Overwatch (Animated series)

Overwatch is a new animated series based on the new  upcoming multiplayer first-person shooter in development by Blizzard Entertainment.

Plot
Overwatch is set in the near-future Earth, years after the resolution of the global-scale "Omnic Crisis". This crisis put humanity under threat of the "Omnic" artificial intelligence. This led to the uprising of robots all around the world and a massive conflict on the global scale. To end this conflict, an international task force called "Overwatch" was formed by the United Nations to protect humanity, ending the Crisis.[12][13] In the years after, Overwatch remained as a peacekeeping force, but after multiple incidents of criminal activity popped up around the globe,[13] accusations of corruption and sedition began to surface. The people turned against those who had saved them. Once regarded as heroes, members of Overwatch were then looked down upon with suspicion. Then one day, the headquarters of Overwatch were suddenly destroyed – apparently by accident. Officially, the attack took the life of Overwatch leader Jack Morrison and second-in-command Gabriel Reyes. After this event, the task force was eventually disbanded. It is believed by some that the cause of the downfall of Overwatch was due actually to an elaborate conspiracy by those who wanted to see the end of the organization, although nothing has been confirmed officially by the UN. Now a new overwatch team has been form to save the world from a coming darkness.

Overwatch (organization)

Overwatch was an international peacekeeping force with the aims of stopping the Omnix, put an end to the Omnic Crisis and strife for peace in the world.

Story
Over thirty years ago, a battle between mankind and robots began. Robots originally served the humans - being their creations; but one day, they were turned against their human makers for unknown reasons, forming the bulk of the omnics' rebel army.

In response to the worldwide threat, the organization had gathered many skilled, renowned and amazingly talented fighters, scientists, doctors etc from all over the world to form the ultimate organization of peacekeepers. With a lot of success, they managed to repel the Omnix threat and win the war. The victory over the war restored peace again within the world.

For currently unknown reasons, the organization was dissolved and its members scattered.

Members
Mercy : A guardian angel to those who come under her care, Dr. Angela Ziegler is a peerless healer, a brilliant scientist, and a staunch advocate for peace.

Ziegler rose to become the head of surgery at a prominent Swiss hospital before pioneering a breakthrough in the field of applied nanobiology that radically improved the treatment of life-threatening illnesses and injuries. It was this expertise that attracted the attention of Overwatch.

Because her parents had been taken by war, Ziegler was opposed to the organization's militaristic approach to keeping global peace. Ultimately, she recognized that Overwatch offered her the opportunity to save lives on a much larger scale. As Overwatch's head of medical research, Angela sought to leverage her work for healing in frontline crises. The result was the Valkyrie swift-response suit, which Ziegler herself piloted on many Overwatch missions.

Despite her contributions to Overwatch, she was often at odds with her superiors and the organization's overarching aims. When Overwatch dissolved, Ziegler dedicated herself to helping those affected by war.

Though she spends most of her time caring for the broken and dispossessed in crisis areas around the world, Dr. Ziegler can be counted on to don her Valkyrie suit whenever innocents are imperiled.

Reinhardt : Reinhardt Wilhelm styles himself as a champion of a bygone age, who lives by the knightly codes of valor, justice, and courage.

Over thirty years ago, Overwatch was founded to counter the threat of the robot uprisings around the world. Reinhardt, a highly decorated German soldier, was inducted as part of the originalOverwatch strike team that put an end to the Omnic Crisis. After the conflict's resolution, Overwatch grew into a global institution, keeping the peace in a war-torn world. Reinhardt proved himself to be one of its most stalwart champions.

Reinhardt's unique ethics and larger-than-life persona earned the admiration of his peers and superiors alike. Never afraid to speak his mind, he was Overwatch's most vocal supporter and, when necessary, its harshest critic, providing a constant reminder that Overwatch was meant to be a force for good.

