Characters / Overwatch - Organizations

Overwatch | Main Index
HEROES
Tank Heroes
Individual Pages: D.Va | Reinhardt | Roadhog
Damage Heroes: (Part 1 | Part 2)
Individual Pages: Junkrat | Reaper | Sombra | Tracer | Widowmaker
Support Heroes
OTHERS
Non-Playable Characters | Organizations | Junkenstein's Revenge

---

Military Powers

Overwatch

Type: International task force (formerly), Vigilante organization (currently)
Standing: Illegally reinstated in 2076
Headquarters: Overwatch Headquarters, Switzerland (formerly), Watchpoint: Gibraltar (currently)
Known Members, Original Incarnation:^note Asterisk denotes members that were recalled to serve Overwatch after initial disbandment. Jack Morrison, Gabriel Reyes, Ana Amari (MIA), Torbjörn Lindholm,* Reinhardt Wilhelm,* Dr. Mina Liao (KIA), Dr. Angela "Mercy" Ziegler,* Cole Cassidy,* Winston,* Lena "Tracer" Oxton,* Genji Shimada,* Mei-Ling Zhou*, Moira O’Deorain, Gérard Lacroix (KIA), Bayless (KIA), Al-Farouk (KIA), Singh (KIA) Fusionator, Soundquake, Emre Sarioglu, Kimiko*, Mirembe*, Ray, Fio, Athena*, Vernand Sainclair*, Echo,*, Vivian "Sojourn" Chase*
Known Members, Post-Recall: Winston, Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Mei-Ling Zhou, Genji Shimada, Reinhardt Wilhelm, Brigitte Lindholm, Dr. Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Echo, Vivian "Sojourn" Chase, Lúcio Correia dos Santos, Cole Cassidy, Fareeha "Pharah" Amari, Jean-Baptiste Augustin, Aleksandra "Zarya" Zaryanova, Hana "D.Va" Song, Bastion

---

The main characters of the story. Imagine The Avengers as a United Nations taskforce — with all the superscience, genius, mutations, and tech that implies — and you're probably pretty close to Overwatch at its prime.

Overwatch was founded over thirty years prior to the events of the series as a six member team, consisting of Jack Morrison, Gabriel Reyes, Ana Amari, Torbjörn Lindholm, Reinhardt Wilhelm, and Dr. Mina Liao, to combat the Omnic Crisis. Gathering the best forces the world has to offer, they were instrumental to ending the war. Afterwards, they were hailed as heroes, and Overwatch expanded to a public organization dedicated to peacekeeping and scientific development, drawing members from all over the world.

The years since were known as the "Overwatch Generation". A legion of heroes that represented the best in humanity as a symbol of hope. With new members and funds, Overwatch would advance mankind to a new era. Jack Morrison was granted the title of Strike Commander, Ana Amari would be second-in-command, while Gabriel Reyes became leader of the covert ops division Blackwatch. Other notable members that joined when Overwatch was made public include Angela "Mercy" Ziegler,^note head of medical research, field medic Cole Cassidy,^note field agent/Blackwatch agent Mei-Ling Zhou^note climatologist, Genji Shimada,^note field agent, also Blackwatch Winston,^note scientist, field agent Moira O’Deorain,^note biologist and Lena "Tracer" Oxton.^note field agent, former pilot With them protecting the world from every possible threat, it seemed that Overwatch would remain as a beacon of virtue.

In practice, it didn't quite work out. Overwatch crumbled into disrepair due to the combination of the actions of Gabriel Reyes, who resented not being made commander of Overwatch, and high-ranking member Gérard Lacroix being assassinated by Talon, who had been kept at bay at every turn, which was carried out by his own wife Amélie, after being kidnapped and subjected to intense brainwashing and neural reconditioning. Rumors of black ops agencies involved with kidnapping and murder circulated. There were stories of assassination, coercion, kidnapping, torture, and worse. The situation only grew more intensely once Blackwatch, Overwatch's black ops division run by Gabriel, was uncovered. Governments called on the UN to shut down the "aggressive and repeated violations of many countries' sovereignty." Finally, after a catastrophic battle between Gabriel Reyes and Commander Jack Morrison, the organization was disbanded, public opinion having rendered it beyond saving in the eyes of many. This allowed Talon to rise in power, free to spread terror while being virtually uncontested.

For a while its agents were still active in some form — as wandering peacekeepers, adventurers, or mercenaries — the organization continued to shape the world in its official absence.

Five years after the disbandment, Talon attempted to exterminate all former agents of Overwatch. They sent Reaper out to Watchpoint: Gibraltar in a raid, but were barely held off by Winston. Having contemplated the idea countless times, this proved to be the final straw, and Overwatch was officially reinstated, albeit illegally, with many members both old and new being called back to serve.

Golden Era

• Blue Is Heroic: The standard uniform for Overwatch was primarily made up of blue and white, as demonstrated by the skins for Soldier: 76, Ana, Tracer, Reinhardt, Mercy and Torbjorn from this era.
• Breaking the Fellowship: Once a small, tight-knit legendary strike team, it grew into a global organization that slowly grew unsteady with internal corruption. The fallout between Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes, caused by years of Gabriel letting his own feelings and resentment fester, was the final act of this trope. Before that, Ana faked her death and went into seclusion/retirement, while Reinhardt was forced to retire.
• Broken Pedestal: Once globally hailed as a symbol of peace and hope. Just the mere sight of an Overwatch agent on the battle field boosted morale significantly. But after rumors of its darker deeds came out and threats kept popping out despite its efforts, its reputation sunk to an all-time low. Its destruction during the fight between Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes sealed the deal. It is now reviled as a group of criminals and villains. It seems to be a Subverted Trope for some, however — the cinematic trailer has a museum with a large exhibit on Overwatch that speaks kindly of them, and Timmy (the little kid who could not have been around in Overwatch's heyday) not only knows some of Overwatch's agents by name but regards them as superheroes. In-universe newspaper clippings about Overwatch's possible return seem to be cautiously optimistic.
• Dirty Business: Some of Overwatch's prominent agents like Ana came to regret their more sinister actions, and the Martial Pacifist Mercy hated the organization's militaristic tendencies.
• Fallen Hero: The organization itself — once hailed as heroes and defenders of freedom, liberty, and justice — as a whole. While they were well-intentioned, the darker things they did behind the scenes turned public opinion against them almost irrevocably.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • If Junkrat is to be believed, Overwatch's idealism caused its agents to ignore problems outside of the wars it was designed to stop and ultimately caused its downfall into disgrace.
  • Alternatively, if Mercy is to be believed, the fall of Overwatch was inevitable due to its militaristic nature. Overwatch was founded primarily to fight threats, not to heal the conflict and the destruction it causes, and while it achieved many advancements in science and discovery, at its core, Overwatch (and in particular Blackwatch) still tried to impose Might Makes Right, using assassination, coercion and torture to get the job done.
• For Science!: The "scientists/oddities" part mentioned above wasn't just for show. Overwatch dabbled in cutting-edge technology in at least physics (the Slipstream incident and Winston's chronal accelerator), robotics (Torbjörn's specialty) and biology (Mercy's work). However, Mercy does question Overwatch's ethics; she was just overruled on almost every occasion.
• Heroes "R" Us: An entire worldwide organization dedicated to providing special heroes in need of saving.
• Meaningful Name: Overwatch was built for the purpose of "watching over" the people it protected.
• Multinational Team: Overwatch recruits talented individuals from all over the world and were even willing to open their ranks to Omnics and sapient non-humans. Its founding members included two Americans, a German, a Swede, an Egyptian, and a Singaporean. It eventually grew to include a Swiss doctor, an American gunslinger, a gorilla scientist from the moon, an English pilot, a Japanese cyborg, a Chinese climatologist, and an Irish biologist. That's not counting the non-playable characters, who represent even more nationalities.
• No Place for a Warrior: Ana posits this as one of the big reasons that Overwatch was never meant to last. In "Valkyrie", she shares her beliefs with Mercy that they were effective at their jobs as soldiers in combating the Omnic Crisis because that's what they were trained to be — attempting to lead the world into peaceful governance was not something they were ultimately comfortable with, allowing cracks to break through until the whole thing fell apart.
  Ana: Gabriel built our team to save humanity, but he couldn't rebuild afterwards. Adawe and the others thought Morrison was the one who could. He looked the part, after all. The war hero. Compassionate, brave, confident, political. But at the end of the day: a soldier. And all soldiers only know one way to live. We aren't meant to change the world, just to save it. [...] We never knew how to let the ones who followed us take up the struggle. We aren't made for peace.
• Oddly Small Organization: In the beginning, Overwatch was the deciding factor in winning the war against the Omnics. It also only consisted of six members, though all of them were exceptionally skilled that they eventually turned the tide against the Omnics. Eventually it was averted as it grew into a worldwide organization with numerous members, but it's telling that an organization of six people accomplished more than entire nations could.
• The Perils of Being the Best: A huge contributing factor to Overwatch's fall. It originally started out as a tight-knit elite military squad, but over the years since the Omnic Wars, Overwatch grew bigger both to deal with problems around the world, and from recruiting potential agents to help them. Eventually, they were lauded as legendary heroes. However, the stress of keeping up their idealistic public image and helping the people forced Overwatch to rely on increasingly dirty solutions such as Blackwatch, much to the dismay of more noble members such as Mercy. A horrid combination of Jack and Gabriel's falling out, the loss of two of Overwatch's oldest members (Ana and Reinhardt), and Gabriel leaking all of Overwatch's secrets out of spite turned the public completely against them. As a result, Overwatch was blacklisted as a criminal organization, and those who tried reviving them are immediately branded as criminals.
• Recruiting the Criminal: They weren't above recruiting captured criminals to serve them. Cassidy (formerly of the Deadlock Gang) and Genji (formerly of the Shimada Clan) are two known examples of Overwatch agents recruited this way.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Intervened to stop the Null Sector uprising in King's Row despite having clear orders not to. Sadly, this may have been a factor in their dissolution.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: As a general rule, by the time Overwatch was shut down, only the younger members (Winston, Tracer, Mei) still believe wholeheartedly in its idealism and optimism. Of the founding members, only Reinhardt remained idealistic, due to his quixotic worldview. Cassidy became more idealistic during his time in Overwatch, but is a Knight in Sour Armor, while Mercy became disillusioned with Overwatch's militaristic policies, and Jack… completely lost it and became a complete cynic.
• Token Non-Human: Overwatch consisted almost entirely of humans, as the organization was made to combat Omnics during the Omnic Crisis, and them winning the war resulted in Omnics being made second-class citizens. However, there are at least four members out of an organization of hundreds, if not thousands, that weren't human: Winston (a hyper-intelligent gorilla), Athena (a sentient A.I.), and interestingly, at least two members were Omnics.
• True Companions: The original Overwatch Strike Team, as well as the later members, are shown to have had this relationship at one point. Even some of the grumpier members like Torbjorn and Gabriel were warm-hearted with their friends; Gabriel even smiled on Halloween as he appeared in costume, and posed for a photo with Ana's young (at the time) daughter Phara. You really got to wonder, where did everything go wrong?
• Won the War, Lost the Peace: The King's Row Uprising had the potential to jump-start a new Omnic Crisis, but Overwatch's quick response prevented it. Despite that, Human-Omnic relations have been worse in King's Row than ever before, and things could escalate into full-scale war at any moment.

