Ana Amari is the newest character to be added to Overwatch’s diverse roster of heroes, and she’ll be taking up a support role as a sniper who can heal allies and damage foes. However, what’s most interesting about Overwatch is the backstories of all its characters, and the lore surrounding its unique world. So how exactly does Ana Amari fit in?
Before Overwatch was formed, the Omnics rose up against the humans. This incident quickly became known as the Omnic Crisis, and the world decided that it needed a group of heroes to fight back against this mechanical terror. When the Omnic Crisis struck Egypt, Ana Amari stepped up to defend her country. Ana was a well-known sharpshooter from Egypt, and she was widely considered to be one of the best snipers in the world. Egypt’s resources were quickly depleting, so the country relied heavily on a group of elite snipers to take out the Omnics, and Ana was one of those elites.
Given her outstanding sniping, sharpshooting skills, and instincts as a soldier, she was soon headhunted to become one of the six founding members of Overwatch. Together with Jack Morrison (Soldier 76), Gabriel Reyes (Reaper), Reinhardt, and Torbjorn, they formed Overwatch and worked to end the Omnic Crisis.
After the Omnic Crisis, Ana continued to embark on missions and operations for Overwatch. She soon became Morrison’s second-in-command, though she never had any desire to take up leadership positions, as she refused to leave combat operations. However, on one of her missions, it is suggested that she was tasked to kill Widowmaker, but failed to do so. It’s likely that Ana might have been under the impression that Amelie was still on their side, and was not aware of her transformation into Widowmaker. As a result, she was gravely wounded by Widowmaker, and many believed that she was dead. On the contrary, she survived, though she lost her right eye in the process.
After that incident, Ana recovered on her own, and she hid herself from the world, including her daughter Fareeha, also known as Pharah.
Years passed, and Ana decided that she could no longer leave her daughter alone now that the world was in danger once again. We don’t know the specifics of why Ana has suddenly decided to return to the battlefield, but her origins trailer tells us that she still had people to protect. This is most likely in reference to Pharah and her old allies in Overwatch.