Having served into his late fifties, Reinhardt was faced with mandatory retirement from combat operations. Despondent about being removed from active duty, Reinhardt feared that his days of purpose and glory had ended. As times grew darker and Overwatch came under suspicion of corruption and sedition, Reinhardt could only watch as the cause he had dedicated his life to defending surrendered in disgrace.

Though Overwatch was eventually disbanded, Reinhardt was not content to sit idly by while the world fell to disorder. Once again donning his Crusader armor, he has vowed to fight for justice across Europe like a knight of old, defending the innocent and winning hearts and minds with the promise of better days to come.

 Torbjörn : At its height, Overwatch possessed one of the most advanced armaments on the planet, which could be traced to the workshop of an ingenious engineer named Torbjörn Lindholm. Before the Omnic Crisis, Torbjörn had gained notoriety for designing weapons systems used by countries around the world. However, his belief that technology must serve a better vision for humanity put him at odds with his employers, who desired to control his weapons using networked computer intelligence.

Torbjörn had a deep mistrust of sentient robotic intelligence, and while many of his peers wrote this off as paranoia, his worst fears were realized when the robot populations of the world turned against their human creators during the Omnic Crisis. Because of his engineering genius, he was recruited to join the original Overwatch strike team, and his many inventions proved integral to ending the crisis. In the years that followed, Overwatch became an international peacekeeping force, and Torbjörn remained a critical resource for all of its technological needs and signature weapons systems.

But in the aftermath of Overwatch's fall, many of Torbjörn's weapons were stolen or stashed away around the world. Feeling responsible for his creations, Torbjörn is determined to stop them from falling into the wrong hands and wreaking havoc on the innocent.

Tracer: The former Overwatch agent known as Tracer is a time-jumping adventurer and an irrepressible force for good.

Lena Oxton (call sign: "Tracer") was the youngest person ever inducted into Overwatch's experimental flight program. Known for her fearless piloting skills, she was handpicked to test the prototype of a teleporting fighter, the Slipstream. But during its first flight, the aircraft's teleportation matrix malfunctioned, and it disappeared. Lena was presumed dead.

She reappeared months later, but her ordeal had greatly changed her: her molecules had been desynchronized from the flow of time. Suffering from "chronal disassociation," she was a living ghost, disappearing for hours and days at a time. Even for the brief moments she was present, she was unable to maintain physical form.

Overwatch's doctors and scientists were stumped, and Tracer's case seemed hopeless until a scientist named Winston designed the chronal accelerator, a device capable of keeping Tracer anchored in the present. In addition, it gave Tracer the ability to control her own time, allowing her to speed it up and slow it down at will. With her newfound skills, she became one of Overwatch's most effective agents. Since Overwatch's dissolution, Tracer has continued to right wrongs and fight the good fight wherever the opportunity presents itself.

Winston : A super-intelligent, genetically engineered gorilla, Winston is a brilliant scientist and a champion for humanity's potential.

The Horizon Lunar Colony was established as a first step for humanity's renewed exploration of space. Among its residents was a group of genetically enhanced gorillas that were intended to test the effects of prolonged habitation in space.

One gorilla displayed such rapid brain development from the gene therapy that he was taken under the wing of Dr. Harold Winston, who taught him science and inspired him with tales of human ingenuity. The young gorilla passed his days assisting with the scientists' experiments, watching the distant blue world outside his habitat window, dreaming of the endless possibilities that awaited him there. But his life was thrown into chaos when the other gorillas led an uprising, killed the mission scientists, and claimed the colony for their own. Taking on the name of his beloved human caretaker, Winston built a makeshift rocket and escaped to Earth. There he found a new home with Overwatch, an organization that represented everything he had come to admire about humanity. Winston was finally able to live up to the heroic ideal that had been instilled in him. While with Overwatch, Winston fought and defeated Doomfist. He was also responsible for designing the chronal accelerator, providing a solution to help Tracer control her 'time and mass dysfunctioning'.