Recall Era

• Arch-Enemy: Talon, considering that Overwatch reformed in response to Talon's attempts to kill all of them off.
• The Dog Bites Back: Talon attempted to exterminate Overwatch once-and-for-all, and failed when Winston stopped them. This was the catalyst for Overwatch's official return.
• Putting the Band Back Together: Winston reinstated Overwatch at the end of Recall, after roughly five years of disbandment, due to Talon's attempts to eliminate them separately. Among those who responded directly to Winston's recall were Tracer, Mei, Genji, Mercy, Reinhardt, Torbjörn, Cassidy, Echo, and Sojourn, with new blood being steadily added into the fold.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The reformation in a nutshell. Despite being outlawed, Overwatch has been reformed as a vigilante organization because someone has to do something about Talon, and the worsening state of the world in general.
• Vigilante Man: The current Overwatch is illegal due to the PETRAS Act, and as such are operating without support from any government. The closest to national involvement they've received is Zarya being dispatched from the Russian Defense Forces and D.Va from MEKA — both parties are aware of the legal dubiety in doing so, but are willing to deal with the consequences as they believe it's what must be done.

Blackwatch

Type: Covert ops
Standing: Disbanded
Headquarters: Unknown
Known Members: Gabriel Reyes, Cole Cassidy, Genji Shimada, Moira O’Deorain, Fio

Overwatch's sister covert ops branch. Before its disbandment, Blackwatch specialized in taking care of the morally ambiguous things that Overwatch's agents wouldn't do openly in public — business like assassination, torture, and blackmail. The group was led by Gabriel Reyes, a member of the original strike team that would become Overwatch, and his subordinate/protege Cole Cassidy was also a member. Genji was also assigned to them after defecting to Overwatch. After Gabriel released the truth of Blackwatch's existence and its deeds in a fit of spiteful jealousy, public opinion turned against Overwatch completely, resulting in the destruction and termination of both groups.

---

• Boxed Crook: Recruited criminals were members of Blackwatch as well as Overwatch, as evident with both Cassidy (of the Deadlock Gang) and Genji (of the Shimada Clan) being members.
• Color Motif: Their old logo before they were terminated had blacks and reds, both morally ambiguous colors (if red as the symbol of violence is applied). If Reaper's Origins and Archives skins and Genji, Moira, and Cassidy’s Blackwatch skins are to go by, then this color scheme applied to their outfits as well.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Zig-Zagged. Before Overwatch's destruction, all of them were on the side of good, though they participated in things that most Overwatch agents wouldn't do in public (or admit to doing openly). However, it's implied that Blackwatch as a whole was really corrupt from the beginning. Played straight for Reyes, Genji, and Cassidy at the time, however. Moira also worked for them to do good, but was far darker morally than the other three.
• The Dog Bites Back: While largely applied to Gabriel, this could cover a large majority of Blackwatch. After getting tired of doing the dirty work and being ignored for it, Gabriel leaked everything Blackwatch had done to the public. Many ex-Blackwatch personnel followed Gabriel into Talon, save for Cassidy and Genji, presumably for the same reasons as he had.
• Face–Heel Turn: It's implied in the comic short "Train Hopper" that the members of Blackwatch, including Moira, have joined Talon, alongside their leader Gabriel Reyes/Reaper.
• Multinational Team: Much like its sister branch, Blackwatch consists of the American Cassidy, the Japanese Genji, the Irish Moira, and its leader, Gabriel, who is Hispanic-American.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently Blackwatch did things that even Cassidy, a former gang member and weapons dealer, found disgusting.
• No Such Agency: Blackwatch's existence was kept in the dark by those who knew about it, including Jack Morrison. This later bit Overwatch in the ass when Gabriel, resentful and starved of the fame he felt he deserved, turned against his teammates and completely destroyed Overwatch's reputation by revealing all of Blackwatch's secrets.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Double Subverted. They were the covert ops branch of Overwatch who wore dark and red colors, and fought in the name of "good". However, they were also the Token Evil Teammate for the entire organization, and even Cassidy found them disgusting. There's also the fact that many of its members are now integrated into Talon…
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Reyes decided to go after Talon after the latter planted a bomb in an Overwatch HQ, killing most of the personnel and gravely injuring Gerárd Lacroix. Since Morrison didn't want to risk going after Talon given his by-the-book approach, Gabriel decided it was better to not play by the rules when it comes to dealing with Talon.
• Skeleton Motif: In stark contrast to Overwatch's more heroic-looking logo, Blackwatch's logo resembles that of an animal skull complete with a dagger in the center. It symbolizes Blackwatch's willingness to engage in morally questionable actions.
• Token Evil Teammate: The entire branch was this to the rest of Overwatch, who presented themselves as The Paragon. They however, did many heinous things in the name of "good" that even Cassidy, a former outlaw, was disgusted by them. Given that Cassidy and Genji are now enemies of Talon, who integrated Blackwatch members into their ranks and has two members (Reyes/Reaper and Moira) in their leadership, and didn't take part in Reyes' betrayal against Overwatch, they might actually have been the Token Good Teammates for Blackwatch as a whole.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Embodies this as an organization, and deconstructed. Since Overwatch won't do (or admit to doing) the bad things that are necessary to keep the peace, Blackwatch does it for them. However, Cassidy, one of their own, sees their activities as disgusting. And Gabriel, feeling resentful of being stuck with the dirty work and jealous of Jack receiving all the attention and fame, revealed all of Blackwatch's secrets in a fit of spite. This led to the public blacklisting Overwatch, the organization that spawned Blackwatch as a Necessary Evil, as a criminal organization, and many of its former members, save for Cassidy and Genji, went down a criminal path as Talon agents.

MEKA

Type: Military unit
Standing: Active
Headquarters: South Korea
Known Members: Captain Myung, Hana "D.Va" Song, Jae-Eun "Casino" Kwon, Yuna "D.Mon" Lee, Kyung-Soo "King" Hann, Seung-Hwa "Overlord" Shi

MEKA, or the Mobile Exo-Force of the Korean Army is a unit within the Republic of Korea's Armed Forces. It began life during the Omnic Crisis, where a colossal Omnic ravaged their country after emerging from the East China sea. First they used drones as means to combat it, but as the Omnic adapted and each fight would end in a stalemate. As a result, they were forced to use actual pilots who could fight the Omnic and hopefully win. They turned to drafting professional gamers, who possessed the reflexes necessary to pilot the machines, in order to battle the Omnic. As a concession, they allowed the pilots to customize their robot suits and broadcast their battles live.

---

• Ace Pilot: Every member, due to their reflexes.
• Conscription: All members of this program like D.Va are teenage pro gamers drafted into service.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Each MEKA pilot is represented with a unique primary color on their mecha, jumpsuit, and even the doors to their private quarters. D.Va is pink, D.Mon is red, King is yellow, Casino is green, and Overlord is blue.
• Corporate-Sponsored Superhero: Despite being a state-owned military organization, their pilots seem to be sponsored by snack and game companies and regarded as celebrities. This is probably due to retaining star power from their pro gamer days and the MEKA unit needing all the cash they can get.
• Custom Uniform: The pilots are allowed to customize their own mech suits, given to them as a concession for their service.
• Fun with Acronyms: Admittedly a bit of a stretch, but it spells out a Punny Name for 'mecha'.
• I Call It "Vera": Each mech has its own name: D.Va's is "토끼/Tokki", Casino's "La Princesse Sereine", D.Mon's "Beast", King's "신기전/Singijeon" and Overlord's "Mastermind".
• I Know Mortal Kombat: They're pro gamers using their skills to pilot mech suits.
• Improbable Age: Most fighters are very young, being pro gamers. This is shown with D.Va, who is the youngest human Hero in the game.
• Mini-Mecha: The weapons they use.
• Punny Name: It's "mecha", not "em-ee-kay-eh".
• Ranged Emergency Weapon: If their mech is destroyed, they are equipped with a rapid-fire laser pistol with deadly accuracy.
• Real Robot Genre: The mecha are tools of combat, rather than the ultimate means of fighting. This is exemplified with D.Va, who is only as awesome as the other members of Overwatch's World of Badass that don't have mechs of their own.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: While the team’s Captain shoots down contacting the revived Overwatch, due to their outlaw status, she privately confides to Hana she admires the new group, but can’t do anything. When Cole’s team of recruits shows up to help defend Busan against a Null Sector attack, the Captain sends Hana on a long term research and reconnaissance mission that would just happen to allow her to join the new team.
• Theme Naming: Michael Chu confirmed that D.Va and D.Mon were both part of the same esports team before being picked up by MEKA, hence their similar Punny Names.

