Winston
“Are you with me?”
Winston was one of the first Overwatch characters revealed, and he definitely made an impression on folks. A talking gorilla is cool, but a talking gorilla with a jetpack who goes into rage mode when his glasses are broken? Yeah, that’s gotta endear him to some folks. Don’t let that description fool you, though. He may look and act like a brute, but he’s easily one of, if not the smartest character in the whole fiction.
Let’s preface this by saying that Winston’s backstory sounds incredibly crazy and ridiculous, but all of it is true. Genetically engineered as a child to become hyperintelligent along with several other gorillas on a moon colony (yes, seriously), Winston took his name from the doctor who adopted him and was later killed by other gorillas during the uprising on the moon. Yes, this all happened (and the uprising is still happening on the moon). He was able to take a rocket back to Earth and join Overwatch to help save the world during the Omnic crisis.
Winston had the most to lose when the organization was disbanded, as it was the second home he lost due to chaotic forces outside control. He’s the heart of the game’s backstory, declaring that the world “tore our family apart” in the Cinematic Teaser and calling the other Overwatch agents back into the fray. He just also happens to be the heart who will eventually have to deal with those other gorillas on the moon.
Genji Shimada
“Perhaps I am a fool to think there is still hope for you, but I do. Think on that, brother.”
Is there anything cooler than a ninja? Well, a cyborg ninja will certainly do it, and Genji is cool based on visual design alone. He may look like Raiden gained a suit of power armor and some Xbox lights, but he’s definitely one of the coolest characters.
Genji is the younger brother of Hanzo, and both of them lived lives of luxury as sons in the Shimada ninja clan. As the youngest kid in the family, he couldn’t give a damn about the family business and became a playboy, Tony Stark style. This didn’t sit well with the other members of the family, and after a heated conversation, Hanzo ended up putting his brother on the verge of death. Thankfully, Mercy was able to save Genji and cyberize him in exchange for being an asset for Overwatch and stopping his family’s operations. It was something he was very happy in taking part of.
Even though his cyborg body enhanced his already impressive abilities, Genji still hated himself and his condition. Once his family’s empire crumbled, he left the organization that made him and traveled the world to find himself. Eventually, he met up with the Omnic monk Zenyatta, who helped the younger Shimada become more at peace with his life as man and machine, even to the point where he’s forgiven his brother for putting him in this position.
Bastion
“Beep beep boop boop.”
Bastion units were created as peacekeeping tools with the ability to morph between bipedal forms and assault cannon modes. They turned on their human creators during the Omnic Crisis and formed the bulk of the rebel army, and were all taken apart or straight up destroyed once the Crisis ended. Bastion units symbolize the Crisis and the lives lost.
This Bastion unit was damaged and dormant for a decade, covered in nature and small animals, before just up and turning back on. If you need an idea of what Bastion is like, think of Wall-E with legs and a cute little bird on its shoulder. It’s as adorable as it sounds, and its curiosity for the natural world gives it a childlike innocence that’s endearing, especially considering that it avoids human life so as to not turn into a tank and mow everyone down.
Yes, Bastion is adorable, at least in the fiction. In the real world, he’s…kind of a dickhole, at least according to players.
Reaper
“Death walks among you.”
You may think you know what Reaper’s all about. A guy in all black with a growly voice and wears a skull mask? Has to be an emo kid trying too hard, or maybe he’s pulling off Darksiders 2 cosplay. Or maybe he’s a ghost assassin of some kind. Even his bio on the actual website is predictably cagey about him: ” His identity and motives are a mystery. What is known is that where he appears, death follows.”
During the game, those who play as Reaper and go up against someone who’s playing as Mercy will get a little more information about his origins (“This isn’t what I planned for you.” “You know exactly what you did.”). Real name Gabriel Reyes, he led the Overwatch strike team and later became the head of Blackwatch, the organization’s black ops division. Furious with not receiving the credit of his actions while Jack Morrison did, he started a rebellion inside the organization that ended with the whole thing being disbanded and him and Morrison being assumed dead.
While Morrison later went on to become Soldier 76 and investigate the source of the organization’s downfall, Reyes was saved by Mercy and brought back to life. But her process made it so that his cells decay and regenerate at an increased rate. Since then, he’s been hunting down former Overwatch agents to kill them for money, though it’s doubtful he needs much convincing. On one hand, he’s a tragic figure in that he was made a monster by someone who tried their hardest to help him. On the other hand, given his actions, he kinda should’ve never been brought back to life in the first place.
D. Va
“Game on.”
D. Va was going to win this category, simply based on the fact that her background is so realistic, yet completely out there. You can absolutely read her bio and go, “Yeah, I could see that happening.” An ex-pro gamer who now controls her own mech seems totally feasible in real life, and will probably happen in about a decade or so.
D. Va, real name Hana Song, was conscripted by South Korea to join their MEKA drone unit to fight a giant Omnic that would rise from the sea every couple of years and attack the country. The Omnic eventually made it so that the MEKAs had to be controlled with a pilot in the suits, and South Korea turned to the country’s pro gamers. Hana played games to win at all costs and showed no mercy, which made her perfect to pilot a MEKA and fight the Omnic.
That Overwatch includes a girl who basically reenacts Pacific Rim every couple of years and live streams it to her audience would put her at the top just based on the description above alone. But what some folks may not know is that she also live streams her multiplayer matches, meaning that if you’re streaming, you’d be streaming yourself streaming yourself. It’s weirdly meta and funny to think of the world watching you through every kill and screwup.
What Overwatch character has your favorite backstory? Let us know in the comments below.
About the author
