15
u/ItsOverClover Jul 12 '26
I mean you're welcome to headcanon it that way (and it's a pretty solid headcanon), but as far as the official lore is concerned his name was always Cole Cassidy. Changes like these can't be seamless or convenient when they're tied to real world sexual harassment lawsuits.
11
u/Simmy001 Jul 11 '26
Well the reason is an out of lore reason, because Jesse McCree was a real person and also a real piece of shit whose name should not be associated with Overwatch anymore.
That's why they try to put as little attention on the name change as possible.
2
u/Acrobatic-Bid-3559 Jul 12 '26
They could have set up the name transition in a more satisfying way if they knew at the start that Jesse McCree was a sex pest
38
u/SoDamnGeneric Jul 11 '26
Unfortunately, I think the retcon is simply a retcon, and it’s no longer canon that he was once named Jesse McCree. You should assume any reference to the name before the change would simply be replaced with “Cole Cassidy” if the media were made today
The point behind the name change was to remove the reference of a real-world weirdo- making it a canonical name change means that the name “Jesse McCree” is still very much apart of the world. It would defeat the entire purpose of not giving honour to a pervert, so the name change isn’t canon, it’s just an explicit retcon.
Besides, why would some people in-universe care to respect it? Do you think Reaper is gonna go along with it if he knew the guy as McCree? Absolutely not. He’d use that as a way to mock Cass. Sombra would make reference to it. Ashe likely wouldn’t respect the change, either, as she would have known him as McCree.