A Cyborg Ninja and former member of Overwatch.

Originally the lazy younger son of the master of the Shimada Ninja clan, Genji Shimada was raised to be a skilled Ninja with his brother Hanzo, but wasn’t interested in his family’s illegal business. Tension built between Genji and the clan until eventually the clan Elders pressured Hanzo into a violent confrontation with his younger brother. Nearly killed by his injuries he was rescued by Overwatch, but just barely. The damage that had been done was so severe they offered to rebuild his body through extensive cyberization in exchange for his help in the dismantling of his former clan.

In the years that followed Genji became a successful agent within Overwatch as a member of their global task force. Over time however, he began to feel extremely conflicted with what he had become. Feeling alone in the world and unable to come to grips with his mechanical body, he abandoned Overwatch before its eventual dissolution. He drifted from one place to another, looking for meaning until eventually, he met Zenyatta the Omnic Monk. Through Zenyatta’s teachings, Genji was slowly able to come to terms with his half-man-half-machine existence and feel at peace with himself.

Genji is an Offensive hero who can attack both from a distance and up close to dispatch his enemies. He uses his Shuriken projectiles to attack enemies, throwing three at a time in quick succession; he can also throw them all at once in a cone in front of him. His first ability, Deflect, allows him to send an incoming enemy projectile flying back towards its owner. His second ability, Swift Strike, has him dash through opponents, slashing them with his katana; if they die as a result, he is able to use the ability again without a cooldown. His passive ability, Cyber-Agility, not only allows him to climb walls like his brother Hanzo, but jump again in mid-air. In his ultimate, Dragonblade, Genji pulls out his katana, using it exclusively for deadly slashes that deal large amounts of damage.

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• Animal Motifs: The dragon and the sparrow. Dragons are an important symbol of the Shimada clan and used in his special attack; "Sparrow" is the name of one of his Legendary skins, a sparrow feather is used to represent him in key moments of the "Dragons" short, and his helmet is shaped like a sparrow's beak.
• Artificial Limbs: It's unclear to what extent, but considering he reloads his shurikens from inside his right arm, it's clear at least some of his limbs have been replaced in his transformation.
• Attack Reflector: The Deflect, which allows Genji to reflect any type of projectile back towards his attackers. However, it doesn't work against beam-esque weapons like Mei's cryogun's spray mode or Zarya's beam cannon.
• Badass: A half-cyborg ninja who can run on walls, slice through solid metal, and deflect bullets (and even some Ultimates) back at their shooter with nothing more than his trusty katana and shuriken stars at his side definitely counts.
• Body Horror: As seen in the "Dragons" short, his near-death experience has left his face scarred and weathered, with an unhealthy palor and visible veins. The rest of his body presumably hasn't fared better.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: As shown by his Legendary Skins, he had fairly prominent eyebrows as a young man.
• Bilingual Bonus: Like his brother, Genji has some Japanese dialogue.
• Blue Is Heroic: When equipped with an alternate blue skin. Even as a wanderer, Genji is undeniably heroic.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Even in his former life, Genji excelled in his ninja training, like his brother Hanzo. However, he preferred to fool around and live the high life instead. He's outgrown this after becoming a cyborg.
• Bring It: His "Challenge" emote even has him do the typical hand gesture à la Neo from The Matrix.
• Cain and Abel: Was almost killed by his older brother Hanzo during a violent confrontation after their father's death. After beating Hanzo in the "Dragons" short and refusing to kill him, Genji forgives him, but Hanzo himself is a lot more conflicted when it comes to his brother.
• Color Motifs: Both his appearance and dragon-based Ultimate have a lot of green in them. Green promotes harmony and symbolizes growth and rebirth. The Genji of the Shimada clan died at the hands of his older brother Hanzo...and was revived by Overwatch to became Genji the cyborg, one of the playable characters. He also became more mature and wiser since then, a stark contrast to his past hedonistic ways. Green is also a color of naivety, something Hanzo accuses him of having in the "Dragons" short when Genji expresses hope for his brother turning to the side of good.
• Cool Sword: Two of them, a wakizashi for his basic abilities and a katana for his ultimate.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: His fight with Hanzo in Dragons. Hanzo fails to hit Genji with any of his arrows and basically can't touch him.
• Cutscene Power to the Max: Played with. That fancy move at the end of the Dragons short where Genji deflects Hanzo's Dragon Ultimate? Surely you can't pull that off in game - deflecting an Ultimate and turning it upon the enemy team with one of your standard skills would just be cheesy, right? Turns out, it's possible. However, you have to use reflect rather than Dragonblade, and you have to reflect the arrow before the dragons spawn from it.
• Cyber Ninja: He's a cyborg ninja, to the degree that his arms actually manufacture shuriken.
• Decomposite Character: He and his brother were originally one cyber ninja in concept named Hanzo. The character however was too unfocused in design due to being crammed with too many ninja weapons and gimmicks. Rather than scrap the idea though, the character was made into two brothers. Genji inherited the cyborg aspect and sword usage the original character had, and was renamed Genji. Fittingly, he's the younger brother of the two.
• Difficult but Awesome: He's rated three stars in difficulty for a reason: his abilities are far less straightforward than most other Assaults, and using him well requires good aiming, clever positioning, and quick reflexes. A good Genji is a Lightning Bruiser who'll use his superior mobility to flank the enemy from angles they won't expect, capable of slaughtering entire teams by himself while turning their own firepower against them, and then vanishing as quickly as he appeared.
• Double Jump: His unique passive ability lets him do this.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He was seen in the cinematic trailer, roughly a year before his introduction.
• Emergency Transformation: After he was left for dead by Hanzo, Overwatch was only able to save Genji's life by rebuilding and replacing what they could.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish, hedonistic younger brother of the dutiful, responsible Hanzo, back when both of them were living in Hanamura and their scuffle that led to Genji's cybernetic transformation hadn't happened yet.
• For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: One of his unlockable lines is: "My costume for Halloween? Cyborg Ninja."
• Gameplay and Story Integration: As this video shows, it's possible for Genji to reflect Hanzo's ultimate back at him, just like he does in the Dragons animated short. One difference is that in the game he can only do it when Hanzo's ultimate is still an arrow, while in the animated short he does it when the arrow's turned into the two dragons and he has to use his own ultimate to do so.
• The Hedonist: Pursued a playboy lifestyle in his former life.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Whenever you hear clanking noise and see Genji whipping his blade around, STOP SHOOTING AT HIM. Unless you know what you're doing, you're only getting those attacks reflected back at you, or worse, redirected to your teammates.
• Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Like Hanzo, his ultimate also involves dragons, except when activated, it allows him to do deadly slashes that inflict heavy damage on his foes.
• Katanas Are Just Better: He wields a wakizashi that he uses to deflect projectiles and a katana to One-Hit KO opponents.
• Lightning Bruiser: For an offense hero. He is very mobile thanks to his ability to run on walls and double jump, can deal high damage while on the move with his Swift Strike and Dragon Blade abilities, and while his Health is mediocre at best, being only 200, he can use Deflect to send most enemy shots back at them to both avoid their damage and hurt his enemies even further.
• Meaningful Name: Named after the titular character from The Tale of Genji, which is fitting considering his past as The Hedonist.
  • His name is also appropriate when you consider that the one meaning of the name "Genji" is "Two Beginnings".
• Ninja: Aside of the obvious, an effective way to play as Genji is by thinking like a Ninja itself. Not the highly visible one, but instead one who sneaks and stalks from the shadows, assassinating and eliminating single targets that dropped their guard down or strayed away from formation, and getting out of sight just as quick. A Genji who bum-rushes to the enemy ranks from the front is more than likely to contribute very little or get killed off alone.
• Nice Guy: Even before his supposed death, Genji had little interest in the Shimada Clan's organized crime, preferring eating ramen and playing video games instead. Zenyatta's teachings afterwards has only further strengthened his compassion, making him one of the least confrontational or hostile heroes in the game. He's even forgiven Hanzo for his failed attempt to brutally murder him.
• Ninja Run: He leans forward while running, with one hand in front of him holding his shurikens, and one hand behind him holding his wakizashi.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Summarized with this phrase.
  Genji: My name is... Green Cyborg Ninja Dude.
• Parrying Bullets: Deflect will throw back any bullets shot at him, making Genji actually effective in charging right through a turret or Bastion and killing them with their own fire. However, beam-like weapons like Winston's, Zarya's , Symmetra's or Mei's cannot be deflected.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: When activating his ultimate.
  (previously) "Ryuu Gekiken!" ^Translation  "Dragon Fencing!"
  (currently) "Ryuujin no ken o kurae!!" ^Translation  "Taste the blade of the Dragon God!"
  (ally Genji) "The dragon becomes me!"
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Genji calls out Hanzo in the "Dragons" video for thinking an annual offering of incense will honor his brother's memory when action is needed.
• Scarf of Asskicking: His black headband, which appears to be a part of his cyborg design.
• Shout-Out: His old "Ryuu gekiken!" quote is a translated quote from Miyamoto Musashi.
• Shonen Hair: His Legendary Skins give him short spiky hair.
• Spoiled Brat: Was coddled and protected by his father, which later led to him developing more interest in pursuing the fast life and less interest in upholding the clan's (criminal) traditions.
• Smoke Out: He can't actually use it in-game, but at the end of Dragons, he disappears in a cloud of smoke.
• Stock Ninja Weaponry: Uses shurikens as his main weapon on top of a katana and wakizashi.
• Summon Magic: Like Hanzo, he summons a dragon as part of his ultimate Dragonblade. Unlike Hanzo he doesn't attack with it directly, only using it to infuse his sword with power and to reflect Hanzo's own dragons back against him in the "Dragons" short.
• Token Good Teammate: Was this to the Shimada Clan while he was still a member. He had no interest in their criminal activities, and was only a part of the clan because he was born into it. Sadly, this did not sit well with the elders, who order Hanzo to murder him.
• Trademark Favorite Food: When he was human, Genji loved ramen. He'll react to the ramen shop in the Hanamura level with excitement, but then lament that he can't eat it anymore.
• Tron Lines: His visor and cylinders on his body glow a neon green light. He can apparently suppress the light when he chooses as seen in the "Dragons" cinematic.
• Unorthodox Reload: His robotic right forearm stores a considerable number of shuriken, which it feeds directly into (and through) his hand. Reloading consists of loading even more shuriken from somewhere higher up the arm.
• Video Arcade: Mentions that he spent alot of his time as a child in one, if on the attacking team on Hanamura.
• Walking the Earth: Did this after leaving Overwatch, looking for a sign that his life had something worth living for.
• Wall Crawl: Just like Hanzo, with the extra bonus jumping again in mid-air.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: His Summer Games skin colors his body to ressemble the Japanese flag (white with a red circle).
• We Can Rebuild Him: Rebuilt into a cyborg by Overwatch.
• What Have I Become?: He didn't like the thought of being a cyborg for the rest of his life at first. With Zenyatta's help, though, he eventually got over it.
• White Sheep: He held little interest in his clan's criminal activities, much to said clan's ire. After he was turned into a cyborg by Overwatch, he began actively opposing his former family, interfering with their operations.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Still has faith that Hanzo can change his fate and turn good despite looking like a lost cause. As opposed to Hanzo, his 'code of honor' lies in 'actions', in which it translates to 'good deeds'.
  Hanzo: Real life is not like the stories our father told us! You were a fool for believing it so!
  Genji: Perhaps I am a fool to think there is still hope for you. But I do.
• Yakuza: Was once the younger son of the Shimada clan.
• You Are Already Dead: One of the initial effects of his "Swift Strike" ability was a damage over time, which would reset the cooldown on the ability if the enemy was killed by it. However the damage over time was removed, while the cooldown reset remained.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: His "Young Genji" skin and a picture in his room in Nepal show him to have dyed his hair green when he was younger.

Armed with his Peacekeeper revolver, the outlaw Jesse McCree doles out justice on his own terms.

McCree had already made a name for himself as a member of the notorious Deadlock Gang, which trafficked in illicit weapons and military hardware throughout the American Southwest, when he and his associates were busted in an Overwatch sting operation. With his expert marksmanship and resourcefulness, he was given the choice between rotting in a maximum-security lockup, or joining Blackwatch, Overwatch's covert ops division. He chose the latter.

Although he was initially cynical, he came to believe that he could make amends for his past sins by righting the injustices of the world. McCree appreciated the flexibility afforded to the clandestine Blackwatch, unhindered by bureaucracy and red tape. But as Overwatch's influence waned, rogue elements within Blackwatch sought to bring down the organization and turn it to their own ends. Wanting no part of the infighting, McCree set off alone and went underground.

He resurfaced several years later as a gunslinger for hire. But while McCree's talents are sought after by parties great and small, he fights only for causes he believes are just.

McCree is an Offensive character that quickly dishes out damage to any enemies in his vicinity. He always has his trusty six-shooter Peacekeeper handy, and he's able to fan its hammer to unload its entire chamber at once. His first ability, Combat Roll, has him dive out of the way of danger while simultaneously reloading his Peacekeeper. His second ability, Flashbang, causes him to toss a blinding grenade that explodes shortly after, stunning nearby enemies in its small range. In his ultimate, Deadeye, he takes a moment to aim before firing at all enemies in his sights, instantly killing each one with a single shot once he's focused on them enough. However, the more hit points each target currently has, the longer it takes for him to get a killshot on them.

