Everything explained in the title. Make a list of your favorite OW ships and explain why you think they are good or could work out, Im curious to see.
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Definitely not Mercy and Genji 
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Baptiste/Sombra: Probably my favorite ship. They have interesting interactions and clearly admire/care for each other. They aren’t boring and both have endearing personalities. I think they could have amazing chemistry.
Ana/Reinhardt: Again, they have lore interactions that are very good proving they have a thing for each other. I don’t really need to explain myself, this is probably the favorite het ship of the entire game
Moira/Reaper: Ultimately, I think both of them could only be with someone who has chosen an equally dark path in life. I think it’s a weird ship, I admit, but I couldn’t see either of them with anybody else.
D.va/Brig: I’m gonna get flak for saying this but this community has a tendency to ship insane LGBT pairings such as Reaper/Soldier and Junkrat/Roadhog. They aren’t insane because they’re LGBT, they’re insane because they’re unhealthy or make no sense whatsoever. However, this one seems very plausible to me. D.va and Brig are approximately same age, have the same values and could get along very well. Brig loves cats and D.va has a cat skin (stupid reason, but why not?). Brig is a mechanic/engineer and D.va depends on a mech to do her job.
Mercy/McCree: Ultimately, I think I’d prefer to see Mercy with McCree than see her with Genji. McCree is just… less boring. Guy has a charismatic personality and is not a Gary-Tsu. I don’t like Gency or Pharmercy.
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Do the Pharmercy x Gency wars still exist?lulululu
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Why is this in story discussion? Ships are not canon.
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Since this is in story discussion…
Don’t see why it would ever happen. Ana was happily married until she was “killed” by Widowmaker. Her voicelines with Rein are about the same as her lines with Soldier. They’re good friends.
Don’t see why it would ever happen. Reaper was happily married until he was “killed” in the Swiss HQ incident. Neither of them seem interested in pursuing a new relationship either.
These two have never met or interacted.
Mercy is heavily set up to be in a relationship with Genji. I don’t like it, but its a thing that exists. Also, Genji is not a “Gary-Stu,” if anyone that title belongs to Winston.
As for Baptiste/Sombra… Their recent interactions could be interpreted as best friends or as romantic. Baptiste is Sombra’s only friend, and she shows genuine care for Baptiste’s wellbeing. It could go either way.
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I have listed the ships I like, I never claimed every ship I listed is lore. You’re trying to debate me simply for listing my favorite ships according to my personal taste as if were trying to claim every single one of these is lore or have strong basis on reality.
Tho I have to say Ana and Rein definitely have something more than “just good friends” going on. Ana compliments Rein’s looks and vice-versa. They could have a minor crush on each other, this isn’t unreasonable to consider at all.
Plus, Genji is most definitely a Gary-Stu. Guy with unique, special powers that is kind-hearted despite his very troubled past… omegalul, if this isn’t a cliche Gary-Stu, I have no idea what it is.
I prefer McCree’s personality and think it would interact with Mercy’s personality in a more enderearing, likeable way. This is my reason for shipping them, nothing else. And I have a right to ship them even if they turn out not to be lore.
Why is Mercy heavily set up to be in a relationship with Genji? It isn’t something unlikely to happen (I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened) but it isn’t confirmed, either.
A Mary Sue, or Gary Stu, is a character who is portrayed as absurdly perfect, with no flaws and is inexplicably good at nearly everything. Genji is someone who slacked for most of his youth, and as a consequence was nearly killed by his brother. He was then adapted into a cybernetic body that he loathed for the greater part of a decade, he failed missions such as his apprehension of Doomfist, and he did not accept anything about himself until spending time with Zenyatta. He was slothful, he was punished, and then he spent years practicing so he could become at peace with himself.
Note: He was not someone who just got a robot body and became a badass cyborg ninja. He was still trained by Asa Yamagami. He was just neglectful, and instead chose to be a playboy rather than take his position seriously as his brother did. And that cost him his body.