The Crusaders

Type: Military organization/Chivalric order
Standing: Unknown
Headquarters: Unknown
Known Members: General Balderich von Adler (Commander, KIA), Reinhardt Wilhelm (formerly)

A group of modern-day, high-tech knights in armor that fought for Germany in the Omnic crisis. They played a vital role in the Battle of Eichenwalde where some of their finest members, including their leader Balderich von Alder, were killed fighting off the Omnic onslaught. The current status of the organization is unknown.

---

• Badass Creed: "Live with Honor, Die with Glory".
• The Big Guy: If Reinhardt and the size of Crusader armor is anything to go by, all of them were huge.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The Crusaders in Eichenwalde sacrificed themselves so Germany would've enough time to formulate a counterattack against the Omnics.
• Knight in Shining Armor: If Reinhardt is anything to go by, the Crusaders adhere to a code of honor much like those of Teutonic knights.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The Crusader armor comes with an energy barrier that can be deployed at will.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Balderich von Adler was Reinhardt's mentor during his time in the Crusaders, which is why he feels so strongly about recovering his armor.
• Military Superhero: The order is an elite special forces group within the Bundeswehr, or the German military.
• Powered Armor: Reinhardt's Crusader armor and rocket hammer were apparently standard issue, with some design variations— Balderich's armor has the most embellishments to it, and was apparently one of the more powerful models. The armor's appearance also seems to signify rank, as Balderich's armor was gryphon themed, while Reinhardt's original armor was eagle themed until he was promoted, and rewarded with a lion themed armor.
• Pyrrhic Victory: The Crusaders that fought in Eichenwalde ensured the eventual victory of the Bundeswehr over the Omnics there, but it came at the cost of their lives, including the leader of their order.
• Rocket-Powered Weapon: Many Crusaders, Reinhardt included, used rocket-powered hammers as their primary weapons.
• The Smurfette Principle: We see one female Crusader in the group, in Reinhardt's short, and she doesn't do much and only says one short line before seemingly being killed by an OR-14 Idina Omnic.

God Program A.I.s

Type: Machine collective
Standing: "Quarantined"
Headquarters: Global (formerly)
Known Members: Anubis, unknown others

Master Computers that control major technological sectors such as Omnium factories and defense systems. They are able to override and control any other AI system, even that of friendly omnics, and then send them out to Kill All Humans.

They were thought all destroyed after Overwatch ended the Omnic Crisis, but at least one is active at the start of the story: the Anubis AI in Cairo. It was later shut down by Pharah and her team—for now.

---

• 0% Approval Rating: All Omnics — including Ramattra, an international terrorist leader — actively oppose the God Programs, because being subsumed by these programs would mean being forced to murder their loved ones against their will, and starting a potential catastrophe that would ruin the lives of other Omnics. One example even committed suicide to prevent being used as a weapon against his comrades.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Turns out it wasn't a good idea to make supercomputers that control other machines remotely.
• Big Bad: Anubis is the Big Bad of Pharah's comic (and was the instigator of the Omnic Crisis, therefore making it the Greater-Scope Villain of the entire franchise).
• Brainwashed and Crazy: They can inflict this on any Omnic (and other AI systems) within proximity, and grow stronger the longer they're online. Any sympathetic or friendly Omnic corrupted can only kill themselves rather than kill their friends and loved ones.
• Greater-Scope Villain: While the likes of Talon, Null Sector, and Vishkar are the more immediate threats that Overwatch presently deals with, the God Programs — most prominently, Anubis — cast a massive shadow over the world of Overwatch, with Anubis being responsible for the proliferation of killer Omnics that formed the Omnic Crisis, thus making it this for the entire franchise. They've been periodically fought and put under "quarantine", but it's clear that they're still out there, ready to strike and bring the Crisis back at any given moment. Even Ramattra treats the continued existence of these AIs a danger the world, and that they must be fully destroyed at the soonest opportunity.
• Everyone Hates Hades: For those who know Egyptian Mythology, Anubis is actually a neutral and fair, if eerie, Death God. In here, it's an evil, malicious AI program.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: Why they Turned Against Their Masters is unknown, as is what they actually want. Given that they will brainwash and enslave any Omnics in proximity, the rights of their omnic brothers and sisters doesn't seem to be a priority.
  • Anubis is thought to have turned for the nuclear option as a solution for its task, which was conservation of nature. That is, it saw that it could not complete its task as long as humans existed, and set out to remove the obstacle for its goal.
• Kill All Humans: They send armies out to crush humanity, for unknown reasons.
• Master Computer: An extremely powerful AI network that was designed to automate various technological systems, even sapient machines.
• Robots Enslaving Robots: This is the biggest worry about a "God Program"; it can take over any machine present, including Omnics who have no quarrel with humans.

Criminal Organizations

Talon

Type: Terrorist organization
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Unknown
Known Members: Council of Leaders: Akande "Doomfist III" Ogundimu, Gabriel "Reaper" Reyes, Moira O'Deorain, Maximilien, Sanjay Korpal, Vialli (formerly, KIA), Antonio Bartalotti (KIA). Other: Amélie "Widowmaker" Lacroix, Olivia "Sombra" Colomar, Akinjide "Doomfist II" Adeyemi (KIA), Hakim, Jean-Baptiste Augustin (formerly), Maugaloa "Mauga" Malosi, Trung Le Nguyen, Siebren "Sigma" de Kuiper

A Nebulous Evil Organization that serves as the Arch-Enemy of Overwatch. They are a terrorist syndicate which dabbles in every single evil act under the sun: kidnapping, trafficking, brainwashing, mass murder, you name it. They have played a heavy part in the downfall of Overwatch. They kidnapped Amélie Lacroix, wife of one of Overwatch's key members Gérard Lacroix, and transformed her into the deadly and psychotic assassin Widowmaker, forcing her to kill her own husband as a sleeper agent. Afterwards, they took several hostages with Widowmaker as the head of the operation, resulting in several casualties, including Overwatch head Ana Amari. After Overwatch finally fell, they were left unchallenged. Reaper, formerly known as the Overwatch founder and Blackwatch leader Gabriel Reyes, joined Talon at an unknown date.

Years later, they sent Reaper to collect the data on the former Overwatch members, but was held off by Winston, and in-turn was the catalyst to Overwatch's revival. They also sent Widowmaker to kill the the Omnic monk Tekharta Mondatta, and she was successful, spreading chaos amongst those still recovering from the Omnic Crisis. This further allowed them to manipulate the world as they saw fit with the belief that with more conflict they caused, humanity will also improve.

Before all these, Overwatch did a good job to capture one of their leaders, the third Doomfist, Akande Ogundimu. His glove was then kept in a museum at Numbani, which Reaper and Widowmaker attempted to retrieve, but this plan was thwarted by both former Overwatch members Tracer and Winston, with the help of two young boys who happened to be at the scene. However, later on, Reaper would initiate a prison break from Helix Security prison, freeing Doomfist. He would then travel to Numbani alone, battling and prevailing against an army of OR15s and retrieving his gauntlet. He would reclaim his seat on Talon's inner council, ready to take revenge on Overwatch for imprisoning him to begin with.

In addition of this, they also attempted to assassinate the CEO of Volskaya Industries, Katya Volskaya, but this mission was considered a failure as Katya lived, but what they didn't know was that the failure was caused by their own agent on the mission, Sombra, who decided to blackmail Katya for her own, not Talon's, purposes.

Talon is lead by an enigmatic group of supercriminals known as the Council of Leaders. Membership of the council includes Reaper, Doomfist, Moira, Maximilien, Sanjay Korpal, and an unknown number of other unnamed leaders. Vialli, who ordered Volskaya's assassination, held a seat before Doomfist returned and killed him for valuing profits above all else. Now fully unified, they have every intention of sparking the fires of a new war, and exterminating Overwatch permanently.

