10 years of every Overwatch character so far.

Welcome to a blog that was originally part of a video (seen above) in “celebration” of Overwatch’s 10th anniversary. I have been a fan of the game since launch but I don’t think I’m quite articulate about how much the game means to me. The part that was heavily cut out of the video is I had written blurbs for every single character in the game so far, up to Sierra. Some of it, informative, some of it silly and some even a little bit critical. There’s a lot to read so sit back and enjoy:

D.va
Those of you newer players that jumped on Overwatch classic are well aware of the tank she used to be. This high powered League player has the attitude of a teammate that will blame you for dying all the time because it’s not their job to protect you. A quick and bullish dive tank that swats mosquitos in the air and sends incoming attacks to the matrix.

Diving is her strength. It’s encourage in her kit to be a hit and run, but if you were to ask me how many times I’d see any D.va on my team dive the enemy, the answer would be close to zero. It’s a weird phenomenon. Maybe that’s why the Porsche skin exists, it’s all for show and heaven forbid you get some dents on the body.

I’m not saying that it’s something D.va is supposed to do, it’s okay to play more defensively, but if you’re new to D.va it will be ok to go out of your comfort zone and do a drive-by on an enemy that is literally one. Her character is a little bit careless and unapologetically cocky.

Your team has your back and in most cases (this literally goes with every tank) will only push up if you do.

Domina

I like poke tanks a lot and it’s got nothing to do with Domnia being a total babe. My personal opinion is that Domina has a fantastic kit overall and her biggest weakness is people can get up in her face. Luckily they thought of this by giving her the ability to push people away.

A visual representation of Domina’s team building exercises:

This sexy girl-failure is honestly a lot of fun, and I like the idea of bringing the personality of a linkedin profile to a fight of the grubbiest mouth breathers, and they all clammer around me enjoying my powerpoint presentation of everything I’ve learned from watching Succession. If you ban her in Ranked, you’re just afraid of strong independent female women.

Side note, if you ban anyone in ranked that is new to the game, simply because they’re new to the game you’re afraid of engaging with content that you guys always complain about never getting, and it’s embarrassing. Because the only way you’re going to learn on how to deal with a new character is by experiencing playing against them. (welcome to the concept of new ideas!)

Time will tell if Domnia becomes the token tank character that will constantly get cosmetics due to her ability to be eye candy. I hear she will constantly be compared to Emma Frost from Marvel Rivals in terms of skins.

Doomfist

How can a guy with such a large fist feel like he has to thread a needle to hit anyone? I know my style is all about playing chicken with the enemy keeping them on their toes with my “will he won’t he punch them into the wall” melodrama. But when I can actually land my punches I feel like the neighbourhood bully.

I like him better as a tank, because when this guy was a DPS he was annoying to deal with. He came out not that long after Jeff Kaplan put out a developer video saying they don’t want to make any hero be able to one-shot. Which Doomfist at the time, was very good at doing.

Also fun fact, Doomfist is a very good example of how you can make content on an Overwatch hero just by doing a lot of quality assurance testing for free. GetQuakedOn is one such example of a Doomfist main that, while has a lot of impressive looking clips of him pulling off combos, also just looks like he’s looking for exploits/glitches and informing Blizzard about issues with gameplay.

Where we’re at in the story is my favourite part for him, cause you know he ain’t dead. There’s a rift in Talon and there may have been some setbacks but the thing about Doomfist is that he’s smarter than he may let on. He’s actually smarter than the way most people play him.

Also, on subject of that: why would you ever go Doomfist on Defence? Do you think it actually works, or you just want to play him? Answer in the comments.

Hazard

When I was a child I was always enamoured by the Scottish accent but never really said anything, still to this day, beyond the phrase “That’s great!” I’ve had all this time to learn about the glottal stop, but it’s not going to help me push the payload, even if I do in-fact have that dog in me.

Leaps and bounds are the name of the game for this gadgie which, I guess you do want to play him like a brute of a dog. You know, just get up on someone’s leg and start nipping at them. Maybe a bit awkward to start if you’re new to him, but one you figure out who to jump at and when, he can be a real pain in the ass.

Hazard is also notable for having an Omnic girlfriend whose name is Susie and I think that’s adorable and I am very upset that there’s not enough fan art of those two. Also the amount of people that commit Susie erasure by shipping him with other heros is just disrespectful to a fictional character that has no agency over themselves, and is forced into things they wouldn’t give any consent to.

Junker Queen

I never lock in harder on any other tank than I do with Junker Queen. Her sustainability matches her bloodlust and if have trust in my team then I can be left to play with Gracie and Carnage with minimal supervision. Which I probably do need supervision because when you’re in the zone, it is very easy to get carried away.

A good knife brings anyone from the backline delivered straight to you, which you can then say hello with a swift swing of the axe. Sometimes I forget she has a gun because I get busy flexing my stabbing arm. And when the battlefield is empty I can finally remember to breathe.

What I liked about Junker Queen is for the longest time she was just a disembodied voice and a poster on the wall. So the idea of her being added to the game was exciting leading up to the days of Overwatch 2. I don’t really know what the general consensus is, but my personal feeling toward her is that I have a type. I mean, for as much as I like playing poke tank a lot, sometimes I really just want to go feral.

Mauga

When Mauga was first launched it was during the time that you either had to buy the battlepass or play till you unlocked him and some content creators were furious about that. Claiming that Mauga was pay to win. Which is funny because the early days of Mauga he had surprisingly weak defences. Some DPS just had to sneeze on him to get him out of the picture.

