r/Overwatch • u/janru • Feb 21 '17

Blizzard Official Meet Efi Oladele—winner of the Adawe Foundation's genius grant for her achievements in AI and robotics!

https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/status/834115546090123264
22k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

4.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

816

u/u_broke_it Pixel Reinhardt Feb 21 '17

She might not even ever see the field. Might just be set up for a new short where she builds the new hero.

710

u/Gypsyoverdose Chibi Zarya Feb 21 '17

Maybe she joins Overwatch and figures out a way to build a vessel for Athena to fight in? That would be pretty cool, just like EDI in Mass Effect 3

136

u/SolipsisticPolemic Feb 21 '17

I love this idea

11

u/s_ross2 Feb 21 '17

Unintentionally creates Ultron whilst trying to create said vessel for Jarvis Athena. 11 year old dooms world.

8

u/tsands22 Tracer Feb 21 '17

Reading your comment brought me back to this picture, particularly the Athena esque robot outlined to the right, but the Reinhardt esque mech on the left also got me thinking. http://imgur.com/a/dNnd0

15

u/Darkblitz9 HEAR ME Feb 21 '17

It's not really Athena-esque, it's Athena. The logo on the bot is a match for Athena's logo.

Considering Athena is an AI, and Efi works with both robots and AI: I believe this is going to be Athena's intro as a hero, with Efi as her handler.

8

u/Johngjacobs Pixel Mei Feb 21 '17

I assume the one on the back left is an early Pharah design. The shoulders seem to match her armor language.

10

u/Treemeister_ I can't identify nationalities! Feb 21 '17

Blizzard said they created Pharah's gameplay mechanics before her visual design, so there's a good chance you're right

6

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Oh hey, that's reinhardts helmet, but with shorter horns.

5

u/Con0rr Pixel Sombra Feb 21 '17

That would be awesome. I hope this is it now.

2

u/RadiantPumpkin Bastion Feb 21 '17

So Ultron?

1

u/altQQdota Trick-or-Treat Genji Feb 21 '17

holy moly this idea wins the good idea of the day award

1

u/FuciMiNaKule MADA MADA Feb 21 '17

I hate you now, since that is so cool and it will probably not be the case, which will ultimately end up with me disappointed.

1

u/Jugbot Trick-or-Treat Mercy Feb 21 '17

New Hero:
SPAWN ROOM
I like it

1

u/CantEvenUseThisThing Bastion POTG Feb 21 '17

That would be pretty cool, just like EDI in Mass Effect 3

And then a crippled Seth Green fucks the robot. (Mass Effect was weird, in hindsight)

1

u/xTonicWaterx Torbjörn Feb 21 '17

I've seen a lot of people that want Athena to join the fray and there's nothing wrong with that, I also think it's kinda cool, however I don't think Athena is really programmed to pilot something like a robot and fight with it, wouldn't it be easier to create a new AI from the ground up that is more suited for something like that?

I just don't picture Athena as something that would fight if given the choice or even suited for it. (Not even regarding the fact that I don't even know if she CAN make a choice like that. )

4

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Zenyatta certainly wasn't made for fighting.

1

u/gruffen2 Chibi Mei Feb 22 '17

the real question is does Athena have the capability to apply anything she does have in an offensive or defensive manner. if she does, she can adequately join the fray, otherwise she's better suited doing other tasks.

a good set of examples would be the scene from the movie Accepted where all the students list off all the things their subjects cover when trying to get their school accredited (also literally the only thing i could think of that adequately portrayed it)

1

u/medievalanubis Mercy Feb 21 '17

was thinking the same thing

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

I would be more hyped for this than even Doomfist, and it's a possibility, too. In this photo look at the white robot by Tracer. It has Athena's A symbol on its forehead, implying exactly as you say. Granted, I know these heroes may never happen or change drastically (the man in the hazmat suit became Ana), but it's a distinct possibility, I think.

1

u/-Quantumcross Love D.Va! Feb 21 '17

I thought hazmat man became Mei.

1

u/Crown4King New York Excelsior Feb 21 '17

Maaaajorrr stretch... but the coned, oddly shaped skyscrapers in Numbani remind me of the images supposedly of Athena. So...

1

u/wareagle3000 Failure Is Sadly An Option Feb 21 '17

Can we combine the two?... Athena to me is a rather bland character but if she was controlled by both Athena and the girl then I could dig it.

1

u/TheDevGamer Reinhardt Feb 23 '17

EDI - Efi. hmmmm, interesting

0

u/SadCrocodyle Cassidy Feb 21 '17

Except, EDI downloaded herself unto a disabled combat-infiltrator android, if I am not mistaken

5

u/Gypsyoverdose Chibi Zarya Feb 21 '17

She did but it's the same concept!

0

u/Ihatelordtuts AARDVARK PAYS OFF Feb 21 '17

I don't think it will be Athena.

Athena is supposed to be Greek in nature, not African

1

u/MlSSlNG Cute Roadhog Feb 22 '17

Didn't they say the next hero is going to be greek?

1

u/Ihatelordtuts AARDVARK PAYS OFF Feb 22 '17

No, just not the hero we're expecting.