Winston is the only primate from the Horizon Lunar Colony that wasn’t blinded by the rage and could control it. Winston performed literal rocket science as a teenager to escape to Earth and accurately reach his destination. Winston solved Tracer’s chronal disassociation, something that had stumped all of Overwatch’s scientists, implied to include even those who developed the chronal technology used by the Slipstream in the first place. And this was all before Winston had a formal university education. He then went on to defeat Doomfist, the man who we see can create craters or send Winston hurtling into distant buildings, in a fist fight. An impossible task that he pretty much singlehandedly completed on his second ever field mission (Storm Rising was his first.) It appears he is also the de facto leader of his Recalled Overwatch. His only debatable “flaw” is his low self-confidence, which has not caused any problems for him and is seen as endearing by other characters through his interactions.
As for the ships. This is Story Discussion. Its a board for discussing the story of Overwatch, not fan-made fiction. I see ships, especially crack ships which a lot of those I tend to see pop up in them, as fan-made fiction. They tend to have little basis on the lore or state of the characters themselves.
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I have no idea why you’re bringing up Winston to the table. We are not discussing Winston, we are discussing Genji.
And yeah, Genji is a textbook Gary-Stu. Gonna pick the description and link from TV Tropes:
https: //tvtropes. org/ pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MartyStu (just remove the space)
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Marty Stu tends towards taking the Rule of Cool TO THE EXTREME!!! Due in part to the Double Standard, Marty tends to be less of an emotional cornerstone and more just an embodiment of pure physical and mental awesome (a la God-Mode Sue). He’s the type that tends to be stronger than The Incredible Hulk, faster than Sonic the Hedgehog, and have more MP than God himself. (CHECK)
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Marty also generally doesn’t have the sort of purity common in Mary (although it’s not unheard of). Instead, he tends more towards the Darker and Edgier path, with a tragic and very personal backstory being the order of the day. Whereas Mary would use this to show that she’s a brave survivor, Marty uses it for the sake of prolonged brooding. (SUPER CHECK)
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Aesthetically placed scars can keep Marty from being too pretty, while emphasizing his dangerous lifestyle. (CHECK, look at his Blackwatch skin emphaasizing cliché scars)
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If he doesn’t use firearms, he will be a master of some kind of fantastically-obscure and specialized (if not imaginary) martial art which will likewise be discussed in excessive detail. (SUPER CHECK)
You can read the entire article and see for yourself that Genji is compatible with like 85-90% of what is being described.
Winston is morally pure, but he wasn’t designed to be “cool”, edgy-but-morally-correct, overpowered and appealing to an audience of male players full of power fantasies. Genji is the Gary Stu, who will most likely end up with Mercy (the Mary Sue) as a trophy wife. Which IMO is boring. You’re entitled to like it, everybody is, but it isn’t my thing.
As far as the thread goes, when I replied to it at first it wasn’t here on the Story section. The OP originally posted it on the General Discussion section, but a mod probably moved the thread to another section. The OP can confirm what I’m saying is true once he/she reads this post.
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Genji isnt all powerful or undefeatable - we saw him get defeated by Doomfist in basically one hit.
Genji isn’t some brooding antihero - he’s at peace with his past and has forgiven his brother. That’s kinda the opposite of brooding.
Those scars are no longer visible.
Genji is never described as an expert/master of anything.
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Genji isnt all powerful or undefeatable - we saw him get defeated by Doomfist in basically one hit.
I’m not saying he is undefeatable, but he has unique powers. Very unique powers, probably more than anyone in the entire cast. He was designed to be the special dude who is in the middle between human and robot. He was designed to be cool.
Genji isn’t some brooding antihero - he’s at peace with his past and has forgiven his brother. That’s kinda the opposite of brooding.
Except he had a brooding period in his life that defined and shaped who he is a lot. You can even hear Zenyatta telling Hanzo, “I sense in you the same rage that once consumed your brother”. Let’s not pretend brooding and edgy don’t describe Genji to a great extent.
Those scars are no longer visible.
So?
Genji is never described as an expert/master of anything.
Alongside his brother, he has the special unexplained “Shimada” power and is a great swordsman. His OPness even reflects in gameplay (he probably has one of the most powerful offensive ultimates of all heroes).
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That’s the thing about Gary Stus - they dont change. Genji had a character arc and became a better person, so he isn’t a Gary Stu.
Where’s said they don’t change?
