Update: we’ve added the hero’s official name & code name -Hammond the “Wrecking Ball”- origin story, and kit description below. Also, he’s now on the Overwatch PTR servers. 

Blizzard just revealed what may very well be Overwatch’s latest and 28th hero and we dare say that none of the Overwatch ‘experts’ – YouTubers, over-analysts and us included – even came close to the actual hero’s physical description. You totally misled us, Blizzard. Bravo.

Following several teasers a while back, a Tweet by Overwatch’s official Twitter account revealed what was inside that mysterious metal ball seen rolling down the cobbled streets of what looks like London.

Take a look:

The champion revealed. pic.twitter.com/0Fdpg2iBcs

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) June 28, 2018

Yep. WTF right?

As we write this short piece, we are still perplexed as of whether Blizzard is just trolling us, or their latest hero is indeed a rodent controlling a mechanised metal ball. Our lame attempt at a joke in an older article was the closest prediction as it turns out ….

But after retracing back all the evidence, everything falls in place. First peculiar thing you’d notice would be the metal plate on the rodent’s forehead which resembles the same piece on infant Winston during his time on the Horizon Lunar Colony.

[UPDATE]

Blizzard revealed the hero’s name and everything. We’ll break it down.

• His name is Hammond and is code-named Wrecking Ball because of the giant rolling robot he pilots which also comes with machine guns.
• Check out his backstory below. Turns out that he used parts from Junkertown to form his mech AND has met up with the town’s queen. Ingenious little bugger.

• The robot can adapt & transform between a two-legged defensive mode and a mobile rolling mode. He also has an adaptive shield, a piledriver move, and a grappling claw.
• How does he speak to people? His robot translates his hamster chitters into English, albeit in a menacing robot tone.
• His Ultimate is Proximity Mines where he scatters mines around him for defensive purposes.
• Here’s his official description:

“Entering the fray, his large health pool and shield-generating capabilities give him resilience when initiating and finishing battles. If that wasn’t scary enough, he can climb and swing on surfaces using his Grappling Claw and perform Piledrive, a devastating ground smash, to enemies below.

In addition to setting up Piledrive, Wrecking Ball’s Grappling Claw enables him to reach top speed. Top speed increases his basic movement speed, damaging and knocking back foes in his path.

His ultimate ability Minefield is just as versatile, allowing him to set a trap and control routes, or simply trigger a large area-of-effect explosion for enemies in the immediate vicinity.”

We’re not sure if this is a step up from a jetpack cat, but we’ll still check out this hero because the mobile/defensive dual nature of Wrecking Ball is too good to pass up. In fact, he’s available for testing right now on the Overwatch PTR servers.

Check out the screenshots below.

[Previous Article/Prediction]

No official name was revealed but we don’t care. Just like how everyone refers Winston as ‘Monkey’, we christen this one ‘Hamtaro’.

If it is indeed Hammond, then we now have our second sentient animal in the Overwatch heroes list. Before you ask – isn’t Hammond supposed to be a monkey? Well if you recall, no one ever specifically mentioned the word ‘monkey’. We just assumed him to be one.

Looking back at all the clues, we know that Hammond is a smaller specimen compared to our favourite gorilla. If you hear hooves, you think horses, right? Just because the Lunar Colony shelters primates such as Winston, we were led to assume a smaller mammal than Winston to be another primate, but of the smaller variety.

We also know that Hammond survived the journey to Earth by being a stowaway on Winston’s escape pod to Earth as seen in an in-game Easter egg.

Everything sort of falls into place and we can’t wait for further announcements when the 28th Overwatch hero will be playable.

What do you think?