The Story of Overwatch Explained

OverWatch's

story

and characters are easily one of the most fascinating parts of the game and are what have drawn so many people to the vibrant world it presents. Do you know the back

story

of OverWatch, the organization and how the entire wide range of characters you play in the game, you fit into their world and your existence, if not, I've got you covered here's the story of OverWatch, the full story

explained

Now, the dates themselves are a little confusing in the OverWatch timeline, so we'll use the short animated flashback as the basis of our timeline in this first animated short in Overwatch history Winston, a former member of OverWatch, he returns to his abandoned headquarters and activates a recall for all known previous OverWatch agents, meaning he wants them all to come back into action and restart the organization, but why did they shut down in the first place?

Well this is where our story begins about 30 years before the recall, a company called omnica Corporation starts manufacturing omnics. These were automated machines designed to revolutionize the world's workforce. Providing a cheap and constantly improving workforce, their factories were called Omniums and Omniums were set up in countries around the world, but before long the Omniums began to malfunction. An investigation of Omnica Corporation showed that they were lying about their expected growth and production, which led to Omnica being dissolved and the Omniums being closed. The gigantic machine building enterprise went wrong, who would have thought, but for reasons unknown to humanity at the time, the omnium suddenly began to reactivate and they immediately declared war on humanity, built huge war machines and began to attack. cities around the world without giving any demand or reason for their aggression, this would become known as the Omnic Crisis and is one of the most significant events in the history of OverWatch World; however, we learned later in Overwatch history what caused this increase. of the omnics everything came from an omnic named Aurora Aurora was a curious and inquisitive omnic who traveled the world in search of spiritual and physical enlightenment, eventually in Nepal she would find it and become the first omnic to gain sentience, i.e.

She had the ability to feel emotions and think independently. Exactly what happens next is not clear even to the omnics themselves, but she took a big risk: she sacrificed her own life and transcended life itself to transmit her sentience to all. omnics of the world. She said that she was enveloped in a great Golden Light and it expanded reaching what the omnics now call the iris. The iris is a kind of spiritual place of Enlightenment and over time the omnics would come to build statues and temples dedicated to Aurora and give thanks here. to her sacrifice and try to reach the same level of Enlightenment that she achieved and become one with the iris through meditation, so let's return to the omnic crisis.

Nations around the world were unanimously losing to the omnics the same adaptability that made the omnics useful tools of the Work. They were tactically impossible enemies to defeat, not a single country around the world was able to close even one omnium, so humans were in big trouble, but there were outstanding individuals who through their skills and ingenuity were able to achieve smaller victories and the United Nations. He secretly brought them together to form a unified task force. This task force was OverWatch Jack Morrison, also known as Private 76 Gabriel Reyes Reaper Anna Amari Mina Leal Reinhardt Wilhelm and Torbiren Lindholm.

These were the six founding members of the organization on top-secret missions targeting key omnic strongholds that closed. One such mission was Operation White Dome, where Torbjorn was seriously injured and bravely rescued by Reinhardt. In exchange, Torbin allowed Reinhardt to name his daughter and also made him his godfather. the name Brigitta Lindholm, so after much sacrifice of fighting and these concerted missions, the OverWatch team put an end to the omnic crisis, the world rejoiced, and OverWatch was praised as the savior of humanity and a model of kindness and heroism , the organization grew and began recruiting more. operational and even expanded the scope of their missions with global stability as their objective OverWatch began to confront terrorist dictators, rebellious omnic forces and even natural disasters with their scientific expertise, they were even able to eradicate epidemics, reverse ecological damage and develop advances in care medical.

The days would continue for about another two decades, so let's take a look at what was happening to other characters around the world. Meanwhile, about 20 years before the retreat, in South Korea, an omnic faction called gwishin began operating. on his own account. They emerged from an omnium in the East China Sea initially in the form of a giant omnic colossus that would attack South Korea every few months. In response, the South Korean government created a mechanized armored drone unit called Mecca. Mecca was able to defend itself from the Colossus. For several years, with each fight ending in a stalemate, Mecca would defeat the Guishin but not destroy them, sending them back into the ocean to bide their time, but eventually the Colossus and the Guishin were able to adapt as the Guishin were known to do. omnic and were able to interfere.

