5/13/16 - Comic issue A Better World is released. Sanjay Korpal is introduced to the lore.
10/16 - The Sombra ARG reveals an email correspondence between Sanjay and Guillermo Portero of LumĂŠriCo. [Summary via Blizzplanet]
Body of email:
Mr. Portero,
I have conveyed the contents of our latest discussion with the executive directors and they are all in agreement in principle on the framework for a deal. Of course there will be a lot of discussion and communication in the coming days, but I am optimistic that we can reach a mutually beneficial understanding.
I understand your concerns over the recent press about our Rio de Janeiro development, however I can assure you that this is just a blip on the radar and that we are taking care of it. And of course, we are more than happy to keep our negotiations private until such time that you feel comfortable in discussing them with the public. And of course, we are more than happy to assist with smoothing over any conflicts that might come up in opposition of our proposals.
Sincerely,
Sanjay
7/19/17 - Sanjay is seen among the Talon council in the comic Masquerade.
11/4/17 - Sanjay is seen again with Talon during Moiraâs Origin Story video that premiered at BlizzCon 2017.
1/24/18 - [SPECULATION] A post on Reddit posits that actor Karthik Srinivasan is a possible voice actor for Sanjay. [Reddit post] Lead software engineer Bill Warnecke responds to post with âCome through Nancy Drew!â [link] This is a common saying among the RuPaul Drag Race reddit community. A Nancy Drew is someone who theorizes about the queens and who will appear in the cast. Some take Billâs comment as a sign that the OP is onto something.
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Hereâs my big âol post on Queen of Junkertown. Long post under cut!
This will be updated as things develop.
3/3/17 - [SPECULATION] Geoff Goodman posted on the forums in response to the D.Va controversy at the time. He mentions a havoc-causing giant mech hero that they would consider, a concept that is often attributed to the Queen. [Link] [Imgur]Â
Full Text (emphasis mine):
Geoff Goodman: I have talked about D.Va changes in the past, but unfortunately it just isn't what people want to hear. I understand people are frustrated that she lost a bit of her 'bully' nature before, and really want to play her that way again. The reality is she was too good at too many things and something had to give.
I know that, given the choice, many people would sacrifice power from her tools like Defense Matrix if it allowed her to be played in a more super aggressive role like she did for a time. Overall the concept of a giant mech wreaking havok and dealing a ton of damage as an offense or defense hero is a cool one, but D.Va just isn't built for that. That said, clearly there is a strong desire for that kind of hero and it certainly would be sweet to make another mech-type hero in that space, so that's something for us to consider looking forward.
8/21/17 - At Gamescom 2017, the short Junkertown: The Plan is released and Junkertown the map is announced. This marks the introduction of the Queen into the lore. She can be heard as a voice on the map at the convention.
8/23/17 - Overwatch artist Rachel Day answers question about the Queen. [Twitch Clip] [Reddit]Â
Transcript (disclosure: I removed some crosstalk):
QueenE: Okay, without any spoilers, is Junkertown Queen meant to be just a voice or should we expect more in the future?
Rachel: Ooh, that's very spoilery! Right now she's just a voice.
8/29/17 - Junkertown is added to the PTR. A poster of the Queen is added to the map.
8/30/17 - Cosplayer Hanari Solomon posts cosplay of the Queen based on the poster. [Dot Esports article]
9/6/17 - Comic issue Wasted Land is released.
9/12/17 - New Map Preview video is posted about the creation of the Junkertown map. Jeff Kaplan touches on the lore significance of the Queen. [Video]
Transcript:
Jeff Kaplan: We get so much opportunity to focus the story on Overwatch and Talon, but we don't get a lot of opportunity to explore some of these other groups. And I hope that Junkertown is the tip of the iceberg for what's more to come for Junkrat, Roadhog, the Queen, and the Junkers as a whole.
11/6/17 - Hanari posts on Discord about the Queen. Allegedly, she released rights to her likeness to Blizzard. [h/t SassyLassy]Â
Hanariâs text from screenshot:
Hanari: I am allowed to tell people two things. First off: her hair is blue.
