I’m actually glad that Ana has received a lot of lore given that so far she’s been the only playable woc from the original OW. The old team is pretty white and a sausage fest, compared to the whole OW cast in general, and they certainly took their sweet time making Sojourn into a playable hero, so I’m to glad to see at least one of their Egyptian women having a somewhat prominent role in the lore.
Even then though, she hasn’t gotten nearly as much love as the rest of the old guard. She’s been part of comics and short stories, but she doesn’t have a cinematic or an active role in any of the archives events. The only special event that featured her was Junkenstein’s and that’s clearly an AU.
That said, it does feel like Ana is the only Amari that Blizzard remembers exists. Which is a big shame, not only because Pharah has so much potential as an individual character, but because they continue to use their mother daughter relationship for pathos without…actually showing them interacting or what Pharah currently thinks/feels. I know that what’s expected is a big emotional reunion sometime in OW 2, but to me it’s very much a case of “I’ll believe it when I see it” given how Pharah is blatantly one of the most ignored characters (except when it comes to selling merchandise, because for that Blizzard remembers she exists).
Bastet fiction is enjoyable to read as it talks more about Ana character, especially after her disappearance.
But again, Pharah has no new lore since her comic in 2016.
While Ana has her own fiction, and also appears in some comics, such as: Legacy, Old Soldiers, Halloween (2016) & Uprising. You mentioned Ana was one of playable characters in Junkenstein PVE, while Pharah has zero archive or whatever seasonal arcade mode that features her. (e.g Lucio in Lucioball, Mei in Yeti Hunt & Snowball Offensive)
Right, and Pharah’s comic actually came out four days before the game was officially released in 2016, so Pharah has literally had absolutely no new lore since the game’s release. Symmetra’s comic also came out before the game’s release, so Pharah, Zenyatta and Symmetra combined have had 0 lore developments since launch (at least Zenyatta will finally get something in OW 2). That’s pretty shameful given that it’s been more than three and a half years of Blizzard paying a writing team full time to provide a story.
I think it’s partly because Chu and co have/had no idea how to incorporate other organizations like Helix and Vishkar into the lore/plot, so they didn’t touch characters heavily involved with those. Not that that’s an excuse, but my theory is that losing Chris Metzen in 2016 was a big blow to the stories of characters that aren’t the OW poster children, and it doesn’t inspire much confidence in how Chu and co will incorporate Vishkar, Helix, the Shimada clan, Volskaya industries, etc. into the plot of OW 2 and future updates.
I don’t mean to rain on your parade, but recently all voice actors had to record new lines because of the new game mode “push”. There’s also the Toronto map, so she probably going to have some banal voice line about food or something, that is, if they remember she’s half canadian.
I don’t think it’s an animated short because according to D.va’s voice actress they get to know about it around an year before. Pharah and Mercy’s voice actress were in an interview around a year ago and when they were asked if their character would get an animated short they both answered no(sure they wouldn’t have said ‘yes’ if that was the case, but they would at least have something to comment about it).
I mean Jeff already retconned her Canadian heritage at Blizzcon so Pharah’s dad will prob get a new nationality the next time they release a skin from a non Egyptian culture.
Tbf, Mercy’s VA could have teased Mercy appearing in Storm Rising or the OW 2 cinematic but didn’t, so maybe Jen is the same way and won’t say anything until something with Pharah is closer to being released.
By saying Sojourn is the first Canadian hero? Is that what you mean?
She has native american heritage - according to her thunderbird skin and his father picture - but that’s really all we’ve got… We don’t know Sam nationality, but yeah we supposed he was probably canadian because of the restaurant scene in Reflections.
Blizzard would obviously deny this but that panel in Reflections came off as damage control after people pointed out that Pharah’s Thunderbird skins were problematic for what was, until then, seen as a completely Egyptian character.I feel like if their intention was to make Pharah half Canadian from the get go, they would have incorporated a lot more native Canadian themes into her character like sprays, voice lines, more skins, etc. It’s pretty sketchy for them to announce she also has Canadian heritage after the Thunderbird skin discourse, but only associate her with Egyptian motifs.
Aside from Reflections, the cook book is the only piece of lore that mentions Pharah being Canadian. The cook book is definitely a step in the right direction, but her Canadian heritage is still virtually non-existent in the game aside from those two infamous skins. So Jeff calling Sojourn the first Canadian hero at Blizzcon further cemented my impression that they made Pharah’s dad Canadian after people criticized the Thunderbird skin and generally don’t care much about the other heritage they slapped on her.
