User:Czar/drafts/Genji (Overwatch)

Genji is a cyborg ninja offense character. Genji's playstyle is difficult to learn, yet he remains a popular choice among new players who like his ninja design. In his origin story, Genji transforms from a slacker to a superhero. His family—the Shimada crime family—ordered his eldest brother and fellow Overwatch character Hanzo to kill Genji for his carefree behavior, but before he could die, Overwatch healer Mercy restored Genji as a cyborg. After quelling the rogue artificial intelligence (Omnic Crisis), Genji left the Overwatch team to find peace with his new body, mentored by Overwatch healer Zenyatta. Blizzard tells the story of Genji's reencounter with his brother Hanzo in an animated short. The game's Hanamura map, set in Japan, includes a memorial to Genji in what is assumed to be the Shimada family compound. Genji is voiced by Gaku Space.

His attacks include three shurikens thrown in quick succession, three shurikens thrown in a horizontal spread, a quick dashing strike, and the ability to deflect projectiles back at enemies. Genji can also double-jump and climb walls. Polygon recommends using Genji to isolate and counter individual enemies. Since the wait time for his quick dash resets upon scoring a kill, it is best used as a finishing move. Genji's deflect ability can counter enemy ultimate abilities like Tracer's bomb and McCree's instant-kill "High Noon". While some characters function best when paired with specific teammates, Genji works best in isolation. Genji is strong against turrets like Bastion and those of Torbjörn, and is effective at flanking Widowmaker and McCree. Genji is weak against characters who can bypass his deflection, such as Symmetra, Winston, and Zarya. To counter Genji, Polygon recommends baiting him into using his deflection, and going on offense while he is helpless.

A vocal minority of players began to complain about Genji's balance with other characters in August 2016, as team strategies came to be centered around his rediscovered abilities when the abilities of other offensive characters were reduced. Later that month, Blizzard rebalanced Genji by reducing the power of his abilities. At the end of 2016, Blizzard offered a special "oni" character skin as a promotion for players who also played the company's real-time strategy game Heroes of the Storm.