Tracer

Official artwork of Tracer

**Tracer**is a playable character in the team-based first-person shooter *Overwatch*. She works as the mascot of the game, being seen in promotional material and the official box art of the game. Tracer was confirmed to be homosexual in an official *Overwatch*comic, much to the praise of many fans and critics.She was the first *Overwatch*character to be worked on, based on the Jumper class from cancelled Blizzard project *Titan*.

## Biography

Tracer was the youngest person to be included in the Overwatch program, hand-picked to test the newest fighter created by Overwatch, the OWX-01 Slipstream. This fighter was intended to have the ability to teleport, and was speculated to become the definitive form of aerial combat. Issues arose when the teleportation matrix malfunctioned during its first test flight. This caused the fighter to disappear with Tracer still inside, with her being presumed dead. Months later she would reappear, her molecules desynchronized with time, and she in a state of disappearing for hours or days at a time. Luckily, Overwatch scientist Winston was able to create a device called a chronal accelerator, giving her control over her desynchronization.

Seven years later, would begin training for Overwatch under the supervision of Winston and Dr. Ziegler. Tracer excelled in her training, even giving skilled Blackwatch member Genji trouble during combat. Commander Jack Morrison was impressed, and would later give Tracer permission to be promoted to active duty.
Tracer would later go on a mission with fellow Overwatch members Mercy, Torbjörn, and Reinhardt.  They were tasked with dealing with a riot lead by Null Sector in King's Row, London. The team was successful, although the evens that transpired were classified.
Tracer would later go on another mission with Overwatch members Winston, Mercy, and Genji. Their goal was to apprehend Maxemillion, and omnic who was working with Talon, a terrorist organization. The team was successful, and Maxemillion revealed that Talon's leader Doomfist would be in Singapore in three weeks. Tracer, along with Winston and Genji, would go to Singapore in order to confront him.

## Appearances

 Heroes of the Storm
 Overwatch 2

## Non-Video Game Appearances

 Alive
 Reflections
 Uprising
 Ready Player One | March 29, 2018

## Artwork

Tracer's in-game portraitTracer as she appears on the official Overwatch websiteTracer in her cadet uniformTracer's *Heroes of the Storm* artworkTracer as seen on *Overwatch's* cover art
## Trivia

* Tracer received controversy before *Overwatch's* release due to a victory pose that received criticism from fans, as they felt it was reduced her to a sex symbol.
* The webcomic *Reflections* was not released in Russia due to it depicting Tracer as a lesbian, as it was against Russian law.
	+ In the same comic, Tracer is depicted without her chronal accelerator. The *Overwatch* team confirmed that she is still safe as long as it is charging nearby.
* In 2019, Amazon had unintentionally revealed an official Overwatch-theme Switch case. This, paired with a 4chan leak, lead fans to speculate that Tracer would be part of *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's* Fighter Pass.

## References

1. ↑ Entertainment, Blizzard (October 27, 2015). Overwatch - Credits.
2. ↑ Riendeau, Danielle (December 20, 2016). Tracer is Queer, ‘Overwatch’ Fans Erupt in Excitement. VICE.
3. ↑ Tassi, Paul (January 8, 2019). Yes, 'Overwatch' Making Both Soldier: 76 And Tracer Gay Is A Big Deal. Forbes.
4. ↑ Orland, Kyle (May 5, 2016). “When it’s done”: How Blizzard dragged Overwatch across the launch threshold. Ars Technica. “Early on the first hero that we made was Tracer, and the first map we made was Temple of Anubis,”
5. ↑ Staff, Game Informer (August 24, 2016). Designing Overwatch: From Titan To Torbjorn. Game Informer. “Yeah, there are definitely more, but none directly. Tracer was not actually a character in Titan. We had a class called “the Jumper” and she evolved from that.”
6. ↑ Hussain, Tamoor (December 10, 2017). New Ready Player One Trailer Features Overwatch And Street Fighter Cameos. Gamespot. “A new trailer for Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg's big-screen adaptation of Ernest Cline's popular novel, has been released. As with the first teaser, the video is littered with references to pop culture, and video games are represented by Tracer from Overwatch and Street Fighter's Chun-Li.”
7. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (March 29, 2016). Blizzard Removing Overwatch Butt Pose After Fan Criticism. Gamespot.
8. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (January 3, 2017). Overwatch webcomic not released in Russia over gay character. Eurogamer.
9. ↑ Overwatch (December 20, 2016). Overwatch on Twitter. Twitter. “It's on the floor charging near her. As long as it's near by it still works.”
10. ↑ Amos, Andrew (August 27, 2019). Overwatch Switch leak has fans speculating about Tracer in Smash Ultimate. Dexerto.