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[Sapphire Dreams]

As we all know, Arabs like myself didn't quite have the best of representations in video games in the past 20 years or so, dozens f FPS games portrayed them in a very horrible light and others have portrayed them in a very stereotypical light (looking at you SFV), but Overwatch came along and Blizzard not only depicted Arabs in their universe, but depicted them in a very positive way!

First we have Ana Amari, not only a strong female character with a strong sense of justice, in the lore she is one of the founders of Overwatch! Her depiction is rather unusual for an Arab character and her being being one of the major characters in the lore of Overwatch is quite amazing! She has a design that is very faithful to her ethnicity as an Egyptian woman and she is not sexualized like other character like Widowmanker for example.

Next we have her daughter Pharah, a strong woman and just like her mother a person with a strong sense of justice, she is basically captain Egypt. She is also not sexualized and plays a good role in the lore of Overwatch, even if it is not as big as her mother. She also looks Egyptian and her depiction is not stereotyped at all and rather unique for her ethnicity, and if you read her comic, the arabs there are not stereotyped as well.

And we have maps like Oasis and Temple of Anubis, while Temple of Anubis looks somewhat stereotypical, Oasis is set in Iraq and it's depicted as a very futuristic looking city with skyscrapers, clean streets and even the map has things like libraries, it doesn't show the Arabs here as backwards thinking or people with not sense technology or scientific appreciation. Even Temple of Anubis looks really beautiful and in the comic it's where they put a highly advanced AI.

I really commend Blizzard for doing all of that and I hope they continue what they do here in the future

Spoiler

And buff Roadhog God damn it!

 

[Panthalassic]

Isn't it great to see yourself in media? I'm not Arab msyelf, but seeing a gay girl (Tracer) as the "main character" of such a big game makes me super happy.

 

[capitalCORN]

Blizzard basically made a point to create a represented cast. Simple as that.

 

[Sapphire Dreams]

Isn't it great to see yourself in media? I'm not Arab msyelf, but seeing a gay girl (Tracer) as the "main character" of such a big game makes me super happy.

Happy to have a positive depiction at least.

 

[PrimeBeef]

They are Egyptian I thought. Wouldn't that make them African?

 

[Duchess O'Death]

They are Egyptian I thought. Wouldn't that make them African?

Egyptians are Arabs.

 

[capitalCORN]

They are Egyptian I thought. Wouldn't that make them African?

Depends who you ask...

 

[Orochinagis]

Arent they egiptian?

 

[TimeEffect]

Blizzard basically made a point to create a represented cast. Simple as that.

Truly the U.N of vidya games

 

[LordKasual]

Blizzard basically made a point to create a represented cast. Simple as that.

This

The advertising was such that people loved the cast before anyone ever even touched the game.

Tracer was the unofficial(official?) mascot before it was "revealed" that she was a lesbian/bisexual, and she's female, so she's easily the path of least resistance to the LGBT community.

A character like Genji or Hanzo being the LGBT rep would have been far more ballsy, but i guess that doesn't really matter. Whatever.


I wouldn't have it any other way, though. I kind of wish the chick who made Orisa was actually piloting the mech (like D.Va), but Doomfist is fun as fuck and I now understand why Terry Crews wouldn't have worked.

 

[pixeldash]

I've never played Overwatch, but I've always been impressed by the representation in their cast of characters.

 

[Nicolada]

Yeah, I really like what Blizzard did with this game's diverse cast. Everyone feels like their own distinct person and not just "the German one" or "the lesbian" and whatnot. Sure there's still some cliches thrown in, but it's done tastefully for the most part.

 

[IKizzLE]

They are Egyptian I thought. Wouldn't that make them African?

Can go both ways. I know Egyptians personally and some associate themselves as Arabs, some middle eastern, and sometimes North African. Some just say they are black.

 

[Dance Inferno]

Egyptians are African and Arab.

As an Arab myself, I do like the inclusion of Pharah and Ana, although I do have a few nitpicks. Pharah speaks no Arabic in game, and Ana isn't an Arabic name as far as I can tell. It translates to "me", and I don't know anyone who's named "me".

 

[JusDoIt]

They are Egyptian I thought. Wouldn't that make them African?

You can be Arab and African, fam.

 

[Azoor]

They are Egyptian I thought. Wouldn't that make them African?

Ever heard of the Arab League?

Well, here you go https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League

 

[Brawl96]

Wait. Ana's Egyptian as well? How is she related to pharah?

 

[Swiggins]

They are Egyptian I thought. Wouldn't that make them African?

Egyptians are an interesting sort, they're located on the African continent, but they usually identify as Middle-Eastern/Arabian.

I typically think of Egypt as the Gateway to the Middle-East.

Wait. Ana's Egyptian as well? How is she related to pharah?

Ana is Pharah's mother.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Egyptians are Arabs.

Not all of them but yes

 

[modernmalady]

Yep! Also cool to see that the human DLC characters have all been POC.