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• Americans Are Cowboys: American? Check. Cowboy? Check.
• American Accents: Fitting his cowboy theme, he has a strong Southern drawl.
• Anti-Hero: A former outlaw, and now fights the good fight.
• Artificial Limbs: Like Symmetra, the design of McCree's left arm seems to suggest that it's a cybernetic replacement. Confirmed by this cosplay reference guide.
• Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: His outfit fits in better in the Old West, and is without a doubt awesome.
  • His Mystery Man skin updates him slightly... To a 1930's Pulp hero. Still anachronistic, still awesome.
• The Atoner: Seeks to make up for his past crimes as a weapons trafficker by becoming a hero and righting all the injustices he's able to.
• Badass Bandolier: Wears a bandolier of bullets on his belt.
• Badass Baritone: He speaks with a deep voice that wouldn't be out of place in a Spaghetti Western.
• Badass Beard: He has a combination of a beard and sideburns, and is a Badass Normal. The only thing that's missing would be a Badass Mustache. When he was younger and Overwatch was still operating, he had a small, simple goatee.
• Badass Boast: When on fire:
  "(chuckles) Best run for the hills, I'm on fire!"
• Badass Cape: A variation; he wears a red poncho, just like The Man with No Name. He's also a Badass Normal.
• Badass Long Coat: When equipped with the "Gambler" and "Riverboat" skins.
• Badass Mustache: In his "Gambler" and "Riverboat" skins.
• Badass Normal: Far more than anyone else. While other Badass Normals use advanced technology to keep up with everyone else, his flashbang and revolver seem rather mundane, even by today's standards, with the only sign of advanced technology perhaps being his left arm, which he only uses to reload, fan-fire, and melee anyway. Other than that, he's just a guy with a gun and good aim. Really good aim. Even his ultimate doesn't involve any gadget and is just hims focusing on his next shots.
• Blinded by the Light: His Flashbang ability momentarily stuns its target, allowing him to take advantage and shoot.
• Born in the Wrong Century: Basically, he's a cowboy who exists in the future.
• Bounty Hunter: This is what he ends up becoming after Overwatch's collapse. Also counts as Pirates Who Don't Do Anything as he's never seen capturing anyone in media released thus far.
• Boxed Crook: When he was busted by Overwatch, he was given the choice to go to prison, or work for them. Naturally, he took the latter. Since he was able to resign later, he probably kept working with Overwatch even after earning his freedom.
• Camera Abuse: One of his highlight intros involves firing at the camera and leaving bullet holes.
• The Casanova: If he's on the same team as Ana, McCree will comment that it's an honor to once again be fighting by her side. Ana will then reply with "You always were a charmer."
• Cigar Chomper: He's always seen carrying a lit cigar in his mouth, another reference to Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name.
• Clint Squint: His default expression. It rarely changes into anything else.
• Coat, Hat, Mask: His "Mystery Man" gives him a mask, a hat different from his usual cowboy one and a Badass Cape instead of a Badass Long Coat.
• Covert Group: Was a former member of Blackwatch, a clandestine offshoot of Overwatch.
• Deadpan Snarker: To fit his Spaghetti Western motif, he's by far the snarkiest of all the playable characters and doesn't seem to take any of his foes all that seriously.
• Defector from Decadence: When Overwatch fell to internal corruption and Blackwatch sought to control the organization for its own ends, McCree promptly resigned in disgust. He still carries the symbol of his old organization on his hat.
• Domino Mask: Part of his "Mystery Man" skin, giving him the look of an old-time robber.
• Dramatic Wind: If there is enough room for it to spawn, a tumbleweed appears when using his Ultimate.
• Everyone Has Standards: This is a man who was a former arms dealer in a futuristic gang, and whatever Blackwatch got up to apparently sickened even him. Given that Blackwatch was led by the man that would become Reaper, this has... implications.
• Eye-Obscuring Hat: Normally it doesn't affect gameplay, but it does dip into the top of his vision during his ultimate.
• Firing One-Handed: Normally does this, though he will use the other to fan the revolver.
• Foil:
  • McCree started out as a cynic and an outlaw before joining Overwatch, which lead him to become more optimistic and a hero in his own right. The exact opposite happened to Soldier: 76. Interestingly, they have a similar set of abilities involving a Boring but Practical standard weapon, explosives, a movement ability, and auto-aim. Except McCree has no advanced tech backing up his marksmanship.
  • He's also a foil to Reaper. His main weapon is a gun, and he is a former criminal and arms dealer who joined Overwatch to avoid life imprisonment, ended up in a black ops unit, and ultimately became a hero who upheld Overwatch's ideals long after it was disbanded. The exact opposite happened to Reaper who was a founder of Overwatch and was originally a hero, but became a villain after being afflicted with jealousy towards his friend Jack Morrison (aka Soldier: 76) whom he felt stole the glory intended for him, and destroyed his own organization out of spite. Both also share a western theme - McCree's character design is a Shout-Out to Western cowboy heroes such as The Man with No Name, while Reaper has two costume skins titled "El Blanco" and "Mariachi" which would make him fit in as the Big Bad of a Spaghetti Western. If McCree kills Reaper in combat, he will sometimes remark "Someone had to do it. Seems fittin' it'd be me."
• Fun with Acronyms: His belt buckle has the word "BAMF" (AKA, "Badass Motherfucker") on it.
• The Gambler: McCree has an unlockable skin called Gambler that gives him a 19th century-style suit, a neatly-groomed mustache, an Ace up his sleeve, and a revolver adorned with playing card suites. He also has a belt buckle that says "Hold 'Em" (a reference to the Kenny Rogers song "The Gambler").
• Glass Cannon: His shots, Flashbang ability, and Deadeye (especially) can deal huge amounts of damage to his enemies in a very short time if accurate. However, other than Combat Roll and the short stun effect of his Flashbang, he has no tools to defend his mediocre 200 Health pool.
• Good Feels Good: Seems to have been a factor in his reform, in that he enjoyed helping people while a Boxed Crook far more than he ever enjoyed being a villain. May have also been a factor in his eventual departure from Blackwatch, as they went in the other direction.
• The Gunslinger: This guy's got a six-shooter, and he knows how to use it. He even fits the "Quick Draw" type, with his ultimate sharing the same name.
• Gun Twirling: Does this in his idle animation, when reloading, and in at least two of his taunts.
• Hand Cannon: His revolver is pretty damn huge, and 2 or 3 well-aimed shots can kill any non-tank hero.
• Hitman with a Heart: Although his services are greatly sought after by all sides, he refuses to fight for causes he does not think are just.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Issue #1 of the webcomic shows that McCree is not liked by the law following Overwatch's disbandment. His mere presence on a train leads authorities to assume that he's hijacked it - even when the truth of the matter is that he took down a squad of mercenaries (implied to be Blackwatch or Talon) who would have killed everyone on the train if not for his interference.
• I Am Not Shazam: McCree's ultimate is called 'Deadeye', not 'High Noon'. But as often as you'll hear it, a lot of people call it that anyway.
• Improbable Age: Given that he's the same age as Mercy and only five years older than Pharah, McCree would have been around 17 or 18 at the least when this picture was taken◊. This would also mean that he was notorious in the Deadlock Gang by his teens.
• Knight in Sour Armor: He has a taciturn demeanor and is always frowning. But the lore indicates he'd always do the right thing.

• More Dakka: Unusually for a videogame revolver (but Truth in Television), he's capable of this by fanning the hammer of his revolver.
• Necessary Drawback: Fanning the hammer may allow him to quickly dump the rest of the magazine into a target in front of him, but it has multiple drawbacks. First, accuracy goes right out the window compared to firing the revolver normally. Next, each shot fired by fanning the hammer does LESS damage than a shot fired normally ^note 45 damage for fanned vs 70 damage for normal. Finally, shots fired by fanning the hammer do not benefit from a headshot bonus.
  • Emphasis on the Necessary - in the beginning, the damage wasn't nerfed compared to regular shots, resulting in the infamous Flashbang -> Fan The Hammer -> Combat Roll (to reload) -> Fan The Hammer combo that killed absolutely everything it encountered, tanks included.
• New Old West: He certainly invokes this with his futuristic cowboy design.
• Nice Hat: Wears a brown Stetson hat with a wide brim, which is an essential accessory for any self-respecting cowboy.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently, there was one thing that Reyes did during his time with Blackwatch that disgusted McCree, though we don't know what it is yet.
• One-Hit Kill: His Deadeye ultimate will instantly kill enemies that it fully charges on. The catch is that targets with higher HP take longer to charge upon ^note It charges at a rate of 200HP per second. Roadhog at full health, for example, would take 3 whole seconds to lock onto, but once the red skull icon appears, hitting left click gives the target an express ticket back to spawn.
• Perpetual Frowner: Is always seen with a permanent frown, a Clint Squint, and a smoking cigar in his mouth, like any gunslinging hero.
  • Though he does smile in his "Hat Tip" and "joker" emotes.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: When he uses his ultimate.
  "It's high noon..."
• Pretty Boy: If this picture◊ is accurate, he was one when he was younger. Now he's just ruggedly handsome.
• Quick Draw: Played with. His Deadeye ability allows him to One-Hit Kill targets instantly and quickly... if their health is low enough. If the targets' health is full, it may take a while to load up your shots, allowing the enemy players to wipe you out before you can attack.
• Recruiting the Criminal: When Overwatch arrested him, they offered him a chance to join their ranks, or rot in prison. He chose the former, and he turned out to be a hero.
• Red Is Heroic: He wears a red Badass Poncho. He's also a reformed criminal who is also a Hitman with a Heart.
• Reformed Criminal: Was once a Deadlock member responsible for illegal weapon trafficking until he was busted by Overwatch. Nowadays, he's a gun-slinging vigilante who fights for justice.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: His main weapon is a revolver, and he's one of the hardest hitting gun heroes sans Reaper.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Uses one to cover his face when equipped with the "Mystery Man" skin. Doesn't hinder his asskicking any one bit.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: His "Gambler" skin makes him more clean-shaven (though he has a handlebar mustache now) and immaculately dressed, complete with a Badass Long Coat.
• Shoot the Hostage Taker: In the comic short "Train Hopper", he shoots down several Talon soldiers inside a train after they take the passengers hostage, with absolutely no civilian casualties.
• Shout-Out:
  • Most of his appearance is an obvious reference to The Man with No Name from A Fistful of Dollars.
  • His name comes from the video game Mad Dog McCree.
  • His Ultimate, Deadeye, has very similar mechanics to the "Dead Eye Targeting" ability used in the Red Dead series, and even share the same name. Alternatively, its name could also reference Kilrogg Deadeye, a character from Blizzard's previous work.
  • One of his voice lines is "I'm your Huckleberry", which was the catch phrase of Doc Holliday in Tombstone. In fact, McCree's easygoing yet cocky personality is very similar to Doc Holliday's in that film.
• Showdown at High Noon: Referenced by his ultimate, Deadeye, with him even saying "it's high noon..." when activating it.
  • On maps at night he'll invoke the trope by saying that at least it is high noon somewhere in the world...
• Simple, yet Awesome: McCree's combat style involves just shooting things, and occasionally flashbanging and THEN shooting things. However, these two abilities — with his high damage and ability to interrupt a character at almost any time — make him one of the most dangerous and effective characters in the game.
• Small Steps Hero: In Issue #1 of webcomic, McCree kicks a valuable MacGuffin off the train he's on. While this ensures the mercenaries who attacked the train will take it for themselves, it also means the civilians on the train are out of harm's way.
• Smoking Is Cool: Always shown with a cigar in his mouth.
• Sniper Pistol: The Peacekeeper is perfectly accurate except when using Fan the Hammer. Its damage had to be toned down in a patch since its high damage combined with this trope made certain other heroes useless or redundant.
• Spaghetti Western: His look owes a lot to it. His ultimate references it even more. As long as it's activated, a sepia filter is applied and a faint gust of wind appears, along with the occasional tumbleweed.
• Spiteful Spit: His "Spit" emote has him do this to the side, though rather nastily, he still does this with the Mystery Man and Vigilante skins in spite of wearing a huge, lower-face-covering scarf. At least the animators made sure to remove the spit particle, but still, ew.
• The Cameo: He makes an appearance in the "A Moment In Crime Special Report" trailer, where he can be seen looking at Junkrat and Roadhog's wanted posters.
• Took a Level in Idealism: He used to be a criminal and quite a cynic, but became an idealistic hero during his time in Blackwatch. In contrast, the opposite happened to Soldier: 76, a Wide-Eyed Idealist who Took a Level in Cynic.
• Unnecessary Combat Roll: Combat Roll, obviously — though when he needs to reload in a pinch and dodge bullets, it is necessary.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: His "American" skin not only replaces his poncho with the American flag, it gives his revolver a red, white and blue color scheme and his belt buckle now says "USA".
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Lampshaded in one of his post-kill lines against Widowmaker, stating that he normally doesn't like to having to kill women...except for her.
  McCree: I don't like shooting a lady. But for you, I'll make an exception.

Fareeha Amari, a girl born in modern Egypt, was born of a bloodline of warriors and soldiers. Honor and justice flow through her veins.

As a child, she dreamed of following in her mother's footsteps, and did so, joining the Egyptian army. Her tactical genius and persistence caused her to rise through the officer ranks, earning the loyalty of all who served under her. She was set to join among Overwatch's ranks, but before she had the chance, Overwatch was disbanded.

After leaving the army with a commendation for distinguished service, she was offered employment with Helix Security International, a private security firm contracted to defend the artificial intelligence research facility beneath the Giza Plateau. The top-secret facility was touted as vital to the safety of not only the region but countries across the globe. Fareeha gladly accepted the choice assignment and received training in the Raptora Mark VI, an experimental combat suit designed for rapid mobility and devastating firepower.

Under the call sign "Pharah," she works to safeguard the AI installation. Though she mourns Overwatch's passing, she still dreams of fighting the good fight and making a difference on a global scale.

Pharah is an Offensive character who excels at scattering an enemy team from the skies and rendering their defenses useless. Her weapon is the Rocket Launcher, which fires rockets that deal high damage in a blast radius. Her first ability is Jump Jet, which allows her to fly. Her second ability, Concussive Blast, fires a rocket from her wrist that knocks back enemies from its blast and heavily damages shields and barriers. Her ultimate, Barrage, channels salvo rockets from her suit that deal heavy damage to enemies who remain in the target area.

