Overwatch Characters Part 2: Backstories and Abilities

Since its release on the market, Overwatch has had great success right away. The game from Blizzard has a wide range of characters, which is one of the factors that made gamers like it right away. In actuality, a whole cast of Overwatch characters, each with a unique backstory and set of skills, is there. Because of this, we will provide you a general summary of them in this article so that you can learn more about each one.

Overwatch Damage characters

There are 38 characters in Overwatch, and they are all highly distinctive from one another. They are further distinguished into three categories: Tank, Damage, and Support, in addition to their background and skills. This article will introduce you to Overwatch Damage characters, who, with a variety of equipment, skills, and play styles, they search out, confront, and destroy the opponent. However, these Overwatch characters need support to survive since they are terrifying but weak. If you are a player who likes teamwork, this type of character is the one for you.

Ashe

Ashe was born into a wealthy family who, however, thought more about the success of the Arbalest Arms Company than about their daughter. Despite this, her parents always tried to give their daughter every opportunity that could lead her to success. However, thanks to meeting another of the Overwatch characters, Cole Cassidy, Ashe began committing crimes and understood her true direction.

This leads to her founding the Deadlock Rebels and, over time, she manages to make a name for herself and catches the attention of Overwatch who takes Cassidy into custody. From that moment, the rebel groups began to have conflicts among themselves, and Ashe saw the opportunity to create a single group and retrace, in a certain sense, the path of her parents.

Abilities

• The viper: zoom in for greater damage and accuracy but a slower rate of fire
• Coach gun: blast opponents in your path to knock yourself backwards
• Dynamite: throw dynamite, an explosive that goes off after a brief delay or right away when you get hit
• BoB: Debloy Bob. He attacks with his arm cannons after launching enemies into the air as he charges forward

Bastion

These types of robots were originally created for peacekeeping purposes, although they possessed the ability to transform into an assault mode. However, during the Omnic Crisis they were used against their own creators, only to be destroyed once the crisis was over. Only one unit of these robots was forgotten for more than a decade, until, unexpectedly, it was reactivated. The robot, at that point, no longer had any memory of its combat program, but instead developed a great interest in nature.

Although he is essentially a peaceful robot, Bastion is able to completely transform when he senses danger, drawing on what remains of his combat program to become a war machine. For this reason, he prefers to stay away from population centers and explore nature and its creatures. During his adventures, he meets one of his creators who, after an initial phase in which he had ordered his destruction, intrigued by the new look of the robot, decides to fix him and give him asylum.

Abilities

• Configuration assault: a tank that moves slowly yet has a potent rotary gun
• Configuration recon: mobility with a small, light, and precise weapon
• A-36 tactical granade: fire a bomb that will bounce off of walls and explode when it hits the ground or an enemy
• Reconfigure: vary the settings for your weapon
• Configuration artillery: alt all movement and unleash up to three devastating artillery shells

Cassidy

Cassidy is one of the members of the Deadlock Rebels who was kidnapped during an Overwatch mission. Imprisoned in a maximum security cell, he was given the choice of whether to stay there for life or join Overwatch. Obviously, Cassidy chose the second option. Initially, in fact, he was very satisfied with the flexibility he had, although, after the destruction of Overwatch’s Swiss HQ, he decided to start his own business.

After many years spent in the shadows, Cassidy began his career as a gunslinger, fighting for things he believed were right. After having lived many adventures, he is asked to join Overwatch again and, after leaving to hire new allies, thanks to his help and that of the new followers, Overwatch has managed to have a stronger presence on a global level.

Abilities

• Peacekeeper: either a precise, powerful revolver or a frantic round-firing sequence
• Combat roll: roll in your direction of travel to absorb less damage and reload
• Magnetic granade: to slow down foes and prevent them from employing movement skills, launch a homing bomb that adheres to them
• Deadeye: engage in combat with your adversaries, lock on, and then unleash the ability

Echo

Echo is a robot that was created by Mina Liao, the roboticist of Overwatch. The development of this project was not very simple, especially during and after the Omnic Crisis, which forced Overwatch to reduce resources and research in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence. However, Liao was able to create a robot that she could adapt to the situation and that was capable of providing medical support or building, but which was limited in terms of decisions.

Even though the robot passed the various tests, Overwatch did not want to use it because it was not considered reliable. However, they didn’t know that Liao had created Echo using an artificial intelligence that she learned things by observing. After hours and hours spent with the scientist, Echo was able to assimilate her behavior. After Liao was killed during an attack, the other Overwatch members who knew about it decided to quarantine Echo. However, once freed from Cassidy, he joins the new Overwatch team to save Paris from Null Sector.

