As many are aware, the month of May is rapidly approaching and within that month is the anniversary of Blizzard Entertainment’s current multiplayer, first-person shooter game, Overwatch. Having earned the title “Best Game of the Year” in 2016, over 30 to 35 million accounts were recorded in 2017, and over 40 million in 2018, as those numbers continue to rise in this new year. Even three years later, Blizzard continues to develop the game with the creation of new characters, maps, and side story missions with this year being Overwatch: Storm Rising. With the game’s anniversary approaching fast along with the Overwatch League Playoffs in June and July, I found it best to take a trip down memory lane for both gamers and newbs in what Overwatch is all about, lore related. Keep in mind that this article contains major spoilers for multiple origin stories, comic book tie-ins, and much more. Also keep in mind that I am a major Overwatch fan, gamer, and cosplayer, so I will go far above and beyond in this particular article. Let the history lesson begin!
The First Omnic Crisis
In the not too distance future (roughly 2044 or 2046), humanity prospered in what was considered the golden age, having long-lasting peace. With this, came technological advances, including the first ever moon base, otherwise known as Horizon Lunar Colony, where some of Overwatch’s characters originate from (more on that later). With these technological advances came the artificially intelligent robots knowns as Omnics by the Omnica Corporation. The original plan for the Omnics was to help humanity’s endeavors and peace throughout. As anyone, today can imagine, however, this plan was short-lived.
After being discovered for fraud and other controversial cover-ups, the Omnica Corporation was shut down. Due to their high intelligence and worldwide factories, however, the Omnics factories reactivated, causing mass production of Omnics soldiers. Due to the fact that their countless factories built throughout the world for humanity, the conflict between Omnics and Humans became global, and so the First Omnic Crisis began. Newly updated robots were created to stand up against the humans, including Titan walkers and Bastions, which is where Bastion’s origin comes from (Side-Note: I’m a Bastion main, so deal with it and all my POTGs!). The humanity began responded as the world’s superpowers began creating new programs to stand up to the Omnics, such as Russia’s technologically advance military titans, Germany’s Crusader Army, and the United States Super Soldier Program. Despite each nation’s response, the threats and crisis continued to rise. Realizing that on their own, they were powerless, a global response team was put into place.
The Birth of Overwatch
The creation of Overwatch involved multiple members from multiple parts of the world: soldiers and scientists who brought their best work and unique gifts forward for the survival of humanity. Involved was Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes from the United States, Ana Amari from Egypt, Angela Ziegler from Switzerland, Torjörn Lindholm from Sweden, and many more over time. One of the original members was to be Balderich von Adler from the German Crusaders, however, after sacrificing himself for his team and his pupil Reinhardt Wilhelm, his position needed filling. Reinhardt accepted the mission in place and in the memory of his dear friend (full origin: Honor and Glory). With the team set into place, the team leads the world in the Omnics Crisis, with Gabriel Reyes as the original leader. While the world united, it is worth noting that some countries did not stand behind Overwatch’s lead, one, in particular, being Russia (is that really surprising?) who chose to fight for themselves. Other countries were in too frail of positions to assist in the fight, most notably Australia, which eventually became a wasteland after the conflict, (more on that later).
The Glory Days and Aftermath
After nearly 10 years of brutal fighting and global collateral damage, victory was near for humanity. Through the leadership of Overwatch, the world saw the end of the war and a feeling of peace between Omnics and Humans, as they were recognized and embrace as the global peacekeepers by the United Nations.
The global devastation was one that had lasting scars, some never heal. One of these nations, in particular, was Australia, who protested after being told that that portions of land were to be given to the Omnics after the war. As a result, the Australian Liberation Front was founded, and war within Australia began. The results led to the destruction of the Omnic fusion core, leaving the country to be a radiated wasteland. The remaining survivors used this as the opportunity to form their own Mad Max-like world called Junkertown, calling themselves Junkers. One of these Junkers would be the notorious explosives criminal, Jameson Fox, aka Junkrat and his terrorizing masked partner, Mako Rutledge, aka Roadhog (Link: A Moment in Crime Origin). While Overwatch leads countless rescue missions and restorations throughout the globe, not everyone could be helped. This lead to many rebels and criminals, including the hacker known as Sombra in Mexico, who took advantage of her destiny in trading hacked information for payments (more on that later).
Throughout the world, Overwatch responded to Omnic resistant movements dictator risings, and terrorist organizations, most notably Talon (more on that soon). Though victorious, some of the original members nearly lost their lives, including Torbjörn during operation White Dome. Reinhardt saved his life, though costing the Swedish Mechanic’s an arm and an eye. In thankfulness and somewhat stubbornness, Torbjörn allowed Reinhardt to name his soon-to-be-born daughter, and her name was Brigitte Lindholm, who later became Reindhardt’s godchild (Side-Note: I’m also a Brigitte main, so bring it!).
