What does the world of overwatch think of cybernetics? Why don’t most of the heroes have advanced cybernetics to enhance themselves? Is it expensive? Does it take time to learn? What are the drawbacks of it, since clearly many characters don’t seem to have them?
Go to any comment section right now in YouTube or Reddit about cyborgs or prosthesis and you will see how incredibly exited people are about cyborgs and willing to cut off their limbs for it one day if the tech gets better.
So what does the normal population think of them? Was there once a human revolution/deus ex movement? Do the normal civilians have access to powerful cybernetics or only some minor ones? Why don’t more people do it? is it frowned upon to be part machine and part human, since its similar to omnics?
Kinda wish there was more lore so I could see all the answers to these.
Winston has brain enhancements, he has the same metal port/plate thing on his head that Hammond does. Widowmaker doesn’t have limbs but has been enhanced, likely though nanomachines.
most of the OW cast has cybernetics or literally is cybernetics. its most likely very commonly accepted as it could fix a lot of issues humans face, like i think even brig has cybernetic implants in her eyes, or maybe im just thinking of the carbon fiber skin
Junkrat,McCree and Torb only got cybernetics because they lost them in combat or something else. They aren’t really enhancements,other than obviously helping with their disabilities.
Moira and widowmaker dont seem to have any cybernetics either. I never thought of Moiras abilities like them.
What I meant here is something that actually enhances them and gives them their abilities. A true cyborg like Doomfist or Genji.
Junkrat being the obvious “only normal functionality” one, you don’t think Mcree and Torb have above human capabilities because of their enhancements? Torbs ability to melt/throw metal through an inductive claw doesn’t seem “enhanced”?
Barring the idea of cost, lots of people aren’t willing to give up humanity just for “enhancements”. Personally if I could transfer to a robot body to lose my fragility I would in a second but I know several people I’ve discussed this with who are horrified at simply implanting say, a headset in their jawbone and not because of any privacy issues, just because it’s a little less human.
I’m going to say it’s partially because having everyone be cybernetically enhanced is kind of a copout way of making “heroes”. So design wise it’s good to have people without it.
Do Mercy’s wings count? They seem directly attached to her back on some skins but then just part of her breastplate on others, so it’s hard to tell. Still it does help her fly and stuff, so the enhancement part is there.
Supposedly part of the suit, so I don’t think I’d count them. Skins in general aren’t canon. They are definitely mechanical, but not part of her or an enhancement of her actual body.
If they’d ever explain her “healing factor” we might be able to pull her into enhanced… but as for the wings… suit I think.
We don’t really know, but since Doomfist’s family runs a cybernetics company, they must be fairly common.
Most of the heroes who have cybernetics have them to replace limbs that were lost. Only Ana had a voluntary cybernetic enhancement - a cybernetic eye to enhance her vision and improve her skills as a sniper.
(Symmetra’s situation is unknown - her arm may have been a voluntary enhancement, or it may have been a lost limb)
For quality cybernetics, yes - but Junkrat was able to get a fully functioning cybernetic arm despite not being a wealthy individual, so it likely varies.
Genji said it was a long and difficult road to recovery; McCree said it was difficult to adjust. Like with most medical recovery, it takes time.
The drawback is needing to replace a limb - most people would not voluntarily go through the long and painful process of getting a cybernetic limb unless it was their only chance of restoring normal function to a missing/damaged limb.
Well maybe if you didn’t delete the question before anyone could get to it. Answers take time.
The only heroes with cybernetics are Doomfist, Genji, Junkrat, McCree, Sombra, Symmetra, and Torbjorn. Ana used to have a cybernetic eye but doesn’t anymore. Winston and Wrecking Ball have plates on their heads but it’s unclear what those are for. That’s only 10 out of 32, or 31%.
A third of the cast and you don’t think that’s lots?
Moira has something plugged into her that literally sucks “life” from other people and infuses it into herself. If that’s not connected to her somehow I’d be surprised.
There is … SOMETHING on sigmas brain or at least his skull. Soldier is canonically augmented.
as for Winston and Hammond, it’s not specific, but for a technologically advanced society, why else would you have a giant metal thing in the middle of your forehead? It’s not for style. At the very least it’s a plug for monitoring or modifying their brains.
I don’t think we have a lore example of her even using it? I’m going with what information we have.
It doesn’t say he’s NOT cybernetically augmented. It just says “other augmentations.”
2/3rds would be “most”, a lot being very subjective.
Personally I think the amount of people sporting them is pretty large for such a small sample. Especially of “heroes”. It’s probably pretty close to how many people nowadays have non-essential eye surgery.
Prosthetic technology is very advanced in Overwatch, but I would not say people are voluntarily cyberizing themselves like modern day eye surgery. On this point, its worth looking at who has them and why.
Ana (formerly) - Was given a cybernetic eye as an upgrade as she was part of an elite sniper unit.
Doomfist - Became an amputee in the crisis. Lots of people likely lost limbs because of the war.
Torbjorn - Became an amputee shortly after the crisis, while dealing with its aftermath. Similar to Doomfist.
Genji - Nearly killed by Hanzo, cyberized as a result. Unique process, he’s the only known recipient of it, and it was so he could walk again.
Junkrat - Unknown how, but he lost his arm and leg in Junkertown. Presumably he blew at least one of them off. Lots of background characters were shown, Junkrat was the only amputee.
McCree - Lost his arm. Don’t know how. He seems to be quiet about it. But this was a present day injury of a man with a hefty price on his head. If he didn’t get a new arm, he would probably be dead by now.
Symmetra - Unknown why, but it was possibly taken from her by Vishkar so that she could wield the glove and better manipulate hard light tech.
Sombra - Voluntarily put a computer in her spine when she was “seen” by an entity and panicked. It could have been a blackmarket shop she was at, or a tattoo parlor, but its worth mentioning that the person who installed the computer in her spine was also an amputee. Its also worth mentioning that, knowing Sombra, it is very very very likely some blackmarket shop rather than something official.
Sojourn - We don’t have her bio yet, we know very little about her. But she was missing her arms as far back as 20 years ago. Could be lost from the crisis? This is speculation.
Overall, among these 9 heroes… 5-6 of them were amputees that got replacement limbs so that they could continue fighting (or in Junkrat’s case, continue being a chaotic nuisance) while 2-3 of them were voluntarily enhanced so that they could better perform their respective jobs (Omnic Crisis sniper, architech of a shady company from childhood, freelance hacker and part time terrorist.)