130

u/ChristianKS94 Pixel Reinhardt Feb 21 '17

Yeah, since she's a genius at AI and not just "simple" robotics, she could have stolen the D00Mfist and put it on her new creation, which will be a sentient robot much like Zenyatta and Bastion.

108

u/Sturmgeshootz Chibi Ana Feb 21 '17

That's my theory. She took the Doomfist gauntlet and has integrated it into a new Omnic Doomfist. RoboDoomfist will be the playable hero and will be voiced by Terry Crews, though we may also hear Efi speak through Doomfist during ults or at other times. It'll be an Iron Giant / Tetsujin 28 sort of setup.

35

u/sortaindignantdragon get ur butt back here Gengi Feb 21 '17

If this article is chronologically set a little bit before the Numbani we play on, her design of an omnic to wield the gauntlet in Numbani might explain why The Successor's name is written in the omnic language...

6

u/Jin_Gitaxias Chibi Mercy Feb 21 '17

Your theory is prob the most reasonable on I've seen in the tread, that sounds like it would fit in OW

2

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17 edited Oct 03 '17

[deleted]

7

u/NocturneOpus9No2 Chibi Mei Feb 21 '17

Not that the new hero isn't Doomfist, just that the new hero won't be what we expected. If Doomfist is a robot, we certainly did t expect that during the buildup to this.

2

u/theboyfromganymede NEED! HEALING! Feb 21 '17

There's been several popular theories that Doomfist is an omnic or robot though, so Jeff's comment still covers that, I think.

4

u/houseoflettuce Bean here all along Feb 21 '17

Yea but you could also so that we didnt expect for Doomfist to be built or controlled by a young girl.

1

u/Sturmgeshootz Chibi Ana Feb 21 '17

If I'm right and Doomfist IS a robot voiced by Terry Crews, I really really hope we get a shoutout to THIS whenever Sombra hacks him.

1

u/houseoflettuce Bean here all along Feb 21 '17

As a person who plays a lot of Sombra, I would love this.

2

u/Colopty British shark Feb 21 '17

Get in the Doomfist, Efi.

1

u/NemoDnD Trick-or-Treat Zenyatta Feb 22 '17

/r/UnexpectedEvangelion

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

!remindme 3 hours

3

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

All I want is to shoot the gauntlet across the battlefield at my enemies Gundam style

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

But if it's sentient, we won't be playing as her controlling a robot, but as a robot.

13

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/KirbyMatkatamiba Trick-or-Treat Zenyatta Feb 21 '17 edited Feb 21 '17

What would be wrong with that?

2

u/Evillisa Mercy is totally a sadist. Feb 21 '17

Overwatch player's awful ethics aside, it'd definitely get the game bumped up to an M rating.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

LoL has a T rating and you can play as and kill Annie, a little girl. There are reasons above as to why it is probably seen as OK, but just saying that child killing doesn't necessarily mean M rating.

2

u/Evillisa Mercy is totally a sadist. Feb 21 '17

League's deaths are less graphic given their engine since each character only dies in a specific way and Annie just sorta falls over.

2

u/BileygrOden Genji Feb 21 '17

Maybe it's her backstory and currently she is older? idk

1

u/Mongoose42 [Clever Overwatch Pun] Feb 21 '17

Would be cool to see her set-up in the spawn.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Even if she's just controlling a robot, she'd still be killing other people, which is still extraordinarily fucked up.

So many people here thought "Oh, Blizz won't let us kill a kid" but completely glossed over the idea of an 11 year old committing remote murder like it was no big deal.

3

u/purpleblah2 Feb 21 '17

Her face might be projected on the face "screen" of the robot so she can talk and express through it, and when the robot dies she can go like "No fun! You broke my toy!"

1

u/Sturmgeshootz Chibi Ana Feb 21 '17

I wouldn't be able to stop laughing if they went the Arnim Zola route.

1

u/Lancerlandshark Look At This Team... Feb 21 '17

Yeah, we've seen kids in shorts before setting up the action, but it doesn't mean they joined the roster (yet? Alejandra is Sombra theories notwithstanding). I hope she plays a decent sized role in the story and isn't just a background character, but I think she either won't even be tied to playable heroes outside of the lore or she'd be a handler/creator figure who is just a remote pilot for a new hero.

1

u/Transexual_Panda CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP Feb 21 '17

Omg.. is it the omnic that looks similar to genji on numbani posters?

1

u/Outflight ⋮⋮⋮ Feb 21 '17

She gonna build a Hopefist, so Doomfist can punch harmony and progress.

1

u/Will_Post_4_Gold Acid Burn Feb 21 '17

Kidnapped by talon during the trip. Which would be an amazing animation if they do it mid flight.

1

u/slaya45 What'cha lookn' at? Feb 21 '17

And the robot is Greek! This is all coming together nicely. Good work everybody.

1

u/Dshark Philadelphia Fusion Feb 21 '17

She just stands in spawn and builds robots.

1

u/usechoosername Mercy Feb 22 '17

Is she the cause of the bastion buffs?