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Overwatch isn't very diverse with its villains

Rackham

Rackham

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,532
Please don't come here to thread whine I just want to say I love Overwatch. Aside from competitive problems, I find it hard to complain about the game.

Diversity or lack of diversity doesn't bother me about games but when I hear people praise Overwatch's diversity it kind of irks me. All of the Talon villains are minorities. 2 Latin villains- Reaper and Sombra. 1 Nigerian villain- Doomfist.

One of the Talon villains is a French lady but she's not caucasian anymore. She is blue skinned because she's supposed to be cold blooded or something. She's not representative of caucasians. Moira is supposedly (though not confirmed) an LGBTQ representative.

None of this really bothers me to where I am upset but I am kind of annoyed. Where's the evil McCree? Evil Reinhardt? We don't need copies of those two characters but our German guy is a buff fun loving friend to everyone. Our cowboy is a handsome rogue that fights for justice. Soldier is the hardened but good hearted hero.

Maybe this is poorly thought out but I'd like to see some villains that aren't minorities.

Edit: I realize that Sombra may not be a villain but we don't know her true motives and she is still working with Talon for her own purposes.
 
Galactic Specter

Galactic Specter

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,803
You can argue that Moira and Widowmaker are Caucasian since they're Irish and French respectively with one just being blue. Besides, there's only a few villains in the game right now compared to the countless heroes
 
SideMatt

SideMatt

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
874
Rackham said:
Maybe this is poorly thought out
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You'd be correct in saying this.

(Unless I'm misunderstanding the post and you mean that there should be an even balance between white and minority heroes and villains which I'd agree with.)

Edit: 4 pages later and yes, it was definitely poorly thought out.
 
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Geek

Geek

Member
Nov 8, 2017
204
It's a valid concern, and one I've heard other people raise.

Though you are forgetting about another Overwatch villain

d3850978-0067-44f5-b251-4b2af8bb4454.jpg
 
Dreams-Visions

Dreams-Visions

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
41,368
Miami, FL
Huh, I didn't really notice. I was probably too busy being happy to have people of color in a hero-based FPS game at all. I'm sure future characters will inevitably cover those things.

Random thought: Is anybody in Overwatch is really good or bad? They're all seem like shades of grey. Mercy, for example.
 
Blindy

Blindy

Member
Nov 16, 2017
3,929
Junkrat and Roadhog are practically mercs/people who create mayhem because they're both nuts who do what is best for themselves.
 
Shake Appeal

Shake Appeal

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,883
McCree was evil or at least dubious at some point, wasn't he?

But yes, with the exception of Moira, this is reflective of a more general trend in western media that people of color are scary and villainous. I think Symmetra, another woman of color, is also not in Overwatch and works for an evil corporation? And Hanzo is another "complicated" hero who happens not to be white. Genji was "rehabilitated" and sketchy in his youth?

Meanwhile, the most established members of Overwatch (the ones with classic Overwatch uniform skins) are Rein (white, blond), Mercy (white, blonde), Soldier 76 (white, blond), Torb (white, blond), Tracer (white).
 
BannedEpisode

BannedEpisode

Member
Oct 28, 2017
221
Roadhog and Junkrat aren't talon but they are definitely villains. They rob and kill people.

Moira and widowmaker are white I guess, or white and Blue.
 
hydruxo

hydruxo

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,439
Yeah I was gonna say, Junkrat and Roadhog are both villains. Not Talon members, but they are mercenaries and criminals.
 

Deleted member 33533

Banned
Nov 17, 2017
12,864
I don't think you can just discount Widowmaker because she has blue skin for a specific reason.

I was a little annoyed that the only Nigerian character in the game is a terrorist. I guess there's the girl that built Orisa but she's not in the game. The plot really doesn't ever seem to matter in Overwatch. There's all this story and lore and yet everyone just goes into an arena and shoots each other dead in a cycle of death and rebirth. The characters even acknowledge when they respawn.
 

Deleted member 4037

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,989
Im not really sure what you are looking for here op, its either we are putting a bunch of nationalities out there or we are not. Seems like a damned if you do, damned if you dont scenario.
 
Nirolak

Nirolak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,660
Rackham said:
Is that confirmed? Isn't he maori? Not caucaisan
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Well, I guess not 100%, but his bio includes the following lines:

"Roadhog is a ruthless killer with a well-earned reputation for cruelty and wanton destruction."

"Adapting to his environment, he donned a mask and took to the broken highways of the Outback on his ramshackle chopper. Little by little, his humanity was forgotten. The last vestiges of Mako faded away and the ruthless killer Roadhog was born."