Can someone post those screenshots of that random person on twitter having a meltdown because future Iraq was "unrealistically" being portrayed as a regular city. I always get a laugh outta those.

 

[DeathoftheEndless]

They are Egyptian I thought. Wouldn't that make them African?

They speak Arabic and are predominantly Islamic, so their culture is closer to Middle-Eastern.

 

[Psychoward]

Wait. Ana's Egyptian as well? How is she related to pharah?

....

She's her mom

 

[vypek]

Wait. Ana's Egyptian as well? How is she related to pharah?

Mother-Daughter relationship

 

[pizzacat]

Shaheen from Tekken 7 is a good one as well

Apparently the games director wanted an arab character for a while but he wanted to travel abroad some more and study the culture a bit more before he can really nail it in t7

So respected he was featured in newspapers over there

https://twitter.com/alajmi411/status/551038461440847872/photo/1

 

[Duchess O'Death]

Wait. Ana's Egyptian as well? How is she related to pharah?

She is Pharah's mother.

 

[Toxi]

Wait. Ana's Egyptian as well? How is she related to pharah?

She's Pharah's mother.

 

[LambdaTeos]

This post reminded me a long thread I did on twitter about how happy I am about Sombra being a Mexican character and how she is depicted

The thing that made me more happy about it is that she is not filled with stereotypical traits, but as a smart woman with hacking abilities and a mysterious past

Honestly, they have been doing an amazing job in representing characters from different nations in a very interesting way

Also, the mexico inspired stages are just mind blowing, we lack the technological pyramids, of course, but everything from how the houses are designed, streets and even plant pots are just great

Really glad you feel so good about how ana and phara are representing, OP

 

[lucebuce12]

Shaheen from Tekken 7 is a good one as well

Apparently the games director wanted an arab character for a while but he wanted to travel abroad some more and study the culture a bit more before he can really nail it in t7

So respected he was featured in newspapers over there

https://twitter.com/alajmi411/status/551038461440847872/photo/1

They even asked fans for feedbacks on a lot of his possible designs and ultimately went with the ones that Arab fans liked the most.

 

[SledGod]

Egyptians are African and Arab.

As an Arab myself, I do like the inclusion of Pharah and Ana, although I do have a few nitpicks. Pharah speaks no Arabic in game, and Ana isn't an Arabic name as far as I can tell. It translates to "me", and I don't know anyone who's named "me".

I took at least three MS Arabic classes in college and I just now picked up on this...

I also had no idea that Pharah is Ana's daughter. I don't play much Overwatch.

 

[PSqueak]

I wouldn't have it any other way, though. I kind of wish the chick who made Orisa was actually piloting the mech (like D.Va), but Doomfist is fun as fuck and I now understand why Terry Crews wouldn't have worked.

No way they'd let you shoot an 11 year old, but i do wish Efie was more involved with Orisa, like having sound bites or having her talk to Orisa from an unseen command center, also Orisa should have a victory pose with Efie.

 

[Marmelade]

Can go both ways. I know Egyptians personally and some associate themselves as Arabs, some middle eastern, and sometimes North African. Some just say they are black.

Weird, never heard any Egyptians think of themselves as black.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

I was unexpectedly giddy with excitement and glee when I saw Sombra's reveal CG trailer. After decades of seeing Mexicans in videogames as nothing other than Lucha Libre wrestlers, drugdealers, criminals or other stereotypes my eyes couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Representation matters, guys.

 

[Sora_N]

Isn't it great to see yourself in media? I'm not Arab msyelf, but seeing a gay girl (Tracer) as the "main character" of such a big game makes me super happy.

Man I had no idea, lol. Nothing against it or anything, but I just didn't know. I don't play Tracer.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Oasis being an amazing, beautiful city was a really big deal imo. Depicting a hopeful future wherein the Middle East isn't an arid dust bowl of war.

And obviously Ana is e v e r y t h i n g.

 

[PSqueak]

Oasis being an amazing, beautiful city was a really big deal imo. Depicting a hopeful future wherein the Middle East isn't an arid dust bowl of war.

I really like Overwatch super cheerful future aesthetic.

 

[Finaj]

No way they'd let you shoot an 11 year old, but i do wish Efie was more involved with Orisa, like having sound bites or having her talk to Orisa from an unseen command center, also Orisa should have a victory pose with Efie.

While it would need a lot of effort, I wish Elsie could be seen in the respawn room helping/controlling Orisa.

 

[platocplx]

I was unexpectedly giddy with excitement and glee when I saw Sombra's reveal CG trailer. After decades of seeing Mexicans in videogames as nothing other than Lucha Libre wrestlers, drugdealers, criminals or other stereotypes my eyes couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Representation matters, guys.

yep and a diverse cast with interesting stories makes for an amazing experience so many more dimensions because of that.