Abilities

• Tri-shot: fires three rounds in a triangular pattern all at once
• Sticky bombs: rire a barrage of delayed-explosion sticky bombs
• Flight: fly fast ahead, then temporarily free-flight
• Focusing beam: channel for a moment a beam. Targets with less than half of their health take a huge hit
• Duplicate: replicate the enemy hero that is being targeted. For the time being, they are unable to switch heroes.
• Glide: hold jump to glide while falling

Genji

Genji is the youngest son of the master of the Shinada clan. Raised in his abilities under the protection of Asa Yamagami, Genji was not interested in his family’s illegal activities. After his father’s death, Hanzo, his older brother, ordered him to have a more central role in the family organization but Genji refused. Thus a fight arose between the two that left Genji almost dying.

Hanzo was convinced that he had killed his brother, but in reality, he was saved by Overwatch. However, his injuries were very serious, and so Overwatch decided to offer the boy a deal. They would rebuild his body if he would help them fight his clan. Genji accepted the proposal and joined Blackwatch with the aim of dismantling his family’s criminal operations.

Although he succeeded in his task, the head of Overwatch proposed that he train and become part of the main team of the organization. At that point, he took part in several missions until the fall of the organization and Genji found himself starting his life again. He met Zanyatta who mentored him for a long time, before Genji’s and Overwatch’s paths crossed again.

Abilities

• Shuriken: throw three missiles precisely or three projectiles in a fan shape in an arc
• Deflect: block melee assaults and deflect incoming projectiles in the direction you’re targeting
• Swift strikes: dash forward quickly, striking foes with damage. The cooldown is reset by victories
• Dragonblade: open the sheath of a dangerous melee weapon
• Cyber-agility: climb on walls and double jump

Hanzo

Hanzo had more or less the same childhood and education as Genji, with the only difference that, compared to his brother, he was very attached to the operations that his family carried out. In fact, after his father’s death, he took over and continued to run the family operations. However, when his brother Genji decided not to take part in all this, Hanzo was forced to kill him and therefore give up everything that the Shimada clan had built.

At that point, Hanzo spent many years traveling alone to improve his skills as a warrior, while also trying to restore his honor in the process. However, during his adventures, he met Genji again (who was not dead) and they fought again. Genji told his brother that he had forgiven him for his deeds and asked him to forgive himself.

Abilities

• Storm bow: hold to charge then release to launch arrows further
• Storm arrows: the following five arrows ricochet and fire immediately with less damage
• Sonic arrow: reveals enemies for a short time upon impact
• Lunge: double jump
• Dragonstrike: launch a powerful dragon spirit that destroys any adversaries it encounters
• Wall climb: jump at walls to climb up them

Junkrat

Junkrat is one of the inhabitants of the Australian Outback. After the area fell into ruin due to war, some managed to survive, including Junnkrat. Like others who managed to survive, he was infected by the radiation present which led him to exhibit crazy behavior. However, this new personality of his was ideal for dealing with explosives, which slowly became a real obsession for Junkrat.

Junkrat became known when he discovered a secret hidden in the bones of the omnium. This, therefore, made him a target pursued by practically anyone who wanted to get their hands on that secret. It is at this point that he formed an alliance with Roadhog and the two began to pull off heists before arriving at the final objective: the Junker Queen. However, their plan failed miserably.

Abilities

• Frag launcher: bouncing explosive projectile weapon
• Concussion mine: throw a knockback mine and then detonate it
• Steel trap: place an immobilizing trap
• Rip-tire: drive and detonate an exploding tire
• Total mayhem: explodes without causing damage to the user, and upon death dumps a bomb

Mei

Overwatch created strategic points around the world to monitor the ecological situation. And it is in this scenario that Mei-Ling Zhou, member of this ecological division of Overwatch, makes her entrance. However, the station she was assigned to came under attack and all external communications were lost. Mei was waiting for help but it never arrived. It wasn’t until years later that the cryogenic chambers opened and Mei was able to get out. What she had in front of her, however, was a world totally different from the one she remembered.

Although all of her research was lost, Mei joined forces with Winston and Tracer to continue her work in another Watchpoint. However, Mei was forced to put her work on hold when the Null Sector attack on Paris occurred to help the other Overwatch characters neutralize this threat.