---

• Arch-Enemy: Overwatch was theirs before it was disbanded. Since then, they've been allowed to influence the world as they wish. Years after that was done, they attempted to extract the data on all agents, so they could finish them off once-and-for-all. Winston prevented that, and then recalled all agents, making Talon the direct nemesis for the new Overwatch.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Zig-Zagged. Three of Talon's leaders are Reaper, Doomfist and Moira, extremely dangerous individuals who certainly qualify. However, other members of the Council of Leaders, such as Maximilien, Sanjay and formerly Vialli, are non-combatants.
• The Bad Guy Wins: As of the story's beginning, Talon has already won. They have been uncontested in spreading terror to the world since Overwatch was dissolved (which was indirectly caused by their action of sending Widowmaker on the mission that "killed" Ana), They've come a long way since being constantly thwarted by Gérard Lacroix (who was only defeated by Talon turning his wife Amélie into Widowmaker and then having him killed in his sleep). Of course, with Winston reinstating Overwatch at the end of Recall, their status as being "uncontested" is changing.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Known as the Council of Leaders, this is where the major villains of the world work together and lead the terrorist organization as a whole. Reaper, Doomfist, and Moira are members, as well as Maximilien, Sanjay, and a number of currently unnamed leaders. Vialli was a former member, but was killed by Doomfist's inner faction for his Greed.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Talon is one of the two main antagonistic forces of the game, opposed by Overwatch and its members. The other is the Vishkar Corporation, which has its own goals, but doesn't mingle with Talon's operations with Overwatch. However, with Vishkar member Sanjay Korpal confirmed to be a Talon leader, it's unclear exactly how much this is changing.
  • In Sombra's introduction video, she becomes the target of a mysterious conspiracy, represented by a single red eye. Whether this is a branch of Talon or a Greater-Scope Villain is unknown.
  • The God Programs as well, being directly responsible for the events of the game and implied to still be a dangerous threat, if a dormant one.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: If you don't join them willingly, there are other options they are more than willing to use. Widowmaker is one such person recruited this way. Before her, it's also very heavily implied that the near-feral Assassin character type from Retribution were in fact human experiments that were brainwashed into Talon.
• Card-Carrying Villain: They don't hide the fact that they're the world's villains and actively making it a worse place. They might as well be saying to Vishkar, "We're evil, but we're honest about it."
• Combat Pragmatist: A villainous example. How do they defeat a guy who keeps foiling their schemes at every turn when they fight him directly? Kidnap his wife, subject her to extreme psychological brainwashing, and then have her kill him in his sleep. This is how Widowmaker was born.
• The Corrupter: They can turn perfectly normal, innocent people into assassins made to serve them. Just ask Widowmaker.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: In "Recall", a group of Talon soldiers led by Reaper are defeated quickly and easily by Winston. Reaper's response to this was quite evident.
• Dark Age of Supernames: Having an edgy codename that invokes this trope seems to be a requirement if you're a member of Talon, as Widowmaker, Reaper, Sombra and Doomfist show. This contrasts the other characters, who either use their real name, or less grim-sounding ones like Tracer and Mercy. Masquerade shows that certain higher-ups tend to go by their actual names. Moira is the first playable Talon operative that bucks the trend altogether.
• Dark Is Evil: All Talon agents sans Widowmaker and Sombra wear dark clothes, including Reaper, who apparently works for them. Some of them are former Blackwatch personnel who turned traitor following Gabriel's Face–Heel Turn.
• Dystopia Justifies the Means: Their goal is to destabilize the world and drown it in war and conflict in order to strengthen humanity.
• Enemy Civil War: "Masquerade" features one within Talon between Doomfist and Vialli over their different ideals, the former wins.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Talon is so remarkably diverse, especially for an evil terrorist organization, that it almost looks like a parody of the concept. First of all, five members of their Council of Leaders are a Latin-American, a Nigerian, an Irishwoman, a French omnic, and an Indian. Their top assassin is a Frenchwoman, and their best hacker is a Mexican and a woman. It's shown they have members from all over the world, and this might be one of the least white male-centric evil organizations seen in video games (outside of modern-military shooters, of course).
• Evil Counterpart: To Overwatch. They're an international terrorist organization while Overwatch was an international peacekeeping task force. They have access to much of the same superhero-esque abilities and equipment. Talon is an Equal-Opportunity Evil organization in the same way that Overwatch was a Multinational Team. One of Overwatch's top agents was Gérard Lacroix, who foiled Talon's schemes, and Talon's top assassin is his wife Amélie, now known as Widowmaker, who was instrumental in Overwatch's original demise. Finally, the line is drawn even closer by the fact that Overwatch was reinstated illegally, meaning that both organizations are considered criminals despite being on opposite ends of the moral spectrum.
• Evil Sounds Deep: The base Talon soldiers in Retribution have deep, menacing voices. Ditto for most of their named members, who tend to sport deep voices as well.
• Expy: Of Shadaloo. Both are purely evil terrorist organizations hell-bent on plunging the world into chaos for a Darwinist agenda where only the strong survive, and if they want you in, they will make you join, either through coercion, manipulation, or brainwashing you into a mindless doll.
• Face–Heel Turn: It's implied in the comic short "Train Hopper" (featuring Cassidy) some members are former Blackwatch agents who defected alongside their leader, Gabriel. Also, they can force this on people, such as Amélie Lacroix aka Widowmaker.
• Faceless Mooks: Most Talon agents seen apart from their top operatives and leaders have worn headgear that fully hides the head and face. In the comic short "Legacy", Widowmaker used to follow this conduct, but stopped doing that after Ana managed to land a shot that revealed her face.
• Foil: Surprisingly… to the Vishkar Corporation. Talon's Color Motif is black and red, while Vishkar's is white and gold. Both engage in horrible, horrible actions, but maintain a facade of respectability and acts under the belief that their transgressions are for the greater good, but whereas Vishkar wants to create order, Talon seeks to create as much chaos as possible.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: According to Baptiste's bio, Talon was originally a simple mercenary group taking advantage of the chaos after the Omnic Crisis. Now they're the most dangerous terrorist organization on the planet.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: They sent Reaper out to Watchpoint: Gibraltar to extract the data on all Overwatch agents so they could end Overwatch permanently. This resulted in Winston reactivating Overwatch, although the "Masquerade" comic revealed that Reaper did manage to recover some of the personnel files.
• Kick the Dog:
  • The incident where they abducted the completely innocent Amélie Lacroix, turned her into Widowmaker, and had her murder her own husband just oozes this trope.
  • In the animated short "Alive", they order the assassination of Mondatta which significantly worsens the living conditions of the Omnics living in King's Row.
  • Two of their leaders, Reaper and Moira, treat Sigma, a mentally ill man who works for them, terribly and dismiss his symptoms of mental illness as nothing more than an annoyance. It is also implied by Sigma's voiceline with Sombra that Talon runs tests (some of which are very invasive) on him.
• Leave No Survivors: In the comic short "Train Hopper", a group of Talon soldiers are given this objective by their superior during a robbery on a train Cassidy happened to be on. Luckily for the passengers, Cassidy was a good enough shot to ensure no innocent lives were lost.
• The Man Behind the Man: They were the masterminds behind the King's Row Uprising, something that neither the public nor Overwatch are aware of.
• Meaningful Name: Their name comes from a term used to refer to the claw of a bird of prey. It's also a brand name for the toxin Brodifacoum, which is a main ingredient in rodent pesticides. Also a name to be feared.
• The Mole: After Reaper's effortless breakout of Doomfist at Helix Security prison, the public has started to suspect that Talon agents are posing undercover at Helix. It's unconfirmed if this is the case, however.
• Nebulous Evil Organisation: They are a criminal organisation who are behind much of the bad things in the background lore.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Nice job reviving your single biggest opposition by attempting to assassinate all of their agents years after they disbanded, Talon!
• Noodle Incident: The exact details of how Talon converted Amélie Lacroix into Widowmaker are scarce, other than that they subjected her into an intense program of neural reconditioning by breaking her will, suppressing her personality, and reprogramming her as a sleeper agent. Other than that, the process has been left unclear, and it's presumed that it's because it would be far too dark and horrifying to fully show in a light-hearted, T-rated series.
• The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: Rather than a single leader, Talon has a specific top brass called the Council of Leaders that Reaper, Doomfist, Moira, Maximilien, Sanjay, and others are a part of that lead how Talon affects the world.
• No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: One would think the ability to brainwash and turn any random person into an utterly loyal living weapon, and one of the most dangerous people in the world like they did with Widowmaker, without mentioning the other uses brainwashing someone could have, would be useful to use more than just once, but there's no other usage currently known.
  • Possibly zigzagged: as of Retribution, certain members of Talon's militia — specifically the Assassin class — also appear to be Brainwashed and Crazy.
• Pet the Dog: For as evil as it is, the organisation at least allows Sigma to go outside, something his previous government handlers deprived him of doing for years.
• Pretext for War: Their ultimate goal is to kick-start a second Omnic Crisis. By the current time-frame of the Overwatch world, they've accomplished much in pursuit of that goal, and it's only a matter of time before their plan bears fruit.
  • Destroying Overwatch from the shadows and by extension outlawing organizations like them so that no one will oppose them.
  • Assassinating Tekhartha Mondatta so that no one can put a stop to the lingering and growing tension between humans and Omnics from the previous war as well as the Null Sector incident.
  • Committing acts of terrorism and espionage to instill suspicion and doubt among everyone.
• The Purge: When Doomfist returns from prison in the comic "Masquerade", he is rather unhappy with the direction Vialli has steered the organization and takes steps to rectify that.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Masquerade has made Recall's previous utter loss into one: Reaper couldn't kill Winston and made him revive Overwatch, but he did get part of the agent list and has already struck some names from it.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: In the animated short "Recall", a group of Talon soldiers are seen wearing helmets that include visors which glow red in the dark.
• Red Right Hand: All the playable Talon operatives have something that makes them different from an ordinary human, just so you know they're bad guys. These include Reaper being an undead wraith, Widowmaker having cold and blue skin with yellow eyes, Sombra with her cybernetic implants, Doomfist with his bionic limbs, and Moira's genetically altered body that's caused mismatched eyes and a monstrous right arm.
• The Social Darwinist: Talon's main ideological credo is making humanity stronger via conflict. Some, like Akande Ogundimu, are true believers, while others, including his predecessor to the mantle of Doomfist, pay lip-service to this ideal to line their own pockets or further their own agendas. Upon returning to power, Doomfist consolidates power by assassinating a profit-oriented councilmember and refocuses the group towards this goal.
• Static Stun Gun: The Talon agents sent after Winston in "Recall" have rifles fitted with electrified cables. The group surround Winston and tether the ape to shock him into submission. Winston is able to use the cables to his advantage by thrashing around anyone still holding onto their rifles.
• Villain Ball: Their attempt to make sure Overwatch stayed dead not only failed, but actually caused their Arch-Enemy to return to oppose them.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Downplayed. To most people, Talon seems like normal, if a bit secretive, Private Military Contractors. When joining them, Baptiste ignored all evidence of their true intentions, and only began to realize it once he climbed in the ranks and took part in shadier and shadier missions.
• Visual Pun: Their symbol, while also the first letter of their name, also resembles a literal talon. Being a terrorist organization doesn't mean savvy logo design is unwelcome, after all.
• We Can Rule Together: They aren't above forming alliances with others and recruiting members of other factions in their ranks. To what extent however isn't fully known. The only confirmed example of this being after they defeated Overwatch, where Talon absorbed an untold number of Blackwatch agents into the organization, who defected alongside their leader, Gabriel Reyes/Reaper. It's also suggested, though not yet confirmed, that Talon has allies with certain members of Helix Security International, due to how Reaper was able get past their security when he broke out Doomfist. They've also expressed interest in the Shimada Clan for years, though their motivations have yet to be seen.
  Widowmaker: Talon can restore your family's empire.
  Hanzo: But at what cost?
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Despite all of their blatantly evil actions, Talon genuinely believes that endless conflicts will improve humanity as a species.
• Would Hit a Girl: Would kidnap a girl, would brutally torture a girl, would Mind Rape a girl, would force her to kill her husband, etc.

