The Overwatch Story Thread: Lore, Animated Shorts & Comics!

[Life-Binder]

Bastion short OP, gieb pls GabeN

[Gawdzilla]

and now my watch begins

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Anyone else spotted Morrison's hesitation to save the girl when he had an opportunity to extinguish the gang for good? Shows he has bloodlust, but ultimately his honor prevailed.

Beating people up with pinatas is serious business.

There's been a definite moon motif throughout the past three shorts, first in Alive, second in Dragons and now in Hero. Has happened too many times to just have been a coincidence, must be more than a nice fade out to the OW symbol.

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There appear to be mega cities on the moon; see just how massive and thick those circles and lines protruding from the circles are, must be more than just a research facility housing thousands of scientists. I wonder how all the money being sunk into shipping supplies to the moon is being made worthwhile and recuperated; perhaps they're mining moon rocks deep beneath the surface? Another possibility it's being used as Earth's ultimate broadcasting station (since from the Moon high intensity waves can make it anywhere on the planet in just 1.4 seconds, ie the speed of light). IDK, hopefully we'll find out!

We do know from Winston's backstory that other apes lived on the moon and started an uprising that killed all the researchers before he escaped. We don't know if "all the researchers" means that every human on the moon was killed, or just the ones in the research lab on the moon. If it was the later, you'd think Winston had only to get to the other humans on the moon to secure transportation back to Earth as opposed to building his own rocket...

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Also, considering that Blizzard has practically revealed Morrison to be '76, it is no longer considered a spoiler.

[Immitis]

Also, considering that Blizzard has practically revealed Morrison to be '76, it is no longer considered a spoiler.

they revealed him as morrison the second they showed off the origin edition skins.

[Tenris]

Anyone else spotted Morrison's hesitation to save the girl when he had an opportunity to extinguish the gang for good? Shows he has bloodlust, but ultimately his honor prevailed.

Beating people up with pinatas is serious business.

There's been a definite moon motif throughout the past three shorts, first in Alive, second in Dragons and now in Hero. Has happened too many times to just have been a coincidence, must be more than a nice fade out to the OW symbol.

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There appear to be mega cities on the moon; see just how massive and thick those circles and lines protruding from the circles are, must be more than just a research facility housing thousands of scientists. I wonder how all the money being sunk into shipping supplies to the moon is being made worthwhile and recuperated; perhaps they're mining moon rocks deep beneath the surface? Another possibility it's being used as Earth's ultimate broadcasting station (since from the Moon high intensity waves can make it anywhere on the planet in just 1.4 seconds, ie the speed of light). IDK, hopefully we'll find out!

We do know from Winston's backstory that other apes lived on the moon and started an uprising that killed all the researchers before he escaped. We don't know if "all the researchers" means that every human on the moon was killed, or just the ones in the research lab on the moon. If it was the later, you'd think Winston had only to get to the other humans on the moon to secure transportation back to Earth as opposed to building his own rocket...

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Also, considering that Blizzard has practically revealed Morrison to be '76, it is no longer considered a spoiler.

The thing is that looks a lot like Korhal from SC2 so I wonder if its also a reference to that because Korhal has the big circle with bits inside and outside.

[Mormolyce]

Is it just me or does this slight fan edit of Alive actually make it even better?

Anyone else spotted Morrison's hesitation to save the girl when he had an opportunity to extinguish the gang for good? Shows he has bloodlust, but ultimately his honor prevailed.

Well he did have to give up his mission of finishing off all those gang members with the awesome rave tattoos. He takes missions pretty seriously, dontchaknow :P

[paralleluniverse]

The story of Overwatch: angry racists oppressing robots.

It is in part, a parody of social justice activism, and in part, a child's daydream. The concept is so blatantly stupid, it is laughable.

[Immitis]

The story of Overwatch: angry racists oppressing robots.

It is in part, a parody of social justice activism, and in part, a child's daydream. The concept is so blatantly stupid, it is laughable.

whats stupid about it? omnics rebelled against humanity and caused a world war.

it has nothing to do with "social justice activism" we see hostility between former enemies that live closeby all the time in real life.

the omnic crisis was about one generation ago in overwatches timeline which means the youth of the day would still be conditioned by the bitterness towards omnics from their parents

its exactly what would happen in real life if robots tried to take over and peace being established.

the fact you equate it at all with "social justice activism" makes me think theres something wrong with you.

not only that, but people are naturally xenophobic towards technology anyways. even before the omnic crisis the omnics probably took alot of peoples jobs, hurting the poorer less educated people the most who are most easily replaced via machines, which again, you can already see happening in real life.

[Kathranis]

Just in case people haven't seen these, since they don't seem to have gotten much publicity:

Official Overwatch Motion Comics by Madefire

#1 Overwatch: McCree — Train Hopper
#2 Overwatch: Reinhardt — Dragon Slayer
#3 Overwatch: Junkrat & Roadhog — Going Legit
#4 Overwatch: Symmetra — A Better World
#5 Overwatch: Pharah — Mission Statement
#6 Overwatch: Torbjörn — Destroyer

All animated with some cool parallax effects, music and sound effects.

