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Pharah
Overwatch character
First appearanceBlizzCon (2014)
First gameOverwatch (2016)
Created byBlizzard Entertainment
Voiced byJen Cohn (English)
In-universe information
Full nameFareeha Amari
OccupationSecurity chief
AffiliationHelix International Security
FamilySam (father)
Ana Amari (mother)
NationalityEgyptian

Pharah is the call sign of Fareeha Amari, a fictional playable character who first appears in the 2016 video game Overwatch, a Blizzard Entertainment–developed first-person shooter. Pharah also appears in related Overwatch animated and literary media.

Development and design

Gameplay and art

One of the original four characters made for Overwatch, Pharah's development helped Blizzard's designers define the game's visual style boundaries, as well as "establish guidelines for future heroes".[1] Early in her development, designers had defined her Egyptian heritage and playstyle.[2] Her design features her in an experimental combat suit that emphasizes mobility and firepower, dubbed the "Raptora Mark VI".[3] The design is similar in appearance to Gundam mecha,[3] and features a beak-like helmet.[4] Her visual design underwent multiple rounds of development, with some designs featuring her in heavy armor and others depicting her as more of a fighter pilot.[5] Concept art for Pharah included a Porco Rosso-styled version of her design.[6] Designed to be an offensive combatant, Pharah is equipped abilities that allow her to go airborne and a concussive blast ability.[7]

When Blizzard announced Overwatch at BlizzCon in November 2014, Pharah was included among the twelve heroes introduced.[3] In June 2015, Blizzard published a gameplay preview for Pharah.[8][7]

Like other Overwatch characters, Pharah received skins, unlockable cosmetic items to change her in-game appearance.[9] Various skins like "Mechaqueen" and "Mechatron" lean into a Gundam aesthetic and emphasize a mecha appearance for her combat suit.[10] Two notable skins include "Thunderbird" and "Raindancer", which are based on Indigenous imagery, specifically the art motifs of Pacific Northwest cultures.[11] The skins "paint her face in red and white and remove her Eye of Horus tattoo," while also separating her hair into two braids, adorning her armor with "tribal" patterns, and depicting her helmet as a falcon decorated with grass.[12] When asked about these skins in an interview with Kotaku, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan stated that upon seeing the concept art for the skins, the development team was impressed. While internally questioning whether or not to use the skins for Pharah, the team indeed opted to implement the skins into the game.[13] While Kaplan stated the development team was open to removing the skin if fans felt a line was crossed,[13] the skin ultimately remained in the game and Pharah was confirmed to be half-Indigenous Canadian.[12] At launch, these skins were the only examples of Native American representation in Overwatch.[14]

In 2018, Overwatch developers made significant reworks to the game's meta. Buffs to hitscan heroes were implemented, making their fall-off damage "devastating even in long-range fights," which caused Pharah's verticality become one of her biggest vulnerabilities, in stark contrast to it being a strength before.[15]

For Overwatch 2, Pharah's visual look underwent subtle changes, including the lower half of her armor being made to include white in addition to its already-present blue color.[16]

Story and character

Of an Egyptian and Indigenous Canadian background, the character's full name is Fareeha Amari.[7] She is a Giza-based security chief.[7] Her mother Ana was a member of Overwatch, a global peacekeeping force.[3][17] Aspiring to follow in her mother's footsteps, she enlisted in and rose up through the officer ranks of the Egyptian army.[3] Before being able to join Overwatch, the organization disbanded, and Fareeha would later instead become an officer of the Giza-based Helix Security International. Under the call sign "Pharah", she is tasked with defending an artificial intelligence research facility.[3]

The character was originally named "Mercy", which would later become the name for a character originally named "Angelica".[18] However, during early testing stages of the game, testers would get confused when asked to switch to Mercy (or the character now known as Pharah). Upon these requests, they would often switch to Angelica.[18] To quell this issue, game developers renamed Angelica as Mercy, and temporarily renamed Mercy as "Rocket Dude".[18] The character would later be named "Rocket Queen", before her name was finalized as "Pharah".[18]

Pharah was long-teased as being mixed race, specifically of an Indigenous Canadian heritage, in addition to her already publicly known Egyptian background.[12][13] In an issue of Overwatch's tie-in comic series, Pharah's father is hinted at, "although Blizzard never confirmed whether the slight, graying man Pharah was seen with in the story was her father or her boyfriend."[19] However, an April 2017 update for the game all but confirmed this character as her father.[19]

The character is voiced by Jen Cohn in the English version of the game.[20] The character's German-version voice actress, Ghadah Al-Akel, was replaced in a 2017 update for the game, without her knowledge.[21]