The Junkers

Type: Society
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Junkertown, Australia
Known Members: Jamison "Junkrat" Fawkes (formerly), Mako "Roadhog" Rutledge (formerly), Odessa Stone (current Junker Queen), Bludger, Kelvin 506, Wrecking Ball, Geiger, Meri, Mason Howl (former Junker King)

Junkrat and Roadhog's original faction, a group of cutthroat bandits armed with weaponry and technology made from scrap residing in the irradiated remains of the Australian Outback.

However, there's a tragic backstory behind them, as they have their roots in a resistance group of disgruntled Australians known as the Australian Liberation Front, disappointed in their government for having brokered a peace deal with the Omnics to give them the Australian Outback. This action displaced the human residents, a scattered collection of survivalists, solar farmers, and people who just wanted to be left alone. A civil war ensued, the ALF members fighting to oust the Omnics at every turn, until an ALF member blew up the fusion core of the Outback's omnium.

The Junkers are what's left of the ALF and scattered Outback residents, eking out a living reclaiming metal and components from the ruins, and surviving in the irradiated waste with ramshackle technology and a bitter hatred for Omnics.

Currently, Junkrat is fleeing from them, as he managed to somehow discover an incredibly valuable secret in the Omnium, the nature of which remains unknown. Whatever it is, the Junkers want it. Badly.

---

• Asskicking Leads to Leadership:
  • Junkertown decides their ruler with an annual Reckoning, a no-rule free-for-all where the last man standing is deemed the Junker King/Queen. Mason Howl was the Junker King for thirteen years by being the Reckoning's champion before the current Junker Queen took part in one.
  • In a different take on this trope, Meri was apparently noted by the Junker Queen to be 'smart enough' to run The Tinkers.
• Awesome Aussie: Surviving in a country that's become heavily radiated during the Omnic War (which was the result of them blowing up the omnium's fusion core) earns them awesome points.
• Barbarian Tribe: They are this in relation to the rest of the setting.
• Color Motif: Yellow, and lots of it. Fitting, since the lot of them are greedy and opportunistic buggers.
• Everyone Has Standards: They exiled Junkrat and Roadhog for an unspecified reason, but Junkrat seems to be the likely cause… he just refuses to accept it.
• Dare to Be Badass: In the Junkertown map trailer, all of the town's inhabitants receives a speech from their queen that mixes this trope and Rousing Speech, urging them to step up and improve their lot in life because they survived the war and the apocalypse, they won the right.
• Fallen Hero: The original Junkers were displaced, angry Australians who formed the ALF organization to "free" their country from Omnic influence after the government turned their country over to the Omnics. It worked… a little too well.
• Fantastic Racism: If (ex)members Junkrat and Roadhog are to go by, none of them like Omnics. This is justified in their backstory, where the Junkers were originally ordinary people who were displaced by the massive influx of Omnic refugees in their country.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: From an angry army of displaced natives who want their homes back and the Omnic refugees out of their country, to a ragtag gang of deadly criminals who manage to rebuild a city from scrap metal and retain some semblance of order… through "Survival of the Fittest".
• Gadgeteer Genius: All of them manage to make a functional town with working machines out of nothing but scrap in a world of advanced technology. Even Junkrat and Roadhog are nothing to sneeze at. And if Meri is any indication, there's an entire faction of them known as "The Tinkers", of which she's the leader.
• Getting the Boot: Whoever breaks the rules of Junkertown and/or manage to piss off the queen is automatically kicked out, no exceptions. In the comic "Wasted Land", a building can be seen with graffiti saying: "Troublemakers will be exiled". Some off-screen Junkers throw Roadhog and Junkrat out of Junkertown off-screen — we only see them being thrown out and then the entranceway closing up tight. We also see Mason Howl thrown out this way by Geiger and Meri...along with a bottle of water.
• Matriarchy: The Junkers are currently led/controlled by a woman who calls herself their "queen".
• Might Makes Right: As part of their beliefs, anyone who shows no mercy to their foes is worthy of moving up a step in life. The queen of Junkertown likely got to the top this way, tooth and nail.
• Mini-Mecha: Mech battles are reportedly very popular among Junkers, and two of them about as big as D.Va's MEKA can be found in the second defense-team spawn room: one with a flamethrower called "Kelvin 506", and another equipped with a buzz saw called "Bludger". Meri and Mason also favor going into battle this way.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Nice job turning your country into a toxic wasteland by blowing up Australia's omnium hoping it'll free your homes from Omnic influence, Australians!
  • And in their backstory, this is how the Junkers saw their own government as well — while the government was well-intentioned, the Junkers thought the decision to let in a large group of Omnic refugees was a massively stupid one, as it caused severe overpopulation and displaced many locals from their homes.
• The Social Darwinist: A whole gang of them. The queen of Junkertown believes that they survived the wasteland and war because they were the strongest.
• Start of Darkness: For the entire gang, it's when their own government decided to let in Omnic refugees from the Omnic War, displacing many natives from their own homes to make room for them.
• Sub-Par Supremacist: They hate the omnics and believe themselves to be superior in every way. The Junkers are social outcasts, they live in squalor, they mutated themselves through Hogdrogen (meaning they can't be classed as human anymore), and they completely irradiated the outback in an effort to reclaim it.
• Villain Has a Point: As much as they are now a gang of wild and dangerous criminals, they think the world has done them a great wrong by shoving Omnic refugees into their country during the Omnic War, which pushed their population count to the brink and displaced a lot of natives from their homes to make room. This is also the reason why all the Junkers, (ex)members Junkrat and Roadhog included, hates Omnics — they believe they took their homes away.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The locals simply believed they were doing what's right. The rest of the world would see the event as a bunch of crazy people who gathered together and ruined their homes.

Deadlock Gang

Type: Outlaw gang
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Southwestern United States
Known Members: Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe, B.O.B., Cole Cassidy (formerly)

Cole Cassidy's former faction. With peak oil long passed and cross-continental travel now done by train, the abandoned highways of America are now home to vicious biker gangs. One such group is Deadlock, a hoverbike gang from Southwestern America dedicated to stealing military hardware and selling it to the highest bidder.

---

• Arms Dealer: From what we've seen so far, their specialty appears to be trafficking military hardware.
• All Bikers are Hells Angels: Implied; the gang as a whole incorporate Spaghetti Western elements into their outfits. As seen with the Deadlock skins we've seen for Overwatch characters (which, ironically, excludes Cassidy), it seems to indicate that they're a biker gang of some kind.
• Bandit Clan: It's heavily implied that the Deadlock Gang is actually a collective of individual gangs controlling the Deadlock Gorge, although Ashe's presence has currently put them all in a territorial, but otherwise stable stalemate.
• Honor Among Thieves: Ashe enforces an extremely strict code amongst Deadlock members and their associates. One of the major ones is to never cheat or kill another member of the gang. And another is to never work with any authorities.
• Resignations Not Accepted: Betraying or abandoning the Deadlock Gang marks the offender for death, in Ashe's view. One of her lines when she kills Cassidy is:
  "There's only one way you get to leave the gang!"
• Shown Their Work: The Deadlock Gang operates in a pretty faithful manner to how real outlaw gangs operated in The Wild West, namely how despite the name, it's actually a collective of several individual and rivaling gangs controlled by various unrelated leaders, all hanging around and generally sharing control of the same area, in this case the Deadlock Gorge (one of the most famous real-world examples of this phenomenon is the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang). This explains Cassidy's "Deadlock Rebels Est. 1976" tattoo; while his and Ashe's little syndicate is a Deadlock Gang, theirs merely exists in a collective of Deadlock rebels that's existed for a lot longer.
• Train Job: Ashe seems to make this her hobby, and she makes her mark in Reunion by blowing up a train to steal the contents inside, which Cassidy incidentally wanted as it contained Echo's body.

Shimada Clan

Type: Criminal organization
Standing: Near-defunct
Headquarters: Hanamura, Japan
Known Members: Hanzo Shimada (formerly), Genji Shimada (formerly), Sojiro Shimada (deceased)

A clan of Yakuza stationed in Hanamura, Japan. As their name implies, this is the family that Genji and Hanzo were born into, and whose dark actions shaped their destinies. They participate in just about every form of Dirty Business you can think of: Smuggling, assassination, illegal trades, etc. The clan had high hopes for both siblings to eventually succeed and run the clan after their father, the head, passed away. While Hanzo was being The Dutiful Son, Genji was a slacker and had no interest in such unsavory business, instead spending his youth pursuing the life of a playboy and overall just having fun.

