In Norse Mythology, the goddess Freja is associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and farseeing magic. She is featured in many mythological stories and often in stories inspired by Norse Mythology, such as God of War Ragnarok's Freya. In Overwatch 2, Freja is a hero coming in season 16.
Of course, gameplay comes first and many will no doubt enjoy her high-skilled, positional, explosive cross-bow gameplay style, but she's also in an interesting position narratively. She's a former member of Overwatch turned Bounty Hunter, but her name also caught our attention because of the mythological connection. We recently visited Blizzard in Irvine, California, and had to ask Overwatch 2 senior narrative designer Jude Stacey about this connection.
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Since Overwatch 2 season 15 begins soon and Freja's debut in season 16 is some time off (in April), Stacey didn't want to say too much about this connection, but there clearly is one. She explained that, as players familiar with Norse mythology see more of her story, there are "a couple of other details that you'll be able to recognize from Norse mythology." However, there's one seemingly important thing that they highlighted: Freja's code name. Not referring to her internal code name as Wind Dasher, Stacey explained,
"She also has a code name for herself too, and that's one example of something that pulls from Norse Mythology."
What this could mean remains to be seen, but it's worth mentioning that it's not uncommon for mythological figures to have multiple names. The spelling of Freja, of course, can vary between that use, Freya, Freyja, and possibly others. Freja in Norse Mythology is also often associated with the names Gef, Hörn, Skjálf, Sýr, Valfreyja, and Vanadís, but it's unlikely Freja in Overwatch 2 uses any of these specifically. There could be associations somewhere in Freja's mythology, if not wider Norse mythology though. For example, Valfreyja refers to "Freyja of the Slain," and given her story in Overwatch 2, a codename meaning something similar would make some sense.
Either way, with Season 16 launching in April, fans will just have to wait to learn more about Freja's story. As seen in the recent Summit presentation, there's plenty of content coming to Overwatch 2 over the next few seasons.
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