11/7/17 - Reddit mod interview with Overwatch devs was posted. Jeff Kaplan mentions the Queen in answer to lore questions. [Reddit post]
Text (emphasis mine):
Jeff Kaplan: We know all the pipeline for the next few months. We have it basically figured out for years, but we leave ourselves an agility to react to whatever people are into. Sometimes they ask about a character from a comic, they think theyâre super cool - people have noticed Maximillian and the queen in Junkertown, whatâs the plan with those? Those arenât just accidental, we didnât just create random characters to figure out later! Moira was in the Masquerade comic, and everyone was wondering who that evil dude was, and we were sitting in the office saying THATâS YOUR NEXT HERO! So we have a lot of it figured out, but we love to play off of what people are reacting to, as well.
11/15/17 - Online-Station posts a BlizzCon 2017 interview with Michael Chu and Renaud Galand. The interview was probably done on 11/3 or 11/4 during the convention. [Interview (in Thai)]Â
Google translation:
OS: We want to see the face of the Queen of Junkertown so much. How likely is this character to be brought to play in the game.
Michael Chu: She is a character I like very much. I have a character in my mind for a long time. The story of Junkertown is more than we see through the Roadhog and Junkrat, so let's say the Queen of Junkertown is very strong. It is the top fighters of the arena. That's why she has the power to dominate this delinquent city. I hope we can see you soon (not sure if it will be played in the game or not).
Renaud Galand: Actually, we have not really designed her yet, but there are pictures of her on the Junkertown map.
Michael Chu: Let her hair be blue.
2/8/18 - Jeff Kaplan posts jokingly about the Queen on the Overwatch forums. [Link] [Imgur]Â
Full text:
MrFriendly: Junker Queen would be nice as a new hero.
In some discussions about the possibility of Sanjay Korpal being playable, I see a lot of people not partial to the idea of another Vishkar character. This kind of argument comes up a lot when it comes to new hero speculation. That having a new hero added that is part of a group that another hero is a part of is, I guess, not desirable. Personally I donât see the problem with it?
If Sanjay is added, he wouldnât be a carbon copy of Symmetra. Tracer, Mercy, Mei and the other Overwatch members arenât redundant because they belong to the same group. Sanjay could portray another side of Vishkar that we canât see from Symmetraâs perspective. Especially since he is also a member of Talon!
And look at the other groups that also donât have more than one hero associated with it. Who are D.Vaâs MEKA comrades? What are the other Deadlock Gang members like? And so on.
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Hereâs something I did for fun in Adobe Illustrator today. Itâs a diagram showing the different groups each hero in Overwatch is a part of. Hopefully it makes sense? Iâd like to update this monstrosity when new heroes are released, see how much messier itâs going to get.
The infamous interview by the website Online-Station that confirmed Genjiâs âassetsâ are intact had a couple of answers that interested me as a Junker fan. I can only translate with Google, so these answers are presented for future reference only. I donât trust that you could glean the exact meaning of Michael and Renaudâs statements from these crappy translations, but they are still interesting enough to mention, I think.
(Note that this interview was posted back on November 15, 2017)
OS: We want to see the face of the Queen of Junkertown so much. How likely is this character to be brought to play in the game.
Michael Chu: She is a character I like very much. I have a character in my mind for a long time. The story of Junkertown is more than we see through the Roadhog and Junkrat, so let's say the Queen of Junkertown is very strong. It is the top fighters of the arena. That's why she has the power to dominate this delinquent city. I hope we can see you soon (not sure if it will be played in the game or not).
Renaud Galand: Actually, we have not really designed her yet, but there are pictures of her on the Junkertown map.
Michael Chu: Let her hair be blue.
The part that I find interesting about this is that allegedly Renaud said that they have not designed the Queen yet. Renaud is the lead character artist, and basically his job deals with sculpting the in-game characters. One could take his statement here to mean that, at the time of this interview, there was no visual development for the 3D version of the Queen. There is definitely a drawing of her, as it is in the map, but apparently they didnât even have colors for her sorted out because Michael wants her to have blue hair. (Unless he is joking of course)
OS: Why is Roadhog wearing a mask all the time? And we never really saw his face, despite the fact that the Soldier 76 and the Reaper had a really revealing face. When do we have a chance to see his real face?
Renaud Galand: We have no plans to reveal his face now, which is really a Roadhog. He has his reasons why. And we have a lot of fun when the fans are analyzing or imagining Fanart.
Michael Chu: Well! To say that his skin like Junkenstein's Monster is not his real head, that's the mask.
âHe has his reasons whyâ is really just... very interesting to me even though itâs kind of obvious. I just want to know more about him haha...