When Genji and Hanzo's father died, the elders not only named Hanzo the successor, but as his first task, he was ordered to set Genji straight in their way. When Genji refused, it turned into a fatal battle where Hanzo seemingly killed Genji. Grief-stricken with the apparent death of his brother, Hanzo abandoned what would become his inheritance and left the clan in shame.

Without Hanzo as its leader, the Shimada clan was left in chaos. Whilst sending assassins after Hanzo for his betrayal, they were unaware that Genji survived his death and became both a Cyber Ninja and an Overwatch agent. Having been tasked with disrupting the clan's operations, and being all too happy to oblige, his actions eventually caused the clan's near-total decline into inactivity.

As of today, the Shimada clan is essentially defunct. With very little real power at their disposal, their last and only refuge is their own shrine. Even so, Hanzo still manages to easily defeat and slip past their defenses in order to honor Genji's death once every year. That is, until the events of Dragons, in which the two brothers finally reunite. The clan continues to slowly die, not with a bang, but a whimper. Talon, however, still had an interest towards this clan, implying that they may have plans in store for them which would allow their power to be restored, but at a steep price.

---

• Animal Motifs: Dragons, which are present in Hanzo and Genji. In Asian cultures, dragons are a sign of strength and good fortune. But because the clan is Yakuza, the Western depiction of dragons as creatures of evil can be applied as well.
• Bilingual Bonus: The calligraphy in Hanamura (the one which Hanzo kneels in front of in the Dragons short) spells out a Chinese/Japanese proverb, which literally translates into "(A) dragon's head, (and a) snake's tail", and means "to start with a bang, but end with a whimper". Presumably, it was hung there to remind the Shimada clan to never commit that mistake. Unfortunately, they did make that mistake in forcing Hanzo to kill Genji for refusing to toe the line, and now that there are no official heirs, the clan is dying a slow death.
• Deal with the Devil: Both Widowmaker and Doomfist offer Hanzo a way to restore his family's power, though Hanzo is savvy enough to reject them, knowing there's a price to pay in the exchange. According to Retribution, Talon has been interested in the Shimada Clan for a several years, having once tried to recruit his and Genji's father.
  Reyes: He didn’t take them up on their offer?
  Genji: He did not find them to his liking. Their aims did not coincide with his own.
• Defector from Decadence: Played straight with Genji, who turned against his family after his fateful battle with Hanzo. Downplayed with Hanzo since on some level he regrets his choice to abandon his family.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: The clan is not above recruiting Omnics into their ranks, at least as guards.
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite being Yakuza, at least a few members distrust the Talon organization. Hanzo is suspicious of the strings attached to Talon's offer of an alliance, and according to Genji, their deceased father likely disagreed with Talon's Darwinistic aims.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: From a powerful criminal empire, to a whimpering shadow desperately clinging onto what it has left.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: They can summon dragon spirits because of their enhanced genetics. Whether it's magical in nature or some kind of superpower rooted in science (like the rest of Overwatch) is unclear.
• Ninja: What the Shimada clan was before becoming Yakuza.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The clan elders ordered Hanzo to kill Genji for being "disobedient", fearing that he would be a liability that would drag the clan down. Hanzo did "kill" him, but unbeknownst to the clan, Genji was rescued by Overwatch and made into a cyborg. After that, he joined Overwatch and spearheaded operations against the Shimada Clan, personally dismantling his former empire until it declined into near-nonexistence. Genji dragged the clan down alright, but their attempts to stop that from happening only made it much, much worse.
• Succession Crisis: First Hanzo and Genji's father died, and the clan elders named Hanzo his successor. But they made a mistake in forcing Hanzo to kill Genji, whom Hanzo loved greatly, causing him to leave in shame (though he regrets it to some degree). With both brothers gone, the clan began to decline, a process accelerated by Genji, who actually survived his battle with Hanzo and turned into a cyborg, opposing and interfering with their activities.
• Superpowerful Genetics: It's revealed in "Dragons" that only those from the Shimada clan can summon dragon spirits, which both Hanzo and Genji currently have as Ultimates (despite technically not being with their family anymore).
• White Sheep: Genji, largely due to being spoiled by his deceased father, leading to disinterest in ruling the clan, and partly because he was disgusted with the family business.
• Yakuza: They're a criminal clan stationed in Japan.

Hashimoto Clan

Type: Criminal organization
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Japan
Known Members: Asa Yamagami (involuntarily), Toshiro Yamagami (involuntarily)

Following the collapse of the Shimada Clan following the Omnic Crisis and Overwatch's intervention, new criminal syndicates fought to claim the power vacuum, with the Hashimoto Clan coming out on top. First asserting itself over the cities of Hanamura and Kanezaka, the clan has since proliferated over much of Japan, selling contraband, extorting locals, and other manner of unsavory criminal activity across the country.

Several years prior, they abducted Toshiro Yamagami and forced him into developing weapons for them, proceeding to use him as leverage to ensure the rest of his family would also comply with their orders to keep quiet. In more recent years, a Kazekana-based vigilante group known as the Yōkai Gang have begun stewing conflict with the clan by breaking into their strongholds and sabotaging shipments, prompting much wider-spread aggression and tension within their dominion.

---

• Animal Motifs: Their signature emblem is of a stylized tiger head.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: At the very least, they don't discriminate against having human and omnic goons.
• Viler New Villain: Being a criminal empire and all, the Shimada Clan wasn't exactly the most wholesome bunch, but the Hashimoto Clan are far more dangerous, eschewing the Shimada's sense of nobility and honor in exchange for being much more bluntly hostile against the populous in getting what they want.
• Yakuza: Another criminal organization rooted in Japan, and a much more dangerous one than the Shimadas.

Los Muertos

Type: Gang
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Castillo, Mexico
Known Members: Olivia "Sombra" Colomar (formerly)

A troublemaking gang based in Dorado, Mexico, but that has been known to be active in Hollywood as well. They harbor resentment towards the Mexican government for somehow 'leaving them behind' and retaliate by sowing terror throughout the area. They're also incredibly racist towards Omnics. One can say that they are a lesser version of Talon.

They were put in highlight when they attempted to coax a young girl named Alejandra into joining their Omnic-hating spree, but unfortunately ran afoul the vigilante Soldier: 76, who proceeded to single-handedly savage them for their overall crime spree. They only managed to run away safely after tossing a grenade that could have killed Alejandra, forcing Soldier: 76 to abandon pursuit to protect her.

Thanks to Sombra, they incited a riot within Dorado against LumériCo when they (falsely) learned that the CEO had been bribing Mexican officials. The riot led to the CEO resigning.

---

• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Los Muertos includes women and Omnics, despite some Fantastic Racism towards the latter on an individual basis.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The gang is disgusted with LumériCo when Sombra hacks into the files of LumériCo CEO Guillermo Portero which reveals the CEO has been allegedly bribing Mexican officials for the benefit of his company and trying to seize privately held land. They have called for Portero and his cronies resignation and arrest and also reparation for their victims. As it turned out, Sombra just made up the bribery proofs herself, but it was enough to incite their standards.
• Fantastic Racism: A few members in Hero think battering up a defenseless and wounded Omnic is a good time, with one saying that he's giving the Omnic what he deserves for the Omnic Crisis. However, Los Muertos itself does not organizationally hate Omnics, and even have some Omnic gang members as seen on Sombra's origin trailer, it's mainly individual members having their own reasons for attacking Omnics.
• Graffiti Town: One of their homesteads, Castillo, is full of their various tags, as well as bars, broken objects, rifles and boomboxes.
• Meaningful Name: "The Dead", somehow implying that being left behind by the government 'killed' and embittered them.
• Sadistic Choice: Forced one onto Soldier: 76 which managed to save their hides; finish off the gang or protect an innocent bystander from an explosion. They should be grateful that 76 still has the hero within him or else they would have been dissolved that instant.
• Tattooed Crook: All of the gang members have skeleton tattoos all over their bodies. The tattoos are done in a glow-in-the-dark ink. When the lights go out, the various gang members glow in neon colors.
• Tron Lines: Their day-glo skeleton tattoos evoke this image.

Null Sector

Type: Extremist militia
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Unknown
Known Members: Ramattra (leader)

An organization of Omnic extremists who took control of King's Row seven years prior to the story. They have since rebuilt their forces larger than ever and have launched an assault on a global scale in a second Omnic Crisis.

---

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: There are the Omnics that want peace with humanity... and then there's Null Sector.
• Arc Villain: They're the main antagonists of the Uprising event, but they've been shut down by the events of the series proper. Then they suddenly attack Paris.
• Arm Cannon: Null Sector grunts in the modern day have large laser cannons mounted on their right arms. The colossal omnic that attacked France had a giant cannon in place of its right arm.
• Came Back Strong: By the time of the game's events, Null Sector had either been neutralized or gone into hiding. Now they're back and they've gotten quite the upgrades: new stronger bodies and weapons, several new battle models including Titan-class warbringers, and even Star Destroyer-sized battlecruisers. Their Omnium is also pumping these units out at a frightening pace.
• Cyber Cyclops: The standard Troopers and Eradicators have a single optic on their "faces".
• Evil Knockoff: Zig-Zagged: gameplay-wise, the B73-NS and OR14-NS enemies are this to Bastion and Orisa respectively, but story-wise, Bastion would likely be an evil Omnic and Orisa hasn't been built yet.
• Fantastic Racism: Towards humans, being an extremist faction of Omnics.
• Killer Robot: Omnic extremists, to be precise.
• Light Is Not Good: In Overwatch 2 Null Sector's colors are primarily white/silver and light gray. They're still evil, though, and have become even more dangerous.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Eradicators generate red shields that protects their front and their flanks while deployed. Like player tank shields, enough damage will destroy them.
• Mecha-Mooks: They are the enemies the heroes face in the Uprising brawl and will be this in many of the Story and Hero Missions in 2.
• Punny Name: In the French version, the Slicers are instead named Lazerators.
• Purple Is the New Black: They're an antagonistic faction that uses purple as their motif in their first appearance.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: That's how you know that these Omnics don't play nice.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: They inflicted untold casualties in their takeover of King's Row, forcing Overwatch to intervene. It's become even more destructive and bloody now that they've taken their revolution global.
• Stop Being Stereotypical: One of the worst aspects of their uprising is that King's Row was on the verge of becoming a haven of human-Omnic coexistence. Null Sector ruined that. By the time of the main story, Omnics are more hated and oppressed there than almost anywhere else.
• Unwitting Pawn: Talon's leaders imply that they were the ones who manipulated Null Sector into performing their Uprising. Their intended result was for a new war to start, but Overwatch prevented at the cost of peaceful Human-Omnic relations in the foreseeable future. In Overwatch 2, the war Talon wanted has finally come as Null Sector has exploded onto the global stage.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Apparently, they want more rights for Omnics, and committing genocide on King's Row was their attempt in achieving it. Deconstructed, as their actions only made the situation worse for other innocent Omnics who are already suffering Fantastic Racism.

