Back in The Fight! Overwatch’s Mercy receives her own short story and a possible new skin

Chronicling Mercy’s efforts in an Egyptian aid camp, the short story was released earlier this week for free and hints at a new in-game skin for the Dr Angela Ziegler

Before we had Overwatch 2 to give us all of that sweet lore and character development, Blizzard used to tease out these elements of Overwatch’s universe with highly polished cinematics, character trailer and comic books. While these comics always provided a little insight into the character’s of Blizzard’s highly popular competitive shooter there quality was…hit or miss. While they often boasted some quality artwork, the writing never felt fully realised, often resulting in stories that seemed half-finished at best and utterly pointless at worst. It seems that Blizzard agrees with this take, at least for the time being, because their latest external nugget of Overwatch lore doesn’t come in the form of a comic book but a short story that focuses on Mercy, the Swiss support character that everyone wants to believe is secretly a mad scientist despite Blizzard’s best efforts.

The short story follows Mercy’s exploits in Egypt as she sets to work helping in any way she can around a refugee aid camp. She saves some children, heals the sick and chats to some of her buddies from the original Overwatch team; so basically just a day in the life of someone with a resurrect ability. The story, entitled “Valkyrie”, is interspersed with various pieces of art, the final page being dedicated to what seems to be a rendering of a new Mercy skin based on the outfit worn throughout the story. There’s been no official confirmation about whether or not this is an official skin, but the legendary-coloured background and character pose seem to close to actual in-game assets to be a coincidence.

You can find the short story right here if you’ve got fifteen minutes to kill and want to learn a bit more about what ex-Overwatch members got up to after the team disbanded. It’s an enjoyable enough read, although I did think they could have included a bit more time discussing how Mercy plays God at will and simply revives the dead in a way that’s both unnatural and highly questionable. She’s secretly evil, I tell you. Just you wait and see.

Last Updated: November 13, 2019