One of the most prominent parts of the lore from the early days of Overwatch was Mercy and Genji’s very close relationship. They initially came across as besties, and then it got quite flirtatious between them, all the way from 2016-2022.
We got confirmation that they had a dinner date between them after Storm Rising, used to always stay up late at night together alone and overall cared for each other deeply. Once OW2 hit, though, all previous Genji x Mercy lines were removed, which was really strange to see.
I suppose all we can do is wait until PvE but it’s so jarring to me that most of this seems to be removed, and that we aren’t getting any more hints. It’s also strange that Mercy states she has a crush on someone to Baptiste, yet there are no OW2 lines between her and the only person she’s ever seemed remotely interested in romantically.
“With any luck, you’ll find out soon enough.” So in the “New Blood” comics, we know that Bap knows Pharah, but the way this sounds, it might be one of those situations where it’s there, but you’ll have to find it. It’s not one of those cases where it’s someone you don’t know. Anyways, going back to the topic of Blizzard retconning this ship because I think from ClearlyTogether, she posted a video of her talking to the Pharah VA, and she asked if we’re getting any “GAY” voicelines, and she mentioned that “you’ll be happy.” So, I’m not too sure it’s Genji anymore, but that Overwatch 2 BlizzCon 2021 video was after Michael Chu left. They mentioned Genji and Mercy having different dialogues about their “relationship,” but we weren’t given the specific details on what they meant by “relationship.” So, for now, we can only hope for the best and use previous evidence that it’s most likely canon from the Christmas comic, dating sim (probably not), PvE/Valentine voicelines, and Michael Chu, who wrote the lore (they probably scratched the whole story, and when Jeff left, they gave a goodbye saying, “Thank you for being our Mercy to our Genji” or the other way around).
I’m inclined to suggest this is the new narrative team clearing out a lot of the old Chu-era pseudo-canon to make way for their own stories. Mercy and Genji has always been a very dubiously canon subject even when Chu was at the helm, so in the run up to the story mode adding tonnes of new lore now is a good time to solidify their stance on it.
Because it was mostly hinted at through voice lines, they can strike almost all of it down because voice lines in the PvP are largely considered to be non-canon. PvE is a bit of a hazy area in that respect, but it would be easy to just declare it non-canon and remove it. Especially since (as far as I know, please correct me if i’m wrong) it’s an interaction that has a random chance of happening, unlike the true mission dialogue. They’ve removed dialogue from the PvE before with Retribution. They could certainly do it again if they wanted to.
Personally, I wonder if Mercy is a bit of a poisoned chalice for the current writers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re looking for a way out of the hole that the previous writers threw them in. By this point they might just be better off just making it clear that she’s got no interest in anyone in the current cast and leaving it at that until they find a suitable writer with the talent required to handle a story of that nature, if that is indeed the direction they decide to go with her moving forwards.
That said, curious that this happens directly before the first proper Pride event. Perhaps Mercy can put the ‘B’ in ‘LGBT’ and then they can let everyone be happy? Or at the very least, equally miserable.
Imho new narrators team doesn’t quite interesting to write a love story of old people (Mercy is 37) and prefer nu-relationship (whatever it means) so you will see more Kirioko, LW related lines rather than something about Mercy or solder or Genji
breaking a “historic” ship in the fandom is usually a risk. I remember very well how exaggeratedly irritated a part of the LGBT community was by the revelation of Reaper’s wife (nonsensical, considering that years ago Chu had confirmed that he had a wife) instead of opening doors for an x76 Reaper. accused blizzard of homophobia and non-inclusiveness, in my opinion a completely wrong and inappropriate statement.
now, in the case of mercy there is the delicate issue of PhaMercy, a fandom top 2 LGBT ship (obviously the top 1 is mcHanzo). but there is the legitimate love story between genji and mercy, included in old ow1 valentine voicelines, and in storm rising. but at the same time we know that the ow2 writers like to create narrative retcons that are rather big in their ‘small’ details, useful for making the lore expandable.
so I think they should have a lot of caution about which direction to take and be able to be convincing. or at least, in the most honest way. I just hope that in the end there isn’t the same pointless war of fandom that condemns one choice over the other as it senselessly did for reaper x 76.
