Mei (Overwatch): Difference between revisions

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While Mei has been praised for having a non-uniform body type compared to other female characters in the game, this drew some criticism from Chinese players who questioned why she was not as slim as other female characters in the game.<ref name="Jia Ling"/> On the other hand, some such as TheGamer's editor-in-chief Stacey Henley have criticized the handling of this aspect as the games have progressed, particularly in ''Overwatch 2'' where she seems to have been made visibly slimmer. She particularly noted that while this was also a factor of several alternate skins in the original ''Overatch'', "in a game full of slim and slender feminine ideals, Mei was doing it for the big girls." However with the sequel, her coat and body had been made visibly slimmer while her face had become more defined with sharper features in Henley's eyes, who further stated it ruined her aesthetic appeal. She closed with "We have lots of slim, beautiful women in Overwatch to play as. We have no one else like Mei."<ref>{{cite web |website=TheGamer |first=Stacey |last=Henley |accessdate=2023-10-12 |url=https://www.thegamer.com/overwatch-2-ruined-mei-ice-nerf/ |title=I Can’t Believe How Badly Overwatch 2 Has Ruined Mei |date=2022-10-13}}</ref>
While Mei has been praised for having a non-uniform body type compared to other female characters in the game, this drew some criticism from Chinese players who questioned why she was not as slim as other female characters in the game.<ref name="Jia Ling"/> On the other hand, some such as TheGamer's editor-in-chief Stacey Henley have criticized the handling of this aspect as the games have progressed, particularly in ''Overwatch 2'' where she seems to have been made visibly slimmer. She particularly noted that while this was also a factor of several alternate skins in the original ''Overatch'', "in a game full of slim and slender feminine ideals, Mei was doing it for the big girls." However with the sequel, her coat and body had been made visibly slimmer while her face had become more defined with sharper features in Henley's eyes, who further stated it ruined her aesthetic appeal. She closed with "We have lots of slim, beautiful women in Overwatch to play as. We have no one else like Mei."<ref>{{cite web |website=TheGamer |first=Stacey |last=Henley |accessdate=2023-10-12 |url=https://www.thegamer.com/overwatch-2-ruined-mei-ice-nerf/ |title=I Can’t Believe How Badly Overwatch 2 Has Ruined Mei |date=2022-10-13}}</ref>


On October 6, 2019, Blizzard suspended professional ''[[Hearthstone]]'' player Chung "Blitzchung" Ng Wai for making statements in support of the [[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests|ongoing protests in Hong Kong]] during a ''Grandmasters'' livestream interview, with Blizzard asserting that Blitzchung had violated rules related to their behavior and respecting Blizzard's image. Blizzard's actions were criticized globally, and as part of the reactions, Hong Kong protesters and others began to illustrate Mei as a supporter of the protests as a show of solidarity against Blizzard's decision.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://kotaku.com/overwatchs-mei-is-becoming-a-symbol-of-the-hong-kong-re-1838899963 | title = Overwatch's Mei Is Becoming A Symbol Of The Hong Kong Resistance | first = Brian | last= Ashcraft | date = October 9, 2019 | access-date = October 9, 2019 | work = [[Kotaku]] }}</ref>
On October 6, 2019, Blizzard suspended professional ''[[Hearthstone]]'' player Chung "Blitzchung" Ng Wai for making statements in support of the [[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests|ongoing protests in Hong Kong]] during a ''Grandmasters'' livestream interview, with Blizzard asserting that Blitzchung had violated rules related to their behavior and respecting Blizzard's image. Blizzard's actions were criticized globally, and as part of the reactions, Hong Kong protesters and others began to illustrate Mei as a supporter of the protests as a show of solidarity against Blizzard's decision.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://kotaku.com/overwatchs-mei-is-becoming-a-symbol-of-the-hong-kong-re-1838899963 | title = Overwatch's Mei Is Becoming A Symbol Of The Hong Kong Resistance | first = Brian | last= Ashcraft | date = October 9, 2019 | access-date = October 9, 2019 | work = [[Kotaku]] }}</ref> A [[hashtag]] "#Meisupportshongkong" trended on twitter, while protesters appeared outside of Blizzcon 2019 dressed in cosplay of the character while shirts showcasing Mei's image in support of the protest were given out.<ref>{{cite journal |page=167 |first1=Wirman |last1=Hanna |first2=Rhys |last2=Jones |date=March 2022 |title=Overwatch Fandom and the Range of Corporate Responses |journal=Modes of Esports Engagement in Overwatch |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-82767-0_9 |isbn=9783030827663 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |editor-first1=Maria |editor-last1=‎Ruotsalainen |editor-first2=Maria |editor-last2=‎Törhönen |editor-first3=‎Veli-Matti |editor-last3=‎Karhulahti}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 10:34, 14 October 2023

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhou.