Since Mecca's control networks meant they could no longer operate on their own, in desperation the South Korean government would respond by searching for pilots trained to operate the machines which became known as the Mecca Squadron at the time. that they would call Hana Song. a world champion esports player known to us as Diva in the United States about 20 years before we called Elizabeth Caledonia Ash is disowned by her parents shortly before her 18th birthday, leading her to plot a series of ups and downs against the company. of his family in Revenge, which he soon joins. by a man named Cole Cassidy and form the Deadlock Rebels, also known as the Deadlock Gang, together they become a notorious criminal organization in the Southwestern United States in a short time, although they are arrested through an OverWatch sting operation and Cassidy is captured and gives him the option of rotting in jail. or join them, he chooses to join them as part of a new secret sub-organization they were forming called Blackwatch.

Blackwatch will be very key to seeing a story, but we'll talk about that later, at the same time, in Australia things were much less Rosie was still around. 20 years before the retreat, the Australian government attempted to make peace with the omnics, returning a large portion of land and the country's omnium to the omnics in the hope that they could foster a happy coexistence between humans and omnics, but the land they They were given it came at a costly time and a large number of humans were displaced and, furious at this treatment, they formed a group known as the Australian Liberation Front, one of their members was Mako Rutledge, now known as roadhog, they began to retaliate. against the omnics and eventually sabotaged their omnium accidentally. resulting in an explosion that not only destroyed the facility but irradiated the entire interior of Australia, turning it into the apocalyptic Wasteland it is today above the ruins of that omnium, although the survivors formed a junk city named after the pieces. of metal and the junk they were used to assemble it and appropriately their people would call themselves junkers.

The two initial leaders of Junkertown were Mason Howell and a man known only as Stone Stone and how they were war buddies and good friends. However, when it came time for Junkertown to elect a leader, Hal took it. sole control of the city and banished Stone to the Wasteland along with his wife and children. Wasteland is a troubled, lawless region outside of Junkertown where survivors who call themselves The Wastelanders are forced to fight not only the harsh environment but also feral omnics who hold a grudge against humans. Stone died in the Wasteland and was buried. there along with some of their children, who unfortunately also did not survive for 13 years.

Mason Howe rules Junkertown while his youngest king engages in several reckonings in the process. Account settlements are free. He fights in the Free-For-All Arena, where several participants battle the current ruler of Junkertown for control of the throne during his 13-year rule. Mason Hall never lost a single Trial of Accounts, although it is likely that he played some underhanded tricks to accomplish this feat. Challenged by a wasteland called Odessa Stone, the same daughter of the man she banished to death, Odessa participates in the Last Judgment being the first wasteland to do so and, against all odds, she manages to win with her Victory, she is the Junker Queen of the Crown and remains in charge. from Junkertown to the present day, where she rules with an Iron Fist and some sick power chords to our timeline, although around 12 years before the retirement, the rest of the world is still filling in the presence of OverWatch, which Still largely considered a Force for Good in Japan, the Shimada clan reached a critical point in their history while they were criminals.

The Shimada clan had ruled Kanazaka in Japan and the neighboring area for centuries because their illegal activities such as arms trafficking and assassinations were combined with deep respect for the people they ruled believed strongly in honor and loyalty and therefore Therefore, the people of Kanazaka felt safe and happy with the Shimadas in charge. A notable example that demonstrates this relationship is told to us by Kiriko, a young woman who grew up in Kanazaka and under the wing of the Shimadas because her mother was the one who taught the Shimada children to fight. She tells us that every year Kanazaka celebrates a final of the Summer Festival where every night its residents leave their homes to watch a great fireworks show for a long time.

