'Overwatch' Backstory: The Omnic War And Why Overwatch Was Dismantled

Overwatch is an amazing game, where nearly two dozen heroes fight on different maps located all around the map. The casual player, who’s never read a comic, short story or watched a cinematic, has no idea why these guys are fighting. The actual story of Overwatch can’t be found in the game, so if you aren’t a lore junkie it might be hard to find out what is actually happening. I’ve decided to take a look at the lore behind Overwatch and what exactly an “Overwatch” is supposed to be.

The Rise Of The Omnics

You may not know this, but in the world of Overwatch , there are special robots called omnics. Thirty years before the start of the game, the Omnica corporation was tasked with creating a mass number of reliable robot workers. Omniums were “factories of automated construction machines and self-improving software algorithms” according to a news report by Atlas News released by Blizzard in the Overwatch universe.

When it was discovered that the Omnica Corporation was lying about how many omnics they could produce, the company was dissolved and the omnics were shut down. Out of nowhere, the omniums started to come to life and were creating robots of war. Most of these robots were Bastion units, you can see what the fighting was like in the Last Bastion short. No single country could defeat these omnics and everything was starting to look bleak for the future of mankind.

The United Nations, in a last ditch effort to try and save the human race, brought together a group of five highly-skilled individuals from around the world. They were : German soldier Reinhardt Wilhelm, Swedish engineer Torbjorn Lindhorn, Egyptian sniper ace Anna Amari and two soldiers from the United States' Soldier Enhancement Program: Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison, also known as Soldier: 76 and Reaper.

Overwatch succeeded where everyone else failed; in a number of covert missions, these freedom fighters attacked the omnics’ command and control protocols, which deactivated them. The omnic war was officially over, but that didn’t mean the world didn’t suffer. The Indian population had to be relocated and Australia was a barren wasteland. A giant sea-robot off the coast of Korea nearly destroyed the peninsula, it took the work of Korean scientists who created special armor suits to combat the beast.

A whole generation was inspired by the actions of Overwatch, including Anna’s daughter, Pharah , who joined the Egyptian military.

Overwatch’s Glory Days

Over the next few decades, Overwatch would continue to grow. Soldier: 76 was promoted to strike commander and Reaper was put in charge of a special tactical group called Blackwatch. The team continued to grow, adding Winston, a super intelligent gorilla who fought off an omnic invasion on the moon, Lena Oxton or Tracer , a victim of an experimental airplane crash, Jesse McCree, an outlaw drafted into Blackwatch, Mei- Ling Zhou, a Chinese climatologist and Dr. Angela Zeigler or Mercy, a Swedish scientist who didn’t believe in the militaristic aspects of the team. Even though one enemy was defeated, there was still a lot of hate and fear that needed to be squashed.

The Vishkar corporation, where Symmetra was working, was in charge of rebuilding a lot of the slums and underprivileged areas of the world and were enforcing strict curfews and martial law. Lucio and a team of freedom fighters managed to fight them off in Rio de Janeiro. The Korean sea-robot was getting even more out of control so they were forced to start drafting pro-gamers into the mecha suits, which is where D.Va comes in.

The omnics who weren’t fighting (and just wanted to be accepted by human society) were considered second-class citizens. Zenyatta and a group of omnic monks traveled to Nepal to study and figure out of omnics do have a soul. While in the mountains, the monks trained Genji, heir to a Japanese crime family that was nearly killed by his brother Hanzo.

The Fall Of Overwatch

While all of this growth was going on, Reaper and his Blackwatch tactical group were engaging in some seedy activities. Assassinations, torture kidnapping and even more. Soldier:76 and Reaper, who were always the best of friends, started to disagree on what the future of Overwatch should be. The public started to turn on the team, fearing an all powerful supergroup, like the Justice League and it’s watchtower.

After 20 years of protecting the world, Overwatch was forced to disband. The United Nations could no longer have a deadly task force with little oversight.

The members of Overwatch disbanded, either becoming mercenaries or fighting on their own. Roadhog and Junkrat are on a massive crime spree, Widowmaker setting back all omnic relations by murdering the omnic peace advocate Tekhartha Mondatta, and the omnics fighting heavily in Russia, the world needs heroes once more. Now that the world is in chaos again, it’s time for Overwatch to come back.