Overwatch Christmas Comic Reveals First LGBT Character

[Steven Bogos]

Overwatch Christmas Comic Reveals First LGBT Character

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1368/1368909.jpg
HINT: It's not Zarya.

Overwatch fans have made plenty of theories about who fancies who in the world of the game, but until recently Blizzard has been pretty silent on the matter. In an interview with Reflections [http://kotaku.com/blizzard-on-overwatchs-sombra-roadhogs-hook-and-gay-c-1788782929] we know who it is. The comic, which has a Christmas theme to it, follows Tracer as she rushes to find the perfect gift for her girlfriend before the stores close, and still make it in time for Winston's Christmas party.

I know, you were probably expecting it to be Zarya, right? I did to, and I would scold myself for stereotyping but Overwatch's characters are all pretty much walking stereotypes ['//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1368/1368911.png] already.

Blizzard stated before that it wanted to make the game feel as inclusive as possible, and even came under a bit of fire when it changed a character's pose [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/167046-Overwatch-Sexy-Tracer-Pose-to-Be-Removed] because one fan thought it was "too sexy" for her. (Funnily enough, it was Tracer, the same character who has just been outed as LGBT.)

You can read the comic in full other Overwatch comics [http://comic.playoverwatch.com/en-us/tracer-reflections] that have been released since.

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[Revnak_v1legacy]

Psh, Blizzard trying to appeal to a non-buying audience, as usual.

[font color="#e6e7e8"]/sarcasm[/font]

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

So in other news Russia being dumb

https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/5jevu9/new_comic_not_available_in_russia_because_lgbt/

I wonder how many more countries banned it

 

[dreng3]

This seems so very strange to me, firstly, why the heck do the company need to "out" one of their own characters as anything? It's not as if the character will suffer anything for it, but this isn't my main complaint. My main complaint is that Blizzard is making almost the entirety of the story take place outside of the game, I recently played through Final Fantasy XV and didn't really like it, so I voiced my dissatisfaction to an acquaintance who asked if I'd seen the movie and the tie in anime, to which I had to answer no, because I didn't know they existed and because it is stupid. Games are perfectly able to contain a story, so why insist on telling the story outside of the game?

Sure, Overwatch is just a silly, funny, competitive shooter, but why insist on story then? People seem perfectly capable of telling stories about the characters on their own, while the trailers may have helped, they looked cool and were entertaining, it doesn't matter beyond that, because the stories will never actually make it to the game itself. Overwatch is a shallow game that Blizzard seems intent on granting some depth without actually affecting the game itself, which seems counterintuitive.

 

[Imre Csete]

Bastion x MEKA canon or preorder cancelled Blizzard!

 

[Nurb]

I knew it'd be lesbians. Cute lesbians are still the "safe" gays to depict in media to keep the complaining to a minimum since they're more accepted than, say, Junkrat smooching on Genji.

Though now Tracer, the face of the game, loves boobs as much as the players, and I think that's fantastic.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

...neat. Guess Blizzard decided there wasn't enough porn of her.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I knew it'd be lesbians. Cute lesbians are still the "safe" gays to depict in media to keep the complaining to a minimum since they're more accepted than say Junkrat smooching on Genji.

Though now Tracer, the face of the game, loves boobs as much as the players, and I think that's fantastic.

It really is a 'safe' choice, isn't it? No one is going to object to her making out with a thin red-head. Its very clever marketing, that's for sure.

 

[The Enquirer]

Well, certainly a safe choice.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I knew it'd be lesbians. Cute lesbians are still the "safe" gays to depict in media to keep the complaining to a minimum since they're more accepted than say Junkrat smooching on Genji.

Even countries with anti-gay laws are more accepting toward gay women than gay men. It's weird, but then I too have a more positive initial reaction toward lesbians than gay men. It's just one of those silly automatic responses that are a direct result of me being a big, dumb male.

 

[Ishigami]

Widowmaker visit the grave of her husband that she herself killed in cold blood... yea makes sense.

Other than that: Of course its lesbians. After all a lot of men have some fetish about that... including me!
And some fuel for the Tracer Widowmaker shipping. Hey studies indicate a lot (80+%) of women could actually be at least bisexual. So there is a chance! lol

 

[DemomanHusband]

Widowmaker visit the grave of her husband that she herself killed in cold blood... yea makes sense.

Well, it wasn't exactly her choice, she just happened to be brainwashed just right. There's still traces of old Amelie in there if her quips with Ana mean anything.

I knew it'd be lesbians. Cute lesbians are still the "safe" gays to depict in media to keep the complaining to a minimum since they're more accepted than, say, Junkrat smooching on Genji.

Man, if you missed the intense and non-stop gaydar-tripping between Roadhog and Junkrat, that's on you. They say never mix business with pleasure, but the Junkers don't seem the sort to follow rules in life.

 

[Aeshi]

Kind of a pity that this is all this comic will be known for. That big splash panel near the end is full of neat little details & insights. The panels with Widowmaker & Reaper alone have sparked about 4-5 different theory threads on the OW forums.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

Blizzard doesn't have a gay character - people complain. They then toss a bone to the alphabet brigade - people complain it's not enough. I'm just wondering now if we can retroactively go after the person who complained about Tracer's ass as being homophobic? I mean, as we all know, any criticism of anyone or anything is hate speech unless they're a straight, white male.

 

[Imre Csete]

I'm just wondering now if we can retroactively go after the person who complained about Tracer's ass as being homophobic?

Death squads are already lining up the straight shipping Tracer fanart artists as we speak.

 

[Zydrate]

Funny how some of the salt is all about "Why are they forcing politics" as if our identities and preferences are some kind of statement. We love who we love, we exist, and representation matters in a society that expects us all to be dead at some point.

 

[09philj]

Well, certainly a safe choice.

No scary gay men here.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

I'm pretty sick of some of the comments on the internet. Especially those "hurr I have nothing against gay people but I hate how they push it down our throat" kind of comments. No one is pushing anything down your throat. It's a few panes and that's it. Also a gorillion of strawmen and Trump posting.

And everyone ignores Winston being lonely. ;_;

 

[Transdude1996]

I'm pretty sick of some of the comments on the internet. Especially those "hurr I have nothing against gay people but I hate how they push it down our throat" kind of comments. No one is pushing anything down your throat. It's a few panes and that's it. Also a gorillion of strawmen and Trump posting.

And everyone ignores Winston being lonely. ;_;

Could I point out that you're missing the problem? Very few actually care about the creation of LGBTQ characters. What is the problem is that people are treating these characters like they're a novelty (E.G. the need for this article).

 

[Zydrate]

I'm pretty sick of some of the comments on the internet. Especially those "hurr I have nothing against gay people but I hate how they push it down our throat" kind of comments. No one is pushing anything down your throat. It's a few panes and that's it. Also a gorillion of strawmen and Trump posting.

And everyone ignores Winston being lonely. ;_;

Could I point out that you're missing the problem? Very few actually care about the creation of LGBTQ characters. What is the problem is that people are treating these characters like they're a novelty (E.G. the need for this article).

Blizzard did not make the Escapist write this article. They just drew a comic and made a few comments on twitter and nothing else.