I also have a running theory that a lot of Mauga players only know how to look forward, based purely on the big weapons go brrrrrrrrr mentality. Why check your surroundings when you can just carve a path ahead. But his biggest problem is that he’s an easy target and works best as a team player and not the center of attention.

He should be the biggest threat to anyone attempting to go for the back-line. It is over when someone gets an image of his pecks in their peripheral. But alas, if the team isn’t well oiled then Mauga is pretty easy to deal with. Just don’t get it on your head that you also need to switch to him. Stalemating is usually lame but there’s nothing more boring than two Mauga players in a pissing contest. If you’re just a Mauga shooting at the other Mauga then yeah, you’re doing it fucking wrong.

ANOTHER SIDENOTE: Stalemating is what I call two tanks being the same Hero when facing each other. Some do it out of pride, some do it because they think the best counter is to be that same hero. Sometimes that actually does work, depend on your team. You see, the problem with stalemating is that you now have to rely on your team to be able to pick up the slack or it’s just two walls trying to brute force each other. In a perfect world, your team can pick up the slack just fine and you do technically want to draw the fire of the enemy tank away from them, but fights go nowhere fast if you’re not opening up your team to the enemy back-line in the process.

Moving on.

Orisa

Orisey the Horsey, is a great entry level tank because she can never die if the supports are doing their job. Pop any ability at the right time and an entire army won’t be able to put a stop to an 11 year old’s science-fair project.

I’m conflicted about her sometimes because I was really fond of her original kit pre-5v5 change. Something about an unstoppable force also being an immovable object was a lot of fun... well, maybe not for the enemy team. But she was a good tank suited for Defense and thanks to pull, nothing could really leave her sights. She was a strong pillar for what was coined bunker comp largely due to the shape and size of her shield. But that on rotation with another tanks shield and it becomes a largely annoying obstacle to deal with.

Now she’s just a straight up murder pony. And like I said earlier, she’s a great entry level tank becuase she gets off easy in a lot of situations and be even more annoying in modes like Stadium, but just remember her and supports are a symbiotic relationship, as long as one is on her at all times there’s really nothing the enemy team can do if you’re good enough. Just hope that your enemy doesn’t catch on.

Rammatra

If I had to participate in any kind of shipping, the enemies to lovers trope is just good drama. Rammatra is just so good as tank you want to hate, but you’ll come around wanting to fix him by the end of it. It’s fucking shame how intrinsic his story was to the PvE experience because he’s genuinely an interesting villain. And if the executive suite wasn’t so fuck-ass useless maybe it would have been handled better.

I just want him to reconnect with his brother Zenyatta doing that thing where they just stay up all night having a deep conversation and before they know it’s already morning, but they’re not tired because they were so energized by philosophizing back and forth and also, Ominics probably don’t need to sleep.

It’s great to have tank be so vehemently against shields. Like I feel as though it might be an affront to the god programs to even have one in Rammatra’s face. lord help him, he will make you suffer as he has. Also for my money, he may not have a lot but certainly some of the best cosmetics in the game. This Omnic needs more love.

Reinhardt

There’s this weird sense of pride that some Reinhardt players feel, in the old days when a dual was called to 1v1 the same character, that call to battle never left their spirit. Now a days a good Reinhardt player is all over the damn place, on the front line, rushes to the backline if necessary, finds a way to get into the air if there’s a will and hides in the cookie jar to catch you spoil your dinner.

Reinhardt is still a viable pick if you know when to hold your shield up and when to swing your hammer, it’s a gentleman’s mind game. And getting Rein to wherever he needs to be, means his team will never really die and there’s no way you can stop them because the Reinhardt is always there. Frankly it’s good to bait other tanks by having your shield up because of course you don’t want to be on the business end of that hammer.

Reinhardt will always deserve your respect, in a world where every new tank added to the game is a lot more brawler heavy. Just make sure you keep his pride in check.

Roadhog

in 6v6 Roadhog was notorious for just doing his own thing, wandering off to the side and getting picks all by his lonesome because it took a lot to push him back if you weren’t properly co-ordinated. I can’t speak to my own skill playing hog but I don’t know why he isn’t collaborating as a killer in Dead by Daylight. This guy can get away with so much if you’re not on him, because a good Roadhog knows who to target and will quickly punish anyone that ever gets out of position.

A glutton for murder if you will.

Personally I find it weird that I lack confidence in him given the things that I have said. I think it’s because I find him only good in some situations and not all of them. Therefore it’s a skill issue. But I have probably spent more time trying to be effective against him that I never truly bothered to understand the man.

Isn’t that what we all fear the most? Being understood?

Sigma

I don’t know if anyone remembers but there was a time when the Overwatch community was complaining about the need for another shield tank. Bunker comp was already a pretty big pain in the ass with the shields we had so I don’t know why there was a need for another one.

When Sigma was released there was immediate regret. Was it because he could position his shield anywhere? Was it the power of his balls? Is the community just really weird about feet? Whatever the case may be, Sigma much like Domina is a tank that aligns with my interest. He sucks in the bad and throws out damage both large and small. Just a smart old man that’s misunderstood.

He has nothing to fear because he doesn’t even understand himself.

I do feel bad where we’re currently at in the lore of the game (if you go by voice lines) With a good chunk of the Talon characters fled, and Sigma locked away somewhere becuase Vendetta has the ick, we need justice for our guy.

Winston

I have a confession to make, I actually don’t like playing Winston very much, but I understand him to be the most effective character I can use if I am struggling to win fights. You jump in, you jump out you give em a little shock, you can put a shield down. You play in a way that’s just all about bringing everyone together.

