a v o c a o s

It says Est. 1976 because there was a Deadlock in 1976. Just not the same one. 

McCree and Ashe are giant nerds (source: acting like they’re from the mid 1800s), and decided that they were gonna re-start/be the spiritual successors to a buncha ‘outlaws’ from the 1970s. 

Edit: i took out the links becuase apparently tumblr isnt showing posts with links in search anymore, if you want links to these sources you can ask but i also name where i got the info in the post! 

I wanted to make this blog because pretty recently i saw a post that claimed that McCree had 3 different ages (25, 37, and 100+) depending on the story. So I’m going to make a short little post about McCree’s timeline.

I’m going to be using Micheal Chu’s GDC talk (which you can find on youtube) as a basis for the timeline and since the game was released in 2016, the Recall will be in 2076 just so I have specific years to go off of.

Beginning of Omnic Crisis, 2046, 7 Years old

End of Omnic Crisis, ~2051, ~12 years old:

Based on how old Ashe is in her origin video he meets her as a teenager. Their interactions in game say he lived or worked on a farm before they went on a crime spree, which to have been Ashe’s idea. 

Ashes bio on the Overwatch site says she created the Deadlocks with 3 unnamed characters as co-founders. McCree isn’t specifically stated as a founder in Ashe’s Bio but he is a part of the Deadlock Gang. 

McCree probably gets his tattoo, visible in his Blackwatch skin, around this time. It seems to me that the whole “McCree is 100+ years old” thing come from this tattoo. The “Est. 1976″ on this Deadlock logo is the only place it appears. The Deadlock logo visible in the video “Overwatch Travel Guide - Route 66 Map Guide!” uploaded by Unit Lost 2 years ago does not have that detail. McCree’s Tattoo also has an eye patch, the logo on Route 66 does not so it seems the tattoo is personalized.

First recruited into Blackwatch (based on Chu’s GDC talk around 51:20) , ~2056, ~17 years old:

In his bio on the Overwatch site, McCree was arrested during an Overwatch sting operation and given a choice between going to prison and joining Blackwatch, he chose Blackwatch.

Retribution, 2068, 29 years old 

Uprising, 2069, 30 years old

Overwatch Shutdown, 2071, 32 years old

Sometime between Uprising and Overwatch being shutdown, McCree’s bio says rouge elements within Blackwatch try to take the organization down and turn it to their own ends. McCree leaves to avoid the infighting and goes underground. 

Winston’s Recall, 2076, 37 years old

In his bio, McCree resurfaces as a gun for hire after Overwatch’s fall. According to Micheal Chu in his GDC talk around 49:10, the comic Train Hopper takes place roughly around the same time as the Recall animated short.

Post-Recall, it’s unclear if much time has passed since Winston’s Recall but I think it would be safe to assume McCree is still 37: 

The events of the Reunion animated short take place.