Imagine two people, immensely powerful in a world where their kind is treated with fear, maligned, scapegoated, and reduced to second-class citizens. Despite developing a strong, brotherly bond over time, they differ in their ideologies. One strives for peace and the other resorts to extremist violence, and this dynamic makes them evolve into reluctant enemies. You could easily ascribe this trope to Marvel’s Professor Charles Xavier and Erik “Magneto” Lensherr, but it’s also apropos for the first new character to arrive in Overwatch 2 since launch: Ramattra.
It’s not a perfect analogy, but Ramattra already seems like the Magneto to Zenyatta’s Professor X. So when the extremist leader of Null Sector arrives in the game this December, he’ll shake up the game’s lore just as much as he does its meta.
Is there an Overwatch 2 Ramattra trailer?
On November 4, Blizzard revealed the official origin story trailer for Ramattra.
“We have meditated on the universe and our place within it,” he says in his debut trailer. “But humanity is not interested in sharing their world. How many more Omnics should perish to fuel mankind’s dreams? No more!” As he says this, we witness the aftermath of some kind of riot in which humans kill at least seven Omnics, one of which Ramattra cradles in his arms.
This event radicalizes Ramattra to take up arms and form Null Sector to defend his people. Over time, however, it essentially became a robot terrorist organization.
What is Ramattra’s backstory in Overwatch 2?
In the wider lore of Overwatch, Omnics are a sentient race of robots that rose up and rebelled against humanity a generation ago. Ramattra is an Omnic originally created to lead his fellow robots to war as a general, but like Zenyatta and some other robots after the Omnic Crisis, they retreated to a remote Shambali monastery deep within the Himalayas in search of enlightenment. But the cruelty of humanity eventually inspires him to forsake his peaceful ways.
Ramattra then created the Null Sector organization to focus on the welfare and liberty of Omnics at large, eventually becoming more aggressive in that mission.
Blizzard’s official language offers a bit more context:
Originally a war machine, Ramattra shed his munitions for a shield to protect his people by promoting peace and tranquility. His ideals weren’t far removed from his fellow Shambli monk, Zenyatta. However, Ramattra’s story is one of hardships, trauma, and a magnified view of humanity’s harsh realities.
Harmony was replaced by dissonance, and Ramattra began to approach his convictions from a more pragmatic angle — justifying any means necessary to defend his fellow omnics. As the leader of Null Sector, Ramattra boasts incredible support from his people, and he is primed to impose his philosophies on our world.
Therein lies the comparison to Magneto from Marvel’s X-Men storylines. If we liken Omnics to Mutants, then Ramattra and Null Sector is essentially Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants.
When asked outright if the comparison was apt, Lead Narrative Designer Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie promised Inverse that there was “a lot more coming about their relationship.”
“These are two that shared a lot of time together and became the closest brothers,” he added. “They've spent long nights discussing philosophy. You're going to see those elements in their relationship in-game and not just in those match-start conversations, but also in the other interactions and the way they speak to each other when they're in combat.”
Is Ramattra Null Hector’s real name?
This one’s a bit of a deep dive into Overwatch lore and the silly names that gamers make up for mysterious characters, but Ramattra was first teased back in April 2019 during the Storm Rising “Archive” event. After players completed the limited-time PvE mission, they were treated to a cutscene in which Doomfist (the playable character who leads the terrorist organization called Talon) meets with the then-unnamed Omnic leader of Null Sector. Players affectionately named the new villain “Null Hector” at the time, and it took more than three years for us to learn more.
We’ve yet to truly see the story-based implications of this presumed Talon-Null Sector alliance, but it’s bound to be the focus of the upcoming Overwatch 2 story campaign. But for now, we know that Doomfist and Ramattra are allies in some capacity.
When is the Overwatch 2 Ramattra release date?
Blizzard has officially confirmed that Ramattra will arrive with the launch of Overwatch 2 Season 2 on December 6, 2022.
What are Ramattra’s abilities in Overwatch 2?
Ramattra is officially classified as a Tank, but his toolkit is mostly still under wraps. We do know that his core unique feature is two forms: His basic Omnic form and a more aggressive Nemesis form.
Developers say the Nemesis form is an activated ability with a cooldown, so it differs slightly from how Bastion and Wrecking Ball can transform at will.
“In the Omnic form, you're playing this poke game, protecting your team with a little bit of range,” Overwatch 2 Lead Hero Designer Alec Dawson revealed during a recent press preview. “And then in the Nemesis form, you're rushing down the enemies, charging in there with these punches in the backline to try and get rid of some of their squishies.” Dawson also confirms that Ramattra will have some kind of “barrier” that he puts up in his base form as well, which is bound to draw some Sigma comparisons.
But once he transforms, Ramattra becomes a larger and more physically imposing force to be reckoned with, aggressively diving into the enemy lines. In that, he’ll probably work sort of like Doomfist, particularly because of the armor-piercing punches.
“I don't think we can ever overestimate how scary Ramattra gets when he goes into Nemesis form,” Lead Narrative Designer Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie said. “You will see him change and have to plan and strategize around the fear that enemy players will feel when they see he's about to go aggressive.”
Because he becomes “one of the biggest targets on the battlefield” in that form, he’ll become a major target for the enemy teams. Developers say that being tactical about when you make the Nemesis transformation is an important part of mastering the character, but we’ll have to wait to learn more about what the character has to offer in the coming weeks.