Abilities

• Endothermic blaster: enemy-slowing short-range spray weapon or long-range icicle launcher
• Cryo-freeze: become invulnerable and heal yourself
• Ice wall: create a wall in front of you
• Blizzard: deploy a drone that controls the weather to freeze foes across a large region

Pharah

Fareeha, this is Pharah’s real name, since she was little she had the desire to follow in her mother’s footsteps and join Overwatch. For this reason, she decided to join the Egyptian army and her skills made her rise through the ranks in a short time, until she became an officer. Fareeha was then ready to join Overwatch, but her mother was killed at work shortly before her, and the organization was dismantled.

At this point, Fareeha left the military and found employment at Helix Security International. This facility was vitally important not only to the safety of her home country, but also to the rest of the world. Fareeha was asked to participate in the Anubis program and she accepted. It was at that point that she took the name Pharah and, years after her mother’s supposed death, received a letter from her testifying that she was in fact alive.

In addition to this shocking news, Pharah also left aside her dream of joining Overwatch, also because she was very satisfied with what she had built with Helix. However, after Cassidy arrived in Cairo, Pharah considered joining the cause. And it was at that point that she was able to see her mother again after so many years.

Abilities

• Rocket launcher: long-range explosive projectile weapon
• Jump jet: fly rapidly upwards
• Concussive blast: launch a powerful attack to push adversaries back
• Barrage: discharge a steady barrage of little rockets
• Hover jets: hold to hover

Reaper

The Reaper is known for being a ruthless killer and is responsible for many terrorist attacks around the world. The Reaper doesn’t stay in the same place for long, however, many have started to notice a sort of pattern in his appearances. The hypothesis is that this assassin is looking for Overwatch characters to eliminate them, as can also be seen thanks to his infiltration into Watchpoint: Gibraltar.

What no one knows is that the identity behind the Reaper is that of Gabriel Reyes, former commander of the Blackwatch. After the destruction of Overwatch’s Swiss HQ, Reyes changed sides and joined Talon, frustrated by Overwatch’s ways of doing things that didn’t allow him to carry out true justice.

Abilities

• Hellfire shotguns: short-range spread weapons
• Shadow step: teleport to a targeted location
• Wraith form: move more quickly and become unaffected, but you cannot shoot
• Death blossom: damage all nearby enemies
• The reaping: dealing damage heals you

Sojourn

Vivian Chase, this is Sojourn’s real name, grew up in a suburb of Toronto. Born with a degenerative disease, Vivian spent most of her childhood and adolescence in and out of hospitals. Around that time, she began to show an interest in military life and, after receiving an experimental treatment that allowed her to have a new life, she decided to follow in her parents’ footsteps and joined the Canadian Armed Forces.

However, when things got complicated, Canada decided to join forces with Overwatch to push enemy forces out of the country. After the war, she asked her military body to be transferred to the anti-terrorism section. However, her abilities were exactly what Overwatch was looking for and so she was recruited as one of the Overwatch characters tasked with protecting the world. Over time, however, Vivian became increasingly dissatisfied with the organization’s policies and decided to leave to start her own business.

Abilities

• Railgun: high-impact shot that uses stored energy and rapid-firing bullets that produce energy on it
• Power slide: high jump that can be cancelled by a ground slide
• Disruptor shot: fire an energy explosion that harms any opponents it touches
• Overclock: charged bullets from the railgun pierce opponents and the energy auto-charges for a brief period

Soldier: 76

The first time the world became aware of Soldier: 76 was during attacks targeting financial institutions, corporations, or Overwatch facilities. Despite his actions, there are those who think that he is a former Overwatch agent who aims to bring to light the whole truth about the organization and why it fell into disrepair.

In reality, the one behind Soldier: 76 is the former Overwatch commander Jack Morrison, believed dead after an attack. Although he also received Winston’s signal, Soldier: 76 decided to remain on his behalf and continue his mission of vengeance to bring to justice all those who contributed to the downfall of Overwatch.

Abilities

• Heavy pulse rifle: automatic assault weapon
• Sprint: run faster while moving forward
• Biotic field: deploy a field that heals you and your allies
• Helix rocket: launch a volley of explosive rockets
• Tactical visor: automatically aims your weapon at targets in view

Sombra

Olivia Colomar, Sombra’s real name, is one of the many children who were left without parents due to the Omnic Crisis. Growing up, she joined the Los Muertos gang to go against the government and try to rebuild Mexico into a better version. However, during one of her missions, something went wrong and she was forced to erase all traces of her so as not to be discovered, even her identity.

