Hanzo Shimada and the Overwatch champions

Hi Jeff, Geoff, Dylan and associated members

I hope y’all are having a lovely summer/end of summer and everyone is staying safe during lockdown. All of your Overwatch fans are anxiously awaiting Overwatch 2 and with no updates we’re certainly concerned, skeptical, lost in the woods :sweat::sweat:

But we have faith you’ll deliver just as you did for Overwatch. :pray:t4:

The reason I am reaching out to you guys this afternoon is, I wanted to ask….

How come Hanzo doesn’t speak more Japanese? Granted Genji (his broski) has a lot of voice-lines in their native tongue.

But I was curious why our eldest dragon boy doesn’t speak more Japanese. Being that he is the oldest and was going to run the company/syndicate/etc. it seems as though Sojiro might have raised Hanzo to be much more traditionalist Japanese. What about their mother? I haven’t seen any official Blizzard information on who their mother was, what happened to her, maybe she didn’t want anything to do with the Empire (not very traditional Japanese wife-like though (as in, she would not abandon her children willingly)).

There isn’t as much lore available as the community would like (we are very grateful for what you have provided) but it would be nice if you guys could provide some more back story both TOGETHER and SEPARATELY for our Dragon Brothers (and the other heroes). Was Hanzo educated overseas? Maybe he was a USC graduate? Really all we know is how much training the brothers received in their families ancient Ninjutsu traditions. Hanzo doesn’t have many voice interactions with a lot of the other heroes. Though it seems Symmetra may be fond of our favorite archer?

For me specifically, I know you guys said you didn’t really want any external input, but I was curious how/when Widow tries to recruit Hanzo. Maybe Hanzo saved Efi and Orisa from Doomfist in Numbani (Doomfists line of: You disappoint me, etc. and why Hanzo hates it there). Maybe Hanzo and widow had a short fling and some sort of falling out (They both have voice lines in Ilios where they could have spent some time together)? What about the fact that he (almost) killed Genji….? Wouldn’t Mercy be a little cross with him? Or at least have something to say since (by the time of the game) Hanzo is aware that genji is alive. Or maybe Hanzo and the Bastet crossed paths and saved each other? And that’s why they have a voice line?

All random/fandom questions that haven’t been asked or answered perhaps and I was just hoping you’d be kind enough to provide some details.

Hanzo is absolutely my favorite hero and I love his hero design. At one point Jeff Kaplan mentioned each Hero Skin tells something about their personality, I’d love to know more about this idea (not just for Hanzo).

Thank you very much for your time and for your read. I look forward to the information you provide us!!

P.S. Can we get some Zen Lore as well :sweat_smile::sweat_smile:? Where’s he from?? A factory? Some random creation of a factory bot? How are the omnics…. Made? Y’all have the potential for one of the COOLEST video game stories ever created!! Please give us some additional information!!

Stay safe!!

I can answer a couple of those.

His voice actor is American and has had difficulty saying his few Japanese lines. Iirc they specifically mention how his ult like took a long time to get right. He could get more lines down the road.

He does act like it though. He values honor, order, and didn’t indulge in dishonorable passions like Genji did when they were young.

Probably won’t get any. Sam, Ingrid, and Efi’s parents are the only non-playable parents I can think of in relation to the main cast.

He has never met them. Orisa’s novel doesn’t mention him at all. Doomfist is disappointed in Hanzo for not joining Talon, and Hanzo hates Numbani cause he hates Omnics.

Please.

Hopefully some of that was helpful. As for the other theories, I’d say probably not based on Hanzo having no reason to do any of those things in the first place.

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Possibly true though he is an American born Japanese descendant. I’d be curious to know how you know his Japanese is weak. Since they put a deep amount of effort into the rest of the heroes I’m curious as to why they did not attempt this with Hanzo. I think it would be better if more of his voice lines were in Japanese.

Ehhhhh… I think you’d better ask my Grand father… Lol… Maybe though.

My point of this post (if it is seen by the Devs and creative team) is to remind them that the fans of Overwatch would definitely love some additional lore on their favorite heroes (I’m certain they’re aware but I’m tired of spending all my time in the competitive forums).

Speculation. They’ll release more lore as Overwatch develops. There is rumors of a Netflix show, an anime… Etc. :woman_shrugging:t2:

Speculation

Uh… yeah… But this voice line was added in the past year or so. The original interaction between Hanzo and doomfist was doom trying to recruit him.

For Hanzo to respond to his second voice line as… rigidly… as he did, implies they have a disagreement of some sort. Or Hanzo just doesn’t like talon. Neither of us know the answer… Soooooooo…

Speculation…

There is nothing in Hanzo’s lore that implies he hates omnics unless something recent was released. Unless it’s directly from the Blizzard creative team or associates, I would really only take it at face value.