That’s the kind of scientist Winston is, he doesn’t see the battle for what it is but what it could be. I’ve defied all the odds in using him against characters where you might think he has no business fighting against.

I always say it doesn’t hurt to know more than one character in the selective role (it’s important to not be a one-trick. Trust me, you will be happier.) and I’m going to be honest when I say everyone should have a Winston in the chamber ready to go.

Wrecking Ball

This tank is only fun with a controller. Back then as a mostly console gamer it took me a really long time to get used to mouse and keyboard controls. I just couldn’t do it. Not for lack of trying, but I’ve just spent decades of my life on Nintendos and Playstations so the controller was just more natural to me.

Wrecking Ball’s kit works very well with controller movement and I know this because now that I predominantly play mouse and keyboard, he isn’t as fun to play.

Whatever, Hammond works best when he’s annoying. If you can create space and harass the backline, then it leaves the rest of the team to do what they need to do and pick off the targets as they get more straggled by the ball. It’s pretty damn annoying when you’re on the receiving end of it, eh?

Zarya

I couldn’t care less where you put Zarya on a tier list because she is legitimately one of the best tanks in the game and proof that cosmetics do not dictate the popularity of a good tank. Am I upset that the strongest woman in the world doesn’t get enough shop items? Sure, but I don’t need her in le serrafim gear to have a good time.

I think the design direction of a lot of the newer tanks Over-shadow a lot of the OG tanks in ways that puzzle me. Bringing laser to a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors is as devastating as it sounds because people can never help themselves and always shoot the bubble. Zarya stays fed in every game she’s in. There’s actually an interesting dynamic at play depending on the level of skill that you find yourself playing in. A person knows you’re not supposed to shoot the Zarya bubble because it builds up her charge. Some people disregard that if it’s more effective for them to relentlessly shoot at her until she dies even if the bubble is up.

But everyone knows that Zarya’s biggest weakness is isolating her. Example: even if she is from the motherland, Mei can take her out with the cold. So if you play Zar, just make sure to check your surroundings and have people on the flanks when you’re ready to do your business.

Anran

I have to admit, I felt a little disconnected from this character at the beginning. She was introduced in a short about the water wielding support Wuyang, that just happens to be her brother. And her initial introduction felt so completely divorced from the character she ended up being.

When you first get a window of her personality I thought I saw an older sibling carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders with a tremendous amount of generational trauma. The kind that deals with her own but for some reason bares a responsibility to shield her brother from that as well. You get a sense that she’s someone tough, responsible, modest, quick to anger. Is it stereotypical to have a character like that?

The Anran we ended up getting, looked like the younger sister, was designed completely different than the Wuyang short and in my point of view, was written the same way as her brother. In terms of her quips and puns and it just felt like she was mimicking her brother and that’s the kind of thing a younger sibling would do.

Even her outfit, which while some people might think of me as being dismissive of a female character showing a little skin. I come from a perspective of “Does the clothing she wear match her personality?” Because on the surface, she’s totally fine, but I like really good character design as part of her development. Her biggest problem is, she doesn’t feel different enough to be herself.

This might have been the first time that my expectations weren’t met. Or the shorts and comics and whatever don’t necessarily reflect the Anran that we have in game. Which is a shame because Anran is a blast to play.

Ashe

I think Ashe is a good character to have in our current political late stage capitalism dystopia hellscape reality. Destined to be an arms dealing nepo-baby. Until family drama sends her on a trajectory of starting her own business with her found family. This is what the American dream means, even in the future. GUNS!

You might think it’s silly to have Western themed heroes in a futuristic setting. Well I assure you, Urban cowboys are a larger problem than actual broncos. I don’t know what it’s like in the States, I’ve never been to Texas. but Ashe would fit right in with and probably be just as obnoxious as wealthy Albertans.

Her only difference is that she knows how to use a rifle.

Also between all the snipers, it’s nice that I feel like I can properly aim with her and I don’t understand why. I guess her scope is my aiming comfort zone. Also, she’s an albino right?

Bastion

I had zero empathy for Bastion in the beginning. There was always something aggravating about him just sitting in turret mode all day unchallenged by the other team. You see his design, and you know how to deal with it, but can’t be bothered so he often laid waste to teams. I hated him for it, I refused to play him and every time he was active I would pick Junkrat and made him regret his life decisions.

That being said, his introduction to the game is compelling. As an Omnic with a limited vocabulary being a remnant of a previous war one must wonder where he actually fits in now. Would he be Rammatra’s drinking buddy? Take him bird-watching?

In the early days of Overwatch we had a phrase for when someone had to switch to bastion at the last minute to turn it around, we called it the Desperation bastion™ and it used to be effective 90% of the time because his turret mode was so devastating. Now it’s about 65-70 percent. In a lot of situations, the desperation Bastion still works.

Cassidy

As far as cowboys go, Cole is up there with other stereotypical video game hero designs. Hell, he’s a common romanticized version of cowboys in media. We get it, he’s that guy.

But it’s funny that even in 2026 we still have to address the elephant in the room that was his other name. I remember that day that it was changed because I was sitting in a discord filled with people that I know aren’t necessarily ignorant on purpose, but the general reaction was so left field. Because you understand why the name was changed so why is it so important for anyone to make a big deal about it?

I think about how many people on planet earth just change their name on a whim.

Frankly I have just called him cowboy, not out of need to feel progressive, but because it’s just fun to call him cowboy. To be fair I may also call Ashe cowboy, and when they’re on the same team I dub them double cowboy. Double Cowboy as a duo name is just fun to say.

