Summary
Genji has always been a popular hero among fans ofOverwatch 2, and a recently revealed piece of artwork found in the upcoming bookOverwatch: Declassifiedgives players a unique glimpse into the cyborg ninja’s history, including what he looked like shortly after he was attacked and nearly killed by his brother. The world ofOverwatch 2and its ever-growing roster of characters contains surprisingly deep stories, with the Shimada brothers and their shared history contributing a noticeable chapter to the lore of the game’s world.
As most veteran fans will undoubtedly be aware, Genji has been a playable character since the verystart of the originalOverwatch. A member of the powerful Japanese Shimada family, he’s known to have trained with the sword for much of his life. It’s largely his overall aesthetic and awesome design that has long made him appealing to players though, with Genji’s appearance augmented heavily with various cybernetic enhancements due to his body being badly mutilated and left on the brink of death after his brother Hanzo attempted to kill him earlier in his life. The reasons behind this incident are discussed in depth within the game’s lore, and the consequences even more so, as Genji’s superhuman abilities made him valuable as an operative for Overwatch.
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In gameplay, Genji’s cybernetic enhancements no doubt play a big part in his abilities, namely, his speed, agility, and ability to deflect bullets. His cybernetic exoskeleton hasn’t always had the same look to it though, and an image shown in the upcomingOverwatch: Declassifiedshows what Genji looked like after his battle with Hanzo, and perhaps more importantly, gives fans a glimpse at how badly injured he was. The artwork was shared around various platforms on social media before it was posted to Reddit by the user Painwheel99, where it picked up a lot of attention and sparked discussion among the game’s community. The art shows Dr. Ziegler, better known as Mercy, seeing to Genji’s restoration after the incident, and shows Genji wearing cybernetic prosthetics that closely resemble hisin-game Blackwatch skin inOverwatch 2.
The manner in which Hanzo “killed” Genji has always been vague at best, though certain in-game voice lines and lore details suggest that Hanzo did so using a sword. After all, various voice lines from Hanzo as well as new interactions that have come out since therelease of Kiriko inOverwatch 2seem to confirm that Hanzo was always the superior swordsman and that he vowed never to wield a blade again after the incident with Genji.
The new artwork seems to be consistent with this idea, further supporting existing evidence that Genji’s body was severed diagonally with a blade.Overwatch: Declassifiedis a book that aims to delve deeper into thelore and history ofOverwatch’s worldand is set to release on November 7.
Overwatch 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
