Games

The Animals We Want to See as Overwatch Heroes

Two animal heroes isn’t enough, Overwatch needs more!

Overwatch has a diverse range of heroes for people to play, and now that Hammond the hamster has been officially revealed, the animal representation has expanded – but we want more! There are hundreds of interesting animals out there, each with interesting traits and abilities that occur naturally in the wild, and all of which we want to see as Overwatch heroes.

Tortoise

The humble tortoise is a slow animal, a pondering old soul that likes taking its time as it lugs around its heavy house, and what better animal for a tank role? The hard exterior would make for the ultimate protection ability, rendering the tortoise entirely immune to damage. Alternatively, Blizzard could go the other route and make the tortoise a bit ironic: instead of ponderously slow, it could be enhanced by technology to go exceptionally fast! We kind of want to see other heroes ride on the back of a tortoise as well, perhaps Zarya could relive her pre-production days, but this time on the back of a tortoise instead of a bear?

Cat

Jetpack Cat in Overwatch design conceptA lot of people’s first instincts would be to add a dog to Overwatch, but that is too obvious, what the game needs is more cats! A frisky feline would make for the best hero in Overwatch thanks to its cunning, ferocity, and its ability to have nine lives – no need for Mercy revives! A cat would have to fit somewhere in the damage role, probably between a Genji or Hanzo type of mobility, with some kind of frenzied attack (especially when it gets around water). There are even images floating around out there of a cat wearing a jetpack. We definitely need to see a cat strapped into a jetpack, zipping around scratching Hanzo’s eyes out.

Fish

With every Joker there must be a Batman, and with every cat there must be a fish looking to survive, outsmart, and outmanoeuvre the enemy that is constantly trying to kill it. The backstory is already half-written, all that’s left to do now is create some interesting abilities. The genius of having a fish as a playable hero is that it has no means of grasping a weapon and can only exist in water, making for a truly hilarious spectacle. We can see it a now, a little bowl of water perched atop a mighty Gundam-like suit of armor, or perhaps Blizzard should take a note of irony from the tortoise and have the fish control a mechanized-cat!

Gecko

New animal heroes for OverwatchA gecko could be the ultimate support hero, able to get into any position, camouflage itself to avoid detection, and keep an eye on every location to tip off its allies to enemy movements. Being a lizard, the gecko has a tail that could be used to grasp a third weapon – say goodbye to dual-wielding, we’re all about tri-wielding now! Besides, ever since we played Gex back on the Nintendo 64, we’ve been craving another game that introduces a lizard as a playable character. The team behind Overwatch already toyed with the idea of a flying crocodile, so it’s not a massive stretch of the imagination.

Kangaroo

Credit to Kangaroo Sanctuary, Alice Springs

Let’s borrow an animal from down under, from the blisteringly hot country of Australia. The kangaroo is a mighty creature that has a lot of utility and interesting parts to offer. It has a thick tail that it uses to balance itself, massive legs to hop around with great speed, and a pouch to keep its babies safe. The pouch poses a lot of questions: should it be used offensively or defensively? It could spit out a fleet of baby kangaroos to attack nearby enemies or keep an ally warm and safe from danger. If Blizzard opts for a male kangaroo, it could just use its buff arms for boxing other heroes around the map – lookout Winston. Beyond that, Junkrat and Roadhog need another buddy from the Oceanic region.

Now that Overwatch has started introducing animals alongside their robot and human counterparts, we need to see Blizzard really embrace their animal instincts and continue adding interesting creatures! There are so many possibilities out there, and what makes it better is that animals already have cool abilities that can act as inspiration and leaping-off points. What animal would you like to see added as a new hero to Overwatch?