I been playing since day 1, and still to this day im still wandering, do they need the masks on to survive?
Reaper, no. Genji, possibly.
Reaper has his mask because he’s ugly now or to strike fear into his enemies. Genji needs it to survive
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Genji took off his mask in Dragons though
reaper probably doesn’t need the mask to live as the changes are to his biology. as far as we know the mask is just cosmetic. genji might need his mask but he doesn’t like die instantly if he removes it (see dragons cinematic). also genji carried in ow2 cinematic btw.
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Well maybe he can have it off for a short amount of time
Probably not for both.
I mean, one of them is assumed to be dead by the media in Overwatch universe (No one knows Reaper is alive beside Ana, S76 and Talon) while the other… I have no idea.
so rude…respect the elderly smh 
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Pretty sure Genji’s face is just a bit scarred up and he wears the masks for the cool factor.
After all, between Mercy giving him chocolate, asking to catch dinner with him, and him apparently drinking her coffee on a regular basis, it seems safe to assume he can eat normally and therefore it seems unlikely that he’d have breathing or whatever issues without the mask.
Ana also took Reaper’s mask off in a comic I think. I don’t think either need them.
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Isn’t Reaper made of nanobots now or something? Did I make that up? This stuff is so convoluted sometimes that it’s hard to remember.
He only partly took it off, to show Hanzo his eyes. Then immediately put it back on. Technically Darth Vader took off his mask too, right before he died… 
Well Vader basically killed himself with his own force lightning so he was already dying, therefore he didnt need the mask.
He actually did need the mask, as was stated multiple times in cannon, both pre and post Disney. It’s why he had a special pod for the brief times he was without his mask, it’s why you hear his artifical breathing, the sound he makes when not talking, etc.
I’m not sure you understand Star Wars lore. Because Vader is more machine than man, he can not use lightning. It was because he grabbed the Emperor while he was using lightning that shorted out all of Vader electronics that was keeping him alive. That’s what killed him basically.
At the very least, Genji’s iconic mask clearly isn’t designed to help him breath, so I don’t see why he’d need it.
If you look at Genji’s Blackwatch skin, you can see he wears some kind of face piece under the metal face mask. It could be something to help him breath while fighting. I’d imagine cybernetically enhanced strength and speed come with added stress to what remains of his organic body. His upgraded cybernetics may not require this, though.
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He’s not made of nanobots. He can break his body down into a cloud of cells (which looks like smoke) and reform somewhere else, but he’s still human.
Also, in his blackwatch skin you can see his face is just fine lol
It’s hilarious how on the wiki they say “His identity and motives are a mystery” when every other character has a line of dialogue commenting on him because they all know who he is. I feel like they thought that was going to be a bigger mystery than it was.