History YMMV / OverwatchStoryAndLore

** Many players consider Soldier: 76's design boring overall, but he's a popular character nonetheless. This is particularly true in the USA, where FirstPersonShooter games like ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' have dominated the market and thus his kit/design feel very familiar. Soldier: 76 was, in fact, specifically designed [[SkillGateCharacter to take advantage of this fact]].

* OlderThanTheyThink:
** Some think that Widowmaker's CatchPhrase "One shot, one kill" was something that Blizzard came up with, similar to Tracer's "Cheers luv, the cavalry's here". In reality, it's a common phrase that has existed for ''decades''. In fact, Blizzard themselves have used it before as far back as ''[[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]]'' as a [[StopPokingMe unit quote]] for archers.
** A character ending up detached from time due to a teleportation mishap and only being able to observe dates back to 1992 with [[Literature/XeeleeSequence Timelike Infinity]].

* OlderThanTheyThink: Some think that Widowmaker's CatchPhrase "One shot, one kill" was something that Blizzard came up with, similar to Tracer's "Cheers luv, the cavalry's here". In reality, it's a common phrase that has existed for ''decades''. In fact, Blizzard themselves have used it before as far back as ''[[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]]'' as a [[StopPokingMe unit quote]] for archers.

** [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Talon]] may be a remorseless group of terrorists and murderers, but it still has its fans and supporters due to each of its playable representatives running the gamut of [[EvilIsCool impressive]] and [[EvilIsSexy alluring]] in various spectrums while being afforded a degree of [[CryForTheDevil sympathy]] through their backstories and circumstances. Of note, for all of Widowmaker's fans who want her to get a [[HeelFaceTurn redemption arc]], another subset cite this trope as a reason for her to remain evil, finding her more appealing and interesting as a villain.

** Baptiste and Mauga's relationship is a pretty complicated FriendlyEnemy dynamic as is, but Mauga's [[AffablyEvil persistent affection towards his former comrade]] comes with a rather ''interesting'' energy that many compare to a clingy ex trying to schmooze his way back into the life of an old boyfriend who's moved on. Among Mauga's friendlier in-game taunts towards Baptiste is the interestingly-worded "Lookin' sultry, buddy!" (granted, he is [[PlayingWithFire literally setting Baptiste on fire]]...)

** Baptiste blows a kiss and smiles at whomever he says "Hello" to.
** While Cassidy and Hanzo have long had a shipping fanbase due to their surprisingly friendly banter in-game, one of Hanzo's lines after taking down an enemy Cassidy in the Overwatch 2 beta has raised some eyebrows.
--> '''Hanzo''': Good looks are not enough, cowboy.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Widowmaker has the most revealing clothing, including fishnet leggings and a top cut down the middle. She's one of the more evil characters ([[BrainwashedAndCrazy though not her own accord]]).
** [[HotAsHell Devil Mercy]] and [[PurpleIsPowerful Imp Mercy]]. Form-fitting suits like vanilla Mercy, but with a demonic flare between them.
** [[HotWitch Witch Mercy]] in ''Junkenstein's Revenge''. It's the already gorgeous [[MsFanservice Mercy]] wearing one of the most revealing alternate skins in the game, what did you expect?
** Reaper has his fangirls (And guys) as well, mainly thanks to [[MemeticMutation his thighs]] and the fact that Gabriel Reyes was attractive pre-transformation.
** While not as overtly fanservice-y as Widowmaker, Sombra has plenty of fans who find her attractive for her accent, cyberpunk look, and SpicyLatina demeanor.
** Doomfist's muscular physique and general badassery coupled with his [[BadassInANiceSuit white suit]] in one of the comics has given him some popularity among both women and men.
** Another Talon member, another containder for this trope: it didn't take long after Moira's reveal for a number of players to declare her as one of the more attractive Overwatch heroes on the roster, owing to her androgynous, Creator/DavidBowie-style beauty, her deep, commanding voice, her confident and charismatic demeanor, and the added bonus of being a genuinely brilliant MadScientist.
** From her [[EvilIsCool stylish Western gear]] to her [[WhiteHairBlackHeart hair]] to her [[Creator/JenniferHale voice actress]], it's not hard to imagine that Ashe was ''specifically'' designed with this trope in mind.
** Ramattra -- despite being a robot -- attracted a surprisingly large amount of admirers, probably because unlike other omnics in the game, [[HeroicBuild he's developed with a very muscular build]] that gets [[LargeAndInCharge even bigger while in his Nemesis Form]]. His rich voice and overall badass sense of style certainly don't hurt.

** An odd Out-Of-Universe example between [[ShipToShipCombat Gency and Pharmercy]]. In addition to the usual mudslinging at Genji for interfering with the latter ship, there are attacks on the lead writer Michael Chu. Doubled with the slow writing of the game in general as well as the ShipTease of Gency, people began a [[UnfortunateImplications rather racist accusation of the Japanese Genji being a self-insert of the Chinese Michael Chu]] to try to deter people away from the ship.