A while ago, a rival clan tried to use this as an opportunity to end Shimada's rule in Kanazaka, with everyone distracted by the fireworks. This rival clan set fire to house shrines and areas of importance to the Shimada, such as the fields that generated money for them. that with everyone distracted the fires would burn out of control and they hoped that the shimadas would have immediately sent some cars to extinguish the flames in the fields and orchids where their financial interests were located, they thought that the shimadas would not bother to help the people of kanazaka who They would be considered a replaceable workforce, so members of this rival clan hid in the fields waiting to ambush the Shimada when they arrived, but instead the Shimada arrived in Kanazaka with water, food, and medicinal supplies to tend to them. people.

It was only after making sure that the people were alright, the Shimara headed to their fields and the talents that the people came with them when they arrived, they easily outnumbered and defeated their rival clan, however, this did not stop others. clans tried to usurp the shimadas and finally around 12 years before. Shortly, Shimada leader Sojiro is assassinated and it is time for his son Hanzo to take control of the Shimada clan and Hanamura Castle. As soon as Hanzo becomes the head of the clan, his Elders demand that he do something about his younger brother Genji, whose easy going and wayward attitude angered them, finally Hanzo confronts his brother Genji and asks him to Take on a more involved role in the running of the clan.

Unhappy with this idea, Genji refuses, angering Hanzo with his response. The tension between the two brothers eventually escalated into violent conflict. confrontation that led Hanzo to kill Genji or so he thought. This tragic act breaks Hanzo's heart and he decides to abandon his clan, leading the remaining members of the Shimada clan to mark him as a target for assassination in reality, although Kenji survived and was saved by OverWatch and in particular by Dr. Angela Ziegler. , also known as Mercy Genji, Genji's body was reconstructed through cybernetics and, seeing his potential, OverWatch transformed him into a living weapon to turn against the Shimada clan and their illegal activities.

Genji then determinedly sets about the task of dismantling his family's criminal empire and ultimately succeeding. This era represents the beginning of a new generation of OverWatch, as new agents joined the organization at Horizon Lunar Colony, a base research on the moon, scientists were experimenting with genetically enhanced animals, particularly guerrillas, one of those animals was a monkey. who showed such rapid brain development that Dr. Harold Winston, a scientist at The Colony, taught him science and inspired him with Tales of Human Greatness, although the other gorillas formed an uprising and killed the Horizon Lunar Colony scientists who did not.

They wanted to be part of it. This gorilla took the name of his mentor Winston and uses an escape pod to reach Earth, where he will eventually join OverWatch, an organization that represented everything he admired.of humanity; However, in the Escape he leaves behind one of his dear friends, Hammond. The genetically enhanced hamster with remarkable mechanical ability like Winston Hammond escaped from the Horizon lunar colony when the gorilla revolt began, but unlike Winston, his capsule broke and he landed in a different place, the Australian outback wasteland, Here he becomes a mechanical wrestler and, eventually, the champion of the Junkeryard.

A gladiator-style arena match that was used in Junkertown as a form of entertainment, here he would give the name Wrecking Ball in reference to the giant mechanical ball that had created another of the new recruits named Lena Oxton hired by OverWatch to test a new experimental plane that was capable of manipulating time, unfortunately the plane malfunctioned and as a consequence the tracer was affected by something known as chronic dissociation. , which meant it moved in and out of our present time. However, Winston invented a device known as the Chronos Accelerator that allowed him to remain anchored in the present time, and also gave him special abilities that he could then use in combat, such as the ability to slow down or speed up his own time at will.

Among the others new recruits in OverWatch there is an important figure named Moira odeyorin. I'm pretty sure I figured out that Irish pronunciation. Moira was a doctor with dubious morals who believed in scientific advancement at all costs, although she had previously been condemned by OverWatch for some of her questionable actions, she is brought into the now growing secret black surveillance operation led by Gabriel Reyes, aka like Reaper. At this point, they have begun to carry out increasingly bold operations that finally culminate in the important operation retribution, what is Operation Retribution? We are now about eight years before Overwatch and Short's Oslo facility is attacked by a group called Talon.

