Tracer is no longer the only canonically LGBTQ hero in Overwatch. Today, Blizzard released a new short story focusing on steely sniper grandma Ana and grumpy military dad Soldier 76. The latter, it turns out, used to be involved with a man named Vincent.
In the short story, titled “Bastet,” Ana encounters Soldier for the first time since an explosion destroyed the Swiss Overwatch headquarters, supposedly killing Soldier. He’s wounded, however, from a tussle with BFF-turned-nemesis-in-a-Halloween-costume Gabriel Reyes, a.k.a. Reaper. While nursing him back to health in her hideout, Ana notices Soldier rifling through some old photos, one of which depicts Soldier standing next to a dark-haired man, with an arm around his shoulder. This takes her by surprise.
Vincent.
“Vincent… I haven’t thought about him in years,” Ana said.
“Still keeping a candle lit for him?”
Jack shook his head. “Nothing like that.”
“You’ve never looked in on him? You must have been
curious. All the surveillance power in the world. I bet Gabe
would have put a Blackwatch agent on him if you asked,”
Ana said.
Jack glared at her.
“Okay, touchy subject.”
Jack laughed. “He got married. They’re very happy. I’m
happy for him.”
Ana was unconvinced. In the early days, Jack talked about
him often, floating a dream that the war would end quickly,
and maybe he’d have a chance to return to a normal life.
But a normal life was never the reward for people like us.
“Vincent deserved a happier life than the one I could
give him.” Jack sighed. “We both knew that I could never
put anything above my duty. Everything I fought for was to
protect people like him… That’s the sacrifice I made.”
“Relationships don’t work out so well for us, do they?”
Ana said, unconsciously running her thumb over where her
wedding ring used to be.
“At least you and Gabe managed to have families.”
The pair lapsed back into silence.
According to Overwatch lead writer Michael Chu, Soldier is gay. Tragically gay. The Overwatch community, of course, has been having a field day with this.
Now that the two “faces” of the game are canonically queer, it’s only a matter of time until Blizzard makes official what fans already know to be true: that everybody else is gay, too.