Now with the fall of Overwatch, Winston has gone into seclusion, once again cut off from the world he believes in, but longing for the days of heroism to return. He had such a chance when Reaper and Widowmakerattempted to steal Doomfist's gauntlet from a museum. Teaming up with Tracer however, they were able to thwart the duo and give chase. As one part of his plan to reform Overwatch, Winston headed for Watchpoint: Gibraltar, an abandoned Overwatch outpost that had once stood guard over the Mediterranean. Another part of his plan was to also launch a satellite drone to restore Overwatch's communication network. The drone was launched successfully.

McCree : Armed with his Peacekeeper revolver, the outlaw Jesse McCree doles out justice on his own terms.

McCree had already made a name for himself as a member of the notorious Deadlock Gang, which trafficked in illicit weapons and military hardware throughout the American Southwest, when he and his associates were busted in an Overwatch sting operation. With his expert marksmanship and resourcefulness, he was given the choice between rotting in a maximum-security lockup and joining Blackwatch, Overwatch's covert ops division. He chose the latter.

Although he was initially cynical, he came to believe that he could make amends for his past sins by righting the injustices of the world. McCree appreciated the flexibility afforded to the clandestine Blackwatch, unhindered by bureaucracy and red tape. But as Overwatch's influence waned, rogue elements within Blackwatch sought to bring down the organization and turn it to their own ends. Wanting no part of the infighting, McCree set off alone and went underground.

He resurfaced several years later as a gunslinger for hire. But while McCree's talents are sought after by parties great and small, he fights only for causes he believes are just.

 Soldier: 76 : Currently the target of an international manhunt, the vigilante known as Soldier: 76 wages a personal war to expose the truth behind Overwatch's collapse.

Soldier: 76 revealed himself in a string of attacks that crisscrossed the globe, targeting financial institutions, shadowy corporations, and secure Overwatch facilities. Though to the outside world his motives are inscrutable, there are those who claim that he is a former Overwatch agent, determined to shed light on the conspiracy that brought down the organization.

While his true identity remains a mystery, he is believed to have been trained as a member of the American "soldier enhancement program". He possesses physical capabilities exceeding those of a conventional soldier's, as well as other augmentations that make him a peerless combatant. In addition, he utilizes a cutting-edge arsenal, much of it stolen in raids on Overwatch installations.

Unrelenting in his search to find those responsible for Overwatch's fall, Soldier: 76 will stop at nothing to bring them to justice.

Genji : The cyborg Genji Shimada has made peace with the augmented body he once rejected, and in doing so, he has discovered a higher humanity.

As the youngest son of the master of the Shimada ninja clan, Genji lived a life of luxury and privilege. He had little interest in the family's illegal businesses, and although he excelled at and enjoyed his ninja training, he spent most of his time pursuing a playboy lifestyle. Many within the clan considered the carefree Genji to be a dangerous liability, and they resented his father for coddling and protecting him. Following the clan leader's untimely death, Genji's older brother, Hanzo, demanded that Genji take a more active role in their late father's empire. Genji refused, enraging Hanzo. The tension between the brothers built to a violent confrontation that left Genji on the verge of dying. Hanzo believed that he had killed his brother, but Genji was rescued by Overwatch and the intervention of Dr. Angela Ziegler. The global security force saw Genji as a potential asset in its ongoing operations to combat the Shimada clan. As Genji's injuries left him clinging to life, Overwatch offered to rebuild his body in exchange for his help. He was put through an extensive process of cyberization, which enhanced his natural speed and agility and augmented his superlative ninja skills. Transformed into a living weapon, Genji single-mindedly set about the task of dismantling his family's criminal empire.

But as time passed, Genji felt increasingly at war with himself. He was repulsed by the mechanical parts of his body and could not come to grips with what he had become. When his mission was complete, he abandoned Overwatch and wandered the world in search of meaning. He drifted for many years before crossing paths with the omnic monk Zenyatta. Though Genji initially rejected Zenyatta's wisdom, the benevolent omnic would not be deterred. In time, Zenyatta became his mentor, and under the monk's tutelage, Genji reconciled his dual existence as both man and machine. He learned to accept that although he had a cyborg body, his human soul was intact, and he came to see his new form as a gift and a unique strength.