Talon began as a mercenary group during the Omnic Crisis, but eventually grew in power and began influencing world governments and the global operations of this attack. at the Oslo facility triggers the retaliatory operation where OverWatch sent a strike team to Rialto Venice, where a key talent headquarters is located. The strike team consists of Moira Reyes. Genji and Cassidy together infiltrate and reach Antonio, the man who planned the attack on Oslo, but even when confronting the team, Antonio simply mocks OverWatch and laughs at his inability. to do something against him, as they were bound by moral and legal codes in a fit of rage, although Reyes kills Antonio and creates a highly dangerous situation where the strike team can barely. make a risky exit, however, the cause of Reyes' reckless actions is that the public now learns about Blackwatch's operations.

This truly represents the beginning of the downfall of OverWatch, as the public now sees a new side to the organization that was previously only thought to be doing good on this side that Blackwatch was willing to do in clandestine and illegal things, including the cold-blooded murder, trust now begins to erode in the OverWatch organization and inspires many people to rise up against them, including a man named Akande Ogondimu once again. I'm really sorry for the people whose names I'm butchering, who take on the mantle of Doomfist and eventually become high-ranking talented members after Operation Retribution, things start going wrong much more frequently for OverWatch and it looks too forced to close. taking down their base in Cairo, leading to the massive destabilization of the region, one of their leaders, Gerard Lacroix, is murdered and not just by any assassin, but by his wife Amelie, who was brainwashed and brainwashed by Talon.

She became a sleeper agent as a result of killing her husband. will be given the nickname Widowmaker, all these events lead to the nation of the world trusting OverWatch much less and at that same moment an organization known as null sector emerges in the United Kingdom in response to the harsh treatment they received from the government . There in the UK at the time omnics were being denied basic rights and legal freedoms and many felt they were treated like criminals or under military occupation and were routinely victims of police brutality and general mistreatment by the police. law enforcement. a response to all of this and they eventually began wreaking havoc on the streets of London, but even when OverWatch offered to intervene, the British government banned them, blatantly ignoring that decision.

Jack Morrison sends a strike team to help and though OverWatch manages to save the day. It comes at the cost of growing mistrust on the part of the world at large. People around the world are now beginning to wonder if OverWatch isn't just a rogue organization acting of its own will and for its own interests rather than a force for public good. However, some wins in this period and some successful trades that see or see claiming big wins. An example of this is a fight in Singapore where Winston Tracer and Genji can combine to take down Doomfist.

Doomfist turns out to have been a key orchestrator in null The uprising of the sector and locking him up was a huge blow to Talon, but Joy doesn't last long. Tensions have risen within the OverWatch organization itself and Cole Cassidy decides to leave rather than be forced to choose a side in the escalating Civil War. Genji has After successfully dismantling the Shimada criminal organization, he finds himself unable to live with what had become a weapon and not a person. He too leaves OverWatch and decides to seek inner peace in the world. This all culminates in a big fight between the two main figures of OverWatch, Jack Morrison. and Gabriel Reyes the details of their battle are unknown, but we do know that it was devastating, causing an explosion at OverWatch's Swiss headquarters that destroys the entire base and causes the world to assume that both men are dead, in reality they both survive.

Reyes was saved. by Mora, who found him near death and injected him with an experimental chemical that causes his cell to simultaneously break down and regenerate at a hyper-accelerated rate. In effect, this means that he can be human flesh one minute and then black the next, alternating between these states. In this new form he took on the name Reaper and continues down the dark path he had already begun. It is not clear how Jack Morrison survives, but we do know that he would resurface years later as an independent vigilante under the name Soldier 76. With these two men presumed dead, surveillance is given to Vivian Chase, ranch code name, a Canadian cyber expert who had been coordinating many of the Overwatch missions and the world is shocked by the news of the violence of the Overwatch leaders and the self-destructive struggle they wage.