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• 24-Hour Armor: Unlike Reinhardt, who has been seen completely out of his armor, Pharah has never been shown outside of her armor besides her head aside from a single picture of her as a child.◊ This includes her alternate skins and cosmetic sprays, including, amusingly enough, her Summer Games 2016 spray.
• Action Girl: Perhaps more so then any other female character (who take on support or less heavy hitting roles). It probably helps that she descended from a long line of warriors and soldiers.
• Animal Motif:
  • A bird of prey, based on her armor. Most likely a falcon in reference to the Egyptian God Horus, who represented justice, righteous vengeance, and the pharaoh.
  • Two of her skins, "Anubis" and "Jackal" have dog/wolf motifs, also likely to reference Anubis, the canine-headed god of funerals and death who ushered souls into the afterlife, and Wepwawet, who was originally depicted as the god of warfare and hunting and was often described as a white or light gray wolf.
• Apologetic Attacker: To Reinhardt if she takes him out. Sounds pretty sincere too.
• Armor Is Useless: Downplayed Trope. Though it's done mainly for balance reasons, despite having the Raptora Powered Armor, Pharah only has an average 200 hit points excluding external armor and shields. It's standard for most non-tank heroes, but she's still less durable than Reaper and Mei despite them only wearing coats. Even if the armor's main purpose was to protect Pharah from G-Forces and sudden impacts from landing, there's no fall or crash damage in this game, anyway.
• Artificial Limbs: Zigzagged; it's unclear exactly how organic her actual body is. Unlike Reinhardt, Pharah has never been shown out of her Powered Armor (the exception being shots of her past as a child), and seen in both the concept art◊ and in-game models,◊ her limbs appear to be mechanically hinged (excluding for her Security Chief skin, though the joints are covered up by cloth anyway), but according to the game's official Twitter account, it's just her Raptora suit. However, David Gibson, Pharah's in-game animator, preferred not to directly answer the question, so only time will tell whether this will be explored in the future plot.
• Badass Boast:
  • Her line when picked.
  "I will PROTECT the innocent."
  • When she uses her ultimate.
  "Justice rains from above!"
• Blood Knight: Downplayed. In her comic, she notes that walking into unknown danger was always what her mother hated most. Pharah, on the other hand, says it's the part she loves most. Beyond that, however, she's largely a consummate professional.
• Blown Across the Room: The primary purpose of her Concussive Blast. It's useful for knocking opponents into pits.
• Blue Is Heroic: Wears blue-colored Powered Armor, and is one of the main playable characters.
• Braids, Beads and Buckskins: Her Thunderbird Legendary skin gives Pharah's armor a Native American theme.
• Character Development: "Mission Statement" has her go through this, turning from a by-the-book General Ripper who would leave her soldiers to die in favor of a mission's fulfillment, to a celebrated protector and paragon of justice and compassion whose mere presence on the battlefield inspires hope in soldiers everywhere.
• Cool Helmet: All her helmets have elaborate designs.
• Death from Above: Her kit in general emphasizes aerial combat, with tools to bombard the enemy with rockets from the sky for as long as possible, including her ultimate where she'll stay afloat in one spot as she rains down missiles, though savvy opponents can take advantage of this to shoot her down. One of her quotes even has her naming this trope verbatim.
• Disappeared Dad: While much has been seen of her mother, nothing has been seen or heard of her father.
• General Ripper: The "Mission Statement" comic shows she was initially like this, willing to leave behind comrades to die in order to complete the mission at all costs. After getting chastised by her commander and watching him and nearly her entire squad die in battle, she starts showing more concern for her subordinates.
• Flying Firepower: She uses her jetpack to deliver rocket justice from the skies.
• Foil: Gameplay-wise, Pharah is this to her mother, Ana. Ana is a Support sniper who functions best by hiding away from enemy fire and giving aid to allies from afar. Pharah is a front-line Offense hero whose primary role is to jump into the fray and deal damage. Story-wise, while both of them are dedicated to protecting the ones they love, Pharah is somewhat a Wide-Eyed Idealist who protects the innocent because she wants to, while Ana is a weary Shell-Shocked Veteran who does so because if she doesn't, her enemies will get to them first.
• Follow in My Footsteps: Subverted. Due to growing up with Overwatch's heroes as a child, Pharah wanted to become an Overwatch agent, but Ana disagreed with it because it meant she will experience the same horrors as she felt.
• Gun Twirling: Does a very fancy and formal variation of military rifle spinning as an emote.
• Hair Decorations: She wore beads that were woven into her hair when she was a young kid.
• Hero-Worshipper: She idolized Overwatch in her youth and wanted nothing more than to join and fight alongside them. In particular, she idolized her mother (fighting alongside whom was her lifelong dream) and also Reinhardt, whom she most closely emulates as The Paragon.
• Having a Blast: Almost all of her abilities fire off a rocket. Of justice!
• Heroic Lineage: Her family was full of military heroes and warriors. Her mother in particular was one of the original members and founders of Overwatch, and one of the best snipers in the world.
• Hidden Depths: Pharah knew all along that her mother was buckling under various pressures during her time in Overwatch. Her General Ripper phase could be interpreted as her trying to protect herself so that she doesn't become a Shell-Shocked Veteran like Ana. Also, while she is still fairly polite to the younger members of Overwatch who idolize her mother (Winston, Mercy), she reserved some burning comments for Morrison.
• Jump Jet Pack: Like Winston, Pharah has this ability to help her get to high ledges, named Jump Jet. Unlike him, she can also use it to hover in mid-air.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: A running meme with Pharah's ultimate. Because her ultimate causes her to hover in the air, it makes Pharah an easier target then normal, leading to many cases of being killed while shouting her ultimate's line.
  "Justice rains from a-AUGH!"
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!":
  • If she witnesses Reinhardt (her childhood icon) get a kill, she'll cheer him on.
  "Reinhardt, you've still got it!"
  • She'll also tell her mother that fighting by her side has always been her lifelong dream.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Originally she wanted to be like her mother, who was an Overwatch agent and a hero, partly out of being a Hero-Worshipper (helped by growing up with members of the original strike team) and partly to fill in expectations to follow after Ana, whom almost everyone idolized. However, if her pre-match dialogue with former Overwatch personnel such as Winston and Soldier: 76 is to go by, part of her wanted to salvage some sort of connection with her mother, who due to her line of work was probably not there for her as often as both would've liked. She later discovered that Ana actually opposed her goal of joining Overwatch and that Ana's career was giving her tremendous pressure in the forms of guilt and PTSD, something that Pharah came to understand on a personal level after serving in the Egyptian military.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Her ultimate ability Barrage has her fire a salvo of missiles at her foes.
• Meaningful Name: Her call sign "Pharah", which sounds like "Pharaoh".
• Military Salute: She salutes in her hero selection preview and her "Hello" voice command. Both have her using her left hand, even though she should be able to use her right (though to be fair, her right hand is currently holding her helmet or rocket launcher).
• Military Superhero: She used to be a respected officer in the Egyptian army.
• Missed the Call: Was well on her way to finally joining the Overwatch team when the organization was disbanded.
• Missing Mom: Ana Amari's backstory trailer reveals that she's been presumed dead for nearly a decade, which likely plays into Pharah's issues.
• Mommy Issues: Her in-game dialogue hints at some bitter feelings toward her mother. That said, her comic shows that she refers to her mother's old advice for comfort in trying times.
• Not So Above It All: Her laughing emote has her lose her usual hardened, professional poise and burst into a hysterical fit. Then, she abruptly stops as if realizing how this looks, and quickly returns to her normal posture.
• Powered Armor: Wears the Raptora Mark VI combat suit, which allows her to fly and devastate her foes with lots and lots of rockets.
• Precocious Crush: Implied during pre-battle banter when she nervously tells Reinhardt that she used to have a poster of him on her wall. Reinhardt gleefully says that he remembers seeing it and that his hair looked amazing. Note that Reinhardt is almost thirty years her senior.
• Rocket Jump: Possible, though her jetpack is exceedingly far more effective as shooting a rocket round at your feet will only result in you reaching 2 to 3 centimeters off the ground. Her Concussive Blast can achieve something similar to this but still lacks the vertical height of her Jump Jet and has a 12 second cooldown, leaving much to be desired.
  • One of her purchasable voicelines even directly references this trope.
  Pharah: "Rocket jump"? That sounds dangerous.
• Skill Gate Character: Pharah is rated as a "1-Star" character, meaning one of the easiest to use. She is also devastating at low-level play, where she can dismantle a team and their defenses from the relative safety of the air, and then wipe them all out with her Rocket Barrage. At higher levels, however, she can be shot out of the sky by any player with good aim and her rockets are too slow to kill anyone unless they're very careless.
• Statuesque Stunner: She's almost six feet tall and is quite good-looking.
• Stepford Smiler: It is implied that her desire to join Overwatch was more of a way to manage the expectations of others, who idolized Ana. In truth, she knew that her mother was struggling with personal demons during her stint in Overwatch, and that her mother did not want her to follow in her footsteps.
• Strong Family Resemblance: She looks a lot like her mother back in her prime, with the only difference being their hairstyles.
• This Means Warpaint: Her "Thunderbird" skin includes red and white face paint.
• Three-Point Landing: Does this in one of her highlight intros, complete with Ground Punch.
• Vocal Evolution: Over time her voice was adjusted to sound much deeper than when she was first introduced.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • In "Mission Statement", Pharah receives one from her deceased captain when she leaves an injured civilian to die in favor of fulfilling a mission, who tells her that in order to have her team's loyalty, she must lead by example.
  • After Ana was released and more of Pharah's backstory was revealed, suddenly Pharah's pre-match dialogue with Soldier: 76 became much harsher and more bitter in tone.
    Soldier: 76: Your mother would've been proud of you.
    Pharah: You didn't know my mother very well, then.

Reaper is a black-robed terrorist of unknown origin. His identity and motives are a mystery, but he serves as one of the deadliest mercenaries on Earth. Ruthless, he's fought in many battles and wars over the past decades, showing no allegiance or cause.

Survivors have described a black shadow ghosting unscathed through the most hellish battlefields. The few bodies recovered of those he kills are pale, empty husks drained of life, their cells showing signs of intense degradation. It is possible that he is a byproduct of failed genetic alteration which forces his cells to simultaneously decay and regenerate at a hyper-accelerated rate.

Those attempting to track his movements have begun to see a pattern in his appearances. They believe that Reaper is hunting former Overwatch agents and systematically eliminating them.

In truth, however, Reaper's identity is in fact the former vice-leader of Overwatch (and head of its Blackwatch division), Gabriel Reyes. A ruthless soldier who would do anything to get the mission done, he was given leadership of Overwatch during the Omnic Crisis, where he helped lead mankind's fight against the Omnics. However, he became Driven by Envy when it turned out that for all his dedicated service, it was his best friend Jack Morrison who was showered with cheers and popularity, with a rift between the two forming when Jack was selected to be Overwatch's first official commander instead of Gabriel. As a result, Reyes became responsible for several incidents that caused people to severely lose trust in Overwatch, and he and Jack eventually came to blows at Overwatch's Swiss HQ. The ensuing battle eventually triggered an explosion that seemingly killed both of them and caused the dissolution of Overwatch. However, Gabriel was brought back to life somehow by Dr. Angela Ziegler (Mercy), but the resurrection went rather awry; his body became an empty but quickly regenerating husk, making every second of his new life painful. He eventually came to relish his evil ways and took the identity of "Reaper", spreading terror in cahoots with the Talon organization and trying to make sure the world will finally recognize his deeds.

Reaper is an Offensive character who goes into a fight guns blazing and can fell multiple enemies with his shotguns. His Hellfire Shotguns rip enemies apart in close range. His first ability is Wraith Form. Reaper becomes a shadow, becoming immune to damage and gaining the ability to pass through foes. He cannot attack while in this form. His second ability is Shadow Step. Reaper can mark a location within sight, and then instantly teleport to that location in a cloud of shadows. His passive ability, The Reaping, causes dead enemies to drop health orbs. His ultimate, Death Blossom, makes him a whirling shadow of death, unloading his shotguns and dealing damage to enemies in all directions around him. He slowly moves forward while Death Blossom is active.