Echo

Conceptually, Echo is a fun character. But in the grander scheme of the game’s narrative, I wonder what role she gets to play. She feels a lot like the information desk in an MMOs tutorial level and I wonder why a scientist such as Dr. Mina Liao was putting so much work into a benevolent life that is also very clearly a killing machine.

“I regret what the Omnics have turned into, here is something that can mimic you. Does it hurt to look in the mirror or does it hurt that the mirror is better at aiming than you are?”

Truly underrated.

Side note: Blizzard recently made a social media post where they named the compsition of heroes on the team, including Echo into a team full of Omnics (and one cat) and there was debate/backlash that proceeded. I would argue that Echo’s place in the lore make her a fair candidate, and while her experience may not be the same as those that are true Omincs her within it associated with her creator and the company which see works for, allows for a discussion worthy of loreheads without her outright dismissal.

Emre

Why am I wasting my time with all these other DPS when the perfect aim is right here?

I can’t believe we waited almost 10 years for the last guy in that friggin picture of Overwatch in their younger days. Turns out he’s just some tortured homeless man, that locks in against his will every once in a while to do some work for some sort of shadowy god program.

I think there’s something to be said that the fall of Overwatch ended up being really bad for a lot of people, but when Overwatch was in operation it pretty much lead some people on their trajectory as well. I suppose we’ll find out more about this guy soon, but so far he only has one person that cares about him.

Freja

Freja has a kit that aligns with her personality. No frills and to the point. Just constantly storm arrows all the time and the most annoying skill shot ever conceived. But I get it, spending your life with what you think is the good guys only to be let down by everything you’ve ever known is enough to turn anyone into a caped crusader.

I like that she is very independent and not yet in over her head, but her fondness for Emre is potentially something that might get her into trouble. I like that there’s a story here about a woman that’s been burned and the thick skin she developed for herself is a survival tactic. The things that she’s facing on her own are things Overwatch would have never dared let her.

She’s done well this far, but you can almost pretty much see what’s going to come next with Emre in the picture.

Genji

I liked the idea of the young idiot playboy squandering his father’s empire by just being a brat hanging out in arcades and dying his hair a shitty color having no respect at all, until his brother had enough and killed him.

But it’s future earth and no one’s ever really gone, so thanks to technology he was used by Overwatch to do some Metal Gear shit. And eventually went on a soul searching journey crossing paths with an Omnic monk shoving enough metaphors into his ears that he couldn’t help but think “Damn...” So he goes back to his brother who believes murdered him to say “lol k” and then go back to doing cyborg ninja shit for Overwatch because Winston lets him play video games.

I don’t like good Genji players, because it’s all relative. All they do is jump around you and get in your face, but even the best are weak to hubris. Because then they go and do something stupid like fight a Moira in a tiny room. Maybe the key to being a good Genji player is about constantly edging death. Couldn’t be me.

Hanzo

Mr. Business. Top dog. What’s Shamada with you? Brings a bow to a gunfight and uses it to straight up throw unavoidable logs. I like Hanzo because he’s a man of principle but my problem is that he’s not really a larger part of the narrative yet. He deserves it. I suppose with Season 3 coming up involving a Hashimoto character (right?) will get more lore involving our grouch.

This is a guy that is just going to feel bad for the rest of his life. He’s not even regular mopey, but like the kind of existential dread that a salary man has and doesn’t know what to do with. Would kill Genji again just to avoid accountability.

I love his first iteration of his kit that involved his geometry shot that was really just used to shoot at the ground and do whatever bullshit kill to the person directly in front of him. I wonder why they got rid of it? Though it technically lives on as a perk added onto storm arrows, it’s not really the same. Although I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone try that strat out in the game’s current iteration.

Junkrat

Australia’s sweetheart. The man that can do no wrong. Every game should have a character that is viable in almost every situation and Junkrat is the one to do it. Bastion? Can do. Mei, don’t have to tell him twice. Mauga? Orisa? On it. Pharah? It’s a little tough but he’ll find a way.

A favourite memory of mine, well before role lock was introduced. My friend and I were struggling on Busan with whatever the heck our team was made up of, and the enemy team was pretty much just countering us in every way. After a minute or so of the round going absolutely nowhere I swapped to Junkrat and pretty much solo’d the entire team with very little effort. Well I’m pretty sure mapes was also boosting me a little as mercy. It was a team effort lol.

That’s the energy Junkrat brings to life, some sort of failing upwards mentality, or like the idiot savant at the pool table just landing everything without a hitch. Never count him out because he’s how you counter people without looking like you actually counter people.

Mei

Mei is evil depending on who you talk to, and plays exactly like Junkrat but in the opposite direction. If you do not focus on Mei, she will literally stop you from doing anything.

Mei’s backstory is a bit tragic because she was the only one on the Ecopoint team that survived a cryo sleep, and hibernating over the course of 9 years means that someone’s going to have to fill her in on whatever the heck happened to Overwatch, but like she just picks herself up and walks across the antarctic. TOP IT ALL OFF, Null Sector is attacking Paris and Winston’s all like Wow Mei since you made it all the way to Gibraltar all on your own I GUESS YOU’RE READY FOR A FIGHT!

Therefore I have anecdotal evidence to believe that Mei can solo an entire team so you should probably stop ignoring her.

Pharah

The token lesbian with mommy issues. Pharah is one of those characters that is loved, and involved in one of the games OG popular ships. But Pharah is a case of the real world voice actor’s politics getting in the way of what the character means to people.

I mean, yeah, Overwatch is basically world police and at their core were probably opressive, but they’re supposed to represent some kind of hope. Pharah at her core is a girlscout, plays by the book, doesn’t mess around, always on the side of justice. Her mother is Egyptian and her father is First Nations.

