I have been looking closer at the omnics featured in all the Overwatch lore and noticed the variance in the number of dots decorating an omnic’s forehead. Zenyatta, most notably, possesses nine, just like Mondatta. Other “standard” omnics, like those seen in the Alive short have only three. B.O.B., who seems incapable of speaking or thinking for himself, has only two. Maximilian, the talon banker, has seven. What do you guys think? Are the dots a symbol of rank?
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I dunno. B.O.B. has a hat and moustache, a sense of personal style. 
He can’t speak, but he was a butler for Ashe’s family. Ashe spent a lot of time talking to B.O.B (her parents ignored her.) He’s been her constant companion, and was there when she got out of prison.
I feel if there were no humanity/sapience he wouldn’t be a kind of friend.
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And presumably he was the family’s butler rather than Ashe’s exclusively, and he made the conscious decision to come with her and protect her on a life of crime.
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I thought that the lights were eyes considering that bastion seems to see through his one bigger light on his head.
B.O.B. being a servant to Ashe(and her family) may or may not be a conscious choice though. He just does whatever she tells him to. Besides B.O.B. though, what about the others? You can’t deny that there is some consistency with the dot pattern and some kind of rank system.
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Cool theory, I don’t think it was intentional but a really cool concept
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We actually discussed omnic forehead dots already, but in buddhist context
It’s actually quite ironic, considering that seven is a lucky number
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Bastion only has one, if that counts. It cannot speak human languages, but it obviously is very emotionally driven (what with its flashbacks and strong bond of friendship with Ganymede).
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Bastion isn’t an omnic. he’s made by other corporation (SST laboratories) and he isn’t quite humanoid
Bastion units made up the bulk of the rebel army during the omnic crisis. Bastion has an omnic crisis skin… pretty sure Bastion is an Omnic.
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They made a bulk for omnics who hacked them. That doesn’t mean that Bastions are omnics.
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If you go on Overwatch’s website and read the description for the “Binray” comic, it states, and I quote: “In “Binary,” locals have spotted a Bastion unit roaming the woods, and they believe it’s only a matter of time before the dangerous omnic tries to destroy them.”
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Exactly. Orginally omnic was the name of robot model (you know which one). With time omnic became synonym of robot.
For example in Poland at first TIR (Transport International Routie) we were using to name all vehicles which are part of the convention. Now TIR written as tir is just used to name all trucks here in Poland, even trucks which aren’t part of TIR convention. Tir became synonym of truck.
So omnic (starting with small letter) is synonym of robot
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Omnics don’t have to be humanoid - just look at some of the Null Sector omnics.
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So, would that support the theory that omnics with less than nine (the supreme spiritual number) are less advanced than those with?
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It’s an interesting overlap with the Buddhist concept but I don’t think it’s used to actively identify their sapience.
Luna, for example, on the Paris map doesn’t have any apparent dots or holes, but is unquestionably fully sapient
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I had not considered her! I also am dissatisfied with the dots on Lynx’s forehead as well if this theory was correct.
Lynx uses the dots to scan Zarya, so they do seem to be functional sensors. I don’t think their number is significant.
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I’m sure they thought it looked cool. I doubt they gave those dots any deep thought.