---

• Animal Motifs: Ravens; his mask also resembles the skull of a raven, ravens can be heard cawing after each Shadow Step, and the raven is a common death motif in many cultures. This is especially pronounced in his "Plague Doctor" and "Nevermore" skins gaining raven skulls on his shoulders and guns, as well as his coat becoming adorned with feathers.
  • Alternatively, his mask might resemble a barn owl's face; his Wraith Form also heavily resembles one in flight. Barn owls are considered omens of death in Mexican folklore, and it's widely assumed that Reyes is of Latin descent.
• Arch-Enemy: He has two.
  • Jack Morrison, now known as Soldier: 76. They have a long history together that dates back to the first Omnic Crisis. However, while they were once friends, their relationship soured over time as Jack Morrison was made the leader of Overwatch while Reyes was put in charge of Blackwatch. Having felt like he had not been given the respect he deserves, he turned on Overwatch, leading to their climactic battle at the Swiss HQ. Their relationship has not changed since.
  • Winston. He never wastes a chance to Kick the Dog, employing Fantastic Racism by calling him a "monkey" and insulting him for his appearance, while having shown a clear desire to end his life in both the cinematic trailer and Recall. Unlike Jack, there is no indication that Reyes and Winston had any real history together (apart from Reyes attending his graduation ceremony, while looking rather unhappy), and his only real beef apart from being on opposing sides seems to rooted in his aforementioned speciesism.
• Attention Whore: Gabriel's complete lack of fame for his deeds as an Overwatch agent caused him to lash out against his former teammates and Overwatch itself, in the worst way possible. Now, his entire goal is to gain the recognition he feels he deserves. Even being feared and hated is fine, as long as people are focused on him.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Not the character himself, but his teleport can be, given that it's practically telegraphed where you'll reappear, and it requires that you stand immobile. Don't expect to use it to get the jump on people by appearing in front of them, it's meant to go from building to building without crossing the open ground Reaper is vulnerable in.
• Awesome Mc Cool Name: Aside from the obvious coolness that comes from having a codename like "Reaper", his real name, Gabriel Reyes, is derived from the name of an archangel and the Spanish word for "Kings".
• Ax-Crazy: He doesn't seem to have any solid motivation for fighting in so many wars and killing so many people and seems to do it to satisfy his desire for death and destruction. Or it could just be Revenge. It's hard to say.
  Reaper: Die! DIE! DIE!
• Badass Bandolier: Wears a belt holding shells, which is odd considering he doesn't reload.
• Badass Boast:
  • When he respawns.
  "The grave cannot hold me."
  • Delivers one in a bit of pre-battle banter with Soldier: 76.
  Soldier: 76: One of these days someone is going to put an end to you.
  Reaper: I'd like to see them try.
  • When a friendly Reaper uses Death Blossom.
  "Clearing the area"
• Badass Grandpa: If Soldier: 76 is any indication, Reaper is likely advancing in age as well. Not that it slows him down in the slightest.
• Badass Long Coat: He wears a long black coat used to store an endless amount of shotguns.
• Badass Mustache: When he was Gabriel Reyes, he had a mustache and beard. It's currently unknown if he still has one, but we can assume it's hidden underneath his mask.
• Bald of Evil: As seen in one piece of official artwork◊, he used to keep his head shaved, and even back in those days, while he was on the force of good, he was still a ruthless soldier not known for his 'nice' personality.
• Bandito: His "El Blanco" and "Mariachi" skins seem to be partly based on this, as they have a Di­a de los Muertos-themed vaquero look, complete with sombrero.
• Beard of Evil: Subverted when he was Gabriel Reyes, as he had a beard but was not evil... but he was ruthless enough to be something like a Token Evil Teammate amongst the Overwatch. It's currently unknown if he still has a beard after he became Reaper, but we can assume it's hidden underneath his mask.
• BFG: Wields the Hellfire Shotguns, a pair of deadly double barrel shotguns. Qualifies as Cool Guns too.
• Black Cloak: Complete with a hood.
• Blessed with Suck: Having the ability to turn into a wraith and come back from a One-Hit Kill? Cool! Having a severely screwed up body where your cells die and grow at the same time, giving you excruciating pain all the time? Not so cool.
• Blood Knight: It's implied he takes a little too much satisfaction in his job.
• Bling-Bling-BANG!: His "El Bianco" skin adds golden ornament to his shotguns.
• Body Horror: The bodies of his victims have been described in his biography as pale, lifeless husks with signs of intense physical degradation. This could also apply to Reaper himself. In the comic Old Soldiers, when Ana rips his mask off, she looks horrified to see his face and asks what happened to him.
• Boring but Practical: He has a period of invulnerability, a long-range teleport and some shotguns. Despite his ult being much flashier than his other abilities, he doesn't have anything exceptionally unique to work with. What he does have, however, is high survivability, insane damage output and incredible flanking potential.
• Bottomless Magazines: Usually averted, but played straight when he unleashes his ultimate.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Despite his sympathetic backstory, its clear that he really enjoys being a villain.
• Came Back Wrong: Some pre-battle dialogue with Mercy suggests she's to blame for him being an undying wraith. She seems to have tried to regenerate his body after his fight with Jack Morrison, but whatever she did turned him into a wraith that is constantly dying and regenerating in the cellular level and is in an unending state of pain. Gabriel was not happy, to put it mildly.
• Casting a Shadow: Can become a shadow to teleport, become Immune to Bullets or unleash a barrage of his own.
• Creepy Crows: His "Nevermore" and "Plague Doctor" skins are heavily crow-themed, with feathers decorating the fringe of his coat, shoulder armor that looks like crow skulls, and a Plague Doctor-esque mask.
• Crippling Overspecialization: He is very good at killing people that get too close, but his shotguns don't have the range for anything other than point blank combat, making him a poor choice for handling objectives and pitched firefights. Even in the lore, he was hired for his skills as a soldier, not his glowing personality.
• Cursed with Awesome: So he claims, but his words may actually have some merit; because his body is in a rapid state of regeneration and decay, he can come back to life From a Single Cell. It's implied that he feels every moment of it, and it's excruciatingly painful.
  (after respawning) This... is my curse...
• Cutscene Power to the Max: In the Infiltration short, Reaper manages to One-Hit KO several footsoldiers, even at longer distances, while gameplay requires a minimum of three shots for an elimination at close range, and his shotguns are somewhat ineffectual at long range. This could be a case of Gameplay and Story Segregation, or a showcase of just how powerful the Overwatch members are in comparison to regular humans.
• Dark Is Evil: An imposing, Grim-Reaper-esque figure that appears to be actively hunting and murdering ex-superheroes.
• Dark Is Not Evil: As Gabriel Reyes, during his stint as a Blackwatch operative. As shown in Soldier: 76's Origin trailer, he was part of Jack Morrision's original strike team during the Omnic crisis. The Halloween comic shows he used to be just as warm to his friends as he was ruthless to his enemies. Upon turning into Reaper, however, only ruthlessness remained.
• Deadpan Snarker: Surprisingly, despite how serious he normally acts he still has time for a few occasional quips when speaking to teammates. See also Did You Die? below.
  Mercy: What happened to you?!
  Reaper: You tell me, Doc.
• Death by Irony: Should he be Killed Mid-Sentence while using his Ultimate.
  Reaper: Die! Die! Di—aurrrggh!
• Developers' Foresight: One of Reaper's taunts has him throw his guns on the ground, do a gesture and pull out a fresh pair. This actually reloads his guns, as his usual reload animation also includes throwing away and busting out new guns.
• Did You Die?: Can be asked this by Soldier: 76 before the start of a match.
  Soldier: 76: Aren't you supposed to be dead?
  Reaper: Didn't take.
• Difficult but Awesome: His teleport is tricky to use. Use it where someone can see it and you may arrive with a Bastion's assault cannon or Widowmaker's sniper rifle trained on him, but if he can close in to enemies from their backs with it, Reaper can blast them back to the spawn point before they can react or drop down from a ledge right into the enemy team with his Ultimate in full swing.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Gabriel's actions during the Omnic Crisis and his stint as a Blackwatch agent were ignored by the public in favor of his friend Jack Morrison, leading to intense jealousy in the former. Since no one, including his old teammates, did anything about it, Gabriel pulled a Face–Heel Turn by destroying Overwatch and assassinating Jack (who survived and became Soldier: 76). By the time of the main storyline, he turns into the Hero Killer Reaper, hunting down and murdering anyone associated with the organization he helped found. But unfortunately for him, becoming a villain didn't provoke much of a reaction from the other playable characters. Not to mention that something happened to him that turned him into an undying wraith in constant pain. No matter what he does, he can't seem to catch a break.
• Evil Former Friend: He's Gabriel Reyes - Jack Morrison's best friend-turned-villain.
• Evil Gloating: Reaper's key flaw as a soldier is that whenever he has the chance to win the day, he instead takes the time to rub salt in the wound, which often costs his mission success. He delivered a Pre-Mortem One-Liner to Winston and Soldier: 76, giving the former a Heroic Second Wind while giving Ana enough time to save the latter, whereas in the cinematic trailer, Reaper triggered Winston's Berserk Button by stepping on his glasses when he had him at his mercy. If Reaper could stop letting his arrogance get the better of him, he could very well be a much more successful Talon agent.
• Evil Is Petty: Goes out of his way to step on Winston's glasses in the cinematic trailer. True to the trope, it bites him in the ass.
• Evil Laugh: He lets out a pretty deep and sinister chortle from time to time.
• Evil Mentor: He mentions teaching McCree "everything he knows" - whether or not he was actually evil when he taught him these things is still up in the air.
• Evil Sounds Deep: He speaks with a very deep baritone with an ethereal quality to it.
• Evil Wears Black: His outfit is primarily black with touches of red and silver, and he's one of the nastiest villains in the game. Subverted as Gabriel Reyes, who wore black but was one of the founders of Overwatch and the former commander of Blackwatch.
• The Faceless: He wears a mask that sort of resembles a skull, so his identity and history are completely unknown to the public. His Origins skin however reveals his identity as Gabriel Reyes, former sub-commander of Overwatch.
  • That said, nobody knows what Reaper looks like after his alterations, and perhaps it's for the best. Ana in "Old Soldiers" manages to remove his mask in a scuffle, and though she's able to recognize him, what Ana sees horrifies her.
• Face–Heel Turn: His true identity is Gabriel Reyes, a former commander of Overwatch who turned evil out of jealousy towards his best friend Jack Morrison aka Soldier: 76.
  • The comic "Old Soldiers" implies that there may be more to his betrayal than just jealousy. When Ana asks what happened to him, he vaguely alludes that Overwatch made him what he is now and abandoned him. Whether this is true or perhaps a misunderstanding has yet to be explored.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • He refers to Omnics as "tin cans".
  (Upon killing an Omnic): Tin cans. A dime a dozen.
  • If his interactions with Winston are anything to go by, he doesn't hold intelligent gorillas in high regard either. He constantly refers to him as a "monkey" in a derogatory manner.
• Fatal Flaw: Blizzard has said that his skills as a soldier are what people hired him for before he became Reaper, not his personality. Evidently, he hasn't gotten any better, and lordy me, does it show. In both the Cinematic Trailer and Recall, Reaper has Winston set up for the kill, but both times, he decides to rub salt into the wound first. He breaks Winston's glasses in the Cinematic Trailer and gives a Pre-Mortem One-Liner in Recall. Both times, Winston got a Heroic Second Wind and drove him off.
• Fate Worse Than Death: Gabriel Reyes survived the explosion in the Swiss HQ that killed many others, but at great cost. He had to grow through intense medical procedure to become what he is today, and it's implied that it had Gone Horribly Wrong. Now he lives in a state of constant agony, and is wishing that he could die. As Reaper, he views having to live as being his curse. It's no wonder he takes pleasure in causing harm, he has to live in a state of pain the whole time. Additionally, it's implied that he's become so disfigured by both the explosion and the procedure that he can't remove his mask, or people would be terrified by what they see. This means he can't even go out in public anymore, forcing him to live the way he does. Yes, he's a bad guy, but having to live like that is something that no one deserves.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Jack Morrison and Ana when they were younger. While he was presumably a cold and distant towards most of his teammates, he befriended Jack and Ana because they fought in the Omnic Crisis together. After Overwatch's destruction, his friendship with Jack soured to the point of nonexistence, though he is willing to be more civil with Ana.
• Flash Step: Shadow Step is pretty much what happens when you combine this trope with Super Smoke. However, it's not instantaneous as he still needs to mark a location.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Soldier: 76's origin story video has one of Jack Morrison's teammates dual wielding shotguns like Reaper.
  • If one looks at his character reference sheet on the official Overwatch website, an inverted Overwatch symbol can be seen hanging from his belt.
• Freak Lab Accident: Implied - while nobody's sure of what happened to him, its implied that it might be something like that. All we can know for certain is that Mercy tried to regenerate him after his disastrous fight with Jack Morrison, and whatever she did (or screwed up) turned him into a constantly dying and regenerating phantom that exists in a constant state of pain.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: In-game, when everyone is on the same team. Only 76 and McCree actually take Reaper seriously due to having a personal relationship with him- everyone else either hates him, ignores him, rebuffs him or (in the case of Junkrat and Tracer) mocks him. Averted by Ana, who is at least still civil with him, and Widowmaker, as a strictly professional relationship.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: His "Nevermore" and "Plague Doctor" skins give him rather piercing purple/green glows coming out of his mask's eye holes. Same with his Halloween skin.
• Good Is Not Nice: As Gabriel Reyes. Though he was on the side of good then, he was known for his skills, cunning, and ruthlessness. They didn't recruit him for his sociable personality, in other words.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Towards Jack Morrison, for being recognized for all of their team's achievements while he was ignored. It didn't help that Jack either didn't notice or did notice but didn't do anything about it. It's implied that he set up Overwatch's fall and the assassination attempt on Jack (who survived and later became Soldier: 76) for this very reason.
• Guns Akimbo: He dual-wields shotguns.
• Gun Fu: His Death Blossom ultimate looks like something out of John Woo's movies.
• The Gunslinger: The "Vaporizer" type. In the cinematic trailer, he was shooting everywhere trying to kill Winston and Tracer not caring there were children in the area, and his ultimate even has him spraying bullets in hopes that his target(s) would die from the rain of fire.
• Hand Signals: One of his intros and emotes has him doing the 'throat slash' gesture.
• Hero Killer: In-universe; it is believed by some that he is hunting down and killing former Overwatch agents. The reason why is unknown, though his old ties to Overwatch may have something to do with it.
• Hidden Depths: The Halloween special reveals that in life Gabriel Reyes had a passionate interest in costume design and was able to tailor elaborate costumes for the occasion. Mercy even suggests that he use his gift to design their uniforms. This of course takes a darker twist when it leaves the implication that he made his Reaper getup.
• Hired Guns: His biography calls him "one of the deadliest mercenaries on Earth".
• Humanoid Abomination: Although it's clear that his powerset is something relating to a wraith, no one knows what he truly is, although the theories of what he is don't point to anything natural or remotely human either.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: The guy seems to have an endless supply of loaded shotguns.
• Hypocritical Humour: He mocks the outfits and appearances of both McCree and Winston in his pre-match banter. They shoot back, naturally, and have a lot of material to work with.
• Immune to Bullets: His "Wraith Form" ability makes him immune to gunfire, though it leaves him unable to attack.
• In the Hood: He wears a black executioner-type hood as part of his "Grim Reaper" get-up. An old photo from Ana's Origin trailer showed that he already wore the hood back when he was still with Overwatch.
• Irony: As Gabriel Reyes, he turned against Overwatch because he wasn't getting any respect. If his in-game character interactions are any indication, the rest of the cast still don't care too much for him.
• It's All About Me: A major factor in him betraying Overwatch was his perceived lack of public recognition. His in-game quips implied that he expected decent folks like McCree and Ana Amari to side with him, simply because he was their mentor (in Mac's case) or good friend (in Ana's case). In Old Soldiers, he assumed that Ana was left behind to die, just so that he can invoke the Not So Different trope. He didn't know that Ana deliberately chose to hide her survival. In addition, he believes that every misfortune that befell him, from losing his few remaining friends and his transformation, was all a deliberate attempt either by Jack Morrison or Overwatch.
• Jerkass: When he is not killing, he's very arrogant and condescending.
• Kick the Dog: Does this to Winston by deliberately stepping on his glasses as he moves to finish him off. It backfires spectacularly since it only triggers Winston's Berserk Button.
• Knuckle Cracking: After seeing how worthless his men are in "Recall", Reaper cracks his neck before going to fight Winston himself.
• The Lancer: Gabriel Reyes was formerly this to his friend, Jack Morrison (Soldier: 76), when they led Overwatch together both during the Omnic Crisis and after. He contrasted his friend with his more anti-heroic tactics.
• Life Drain: Enemies that die near him drop a glowing red orb that restores some of his health.
• Light Is Not Good: When equipped with the "Wight" or "El Blanco" skins, which are colored white.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Wears a skull-themed White Mask of Doom, and he's a Villain Protagonist
• Malicious Misnaming: He occasionally refers to Winston as "Monkey" (when he's clearly a gorilla).
• Man in White: When equipped with the "Wight" or "El Blanco" skins.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Only because nano-superscience is considered "mundane" in the setting. It's not clear if his powers are solely the result of Mercy's effort to revive him, or if something more supernatural is going on.
• Meaningful Name: Reaper is a very obvious reference to The Grim Reaper. His real name, Gabriel Reyes, consists of the name of an archangel and the Spanish word for "kings", respectively.
• Mighty Glacier: Reaper's mobility options have longer cooldowns than most characters, and are used more to avoid damage than to move quickly. On the other hand, Reaper has more hp than most assaults, can regain health from kills, and has extremely high damage.
• More Dakka: His ultimate involves spraying the surrounding area with shotgun shells.
• Neck Snap: Reaper performs one on an unsuspecting Russian soldier in the Infiltration short, who was distracted by Widowmaker. The deed itself is hidden from view, but we see him grab his victim by the chin and temple and hear the guy crash to the floor.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In the cinematic trailer, his Multi-Directional Barrage knocked Winston down and disabled Tracer's equipment, rendering both of them helpless. Then he stepped on Winston's glasses.
• Nightmare Face: The audience doesn't get to see it, but Ana's reaction to seeing Reaper unmasked is pretty horrified.
• No, Except Yes: One of his voice lines.
  Reaper: I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning psychopath.
• No Sell: In the "Old Soldiers" webcomic, Ana hits him in the neck with a sleep dart but he pulls it out with no ill effect. (Fortunately the darts do affect him as they should in-game.)
• Not So Above It All: In the Summer Games event, he gets an Olympic based spray and pose just like everyone else, and his Olympic voice line has him quote sportscaster Chick Hearn.
  • Likewise, in the Junkenstein comic, he appears in the end in a costume that he made himself to mess with Reinhardt. Another line implies he made all the costumes seen in the comic.
• Not So Different: Invokes this in the comic short "Old Soldiers" by telling Ana that Overwatch screwed her over as much as it did him, reminding her of the failed mission where she was left to die instead of receiving immediate medical aid when Widowmaker pulled a Scope Snipe on her. Though he's not accurate on the details, as Ana deliberately chose to stay behind.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: In the Infiltration short, Reaper is floored by a Humongous Mecha and leaves the rest of the assassination mission in Sombra's hands. When we catch up with him, the robot is a pile of smouldering rubble with Reaper casually departing the scene.