If anything, at the very least Genji has strong Gary Stu traits. His current personality is as bland as it could be. He went from slacker to edgelord to Nice Guy because of unique and special events that happened in his life.
Compare him to McCree. McCree fits some stereotypes and tropes for sure but he isn’t a Gary Stu. He believes in doing justice with his own hands, had an outlaw past, and instead of fitting some brooding/edgy cliché he has a smooth and nonchalant approach to things.
Baptiste is another great example of character who made bad decisions in the past and isn’t a bland Gary Stu.
Genji is the closest to Gary Stu we get in OW, and Mercy definitely the closest to Mary Sue (thought we can argue Tracer has some traits as well).
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Okay, I don’t think McCree’s a Gary Stu either, but if we’re going to play this game, how is a cowboy taking on an entire gang of outlaws and an Omnic bodyguard with a Gatling gun, then defeating them by himself not an OP feat in your mind? They even made the other members of Ashe’s gang bumbling buffoons for it.
Genji has a reason for all of his abilities and has to suffer while wielding them, yet McCree gets to perform a feat you’d only expect someone like Genji or Tracer to be able to do with nothing but a revolver and a smile on his cheeky face effortlessly, and that’s perfectly fine for you? With your standards, what is so interesting about a guy acting completely non-chalant while facing his old gang and completely outmatched?
Don’t get me wrong, I like McCree. But just because he’s more grounded and down-to-earth than Genji doesn’t mean he isn’t designed or written to be “cool.” He clearly is.
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Yes, (like most of the Overwatch heroes) McCree is cliché and was designed to fulfill some power fantasies and be “cool”. Read what I posted above you. McCree was definitely designed according to some tropes, I admitted as much.
But first of all, I like him because he isn’t bland like Genji is. He is smooth, has a good sense of humor, and is much more charismatic.
Second, we don’t know all about McCree’s lore to claim he hasn’t suffered. He lost one arm, had a falling out with Ashe and was a member of Blackwatch for a while. We need to wait for OW2/further lore to clarify his arc. We know McCree is less dense and less self-conscious than Genji is, which is fine. Not everyone becomes super serious as a response to life’s hardships; many deal with them in different ways. McCree is emotionally lighter.
Third, McCree is a guy with a gun who happens to be a very good shot. He is powerful, but he isn’t a cyberninja with a magical sword who can summon a dragon. Genji’s powers come across as even more over the top than McCree’s abilities do.
Current McCree seems to be in a much more morally grey area than current Genji is. I can see Genji being presented as “the main hero” with heroic motivations in OW2 - I can’t see McCree being the same. He has a set of moral guidelines but clearly doesn’t care much about the law itself and broke it repeatedly in the past. He did so because he is flawed, and not because of some drama or tragic backstory.
Fourth, McCree isn’t even my favorite character lore-wise. That would be Bapt. I don’t want to seem like someone who thinks McCree is a perfectly written hero. I just prefer him over Genji, and think Genji is boring.
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You could use those same words to describe Baptiste, which is why I assume he’s your favorite character. Either way, Genji’s personality doesn’t conflict with any of those traits. He’s just a bit stiffer.
Oh yeah, he sure seemed broken up about that. I guess I missed his conflicted feelings about seeing her again hiding behind all that smarm.
Sure, we need to wait for more lore to flesh out his character, but we can say the same for Genji. Despite the absurdly incorrect narrative common among Overwatch fans, Genji is not a fleshed out character either.
Yes, Genji is one of the stand-outs among the cast in terms of ability, but it really doesn’t matter in light of Reunion. McCree can do pretty much anything Genji can just with a gun and significantly less effort. Genji fits a trope that’s more showy than McCree, but he isn’t hyper competent in comparison.
Is he, though? We know he’s wanted, but not what for. I suppose that in itself is intriguing, but considering we see him join up with OW in the Blizzcon behind the scenes, his “grey” is pretty damn close to white.
Okay fair enough, people have told me that I sometimes come off like I’m trying to convince them to like Genji and I don’t want it to seem like that.
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To use your own source, the laconic definition is:
An implausibly flawless character and/or an idealized stand-in for the author most often found in fan works.
Which sounds a lot like what I said.
You just pick and chose some aspects of Mary Sue characters. Not the definition. You can use the same list to describe Soldier 76. Soldier 76 is far from a Gary Stu, considering the laundry list of flaws and failures he brings.
