‘Overwatch’ Might’ve Just Confirmed Soldier: 76 As Queer

Gaymers have yet another reason to love Overwatch.

There's no shortage of colorful characters for queer Overwatch players to select in the widely popular first-person shooter. Characters like Moira, Ashe, and more serve up loads of Big Queer Energy. But, up until now, only one character -- the fast-moving Tracer -- has been confirmed as canonically queer. Well, that seems to have now changed.

In "Bastet," a new official short story released earlier today, Blizzard -- the gaming company behind games like Overwatch, Diablo and Warcraft -- basically said that Soldier: 76, one of the game's original heroes and the hero everyone must pay during the game's tutorial mode, had a relationship with a man named Vincent prior to the events depicted in the game.

In the comic, sniper Ana finds Soldier: 76 wounded in the streets of Cairo and brings him back to her hideout to patch him up. During this reunion, Ana sees Soldier: 76 going through some old photos, one of which is a picture of him next to a dark-haired man named Vincent.

Then, this exchange:

"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."

"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.

Soldier: 76 is already known as a dad(dy) throughout the fan base, but seeing that *another* one of the game's central characters is queer sent fans into a tizzy on Twitter.

The revelation about Soldier: 76's PrEP-fueled earlier days come two years after an Overwatch comic outed Tracer as gay and showed her rushing through the streets of London to find a present for her girlfriend.

No word yet on whether Daddy: 76 aka Soldier 70-Thicc is a top or a bottom, but we're sure there's some DeviantArt user probing that question as we speak.

via GIPHY