Overwatch 2expands upon a universe where a majority of the character dynamics have already been established. Reaper and Soldier 76’s dynamic hinges on the former’s jealousy of the latter back when they were on the same side. Mercy’s romance with Genji is tied to how she saved him after he was nearly killed by Hanzo.Winston’s ties to Hammondextend back to their early years on Horizon Lunar Colony. However, the free-to-play sequel has established a brand-new dynamic in the form of Torbjorn’s friendship with Bastion.
On the surface, Bastion and Torbjorn are an excellent match for one another. Bastion is a high-tech Omnic machine that can turn himself into a giant turret, while Torbjorn is an engineer with a passion for crafting turrets to help his fellow Overwatch agents fight. However, the big thing that would normally be getting in the way of thisOverwatch 2pairing is Torbjorn’s hatred for Omnics. With Bastion able to win Torb over at some point between the two games, perhaps he will forge a bond with other Overwatch agents during the PvE story.
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Bastion Could Win Over Other Omnic Haters in Overwatch 2
Though many could look down onTorbjorn and his hatred of Omnics, the reality is that he and his fellow Overwatch agents did not know them as intelligent machines like Zenyatta. Instead, Torbjorn likely lost friends and family to less intelligent Omnics like Bastion units, which makes the version players control in the game so interesting. For some reason, the playable Bastion is intelligent and not dangerous like the others that characters like Torbjorn were fighting for years.
Meeting an intelligent Bastion unit that does not want to do any harm to humans was likely an eye-opening moment for Torbjorn, and it could be similar for other characters who hate Omnics like he does. While Zarya has been slowly warming up to the intelligent robots that exist afterthe Omnic Crisis, one character that will be less welcoming of them - and Bastion units in particular - is the shield-wielding Reinhardt.
Similar to Torbjorn,Reinhardtis a lovable giant who is kind to almost everyone he meets, but his time as a German Crusader saw him fighting Bastion units for a large portion of his life - and losing his mentor Balderich in a large battle with them. With this information in mind, it is hard to imagine Reinhardt being friendly with Bastion when they first meet. In fact, players know he will not be, as a glimpse of this moment has already been shared with fans through BlizzConline 2021.
The online version ofBlizzConfrom a few years back offered a lengthy behind-the-scenes look at the development ofOverwatch 2, with a few snippets of cutscenes being included as developers talked about what they were working on. One of these scenes shows Bastion shaking as Reinhardt angrily charges at him, and it looks like the two characters are in Torbjorn’s workshop. Here, Torbjorn may intervene to calm down Reinhardt, telling him that this Bastion unit is a friend and not a foe. If Reinhardt can be won over by Bastion, anyone can, and Bastion could be key to establishing peace once Ramattra’s new Omnic uprising is stopped.
Bastion wearing a Torbjorn hat is adorable, as is the idea that Torbjorn is customizing the bird-loving robot with new upgrades and features. It will be interesting to learn more about how this friendship was formed and how the engineer went from a fear of Omnics to accepting one as a close friend. The Reinhardt interaction could prove even more interesting, as it looks like it will be intense based on the part of the scene players have been shown. Overall, it seems like Torbjorn will be Bastion’s gateway to other friends and an overall purpose withinthe Overwatch organization, while their bond could set up some clear character development for heroes like Reinhardt.
Overwatch 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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