If Pharah spent most of her childhood with her father, and if YOU are Canadian, you know he’s got stories to tell and Heritage to share. She would grow up in a space where she would understand the struggles Canada has with acknowledging it’s past. Reconciling with it, if you will.

I have no doubt that Pharah is the kind of person that would see what Israel has done to Palestine and take tremendous issue with it. If her father’s lessons have taught her anything she would be one to stare down those that oppress the innocent and let justice reign from above.

So you see why people take issue with her real life voice. A character in a video game where the heroes are authority, technically should have cards stacked against it, but as I said those characters represent hope. The actors portraying them don’t necessarily have to reflect the same view, but they should not come out as the opposite of it.

Reaper

One of my favourite memories of playing Reaper, well before hero limits and role lock, was my friend Ossi and I dual wielding Reapers just being absolute menaces all evening while listen to Real McCoy’s “Runaway” on loop.

That’s the kind of thing that Reaper should represent a repetitive annoyance to the backline at every turn. Always there breathing heavily, cackling, shotgun barrel in your face. Who’s a bad guy, that’s right it’s you!

A caveat I’ve always had about this particular character is the effort they put into him during the retribution PvE mission. They put so much effort into re-recording all of Reyes’s voice lines from before he became the reaper. When I unlocked that Blackwatch skin, I had convinced myself that he would sound like his normal guy self. It did not happen.

I was so let down.

Sierra

I definitely side with people that appreciate the second black woman in the game having an insane amount of rizz. Even if “plucky funster” is getting a little tired with a lot of the younger additions to the game, there’s so much life in this girl’s voice.

As of writing this, we’re currently in the season she’s introduced so there’s not a lot of her to go on. We know her mom was a super soldier who went missing and she’s spending her life looking for answers. What is it with the girls in this game having some kind of government involved family drama?

Aside from poke tanks, another thing I like is characters that have unique mobility. I do like to get around I do like to reach high places. I don’t really like to climb walls to get there, but I do like to get there. What I’m saying is, Dorothy is cool.

Sojourn

I have an insane amount of pride over the first black woman in the game being Canadian. Not only that, but if you also know me, you know how much I take issue with the typical stereotypes of Canada being portrayed in media. (which we’re going to have something to say when we get to Venture) Luckily she’s not a bad stereotype, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying ketchup chips. It’s important to me to have a character like Sojourn be that representation. Finally a cool as hell Canadian in a video game.

Her being an original Overwatch operative and teased since the storm rising PvE mission, it’s been frustrating that it’s taken so long for her to be a playable hero, especially since she was our introduction to the Null Sector storyline that never got beyond 3 missions. She was never going to be in the game until that stuff came out.

They sat on her FOR SUCH A LONG TIME! ON PURPOSE! FOR STORY REASONS! But it was such a moment for her to finally be in the game, and if you don’t understand why I’m not going to sit her and explain it to you. I mean you could probably just look outside or read the damn news.

Soldier: 76

I remember when they finally revealed Soldier: 76 as a gay man, because everything the executive suite does to that company overshadows something that is just completely normal to talk about. Soldier being gay must have been an ulterior motive or released to cover something up that Blizzard did, and had nothing to do with being a completely normal thing.

I can use Soldier as an example about how fandoms or the general gaming public perceive information presented to them. Your standard all rounded military shooter type guy that I’m sure is relatable to a lot of people who play shooters. Grumpy old man, disappointed with the state of the world and is gonna change things one bullet at a time. “I’ll cry when I’m done killing!” is his catchphrase after all.

Then a short story comes out where it touches base on an old relationship with a man and suddenly your perception might change, but sexual orientation and gender are not specific things that define a guy, they are just pieces that make up a whole. Grumpy assholes are still just that, even if they are spraying a rainbow around.

Sombra

I’m not as big of a Sombra main as some people have made a self proclaimed career out of being but just for my taste, they are the funnest character in the game. What makes Sombra fun is that she embraces her design in pointing out the flaws of the average player that bans her whenever they can.

Getting in and out of a situation quickly harassing the backline that nobody pays attention to and backcapping when the enemy over extends, are things that I find joy in. If people haven’t developed any situational awareness at this point in time then it’s honestly on them. You know Sombra is good because of how often they ban her from ranked games there’s the weird problem that people have and it’s that they don’t like to feel challenged.

It’s good to have characters that hinder a teams enjoyment because sometimes gamers need to be humbled. Oh no, Sombra isn’t letting you do the thing that you want to do, because you just want to bully and not have anyone fight back or slow you down. That is so cringe! There’s a word that lost all of it’s meaning.

Team 4 could nerf her to the ground and change her kit completely and I’d still find a way to be an absolute menace. Overwatch is at it’s best when there’s chaos on both sides. Sombra’s sheer presence is enough for some people. 10/10 character, can’t stop won’t stop. Hack the planet.

Symmetra

How unfortunate for a character such as Symmetra to undergo so many kit changes since her release. She fit a specific role at launch that only true sym heads understand today. If anything she can get away with a lot of stuff just being nothing but lasers all the time, melting away at the emotional state of the opposition.

I wish to know more about her role in this new generation of OW’s story telling. Even if we’re in the beginning stages of Overwatch v Talon, her role within Vishkar and connections to characters like Zenyatta, Lifeweaver and I suppose now Domina, there’s probably going to be a lot left unsaid for a while.

I kind of want one off PvE stories again, just for fun. Involving characters that aren’t immediately specific to the game’s namesake because Symmetra’s whole deal is worth exploring.

