Last year, Blizzard announced the start of a brand new event in Overwatch called Uprising. Unlike the other events that came before it, this event has one special feature to it: telling the lore of those a part of the organization. While this told the story of Tracer’s first mission, this was also the game’s 2nd “Player vs Enemy” mode that played like a campaign. It provided some nice insight into the world and helped to expand out the characters involved in the fight. While we await the announcement for the 2nd anniversary, leaks show that this event will get a new name: “Overwatch Archives.” It will be exciting to see what the next event will bring and who will take part in the next special campaign.
For as great these stories and the cinematics are, devoting time to each of them can be difficult. If we consider what we have so far, a good chunk of the 27-character cast already had their moment to shine. If you were a part of Overwatch or a family member, you got your time to shine. In the cause of our Junkertown Heroes, we know their involvement due to being a byproduct of the fallout in Australia. With all of that and the characters that joined after launch, that covers 22 heroes we have seen get highlighted. That leaves us with five other characters with stories either untold or details that need explanation. Let’s talk about them today so we can take a wild guess who will get that next cinematic.
5) Zarya: Russia’s Strongest Woman
Does Zarya need more development for herself after everything she’s had so far? Absolutely.
Starting off the list, let’s look at Aleksandra Zaryanova. Out of the five we will talk about, Zarya is the one we’ve seen in both comics and even in the cinematic; albeit with a brief appearance. An athletic superstar, she gave it up when omnics invaded her village. After that happened, she withdrew from competition to enlist in the Russian Defense Force. Over time, she rose to the rank of Sergeant; she continues to fight against omnics, even during Christmas.
Behold! The only time we see Zenyatta in the comics!
A character so shrouded in mystery, you can sum up his role as ‘Genji’s Master,’ and leave it at that. As little we know about Zenyatta, one has to wonder if there is an actual need to understand his backstory. A former member of the Shambali, he left because he believed the way to bring peace between humans and omnics was through interpersonal connection and engagement.
We know that it was because of Zenyatta that Genji came to terms with his existence as a man and machine. Other than that, he is the character with the least amount of backstory of all the heroes. You might ask, “Why isn’t he #1 on this list then? Is there much of a story to tell for him?” Well in his case, he is a ‘less is more’ kind of omnic.
We could have a group of anti-omnic protestors confronts Zenyatta. They could try to hurt him, and he either dodges all the attacks or uses the orbs to block them. You can wrap it up by having him defend them against other rouge omnics or something to win them over and how to give peace a chance to end these hostilities once and for all. We may yet see if his story develops later on, but for now, he’s just fine where he is.
3) Symmetra: Vishkar’s Brilliant Architech
A nice story, but it was more of a story for Viskhar than it was for Symmetra.
As we wait for her next rework, Satya Vaswani remains a fascinating character to observe. At the present moment, she is our current representative to the Vishkar Corporation. She works for a company specializing in hard-light, which can create physical objects from a light source. For Symmetra, she believes that her actions will serve a greater good in the world. We also had a comic that showed how Vishkar established themselves in Rio and her capabilities such as creating light bridges (an ability that some fans would like to see in-game).
Here’s the problem: outside of the comic, we have little to nothing to work with her character. We know that her coworker works with Talon, but does she work with them too? Maybe not, since she has her doubts about what happened in her comic and felt remorse that people got hurt in the process (even if it wasn’t her fault). It’s not to say Blizzard should remake the comic (although one from her coworker’s perspective would be an amazing reveal for him). It would be fun to see her rise as an Architech and perhaps even a development should she discover that she’s tangled in a more sinister plot. Time will tell if that’s the case, but much like her, she has untapped potential that has yet to reveal itself.
2) Lucio: Freedom Fighter Turned International Celebrity DJ
For as much “Story” that Lucio has, why haven’t we had a story dedicated to Lucio yet? No comics… no animated shorts… Just… Lucioball…
What does it say about a character when a special mode named after you has more development than you? Lucio’s past can be difficult to piece together since we haven’t established how effective Lucio is as a freedom fighter. As someone who saw the Vishkar Corporation doing more harm than good in Rio, Lucio took it upon himself to lead a rebellion against them. With the Hard-Light Skates that allow him to skate where he pleases and the stolen tech to weaponize sound, Lucio pushed Vishkar out of Rio.
Or… At least as far as the backstory goes. If we look at the Summer Games image and the picture of Rio, you see the Vishkar logo front and center. This means that either Lucio only pushed them out of his neighborhood at least, or is fighting an ongoing battle (even though he is touring the world). Symmetra’s comic established her role in Rio, but Lucio’s story is less developed since we do not understand what progress he’s made so far. As mentioned in a previous editorial why Sanjay’s inclusion into Overwatch would help: not only would you have another Talon member playable, but it could help to tie Symmetra and Lucio into the world of Overwatch.
1) D.VA: Pro Gamer Turned… Mech Pilot & Actress?
A friendly reminder that she is indeed an actress apparently. She needs some development for Blizzard to explain a few things…
At the top of our list, we have the pro gamer turned defense force pilot for South Korea. For one of the most played heroes out of everyone in the cast, she’s the only one who doesn’t seem to have any connections with anyone else. At least Lucio and Symmetra at least give each other a connection to some plot. As for D.Va, her story seems to flip-flop between figuring out what kind of pro gamer she was. Is she or was she not a pro StarCraft 2 player before enlistment? How did she get involved in the program that let her pilot her own mech? And what life choices did she make to suddenly star in her own movie?
Perhaps because she fights giant omnic kaijus, she has that small connection to the overall plot. Still, it doesn’t develop her character as much as outside of the “We Are Overwatch” trailer, we have none idea how skillful of a pilot she is. What if we had a trailer that let her cut loose and showcase what a MEKA can do? Who knows if we may get a special mode in which you have a team of six D.Va players fighting a giant Omnic, but we need to have something to better establish her. We should have more reason to care for her as a character rather than her being the “gamer” of the cast.
Conclusion: We Need More Character Shorts. Please, Blizzard.
So is this a plea to see more animated character shorts? Maybe, but this is more to help tell the stories of characters that haven’t had the chance to have their stories told yet. We know that world of Overwatch continues to expand out further the original members of Overwatch. We may not need a dedicated backstory for everyone, but it would be nice if everyone had their chance to shine if they are playable characters. Whether if it is another comic or a short, these heroes deserve more time in the spotlight.
For all we know, one of these five heroes can be the next character to have a short made by Blizzard; and when that time comes, we will watch with great interest. What people (or Omnic in Zenyatta’s case) they were and what choices they made to bring them to where they are today. Let’s hope by the time we get there, we aren’t left with more questions than answers.
So what do you think? Which character should have their story told or expanded on? Should it cover them at an earlier time? or focus on the current time? Leave your thoughts down below and be sure to follow us here at Culture of Gaming as we will be covering Blizzard’s approach to storytelling soon.