• Pet the Dog: His interactions with Ana are relatively civil, all things considered. This may be due to her personality, rather than his.
• Plague Doctor: His "Nevermore" and "Plague Doctor" legendary skins give him the aesthetic of one.
• Power Echoes: Reaper possesses incredible powers of regeneration. His voice also has an otherworldly reverb in it.
• Psycho for Hire: He's now preoccupied himself with selling his services out to various organisations around the world, and enjoys what he does.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
  • When he uses his ultimate in the beta, he says "Time to reap..." Come "live", it was changed to "Clearing the area...."
  • The enemy team hears "Die! DIE! DIE!".
• Pumpkin Person: Reaper's Halloween outfit has a jack-o-lantern for a head. Reyes wore this costume back during the Overwatch days, though in present day he's found a way to make the pumpkin light up.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His color scheme consists of mainly blacks and reds. He obviously is a villain.
• Sarcastic Clapping: One of his unlockable emotes in-game, appropriately titled "Slow Clap", makes him do this.
• Secret Identity: To the general public, at least. The rest of the heroes (at least in-game) know quite well that he's actually Gabriel Reyes.
• Serial Killer: He has been tracking down ex-members of Overwatch and killing them.
• Short-Range Shotgun: Like Roadhog, his shotgun's extreme damage kicks in only when he's rather close to his target(s).
• Shotguns Are Just Better: At first, he'd seem like your typical assassin-type character, with the ninja-esque mask and dark cloak, but then he whips out the twin shotguns and all expectations go out the window. These shotguns deal the highest of all characters in the game.
• Shout-Out:
  • His ultimate, Death Blossom, is an homage to The Last Star Fighter.
  • "I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high functioning psychopath."

• Spin Attack: Death Blossom has him spin around while rapidly firing his shotgun. Done right, it can quickly kill off every surrounding enemy.
• The Sociopath: Violent, narcissistic, cruel, and sadistic. Reaper has all the qualifications.
• Start of Darkness: It's not shown in media yet, but in Ana's recollection of Pharah's childhood, Reyes had not yet turned his back towards the group (so to speak); by the time Winston joined Overwatch, his mood had distinctly soured.
• Super Soldier: As Reyes, he was part of the same super soldier program as Morrison.
• Super Smoke: While not present in-game, the cinematics show that he's capable of transforming into a cloud of black smoke.
• Surrounded by Idiots: He gives this sort of expression in the "Recall" trailer when one of the Mooks he brought along to deal with Winston goes flying through the window of the room he's in and smashes into a table. He's able to do this despite wearing a completely static mask.
• Take Our Word for It: Ana once tore his mask off and got a good look at whatever is left underneath; the panel cuts away to make sure the audience doesn't see. Even Ana, who's Seen It All, is left horrified.
• Teleporters and Transporters: His ability Shadow Step allows him to mark a location in his field of sight and teleport there.
• This Is Gonna Suck:
  • He's clearly exasperated when one of his men is hurled across Winston's lab and realizes he has to deal with the problem.
  • In the animated short "Infiltration", the way he pauses as he looks up at a Mini-Mecha seconds before being thrashed into a wall just screams, "I'm doomed."
• Throw-Away Guns: He doesn't reload his shotguns; he simply discards empty ones and then draws another pair from within his coat. If playing on the same team, McCree may call him out on this, saying that the mercenary wasn't allowed to carry weapons to "toss 'em around like trash". Reaper on the other hand completely dismisses him in an arrogant tone.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In "Junkenstein", we see that Reyes used to be a much nicer and happier guy than what we've seen in other media (usually taking place at least midway or towards the end of Overwatch's first run; if not, then there wasn't enough material to provide more evidence of nice guy Reyes), as the comic presumably takes place earlier on in Overwatch's glory days.
• Trench Coat Warfare: One of his unique sprays◊ shows where he keeps his guns.
• Understatement: He announces to his teammates that he's "clearing the area" when using Death Blossom.
• Unorthodox Reload: When his shotguns are emptied, Reaper just drops them and pulls out new ones. McCree will comment on how wasteful this is in practice.
  McCree: You weren't given those guns to toss 'em around like trash.
  Reaper: I don't take lessons from you.
• Villainous Underdog: In the Infiltration short, Reaper is knocked away by a Humongous Mecha made for fighting enemy Omnics with far greater firepower. It possesses a particle beam larger than Reaper's whole body, a copy of Reinhardt's shield, and who knows what else. Meanwhile, he has to fight him while injured and only possessing a pair of shotguns (or several). He wins.
• Villain Protagonist: He is unambiguously a villain, yet he is one the playable characters.
• Was Once a Man: His abilities not withstanding, Mercy's in-game dialogue indicates that she, a professional doctor, can't tell what had happened to him.
• We Used to Be Friends: A former teammate and friend of Jack Morrison, aka "Soldier: 76". It's implied through pre-match dialogue that 76 already knows this, with the "Old Soldiers" comic implying that he discovered Reaper's true identity during their first post-Switzerland reunion. Surprisingly, Jack reacts less with fiery rage and more with passive, venomous hatred. Presumably, Reaper also has this with Mercy, since it was her botching his regeneration that turned into the not-quite-dead, not-quite-alive phantom that he currently is.
• When He Smiles: Doubles as a tearjerker but in the Halloween comic we're treated to Reyes's beaming, genuinely happy smile when he arrives to a party with the others. A reminder that when Overwatch was still active these people were his closest friends and the feeling was once mutual.
• The Worf Effect:
  • The shorts and comics released shortly before and after the game's release do not do Reaper's reputation any favors. In said stories, he's failed to steal the gauntlet, failed to extract the information on the Overwatch agents, and failed to kill Jack and Ana (though it should be noted that he had Jack dead to rights until Ana showed up). It seems his main purpose is to give the good guys someone strong to thrash. Compared to his counterpart Widowmaker, who has shown to be effective at almost everything she's done at an almost frightening level, this can leave something to be desired.
  • Reaper himself uses this trope in his favor in Infiltration, when he off-screen reduces a Humongous Mecha to a flaming pile of rubble with only his shotguns. The mecha in question is supposed to tip the war between Russia and the omnics in the former's favor.
• Your Soul Is Mine: Enemies that Reaper kills drop "soul globes", which he can pick up to recover health.

Currently the target of an international manhunt, the vigilante known as Soldier: 76 wages a personal war to expose the truth behind Overwatch's collapse.

Soldier: 76 revealed himself in a string of attacks that crisscrossed the globe, targeting financial institutions, shadowy corporations, and secure Overwatch facilities. Though to the outside world his motives are inscrutable, there are those who claim that he is a former Overwatch agent, determined to shed light on the conspiracy that brought down the organization.

While his true identity remains a mystery, he is believed to have been trained as a member of the American "soldier enhancement program." He possesses physical capabilities exceeding those of a conventional soldier's, as well as other augmentations that make him a peerless combatant. In addition, he utilizes a cutting-edge arsenal, much of it stolen in raids on Overwatch installations.

Unrelenting in his search to find those responsible for Overwatch's fall, Soldier: 76 will stop at nothing to bring them to justice.

His identity is in fact the celebrated Overwatch hero and leader Jack Morrison. Formerly just a mere farmer's son from Indiana, Jack joined the military at the age of 18, eventually undergoing a "super soldier enhancement" program alongside his best friend Gabriel Reyes. When the first Omnic Crisis struck, Jack and Gabriel were among the first inductees into the newly formed Overwatch. Jack's kind nature, idealism and charisma led him to become the main face of the Overwatch and its first official commander, Gabriel was slowly becoming more jealous and bitter because of this. Eventually, the Overwatch he helped build started to show signs of corruption, and people began to lose their trust in the organization, regardless of how hard Jack tried to quell their doubts. It all fell apart when Jack and Gabriel came to blows at Overwatch's Swiss HQ; in the ensuing battle, Jack was believed to have perished along with Gabriel when their fighting triggered an explosion that destroyed the facility, and Morrison was officially buried with honors after his apparent death. However, unknown to the public, Jack survived the destruction. Disillusioned with how his idealism got him nowhere in preventing the world from plummeting into darkness and was in fact used to corrupt the organization he protected and costed some of his dearest friends, he no longer believes in those old ideals, deciding instead to try to focus only on what matters most to him: uncovering the truth behind Overwatch's fall, no matter the cost, how many rules he has to break, and what brutal methods he has to use. After completing various raids to steal cutting-edge technology, including a prototype pulse rifle from a former Overwatch base, he began undertaking vigilante missions, referring to himself only as "Soldier: 76".

Soldier: 76 is an Offensive character that plays similarly to standard FPS games. He always has his Heavy Pulse Rifle handy and ready to fire. If that doesn't work, he can always use his first ability— firing Helix Rockets out of the rifle in one burst, damaging any enemies in its small radius. His second ability, Sprint, allows him to put on a dash of speed in case he needs to get into or out of battle quickly; however, he stops sprinting if he does anything other than moving forward. His third ability, Biotic Field, has him place a biotic emitter on the ground, healing him and any allies within its range. In his ultimate, Tactical Visor, he activates his targeting visor and fires at the enemy that's closest to where he's aiming; if they manage to escape, he can always aim at another enemy. The ultimate also allows him to reload quicker than usual for maximum damage potential.