Torbjorn

It’s hilarious that this little engineer is responsible for two of the most oppressive characters in the game. Created Bastion for reasons and father to Brigitte, whom we will eventually talk about.

Torb was known in the early days for getting play of the game while dead, as his turret would do all the work locking onto enemies adding to a deadman’s kill streak. But now thanks to perks he can be completely annoying and throw his turret anywhere to confuse the enemy team wondering why they keep dying so easily.

I suppose that’s how you keep him insanely relevant, Because here’s another tanget Gamers don’t know how to look up! In a 3D space, where you can point the camera up or down nobody thinks to point it up? That turret makes an obvious straight line when shooting at people and you can’t even see where it’s coming from? Well I guess in the gamer’s defense most can’t even hear syms microwave sounding lazers that are even big and glowy! So I guess Torbjorn is hard mode!

Tracer

Zippy being the box character at launch 10 years ago is enough for anyone with a vapid opinion to remind you about it, like she was suppose to be the any an all purposes mascot of the game. It’s true that it was fun and pretty meaningful at the time to have a British lesbian be on the cover of the game, but we all know that the diversity of the game’s queerness is the real mascot.

I have a genuine fear about playing characters like Tracer because I already play like a twitch factory and I have a tremendous anxiety about shooting people as close as I can while trying not to die. In fact any montage gameplay I have of Tracer is just about how many deaths I can wrack up before the match ends. I have a friend Adz that I‘ve watch play and am in awe of how well they do. Honestly a good tracer is more devastating than a good Genji. But I say that assuming that good Tracer players have the best map awareness. How many Tracer mains out there feel that is true? Feel free to reply in the comments.

Vendetta

The animated short of Vendetta slicing off Doomfist’s arm and kicking him out a window is poignant, because in a lot of ways Vendetta is the kind of character that Doomfist used to be on DPS. Very annoying, always in your face, generally a pretty big bully. Because of this, you could sense that there was some emasculation in the air with the reaction to such a sudden crazy moment.

“we’re starting a new storyline and you know what? Fuck Doomfist!”

This young coliseum fighter thinking the evil organization belongs to her, so she just comes and takes it from a guy that’s probably sitting around in boardrooms having meetings all day. She’s gonna get her comeuppance and Doom obviously isn’t dead. But She clearly made a statement out of the gate and is a lot of fun to just swing a blade around without any care, just generally being a hazard to everyone.

Honestly, the best thing they did for this character is not have them gain shields for their actions, making the risky behaviour worth it. My ass laying waste to their back-line mumbling “I can’t believe I survived that.” under my breath.

Maybe Vendetta is a good argument to make for 6v6 being the main mode again. YEAH, LET’S OPEN THAT CAN OF WORMS! OH HO HO!

Venture

With my previous pride of Sojourn being Canadian, this is my biggest Canadian let down in the game. You mean to tell me that the character designers make a point to say that Venture’s from Nova Scotia and don’t even bother to give Venture a Nova Scotian accent? NOT SO MUCH AS AN INWARD BREATH?

I swear t’god, was Valeria Rodrigez even made aware of the Nova Scotian accent? Heck if I was a voice actor, I’d be roarin with the amount of freedom to say some fun phrases and honestly I would love to be the booth saying some absolute nonsense for a character with such a give’r personality.

Maybe just some light banter between Sojourn and Venture discussing Canadian-isms. Oh my god please, right the wrong of the missed opportunity, I’ll take back everything I’ve ever said about playing against Venture and they were not nice things.

Widowmaker

There’s too many people that make Widowmaker look easy when I struggle to aim down the sights and land a shot. But I get her appeal because of course she’s sexy. Some kind of femme fatale smurf with no emotion that killed her husband for Talon, oh la la.

I always get impressed by the people that leap into the air and land those headshots, because every time I do it I get confused and don’t know where I am, but I do find it funny that Widowmaker, to the gamer psyche, represents something for them... a kind of skill they wish to achieve. The kind of skill that they aspire towards that if they can’t reach it immediately they will cycle through the other snipers until they find the groove that they want.

It’s no secret that Widow Maker is great and I’m happy that there’s enough characters in the game now, to make her life miserable. But here’s a tip that I’ve learned about Widowmaker, he secondary fire is pretty good and I’m gonna be honest here about how often I get eliminations by people trying to jump me, than trying to snipe anyone at a distance.

Ana

I don’t think people are aware of how devastating of a support Ana is. If you just leave her alone to her own devices, the team stays alive and the enemies end up dead. She may be old but she’s got range and I’m very much convinced that Ana is the best support in the game.

I’m serious here. A good Ana player is inconspicuous, makes you question your sanity on why the enemy tank is still alive, where are they getting this extra health from? Oh there’s an Ana in the back? Is she around another person or is she isolated? You better hope she’s on her own because if you try to flank Ana and she’s got a sleep dart ready, you’re fucked mate. Do you even understand how satisfying a sleep dart is when you pull it out of your ass as the Genji is trying to dash attack?

Don’t sleep on Grandma, she’s S tier all year.

Baptiste

Baptiste is one of those underrated characters in that his switching between attacking and healing is very fluid and if you can aim worth a damn. I don’t think I’ve seen too many Baptiste players out in the wild either So I just have my own experience as anecdotal evidence, but I do feel as though he’s a support that is easy to fall into the trap of attacking over healing. I say that like every support doesn’t already fall into that trap, because there are some out there that require you to attack to be able to even heal.

I’m only saying that because he has enough tools under his belt as an off support to be able to keep the team alive in some fashion while focusing purely on attack. You can really just have one support do all the work and Baptiste can check in once in a while to prevent death, or he does that ability where he squeezes a lemon and everything is peachy.