Nah, Bap’s not bland. He’s playful, cheerful and optimistic, if anything. Maybe some people can see traits of charisma and endearing-ness in Genji’s personality; I simply don’t.
Oh yeah, he sure seemed broken up about that. I guess I missed his conflicted feelings about seeing her again hiding behind all that smarm.
Sure, we need to wait for more lore to flesh out his character, but we can say the same for Genji. Despite the absurdly incorrect narrative common among Overwatch fans, Genji is not a fleshed out character either.
All OW characters deserve more lore, but in comparison to most characters Genji has more lore and development. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to see more stuff regarding his arc in the future, I do, but writers already showed favoritism towards him in this regard.
About McCree and Ashe, they have many voice lines hinting they’ve got some unresolved issues. If I’m not mistaken they had a falling out and broke up many years ago so it isn’t unreasonable at all for McCree to be mostly over her and the gang.
Yes, Genji is one of the stand-outs among the cast in terms of ability, but it really doesn’t matter in light of Reunion. McCree can do pretty much anything Genji can just with a gun and significantly less effort. Genji fits a trope that’s more showy than McCree, but he isn’t hyper competent in comparison.
We can’t assume McCree can do everything Genji can just because of Reunion. We need more information and lore to establish that. For one, if gameplay has any value when it comes to the story, Genji has super mobility that can only be beaten by Tracer. Genji can cancel and deflect both bullets and projectiles. Genji can climb walls. I’m sure there are many situations in the OW universe where being faster than all humans is more valuable than being a good shot.
Is he, though? We know he’s wanted, but not what for. I suppose that in itself is intriguing, but considering we see him join up with OW in the Blizzcon behind the scenes, his “grey” is pretty damn close to white.
McCree has a set of moral guidelines and cares about right and wrong (at least currently). But we know he is more “chaotic” than “lawful”, probably. We don’t know anything about his past or his motivations behind joining OW (we’ll have to wait for that). He could be someone who goes to extremes to do what he thinks is right (bordering the end justifies the means trope), or he could be someone who changed a lot from his young outlaw self. Anyway, he isn’t a good example of Nice Guy.
Okay fair enough, people have told me that I sometimes come off like I’m trying to convince them to like Genji and I don’t want it to seem like that.
It’s fine, you don’t come across like that at all. It’s been a healthy discussion. The best part of this forum is exchanging different views, after all 
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Except there is a lot of nuance in the description you are ignoring. For one,
All the same rules apply, but a couple variations do tend to show up, expressing different ideas of what constitutes male and female “perfection”. Also referred to as “Gary Stu” or “Larry Stu” (for those who prefer rhyming to alliteration and whose dialect has the Mary-marry merger), “Mary Joe”, or “Marty Sam”.
Marty Stu will be the personification of action, action and more action.
The description especifically highlights how Gary Stus will be portrayed differently from Mary Sues in most of the cases. Whereas Mary Sues are typically passive, Gary Stus are guys of action (which is typically associated with perfect masculinity). The ideals that are considered “good” and “admirable” for women aren’t the exactly same considered admirable for men. Genji embodies both the coolness of action and the edgy-ness considered attractive for people who idealize male characters.
His heroic narrative and unique condition (of being half human half robot) is more highlighted than most personal narratives among the cast. Him forgiving the brother who almost killed him is an enormous sign of moral quality most people aren’t capable of.
Genji had a troubled past, but this does not mean he doesn’t act like a Gary Stu currently, which is my impression of the character.
Soldier is very different from Genji. He is cliché and a guy of action, alright, but he is seeking justice/revenge at all costs and has a personal vendetta against many people (Reaper being one of them). He is not a pure heart who sought redemption and forgiveness. He wants to get his hands dirty and he even has one cosmetic quote saying, “I’ve died a hero, and lived long enough to become the villain". His motivations aren’t morally righteous, whereas Genji’s are.
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His “anger issue” (primal raging whenever his glasses broke or his friends were seriously injured) COULD also be a character flaw, similar to the Hulk. So far though it’s been a good thing that’s helped him against his opponent, but I’m hopeful that it’ll eventually result in him making a big mistake.