This is from page 46 of the Overwatch Visual Source Book which details McCreeâs signature weapon, the Peacekeeper Revolver. Here is the text:
Peacekeeper Revolver:
Built by a legendary gunsmith. Fires custom high-caliber ammunition with technological enhancements.
So first, the mention of a âlegendary gunsmithâ is curious. I feel like this is a story thread that maybe hopefully will someday be touched upon.
Second, I have no idea if that symbol can be found anywhere else than this page. Is it related to the gunsmith? If anyone has seen this symbol somewhere, please let me know! Iâm on the lookout for more appearances in the future.
OK so, one thing bothered me watching the âHonor and Gloryâ Overwatch short, why is the animal on Reinhardtâs armor different?
In every other time weâve seen Reinhardt, his symbol, which was always on his armorâs left forearm and etched into his hammer, was a lion. Which is a great symbol for Reinhardt, but in the short it wasnât a lion at all.
Itâs a Griffin. Which got me thinking, why is it a griffin?
In Germanic heraldry, a griffin is meant to symbolize courage, militaristic strength and leadership, as well as boldness, and are always allured by powerful, fearsome monsters. Griffins are meant to symbolize the amalgamated strengths and weaknesses of its halves, the Lion and the Eagle.
In heraldry, the Lion (King of beasts) was symbolized by courage, strength, nobility, and valor. Whereas the Eagle (King of the skies) also symbolizes courage and valor, as well as vision, intellect, and immortality.
In the short, I believe the griffin represents Reinhardt. A powerful and courageous leader, but bold, and blinded by glory and the search of a good challenge. He was overzealous, he charged in to combat, leaving his team behind, so he could revel in his own glory, he was selfish.
But he changed, and we saw the change happen.
When Reinhardt agreed to leave Balderich to hold off the omnics, and to go defend his team, He was no longer blinded by glory, or the pursuit of a fearsome enemy for him to overcome, he was humbled, he was grounded.
At this moment, Reinhardt was no longer a griffin, he was no longer blinded by glory or chasing a challenge, his head was no longer in the clouds, the eagle of Reinhardtâs griffin left him at that moment, and he was left as the courageous, but humble lion we know him as today.
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Thankfully, Michael Chu recently identified the Ecopoint: Antarctica crew members on Twitter. This was something I was really looking forward to!! So nice to put names to faces.
However, this has also presented a different problem. During the LoreCraft panel at BlizzCon 2017, a page of the script for Rise and Shine was shown. Letâs look at this part specifically (Iâve adjusted the format for clarity):
Opara (O.C.) Câmon Mei! Cryo-chamber time.
Mei (to the OC voice) Already?
Opara: Hah. An hour ago.
Mei: Be right there!
Opara: Snowball, give me my socks back!
This dialogue matches that of the guy in the beginning of the short. In this script itâs indicated that the characterâs dialogue was originally meant to be off camera (O.C.), and in the final animation he instead makes a limited appearance. But now that Opara is positively identified, itâs clear that, despite being labeled Opara in the script, this guy is not him.
This leaves me with a few concerns. The worst conclusion for me is that Blizzard effed up and this guy was supposed to be Opara, but they used an old design that was light-skinned and never thought to change it even though the final group picture art presents a completely different design. Itâs also possible that this is a different crew member, but who could it even be? The light-skinned men on the team are Adams (American) and Torres (Spanish). Neither of their national origins match the accent this mystery guy has. I mean, I guess itâs not impossible that people from either country could have an English accent (I think itâs English?), but it feels like reaching to say so. Thatâs too much to extrapolate from what is effectively a bit part in this short, at least for now.
I did ask Michael Chu about this on Twitter, but I didnât get a response.
THAT IS A MANGO PARE KOWHAIWHAI!
Ok, so Kowhaiwhai is a type of stylised pattern thatâs all throughout Maori culture (native people of New Zealand) specifically. I recognised it the second I saw it.
This particular form is called Mango Pare, or Hammerhead Shark (Remember his hammer head skins?)
Mako also is Maori for shark. I donât know if itâs supposed to be pronounced the same way as Roadhogâs name is pronounced, but still.
So hereâs the thing. With his Toa skins, itâs pretty clear that Mako Rutledge is probably Pacific Islander of some description. Iâm floating the theory that Mako is actually Maori.
That or Blizzardâs character designer for him is just grabbing random stuff from pinterest boards, but Iâd like to have faith theyâre not just stuffing random âLooks close enoughâ design elements in there.
