Scientist Gorilla From the Moon
Before you go ham on Hammond, don’t forget that this isn’t the first animal we’ve seen in Overwatch. Winston still stands as the founding father of the animal kingdom in the game, being the first ever playable animal hero (and a tank, at that). Oh, not to mention the fact that Winston can actually talk like a real human being can, and, heck, he even has his own voice actor (you’re killing it, Crispin Freeman). Hammond, on the other hand, has to rely on his Wrecking Ball for comms since all he does is squeak adorably.
If you take a step back, you’ll realize how ridiculous Winston’s backstory really is in Overwatch. He’s a genetically enhanced space monkey who escaped down to Earth after some sort of animal revolt on the moon, and then he joined a strike force as their scientist and special operative. Don’t forget he’s also the driving force behind Overwatch’s imminent reunion after sending that recall message in his animated short. Yep, Talon’s downfall and the fate of the world all hangs on a talking gorilla. Your move, space gerbil.
A Deadly Sniper Granny
We’ve seen a lot of strong women in the gaming scene, from Chun-Li to Lara Croft, but none quite like Ana Amari. You’d think an old woman would be a liability in the Overwatch battlefield, except for the fact that she’s the reason you’re still alive in the first place. Who knows what athletic training this grandma’s been through, but apparently it’s enough for her to get this awesome action-packed highlight intro that any normal person in her age would probably die trying to copy.
In a battlefield filled with all sorts of enhanced soldiers, mechs, assassins, and robots, you come across Ana who’s just pelting her allies with bullets from afar. You’d almost feel sorry for the poor woman if she wasn’t capable of kicking so much ass with her deadly arsenal of poison, a sleeping dart, and some kind of chemical that turns you into a weapon of mass destruction. Sure, Ana isn’t a hamster in a wrecking ball, but where in the world would you find such a badass granny on the battlefield? In Overwatch, that’s where.
Baby Turrets
Torbjorn’s got a lot going for him: a loving wife, a beautiful daughter among a handful of children, a retired war veteran as his best friend, and his precious babies AKA his turrets. The man is obsessed with these things to the point where it’s consumed his entire life. He constantly refers to these creations as his “baby,” and it’s probably one of the only things you’ll hear him yapping about in the battlefield. Torbjorn even has an entire album dedicated to his creations, including a photo of the thing framed in his very own house.
In fact, even his daughter is sick of finding his turrets on the battlefield. Whenever she sees one, she’ll call out, “Enemy turret ahead! One of Papa’s beloved creations,” which points to a silly wedge in their father/daughter relationship. We’re pretty sure Torbjorn still puts his kids on top of his priority list, but the turrets are cutting in really close. That said, maybe Hammond feels the same way about his Wrecking Ball mech.
Spirit Dragons
The Overwatch universe thrives on science and doesn’t delve too much into magical aspects, save for Symmetra’s Magician skin. If there’s anything supernatural or paranormal going on, Blizzard has a good explanation for it. Moira’s healing pee spray? That’s just nano-tech. What about Tracer’s time-traveling phenomena? It’s chronal disassociation from her failed teleportation experiment, but Winston fixed that with her chronal accelerator. These things always boil down to science… except for those Shimada spirit dragons.
You’ve probably seen these dragons hundreds of times in Overwatch, and if you know what’s good for you, stay far away from them. They do insane damage and are really quite powerful, but we still don’t know what they are. Hanzo can literally shoot an arrow that transforms into twin dragons that can pass through any solid object, yet leave you for dead after a few seconds. What do they feel like? How do they kill? Are they the Shimada’s pets? Seriously, Blizzard hasn’t even addressed whether these things are magic or not. At least we know Hammond’s just a large scale science project in a wrecking ball done right.
D.Va Isn’t a Pro Starcraft Player
If there’s anything that’s sillier than Hammond in a weaponized Wrecking Ball killing machine, it’s the common misconception that D.Va wasn’t a Starcraft pro player in Overwatch. Apparently, all of the evidence that had pointed otherwise was all just a big bunch of hocus pocus, and that our favorite Overwatch gamer girl was just some kind of tool to advertise Starcraft. The news shook the internet, leaving fans fuddled by possibly one of Blizzard’s strangest decisions in Overwatch lore history.
Years upon years, Overwatch fans have been building her lore (since she doesn’t have any) around her gaming persona, particularly because she was used in so many Starcraft materials. Heck, she even has her own announcer voice in the game, so how can you blame the Overwatch fans for getting so riled up about that one precious piece of lore she had going for her? Maybe D.Va was never meant to be a pro Starcraft player in the first place, which is perfectly fine despite the fact that she has literally no lore with the other characters. However, casually addressing the topic as just a “common misconception” after years of build-up is really just, well, silly. With Wrecking Ball around, here’s hoping the two can bond over their mechs and get more lore together.
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