Brigitte

Brigitte is my favourite support to point at, as the one that triggered the meltdown of content creators. Not to say that I’m sure she wasn’t frustrating for everyone but it’s hilarious to me how Brigitte alone was responsible for potentially teaching players that they would need to learn a different strategy to work around her.

I bring this up again, but you play a game for enough years and you come to realize that gamers absolutely hate being challenged and it’s Brigitte’s fault she was even conceptualized and she has ruined the game forever.

Goats was conceived as a winnable strategy purely because so many players were way too comfortable in their boring ass compositions, and it was that devastating realization that lead to the tried and true 2-2-2.

On her release, I was a Junkrat main so I never truly understood what her problem was, because she was only devastating if you let her get close. But honestly you could nerf her to the ground and she’s still going to be gross in the right hands. I think even to this day there’s many a gamer kicking and screaming and the sheer mention of her name, and it’s a delight for me if I find that person truly unlikable.

The bucket is deep and the mace is strong.

Illari

Depending on what region of the world you’re from you’re going to pronounce her name differently and there’s nothing stopping that cultural barrier. So don’t get mad when Illari comes onto the scene, puts her cone down and then spends the rest of the game sniping people, because honestly That goddamn sunlamp does all the work.

I mean I say that, but there’s an awful lot of times where I have to keep pinging where it is just so the team can be in it’s vicinity. Sometimes people are just never willing to back up hide behind cover and just fill up before going back into the fight. So to be effective you have to keep throwing the lamp at them but in a spot that the enemy can’t see.

But then they keep walking away from that spot. It really cuts into my elimination time if I have to keep my team alive, why even bother?

Genuinely a fun support to play.

Jetpack Cat

Personally I don’t have anything nice to say about the cat, because it’s just another hero that spends all of it’s time in the fucking air, and nobody knows how to look up, so they get banned in ranked all the time. Heaven forbid people have eyes to see.

I get the appeal because it honestly is a sound strategy to just fly around a bastion in the air, and nobody understand why the sky is raining bullets, and even the ones that do know how to shift their focus skyward, it’s bloody witchcraft that bastion is even in the sky at all, because it’s not like anything is holding it there in place. And then because there’s so many people that don’t want to hurt cats but have zero problem murdering a scientist, the furball will pounce on you and throw you off a cliff.

FUCK I hate it. I don’t like cats ok!? When I was a child we had a family cat who’s name was meowsy that used every opportunity to scar me for life. I remember once I was laying in bed, and meowsy jumped on like it was actually going to sleep on my bed for the night, but because my guard is constantly down, the fucking asshole came up to my face and shanked me with it’s claws.

Now if it was a dog with the jetpack, they would be the goodest boy, no question.

Juno

Idiot savants are my favourite character types, and Juno being a person of vast scientific knowledge but a tremendous lack of social skills it just adorable. It’s a shame that “Uwu I’m just a girl that doesn’t know anything about planet earth” has reduced her to a 1 dimensional character depending on what part of the fandom you pay attention to.

I both love and hate that she’s a character you give all the dumb jokey lines to, but what I hope for is for her to have a dialogue with Cassidy on the Hollywood map about John Wayne from one of her dad’s old western films and she should specifically ask him about his role as Ghengis Khan and he has to unfortunately explain to her about the concept of yellow face.

Or maybe a bit where the meme queen D.va is going off on one of her favourite youtube-poops and in an effort to be relatable Juno starts bringing up Mr. T ate my balls. Or points her blaster saying “All your base are belong to us.”

Some real stupid crap that would never come out of a zoomers mouth, but this young impressionable weirdo, would ask endless questions about the concept of a bonsai kitten.

Blizzard, give me a call so I can write dialogue for a character that can potentially be funny to nobody, because that’s the best way that a character who knows nothing about the world should interact with it. Like how Winston is written to have a bunch of dad jokes, Juno shouldn’t understand why the thing that she’s saying is out of place.

Also give her a cardboard skin, but instead of boxes in the shape of her outfit, she should just look like the paper bag princess.

Kiriko

Speaking of skins, oh my god what a glutton am I right? Greedy little Kiriko stuffing her face full of all the damn cosmetics. I love stoking the fire because I get it, it is genuinely funny to have one character be perceived as the blizzard favourite because when you have so many characters in the game but there’s always the one that is guaranteed something every season, it’s enough to make someone wish for a month with nothing but Zarya cosmetics.

But that’s neither here nor there because she also has a kunai skill shot that makes streamers seethe with anger when they try to sneak behind or to be honest just existing around a good Kiriko player is a miserable experience because they just tap everyone and there’s absolutely no way at all that you can do anything about it.

I think there’s a lot about Kiriko as a character that speaks to our insecurities as people. Much of like how Brigitte was a turning point, Kiriko is also a turning point, I wonder if there’s some kind of theme we can eventually unravel.

Lifeweaver

Lifeweaver had the unfortunate fate of being a little too complex to play out of the gate, I had the misfortune of my first experience with Lifeweaver being on the switch, because I brought it with me to go back home visiting family and friend and I just had an awful time.

Since then, he’s actually become a blast to play that can do a good amount of healing and keeping the team alive as long as you don’t feel like you have to babysit everyone. Which unfortunately is all the fucking time, and much like babies they’re going to be upset when you pull them away from the action, but sometimes it’s necessary Charles, because you don’t know how to get out of the way of Mauga’s guns.