---

• The Ace: Was this as Jack Morrison during the Omnic Crisis and during the early days of Overwatch. He was a charismatic leader and a good soldier, and had the uncanny ability to unite different people from all over the world into a cohesive and powerful force. Under Jack's leadership, Overwatch agents were lauded as heroes and Jack became the "face" of Overwatch, as well as a global symbol of hope. Even after his (supposed) death, Jack was fondly remembered by all.
• Always Accurate Attack: His Tactical Visor ability grants very generous aim assist that makes it almost impossible to miss anything in his line of sight, unless they're projecting a shield of course.
• Antihero: While he attempts to do what he believes is right by finding the people that caused the downfall of Overwatch, there is the fact that he raided former Overwatch installations to steal weaponry in order to accomplish that goal. He's also ruthless and brutal when dealing with criminals, and doesn't hesitate to shoot them to death if it means ridding a city of their influence.
• Badass Bandolier: Wears a bandolier of grenades of his left arm.
• Badass Baritone: Speaks with a very deep and gruff voice.
• Badass Boast: When on fire:
  I'm a man on a mission. Stay out of my way.
  • Or after eliminating another player:
  You don't want to go to war with me.
• Badass Grandpa: One of the founders of Overwatch as a specialized strike team during the Omnic Crisis. As evidenced by his official release, he's still going strong.
• Badass Longcoat: Wore one of these during the Omnic Crisis. He also gains this when equipped with his Origins skin.
• Beard of Sorrow: Not really, but after Overwatch fell and he lost most of his idealism, it's shown that underneath his mask he's starting to grow some gray stubble on his face.
• Blue Is Heroic: Was definitely this trope when he was the leader of Overwatch. He still wears some blue as Soldier: 76, though the "heroic" part is becoming increasingly shaky...
• Boring but Practical: His skillset is far from flashy and can even come across as a little underwhelming compared to some of the other offense heroes, but his long-range precision and burst damage allow him to rapidly take down most non-tank heroes, while his Sprint allows him to rapidly get away from danger, re-position himself in a fight, or get to the front lines much more quickly. His Biotic Field also greatly increases his and his team's ability to remain in a protracted firefight. His ultimate, Tactical Visor, is basically an aimbot that can quickly stop a push dead in its tracks (and net you Play of the Game). The fact that his play style is similar to other first-person shooters such as Call of Duty and Halo also means he's the perfect hero for beginner players.
• Broken Hero: He was once the Ideal Hero of Overwatch, then the public started turning against him, and he barely survived a bomb attack in their headquarters. Now he is on a quest for vengeance, seeking the ones responsible for destroying Overwatch.
• Broken Pedestal: Many people accused Jack, their former hero, as being part of the Dirty Business Overwatch was revealed to be behind.
• Captain Geographic: His "Spirit of: 76" skin, based on the iconic costume worn by motorcycle stunt rider Evel Knievel, has an "Captain America meets Elvis Presley" look.
• Civvie Spandex: His gloves and jacket look like they were taken from a hockey uniform or some other sport, especially with the number emblazoned on the back.
• Color Motifs: As Jack Morrison, his outfit was predominately blue with white and silver. After he became "Soldier: 76", his outfit now has more black and red areas than blue, to symbolize how far he had fallen.
• Combat Medic: The only non-support character to have the ability to heal allies.
• Cool Mask: Especially if said mask has a targeting visor that lets you aim at enemies without even trying.
• Create Your Own Villain: Accepting the position of Strike Commander, basically supplanting his former superior commander, Gabriel Reyes, ensured that the downfall of Overwatch and the rise of Reaper was inevitable.
• Cynicism Catalyst: Overwatch's fall into disgrace and destruction, as well as his "death", turned him into a cynical Well-Intentioned Extremist obsessed with catching the people responsible.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not too often, but he has his moments.
  Soldier: 76: I'm the one who does his job. I'm thinking you're the other one.
• Determinator: His respawn line 'Knock me down and I'll keep getting back up' invokes this.
• Disease Bleach: One can assume that his near-death experience had something to do with he whitening of his hair.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He's the guy who's seen holding the hand of a young child in the cinematic trailer.
• The Faceless: Was initially going to be this... until Blizzard released an origins trailer detailing exactly what he looks like underneath his mask. As expected, he simply looks aged up, but picked up a scar or two as well. The Commando: 76 skin removes his mask and replaces it with war camo, and the "Old Soldiers" comic has Jack remove his mask while he talks with Ana.
• Faking the Dead: People thought he died along with Overwatch when its headquarters was blown up by its enemies, when in actuality he survived. He now uses it as a chance to hide his identity until the ones responsible for Overwatch's downfall were brought to justice.
• Fallen Hero: As an in-universe news post says:
  The Morrison I knew wouldn't hide behind a mask. He wouldn't plant bombs and steal weapons while the world suffered through another year of war and heartache. That Morrison was buried here six years ago. All that's left is the shadow of the hero we once knew.
• Farm Boy: Being an all-American hero type, he naturally grew up on a farm in rural Indiana. The Halloween update reveals that he is specifically from Bloomington.
• Feeling Their Age: After a respawn, he'll complain that he's not a young man anymore.
• Foil: Soldier: 76 was initially an optimistic hero, but forced to become an outlaw after the destruction of Overwatch, which also made him cynical and bitter. The exact opposite happened to McCree. Their move sets are similar as well, a mobility boost, auto-aim, and explosives.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has what looks like a slash mark on his forehead. Underneath his mask, he also has at least a scar across his mouth.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Was on the receiving end of this by his good friend Gabriel Reyes, who would later become Reaper. Gabriel was jealous over Jack being awarded and praised for his achievements while he was ignored, a fact worsened by Jack's neglect and/or ignorance. This eventually led to the fall of Overwatch and the explosion that "killed" Jack and gave birth to Soldier: 76.
• Grumpy Old Man: He comes across as fairly impatient and irritable, and even has a couple of "back in my day" quotes.
  (in one of his voiced lines) "Young punks. Get off my lawn!"
  • Hilariously addressed for his Halloween "Trick or Treat" spray, where instead of portraying a child version of himself in a crudely-made Halloween costume like every other hero except Ana (who's instead shown with her daughter, Pharah), he's just an old grump in a sweater sitting on a rocking chair.
• Guttural Growler: The man sounds like he gargles broken glass.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: His Origins skin depicted him (as Jack Morrison) with golden blonde hair, yet in early promotional material and the cinematic trailer, his hair was white. After he became Soldier: 76, though, most of his Heart Of Gold went bye-bye.
• Having a Blast: His ability Helix Rockets allows him to shoot explosive, helix-shaped energy rockets from his heavy pulse rifle.
• Heal Thyself: His Biotic Field allows him to heal himself and his teammates in its canister's range.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Since the fall of Overwatch, he's done so many questionable things in the name of justice that he doesn't see himself as a hero anymore. In the "Hero" animated short, a young girl named Alejandra asks him if he was one of the heroes her mother told her about. Soldier: 76 stops for a moment before sadly answering:
  ... Not anymore.
• He Who Fights Monsters: In desperately chasing after those responsible for Overwatch's fall into disgrace, Soldier: 76 is often seen by the general public as being almost as bad as his targets. He not only knows this all too well, he doesn't contest the opinion.
• Humble Beginnings: According to Chris Metzen, Soldier: 76 started out as an idea for a comic series starring an old, augmented soldier who was left behind in South America during a botched assassination mission and suffered amnesia. He managed to make his way back to America after thirty years, only to find that his homeland radically changed during his absence.
• Hypocritical Humor: Expresses surprise that Ana did not inform him that she's still alive. This, coming from a guy who also faked his own death without telling anyone.
• Ideal Hero: Deconstructed and, as more information is revealed, subverted. While Jack Morrison was the pure, idyllic, and charismatic Face of Overwatch, he couldn't do much about problems within his own team. From internal corruption, to Reyes' growing resentment caused by being continually denied recognition, to Ana Amari's deteriorating mental health, Jack could only do so much before it all blew up in his face. Literally.
• I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: He doesn't consider himself a hero anymore. Just an old soldier still fighting a war with no end. However, as the "Hero" short demonstrates, his heroic ways are still with him. When faced with pursuing enemies or rescuing an Innocent Bystander, Jack chooses the latter.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Tactical Visor gives him this for a brief time.
• It's All My Fault: Morrison's cynical turn could be interpreted as him believing he could have stopped Overwatch's downfall, if his way of thinking had been different at the time.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Years ago when he was one of the leaders of Overwatch, he had a fuller head of hair and was quite handsome. Now his face is scarred, his hair has gone white, and his hairline seems to be receding. He's still quite attractive for his age.
• Jack-of-All-Stats: He's a great all-rounder, competent at almost everything but specializing in nothing. His machine gun has good long-range accuracy in short bursts, meaning that he can snipe, but not as well as dedicated snipers like Hanzo and Widowmaker. He can heal a team better than anyone except dedicated healers like Mercy and Lucio, and his ability to heal means he can tank some damage, but not as much as dedicated ones like Reinhardt or Roadhog. His rockets mean he can do his part to crack dug-in defenders and tanks, but not quite as well as a demolitions expert like Pharah or Junkrat. And his sprint means he can flank, but not quite as well as speedsters like Tracer and Genji.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Not as bad as Reaper or Widowmaker in the "Jerk" part, but he's not particularly nice and comes across as fairly aggressive and dismissive towards his teammates. He does seem to have a soft spot for some of his former teammates, especially Pharah whom he compliments on her accuracy and positively compares to her mother.
  • As shown in the "Hero" short, he'll still go out of his way to help the innocent, even if it interferes with his self-assigned mission.
  • And he's still on very good terms with Ana, enough so that he actively sought her out to recruit her help in avenging Overwatch's fall.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Soldier: 76 has a very jaded world view thanks to Overwatch's destruction, but is still trying to do the right thing, even if he's going about it differently than he used to.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Back when he was Jack Morrison, he had a square jawline to complete his all-American hero look.
• Made of Iron: In "Hero", he is capable of taking a grenade to the back, though it still hurts quite a bit.
• Malevolent Masked Men: He wears a face mask (along with a targeting visor) to hide his identity as Jack Morrison. Though he's more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist or Anti-Villain than purely evil.
• Military Superhero: A super-soldier and a (former) leader of Overwatch.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Played with, in the Hero short, Alejandra realizes that 76 is the man on the poster she saw even with his mask on.
• Passing the Torch: His pre-match banter with Winston implies this.
  Soldier: 76: "So you think you can do my old job?"
  Winston: "Someone has to."
• Pet the Dog:
  • For someone who normally acts cold to others, he has a few unusually soft in-game lines with Pharah, indicating he still has a soft spot. For example, he'll compliment that she got her aim from her mom if he sees her get a kill. He also tells Pharah that her mother would've been proud of her, to which Pharah responds that he must not have known her very well to say that.
  • In the Hero short, he specifically abandons the mission at hand when he could've ended Los Muertos in order to save Alejandra from a grenade that was thrown at her. Even though he no longer views himself as a hero, there are some habits that will never die.
  • If he sees Tracer get killed in battle, he'll say "You won't be forgotten."
• Pistol-Whipping: 76's melee strike knocks the opponent away with his rifle. In the "We are Overwatch" trailer, 76 knocks out a bank robber's tooth with the butt-stock of his rifle.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: When using his ultimate.
  "I've got you in my sights."
• Primary-Color Champion: His default outfit is mostly decorated with bright blues and reds with some white and yellow details.
• Punctuated Pounding: Repeatedly bashes a piñata against a thug's head declaring "These! Aren't! Your! Streets! Anymore!" in the "Hero" trailer, terrifying the innocent on the scene.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: When equipped with the "Night" skin. Subverted in that he's not evil; just being a Well-Intentioned Extremist at worst.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: He doesn't have red eyes himself (his eyes are blue), but his tactical visor contains a red horizontal slit that he sees through.
• Rocket Jump: Possible with his Helix Rockets, giving him more vertical mobility. He is hurt by it.
• Secret Keeper: Subverted. Morrison was personally involved in Ana's failed mission. Given that he's the Number One to Ana's Number Two, he could have given the order to suppress the information in order for Ana to retire. However, in-game and in Old Soldiers, he expresses surprise that Ana is alive.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: The destruction of Overwatch was traumatic, and the intervening years haven't been kind.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Once he survived the explosion at Overwatch's Swiss headquarters, he starts making progress to discard his idealism and only cares about results.
• Silver Fox: His "Night Ops" and "Commando" skins shows that he is still quite attractive. He accredits this to whatever the government pumped into him long ago.
• Simple, yet Awesome: Soldier:76 is the most straight-forward character in the game, with abilities that only require that a player point-and-shoot (or drop right where they are to heal). In the right hands, however, he's incredibly dangerous due to good mobility, decent damage and accuracy, and self-reliability.
• Skill Gate Character: He's the easiest and simplest of the Offense characters to use, intentionally playing like a generic Call of Duty character, with healing added so that players can stay in the fight, and a Ultimate ability that requires almost no aiming skills. In Competitive Play, he's...not that great. With precise aiming, skillful movement and wise usage of the terrain, characters like McCree, Genji, Tracer, and Pharah can all out-perform Soldier. An exception can be made for console play, due to the more difficult aiming, making Soldier a strong pick against agile characters like the aforementioned Pharah and Mercy, as well as picking off snipers and turrets.
• So Proud of You: Will specifically tell Pharah in their pre-game dialogue that her mother would've been proud of her, in a moment of unusual kindness. She responds that he must not have known her very well to say something like that.
• Superhero Paradox: Despite putting an end to the Omnic Crisis, bad guys still keep popping up, and the public started blaming Overwatch and Jack Morrison for failing to keep the peace — even accusing them of causing the trouble.
• Super Soldier: A member of an American soldier-enhancing program that gives him the standard enhanced reflexes and physical augmentations.
• Terror Hero: The "Hero" short shows him to be one, using his superior skills and equipment to terrify a bunch of gangbangers and arms dealers into staying off the streets. Other stories establish that while he won't use lethal force on non-criminals shooting at him, he's more than willing to injure them to shut them down.
• Technical Pacifist: Though he is confirmed to use more aggressive and brutal methods than the other heroes and is seen as an extremely dangerous killer by the public, every depiction of Soldier: 76 shows him actively avoiding killing his targets if he can help it.
• That Man Is Dead: He no longer answers to the name of Jack Morrison, whom the world long believed to be dead anyway. However, old habits die hard and he still responds when Ana refers him as Jack.
• The Leader: Even before taking formal command of Overwatch while serving under his friend, Commander Gabriel Reyes, Jack was seen as the more charismatic and inspiring leader. That's why the United Nations appointed him the Strike Commander of the first formal Overwatch team (a move which Reyes forever resented). According to pre-battle banter, he's the leader of the new Overwatch as well, despite having lost faith in it and having Took a Level in Cynic.
  Solder:76: "It's my privilege to lead you all into battle."
• This Means Warpaint: His "Night Ops" and "Commando" skins gives him camo paint on his face.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Originally an idealistic leader akin to Captain America, the falling of Overwatch from forces inside and outside of the organization turned him into a cynical, truth-seeking wild card who wouldn't be any different from a '90s Anti-Hero like The Punisher and such. The opposite happened to McCree, a former crook and arms dealer who Took a Level in Idealism.
  "Call me a vigilante if you like. The truth is, I'm just a soldier."
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: One of the American characters, and his outfit has a very obvious red, white, and blue color scheme.
• We Used to Be Friends: He was a close friend and teammate of Gabriel Reyes, aka "Reaper". But nowadays, they're enemies.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Downplayed. Despite being one of the playable characters, he's a Well-Intentioned Extremist at best, and his rather questionable methods in dealing with criminals make him an Anti-Villain at worst.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Deconstructed. Jack Morrison worked tirelessly in ending the Omnic Crisis and ensuring global peace, but this only fed into the growing jealousy and resentment of his best friend, Gabriel Reyes, who would become Reaper. This resulted in Overwatch being destroyed, his teammates reviled as criminals, and Jack becoming a ruthless Fallen Hero Vigilante Man.
• Would Not Shoot a Good Guy: This Atlas News story implies that even after becoming a vigilante, 76 still does his best to not kill any non-criminals standing in his way, even if they're shooting at him. He's still more than willing to inflict temporary injury on them, though.
• You Are Number 6: Often referred to as Soldier: 76, though his real name is Jack Morrison.