Itâs definitely intentional. According to The Art of Overwatch they consulted a Maori tattoo artist for help with his Toa skin. Like Pharah, theyâre planting a lot of subtext to tell us about his heritage. Itâs pretty neat!
There was an interesting Reddit post today about Hero 27 perhaps having the ability to create Jump Pads. Seeing just the title made me think about a hero concept just like that that was mentioned by Geoff Goodman at BlizzCon 2016. I have âJump Pad heroâ recorded in my character tracker spreadsheet because of this. So, I was surprised to find that the post didnât mention this! I had to comment about it, even though I was at work and couldnât get the source saved on my PC. Fortunately, I found it during my breaks and posted it. Thank goodness for Blizzplanetâs transcripts. Hereâs the excerpt in question:
Geoff: Originally, we had talked about a character that could build jump pads. It still might be possible somewhere. It is a little tricky. It is kind of hard. It is just like a core ability like build jumppad, and it is like: âOkay, what do I do with that?â like it really in certain maps, it has to be more like an inclusive kit involved in the whole character.
(Source)
Looking into this, I discovered that the YouTube uploads of the Q&A panel this tidbit came from have been seemingly removed. Now I canât find anything BlizzCon 2016 Overwatch related on YouTube anymore. Seems suspicious, but eh, itâs happened before.
I find it fascinating that the OP pieced together that there was a jump pad hero in development without being aware of this information. Very astute!
I have really high hopes for the lore weâll be getting this year. Not only do we have confirmation that Uprising 2018 will have new content, but there was also a sort of promise for longer comics in this interview with Michael Chu that Iâm particularly interested in.
The short length of the comics is the biggest shortfall of their storytelling, in my opinion. It forces the writing to be more compressed, making it kind of hard to absorb what is happening at times. Mission Statement especially has this issue. It took me quite a few reads to understand what was going on. Had a long discussion on the wiki Slack just to figure out who was who in Pharahâs team.
I wanted to scan this all nice, but I got lazy and just took a pic with my phone! The bottom pic is a page of the Overwatch Coloring Book featuring what looks like an older version of the top pic (which is from J&Râs Origin Story btw). The obvious difference is Roadhogâs hand gesture. I think itâs pretty clear why this was changed, given the T for Teen rating.Â
I wonder if every instance of Roadhog giving a thumbs up was originally the gun-to-the-head pose. Maybe they wanted him to be more badass?
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I already made a Reddit post about this, but thought Iâd do a Tumblr version just âcause.Â
This all started with this reply from the official Overwatch Twitter account. Someone asked whose kids were Reinhardt reading to in Reflections, and the answer was âTheyâre Torbâs.â This led to Torb having quite the reputation. However, since then Michael Chu has taken several opportunities to refute this, saying that the kids are made up of Torbâs kids and grandkids. So, hereâs a list of all the times Iâve found that Chu has brought this up.
March 2017: During his GDC presentation "Thinking Globally: Building the Optimistic Future of Overwatch,â Chu described the Lindholm family part of Reflections like so: ââŚNestled among images of TorbjĂśrn with his children and grandchildrenâŚâ (source)Â
July 2017: At the Anime Expo Overwatch panel, Chu said this to Keith Silverstein (Torbâs VA) who had heard that his character had a lot of kids:Â âMost of the children in that panel artwork youâre talking about, theyâre mostly your grandchildren.â (source)
November 8, 2017: On Twitter, someone asked âAm I right in assuming [Brigitte]âs his eldest daughter since all of Torbâs other kids look much younger?â Michael responded with âIf youâre referring to their appearance in Reflections, the younger ones are his grandchildren.â (source)
On May 22, 2016, there was a special cinematic event promoting the launch of Overwatch (Official Website). Before the event there was an interview segment with Michael Chu and some of the cinematic team.Â
Ben Dai talked about the voice work of the narrator of Dragons which he revealed was performed by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (YouTube).Â
The interesting thing for me about this, too, is that Ben first describes the narrator as âthe grandfatherâ before correcting himself. Iâm not sure if that was an accidental slip of the tongue identifying the narrator as perhaps Genji and Hanzoâs grandfather, or if he was just saying that the narrator is an old guy.
I sense more that Dragons wants us to believe that the narrator is Sojiro.
Sources: Thumbnail is from the wiki. Mr. Tagawaâs picture is from Wikimedia.