Gameplay

Filling an offensive role in gameplay, Pharah is classified as a "Damage" hero.[22][23] Along with D.Va, Pharah is the most mobile character in Overwatch, able to reach any point on a map.[22]

Polygon has described her kit as "straightforward".[22] She is equipped with a rocket launcher, which has long range and deals high damage.[22][24] While her explosive rockets damage all enemies nearby to its impact location, a direct hit on an enemy deals significant damage.[25] Pharah's passive ability, "Hover Jets", allows her to slowly gain height and hover in the air while using her jets.[23] To rapidly gain height, she can use her "Jump Jet" ability.[25] Her "Concussive Blast" ability sees Pharah use her equipped wrist rockets pushing targets far from their blast radius.[24] Finally, her "Barrage" ultimate ability shoots a stream of highly-damaging rockets for a 3 second duration.[24] In Overwatch 2, Pharah enjoys an additional passive ability common to all "Damage" characters: for a short period of time after eliminating an enemy, she has a faster movement speed and can quickly reload her rocket launcher.[25]

Due to their flight abilities working well together, Pharah and Mercy players often paired together in the game's meta during its first two years of release.[15][26] The combination was dubbed "Pharmercy" by players and video game media outlets.[15][27]

Appearances

Video games

As Overwatch lacks a traditional story mode its lore and character backgrounds, including Pharah's, are instead shown in-game through its map design and character voice lines.[28] Pharah was a playable character in Overwatch at launch.[29] In Overwatch 2, she is available to new players immediately.[25]

Comics

Overwatch utilizes transmedia storytelling to expand its lore. Pharah has made multiple appearances in Overwatch-related comics. She first appeared in "Mission Statement", a May 2016 issue of the game's tie-in Overwatch digital comic series.[30] In November, she appeared in "Reflections", another Overwatch issue; she appears in a panel with her father having dinner and watching hockey at a restaurant in Canada.[31]

Pharah would appear in a December 2021 issue of New Blood, a five-issue comic miniseries.[32] In it, she meets with Cassidy and also gets in touch with her mother.[32]

Merchandising

The Good Smile Company released a Figma-line figurine of Pharah in December 2018.[33]

Reception

Among players who opt for DPS (damage per second) characters, Pharah is a popular choice.[34] Fans of the game often pair Pharah with Mercy in fan art.[26] This ship is nicknamed "Pharmercy" by fans of the game.[15][35] Fans have also been cited by media writers to commonly cosplay Pharah.[36] Some have been noted to include fully-operational mechanical wings, such as one fan who won the EuroCosplay competition in 2016 with a cosplay of Pharah's "Anubis" skin.[37]

In 2018, Joseph Knoop of The Daily Dot wrote negatively of the character, lamenting Blizzard having "done surprisingly little with Pharah as a character."[27] Knoop added, "we also got an unimpressive comic that shows her grow into a more caring commander. There's already a ton to mine there for emotional payoff, but just like Pharah's sky-high leaps, it seems like she'll always be out of reach."[27]

Pharah's "Thunderbird" and "Raindancer" skins drew criticism from fans online, who argued the skins were culturally appropriating Indigenous imagery.[12] Fans also questioned why the skins were based on Indigenous imagery, when Pharah had long been detailed as of Egyptian origin.[12] After the Reflections issue, featuring Pharah having dinner with her Indigenous father, Cecilia D'Anastasio of Kotaku reflected on the controversy about her outfit, asking "was Pharah's somewhat obtuse lore added to quell players' accusations of cultural appropriation? It's hard to say," while citing a "strongly-worded Medium post by a Dia Lacina, a Native woman," that "questioned whether Pharah's father is the 'Convenient Indian.'"[12] Lacina also opined that "corporate interests and fandom demands aligned so they can make those skins 'acceptable' while getting bonus points for finally having a Native in Overwatch's lore."[12] Shahryar Rizvi of Kill Screen commented that despite the skins being designed with Pacific Northwest Coastal cultures in mind, that the "face paint is most likely influenced by the Mohawk people in Ontario, Quebec, and upstate New York".[14]

Pharah being portrayed by a white voice actress has also been criticized as an example of digital blackface.[38] Pharah's gender representation has been discussed as well, as the character is noted as one of only two playable females in Overwatch that "do not have expressively supportive functions as part of their skillset", though her flying from a distance was seen as an example of the "smaller, weaker, and faster" archetype for female characters in video games.[39]

