talon ends up worse off / weaker, then she might be more inclined to go solo.

[sturdy sierra]

Well, one of her teams botched a job she ordered done, so..

If I remember that particular bit of lore correctly

[dim horizon]

I could see Vendetta having the strength to seize power, but I'm not so sure she has what it takes to keep hold of it.

From what we've seen so far, Doomfist seems like the better long-term strategist. He's as much a schemer as he is a warrior, whereas with Vendetta we've only see her warrior side.

The failed first attempt at attacking Talon you mention is evidence that she might not be the greatest strategist out there.

[sturdy sierra]

Thanks for the clarification

[spare fox]

Sombra is complicated: kind of like a lone Phreak with her own mission, she is NOT on the side of big interests- Lumerico, Overwatch, Volskaya, but she is on Talon bc that gives her access to info she can use against the "big bads" and also gives her resources to pursue whatever The Conspiracy is

Basically, she sees how these "big entities" use people as a whole, so she in turn feels the need to use the big entities for data and leverage to use at her disposal

Kinda like a hacker Robin hood but with info and blackmail primarily instead of money

[wise grotto]

She also looks out for sigma which is like the only thing keeping her from having 0 good relationships in talon

[spare fox]

Talon is just business for her, but yeah she's looking out for Sigma since she knows he's being used, even if he's not 100% aware of it

[keen summit]

Sombra is very morally gray cuz of it all

Which is nice

[sturdy sierra]

Alright, so here's a question; in Sombra's animated short, Widowmaker knows that Sombra chose to allow the CEO of Volskaya Industries to escape, but didn't run off to report Sombra's actions to Doomfist. Why?

[peak escarp]

probably because Widowmaker doesn't care

[sturdy sierra]

Probably true

[steel badger]

这里有人用中文聊天吗

[azure flint]

bot account

dni

[subtle shore]

Hey so does anyone know why Hazard hates overwatch

[keen summit]

read his comic

thatll answer it @subtle shore

[covert oak]

Average reddit thread

@subtle shore It's because he sees Overwatch as part of a powerful system that claims to protect others but instead ignores, controls, or harms communities. Like the one he grew up in.

[subtle shore]

Ah okay thx

[peak escarp]

Overwatch was also partially responsible for his injuries and only made token efforts to make amends for it

[wise grotto]

It’s more because they abandoned him after being the main cause of him being stuck in a wheelchair and losing both legs

[peak escarp]

that's what I said

they paid for basic prosthetics and thought that was good enough for ruining his life and killing his father

[covert oak]

Bro lost his legs???

[peak escarp]

and his arm

[covert oak]

Damn, I gotta read up on him

[keen summit]

Yeah

[keen summit]

Cuz you got this completely wrong

[keen summit]

The reason why i said it btw is because its clearer to just read the comic and see it rather than saying "ow jet crashed and injured him and never adressed it"

Seeing it for yourself would work better

[covert oak]

That is why he is punk is it not? At least I tried to give an explanation. "Go find out yourself" is such a goy response to someone asking a question.

[dim horizon]

I hope the story team ease off a bit on the whole "because old Overwatch sucks" reasoning for new characters' motivations.

We've seen it with both Hazard and Freja recently (and highly likely it will be used again when Emre shows up). Old Overwatch wasn't perfect, but it did far more good than bad for the world and the story should reflect that.

[wise grotto]

Because reading rhw comic gives actual context and tells it better then anyone could ever tell separately

You however didn’t even do the minimum of give context and just said the wrong thing

[wise grotto]

There’s
So many characters who are proof old ows good left an impact including the entirety of the new ow crew being fairly welcomed all things considered by the world

But geniunely the “go read the source material” answer is better then just pretending your giving the right answer

[merry mason]

If anything there should be more scrutiny of Overwatch. Imagine if it existed in real life

It would have nonstop criticism just on the concept alone

[median orchid]

I say that they were a mixed bag. Some loved the heroes and their humanitarian work. Some criticized them for Blackwatch and other controversies.

I wouldn't complain if they were real lol, much more effective than the UN of today lmao

[past copper]

We need this Mauga skin at some point

Notice how it's unique compared to the normal Heavy Assault unit

[fallow mantle]

Hopefully one day, wanted it as a day 1 release for him 😭

[past copper]

I mean... ya. But they probably didn't have the art design for it until recently

[peak escarp]

we've had a design for it since WYLB

[past copper]

They didn't want Mauga's Talon uniform to look like the other

They wanted him to look unique from the other units

Much like the majority of Talon heroes have their own unique uniform

[dim horizon]

Feels inevitable that he'll get the Talon skin eventually.