 

[Toxi]

I was unexpectedly giddy with excitement and glee when I saw Sombra's reveal CG trailer. After decades of seeing Mexicans in videogames as nothing other than Lucha Libre wrestlers, drugdealers, criminals or other stereotypes my eyes couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Representation matters, guys.

Sombra's a criminal though.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

No way they'd let you shoot an 11 year old, but i do wish Efie was more involved with Orisa, like having sound bites or having her talk to Orisa from an unseen command center, also Orisa should have a victory pose with Efie.

Having Efie as some kind of Titanfall1-esque comms director would've been amazing. But I imagine it would've been a little distracting for the Orisa player 😂

 

[Azoor]

Sombra's a criminal though.

She is of questionable allegence at best.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

I was unexpectedly giddy with excitement and glee when I saw Sombra's reveal CG trailer. After decades of seeing Mexicans in videogames as nothing other than Lucha Libre wrestlers, drugdealers, criminals or other stereotypes my eyes couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Representation matters, guys.

I get what you are saying but Sombra IS a criminal, lol. Terrorist at worst.

 

[Swiggins]

Man I had no idea, lol. Nothing against it or anything, but I just didn't know. I don't play Tracer.

It was revealed in the Overwatch comic released around Christmas last year. It caused a bit of an uproar in the community last year, but for the most part people seem to have accepted it.

The OW team had been teasing for awhile that there was an LGBT character in the cast but were playing coy. A lot of people suspected either Zarya or Lucio...but nope, it was Tracer. That's not to say that there aren't other gay characters in the OW cast...as far as I can tell the only confirmed heterosexual characters in the game are Ana and Widowmaker, because Ana had a daughter (Pharah) and Widowmaker was at one point married.

 

[PSqueak]

I was unexpectedly giddy with excitement and glee when I saw Sombra's reveal CG trailer. After decades of seeing Mexicans in videogames as nothing other than Lucha Libre wrestlers, drugdealers, criminals or other stereotypes my eyes couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Representation matters, guys.

This post reminded me a long thread I did on twitter about how happy I am about Sombra being a Mexican character and how she is depicted

The thing that made me more happy about it is that she is not filled with stereotypical traits, but as a smart woman with hacking abilities and a mysterious past

Honestly, they have been doing an amazing job in representing characters from different nations in a very interesting way

Also, the mexico inspired stages are just mind blowing, we lack the technological pyramids, of course, but everything from how the houses are designed, streets and even plant pots are just great

Really glad you feel so good about how ana and phara are representing, OP

I never felt more represented in a videogame than when i first heard Sombra say "Asustame panteon!"

I get what you are saying but Sombra IS a criminal, lol. Terrorist at worst.

You know villian and neutral characters can be good representation too right?

Or are you gonna go tell black people they can't enjoy Doom Fist because he's a terrorist that wants humanity to eveolve through war?

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

It was revealed in the Overwatch comic released around Christmas last year. It caused a bit of an uproar in the community last year, but for the most part people seem to have accepted it.

The OW team had been teasing for awhile that there was an LGBT character in the cast but were playing coy. A lot of people suspected either Zarya or Lucio...but nope, it was Tracer. That's not to say that there aren't other gay characters in the OW cast...as far as I can tell the only confirmed heterosexual characters in the game are Ana and Widowmaker, because Ana had a daughter (Pharah) and Widowmaker was at one point married.

Torbjorn has like 8 kids so him too.

 

[The Wraith]

Pharah is my main for life. I'm not an Arab but I appreciate the depiction they have of arabs in this game.

 

[Atolm]

You can really tell that they went in the opposite direction of what Street Fighter started.

SF made the characters stereotypical in order to make them recognisable, and almost every other game has followed suit since. But Overwatch went in the opposite direction. There are characters from all ethnicities, but unless you pick subtle details you can't tell from where is each most of the time.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

What's the problem with Rashid?

 

[LelouchZero]

Pharah is my favorite character in the game, I love her!

 

[Psychoward]

I was unexpectedly giddy with excitement and glee when I saw Sombra's reveal CG trailer. After decades of seeing Mexicans in videogames as nothing other than Lucha Libre wrestlers, drugdealers, criminals or other stereotypes my eyes couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Representation matters, guys.

Uh about that

She was part of the Los Muertos gang and then later joined Talon

Granted her methods seem to be for mostly good reasons

 

[The_White_Rose]

It was revealed in the Overwatch comic released around Christmas last year. It caused a bit of an uproar in the community last year, but for the most part people seem to have accepted it.

The OW team had been teasing for awhile that there was an LGBT character in the cast but were playing coy. A lot of people suspected either Zarya or Lucio...but nope, it was Tracer. That's not to say that there aren't other gay characters in the OW cast...as far as I can tell the only confirmed heterosexual characters in the game are Ana and Widowmaker, because Ana had a daughter (Pharah) and Widowmaker was at one point married.

Torb has kids as well