Mei
Overwatch character
Mei and "Snowball" from Overwatch
First gameOverwatch (2016)
Created byJustin Thavirat[1]
Designed byArnold Tsang[2]
Ben Zhang (equipment)[2]
David Gibson (animation)[3]
Voiced byYu "Elise" Zhang[4]
In-universe information
ClassDamage
NationalityChinese

Mei (Chinese: 美; pinyin: Měi; or Chinese: 小美; pinyin: Xiǎo Měi; lit. 'Little Mei' in Taiwan), full name Dr. Mei-Ling Zhou (simplified Chinese: 周美灵; traditional Chinese: 周美靈; pinyin: Zhōu Měilíng), is a fictional, playable character appearing in the 2016 video game Overwatch, a team-based first-person shooter developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Outside of Overwatch, Mei also appears in related media, as well as a playable character in the crossover multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm. She is a Chinese climatologist and adventurer from Xi'an, China.[5]

Mei is voiced by Chinese voice actress Yu "Elise" Zhang in both the English and Chinese language releases of Overwatch.

Conception and development

Her design changed drastically from its earliest draft due to the developers feeling Overwatch had too many "serious" characters

Mei was first announced in October 2015 at BlizzCon; along with D.Va and Genji, she was one of the last heroes who was introduced into Overwatch prior to its official release.[6] The concept started from a desire to have an ice or cold user in the game's roster.[7] This extended as far back as the original pitch for Overwatch, "Prometheus", with the proposed character "Frost", a fully masked figure with a winter coat armed with an ice axe, able to generate ice patches and walls. Though the character was excluded from the finalized planned roster,[8] the concept was later revisited by artist Justin Thavirat as a character codenamed "Frostbite", a female Canadian mountaineering bounty hunter that would that would capture her targets in ice. While the development team was excited by the idea, the design came across as too intimidating, and feeling the game had too many "serious" characters redesigned her with a lighter tone in mind.[7][1]

Assistant Art Director Arnold Tsang drew several drafts modifying the design. Inspired by the ice and snow sculptures of Harbin in China, he made her Chinese,[9] and drew her as a "cute, nerdy scientist" instead of a seasoned adventurer, much to the development team's delight.[7] With artist Ben Zhang developing her equipment, she was originally armed with a large two handed cannon carried underhand. However, Tsang felt it and aspects of her outfit made her silhouette resemble another character too much, Zarya, while other developers felt it seemed too refined for her character. Her weapon was revised to seem "cobbled together" and hand crafted, changed to a one handed pistol which not only made her silhouette unique, but also freed her other hand for abilities and gestures. The sentient drone that accompanies her, "Snowball", was added to give her a fun "sidekick" to interact with. However due to concerns it could be distracting during gameplay Zhang created several designs, including one resembling a rabbit, in an attempt to find something "endearing but not overly expressive".[2]

Her personality was partially inspired by her voice actress, Yu "Elise" Zhang. During a recording session, after she flubbed a line she told both lead writer Michael Chu and and the sound engineer "Sorry, sorry, sorry." Chu believed this was a great line, and added additional lines to portray Mei as apologetic, both sincerely and sarcastically, for her actions in-game.[4] Additionally the animator assigned to her, David Gibson, drew inspiration from characters such as Rapunzel and Giselle from the films Tangled and Enchanted respectively, namely the "Disney princess vibe" of their characters but also their innocent and clumsy aspects that made one want to "spend time with [them]" according to Gibson. Additional influence came from Yomiko Readman of the anime Read or Die at Tsang's suggestion, with Gibson adding an aversion to fighting but being forced to do so to Mei's character.[3]

Prior to the launch of the 2021 Overwatch League season, a new skin for Mei was released based on a mixed martial arts (MMA) outfit, named "MM-Mei". The skin gave Mei cornrows, a hairstyle common to people of African descent, but also had been used by MMA Chinese fighter Zhang Weili among other non-African people. Players criticized the skin as cultural appropriation since there were other types of closely-braided hairstyles from MMA fighters Blizzard could have used instead, in addition to the fact that Overwatch had yet to feature a female hero of African-descent where that hairstyle would be better suited.[10][11]