I'd love some more lore skins in general.

[wise grotto]

If we didn’t have the context of the un and this was our only actual context the mistakes would seem much more major

[lost wedge]

Lowkey they need to reckon the age gap between these 3 cause this is haliarious

[peak escarp]

[wise grotto]

Yea like
Just make her maybe 4-5 years older at least

[peak escarp]

she's supposed to be 26

they got her age wrong in her bio

or the art for the origin story was made before they changed her age

either way, they messed up somewhere

[wise grotto]

Mhm they definitely messed up somewhere and haven’t admitted to the mess up at this point

[peak escarp]

because Genji and Hanzo are not 21/24 in that art

[wise grotto]

Kiri remains in more then one way the biggest consistency issue in ow

[peak escarp]

if Kiriko was 26, they'd be 16/19, which looks correct for the art

I'm just tired of people complaining about her

[fossil moat]

okay so im pretty sure she is 21

[peak escarp]

her bio lists her age as 21

however the text in her bio says she was 12 when Sojiro Shimada was killed 14 years ago

which would make her 26

[lost wedge]

That's what I was thinking too kiri should be in her late 20s or early 30s

[fossil moat]

maybe the bio had a mistake?

[lost wedge]

Yeah they look like they are teenagers

[fossil moat]

so shes in her early 20s we know that

[peak escarp]

there's a mistake somewhere and T4 will not own up to it

[fossil moat]

leaning towards mid 20s

[peak escarp]

they changed Sojourn's age when the error was pointed out

why not Kiriko?

[lost wedge]

True

[lost wedge]

Blizzard likes the appeal of having young asian characters in their game for some reason

[fossil moat]

exactly

[peak escarp]

she'd still be young at 26

[fossil moat]

so maybe shes 24 bc she looks young

[peak escarp]

and her appearance wouldn't change

[lost wedge]

They think it makes it more relatable to the age demographic of their player base

[fossil moat]

yeah

[lost wedge]

Because most people who play overwatch are in their 20s but idk why they are afraid to age up kiri

[spare fox]

no one said they're afraid to

[peak escarp]

if that was the reason then they would make all their heroes 15

[lost wedge]

Because if they did age her up it would still make sense for the demographic

[lost wedge]

True

[lost wedge]

It was a figure of speech but yeah they don't care to

[peak escarp]

heroes don't have to match your age/race/gender/sexuality to be relatable

[lost wedge]

Exactly so I dont get that reason at all

[lost wedge]

This is more so a headcanon in the community I think

Idk blizzard just has this weird thing of making Asian characters in their early 20s 🤷🏽‍♂️

[peak escarp]

except for Genji and Hanzo and Lifeweaver

and Mei

and Symmetra

[lost wedge]

All true lmao

[peak escarp]

did I miss anyone?

[lost wedge]

I don't think so

People in the community have joked about blizzard devs having a fetish for young Asian woman

[peak escarp]

Juno has a lore reason for being 19, and Wuyang being a student also makes sense for him to be 19

Anran will probably be mid-20s

[lost wedge]

Yeah I never took that seriously tbh

[lost wedge]

Exactly

[peak escarp]

people in the community also joked about the Genji/Mercy ship being a self insert by the former lead writer

I don't take the community seriously

[lost wedge]

They think kiriko is the poster child for overwatch

Maybe for the people who started with overwatch 2 kiriko is the poster child

But I started with overwatch 1 so tracer will always be the face of overwatch to me

Kiriko is just one of the new faces same with sojourn kinda

And then you have dva, genji, Rein,

Cass, reaper, lucio, solider and Zarya are honorable mentions

But yeah those are the most iconic characters to me

[wise grotto]

Soj isn’t really the real face of ow
She’s barely marketed it feels like and gets piss all for skins

[lost wedge]

True that's why I said kinda she's displayed on the cover art of the game but that's about it

[lost wedge]

Oh yeah i forgot about Winston as well

So yeah it's really tracer, Dva Genji, Kiri, kiriko, Rien and Winston

[winged saddle]

just cause they're popular in the fandom doesnt make them the face of the game

Tracer was the poster child of OW1 and still is for the most part

the devs just been dying to shoehorn Kiri in as a replacement

[spare fox]

why does this fandom obsess over what they think the devs think?
"the devs been dying to shoehorn..." "the devs want more young asians" "the devs fetishize young heroes"

what?