Also, the premise of his comic is that the people looting his cabin all think they're going to die because all the people who go around there end up dead.

Given Junkrat is now going around with him, I'm guessing Junkrat is doing a lot of killing as well.
 
Gold Arsene

Gold Arsene

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
30,757
k701 said:
Nah. Widow and moira are white. Plus Moira's sex life has not even been hinted at. As for widow having blue skin, so what? She's white. She also has skins before she turned blue due to the experiments, that are white. Also her latest skin is white with blonde hair.
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As I mentioned above she's also not there of her own free will. Widowmaker was kidnapped and brainwashed by Talon.

I'm not saying there's some conspiracy but it was kinda weird.
 
Dreams-Visions

Dreams-Visions

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
41,368
Miami, FL
I just want to softly point out the irony of the thread, presenting a concern for a lack of diversity when every character mentioned has a different and unique ethnicity, country of origin, style of play, and complexion. I mean, it combines to fit the definition of "diversity" to the letter. lol. It couldn't get more diverse.

I'm just...huh. This is a real concern you have here, OP?

NarohDethan said:
He was part of Blackwatch wasn't he? So at least his morals are 'compromised'.
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Yes, McCree is an example of "dubious and grey" characters, along with Mercy and Symmetra. They for damn sure aren't "good" guys and girls.
 
OP
OP
Rackham

Rackham

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,532
1000% H said:
Are thieves not villains? When Junkertown came out we got a video where they were basically plotting to terrorize the town with explosives and jack their shit.
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Civilized town or Mad Max town?
SuperiorTrashTalk said:
There's all this story and lore and yet everyone just goes into an arena and shoots each other dead
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Gameplay is confirmed to be not canon. They're not interacting with each other. This was just all what if they were next to each other scenarios that Blizzard has confirmed.
 
ShadowSwordmaster

ShadowSwordmaster

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,476
Shake Appeal said:
McCree was evil or at least dubious at some point, wasn't he?

But yes, with the exception of Moira, this is reflective of a more general trend in western media that people of color are scary and villainous. I think Symmetra, another woman of color, is also not in Overwatch and works for an evil corporation? And Hanzo is another "complicated" hero who happens not to be white. Genji was "rehabilitated" and sketchy in his youth?

Meanwhile, the most established members of Overwatch (the ones with classic Overwatch uniform skins) are Rein (white, blond), Mercy (white, blonde), Soldier 76 (white, blond), Torb (white, blond), Tracer (white).
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He was part of the Deadlock Gang which were criminals.
 
MadLaughter

MadLaughter

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
13,098
User warned: Thread whining
This thread is bad. What? Is this a social experiment to find out how far one person can move the goalposts?
 
Booki

Booki

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,865
Brooklyn
Geek said:
It's a valid concern, and one I've heard other people raise.

Though you are forgetting about another Overwatch villain

d3850978-0067-44f5-b251-4b2af8bb4454.jpg
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The Mercy nerfs have changed the game, though. She used to be there to undo player mistakes instantly, but that's all gone now. Mercy rez attempts usually result in a dead Mercy.

People die when they are killed.
 
Nacho

Nacho

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,115
NYC
Galactic Specter said:
You can argue that Moira and Widowmaker are Caucasian since they're Irish and French respectively with one just being blue. Besides, there's only a few villains in the game right now compared to the countless heroes
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Yeah this is silly... There's a good deal of diversity in OW, to say there isn't because there aren't a plurality of white villains is an extremely weird argument.

Edit: and that race is solely tied to skin color in the sense that a white woman who fantastically was changed to blue for her default skin makes her not Caucasian... What?
 
OP
OP
Rackham

Rackham

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,532
Nirolak said:
Well, I guess not 100%, but his bio includes the following lines:

"Roadhog is a ruthless killer with a well-earned reputation for cruelty and wanton destruction."

"Adapting to his environment, he donned a mask and took to the broken highways of the Outback on his ramshackle chopper. Little by little, his humanity was forgotten. The last vestiges of Mako faded away and the ruthless killer Roadhog was born."

Also, the premise of his comic is that the people looting his cabin all think they're going to die because all the people who go around there end up dead.

Given Junkrat is now going around with him, I'm guessing Junkrat is doing a lot of killing as well.
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Well I guess that just leaves Junkrat but I consider Roadhog a minority still
 
Gartooth

Gartooth

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
8,440
I'm not sure why you are upset about minority representation since there's a ton of diverse heroes too.

I don't think the intent of Blizzard was to make some minorities out to be evil.
 
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