[Tenjen]

we need some Mei backstory or current events comics or vids. http://i.imgur.com/2tfDLPL.webm *ahem* actual backstory

[xouk]

For a count I found a picture of every single one of those character Winston brought up on the screen towards the end.

To be released characters or concept art that wont make it to the game, still fun to speculate I guess

All future heroes ay!

[Orby]

All future heroes ay!

you never know... guess we'll see.

we need some Mei backstory or current events comics or vids. http://i.imgur.com/2tfDLPL.webm *ahem* actual backstory

would love to see a cinematic on Mei

[Life-Binder]

The story of Overwatch: angry racists oppressing robots.

It is in part, a parody of social justice activism, and in part, a child's daydream. The concept is so blatantly stupid, it is laughable.

this post is blatantly stupid and laughable

[Argarock]

Roses are red, violets are blue, Ryū ga waga teki o kurau.

that's brilliant xD

[Val the Moofia Boss]

PC Gamer brought up an interesting theory; the Overwatch AI, Athena (the narrator ingame and the computer program that aids Winston in "Recall") may actually be one of the 'God-programs' as described in Pharah's comic, since she is named after a mythical deity. If true, then that would mean Athena is a benevolent skynet.

[Soulwind]

PC Gamer brought up an interesting theory; the Overwatch AI, Athena (the narrator ingame and the computer program that aids Winston in "Recall") may actually be one of the 'God-programs' as described in Pharah's comic, since she is named after a mythical deity. If true, then that would mean Athena is a benevolent skynet.

Benevolent as far as we know!

[Skytotem]

Has there already been discussion on Junkrat's find in the wreckage of the Outback, and Reaper and Hanzo both remarking on it?

Particularly Hanzo noting that he 'could hardly keep it on his person'

Could be saying it's unlikely he'd carry it around with him... but to me it sounds more like it wouldn't be POSSIBLE to carry around.


Could it be another God-Program's Mainframe?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Has there already been discussion on Junkrat's find in the wreckage of the Outback, and Reaper and Hanzo both remarking on it?

Particularly Hanzo noting that he 'could hardly keep it on his person'

Could be saying it's unlikely he'd carry it around with him... but to me it sounds more like it wouldn't be POSSIBLE to carry around.


Could it be another God-Program's Mainframe?

An advanced computer program (or circuitry for that matter) isn't going to last in a landscape irradiated enough to have driven men insane. There's not much we have to make a guess with either.

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I've been flipping back through the lore tidbits on OW pre-collapse (specifically the Morrison report), and found this of note:

These records indicate that a rebellion tore the group apart from within. On one side was Morrison, determined to hold together what remained of Overwatch. On the other side was Reyes, whose agenda remains unknown to this day. A battle raged between these men deep within Overwatch's base. At some point, their fighting triggered an explosion that destroyed the facility and sent the dreams of an entire generation up in flames.

According to Overwatch's former agents, this outcome was inevitable. "After Morrison's promotion to strike commander, his relationship with Reyes changed," Dr. Angela Ziegler, medical director of Overwatch, stated during a UN committee hearing. "The tension became more pronounced as time went on. I tried to mend things. We all did. Sometimes when the closest bonds break, all you can do is pray you stay out of the cross fire."

Note that the article says there "sides" within Overwatch, one that followed Morrison after he hijacked Reyes' job as Strike Commander and tried to hold the gang together, and those who sided with Reyes. We do not know what Reyes' and his group's goal was. The point being: Morrison and Reyes weren't just having a personal feud; the entire group was fractured.

Who do you think would've followed Morrison's side? Reyes' side? We know that Mercy may have sympathized with Reyes, since her in game quips with Reaper imply she may have been responsible for saving him in the aftermath of the base's destruction (if she was for Morrison, there's no reason she would save a perceived perpetrator and murderer who may very well try to kill her after she had fixed him up), and we know that Mercy is a very reserved, pacifistic person who would not willingly follow Reyes if he meant destruction. Therefore, it sounds like there was an ideological conflict. Reyes was apart of Blackwatch (along with McCree), who were known to have done the dubious things the law couldn't cover and OW couldn't do without taking a hit (ie, Varian Wrynn's private group of assassins within SI:7).

[Mormolyce]

I hope they aren't finished with cinematics. Dying for a D.Va one!

The comics were good also.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

The popular theory was right; Ana is Sombra, as her Shrike skin on the PTR shows.

In other news... the Torbjorn x Mercy ship continues to sail! Another hint dropped by Blizzard in Ana's short letter.




Still waiting for the couple's cute Halloween costumes! Do we have to wait until Halloween before they go in?