Appearances

In the Overwatch lore, Mei was employed by the titular organization to find the cause for the planet's changing climate, which had been variously blamed on the industry, the increasing omnic population, and increased consumption of natural resources. While deployed at the "Ecopoint" Overwatch base in Antarctica, Mei and the other scientists there were trapped by a polar storm that damaged the facility. Lacking sufficient resources to wait for a rescue, they decided to enter cryostasis. Mei was the only survivor when she was found close to a decade later; by that time, Overwatch had disbanded, and all of the bases set up to monitor the climate crisis had stopped functioning. Mei elected to carry on the work alone, accompanied by Snowball.[5]

During Overwatch's 2016 holiday event, a new game mode centered on Mei was added, called "Mei's Snowball Offensive", with each player controlling Mei. Her ice shield and ice wall abilities were left unchanged, but her blaster was replaced with a single-shot snowball thrower that would be an instant kill if it hit an unshielded opponent. The blaster could be reloaded by finding a patch of snow that randomly appeared on the map. Mei's ultimate ability enabled her to fire the snowball blaster several times without reloading for a short period of time.[12] In addition to this, Blizzard created a new Legendary (highest rarity) skin for Mei that could be awarded during this event, which included a reskinning of her ice block into a snowman. Players criticized this new skin for being considered as Legendary, commenting that it was only a recolor of her base skin with a hat puff, and tool. Jeff Kaplan acknowledged the complaints, stating "We just sort of make a gut call based off of [sic] what we think is cool. Coolness is very subjective, and based off of [sic] the community reaction it seems like our gauge was off on this one."[13]

Mei is the main character of the Overwatch animated short Rise and Shine, released during Blizzard's presentation at the August 2017 Gamescom.[14] The short film is an expanded retelling of Mei's origin story. In December, Mei appeared alongside Winston in the comic Yeti Hunt, which served as a tie-in for a winter-themed seasonal event in the game.[15]

Mei was added as a playable character to the crossover multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm in June 2020. Her character in Heroes maintains most of the same abilities as in Overwatch, though she is classified as a "tank" and has additional combat abilities.[16]

Gameplay

Mei wields an Endothermic Blaster that can either freeze enemies in place with a short-range ice beam or shoot a long-range icicle projectile. Mei can also use the Blaster to encase herself in a solid ice block that blocks damage and heals her injuries, as well as erect temporary walls of solid ice with many versatile uses, primarily for blocking the enemies. Her ultimate ability is Blizzard, which calls down her personal weather modification drone Snowball to freeze all enemies in a wide radius.[17]

For Overwatch 2, Mei's abilities have been altered to reflect the new gameplay style Blizzard wants for the game. In particular, while Mei's ice beam still slows and damages enemies, it no longer freezes them in place.[18]

Reception

Mei was well received since her introduction by Chinese players in particular, who considered her background, combined with her pet phrase "Our world is worth fighting for", portrayed a positive image of a woman determined to protect the world.[19] University of British Columbia professor Christopher B. Patterson in the book Open World Empire cited her as an example of how characters in the game were both "stereotypical and homage", with her scientific background and behavior often considered a stereotype of Asian cultures despite her gender undermining the image of China's primarily male scientific field.. He further added that through gameplay, these stereotypes instead became camp due to her "bubbly voice and cheery lines" gave a form of psychological warfare in the eyes of players who saw her instead as "a psychopath who takes pleasure in binding and slowly torturing her victims." He noted that through the character he grew to appreciate Chinese culture more, and saw characters like Mei as an example of a character players were not supposed to identify as, but with, and explore their affinities and aspirations.[20]

While Mei has been praised for having a non-uniform body type compared to other female characters in the game, this drew some criticism from Chinese players who questioned why she was not as slim as other female characters in the game.[19] On the other hand, some such as TheGamer's editor-in-chief Stacey Henley have criticized the handling of this aspect as the games have progressed, particularly in Overwatch 2 where she seems to have been made visibly slimmer. She particularly noted that while this was also a factor of several alternate skins in the original Overatch, "in a game full of slim and slender feminine ideals, Mei was doing it for the big girls." However with the sequel, her coat and body had been made visibly slimmer while her face had become more defined with sharper features in Henley's eyes, who further stated it ruined her aesthetic appeal. She closed with "We have lots of slim, beautiful women in Overwatch to play as. We have no one else like Mei."[21]