* FanPreferredCutContent: After the concept art for Mercy revealed one of her beta designs to be a burly black man, some fans thought it would have been an interesting StereotypeFlip of the ScaryBlackMan trope.

* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: A not-insignificant portion of fans don't even ''own'' the game but still remain active in the community because they do appreciate the work put into the setting, find the premise interesting and consider the characters to be enjoyable. In the years as the game side of things has faced increasing scrutiny (namely following ''Overwatch 2'' and its controversial restructuring towards live-service monetization, to say nothing about [[OvershadowedByControversy other reputational qualms many have with Blizzard as a whole]]), excitement and anticipation has instead been shifted towards any form of story content, especially with promises that ''2'' would finally rectify [[ProlongedPrologue the glacial-to-almost-nonexistent pacing]] of [[OrderReborn its own premise]]. When the time finally arrived with the ''Invasion'' update in mid-2023, the gameplay side of things received a largely tepid reaction (not helped by the upfront price tag, nor by the extremely public knowledge that it was significantly downsized from what was originally promised due to TroubledProduction), but they still received praise for ''finally'' providing a story that had been anticipated for years with endearing character interactions, interesting story developments and twists, and a general sense of forward movement that left fans wanting to see more (though not necessarily paying for it).

** EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: Conversely, a not-insignificant portion of fans don't even ''own'' the game but still remain active in the community, because they do appreciate the work put into the setting, find the premise interesting and consider the characters to be enjoyable. These tend more to be fans of certain characters who pay attention to the franchise [[JustHereForGodzilla mostly or solely for them.]]

** Despite WordOfGod confirmed that their relationship is firmly platonic, Ramattra/ Zenyatta instantly took off rivaling the popular Genji / Zenyatta. Reason for this is because the ample history between Zenyatta and Ramattra despite their opposing ideology and canon affliation opposing side. The voiceline where it revealed that they still fondly interacted with each other in the game definitely helped.

** Some feel Sombra has been hit with a big case of this after her introduction. To wit: she was introduced in her ARG and ''Infiltration'' as a smooth, delightfully trollish ManipulativeBastard who managed to kick ass and make complete fools of her fellow Talon agents with them none the wiser, winning over the hearts of many fans. Come ''Masquerade'' and ''Searching'', where it turns out she's not as clever as she or her fans thought, as Reaper is completely aware of Sombra doing things in secret, and was easily found and [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] by Zarya, as well as having her real name figured out -- so much for erasing all traces of her past. It's gotten to the point where she's seen more as a SmugSnake[=/=]ButtMonkey than the MagnificentBastard she was clearly portrayed as in her introduction. Her being seen (at the time) as something of a low-tier TierInducedScrappy in some circles hasn't helped matters.

** Widowmaker has earned her share of ire for her [[KickTheDog treatment]] of other characters and her [[TierInducedScrappy fluctuating in-game viability]], but her single-panel cameo in ''Reflections'' of her [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes visiting her husband's grave]] and her unique [[https://www.pcgamesn.com/sites/default/files/overwatch%20insurrection%20widow%20parents%20small_0.png spray]] depicting her wedding from the "Archives" event both showed her as something other than a vicious killer and reinforced her [[TragicVillain tragic origins]] enough for even her harshest detractors to feel some sympathy for her. A contingent of fans is rooting for her to [[TheAtoner atone]] and [[HeelFaceTurn make amends for herself]], or at least for more of her humanity to be explored.

* LGBTFanbase: There's a reason why the game has sometimes been affectionately referred to as "[[FanNickname Shooty Lesbian Simulator]]", and that was ''before'' Tracer and Soldier: 76 were revealed to be canonically gay, the addition of Lifeweaver as a pansecual hero, Pharah was revealed to be a lesbian and Baptiste was revealed to be bisexual.

* EstrogenBrigade: Female fans that still weren't convinced to play the game due to the diversity of the cast and large amount of female heroes are quickly won over when they see the sheer amount of attractive guys the game has to offer. This is most prominent with [=Cassidy=], Hanzo, Lucio, and Baptiste but also pops up with Soldier: 76, Reaper, Genji, Reinhardt (when they are in their younger, more attractive skins) and [[UglyCute Junkrat]].

** [=Cassidy=] is been paired with quite the number of characters due to a large number of fans think he is attractive and his unique cowboy aesthetic. He's frequently paired with [[FanPreferredCouple Hanzo]], Symmetra, Lucio ([[CrackShip all of whom he never met or interact with]]), his former superiors Reaper, Soldier: 76 and Ana, his former Overwatch fellow teammates Genji, Mercy and Mei, his former Deadlock gang member [[LikeAnOldMarriedCouple Ashe]] and Echo.
* LGBTFanbase: There's a reason why the game has sometimes been affectionately referred to as "[[FanNickname Shooty Lesbian Simulator]]", and that was ''before'' Tracer and Soldier: 76 were revealed to be canonically gay.

** Zarya and Pharah in particular are rather popular among lesbian fans. No points for guessing why.