See also

References

  1. ^ Burns 2017, p. 66.
  2. ^ Burns 2017, p. 71.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Hall, Charlie (November 7, 2014). "A guide to the first 12 characters in Blizzard's Overwatch". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 12, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  4. ^ Chalk, Andy (January 5, 2016). "Blizzard releases crazily detailed Overwatch art and cosplay guide". PC Gamer. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  5. ^ Burns 2017, p. 70–71.
  6. ^ Jackson, Gita (October 17, 2017). "Everyone Has A Crush On This Concept Art For Overwatch's Mercy". Kotaku. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d Farokhmanesh, Megan (June 11, 2015). "Overwatch's Pharah demonstrates death from above in over 10 minutes of gameplay". Polygon. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  8. ^ Savage, Phil (June 12, 2015). "Overwatch footage shows Pharah and her rockets". PC Gamer. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  9. ^ Moore, Bo (January 18, 2018). "New legendary Pharah skin turns the Overwatch rocketeer into a golden snake". PC Gamer. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  10. ^ Garcia, Ethan (August 9, 2022). "All new Remixed skins in Overwatch's Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  11. ^ Burns 2017, p. 208.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g D'Anastasio, Cecilia (May 19, 2017). "Blizzard May Have Clarified Pharah's Controversial Background In Overwatch [Correction]". Kotaku. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  13. ^ a b c Grayson, Nathan (July 18, 2016). "Overwatch's Director On Competitive Mode, Controversies, And The Future". Kotaku. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Rizvi, Shahryar (July 13, 2016). "There's something off about the Overwatch alternate skins". Kill Screen. Retrieved May 28, 2023. Furthermore, the theme of Pharah's alternate skin is the only place Native American culture appears in Overwatch.
  15. ^ a b c d Maher, Cian (October 23, 2018). "How Pharah is outgrowing her Guardian Angel". Red Bull. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  16. ^ Apsey, Joe (October 5, 2022) [June 27, 2022]. "Overwatch 2 new looks and redesigns for all the heroes". The Loadout. Network N. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  17. ^ Grayson, Nathan (July 14, 2016). "The Internet Reacts To Overwatch's Badarse New Sniper Mum". Kotaku. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d Foxall, Sam (May 21, 2017). "Pharah's original name was Mercy in early versions of Overwatch". PCGamesN. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Frank, Allegra (April 11, 2017). "Overwatch fan theory about Pharah's dad has been debunked". Polygon. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  20. ^ "Pharah Voice". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  21. ^ Scott-Jones, Richard (April 20, 2017). "Pharah's German voice actress replaced in Overwatch update, finds out when fans tell her". PCGamesN. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  22. ^ a b c d Carter, Chris (May 23, 2016). "Overwatch character guide". Polygon. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  23. ^ a b Morrow, Emily; Robertson, Scott (September 16, 2022). "All Overwatch 2 heroes and their abilities". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  24. ^ a b c Williams, Mike (December 21, 2017). "Overwatch - How to Play Pharah". USgamer. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  25. ^ a b c d Carr, Joey (October 19, 2022). "Overwatch 2 - Pharah Hero Guide". GameSpot. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  26. ^ a b Jackson, Gita (April 12, 2018). "Overwatch Ships, Ranked". Kotaku. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  27. ^ a b c Knoop, Joseph (May 21, 2021). "Every Overwatch character, ranked". The Daily Dot. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  28. ^ Frank, Allegra (April 30, 2017). "How Overwatch still stuffs story into a campaign-less game". Polygon. Archived from the original on April 30, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  29. ^ McWhertor, Michael (July 12, 2016). "Overwatch's first new hero, Ana, revealed". Polygon. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  30. ^ LeCair, Kyle (May 21, 2016). "New Overwatch Comic Focuses on Pharah". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  31. ^ Wyshysnki, Greg (August 17, 2017). "How did Ilya Bryzgalov end up in Overwatch?". Puck Daddy. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  32. ^ a b Williams, Demi (December 15, 2021). "Latest Overwatch: New Blood Comic Sees Ana And Pharah Reunited". GameSpot. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  33. ^ Moyse, Chris (December 15, 2018). "Plastic reigns from above with this ace Overwatch Pharah Figma". Destructoid. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  34. ^ Chuen, Caitlyn Ng Man (September 10, 2022). "Why Overwatch 2's Approach to New Characters Is a Bad Idea". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  35. ^ Frank, Allegra (December 20, 2016). "New Overwatch comic may have sunk your favorite 'ships'". Polygon. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  36. ^ Plunkett, Luke (June 20, 2017). "Overwatch Cosplay, Still Raining From Above". Kotaku. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  37. ^ Grayson, Nathan (November 4, 2016). "Overwatch Pharah Cosplay Is Fully Operational". Kotaku. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  38. ^ Cole & Zammit, p. 21.
  39. ^ Hubbell, p. 204.

Sources