Real Name: ██████████
Age: 30
Occupation: Hacker
Base of Operations: Dorado, Mexico
Affiliation: Los Muertos (formerly), Talon (currently)

One of world's most notorious hackers, Sombra uses her skills to manipulate those with power to get what she wants.

Originally known as ██████████, she was just one of hundreds of children orphaned by the Omnic War. In order to survive in the world, she learned how to hack and manipulate people to get what she wants. She eventually joined Los Muertos on their rebellion against the government. After a while, she thought she was at the top of the world until she discovered a conspiracy what has spread out globally - and the conspiracy noticed her. Knowing that she was in danger, ██████████ erased all traces of her existence and re-emerged into the world as the woman named Sombra.

With her new identity, she launched a wide-spread string of hacks in order to figure out the truth about the conspiracy, what lead her to be noticed by many people, including those within the ranks of Talon. She eventually joined Talon, and has assisted them on multiple attacks against organizations with ties to the government. But in reality, she is using Talon as a way to help her get what she wants.

Sombra is an unique Offense character, specializing in stealth and disrupting enemy abilities. Her weapon is a fully-automatic Machine Pistol, firing in a short range spread. Her first skill, Hack, temporarily stops target enemy from using their abilities, or hacks first aid kits to make them useless to her opponents while also respawning faster. Thermoptic Camo, her second ability, allows her to become invisible for a short period of time and boosts her movement speed for its duration. Attacking, using offensive abilities, or taking damage disables her camouflage. For her third skill, Translocator, Sombra throws a translocator beacon to target area, and can reactivate the skill to instantly return to its location. Her ultimate, EMP, creates an electromagnetic pulse which Hacks all enemies in target area and destroys their barriers and shields. She also has a passive ability, Opportunist, which allows her to detect enemies at critical health, even through walls.

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• A Day in the Limelight: She's the protagonist of the Infiltration short.
• Adorkable: She's a terrorist, hacker, and globally wanted criminal, but she also boops people on the nose and trolls her allies.
• Alternate Reality Game: The lead-up to her reveal was an ARG which started way back in July 2016. Sombra had placed clues across official Overwatch trailers which led to numerous decryptions, separate websites, and a lot of waiting.
• Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: A Downplayed example: She uses a very modern looking machine pistol that goes at odds with the more futuristic and complex weapons used by other characters.
• Ascended Meme: During her ARG, fans obsessed over a suspicious, but ultimately irrelevant not-clue in the form of circular artifact in Dorado's sky nicknamed the "skycode." In the final product, the skycode is one of Sombra's unique sprays, and her "Amused" emote has her generate one, then laughing at it. It even includes musical tones as a reference to a fan's suggestion to decode it by making music from it.
• Bait and Switch: Her "Hacking" highlight intro in a nutshell, where it initially presents someone else's intro, only for it to be suddenly interrupted by Sombra.
• Beauty Mark: She has one under her right eye.
• Blackmail: She does this to the Volskaya Industries CEO. All she wants is a "friend", but if she doesn't comply, she will reveal to the public that their greatest new weapon to fight the Omnics was supplied to them by the Omnics themselves.
  • This extends to the ostensibly Adorkable "boop" she does as well, as it's actually an Affectionate Gesture to the Head between Mrs. Volskaya and her daughter, which implies that Sombra can get to Volskaya's daughter if she should refuse to help.
• Boring but Practical: Her weapon is nothing more than a low-tech machine pistol, similar in appearance to a an H&K MP7. What makes her stand out is that the guns of other characters who use regular bullets are all highly stylized and even futuristic looking. McCree's revolver, Reaper's shotguns, Ana's sniper rifle, and especially Soldier: 76's assault rifle all have futuristic styles to them.
• Broken Masquerade: She uncovered a conspiracy running deeper than Overwatch, Talon, or any other group in the setting.
• Child Prodigy: She's been a hacker since she was a young child, using her talents to get into the Los Muertos gang.
• Confusion Fu: Sombra's specialty, and what contributes to her Difficult but Awesome status. Most other Offense characters can thrive in a direct fire fight, using their mobility skills to set up flanks or reach high-priority targets. While Opportunist and Thermoptic Camo certainly allow Sombra to pick off low health opponents, plenty of other characters (including the rest of the Offense line-up) can out-damage her in a straight fight. Sombra's specialty lies in making her enemies' lives a living hell; sneaking into their back lines with Camo, Hacking med-kits or Supports to prevent healing abilities, or blasting the enemy team with a well-placed EMP to leave them sitting ducks, then blinking back out with Translocator before they can retaliate.
• The Cracker: Naturally, since she's a hacker.
• Cyborg: She has cybernetic implants along her spine and in her skull to aid her hacking.
• Dark Action Girl: Just like Widowmaker, if not more so, since she's a fan of closer range combat.
• Delinquent Hair: Half her head is shaved and the other half is dyed purple, a fashion choice necessitated by the fact that half of her head has cybernetic hacking augmentations running across it. Her Los Muertos legendary skin gives her a punk mohawk.
• Difficult but Awesome: Her profile currently puts her at three difficulty stars, and for good reason: Sombra's DPS (while not ignorable) is the lowest of all the Offense characters, and her Hack ability has a massive 12 second cooldown. This is however balanced by Hack being an incredibly powerful shutdown tool, restricting the enemy team from using anything from medkits to even Ultimates, and Sombra has all the tools to be obnoxiously evasive. A Sombra player that makes their Hacks count while staying alive can virtually control the fight.
• Dueling Hackers: Can be done with both hacking and bullets if Sombra is played on both teams. In an interesting case with hacking health packs (if a Sombra hacks one, it renders it useless to the enemy), if 2 Sombras try and hack one at the same time, it's the one who started later that ultimately wins.
• EMP: Her ultimate, which shatters shields, shuts down turrets, and stops players from using their abilities.
• Enigmatic Minion: Despite being a Talon operative, she clearly has her own agenda and will even sabotage operations if she thinks she can gain something out of it.
• Everything Is Online:
  • Is able to hack anything from enemy abilities to first aid kits.
  • HER GUN ITSELF has apparently has Wifi, judging by the Wifi symbol embedded in it on her Azúcar/Los Muertos skins.
• Evil Tastes Good: She truly loves her unscrupulous occupation, and admits that she's addicted to hacking and data manipulation.
• Faux Affably Evil: She has a playful and sometimes Adorkable personality with an impish streak that makes her come off like a mischievous teenager. She keeps it at all times, such as when threatening Volskaya's daughter with her Blackmail.
• Femme Fatalons: On her gloves, but the general effect is visually the same.
• Firing One-Handed: She holds her SMG in one hand, leaving the other free to hack.
• Foil: To BOTH of her Talon colleagues. Reaper and Widowmaker are fairly grim and take the mission with utmost seriousness while Sombra trolls around.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Enforced for the sake of not completely destroying game balance, but in-story, she's able to hack into giant robots and apparently is capable of interfering with Bastion units (judging by how Bastion made beeping sounds as a part of the Alternate Reality Game). In-game, her tools are capable of shutting down enemy abilities, shields, and turrets, but not enemies themselves, even if they are Omnics like Zenyatta or Bastion.
  • In addition, hacking stops almost all active abilities, regardless of how little sense it'd make practically. Hacking to prevent Winston or D.Va from boosting away or Bastion from turning into his turret form? Makes sense. Hacking to prevent Junkrat from placing a concussive mine or beartrap, Roadhog from throwing a chained hook or Soldier: 76 from sprinting? Not as much.
• Greater Scope Villain: Although affiliated with Talon, her ultimate goal is to usurp the world's true leaders and become the one "pulling the strings."
• Hacked by a Pirate: Not quite a full skull and crossbones, but her general symbol for representing something being hacked is a skull. Her "Hacking" highlight intro also features the skull flashing across the screen as she "hacks" another player's PoTG.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: Is ultimately just using Talon for her own benefit, to unknown ends.
• Hollywood Hacking: She can hack just about anything, from factory lifts to someone's ability to toss a hook. Even her method of hacking is incredibly unrealistic (and cool-looking), mostly just by using her glove device to activate/deactivate anything she wants.
• Important Haircut: Justified: the side of her head had to be shaved to insert her cybernetic "upgrades".
• Injured Vulnerability: Sombra's Opportunist passive allows her (but only her) to see enemies at critical health through walls, allowing her to know when to sneak up and finish the job.
• Invisibility: She's capable of completely concealing herself from enemies using her Thermoptic Camo, although attacking and being attacked disables it. Also, she can still be picked up by vision-granting abilities (like Widowmaker's Infra Sight) and Soldier: 76's Tactical Advisor will still lock onto her.
• Manipulative Bitch: Her Origins video establishes her as someone willing to manipulate people like she manipulates machines. Also crops up in her animated short, where she orchestrates the situation so that she'll be left alone with Katya Volskaya, free to pressure her into going along with her Blackmail plan without interference from her fellow Talon agents, also sabotaging the mission with them none the wiser.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Sombra's an Offensive character who specializes, not in dealing large amounts of damage due to her much lower damage output, but in getting behind the scenes to sabotage enemy efforts and shutting down their abilities with her own.
• Older Than They Look: Her appearance would suggest she's in her late teens/early twenties. She's thirty.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name currently isn't known.
• Only Sane Man: She's a troll addicted to hacking, but she's not completely unstable like Widowmaker or Reaper.
• Playful Hacker: While she does use her talents for blackmail and villainy, she also isn't above using them to troll Reaper.
• Power Nullifier: Her "Hack" ability renders an enemy's abilities unusable for a brief period of time. Her Ultimate, EMP, hacks all nearby enemies in addition to breaking shields and barriers.
• Purple Is Powerful: She wears a lot of purple in her outfit and hair, and most of her technology is purple. She is also a very talented and competent hacker.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Having the most powerful woman in Russia in your back pocket is FAR more useful than simply killing her.
• Signing Off Catch Phrase: Sombra appears to have a habit of saying "Boop" when signing off, even playfully tapping the person they're leaving if they're in person. She says it during the "Misdirection" string message during the ARG, and she says it twice in "Infiltration," once to Katya Volskaya, and another to the camera.
• Skeleton Motif: Sombra is commonly associated with a stylized ASCII skull that◊ appears several times during the◊ Alternate Reality Game, and appears in-game as a recurring insignia, including as her EMP ability's icon.
• The Sneaky Guy: In addition to her hacking skills, she's also capable of stealthing with her Thermoptic Camo, making her the only hero capable of flat-out Invisibility.
• Spicy Latina: She may not be Ms. Fanservice, but she's got the playful part of this trope down.
• Standard Status Effects: Her in-game hacking is functionally the same as a typical silence, blocking enemies from using their abilities.
• Tattooed Crook: While it's most likely body paint, she features some glowing body art in her Azúcar/Los Muertos skins much like other members of the Los Muertos gang that fits the general image.
• Teleportation: Sombra can toss a translocator that she can teleport back to at any time, including while it's still in flight.
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Her "Hacking" highlight intro involves her hacking the Play of the Game from another player.
• Time Master: Not nearly to Tracer's extent, but given that her translocator is a heavily modified chronal accelerator, it most likely functions by bringing Sombra through time to a different location.
• Tricked-Out Gloves: She just has to touch something to hack into it.
• Troll: She loves having a laugh at others' expense.
  • In "Infiltration", she messes with Reaper by closing the door on him just as he's about to slip inside. She does this just to annoy him.
  • She also had a habit of doing this to the fans during the Alternate Reality Game, with most of the codes being included with playful comments to whoever managed to decode them. The most notable of which was when fans got a little too analytical with a strange artifact in the Dorado map sky (which gave birth to the memetic suggestion to try and make it into music.) It turned out to be just a Red Herring, and in the next part of the ARG, Sombra uploaded a datamoshed picture of Dorado that when decoded read:
  "Por que estan mirando al cielo? La respuesta no esta sobre sus cabezas, esta detras de ustedes. A veces, necesitan analizar sus logros previos." ^Translation "Why are you looking at the sky? The answer isn't over your heads, it's behind you. Sometimes, you need to analyze your previous achievements."
  • This extends to the game, itself: her "Hacking" highlight intro shows the intro for another player before Sombra hacks it to show it's an intro for her!
• Tron Lines: She forms several on objects she's hacking, and she even has a few forming a design on her back.
• Unperson: She did this to herself, erasing all traces of her former life and identity once she caught the eye of a powerful conspiracy. Not even the official website knows her real name.
• Unreliable Narrator: Described as such by the game devs.
• Villain Protagonist: Naturally, since she's a Talon operative and is playable.
• Wild Card: While she does work for Talon, she appears to have her own goals since she sabotage an assassination attempt that would further disrupt human-omnic relations if it succeeded.