I mean, I’m definitely not going to be a Blizzard/writing team apologist, I know we have every right to criticize the media we consume, and I totally understand your frustrations. I love this game pretty much bc of Pharah and yeah it’s been a bit insufferable not seeing her story move much since 2016. But not many heroes’ stories have moved forward except the main ones. I think they’ve made some… interesting decisions in terms of the pacing and methods they use to tell their story. But all the recent Cairo stuff, and with Overwatch 2 coming at least it’s pretty much assured we’ll see Pharah’s story move forward (only had to wait like… six years :p)
I think Ana has more story because her character was created for story reasons, as she was one of the original strike team and leaders of overwatch so it makes sense she has a big role - while Pharah was created just because they wanted a flying hero in the game - and slapped on the story and Egyptian heritage afterwards. I mean, it hurts me to admit it too, but it’s true. But the way I kind of see it is, I think Pharah might not be that important in the story we see so far bc it’s really only discussed the past, which she wasn’t really a part of, bc, you know, Ana kept her from joining Overwatch to protect her from being part of that sinking ship (and tbh she was kind of the real MVP for that - all the other ex-Overwatch are having trouble finding a job!!) but Pharah will become a bigger part of it later, after Overwatch has been reinstated and a company like Helix would take notice of it (shouldn’t take long, since Ovw is illegal) - I mean Jeff Kaplan did say they had “big plans” for her after all. I don’t think they’ve forgotten her, it’s just they haven’t chosen to move her story forward yet, bc they’ve just been focusing on heroes that were part of old Overwatch and reacted to the recall (except Dva but it’s pretty obvious Overwatch will help out MEKA at some point). At least they’ll get around to it in Ovw2 and probably some outside media like a short story. I hate waiting too, and it’s frustrating to see your favorite character get ignored, but I think really it comes down to just Pharah wasn’t a part of old Overwatch, but that doesn’t mean she can’t have a big part in the next phase of the story.
Also, Pharah’s story hasn’t moved forward much since 2016, but we have gotten some new developments on some people/organizations/places that are connected to her: We learned about her father (honestly felt it was just so people would stop thinking it was Reinhardt/Soldier though), and about the Canadian hero thing: I think Jeff meant Sojourn is the first hero whose nationality is Canadian; Pharah is half First Nations but it’s pretty obvious her nationality is Egyptian, she might have just visited Sam on holidays but never became a citizen of Canada or felt very connected to that half of her (like, I’m half [certain Asian country] but I would say my nationality is American, not [asian country] bc I grew up here and don’t really know that culture much tbh. But don’t get me wrong! I so want them to at least say what Tribe Sam is from and build on that a bit so it won’t feel like they just made her First Nations to justify those damned skins (you know the ones!)
we learned Pharah hadn’t written Ana back as of December 2076 (so we know she’s pretty pissed at her), and that Ana has learned to entrust Cairo’s safety to Pharah and people like her (by the end of Bastet) as she leaves to go help Jack in his quest for answers. (kind of felt a bit mooted in Valkyrie but then again Ana was more focused on getting Reyes, not really worrying about her daughter - weird choice but oh well). We’ve learned Helix got more funding from the UN after Doomfist’s break out, but also the public has become critical of Helix and their effectiveness (big red flag that Pharah will leave them in the future). And ofc we know Egypt is in a bad state because of Overwatch. Does Pharah even know that or does she not care? She seems not angry with Overwatch at all. Idk but I know I would be pretty pissed. So now we just have to see Pharah finally talk with Ana, and somehow have her paths cross with new Overwatch so that she’ll have a chance to join. Idk when but it will happen (probably in Overwatch 2) >.<
The Art of Overwatch artbook also mentions it, and says that Sam is a member of a tribe from thd Pacific Northwest (although it doesn’t say which one).
There’s also a voice line in the game where she mentions going to visit her dad in Canada for the holidays - it’s pretty rare, since it only plays around Dec/Jan.
D.Va is 19 years old in 2076 while Old Overwatch was created in 2046. When D.Va was young teen, Old Overwatch collapsed. There isn’t way for D.Va to be developed at that time. The only way for D.Va to be developed is after Recall, so in Overwatch 2 story medias.
I highly doubt that Pharah has a deep connection with any of the Overwatch members. All of their members are very busy, they probably only have time to see Pharah at their brakes, and I’m sure that she’s not there all the time.
Also, Ana didn’t want Pharah to be an Overwatch member. That fact by itself states that Pharah probably only visit them once or twice, five times at most. I’m just saying that it makes sense that Pharah is not close with any Overwatch members, which is why Mercy didn’t bother to ask about Pharah.
Even if Ana didn’t want Pharah to join Overwatch, doesn’t mean she wouldn’t let her meet her colleagues.
Not sure what Pharah was doing when she’s a teenager. Assume she joined the Egyptian army when she became an adult, much less time to see her parents & other Overwatch members during this period.
In the game conversations are to tell us what heroes think about each other in different situations. Their thoughts are cannon in lore expect the ones strictle about game mechanics.
Cannon example: [Mercy] Pharah, your mother always hoped you’d follow in her footsteps. [Pharah] She did? Funny she never mentioned that to me.
Not cannon example: [Mercy] Keep the skies clear for me. [Pharah] Let’s keep the skies clear together!
