This is a continuation from my article last week talking about the diversity representation that is in Overwatch, a video game. In this article I will talk about the characters Genji, Zenyatta, Bastion, Torbjorn, Zarya, and Mercy. Each of these characters plays a significant role in both the lore of Overwatch and the actual game of "Overwatch." I should mention that all of the lore of Overwatch is 100 percent free and the video games is not canon to the lore of Overwatch.
Genji
Genji Shimada, Genji, is the estranged brother of Hanzo. While Hanzo uses a bow as his primary weapon, Genji uses a katana and shurikens. Due to the extensive injuries that Hanzo inflicted on him, Genji was healed by Dr. Angela Ziegler (Mercy) of Overwatch with augmented parts making him a cyborg. Genji’s cyborg reparations enhanced his speed and agility making him an unstoppable force on the battlefield. Genji made it his mission in life to dismantle his family’s crime network but after time noticed that he needed to find inner peace. After years of wandering, Genji ran into the Omnic monk Zenyatta and was invited to an Omnic temple in Nepal. In the Nepal map, a player can find Genji’s room with a tapestry of the dragons, a photo of young Genji and Hanzo and a katana hanging on the wall. Genji is in the Attack class and many of his skins pay homage to his “wanderer” lifestyle.
Zenyatta
Zenyatta is an Omnic monk who wanders the world treating the wounds of the Omnic Crisis with interpersonal communication. Zenyatta is the mentor to Genji and believed countless others. The monastery that Zenyatta was apart of would praised dogmatic teaching while Zenyatta believed in interpersonal communication and personal engagement. It is believed that every Omnic and human that Zenyatta meets is greeted with inner peace and a solution to their inner struggles. Zenyatta is in the Support class where his main weapons are his Orbs of Destruction. He also fires off an Orb of Discord that amplifies incoming damage to that enemy. Many of Zenyatta’s skins pay homage to mythology of Djinns and Ra, the ancient Egyptian Sun God.
Bastion
Bastion is an automaton that was created originally to protect humans but during the Omnic Crisis Bastion Units created the bulk of the Omnic rebel army. Bastion, specifically, was left to rot and rust after the final battle for a little over a decade. Now Bastion wanders the world entranced by nature but weary of any human civilizations. Bastion is a force to be reckoned with in every one of his configurations: Sentry, Recon, Tank. Bastion is in the Defense class along with Hanzo and Mei because he offers a way to hold down an objective and is a hard to get around. Bastion’s skins pay homage to his past and present, as a warrior and nature observer. Bastion’s voicelines and emotes are very cutesy and adorable. It should be mentioned that the bird that accompanies Bastion is named Ganymede, after one of Jupiter’s moons.
Torbjorn
Torbjorn Lindhelm, Torbjorn, is from Gothenburg, Switzerland and was an engineer for Overwatch. Torbjorn is not friendly to Bastion because Torbjorn doesn’t trust sentient robotic beings. Many of his friends brushed this persistence off but when the Omnic Crisis occurred, Torbjorn was recruited to design weapons and armor for Overwatch. In gameplay, Torbjorn is a short man (standing only 1.4m; 4 feet 7 inches) and deploys a turret to supplement his packing power. He is in the Defense class and his primary weapon is a rivet gun but he does have a hammer that he uses to repair his turret or do damage to enemies. Torbjorn refers to his turret as his baby and treats it very much as his child.
Zarya
Aleksandra Zaryanova, Zarya, is a world class weightlifter and one of the world’s strongest women. She was born and grew up in a small Siberian village that resided on the front lines of the Omnic Crisis. Zarya vowed that she would protect her people and help them recover from the damage the Omnics caused. Zarya enlisted into the Russian Defense Forces when her village was attacked on the eve of weightlifting championship. She is in the Tank class and her weapon is a particle cannon that either lobs a ball of particle energy or a beam of particle energy. In game she is a force because of her shields that she either projects onto a teammate or herself, that charge the damage output for her weapon. Zarya speaks Russian in voicelines and many of her emotes and victory poses showcase her weight lifting background. It should be noted that Zarya was created in response to the community asking for female characters that didn't fit the cookie cutter mold.
Mercy
Dr. Angela Zeigler, Mercy, is a field medic and head surgeon for Overwatch. Mercy discovered the use of nanotechnology that improved the lives of people with terminal illnesses dramatically. With this technology, Mercy designed her Valkyrie suit to be easily deployed and help people in need. Mercy is in the Support class where he primary weapon can heal or damage boost friendlies. Mercy’s in game conversations with Reaper (Gabriel Reyes) point to him being one of Mercy’s first patients with him being in a constant state of life and death. Many fan theories display Mercy as having injected herself with her own nanotechnology to live forever. These theories are drawn from in game conversations with Mei who points out the Mercy hasn’t aged since Mei last saw her. Many of Mercy’s voicelines point to her vocation as a doctor. A couple of Mercy’s skins are the opposite of her Guardian Angel persona and change her voicelines while a couple others are actual Valkyrie skins.
That is all for this week’s Overwatch and Representation. I’m hoping that when I’m done with the characters that I move onto the maps and gaming in general. We have just now covered 12 of the 22 playable characters so next week we will be covering Reaper, Soldier: 76, Junkrat, Lucio, McCree and Reinhardt.
