It’s confirmed: the next new Overwatch hero be medic Jean-Baptiste Augustin – Baptiste for short – as teased last week.
Blizzard unveiled Baptiste’s origin story in a video posted yesterday. It shows his war-torn and orphaned upbringing, fighting for whatever scraps he could, and how alluring a powerful group could be – even a violent and harmful one – to a person in a volatile situation like that. That’s how Baptiste joined Talon.
But years down the road, Baptiste’s conscience reared up, scrubbing delusion from his eyes until saw Talon for what it clearly was. And he wanted out. That’s where we pick him up now: determined to make the world a better place.
Medical associations are consistent throughout the video. Baptiste is seen early on with medical canisters attached to a bandolier, and at the end he holds a large medical canister as well as a gun with a chunky cylindrical drum, like a grenade launcher. Exactly how he plays, though, and what his abilities are, we don’t yet know.
[NEW HERO – NOW PLAYABLE] Baptiste Origin Story | Overwatch Watch on YouTube
There’s no ironclad confirmation Baptiste is Haitian, although the character speaks with what sounds like a Haitian accent. Also, the name is fittingly French, and we know Baptiste is in Tortuga on Haiti because of the tease last week.
There’s talk of Haitian-Canadian actor Benz Antoine being the voice behind Baptiste, and of there being Haitian lines of dialogue. Website Blizzard Watch mentions it, without a reference to source, and so does ResetEra, again without a reference to source, so I’m checking it out with Blizzard.