If it had triggered an investigation by the United Nations and that investigation uncovered everything about the shady operations in OverWatch and Blackwatch in particular had been running with no other option, the world decides to ban OverWatch in what would be called the Petrus Law, all The activities of the henceforth became illegal and OverWatch was officially disbanded, which then leads to retirement. It has been five years since the Petrus Act dissolved OverWatch and its various members scattered across the world. with their lives or are forced to operate secretly for fear of punishment, the influence of both Talon and the Null Sector has continued to grow across the world, even as heroes like Winston and Tracer continue to operate on their own to protect the world.

Basically around this time period that most of the OverWatch animated shorts take place in, let's quickly go over these shorts and what they tell us about the history of OverWatch during this time period in the live short. Widowmaker is planning to assassinate Takarta Mondata, a major figure among the omnic community with a growing following around the world who wants to see humans and omnics live together peacefully. Mondata is part of the Shambali order of monks who hope to spread a positive and empathetic message throughout the world. At this point, Widowmaker, who you may remember, was brainwashed. to become a talented member is working alongside Reaper and Maura, both formerly of OverWatch, but are now evil despite Trace's best attempts to stop Widowmaker, although Mondata is killed and this is a major blow to world peace. .

We know that Doomfist of Talon was key in the orchestration. Raising the original null sector and killing an advocate of interspecies peace like Mondata is very likely to cause more anger among the omnic community and make the situation worse, especially since this takes place in King's Row, London, where the lifting of the null sector. where omnic still feels mistreated by the local government, the next short we see is Dragons in which Hanzo infiltrates his old home of Shimada Castle to pay his respects to his dead brother Genji, only while doing this he is interrupted by a man who believes he is a murderer. sent to kill him, in truth it is none other than his brother Genji alive and now in his new android form, the two fight and Genji defeats Hanzo, revealing his identity to his brother, a revelation that surprises Hanza when we last saw him. to Genji, had abandoned our watch. and he was traveling the world in search of answers and he found them in Nepal with Zenyatta, a Shambali monk who taught him the path of meditation and inner peace with that new mentality.

Genji tells Hanzo that he has forgiven him and that he wants him to move on. with his life and contribute to a positive impact on the world. Next is the hero short which shows us that Jack Morrison is still alive fighting as a vigilante in locations around the world to combat Injustice, he is now known as Soldier 76 and although he has no desire to rejoin OverWatch, he still He hopes the world can find peace once again. In the infiltration, we learn of Sombra, one of the most skilled hackers in the world who appears to be part of Talon and helps them try to break into Volskaya Industries, a factory where the Russians.

The government is building giant mechs to combat any future omnic uprising. Talon's plan is to kill Katya Volskaya, their leader, presumably in a new attempt to hinder human omnic relations. However, it turns out that Samra is working towards a goal of her own and the mission is to sabotage. using it as an opportunity to blackmail Katya, she sees having such a powerful friend as a potential asset for the future in honor and glory, we see that Reinhardt has now retreated to his home of Eichenwald, where he is weighing Winston's retirement and whether wants. to join OverWatch again here with Brigitta, his mechanic and goddaughter, he remembers his younger days as a reckless crusader whose reckless actions caused the life of his then-master Bolerik Von Adler, remembering the promise he made to protect others as a crusader, Reinhardt decides he will do it. returns and helps OverWatch in Shooting Star, we see a typical attack on South Korea by the Guishin we talked about earlier when they come to Busan, we see Diva single-handedly push them back while looking so beautiful in Rise and Shine that we know as an ecological scientist. who had been working for OverWatch many years ago to combat an unexpected weather phenomenon that was increasingly occurring around the world;

However, when a particularly strong polar storm hits her base in Antarctica, she and the other scientists decide to put themselves in cryostasis while they wait for a rescue team to arrive. Upon awakening, May learns that several years have passed since that time. moment. In a tragic revelation, she realizes that the other science capsules malfunctioned and that she is now the only survivor as she catches up with world history and learns of the fall of Overwatch. She decides to help wherever and however she can. The last short to mention is the last Bastion, although this short actually takes place many years ago, around 15 years before it is remembered.

