Hanzo (''Overwatch'')

Hanzo Shimada (Japanese: シマダ・ハンゾー^[2], Hepburn: Shimada Hanzō) is a playable character appearing in the 2016 video game Overwatch, a first-person shooter video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and its related media, which includes animated shorts and webcomics.

The character is of Japanese origin and only goes by his given name in the game, Hanzo. In Overwatch, he is classified as a defense character and one with a high difficulty ranking. He is an archer whose arrows have the ability to show the location of his enemies or hit multiple targets.

Hanzo has been well received by critics and fans alike, with praise being directed towards his character arc involving his brother, design and abilities, especially his ultimate ability. However, reviewers have also noted that he is a character who requires practice in order to be used effectively in matches.

Development and design

Hanzo and his brother Genji were originally one character.

Hanzo was first revealed at BlizzCon 2014, along with eleven other characters from Overwatch, where he was described as being lightly-armored, scampering up walls using his bare hands and being able to spot enemies through obstacles.^[3] Originally, Hanzo and his brother Genji were created as a single cyborg-ninja character named Hanzo, who wielded both a bow and sword. Due to feeling that the character was too unfocused in design and had too many ninja elements attached to him, it was decided that the character be split into two brothers, with Hanzo obtaining the bow, name and clothing of the original character.^[4][5]

Hanzo was named after Hattori Hanzō, one of the most famous ninjas.^[6] Hattori was also known as "Demon Hanzo" because of his tactician abilities, which is what inspired Hanzo's "Demon" skin during the "Overwatch Halloween Terror" seasonal event in October.^[7] Hanzo's story arc along with Genji's was inspired by the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi.^[8] Michael Chu, lead writer of Overwatch, discussing Hanzo and his "will-he, won't-he fall to darkness storyline", stated that Hanzo's "real interesting because he can be a hero and a villain depending on your point of view – I think he can be both at the same time. There are more things to investigate there."^[9]

Gameplay

Hanzo is classified as a defense character in Overwatch. He is a sniper and wields the "Storm Bow". His bow has an infinite amount of arrows that can be fired in succession of one another. Alternatively, the arrows can be charged up for one second for a higher damage output.^[10] Hanzo has two attacks relating to his bow. The first is "Sonic Arrow", which allows him and his teammates to see the location of their enemies that pass within a sphere of influence from the point of impact, and the second being "Scatter Arrow", in which Hanzo fires splinters that scatter and ricochet off nearby surroundings. Hanzo's ultimate ability is "Dragonstrike"; when using this ability, Hanzo fires a single arrow that releases two dragons that travel in a straight line, passing through all walls, until the end of the map. Any enemy caught in the line of fire and touching the dragons takes continuous direct damage, which can kill most unprotected characters within seconds. Hanzo also has a passive ability called "Wall Climb" that allows him to scale walls.^[11][12]

Appearances

Overwatch

Hanzo's fictional biography lists his full name, age and (former) base of operations: Hanzo Shimada, 38, and the fictional Hanamura, Japan, respectively.^[13] In Overwatch lore, Hanzo belongs to the Shimada family, a clan of assassins. As the eldest son in the family, Hanzo was bound by duty to inherit the Shimada empire from his father. Upon his father's death, the clan elders instructed Hanzo to straighten out his younger brother Genji. When Genji refused, the clan elders forced Hanzo to kill him. The act of killing his brother broke Hanzo's heart and drove him to abandon the clan. The lore states that Hanzo currently travels the world, "attempting to restore his honor and put the ghosts of his past to rest."

Other appearances

Animations

In May 2016, made his first appearance in Dragons, the third in a series of animated shorts.^[14] In the short, Hanzo returns to the Shimada Temple to honor his brother Genji on the anniversasy of his "death". Despite numerous guards being present, he is able to easily overpower them before they alert anyone. While honoring his brother's shrine, a man appears behind him who he presumes is sent to kill him. The two begin a duel and Hanzo attempts to use Dragonstrike to defeat his opponent.^[15] To his surprise, the assassin is also able to use the Shimada dragons. Defeated, he asked the assassin to kill him. It's in that moment that the assassin reveals himself to be Genji and tells Hanzo that he has forgiven him for having attempted to kill him. When Genji attempts to leave, Hanzo draws out his bow, labelling him a fool and stating that "real life is not like the stories [their] father told [them]". Despite this, Genji said that he still believed in his brother and had hope for him before leaving. With Genji gone, Hanzo was left to contemplate everything he had just found out and returned to finish his offering.^[16]

Literature

Hanzo in the digital comic series

Hanzo's first appearance in Overwatch's tie-in digital comic book series occurred in the December 2016 story titled "Reflections", where he makes a minor appearance. In the comic, which is set during Christmas, Hanzo is depicted with a different style than his appearance in the game. This includes him wearing an earring and a nose piercing, in addition to having his hair in a crew cut. In the comic, he's shown staring at a cake inside a shop with a little boy behind him.^[17][18]

Merchandise

Blizzard has released men's shirts featuring Hanzo with sized ranging from small to XL4.^[19]

Reception

The character has been described as a "fan favorite"^[20] and "one of the more colorful characters" of the cast in the game.^[21] In Twinfinite's competition of "Gaming's Best 2017 Archer" Hanzo ended up being the winner, winning it two out of four categories; for "Arrow Variety" and "Fashion Style" and stating that "he may take a lot of time to learn, but once you do, it pays off, and you’ll be one of the best snipers in your team while you play Overwatch."^[22]

The character has received a positive critical reception. VG247 referred to him as "the closest to a stealth character" in Overwatch, noting that his abilities make him useful for finding and scattering opponents.^[23] On the character, Matt Whittaker of Hardcore Gamer wrote that Hanzo is "a sniper whose arrows do massive damage upon contact [and] is the type of hero that needs a bit of practice time before one feels totally comfortable". Despite these, he believed that player who practice with him will be able easily defeat their opponents.^[24] His ultimate ability, Dragonstrike, has also been well received for being able to kill the opposing team in seconds.^[25]

Within the player community, players that frequently select Hanzo as their character are often derogatorily called "Hanzo mains", as other players typically do not feel that most Hanzo players contribute well to the team's effort due to Hanzo requiring a great deal of practice to become skilled with the character.^[26] Such "Hanzo mains" are frequently ridiculed, told to switch to other characters, or even have been reported through Blizzard's system for selecting Hanzo. Kotaku spoke to several players that frequently play Hanzo; these players felt that Hanzo was one of the more well-balanced characters once one becomes skilled at playing him, and the hate towards Hanzo is more likely from other players feeling a Hanzo player makes for a good scapegoat when the team is otherwise not cohesive.^[27]

The term "Hanzo main" has extended beyond Overwatch. During the US presidential election of 2016, Nuisance Committee – made by the creators of Cards Against Humanity – created a billboard depicting Donald Trump playing Overwatch that reads "Donald Trump mains Hanzo and complains about team comp in chat".^[28][29] The term became popularized in a viral news story when a schoolgirl was reprimanded by her school for calling a classmate a "Hanzo main" for stealing her pencil.^[26]

In Brazil, a church in honor of Hanzo was created called Hanzo National Church. Its founder stated that he created the church as a form of protest art in order to show how ludicrous the Brazilian legislative system is. Additionally, the reason he chose Hanzo instead of Lúcio or Mercy is due to the character's resemblance to Jesus.^[30][31]

References

External links

• Hanzo on IMDb