saying it like it's a fact

[peak escarp]

I don't think they've been trying to force Kiriko as the new face of Overwatch

Tracer is still the "mascot" character

[winged saddle]

cause they're the devs? they literally control the whole game

they can drop an update that nerfs every character except the three they like and thats just

wraps ig

[spare fox]

and why would they do that?

such a smooth-brained doomer take

[winged saddle]

its a hypothetical, genius

also dont use the word "doomer" unironically, keep your reddit language to yourself

[pastel stirrup]

yh they explicitly called tracer the posterchild of the game as recent as when she got added to stadium
i also think generally ppl put too much importance on skin count when deciding who they think the posterchild is

[meager geyser]

They literally do. They didn't said it directly, but you can come to this conclusion very easy.

• She is on every promo art, even on some that show only OW1 characters + Kiriko
• She gets a new skin EVERY SEASON and on every collab
• She is always meta
• She even has some special voice lines in game that nobody else in the game has
• etc.

[pastel stirrup]

winston doesn't have a lot of skins, for example, but he's still a good shout
better than kiriko for sure

[meager geyser]

I don't even remember when Tracer got so much attention recently

[pastel stirrup]

this is called being an industry plant, not a posterchild

[meager geyser]

Yeah, maybe

[pastel stirrup]

a posterchild by definition is someone that epitomizes what the game is about
and tracer does this significantly better than kiriko imo

[meager geyser]

For me Kirko represents Overwatch 2 and Blizzard's greed

• She was the first payed character in the game, and was super broken at the start so you almost had to have her
• She gets overpriced cosmetics every season, which for me is an effect of greed
• And she broke the lore with that whole spirit magic thing and her age that makes no sense (which to me symbolizes how Blizzard stopped caring about the lore after the release of OW2)

I don't like Kirko because of what she represents to me

[pastel stirrup]

um sure
my point is that 'greed, microtransactions and broken lore' isn't something you'd want to intentionally communicate through a posterchild in this scenario, which is why i think tracer makes for a better one

[peak escarp]

sure, they stopped caring about lore in OW2... guess we haven't gotten any new lore or story progression since 2022

[edgy meadow]

this channel is truly incredible

[spare fox]

I don't get why doomers come into this channel like they're trying to convert people with their weird hangups copypasted from half truths and misinfo

Like oh gee this guy who just showed up in this channel is saying blizz devs only care about kiriko, guess I should stop being interested in the lore

Repeat 10x a week

It's like the Facebook "thoughts and prayers" and the "lol thoughts and prayers do nothing!" idiots combined together

Like ok, if everyone listens to you and you "convert" everyone in here to agree with you 100%.... then what? What is accomplished?

[pastel stirrup]

i mean even if most reasons he listed are kinda outdated now (all heroes are free, they've been somewhat more generous with monetisation and cosmetics, lore seems to be making a comeback), i still think it's relevant to the posterchild discussion because if all of that bad stuff is what most ppl associate a character with then they're probably not a suitable candidate for posterchild

[median orchid]

As like the #1 Tracer fanboy here ... No she's absolutely still the mascot / posterchild. Maybe in the early days of OW2 there was a argument for Kiriko taking over but not anymore. Tough nowadays it feels like the game doesn't have a dedicated mascot ...

[lost wedge]

Fr idk where this kiriko is the new main face propaganda came from

[lost wedge]

I have no idea

[lost wedge]

I don't think so either. they just recognize how popular kirko is and advertise her along side tracer

Some people argue that they advertise kiriko more on social media because she's the favorite and tracer is not the main face anymore but I also see tracer get advertised just as much

So what if kiri gets advertised a bit more it doesn't change the devs acknowledgement of tracer

[lost wedge]

Exactly the reason why the cosmetics team gives kiri the most skins is because she's the most popular character for cosmetics same with mercy and juno and those are heroes people also complain about

[wise grotto]

The only judgement of kiri is still they haven’t FIXED the two inconsistencies they have lore wise one of them it’s just not labeled right the second one being them not giving any reason or showing any of the tech she should be using for her stuff

[lost wedge]

I still don't understand why people complain about how many skins a hero gets though it's so unessecary to get mad at

[pastel stirrup]

i mean it can sometimes be a little overblown but i think it's still a valid criticism when there are other heroes that get nothing for extended periods of time

[wise grotto]

Yea
Like I understand if you don’t like the fact your hero never gets any good ones (brig ramm venture haz)