But the pulling is sometimes an Olympic sport in and of itself if your team is all clumped together and you have to juggle healing or pulling the right person. Sometimes I genuinely get overwhelmed playing Lifeweaver and have to switch.

Beautiful man, never change.

Lucio

I’m going to say something controversial and that is “Frogger ruined Lucio”. And that’s not even remotely true, but what is true, is that you are going to play with or against a tremendous amount of Lucio players that only have themselves in mind. There’s a reason why Reddit Lucio was even a coined phrase.

There’s nothing wrong with one of those Tony Hawk Pro Lucios if they are doing tremendous amount of work for the team, but the risk to that reward is being constantly out of position to make that happen. In theory Lucio is always the first to go. IN THEORY! In practice the battlefield is full of moving parts so it’s hard to notice sometimes, but every team brings an egregious amount of fly swatters to the fight and there’s always that one fly.

But I don’t know. If I’m tank, there’s just something about lucio that makes me switch to something that deals with him specifically, otherwise it’s going to be annoying, also fun fact: Lucio is the reason I actually spend a lot more time using Widowmaker’s secondary fire.

Mercy

I’m pretty sure that skinny white blonde lady is the most shipped Overwatch character in the entire roster, and I want everyone to lie down on the couch and unpack the parasocial relationship that you seem to have with her. I have a feeling if we really dig deep nobody is going to like the answer.

Mercy is both a character that a lot of people love and hate at the same time. She’s a money pit, complex enough to play and hard to hit in a way that’s frustrating for everyone and the people that don’t like her can’t articulate why and are irrational about her use, but some people that love playing her have this weird ownership about it in an unhealthy way that even talking about it is taboo.

But what if her being into Genji is real, because she made an emotional connection to a man that she literally fixed, but what about the flying lesbian that’s totally into her which is just an obsession she developed as a child, but what about the ginger scientist that hates everyone but has a soft spot for blonde bitches, but what about Mercy’s smurf fetish? But really the sky is the limit with your fanfictions. (#nokinkshaming)

But let me be real for a second, I commend anyone that can play Mercy well, because every time I play Mercy, even for a laugh I get so much anxiety about keeping anyone alive, or flying around trying not to die. I feel myself sweating like a waterfall after one match, I’m just not built that way.

I feel kind of scattered brained talking about this support because so many people are weird about her in so many different ways.

Mizuki

What was that thing that people said about him on his launch? Valorant e-boy? What does that even mean? I think something Overwatch doesn’t do often is play with personalities. At his heart, Mizuki is a superstitious weirdo, who sounds like he’s on his 5th coffee and it’s just not working. Is that what an E-boy sounds like?

What I like about this support is playing him for the first time took some genuine hands on experience to see how he worked. Like a lot of the time a character is easy to understand just by looking at them, but Mizuki’s whole deal is just so weird, and he’s got a kit to match that.

But when you find that rhythm, he’s one of the more fun characters to play with. And I think that’s an important quality for a hero to have in a game where the majority of people have guns. This guy has a little scythe and a hat.

Moira

Moira is my kindred spirit. The “fuck it, I’ll do it myself” support that I often switch to if I feel as though the team is struggling in a way where I can see what the problem is but nobody else can. Obviously her design of “you have to damage to heal” was a mistake because if I’m going to damage I might as well finish the job.

I can seriously think of so many times off the top of my head where I went out of my way to turn the tide on an overwhelming one sided losing game. It makes me mad with power sometimes. Honestly, when I talk about how everyone has an ego that they bring to Overwatch, Moira brings out that ego in me and we had this joke for years that was #allthework.

It’s not a knock against my teammates, but when you play the support role, you have to pay attention to everything, in that you must keep your team alive, but you have to also see where the damage is coming from, and if most of the time I’m the first and sometimes ONLY person to see where the threat is, often the best option is just just DO IT MYSELF.

I am self aware enough to know that Moira brought out that toxic side of me when I play the game, but honestly there’s never been a more appropriate character to even do that.

Wuyang

He’s a little wonky at first and I don’t think his healing output is as good as it could be, but he has better manoeuvrability than his sister and honestly it’s weird that his water can’t put out fires. (But I guess that would make him too strong.)

Characters like Wuyang are not relatable to everyone, and often gets confused for being a twink, which is unfair to most olympic swimmers. Not that he was ever the first, but it did make me realize that body hair just doesn’t seem to exist in this game.

I do like the design of how you aim your water shots at the enemy, bur that doesn’t necessarily make it good if your entire play-style is being an anxious twitch factory. If I had it my way, I’d give Wuyang more voice-lines geared toward being nervous about fucking up, especially around his sister.

I miss the days when siblings were more judgey around each other, but I guess that means I grew up in a completely different environment than those two.

Zenyatta

Zenyatta is another one of those characters that came a long way in terms of their utility. I remember when their ult was so slow that you basically had to risk your own death to set up the area of effect to keep your team alive, now he gets to kick harder when anyone gets close to him. Do you know how satisfying it was to melee Reinhardt to death for the first time?

What I hope for the future of this franchise is for Team 4 to explore his relationship with Ramattra that has been teased in the failed PvE missions. Because aside from the typical good vs bad narrative, there’s overarching themes of morality and meaning that is mostly explored within the Ominics themselves. These brothers in meditation have a relationship that you’re not going to get out of securing the payload.

And the way Zenyatta has been connected to other characters over the years make him an important enough figure and a missed opportunity in this entire decade that the kids demand the Zenyatta lore.

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This concludes the part of the script that was not included in the corresponding video, and thank you for your time. Happy anniversary to Overwatch once again, and I look forward to see what’s in store with newer characters on the horizon.