We wrote an ode for every character in Overwatch

Overwatch

How do you tackle a game as big and aqueous as Overwatch? Every so many weeks its meta game changes; characters fall in and out of favor, you win, you lose, you get fed up of firing pellets into Reinhardt’s shield for entire rounds. These changes are, for the most part, minuscule—noticeable only to the most dedicated players. Stand back far enough and you wouldn’t see them. What you will be able to observe from such a distance, however, is a maelstrom of rockets, gigantic thighs, and dragon spirits twirling in deadly coitus. Overwatch stands out for its personalities, so we thought, heck, let’s write about that.

Right now, Overwatch has 22 characters in its lineup—guns slung over their shoulders, leaning against mechs, twirling on blades as you mouse over them, making your choice. That’s probably too many to write about individually, you might think. We think differently. We did exactly that. We assembled 22 of our best writers and set them to work—a writer to jump into the skin (or robotic shell) of each virtual personality. The result is 22 odes. You can use the “Overwatch odes” tag to leaf through them all, or use the handy list below.

Offensive Heroes

GenjiGenji is with you
McCreeWho you kidding? McCree is Overwatch‘s true shooter
PharahDon’t play fair, play Pharah, exclusively
ReaperIn defense of Reaper, the patron saint of mall-goth teens
Soldier 76Soldier 76 is here to make everyone else look good
TracerA series of limericks about Tracer, because why not

Defensive Heroes

BastionBastion is the machine pointed at the world
HanzoHanzo “looks like a good man,” my Japanese mom raves
JunkratI have fallen in love with Junkrat
MeiHere comes Mei, the badass nerd hell-bent on revenge
TorbjörnAn ode to hard-working, salt-of-the-earth Torbjörn
WidowmakerWidowmaker made a widow of me

Tank Heroes

D.VaAn ode to D.Va, the sassiest dream girl this side of Overwatch
ReinhardtAn ode to Reinhardt, tortured scion of a broken land
RoadhogAn ode to Roadhog is an ode to ugliness
WinstonWinston, the Science Gorilla, is in charge
ZaryaZarya makes Mother Russia her bitch

Support Heroes

AnaAna is the protective mother we all want
LucioInside the idiot party-bubble of Lucio
MercyMercy is the most terrifying character in Overwatch
SymmetraGo ahead, sleep on Symmetra
ZenyattaPraise be to Zenyatta, then chill the heck out