While we are all enjoying the release of the latest hero, Sombra (or at least I am), there has been a lot of speculation about who will be joining the Overwatch character roster next.
Of course, most of this has been focused on the Doomfist, who many are hoping will be voiced by the one and only Terry Crews. However, shortly after Jeff Kaplan told us that the next hero would not be who we expected, Blizzard posted an “interview” with Efi Oladele.
The interview was posted under the Atlas News byline, which Sombra ARG sufferers should be familiar with. In it, it was revealed that Efi is an eleven-year-old robotics and artificial intelligence prodigy.
Now her very young age does call into question whether or not Efi is the next hero, or if perhaps this is misdirection. Would we really be gunning down an eleven-year-old in game? The answer is probably no. Fpr a while, there was talk of the interview having taken place in the past in the canon, however, Michael Chu (lead writer) has confirmed it took place in the present day.
However, her interview does hint at how Blizzard would work around the increased rating from Efi being on the battlefield herself.
“How did you get into robots and artificial intelligence?
Well, I’ve always been interested. After my mom and dad got me my first robotics kit, I became obsessed with putting together little drones. When I started to get good at it, I tried to build robots to do my chores and help around the house. My parents think it’s cheating… It’s no fair! (laughs)
I want to create things that make our lives better. And someday, my dream is to build something that can keep us safe, like the new OR15s! I think that would be great.”
The mention of “OR15” is causing some speculation, and one Redditor on the subreddit by the name of Hachirota88 had an interesting theory:Â “Oladele is a Yoruba name. Yoruba religion calls their minor gods “Orishas” or “The Orisha”. Article mentions “OR15″ units. Seems like more than coincidence to me.”
So perhaps we could see this play into either Efi’s abilities or the robot’s appearance.
Due to her interest in robotics, however, the current speculation is that Efi won’t be out in the field herself, but will instead control robots or drones and perhaps remain the spawn room. Once the robot or drone is destroyed, it would be a safe assumption that you would have to wait in the spawn room for the cooldown to disappear. Another option is that perhaps Efi is out on the field, but can’t be harmed due to some piece of tech, and when the robot/drone is taken out, she would teleport back to the spawn room.
Naturally, there is also speculation that Jeff Kaplan’s comments and this interview are deliberately leading us away from Doomfist so his announcement can be a bit of a surprise. There is even talk of there being a direct connection between Efi and Doomfist in the Overwatch lore. I could spend all day listing all the theories, ranging from sane to completely bonkers, but my favourite unusual theory is that all this is leading to a short of Efi building the next hero, meaning that Bastion and Zenyatta could be getting some company.
Check out the speculation here, but be sure to let us know your thoughts.
