Big news in the gaming fandom today! Blizzard’s new Overwatch comic “Reflections” went live on the site today, and wrapped up inside was the perfect Christmas present: the game’s first queer character. That’s right, everyone, Lena Oxton, aka Tracer, is canonically a wlw character now. *cue excited screaming*
The comic (read in full here) is an adorable little Christmas story complete with images of many of the games other characters celebrating Christmas in their own way. Tracer, on the other hand, is having no luck finding a gift for her girlfriend until a little girl hands her a present that ends up with being “perfect”.
Perfect is precisely the word I’d use to describe this gift of a revelation. Tracer has been the face of Overwatch since it was released. She was embroiled in controversy even while the game was in beta testing (which I discussed on The Fandomentals), and has been one of the most visible, and most played, heroes ever since. She was the first Overwatch hero to be added to Heroes of the Storm. She’s a fan favorite. She’s the literal poster child for this game. So, although they’ve hinted at there being multiple LGBT+ characters in the game, I never expected Tracer to be one of them. Much less the first one they revealed. I’m floored. This is huge news. HUGE. I’ve been giggling like a fangirl all day and that’s not likely to stop soon.
Oh, and in case this news weren’t already awesome enough, there’s already fanart. Check it out. It’s freaking adorable. My hats off to the artist for making such a quick and adorable work of art. Seriously. That’s impressive.
I can’t wait for more LGBT characters to be revealed in the future, hopefully in just as delightful a way as this one. Can we have Zarya/Mei next? A trans character would be excellent, too. You know what? Just make them all queer. The more the merrier!
Thank you Blizzard. Just…thank you.