Diversity in Overwatch: Hero concept suggestions

Look, before the inevitable kneejerk reaction, I would like to preface this by saying that this is not a demand; these are just hero concepts that I would love to see in the game.

I think these concepts, as unnecessary or trivial they may seem to some, would expand on the game’s diversity, offer representation to a wider range of people.

And, I might not have all the details on gameplay mechanics or characters’ backgrounds and personalities figured out yet - but that doesn’t mean I think they aren’t important. I trust Blizzard to make their heroes fun and compelling, no different than how Tracer being a lesbian is just another aspect of her character.

So, now that I got that out of the way, let’s get to it.

Suggestion 1: Hamid Faisal, middle eastern archeologist

The concept has been around since Petra release, and the character of Hamid Faisal is prominently featured in the emails displayed on Petra’s electronic equipment.

We already know that he’s an archeologist working for Oasis, and I fully expect to see some references to pop culture’ treasure hunters in his design.

This isn’t really anything new, but I feel it was fitting to mention him here.

Suggestion 2: Black female hero from Haiti

Yes, I know, we already have Orisa and Efi. But to some people I’ve talked with, that doesn’t really cut it.

Orisa is a robot, and Efi is a non-playable background character. So, yeah.

We don’t really have any playable black women in the roster yet, and I think it would be neat if we had.

That being said, I think we’ve seen enough from Africa - two heroes from the Sub-Saharan region, two heroes from Egypt… It would begin to feel redundant.

So, how about Haiti instead?

I think it would be interesting to see a Caribbean hero, explore Caribbean culture. Much like how other heroes take a lot after the cultures they come from, this hero would have a lot of Caribbean themes implemented in her design.

It definitely would be something new.

Suggestion 3: Genji revealed as bi?

If I recall correctly, Chu has said that there are other LGBTQ heroes who are already in the game. Personally, I think the most likely candidate is Genji.

It wouldn’t take much to confirm him as such. All you would need to do was include a flashback to his playboy days, before he became a cyborg. Show him going out with men and women alike, and there you have it.

It wouldn’t really get in the way of any potential relationship, either. It’s not like a bi person can’t settle down eventually, be it with someone of opposite gender or not.

Suggestion 4: Trans hero!?

Okay, look, this one will probably need to wait for a better time, I get that. I seriously wouldn’t expect such a hero to see the light of day until 2020, maybe 2021.

The way I thought such a hero would be implemented, would be to begin by introducing them as just another female hero (I conceptualize them as MtF), without mentioning their prior background. Maybe leave behind some hints, but nothing that could explicitly confirm it.

Then, wait for the next Archives event to release a spray of them a child.

That’s it. No making a big deal out of it, just a detail from the character’s past.

It would spark a controversy nonetheless, kinda like some people still found a way to get upset about Tracer being revealed as a lesbian. But I think that handling it right could make a huge positive impact, just like Tracer had.

So, there you have it. Tell me whether you like these ideas, and whether you have any of your own. Meanwhile, I’ll go hide in my bunker.

Update: Extra highlights

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Wow, that’s a lot of likes…

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I noticed there aren’t any Aliens or some sort of being from an outer dimension in the game. Except for a Smart Gorilla and Hamster. That can be kinda cool.

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If it’s an alien that has inspiration from the Predator. I’d love that!

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Heck yeah, Predator weapons are basically built for this game.

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I’d like to focus on actual human beings in this thread. :slightly_smiling_face:

I can see a cinematic short with something like that. He’s in the Vietnam jungle and some type of Vietnamese soldier/scientist would be added next and is also the aliens enemy.

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Hey now, if you’re going to be picky about peoples backgrounds and their sexual orientation, you gotta be open to having other species as well. I, for one, am still waiting for jetpack cat.

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I gotta point out this little tid bit:

Why is when discussing Trans characters, its MtF, and not FtM? Are female to male not inclusive enough? From all the discussions Ive read about trans inclusion, it is almost always by default framed as MtF.

Wonder why that is. Hmm…

If you’re forcing a diversity for diversity sake you’re doing it wrong.

When you have writers sit down and go “ALRIGHT what diversity can we cram into this?” you end up with a Star Wars situation: characters who are designed largely around diversity first and foremost with their many other attributes taking a back seat or being non-existent in the first place.

Ripley from Alien wasn’t written from the start to be a strong female character; she organically evolved into one throughout the movie.

Rey from Starwars on the other hand was written to be a strong female character from the very start rather than organically evolving into one. Due to this, she ended up being a generic mary sue with the personality of a cinderblock who is instantaneously good at everything with little to no training, pulling off insane feats no other Jedi in the Star Wars universe can do without extensive training.

Trying to arbitrarily shoehorn in diversity solely for diversity sake leads to bad writing and bad characters like that. They focus on diversity first and foremost rather than organically letting the diversity happen.

Not that I’m saying you can’t do diversity. You can do it. That’s fine. Just do it well.

People seem to think now days you cannot possibly handle diversity wrong, that you can shovel in truckloads of the stuff into a movie haphazardly with no cares of properly writing it into the universe in a good way and they just assume it’ll all work perfectly because…reasons?

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Star Wars is just a train wreck now. sniffles

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Stop making me hate LGBT who did nothing wrong

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I know, I know.

Look, I’ve heard all this, I’m not saying that you should disregard all other considerations. In fact, I even included a disclaimer where I said as much, within the first three paragraphs. :stuck_out_tongue:

Just cause I’m dropping some ideas involving minority representation, doesn’t meant I think anything else should be neglected.

Erm.

How and why does any of this make you hate LGBTQ persons?

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Why is that a big deal? This is already one of the most diverse games.

This is what I hate about these threads/suggestions. When you design a character I think you should get the gameplay mechanics down before you decide what ethnicity they are… This is what people usually dislike about these threads I think.

Those people are being ridiculous. There could be no black female heroes and it would be perfectly fine because you cannot have every combination of sex/ethnicity in the game.
It’s like this one guy who specifically wanted a black American and he, by his own admission, didn’t care that there were already two black characters in the game. He wasn’t concerned with diversity, just his own agenda.
Not saying you’re the same here.

It’s almost like it would make the game less diverse…

Start with gameplay mechanics. Work out lore/background/ethnicity afterwards. Make sure it makes sense with the established mechanics.

Do not start with an ethnicity/gender and make a hero off of that.
This is a video game first and foremost.

But why does it matter? Which heroes are “confirmed” straight?

I’m in the camp that making a trans hero for the sake of having a trans hero is very, very stupid.
If the devs want to do it then I’m all for it. And the way you’re suggesting they reveal it is my favorite suggestion thus far.

I think the Tracer reveal was, in a word, sloppy. I think it would have been better to just let it get revealed naturally.
correction edit
I am wrong about Tracer, the community reaction was sloppy, not the reveal. Them removing her victory pose was sloppy. Sorry for the wrong info.
End correction edit

That’s what critics of these suggestions like me want. At least it’s what I want. I want the backgrounds of the heroes to feel natural.

I don’t want to think “this hero is in the game literally to represent X people”.
Start with gameplay mechanics, build the lore off of that.

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Was it sloppy? It seemed to me that she was just spending Christmas with her girlfriend.

That’s my bad, I actually had a false memory of it based on all of the backlash it received.
I have changed my position and think the reveal was done well. The community over reacted.
What I thought was sloppy was them removing one of her “victory poses”
Not sure how I got that confused. My bad.

I got excited because i thought Moria was trans but just realized she was extremely skinny.

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Furry hero… Where is the furry hero? Where is the furry’s representation in the Overwatch universe? (Winston and Hammond are animal heros, not furries).

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How I felt after the comic: