In the Overwatch universe, a majority of the characters featured have fairly clear motivations. Some are do-gooders like Mercy, while Soldier 76 and Ana are vigilantes. Others have selfish goals to build wealth like Junkrat and Roadhog, while some serve as protectors like D.Va. When it comes to the character of Reaper, though, his motivations have always been difficult to grasp.
Fortunately, the latest Overwatch hero event focuses on the edgy Talon member, and he has received a lore-filled short story alongside his new skin. While the story has proven controversial, as it is different from what fans had imagined his backstory to be, it is still nice to see Reaper getting some depth. Though the short story does not answer every question gamers have, as his reasons for wanting to kill specific Overwatch members are still vague, it does touch on some major topics.
Code of Violence Provides a Look at Gabriel Reyes, The Man Behind The Mask
Code of Violence highlights Reaper’s very first mission as a part of Talon, and it sees him working alongside Sombra to extract a high value target for Doomfist. Throughout the mission, Sombra antagonizes Reaper, something that should be familiar to those that have seen her animated short. Throughout the mission, fans get insight into how it feels for Reaper to use his powers and the guilt he still feels when killing.
Eventually, Sombra and Reaper reach their objective, with Sigma being revealed as the HVT. The pair succeeds at extracting the gravity-obsessed scientist, finally connecting Sigma to the main narrative and explaining how he ended up with Talon. Near the end of the story, Reaper and Sombra are about to fight one another, but Widowmaker enters the area and stops any more conflict from taking place.
While this is a fairly basic story on the surface, its flashbacks are where the truly important developments can be found. For starters, readers learn that Gabriel Reyes was once a police officer, and a good one at that. After years of putting away criminals and seeing that his efforts were worthless, he quit this position, joining Overwatch in the hopes that he could dish out justice more effectively. Once again, he felt his efforts were wasted, which led to Blackwatch and ultimately the fall of Overwatch.
In one of the flashbacks, Reyes talks to a captured Doomfist, with the villain calling out how important justice is to Reyes and how much he is failing to make a difference. Doomfist argues that under Talon, Reaper would have the resources and the freedom to kill those that deserve it while also toppling the governments that allow criminals to get away with the things they do. While he shrugs off this idea at the time, it sticks with Reyes. Once Overwatch collapses and Reyes becomes Reaper, he takes Doomfist up on his offer.
All throughout the story, Reaper struggles with both his rage and the thought that he could leave all the fighting behind. It is revealed that he had a wife named Martina and a six-year-old son at one point in time, something that he consistently thinks about. However, he worries that Martina would not accept him due to his facial scars and changed personality, so he eventually gives up on returning to her and embraces his role within Talon. This reveal about his past could explain the family he was stalking in the Overwatch comic Reflections, as this could have been him watching his adult son. While there are still aspects of Reaper’s motivations that remain vague, like his grudge against Overwatch members beyond Soldier 76, his character is much deeper thanks to Code of Violence.
Overwatch is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