[lost wedge]

Honestly the only team that shows bias towards kiriko is the balance team

[lost wedge]

And I like that overwatch is going in that direction gives more room for characters to shine

[lost wedge]

True the cosmetics team should at least give more skins to other heroes more frequently

[median orchid]

Yeah it fits, OW2 doesnt necesarily need a "Main charecter"

Give Baptiste or Illari some love

[lost wedge]

Imo they haven't cared about lore for 3 years until now

That's evident with vendetta's lore tying back to blackwatch

The only thing I didn't like is that they completely dropped the cinematic team they had for back in 2022

[peak escarp]

except we've gotten new lore with every new hero since Venture

Just because we haven't been getting Blizzard animated shorts doesn't mean we haven't been getting lore

comics and outsourced shorts and short stories still count

and they're setting up a subplot with Maximilien

[lost wedge]

Yeah wasn't saying that to say we haven't been getting lore

It's more of a personal preference for me I think the cgi cinematic animations we got in the bast look way better than the animations we get now

I like when games have cgi cinematic models that are just like the ones in game but with a bit more detail

I assume thet blizzard let the cinematic team go because they couldn't afford to keep them

Those animations did look expensive after all

[azure flint]

we will get lore midseason guys trust

[celest terrace]

What’s the lore

[dim horizon]

We know the midseason mythic is Doom - I guess there's always the possibility of it being lore-related given that the next major "step" in the lore seems like a confrontation between he and Vendetta.

Long shot, but you never know.

[spare fox]

His mythic is like magma/lava themed isn't it?

[digital linden]

yep

[quartz kiln]

idk bro seems like the lore thing is dead

[dim horizon]

Oh have we already had a preview? I couldn't remember seeing it.

[quartz kiln]

its in the battlepass

spray and the gun thing

[dim horizon]

Ah, thanks.

[pure solar]

Is lifeweaver like...actually canonically

Fruity?

[digital linden]

yes he’s pansexual

[peak escarp]

several heroes are on the queer spectrum

Soldier is gay
Tracer and Pharah are lesbian
Lifeweaver is pansexual
Baptiste is bisexual

[dim horizon]

https://overwatch.fandom.com/wiki/Celebrate_Pride#Name_Cards

Any character with their own Pride name card is confirmed LGBTQ+

I imagine there may be more revealed down the line though.

[peak escarp]

and Venture is non-binary, although that's a gender identity not a sexuality

we don't know what their sexuality is

[patent moth]

on that topic bastion going from being refered to as it/its in ow1 to he/him in ow2 is, most likely unintentional, transmasc rep

[digital linden]

ou i didn’t know he was referred to as it before

that makes sense tho ig, people familiarising themselves with omnics after the crisis

[spare fox]

and bastion growing as a being and learning about humanity

[peak escarp]

I think the change in pronouns reflects Torbjorn taking Bastion in - Torbjorn/his family probably decided Bastion was a he

[spare fox]

OW as a faction def needs more masc rep fr

11/12 (depends if you count Efi) ladies, 7 gents

8 gents, sorry

[digital linden]

wuyang joining is inevitable at least

[spare fox]

yep I counted him for the 8 guys

BUT I didn't count Anran

[digital linden]

ah

not rlly sure what other male characters would join

i feel like venture will join at some point, so that’s a separate category for them

[spare fox]

yeah I feel like Kiriko joining is also inevitable

[digital linden]

would hanzo join?

that could be rocky

[grand wedge]

for now, Hanzo and Kiriko are teaming up against the Hashimoto

So, until this is solved, or if something bigger is looming and Genji actually go and try to find his brother, Hanzo joining Overwatch is (for now) very unlikely

[spare fox]

I personally think they're going to wrap up the hashimoto arc soon, getting kiriko into OW and either Hanzo too or Hanzo keeping watch over Hanamura again as scion (with help from Asa/the yokai)

[peak escarp]

I don't think Kiriko would join Overwatch, she's more concerned with protecting her hometown

[dim horizon]

The same used to be true of Zarya, D.Va and Pharah.

Kiriko making the same leap doesn't seem out of the bounds of possibility, so long as the immediate threat of the Hashimoto is either defeated or suppressed.

[grand wedge]

I hope they will tie the Hashimoto with Talon at some point of their storytelling

or somewhat, confirmed thay they have ties, since Sojiro Shimada rejected their offer, before he died and the Hashimoto took over.

[azure fable]

i hope another junker gets in overwatch 🥹