Corporations

Vishkar Corporation

Type: Conglomerate
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Southern India
Known Members: Satya "Symmetra" Vaswani, Sanjay Korpal, Niran "Bua/Lifeweaver" Pruksamanee (formerly)

A multinational corporation based in Southern India, Vishkar has some of the most advanced technology in the world of Overwatch, with teleporters, sonic weaponry, and Hard Light technology that allows them to rebuild and restructure cities almost instantaneously. After the Omnic Crisis, they built cutting-edge, self-sustaining cities to house India's displaced population. Yes, Vishkar is truly a corporation dedicated to creating order in the Overwatch world.

In reality, Vishkar is an amoral MegaCorp dedicated to profiting themselves — and yes, creating order — at all costs. They've gotten up to plenty of shady actions such as sabotage, arson, murder, and imposing near-dictatorial control on the favela residents whose lives they claimed to be improving: enforcing curfews, cracking down on what the company perceived as lawless behavior, and exploiting the populace as a cheap labor force.

---

• Bad Samaritan: The entire company poses as a benevolent force ready to help improve the lives of the poor and disadvantaged. But if you refuse their help, they'll make things look like an accident so you'll be forced to have no say in the matter as they force their "improvements" down your throat.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Vishkar has a lot of influence, big enough to rival Talon for the title of Big Bad. Sanjay Korpal being on the Talon Council only further complicates matters.
• Broken Pedestal: To Symmetra, albeit slowly, as of "A Better World". She's still devoted to them, but seeing what they did to the favela and its residents left her doubting if they truly mean what they said.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Appears benevolent and well-meaning, but really, they're just wanting to fill their own pockets in the name of "order". To wit:
  • They plucked Symmetra away from poverty after she was revealed to be a Child Prodigy, wanting to exploit her talents without considering the emotional impact it might have on Symmetra herself or her family.
  • Then they take over Lúcio's neighborhood and turn it into a police state where they impose strict curfews and exploit the locals as cheap labor. This bit them in the ass when Lucio stole their technology and turned it against them.
  • Vishkar agents tend to operate in highly corrupt nations such as India and Brazil, which would make it harder for the authorities to arrest and terminate them as a corporate group.
  • Then in the comic short, "A Better World", they secretly send agents to blow up a favela, killing/injuring several civilians (including a young girl whom Symmetra befriended) and displacing many more in order to force them to accept their "improvements".
• Faux Affably Evil: Vishkar is quick to speechify and proclaim how they're here to help, which only serves to highlight the abhorrence of their actions.
• Foil: Surprisingly... to Talon, another big organization that is seen an antagonistic and certainly not giving a damn to any other people's voices. Vishkar presents itself with light and goodness, like a honest corporation, and extremism for the greater good, but in truth they are very selfish, greedy, and shady behind those masks. On the other hand, Talon presents itself with darkness and doom and they make it no secret that they're terrorists... and they're completely honest about it. May be intentionally invoked due to one of their high-ranking members actually being a Talon agent.
• Hard Light: One of their many advanced technologies. It's a primary material used to create entire districts, and (in Symmetra's case) weapons and teleporters in the blink of an eye.
• Hypocrite: They really never really fulfilled their promises of good deals, at least not in Brazil, and instead makes up more 'labor forces' out of the innocents. In "A Better World", they uncaringly build a city center in the middle of an impoverished favela in Rio after secretly blowing it up, instead of remodeling it like they promised (and were supposed to).
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Thanks to their public reputation, they never got any comeuppance for their actions, at all. However, that changed in Lúcio's backstory, where he stole their stuff and drove Vishkar out of his favela.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Is on the receiving end of this by Lúcio. He stole one of their technologies to drive them away from the favela they're trying to renovate, which he happens to be from. Most people outside the company who would otherwise think that stealing is bad would instead side with the thief and think, "Serves Vishkar right for making people suffer."
• Knight Templar: Many of its employees (Symmetra included) believe their horrible, horrible actions were done for everyone's own good. Fortunately, it's becoming subverted as Symmetra starts to see firsthand how morally corrupt her company is.
• Lack of Empathy: They have the gall to speechify about how their latest project will improve lives in front of a crowd of the very people whose lives have been displaced by their efforts, showing how little those lives actually matter to them.
• Light Is Not Good: Their main colors seem to be white, blue, and gold. and one of their primary tools is Hard Light technology. Also a very morally ambiguous and corrupt corporation whose practices would've quickly resulted in their immediate arrest and termination if done in real life.
• Meaningful Name: Its company name is derived from the Hindi words for "poison" (vish) and "tax" (kar), giving a hint as to their ill intentions for the world in the name of profit.
  • Alternatively, seeing how it's an Indian company that specializes in architecture and technology, it may come from Vishvakarma, a Hindu god associated with architecture and craftsmanship.
• MegaCorp: They have power rivaling, if not eclipsing many governments in the Overwatch world. The fact that they've done all we've seen and haven't yet received their comeuppance should give an idea of the power they possess.
• Pet the Dog: While it was a bit Pragmatic Villainy, they did genuinely offer the funds and resources to rebuild an ancient statue of Aurora in an Omnic temple after their construction efforts accidentally destroyed it. When the temple denizens refused, Vishkar sent their best agent to figure out how they might help the omnics.
• Truth in Television: Favelas, obviously, really do exist in Real Life. What a non-Brazilian might not know is that they are actually, in real life, quite often the targets of arson by realtors and other people interested in using that land for whatever purpose best lines their pockets. Vishkar may be fictional, but their methods are not.
• Villain with Good Publicity: ZigZagging; Vishkar presents itself as being a respectable company that saved several nations from collapse after the Omnic Crisis, but they've also caught plenty of backlash due to harming others. They're savvy enough to know that some of their more overtly destructive acts are terrible for PR and send agents like Symmetra to clean up the mess, but their success in damage control has varied: the denizens of Rio de Janeiro in "A Better World" aren't at all happy by their encroachment, while the village of Roshani in "Stone By Stone" responded much more favorably to Symmetra's reconstruction efforts (though that was largely on her own accord).
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: All of their horrible, horrible actions seen in both Lúcio and Symmetra's backstories, as well as the comic short "A Better World", is accompanied with the justification that it's for everyone's own good, although it's more propaganda than anything else.
• Would Hurt a Child: In "A Better World", Vishkar agents blow up a favela in order to force its residents into accepting their "improvements". A young girl is injured in the crossfire, but although she survives thanks to Symmetra, her face is irreparably burned and disfigured. Symmetra is horrified, but everyone brushes off her complaints, insisting it's for the greater good.

Volskaya Industries

Type: Military Weapon Manufacturers
Standing: Active
Headquarters: near St. Petersburgh, Russia
Known Members: Aleksandra "Zarya" Zaryanova, Katya Volskaya

A weapons manufacturer headquartered in Russia, responsible for bringing back Russia to its feet to stand on its own against the Omnic Crisis even without the help of Overwatch, in spite being the first to be struck by the Omnic forces. Their most prominent product is a man-piloted Humongous Mecha named Svyatogor. For their efforts, its CEO, Katya Volskaya, is hailed as one of Russia's heroes and most powerful and influential woman.

Unfortunately there is one secret about this company: Most of its rapid advances are done because Katya secretly employs the help of Omnics herself. For the longest time, the secret was kept, until an assault of Talon to assassinate Katya reveals that Sombra managed to get ahold of that one information and then used it to blackmail Katya to do as she, not Talon, says.

As it stands now, Volskaya Industries looked like just another manufacturer company, but in truth, Sombra had them on her own strings. However, Katya refused to just sit idly, and secretly employs Russia's other (and more literally) most powerful woman, Zarya, who also used her products during her defense for the motherland, to help her escape from Sombra's blackmail.

---

• Fantastic Racism: Throughout the stage proper, there are many anti-Omnic propaganda posters. The fear and/or hatred of Omnics is central enough to Volskaya's policies that the mere threat of the world learning that Omnics created their technology has Katya Volskaya submit to Sombra's blackmail.
• Hypocrite: Despite the anti-Omnic propaganda the company doles out, Katya secretly employs Omnics to build Russia's technology. The severe public fallout that would ensue if the secret was exposed is why Katya submitted to Sombra's blackmail.
• The Power of Legacy: The corporate has left such an inspiring and positive legacy by saving Russia from Omnics single-handedly that if Katya's secret is to be revealed, Russia will fall apart from mistrust or civil war. This is what Sombra threatened to reveal to the world, making Katya submit to her blackmail so Russia will not fall with the legacy.
• Soviet Superscience: Humongous Mecha, Russia-style except all their tech, they've been getting from the Omnics they're fighting..