Genji & Mercy are a hugely iconic paring in the Overwatch universe, and people haven’t just forgotten all their interactions together. I’m only hoping for this because of the Valentine’s Event, which advertised and used Genji and Mercy as its love interests, which screams “These two still represent love in Overwatch”.
I think that they need to confirm that Mercy has no romantic interests or that she’s with Genji, the only hero she’s ever had a romance story with. It makes zero sense to retcon this part of the lore.
Sigh, I hate to be the one to say this but I think Pharah x Mercy now has a higher potential of happening than Genji x Mercy. I say this because like you said, they removed a lot of lines between Genji and Mercy while they added a few between Pharah and mercy which a lot of people say are flirts. The PharMercy shippers are VERY vocal and I think Blizzard sees that as an opportunity to make people satisfied. Plus, being straight is a no no these days and making her a lesbian, Bi, or any of the other letters would earn them more brownies than they could eat. Of course nothing has been confirmed yet and I hope I’m wrong with my theory. Heck, they could just have Mercy be single and not looking, I’d be fine with that. But one more nail in the coffin, Mercy has a voiceline with Bap and she says “with any luck, you’ll find out soon enough” when talking about an interest…it just so happens a pride event is coming “soon enough” so this might get ugly.
One more thing, having Mercy be romantically involved with Pharah, wouldn’t that technically make her a, you know, starts with groo and ends with mer? I don’t think anyone wants that.
Yeah, this is exactly my speculation, and it’s a huge shame because I really enjoyed the Gency ship in the early days of Overwatch, and there’s always been that respect between Genji and Mercy players who enjoy the ship together.
Had this been the other way around, and they’d retconned canon flirty interactions between two women, it would be a whole different story, but because it’s a straight ship, only those of us who enjoyed it bat an eyelid.
While Pharah x Mercy is morally okay, I think socially, it’s very odd. In canon photographs, Mercy is seen as a young adult or late teenager in the same picture as a very young Fareeha. I think it’d be strange for anyone to date someone they knew as a child when they themselves were an adult, but I suppose there’s nothing wrong with it in the present.
I’m a gay male myself, and I love LGBTQIA+ representation, but not when we’re out here retconning straight romances that were there all along.
The posible largest gap would be mercy at 18 pharah at 13 and for genji he would have been 16 when she was 18 but we know they didnt meet till much later in both their lifes
Yeah, that’s my point, being a full-on adult with adult responsibilities, a job etc and seeing your co-worker’s child come into the base sometimes (I guarantee Ana would’ve asked Mercy to babysit) and then dating them later in life.
For me, it’s a strange concept, but I think it’s okay now that they’re in their 30s together. Still, not a fan of retconning Gency in favour of it.
Ya and thats what they want good or bad it would take eyes off the thing they are trying to cover up it worked with lifeweaver and the overwatch league lawsuit
It really is a nail biter at this point, I wish companies would stop doing this stuff where they all of the sudden make a character part of the pride for clicks. Honestly, if they make Mercy lesbian or something, I’m probably going to stop maining her or playing her all together. And no, it’s not because I hate pride (although it’s very annoying) it’s because I wouldn’t feel like Mercy represented me anymore and I couldn’t relate to her. I love mercy and I see a lot of myself in her, but if they do make her part of Pride, like I said I won’t be able to relate to her anymore. Blizzard needs to stick to making new lgbtqia characters, not converting old characters.
Yeah, I feel the same, I identify a lot with Mercy, and having seen her be heavily interested in a male character was really cute. I want gay representation, but not where we convert old characters to appease one side of the community. Make new gay characters.
I’ve been rooting for Ana x Reinhardt for years and considered some of their voicelines flirty because I would like them to be. That’s what shipping is : it makes you feel like the lines were flirty even if they were not.
I never got those “are they dating” vibes for Mercy and Genji like other did tbh.
Even with the Valentines chocolate voicelines, but who knows. Those lines are gone now and even the ages of the characters are gone and they could tweak it for their hope-to-see-it-one-day chronology.
Whoever Mercy’s love interest is, it would cause an uproar in the community anyway.
Some shippers can be really protective of their own ships and headcanons and it’ll always cause drama somewhere.