Years later she returned as Sombra and was determined to uncover the secrets of the conspiracy she had uncovered. Her abilities did not go unnoticed and she was recruited by Talon, which allowed her to lend aid to other Overwatch characters. However, although Sombra helped Talon throughout her life, in reality, she was only looking for a way to help herself.

Abilities

• Machine pistol: short-range automatic weapon
• Hack: hacked enemies cannot use abilities and can be seen through walls. Hacked health packs spawn faster and can’t be used by enemies
• Stealth: when out of combat, become invisible and move faster
• Translocator: throw a beacon and teleport to it
• EMP: deal damage to all nearby enemies equal to a percentage of their current health, hacking them and destroying barriers around you

Symmetra

Satya Vaswani, Symmetra’s real name, is one of the few who was capable of becoming a light-bending architech. In fact, after the Omnic Crisis, the Vishkar Corporation began creating new cities that could sustain themselves and made use of the technology used by its architects to build city streets and more. For this reason, Satya decided to join the cause and spend a lot of time training to become the best in her class.

The Vishkar Corporation saw great potential in Satya and that’s when she took the name Symmetra to go on undercover missions. However, during a mission to Rio de Janeiro, Symmetra was taken by surprise by the actions of the corporation who had deceived both the other allies and herself. For this reason, she spent time with Zenyatta and other Shambali pilgrims who inspired her to remedy her mistakes.

Abilities

• Photon projector: short-range beam weapon with increasing damage or explosive orb
• Sentry turret: deploy a small turret that damages and slows enemies
• Teleporter: create two temporary teleporters that enable instant travel between them
• Photon barrier: deploy a massive energy barrier

Torbjorn

Before the Omnic Crisis, Torbjorn was famous for creating weapons that were used internationally. However, his leaders wanted to command his weapons using artificial intelligence systems, of which Torbjorn did not approve. He, in fact, did not place any kind of trust in robots, a thought that became even more ironclad during the Omnic Crisis.

Thanks to his intelligence, he joined the ranks of Overwatch, becoming a wealth of ideas regarding the organization’s weapons. In fact, the most important inventions were his and which were in use by other members of the team. However, after the fall of Overwatch, many of his weapons were stolen. From that moment on, therefore, Torbjorn’s goal is to save his weapons from destruction or falling into the wrong hands.

Abilities

• Rivet gun: slow firing, long-ranged weapon or inaccurate but powerful short-range weapon
• Forge hammer: swing to repair your turret or damage an enemy
• Deploy turret: deploy a self-building turret
• Overload: gain additional extra health as well as improved attack, movement, and reload speed
• Molten core: create pools of molten slag that damage enemies

Tracer

Lena Oxton, Tracer’s real name, was the youngest person to take part in Overwatch’s experimental flight program. During one of the experiments, something went wrong and Lena was thought to be dead. However, a few months later, she reappeared as if from nowhere, albeit with visible problems related to chronal disassociation. the doctors weren’t sure what they were dealing with, until Winston gave her an object that was able to control her problems.

At that point, Tracer became one of the most effective Overwatch characters and went on several missions. After the fall of Overwatch, Tracer suffered from her life without heroism, since she was not used to sitting behind a desk, and therefore she tried at all costs to resume her previous life. For this reason, she took part in several adventures that saw her clash with many enemies to try to maintain order.

Abilities

• Pulse pistols: short-range automatic weapons
• Blink: teleport in the direction you are moving
• Recall: travel back in time to your previous location and health
• Pulse bomb: throw out a powerful sticky explosive

Widowmaker

Amélie Lacroix, this is Widowmaker’s real name, was an expert dancer who grew up in rural France. However, her life changed drastically when she married an Overwatch agent. This exposed her to various dangers, until Talon decided to target her to hit her husband. Some Talon soldiers then kidnapped Amélie and subjected her to a neural reconditioning program.

Her husband and other Overwatch agents managed to save her, but she was now a completely different person. In fact, it didn’t take long before Amélie killed her husband and she became wanted by both the police and Overwatch itself. At that point, her only option was to return to Talon. There she, thanks to other experiments and training, became Widowmaker and one of the deadliest assassins around.

Abilities

• Widow’s kiss: automatic assault weapon or long-ranged sniper weapon
• Grappling hook: launch a hook that pulls you towards a ledge
• Venom mine: launch a poison trap
• Infra-sight: provide your team with a view of the enemy’s location