Omnica Corporation

Type: Manufacturer
Standing: Defunct
Headquarters: Global (formerly)
Known Members: Dr. Mina Liao (formerly)

The corporation that was responsible for the development of Omnium and Omnics made from automated construction machinery and self-improving software algorithms. They were shut down after some began malfunctioning, and accounts of fraud. Later, the Omniums would come back online, and launched a massive military campaign against human, starting the Omnic Crisis.

---

• Corrupt Corporate Executive: They were found guilty of fraud, so we can presume the leaders were this.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The entire organization exists primarily in the background and was defunct long before the story begins, however they're integral to the story of Overwatch. If it weren't for them, the Omniums and the Omnics, as well as the Omnic Crisis and subsequently Overwatch itself, never would've existed.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: While they were proven to be corrupt, it's unlikely they wanted to start a Robot War that nearly brought the end of humanity.

Scientific Organizations

Oasis

Type:
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Oasis, Iraq
Known Members: Moira O'Deorain (Minister of Genetics), Dr. Anya Al-Shahrani (Minister of Geology), Ibrahim Hassoun, Youssef al-Jabiri, Mehmet Farhat

An impressive city in the middle of the Iraqi desert, founded by scientists who wish to pursue research without restrictions.

---

In-universe description: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20457295 (Note, Unreliable Narrator.)

• Ambiguously Evil: The work for the betterment of mankind... but don't seem to think too highly of ethics and hired Moira as their minister of Genetics.
• For Science!: The reason the city was built by scientists, who wanted a place to research their fields with less restriction, including ethical ones.
• The Future Will Be Better: At the game's release, Iraq in the real world has been mired in conflict for more than a decade. But instead of portraying the Middle East being war torn like in many other games, Overwatch, driven by the concept of "dare to see the world as it could be", depicts Oasis as a futuristic city with a high standard of living.
• Ironic Name: Despite its welcoming name, Oasis is secretly monitored by unethical scientists, who built the city and made it appear as a peaceful, highly advanced place so they could have free test subjects.
• Scienceville: The city was founded in a future Iraq by scientists who felt that modern advancement was moving too slowly. To that end, and to demonstrate the inherent power of science, they deliberately chose the most desolate area of Iraq to build upon, as proof that genius could turn a desolate region into a sprawling technological metropolis. It holds a library with every single printed material on a database, as well as extensive resorts, luxury suites and one of the greatest universities in the world. The city's crowning achievement is a large tower in perpetual construction — it already ranks as the world's tallest building, but the goal is to continue building upon the tower indefinitely for as long as possible.
• Sinister Surveillance: The city is in a constant surveillance 24/7. The reason crime is almost non-existent is because of an advanced crime-predicting algorithm and automatic police that enforce the city itself.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Willing to go to any lengths to improve lives, including predictive surveillance, genetic experimentation, and outdoor air conditioning to make desert weather bearable.

Lucheng Interstellar

Type: Space exploration
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Lijang Tower, China
Known Members: Dr. Harold Winston, Hammond Zhang, Flores, Nevsky, Nguyen, Patel, Yoshida (all KIA)

China's lead space exploration company, with members from all over the world. They oversaw the ill-fated Horizon Lunar Colony, where scientists raised genetically enhanced gorillas from the moon. Unfortunately, the gorillas formed an uprising, killing their human scientists and claiming the Lunar Colony for themselves.

---

• The Dog Bites Back: Implied in Winston's backstory; the gorillas grew hateful towards the human scientists for favoring the intelligent Winston while ignoring everyone else. So they staged an uprising and murdered all the scientists, including Winston's adoptive father, Dr. Harold Winston.
• Multinational Team: Though China-based, Lucheng evidently draws members from all over the world, as Winston's adoptive father, Dr. Harold Winston, was among them.
• Noodle Incident: Exactly how the uprising went down isn't yet clear, and why nothing has been done about the gorillas taking over the moon base is unknown. It's implied that one of the contributing factors was the other gorillas reacting out of hatred and resentment towards the scientists favoring Winston.
• Uplifted Animal: They turned normal primates into talking animals with human-like intelligence (or superhuman, in the case of Winston).

Other Groups

Atlas News

Type: News coverage
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Unknown
Known Members: Olympia Shaw

The official news agency presented in the world of Overwatch. They are the source of the in-universe articles detailing the events that occur. The only known reporter is Olympia Shaw, an admirer of Overwatch, particularly Jack Morrison.

---

• Chekhov's News: What they report often ends up being important later, such as an article on Soldier: 76 posted a day before he was revealed, the illegal reformation of Overwatch, the "exposure" of LumériCo CEO Gullermo Portero by Sombra, and an interview with Efi Oladele, creator of Orisa.

Helix Security International

Type: Private security firm
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Unknown
Known Members: Fareeha "Pharah" Amari, Khalil (KIA), Aizad, Mahmud, Okoro (KIA), Tariq, Saleh

A private security firm that's currently assigned to protect the Temple of Anubis. Ever since Anubis, a "god program", broke containment, they were sent in to shut the program. After losing their leader Captain Khalil, they managed to successfully shut down the AI. Personnel were stationed at Watchpoint: Grand Mesa to protect the site. However, they were attacked by an unknown assailant (Soldier: 76) and had a pulse rifle stolen from them. There were no casualties, however.

Helix was also charged with the imprisonment of one of the leaders of Talon, Doomfist. However, a prison break ensued, caused by Reaper, enabling Doomfist to escape. As such, rumors that there was a Talon mole amongst the group began to circulate.

---

• Arch-Enemy: Anubis, the god program they were sent to shut down.
• The Mole: It's suggested, though not confirmed, that Helix has members secretly associated with Talon, who allowed Reaper to break Doomfist out of prison by giving his ship the clear to enter.
• Private Military Contractors: They're a private security firm.

Shambali

Type: Clandestine
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Shambali Monastery, Nepal
Known Members: Tekhartha Zenyatta (formerly), Tekhartha Mondatta (KIA), Ramattra (formerly)

A group of Omnic monks from the mountains of Nepal, they formed after the Omnic Crisis. After many years of mediation on the nature of existence, they came to the realization that, like humans, they possessed the essence of a soul. Under the lead of Tekhartha Mondatta, they sought to heal the wounds between humans and Omnics caused by the Crisis through peaceful methods. Sadly, their leader became the target of Talon, and Widowmaker was sent out to assassinate the leader while giving a speech in King's Row — she was successful. What has become of the Shambali since then remains a mystery.

---

• The Atoner: Seeks to mend the relationships between humans and Omnics through peace, after everything was stained due to the Omnic Crisis.
• Badass Pacifist: They tend to avoid violence and try to build peace. However, as shown with Zenyatta, they can fight if pressed to.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: We know nothing about their members before they created their monastery. Thus, it's unknown if their spiritualistic abilities (such as their ability to float, their orbs, their extra limbs, etc.) are something they were programmed with or not. If it isn't, then maybe it's magical after all.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: They're robot monks.
• No Communities Were Harmed: An obvious Expy of the Buddhist monks that resided in Nepal.
• Perfect Pacifist People: Monks who promote pacifism in order to create a utopia.
• Robot Religion: A whole order of robotic monks.

Numbani

Type: Utopian city
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Numbani, Nigeria
Known Members: Efi Oladele (Resident, Scientist/Inventor), Orisa (Guardian/Protector), OR-15 units (Former protectors)

A beautiful utopian city on the edge of the African savannah, Numbani exists as one of the few cities in the world where omnics and humans co-exist in peace together. Their mutual cooperation led to the cities' construction as well as its position as a leader in technological and scientific advancement. It was once plagued by attacks by the villainous second Doomfist, whose successor recently attacked the Numbani International Airport, destroying the OR-15 units and making off with his signature weapon.

---

• Absurdly Cool City: Numbani is an undeniably futuristic paradise compared to the other maps, most of which are either not too different from modern times (Ilios, Hanamura or Hollywood), in ruins or abandoned (Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Ecopoint: Antarctica or Eichenwalde) or flat-out horrible places to live (Kings Row or Route 66).
• Afrofuturism: The city's entire aesthetic is rooted heavily in this.
• City Guards: Formerly the OR-15s, until they got trashed by Doomfist. Orisa takes up this job now, but she's... still learning.
• The Future Will Be Better: Among all the locations seen thus far, this map along with Oasis takes the cake for providing the most idealistic vision of Earth's future.
• Job-Stealing Robot: Subverted, omnics and humans co-exist and perform all sorts of jobs.
• Shining City: Numbani is portrayed as a utopian city with highly advanced technology, as well as being one of few places where omnics and humans can openly co-exist in peace.

The Conspiracy

Type: Secret organization
Standing: Active
Headquarters: Unknown
Known Members: None

An organization of unknown size and influence with unknown goals.

---

• Ambiguous Situation: Something clearly caught young Sombra. However, everything we know about them is from Sombra, who's an Unreliable Narrator. It might be a real threat with strings around every part of the Overwatch world... or it might be the rambles of a conspiracy theorist.
• The Conspiracy: To what end, no one knows, but it's implied to be a very deep and powerful one. Their symbol is even an Illuminati-esque eye.
• Eviler than Thou: Managed to catch up to a young Sombra, forcing her to go underground and turn herself half-machine.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Sombra thinks they have direct ties to Overwatch, Talon, Volskaya Industries, LumériCo, and the Nation of Numbani, as well as two other unknown groups. If they're the same conspiracy Reaper's bio mentions, they're also at least partially responsible for the collapse of Overwatch.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Their symbol is a red eye with a slitted pupil.
• The Illuminati: Of the world of Overwatch.

---