Overwatch 2 is less than two weeks away, and when it launches on October 4, it will be bringing with it three brand-new heroes. The first two new heroes, Sojourn and Junker Queen, have received plenty of details from developers and attention from fans, but the most recently announced hero, a Support character named Kiriko, has only recently seen the spotlight. Developers have released a short cinematic backstory as well as a brief gameplay overview to show off and explain Kiriko’s weapons and abilities and their origins
Kiriko’s interesting lore dives into how she became such a fierce fighter and caring healer, and it helps players understand her personality and connection with other Overwatch 2 characters. Since Kiriko is the newest addition to the roster and has not been playable in any of the Overwatch 2 betas, it is important for players to understand her kit and how she will operate on the battlefield. Fortunately, fans will be able to create a connection with Kiriko through the developer update and origin story, which do a great job of showing off the new hero’s abilities and explaining who she is as a character
Kiriko’s Origin Story
Kiriko was born and raised in Kanezaka, a fictional Japanese city in Overwatch’s lore that has a shrine dedicated to the fox spirit. Because Kiriko's family is closely connected to the fox spirit, Kiriko’s grandma has a deep understanding of the spiritual world. Kiriko’s grandma, who played a huge part in raising her, has since passed down her wisdom about the spirits and the importance of tradition, ritual, and community. And it seems that Kiriko also shares a deep connection with the fox spirit as her cunning personality and wit personify what the spirit represents in Japanese lore.
In addition to being raised by her grandmother, Kiriko was also raised and trained by her mother, a fierce warrior. Kiriko’s mother trained her in the way of the blade and raised her to fight for what is right. It also appears that Kiriko’s mother trained the Shimada clan, as Kiriko grew up alongside Hanzo and Genji and has formed a bond with the brothers - particularly Genji - as both share a mischievous personality and have adopted the way of the ninja.
However, Kiriko also witnessed the downfall of the Shimada clan, which personally affected her due to her connection with Hanzo and Genji, as well as her personal connections to the city of Kanezaka, which was overthrown by a rival clan after the downfall of the Shimadas. Even Kiriko’s own family was affected by the takeover when her father was abducted by the Hashimoto clan, and this is when she decided to take action and utilize her spiritual and combat abilities to join a group of vigilantes called the Yokai, who vowed to protect the city of Kanezaka.
How Kiriko’s Lore Affects her Kit
Since Kiriko was raised in part by her grandmother, she has a strong connection to the spiritual world. More specifically, she is connected to the fox spirit, which is based on the Japanese Inari, a fox spirit that acts a guardian protector. Appropriately, Kiriko uses her spiritual connections to help protect others and utilize useful support skills on the battlefield. Kiriko’s main healing abilities are her Healing Ofuda, which are healing talismans that Kiriko can throw to allies, and her Protection Suzu, a cluster of bells that Kiriko throws at the feet of allies that briefly make them invulnerable and cleanse them of any negative effects. Additionally, Kiriko is able to use her spiritual connections to teleport through walls to quickly join allies and summon her fox spirit to aid her team in combat via her Kitsune Rush ultimate ability.
Along with her spiritual abilities, Kiriko is also able to utilize her combat and ninja training in battle. Because she was trained so closely with the Shimada brothers, Kiriko’s has adopted their passive ability of being able to climb walls, which greatly assists her in reaching and healing teammates. And even though she is predominantly a healer and support character, Kiriko’s ninja training allows her to throw deadly kunai that deal increased critical damage. Interestingly enough, the kunai were originally part of Genji’s kit but were traded for shuriken, so players will likely see Kiriko’s attacks act similarly to Genji’s, which even more closely connects the characters and allow for a nice change of pace for a Support hero.
Overwatch 2 releases on October 4 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