It shows an abandoned Bastion unit, one of the many omnic types used. To fight during the omnic crisis, traumatized by his past, he threatens to return to his main mission of waging war against humans, but when he is comforted by a little bird named Ganymede, he opts for a life of peace and retires to the forest for many years. after. This unit of passion would meet up with Torbjorn in Sweden, where an initially skeptic learns to trust passion and they come together as an unlikely duo out of all this, though it is clear that conflict is escalating around the world and nefarious forces are gathering.

They are strengthening demanding a response. of the heroes of the doomfist world, for example, he managed to escape from prison and is once again a high-ranking leader in the talent organization, together with an omnic known as Maximilian, they begin to hatch a plan to manipulate the world to their will, this brings us to the most recent historical events that led to the release of OverWatch 2. In many ways, OverWatch 2 is aAppropriate name from a historical perspective because it represents a new version of OverWatch with a new guard of characters, the main player in this being Cole. Cassidy Cassidy receives a call from his former captain Anna Amari to meet him in Cairo.

Like all the other former OverWatch agents, she has received a call from Winston and is considering whether or not she wants to return during her time away. She's simply been acting on hers. Hers is still largely doing good deeds, such as saving a precious piece of OverWatch cargo from being kidnapped and sold to the highest bidder by her former standoff Rebels LED only. Now for Ash, this cargo is in fact Echo, an omnic AI designed and modeled after Dr. Mina Liao, one of the original members of the OverWatch team, so meeting Anna Cassidy encourages her to return and become the new leader of OverWatch, but Anna refuses, saying that it is time for a new generation to take over, a new generation that she wants Cassidy to lead.

She gives him information about new heroes around the world who she believes will be willing to help and they reluctantly accept that mission. Cassidy travels the globe seeking to recruit exceptional new individuals for the resurgent OverWatch mission. He first finds Anna's daughter, Pharah, and she accepts. She joins him, followed by Batiste, a former talent agent turned Coat, and Zarya, a Russian war hero, meanwhile, though what we get is probably the biggest moment in recent world history. It happened in Paris. The null sector launched a full-scale invasion of the city. At this point, May has joined Winston and Tracer as part of their ragtag OverWatch Recreation and they head out to defend the city, but when a giant robot from the Null Sector appears, it looks like they may be outnumbered, that's when timely interventions from Genji Reinhardt Brigitta Echo and Mercy save the day and we see OverWatch officially return for the first time since it was banned many years ago.

Also, Genji's place as the coolest character in this game is huge because, come on, man. How fucking badass is this, how can you not be Mega hype when he takes out the world? He ponders the implications of all this, particularly the null sector which appears to be stepping up its operations around the world what are its plans who will be its next target it is at this point that Busan in South Korea is attacked not by guishin but by the sector null and once again the mecca squad rushes to intervene in a tough battle against An overwhelming number of people fear they are losing when Cassidy arrives on the scene and is newly recruited.

Together with Mecca Squadron, they defeated the null sector forces and saved the city as a result of this diva receiving permission to join OverWatch and her alongside Cassidy. Pharah Batiste and Zarya head to the OverWatch base in Gibraltar, where Winston began the retreat launch on him. They go with a renewed sense of hope and optimism hoping to reboot or watch Once More this time the right way and that's it for now, this is where the story will continue now in OverWatch 2 and particularly during the PVE content. How will OverWatch be received by the public? Will they welcome them back or see them as a dangerous group of Outlaws?

What is zero sector planning? Do they want to assert Omnic Supremacy and eradicate organic life? Or they just perceive that they haven't been given equal rights and want that instead, and what about Talon? What are your plans in all of this? We'll find out next time on OverWatch and that's all I have for today. Thanks for watching this. video and if you enjoyed it then consider supporting me directly through patreon and becoming one of my patrons. I would like to thank all my current sponsors without their support. I couldn't make videos like this. I would also like to thank Dr.

Six, whose incredible story. The compilation work was a big reason I was able to make this video. I don't know about you, but I'm incredibly excited to see what story OverWatch has in store for us at OverWatch too. but that's all for me. I'll be back before you know it with another video. See you soon.