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tmirai:
So these images–posted by adulture on Twitter–are from the recently published Art of Overwatch. To see the creative process and “what could have been” concepts of the various characters and their archetypes is really interesting…and upsetting.
Because these two images? They make me dislike Mercy even more.
This is no offense to anyone who likes Mercy, whether it’s how she plays or as an actual character. I enjoy playing her myself. But as a character, I think she is by far the weakest, least interesting, and “safest” in terms of concept and design of the Overwatch roster. Her being a white, blonde-haired and blue eyed blonde woman makes her boring and typical. And these two images prove it.
The second image is what I really want to talk about, but I’ll briefly say in regard to the first: it’s disappointing that Mercy’s final design was not one that reflected the fact she is a combat medic and capable doctor. Look at how durable she looks: the utility of her garb/armor and its many pockets, and the sturdy material of her thick gloves and pants. She looks like a doctor who knows how to navigate a battlefield. You can still see the angel influence, but it’s not overly prominent nor over-prioritizes the fact that she is a doctor first. Even the first concept, which looks closest to her current silhouette, communicates Doctor rather than Pretty Angel Woman.
But let’s move on to the second image and talk about how brilliant and 1000 times more compelling that character would have been compared to Mercy. And, no, it’s not just because he’s black. It’s because he’s a black AND a man. Seeing a black man in a support/healer role that would have served in the capacity that Mercy does is a rarity in fictional media, and would have been amazing.
Let’s talk about the design first. It is beautiful and unique, a far cry from the designs usually give to male characters. Look at the hourglass, almost feminine silhouette. The peaceful, kind, yet determined face. The balance of clean white and the transparency of his soft blue wings and halo with the more masculine, angular red and black shapes in his armor. The thickness of his legs and chest and the hefty weight of his wings imply power and durability, and yet the angel motif–a usually feminine, delicate aesthetic reserved for women–is incorporated and balanced well. Gender presentation in character design is usually very binary and very obvious. Male characters are made to look aggressively masculine, and female characters are made to look sexily or delicately feminine. Yet while there are aspects about his design that are masculine, they are not aggressively so, as in “He’s a healer…but he’s a MAN healer!” His masculinity and the traits often associated with men in games–protection, strength, damage, violence, etc.–is not the focus of his design. Like most support/healers, he looks inviting, even friendly, while also being battle ready.
Now think about Mercy’s persona completely copied over to this black, male character. A gentle, tenacious, pacifist wunderkind who is a brilliant doctor that abhors violence. What if this character filled the very same roles–play-wise and character and story trope wise–as Mercy? A black man allowed to be soft, kind, and supportive without also occupying typical and expected character tropes like a Sidekick, Wise Old Black Man, Magical Negro, Wise Cracking Comic Relief etc. is very rare. The closest and only comparison I can think of is Lee from Telltale’s The Walking Dead.
So let’s talk about Lucio. You’d probably think he fits the soft, supportive, gentle healer archetype, but not really. I love Lucio. He’s my main, and I will defend him for fivever. But I also had hella critique of him when his character was first revealed, and I stand by that critique still despite. His upbeat, positive attitude is refreshing as a character element, as is the fact he is a healer. But as my critique says, there is a lot about Lucio that is quite expected, typical, and–yes–even racist about his character. Similarly, Doomfist is awesome. His charismatic and intelligence offsets the Black Brawler stereotype he definitely embodies. But you can still find several video game characters that look just like him: the bald, shirtless black fighter whose power is represented by and channeled through his hyper-masculine male body. Doomfist is meant to be aggressively violent. His body is meant to frighten and intimidate you. We could delve even deeper and extend that to how his blackness is meant to intimidate you, but that’d be several more paragraphs.
My main point is this: I want to see more black male characters who aren’t either associated with music or aggressively violent. And Blizzard missed a prime opportunity to introduce a potentially compelling, unique black male character into a unique, diverse game.
Odds are if Blizzard did move forward with that character design, however, he wouldn’t have been the same character as Mercy. I can’t say with certainty they would have allowed him to be as gentle and anti-violence as she is. Much like someone expected Terry Crews to kill a man for sexually harassing him, black men are expected to be violent. Again, I love Lucio for defying this trope, but he still exists as a narrow view of what black men are and can be. And he’s a drop in a shallow bucket compared to the number of Mercys in video games, movies, and other media.
I really mourn for what Mercy could have been. She’s not a bad character. Just a bland one. Yet another smart, supportive, white, blonde, perfect female healer.
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