Now, for the first time in his life, Genji is free. Even he cannot say where his path will ultimately lead.

Mei : Mei is a scientist who has taken the fight to preserve the environment into her own hands.

Though many blamed the planet's escalating, unexplained climate phenomena on the advent of new technologies, the rapidly growing omnic population, and drastically increased consumption of resources, the true cause remained unknown. To find a solution, Overwatch established a series of eco-Watchpoints at remote, critical locations worldwide.

Mei-Ling Zhou was a member of this multiyear initiative. A peerless climatologist, she had introduced cutting-edge innovations in the field of climate manipulation that protected at-risk areas in Asia and beyond. She was assigned to the program's monitoring station at Watchpoint: Antarctica when disaster struck: a sudden, catastrophic polar storm battered the installation and cut it off from the outside world, leaving the facility damaged and the scientists stranded. As their supplies dwindled, they entered cryostasis in a last-ditch effort to survive until a rescue attempt could be made.

But that rescue never came. It was years later when the team's cryogenics chamber was finally discovered. Mei, still in hibernation, was the only survivor. The world Mei awoke to had gone through considerable changes: Overwatch was no more, the serious climate issues had worsened, and none of the eco-Watchpoints were in operation. Any clues that they had uncovered were lost.

Mei has decided to continue her work on her own. Equipped with a portable version of her climate-manipulation technology, she travels around the world, hoping to re-establish the eco-network and track down the causes of the threats to the planet's ecosystem.

Bastion : Once a frontline combatant in the devastating Omnic Crisis, this curious Bastion unit now explores the world, fascinated by nature but wary of a fearful humanity.

Originally created for peacekeeping purposes, Bastion robot units possessed the unique ability to rapidly reconfigure themselves into an assault-cannon mode. But during the Omnic Crisis, they were turned against their human makers, forming the bulk of the omnics' rebel army. Following the resolution of the crisis, nearly all of them were destroyed or disassembled. To this day, Bastion units still symbolize the horrors of the conflict. One unique Bastion unit, severely damaged in the final battles of the war, was left forgotten for over a decade. It lay dormant, exposed to the elements and rusting while nature slowly reclaimed it. Overgrown with vines and roots and nested upon by small animals, the robot sat inert, seemingly unaware of the passing of time. That was until one fateful day, when it unexpectedly reactivated. With its combat programming all but lost, it instead displayed an intense curiosity about the natural world and its inhabitants. This inquisitive Bastion unit set out to explore its surroundings and discover its purpose on a war-ravaged planet.

Though "Bastion" appears to be gentle—even harmless, at times—its core combat programming takes over when the unit senses danger, utilizing its entire arsenal to eliminate anything it perceives as a threat. This has led to instances of conflict with the few humans it has encountered, and has driven it to avoid populated areas in favor of the wild, uncharted regions of the world.

Pharah : Fareeha Amari's commitment to duty runs in her blood. She comes from a long line of highly decorated soldiers and burns with the desire to serve with honor.

As a child, Fareeha dreamed of following in her mother's footsteps and joining the global peacekeeping force, Overwatch. She enlisted in the Egyptian army, and her dogged persistence and tactical prowess caused her to rise up through the officer ranks. She was a courageous leader and earned the loyalty of all who served under her. With her exemplary record, Fareeha was well placed to join the ranks of Overwatch, but before she had that opportunity, Overwatch was disbanded. After leaving the army with a commendation for distinguished service, she was offered employment with Helix Security International, a private security firm contracted to defend the artificial intelligence research facility beneath the Giza Plateau. The top-secret facility was touted as vital to the safety of not only the region but countries across the globe. Fareeha gladly accepted the choice assignment and received training in the Raptora Mark VI, an experimental combat suit designed for rapid mobility and devastating firepower.

Under the call sign "Pharah," she works to safeguard the AI installation. Though she mourns Overwatch's passing, she still dreams of fighting the good fight and making a difference on a global scale.