Speculation… On both of us.

Just linking the voice lines together because it’s fun. But it’s clear Hanzo knows who some of these people are (Ana for example) purely based on the fact that he’d ask her about being an assassin.

Most of this falling upon the deaf ears of the creative team who will decide what direction they wish to take our heroes in.

They do actively listen to what the community has to say and if they like the input they may/may not include it.

That’s all :woman_shrugging:t2:

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Behind the scenes from waaaaaaay back in the day and the trend of voice actors having less native language voice lines. Reinhardt has no German ones and Lúcio didn’t have Portuguese ones got a while.

That’s true. I don’t want Hanzo to just be a Genji accessory anymore :frowning:

He doesn’t like Numbani (the only other characters who don’t like Numbani are very against Omnics), the only guard he killed in Dragons was the Omnic, and he tells Genji that he’s not the brother he knew. He seems pretty anti-Omnic.

Fair enough. Sorry if I came off as rude.

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Lol… You’re good. Sorry for taking it that way… :hugs::hugs:

Interesting. I must have missed that one :frowning:

Yeah I think this should change. I like the breakdown of the inclusivity of the world!! :innocent::innocent:

1,000,000% agreed. I get it. Genjis always been the good guy. He was… Neglected but still came out to be a good man, he got the girl (everyone loves mercy :innocent::heart_eyes:).

But that’s why Hanzo’s story is more important!!

Speculation: what if widow and Hanzo were to be tasked with an assassination

(without knowing one or the other was also assigned, this happens in actual military operations in case one person fails. In this case widow would probably be the backup).

Could make for a pretty AWESOME archieve event IN Numbani?

They run into each other and somehow the operation goes south so they help each other escape. Widow would then try to recruit Hanzo and report to doomfist.

Redemption opportunity for both Hanzo and Widow. :innocent::wink: though I’m conflicted between the ship of Widow/Hanzo or Symm/Hanzo. :woman_shrugging:t2:

I mean, it’s central Africa (I think can’t remember) maybe he doesn’t like the weather? :woman_shrugging:t2: NEED LORE!! Jeff!! We respectfully request (demand) more lore!! :rage::sweat_smile::sweat_smile::rage:

I think they just want to keep it age appropriate. :thinking: A lot of people enjoy the animated shorts. And I can’t remember one where humans die

This IS a fair point but I wouldn’t be easily convinced since he has no reason to be biased against them…

Unless… Omnics killed their mother?! :scream:

:woman_shrugging:t2:

NEED MORE LORE PLEASE!! :innocent:
Pretty please with sugar on top…

I’d really like for them to elaborate on this…

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This one. They’re both refined and don’t kill for fun.

Almost certainly a reason too. Only time I remember a human dying on camera was Retribution when they killed those Talon agents and filled Antonio with lead.

I like that idea.

We need to resort to brass tactics. Start bribing them!

Talon tried to recruit Sojiro, and he turned them down. Sojiro probably passed on that opinion to his heir.

Voice lines don’t represent who knows who. Reinhardt calls Reaper “traitor” in the game but so far, he doesn’t know that Reyes is Reaper. The voice lines represent hypothetical conversations. If Hanzo met Ana and knew her reputation, he’d probably ask her about it.

He hit the omnic with an arrow that short circuited him - it may not have killed him, it could have just been a stun.

Where is this written?

As the OP mentioned, unless it’s directly from Blizz or affiliated associates it’s not legit.

Personally Hanzo is also my favorite hero and I’ve never heard this either.

Not saying you’re lying. Just curious where this is verified…

I mean… That’s not really the OPs point.

Like you… He’s speculating and drawing conclusions because Blizzard hasn’t provided as much lore as the community would appreciate…

It was mentioned in the banter during the Retribution mission.

Genji : Talon once tried to recruit my father.
Reyes : He didn’t take them up on their offer?
Genji : He did not find them to his liking. Their aims did not coincide with his own.

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Ahhhhhh!!

See that was an oversight…

I’ve played all of those game modes many times and never heard that. Sometimes voice lines don’t play for everyone…

I appreciate your response!!

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Though Paul Nakauchi’s lack of fluency in the language is the real world explanation, it’s not entirely out of place in the lore that the elder brother speaks English in the majority of his lines.

Hanzo is a business associate. While previously a scion of the Shimada Clan who dealt with their business dealings, he now provides mercenary services. It would actually be quite fitting of him to speak less of his native tongue, seeing as he’s had years, possibly decades, of experience with overseas buyers.

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