On October 6, 2019, Blizzard suspended professional Hearthstone player Chung "Blitzchung" Ng Wai for making statements in support of the ongoing protests in Hong Kong during a Grandmasters livestream interview, with Blizzard asserting that Blitzchung had violated rules related to their behavior and respecting Blizzard's image. Blizzard's actions were criticized globally, and as part of the reactions, Hong Kong protesters and others began to illustrate Mei as a supporter of the protests as a show of solidarity against Blizzard's decision.[22] A hashtag "#Meisupportshongkong" trended on twitter, while protesters appeared outside of Blizzcon 2019 dressed in cosplay of the character while shirts showcasing Mei's image in support of the protest were given out.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Burns, Matt (October 24, 2017). Simpson, Robert; Gary, Cate; Monahan, Allison (eds.). The Art of Overwatch Limited Edition. Dark Horse Comics. p. 57. ISBN 9781506705538.
  2. ^ a b c Burns, Matt (October 24, 2017). Simpson, Robert; Gary, Cate; Monahan, Allison (eds.). The Art of Overwatch Limited Edition. Dark Horse Comics. pp. 54–56. ISBN 9781506705538.
  3. ^ a b Gibson, David (June 6, 2016). Overwatch: How A Hero is Mei'd. Retrieved October 12, 2023 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ a b Frank, Allegra (May 1, 2017). "Overwatch's cutest voice line was a recording booth accident". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Mei - Overwatch". Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  6. ^ Dyer, Matt (November 6, 2015). "BlizzCon 2015: 3 New Overwatch Heroes Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Schaefer, Emma (April 25, 2017). "Overwatch's adorable Mei used to be a badass bounty hunter". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  8. ^ Kaplan, Jeff (November 5, 2017). Overwatch Archives BlizzCon 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2023 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "Latest Blizzard first-person shooter video game a fresh take on diversity". South China Morning Post. Associated Press. May 24, 2016. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  10. ^ Taylor, Mollie (April 28, 2021). "Overwatch's new Mei skin draws criticism for cultural appropriation". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  11. ^ Bailey, Dustin (April 28, 2021). "Overwatch's MM-Mei skin is proving controversial". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  12. ^ Pereira, Chris (December 13, 2016). "Overwatch Christmas Update Is Now Live". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  13. ^ Pereria, Chris (December 15, 2016). "Blizzard Talks Overwatch Legendary/Epic Skins After Fans' Disappointment With Mei's Latest". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  14. ^ Kim, Matt (August 23, 2017). "Overwatch Releases Mei's Animated Short, Get the Tissues Ready". US Gamer. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  15. ^ Khan, Imran (December 22, 2017). "Mei Hunts Winston In New Overwatch Comic". Game Informer. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  16. ^ Winslow, Jeremy (June 15, 2020). "New Overwatch Character Coming To Blizzard's Heroes Of The Storm". GameSpot. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  17. ^ Williams, Mike (May 25, 2017). "Overwatch - How to Play Mei". US Gamer. Archived from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  18. ^ Bailey, Dustin (May 23, 2021). "Overwatch 2 will rework Bastion "from the ground up"". PCGamesN. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  19. ^ a b "《守望先锋》小美引吐槽 我们想要的中国元素不是这样的！_资讯新闻_游迅网". December 4, 2015. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  20. ^ Patterson, Christopher B. (April 2020). Open World Empire: Race, Erotics, and the Global Rise of Video Games. NYU Press. pp. 65–72. ISBN 9781479802043.
  21. ^ Henley, Stacey (October 13, 2022). "I Can't Believe How Badly Overwatch 2 Has Ruined Mei". TheGamer. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  22. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (October 9, 2019). "Overwatch's Mei Is Becoming A Symbol Of The Hong Kong Resistance". Kotaku. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  23. ^ Hanna, Wirman; Jones, Rhys (March 2022). ‎Ruotsalainen, Maria; ‎Törhönen, Maria; ‎Karhulahti, ‎Veli-Matti (eds.). "Overwatch Fandom and the Range of Corporate Responses". Modes of Esports Engagement in Overwatch. Palgrave Macmillan: 167. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-82767-0_9. ISBN 9783030827663.
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