Lúcio: Lúcio is an international celebrity who inspires social change through his music and actions.

Lúcio Correia dos Santos grew up in Rio de Janeiro, in a poor and crowded favela that was hit hard by the financial upheaval following the Omnic Crisis. As Brazil began the long process of recovery, he wanted to find a way to lift the spirits of those around him. He found his answer in music and its power to bring people together and even help them forget their troubles, if only for a short time. He performed on street corners, in block parties, and as he got older, at a string of legendary underground shows.

But Lúcio's close-knit community was thrown into chaos when the multinational Vishkar Corporation secured a contract to redevelop large tracts of the city. Lúcio and his neighbors had been told that the development would improve their lives. However, that promise never became a reality. Vishkar imposed controls on the residents in the name of building a more orderly society: enforcing curfews, cracking down on what the company perceived as lawless behavior, and exploiting the populace as a cheap labor force.

Lúcio wouldn't stand for it. He stole Vishkar sonic technology that had been used to suppress the people, and he converted it into a tool to rally them to action. In a popular uprising, they drove Vishkar out of their neighborhoods. Lúcio's leadership made him a star overnight and a symbol for positive social change. His music skyrocketed in popularity. Whereas he had once performed locally, he was now filling arenas across the world.

With his newfound fame, Lúcio realizes that he has an opportunity to make a difference and change the world for the better.

D.Va : D.Va is a former professional gamer who now uses her skills to pilot a state-of-the-art mech in defense of her homeland.

Twenty years ago, South Korea was attacked by a colossal omnic monstrosity that rose from the depths of the East China Sea. The massive, lumbering construct caused catastrophic damage to coastal cities before it was driven back beneath the waves. In response, the South Korean government developed a mechanized armored drone unit, called MEKA, to protect urban environments in future engagements with the omnic threat.The government's fears proved to be well founded, as a disturbing pattern of attacks emerged. Every few years, the monstrosity would rise from the sea to assault South Korea and its neighbors. The omnic learned from these encounters, often reconfiguring itself in a different form and appearing with new weapons and capabilities. Each incident ended in a stalemate, with the monstrosity defeated but not destroyed.

As the omnic continued to adapt, it eventually disrupted MEKA's drone-control networks, forcing the military to place pilots in the mechs. Scrambling to find suitable candidates, the government turned to the country's professional gamers, who possessed the necessary reflexes and instincts to operate the mechs' advanced weapons systems. Top stars were drafted, including reigning world champion Hana Song, also known as "D.Va." Famous for her elite skills, D.Va was a fierce competitor who played to win at all costs, and she had a well-earned reputation for showing no mercy to her opponents.

Seeing her new mission as a game, D.Va fearlessly charges into battle alongside the rest of her MEKA unit, ready to spring to her nation's defense at a moment's notice. Recently, she has begun to stream combat operations to her adoring fans, and her growing following has turned her into a global icon.

Zarya : Aleksandra Zaryanova is one of the world's strongest women, a celebrated athlete who sacrificed personal glory to protect her family, friends, and country in a time of war.

Aleksandra was born in a remote Siberian village that was on the front lines of the Omnic Crisis, which began some thirty years ago. Although Russian forces defeated the robots and shut down their omnium, the region was devastated by the conflict. Only a child at the time, Aleksandra was surrounded by the post-war destruction, and as she grew older, she swore that she would gain the strength to help her people recover.

Focusing on weightlifting and bodybuilding, Aleksandra was identified by the national athletics program as a potential star. She trained extensively, moving up the ranks while representing her country, and was expected to shatter longstanding records in the upcoming world championships.

But on the eve of the tournament, an attack came from the long-dormant Siberian omnium, and her village was thrust into war once again. Aleksandra immediately withdrew from the competition and rushed home to enlist in the local defense forces, sacrificing the life of fame and fortune she might have had.

Now she serves—a symbol to some, a stalwart fellow soldier to others. But for Aleksandra, it is a chance to use her great strength to protect the ones she loves.