Lena Oxton (call sign: "Tracer") was the youngest person ever inducted into Overwatch's experimental flight program. Known for her fearless piloting skills, she was handpicked to test the prototype of a teleporting fighter, the Slipstream. But during its first flight, the aircraft's teleportation matrix malfunctioned, and it disappeared. Lena was presumed dead.

She reappeared months later, but her ordeal had greatly changed her: her molecules had been desynchronized from the flow of time. Suffering from "chronal disassociation," she was a living ghost, disappearing for hours and days at a time. Even for the brief moments she was present, she was unable to maintain physical form.

Overwatch's doctors and scientists were stumped, and Tracer's case seemed hopeless until a scientist named Winston designed the chronal accelerator, a device capable of keeping Tracer anchored in the present. In addition, it gave Tracer the ability to control her own time, allowing her to speed it up and slow it down at will. With her newfound skills, she became one of Overwatch's most effective agents.

In game, Tracer is an Offensive character who can zip around the battlefield at breakneck speeds. Her Pulse Pistols can fire very rapidly, and her Blink ability allows her to teleport forward a short distance. Blink has three charges that regenerate over time. Her second ability, Recall, instantly transports her back in time, resetting her health, ammunition, and location on the map to exactly where they were three seconds previously; she can charge into a room, guns blazing, then immediately Recall back out of it and recover any lost health and ammo charge. Her ultimate is Pulse Bomb, a sticky grenade that adheres to any surface (or character) it hits, and explodes after a short time, dealing massive damage to foes within its radius.

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• Ace Pilot: According to her backstory, she was inducted into Overwatch for her stellar flying skills, and she only joined the combat unit later. It's given a slight nod in game, as lettering on the front of Orca dropships seen in Control Maps indicates Tracer still owns and flies them.
• Action Girl: She's more of a hit-and-run type, but she still gets into the thick of the fight.
• Anime Hair: Her hair is incredibly spiky. Amusingly enough, its spikiness in the final game is actually toned down from the cinematic trailer.◊
• Arch-Enemy: Widowmaker. They are polar opposites in personality, morals and abilities, and both delight in causing pain or even simply minor annoyance to the other.
• Badass Adorable: Many people find her very cute, but make no mistake: she can tear the enemy team a new one if they don't know what they're doing.
• Badass Bystander: Judging by the comments Mondatta’s bodyguards make when she tries to contact them, Tracer was just attending the speech and not officially on assignment. She still doesn’t hesitate for a moment to jump in and help once she notices that something’s wrong and realizes the monk’s life is at risk. Tragically, the only difference her involvement made was getting herself hurt.
• Bare Your Midriff: Her two Summer Games skins, "Sprinter" and "Track and Field" show off her stomach.
• Bond One-Liner:
  Tracer: You need a time-out!
• Borrowed Catchphrase: One of her interactions with Junkrat has him saying "Cheers, mate! Cavalry's here" to which Tracer answer is Hey, That's My Line!.
• Boyish Short Hair: One of her most immediately distinguishing features. Whether by nature or design, Tracer sports a short but impressively spiky ‘do that would make any shonen protagonist proud to go along with her sporty, rambunctious personality.
• Blue Is Heroic: When equipped with the "Slipstream" skin that was part of the Origins pack, as well as her "Mach T" skin. She also has a simple alternative skin that only colors her suit and tints her goggles blue.
• The Cameo: At the end of Recall: she’s the first agent to respond to Winston, and she does so within a minute.
• Catch Phrase: Says "Cheers, luv! The cavalry's here!" when a match starts.
• Cool Shades: Her Origins skin reveals that back when she was a former test pilot, she wore a pair of aviator glasses. Nowadays, she wears her iconic orange goggles.
• Corpsing: In one of her intros, she tries to strike a heroic pose, but starts laughing.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Ultimately on the losing end of one in the Alive short. She didn't have that bad of a showing, but in the end Widowmaker was always in control of their fight, Tekhartha Mondatta's assassination went off without a hitch, and she's left thoroughly beaten while Widowmaker leaves completely unharmed.
• The Cutie: You have to admit it. Despite her being one of the most badass characters in the game, she is an absolute beautiful sweetheart with a very energetic personality and not to mention her voice, emotes and poses is all portrayed enthusiastically playful and youthful.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: Her pistols are weak, but have insane fire rate.
• Difficult but Awesome: Tracer's very low HP and short range mean she has to take a lot of risks to do her job, and she can be two-shotted by many of the other playable characters. Her Blink is also tricky to master, especially if you plan to use it for dodging stuff. But if you get a handle on her, Tracer is easily the most maneuverable character in the game, hurts a lot, and can be a total pain in the enemy team's bum.
• Establishing Character Moment: How does she make her entrance into the franchise? By blinking in out of nowhere right next to an unaware Widowmaker and making her presence known by whispering “Psst! What ya lookin’ at?” to her as she’s staring through her scope. Then they start fighting, with Widowmaker firing off round after round as Tracer leaps, flips and blinks out of the way, all while giggling like she’s having the time of her life.
• Fanservice: Her clothes are very form-fitting, and one of her victory poses emphasizes her rear. She isn't portrayed in a sexual manner besides this, however, unlike Widowmaker, Symmetra or Witch Mercy.
• Fastball Special: During the cinematic trailer, Tracer teleports into Winston's hand so that he can throw her across the room at Reaper and Widowmaker.
• Fingerless Gloves: Wears a pair of these when equipped with either the "Punk" or "Ultraviolet" skins.

• Flash Step: Her Blink ability, which she can use up to three times in a row if fully charged.
• Fragile Speedster: She has high mobility with her faster-than-average running speed and Blink ability, allowing her to get around quickly. However, with relatively low health (150 HP — tied with on-foot D.Va for least of any Hero), she goes down almost as fast if she's not careful.
• Friendly Rivalry: Has a minor one with Lucio over who's the fastest.
• Friend to All Children: Kids are apparently quite fond of her. The younger brother in the cinematic trailer gushes about how she’s his favorite hero, and she tries to keep them both calm during the fight when she winds up taking cover with them behind a display, much to his delight when she says her catchphrase. At the end, she smiles warmly at them and salutes them before going on her way, earning even the more jaded older brother’s admiration. And in Alive, a little girl in the crowd reacts with excitement and reaches out to her when she sees Tracer attending the speech.
• The Gadfly: Of a more cheerful sort; she is very prone to screwing around with her opponents and being an annoyance just because she can (and it keeps them distracted to boot). Her gameplay style also encourages this since she can't take a lot of hits but can zip around ridiculously fast and has weapons and abilities that can make her a right pain in the ass for the enemy team to deal with, as well as opening them up for more powerful Heroes to deal with more effectively than she can.
• Gangsta Style: Downplayed. She holds her guns at an angle.
• Genki Girl: Constantly giggling and zipping from place to place. Her first appearance is her popping up behind Widowmaker who's trying to line up a shot through her scope, and grinning, saying, "Psst, what'cha lookin' at?"
• Goggles Do Nothing: In her backstory, Tracer wore the goggles as a pilot presumably to protect her eyes. The goggles themselves don't really have much of a purpose in the actual game.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Played straight in the 'Alive' animated short, when Tekhartha Mondatta is assassinated. Tracer pins Widowmaker to the ground, but doesn't go for the kill. She simply pleads to understand why anyone would do such a horrible thing. It's one of the few moments shown so far where Tracer is being something completely different than her usual cheerful self.
• Goth: Her "Ultraviolet" skin. Doubles as Perky Goth due to her personality.
• Gun Twirling: Does this when she reloads and for one of her emotes.
• Guns Akimbo: Wields a pair of pulse pistols that have an insane firing rate and a quick reload time.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: One of her skins, appropriately titled "Punk", gives her a studded black Schott-Perfecto leather jacket. Another skin, "Ultraviolet", has the same jacket.
• Hero Antagonist: Her role in the "Alive" animated short is trying to prevent Widowmaker from assassinating a peaceful religious leader.
• Hidden Buxom: Between her jacket and chronal accelerator her chest is pretty covered. She turns out to have a pretty decent pair if you look. Most notable in her origin video.
• Hoist By Her Own Petard: Her Pulse Bomb is extremely powerful, but she will get hurt if she's in the blast radius from splash damage and, at low enough health, can even be killed by her own ultimate if she doesn't hightail it outta there.
• Improbable Age: Timelines of the Overwatch canon say that the Slipstream accident happened seven or eight before the events of the game. That would mean that, by the time she was eighteen, she was an accomplished test pilot, believed to be skilled enough to fly an experimental fighter jet.
• Jumped at the Call: Within a few seconds upon receiving Winston's message at the end of the "Recall" short, she was the first to call him back.
• Like Brother and Sister: With Winston. It helps that he invented the chronal accelerator to help her with her condition. During the ceremony congratulating Winston on becoming a field agent, she was jumping with joy in the photo.
• Meaningful Name: A "Tracer" is a person or object that traces something or by which something may be traced, hence her ability to rewind herself back on old paths and make new ones...but probably nothing to do with tracer rounds.
  • The French Translation of her name (traceur) is also what you would call a practitioner of Parkour.
• Me's a Crowd: In a meta way. While any team can have multiples of each character, if two Tracers are on the same team, they will actually acknowledge each other during the pre-fight banter period, attributing each others’ presence to the irregularities of her personal timeline. She takes seeing an exact copy of herself in stride rather well. Then again, her best friend is an intelligent, cybernetic ape from the moon.
• More Dakka: Her pistols empty so fast, each 40-round magazine is more like a prolonged shotgun blast.
• Nice Girl: Gadfly tendencies aside, Tracer is an optimistic, friendly, kind-hearted woman.
• Odd Friendship: With Winston. She's a hyper-active, time-manipulating agent from England whereas he's a reserved, hyper-intelligent gorilla from the moon. They have quite possibly the closest friendship out of all the playable Heroes in the game.
• Older Than They Look: Yes, that sweet, bright-eyed and baby-faced young lady in the picture above is twenty-six years old. Given her condition, it’s possible she may have stopped physically aging after the accident.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Several of the moments where Tracer acts in a way that is not cheerful or friendly involve Widowmaker. Most notably are the moments after Widowmaker performed Mondatta's assassination, which showed Tracer at her most distraught.
• Pink Is Feminine: She has an alternative skin that colors her suit and tints her goggles pink.
• Pistol-Whipping: Tracer's melee attack is to strike her target with the handle of one of her pistols.
• Platonic Life Partners: With Winston. They've been said to be the closest of friends ever since he invented her chronal accelerator. Doubles as an Odd Friendship.
• The Pollyanna: She almost got erased from existence in a failed experiment and the organization she was a member of was disbanded, yet she is probably the most cheerful hero in the game.
• Punk Rock: Her "Punk" skin seems to be based around the British version of this trope: pink hair, spiky earrings and leather jacket.
• The Rival: Widowmaker. The Alive trailer goes into more details on how it came about, namely an assassination in Tracer's home turf of King's Row.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Her "Slipstream" skin has a long, white scarf.
• Series Mascot: Everyone on the development team loved Tracer, which led to her becoming the centerpiece hero of the franchise. Since she became a favorite right out of the gate, this appears to have been a very good choice. She was even announced to be coming to Heroes of the Storm long before Overwatch's full release.
• She's Got Legs: Which, thanks to her form-fitting tights, we can see very well.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Being the dedicated, card-carrying hero she is, she goes out of her way to help defend Mondatta from Widowmaker without a moment’s hesitation. And what does it get her? A boatload of trauma, injury and a front-row seat to the total collapse of order in her hometown. She literally could have come out better by not getting involved at all, because then she would have at least spared herself from getting hurt.
• Simple, yet Awesome: Tracer only has two abilities: Blink and Recall. Together, however, those abilities are more than enough to allow her to get behind a team, wreck key targets, and then get out before taking fatal damage.
• Smiting Evil Feels Good: If she eliminates Widowmaker, she'll quip "That felt good!"
• The Squadette: Used to be this in Overwatch, first as a test pilot, later as a field agent. A tomboy in both hairstyle and personality.
• Sticky Bomb: Pulse Bomb sticks to any surface or person it lands on.
• Sucking-In Lines: Pulse Bomb has them before detonation.
• Super Reflexes: Tracer was able to avoid Widowmaker's sniper round when it was fired from only 30 feet away, while Tracer was in free-fall. It's downplayed in that Tracer needs to know the shot is coming; she didn't avoid Widowmaker smashing her into the side of a building because of emotional distress and surprise.
• Technician vs. Performer: The performer to Widowmaker's technician. Tracer uses her abilities on the fly and tries to be creative and have fun. Widowmaker is brutally efficient. In pre-fight dialogue, Widowmaker states that, despite this, Tracer behaves predictably and uses her powers as a crutch. Tracer scoffs at that.
• Time Master: Her teleporting ability is actually her slowing time down relative to herself and moving to a location, which we perceive as her moving extremely quickly. She can also move backwards 3 seconds in time.
• Tomboy: The short hair and boyish hobbies present her as such.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head:
  • Her bomber jacket has a Union Jack patch on the right shoulder.
  • "Sprinter" has her wearing the Union Jack as a cape. ^note It's actually sticking out of her backpack but it certainly gives off the same visual effect as a cape.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: The biggest example amongst the Overwatch members. Overly friendly with others, believing that the world needs more old fashioned heroism, swatting aside her personal issues for the sake of heroism, praising others to be heroes when they do good things, referring friends with 'luv', has zero understanding on why people do bad things...
• Unorthodox Reload: Tracer spins her guns, followed by a blue glow around an apparent power cell. It's possible she uses the 'rewind time to when her guns were full' trick seen used by other time manipulators.
• Unstuck in Time: Because of a teleportation experiment gone wrong, Tracer lost the ability to maintain physical form and even disappeared for days at a time. No one knew how to help her...until Winston came by and solved her problem.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: When equipped with the "Ultraviolet" and "Punk" skins, she gains white and pink hair, respectively.
• Youthful Freckles: They're there, just hard to see beneath her goggles.