Overwatch has been ticking a few boxes over the last several months that had long been left unfilled. After appearing in Baptiste’s lore, players spent years pushing for Mauga to be a playable hero, and while this wish did ultimately result in a divisive character, it was still granted. More recently, Overwatch’ s big Season 1 relaunch brought two characters players have been pushing to see introduced since the game’s early days to the roster: Emre and Jetpack Cat. The former is a Halo-like Overwatch hero with a promising story involving the series’ God AI, while the latter is… exactly what it sounds like. And though a flying cat may seem strange, it could just be the tip of the iceberg.
I’ve always been one of the many Jetpack Cat supporters; maybe it’s my love of felines in the real world, or my appreciation for the absurdity of the concept. But with Winston and Wrecking Ball having been playable for years, I always thought there was a possibility for Jetpack Cat to join the Overwatch roster. And now, she’s finally here, and I couldn’t be happier with the game’s latest oddball character. The lore ties to Brigitte are adorable, the fact that Jennifer Hale voices Fika is ridiculously cool, and the hero is genuinely fun to play as due to the wacky ability combos players can pull off using her grab. Sure, Jetpack Cat may be getting insta-banned in competitive at the moment, but she’s gotten a lot of eyes on Blizzard’s big free-to-play game, so that’s a win. And with Jetpack Cat proving oddball heroes are as popular as ever, I’m hoping we’ll finally see Mama Hong, the star of many, many memes, sooner rather than later.
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Who is Overwatch’s Mama Hong?
There’s no official lore for Mama Hong, as she never left the conceptual phase for Project Titan (the dead MMO that became Overwatch), but it’s easy to imagine her being worked into the story via a new Chinese gang that takes inspiration from the Hashimoto Clan. In the only image we have of her, she’s an older, overweight woman with hair curlers in, and that alone helps her stand out from the rest of the existing roster. Her appearance is inherently over the top, but that’s part of what’s drawn the community toward her design; another older character in the vein of Ana feels overdue, and there are plenty of real people that look more like Mama Hong than Mercy, so that extra bit of representation would be welcome.
The pushback to Anran’s face change is a good example of Overwatch players wanting a variety of appearances instead of straightforward “attractive” characters.
On top of Mama Hong’s judgemental mother vibes, which would surely produce some stellar voice lines, her proposed ability “Manslaughter” has added to the interest in her character. This is a hilariously dark ability name for the colorful Overwatch universe, but it suits her mob boss vibe well. And though Mama Hong was supposedly the second-most controversial character ever pitched for Overwatch, she lost out to Wrecking Ball, a character who has been an official part of the game for years now. With this in mind, it’s not out of the question for Blizzard to eventually dig up the ideas for Mama Hong and release her at some point.
What Could Mama Hong Even Play Like in Overwatch?
There would certainly be interest in Mama Hong becoming a reality, as she’s been regularly joked about whenever a new hero reveal has been hyped up. Overwatch skin concept designers have drawn up multiple outfits for her as well as potential abilities. One idea, from ArtStation user Inkarat Mittongtare, gives Mama Hong a flamethrower with a firework underbarrel. Another idea comes from Redditor JakeUbowski and can be seen above, and it’s even complete with little animations showing how her abilities could work.
If this idea for Mama Hong was embraced by Team 4, her kit would give her the following abilities:
- Mama Hong leeches some healing off of enemies healed within her proximity.
- Mama Hong wields a Cleaver that can deflect after every three swings.
- Mama Hong throws a fish bomb that can reduce the amount of damage dealt by enemies.
- Mama Hong can cancel enemy ability use for a short time by shouting at them.
- Mama Hong can mark a chosen enemy for death (like Marvel Rivals’ Daredevil) using her ult, boosting her movement and attack speed to pursue them, and if the enemy is killed she keeps a majority of her ult charge.
These are hardly the only ideas for Mama Hong that could suit the concept of an intimidating old mob boss. Personally, I’ve always pictured her as a summoner; think how Ashe uses Bob, but have it be a part of her regular kit instead of an Ultimate. Perhaps players could take control of these summoned gang members, essentially letting Mama Hong pilot those who do her dirty work. If she’s melee-focused, whoever she calls into the fight could deal ranged damage, giving her flexibility but leaving her body exposed to create a risk-reward gameplay loop. No matter what path is taken with Mama Hong, though, she’s been a meme for so long that it would be awesome to see her follow in Jetpack Cat’s footsteps.
If Mama Hong Ever Does Become a Reality, 2027 is the Earliest She Could Appear
Mama Hong fans shouldn’t give up hope that she’ll one day come since Jetpack Cat was just added (and since Hazard came directly from an old Titan concept), but they also won’t see her until at least 2027. The remaining five heroes for 2026 have been teased via silhouettes, and while there are some promising concepts like another mech and an Omnic with a cane, trench coat, and fedora, nothing even remotely resembling Mama Hong can be seen. Hopefully, though, so long as players keep pushing for her to debut, it will eventually happen. She may have just started as Overwatch’s spin on the landlady from Kung Fu Hustle, but she’s taken on a life of her own due to years of jokes and some genuinely creative hero concepts.
Overwatch
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