Throughout the glory days of Overwatch, new members would continue to join the ranks, one of them being Winston the Gorilla. Growing up on the Horizon Lunar colony, Winston was a super intelligent gorilla that was tested on by scientists along with 28 others. Unlike the rest of the colony subjects, Winston grew to love humans, especially his owner, Dr. Harold Winston. Seeing the testing on animals as immoral, Dr. Winston tried to stop the program. Unfortunately, time was against him, as the other test subjects revolted, including the intelligent Hamster, Hammond, aka Wrecking Ball. Rather than revolting, Winston escaped in a pod back to earth, with Hammond attached to him without his knowledge. During the ascendence, Hammond separated from Winston and landed in Junkertown, becoming a well-known Junker and fighter with his robotic wrecking ball suit. Winston grew to become a highly respected member and leader of Overwatch, as he quickly moved up the ranks. Speaking of Winston, another well-known member joined: Tracer, the ace pilot who was lost during a test run in a flight mission and a teleportation matrix. Stopping at nothing to help his new friend, Winston created for Tracer a Chrono-accelerator to keep her in the current time, while also giving her ability of speed and limited time travel.
As the world recognized Overwatch’s leadership, Jack Morrison was made the new commander by the United Nations instead of Gabriel Reyes. Though a shining moment for Morrison, it would forever become a thorn in Reyes’ side, causing the two to be more and more at odds over time, and eventually enemies (more on that later).
Blackwatch: Overwatch’s Suicide Squad
Though Gabriel Reyes was overseen by the United Nations, he was given the position of Commander for a new and underground organization. Reyes was made the leader of the Black-Ops missions team known as Blackwatch. In place of Overwatch at certain times, Blackwatch would handle undercover and controversial missions that were outside the laws of nations and even morality to certain degrees. Making up the Blackwatch squad included Jesse McCree, Genji Shimada, and Moria O’Deorain. In order to understand Blackwatch thoroughly, a quick expansion on each member under Reyes is necessary.
Jesse McCree was one of the founding members of the Deadlock Rebel Gang along with Elizabeth Caledonia “Calamity” Ashe. As the gang began to rise in attention, it grabbed Overwatch’s, causing them to respond. After being captured by Overwatch, McCree was given the ultimatum: serve his time in prison or join Overwatch under Reyes. McCree picked the latter, causing his relationship with Ashe and the gang to be damaged in the process.
Genji Shimada is a former member of the Japanese crime family, the Shimada Clan. Unlike his brother Hanzo, Genji lacked the interest to carry on the family business and lived his life recklessly. Seeing him as a threat, the Shimada Clan placed the burden on Hanzo to take the life of his brother. Having the guilt of his brother’s death on his hands, Hanzo renounced the Shimada Clan and forever became their target. Genji miraculously survived with the help of Angela Ziegler of Overwatch who assisted in replacing his lost limbs with robotic ones, and eventually, a full robotic suit. Seeing his potential, Reyes recruited Genji into Blackwatch after his healing process was complete.
Moria O’Deorian’ was a former scientist and researcher at Overwatch, who’s published work became too controversial, unethical, and even immoral. Overwatch finally had enough and shut her research down and fired her. Gabriel Reyes, on the other hand, saw the potential she possessed and recruited her into Blackwatch in secret. As seen in Moria’s origin story, she significantly helped Reyes receive the abilities and powers he currently possesses in the game (more to that later).
At one point, the terrorist organization known as Talon blew up one of Overwatch’s headquarters in Rome, Italy. Though many of the Overwatch leaders survived, such as Gérard Lacroix, many members lost their lives. Behind this was Talon member Antonio Bartalotti, a highly respected businessman that could hardly be touched. Diplomatically, Overwatch could not get involved. After a hard talk between Morrison and Reyes about going “by the book,” Morrison gave Reyes the approval for Blackwatch to apprehend Antonio (Link: Retribution comic tie-in).
Blackwatch’s mission was simple: Infiltrate Antonio’s headquarters and bring him back to Overwatch’s for questioning. Out of a sudden rage for Antonio’s tactics, Reyes’ gunned down him in cold blood, causing the Blackwatch team to fight their way out (Link: Retribution Gameplay Cinematic). The results were anything but progressive. With Antonio’s loss, new members stepped up to the fill the void in Talon, one of them being the Omnics mob dealer, Maximillian from the Storm Rising gameplay. This would only be the beginning of Overwatch’s problems and eventual fall, as the world began to know Blackwatch’s actions as they called into question Overwatch’s legitimacy.
To Be Continued…
Well, that was a lot to get through in just the first half. Hope you all enjoyed this awesome flashback at Overwatch! Part 2 to come soon!
