The immensely popular video game from Blizzard Entertainment -- Overwatch -- has been taking over the world ever since its release. Not only is the game extremely popular among players, streamers and YouTubers, it is also popular within the artistic/creative community -- namely cosplayers. With a pool of 26 heroes to choose from, skilled craftsmen (and women) have a wide range of characters to dress up as at conventions. Bear in mind, most of these characters are pretty demanding in terms of costume design and require a lot of talent and hard work to be made into successful cosplays. However, that hasn't stopped these creative artists from trying their hardest to bring their favorite heroes to life.
When we embarked on this journey of finding awesome Overwatch cosplays we were not prepared for what awaited us. The quantity and the quality of Overwatch cosplayers is absolutely insane. We went in expecting just a bunch of D.Vas and Mercys, but what we found was all that and so much more. Reducing this list to a reasonable number of entries was a daunting and bittersweet task. And now, we would like to present the thirty most awe-inspiring, gorgeous, unbelievable pieces of Overwatch cosplay that will blow your mind.
30 D.VA
Tracer may be the official face of Overwatch but D.Va could sure give the time-jumping adventurer a run for her money. The popularity of this petite South Korean professional gamer-turned Meka pilot is on an ever-rising path. D.Va may well be the most cosplayed Overwatch character, with Tracer and Mercy coming in as close second.
Picking only one cosplayer was quite a challenging task, but we settled on Mio-Elevn as D.Va, clothes by ChangYue, designed by Aoandou and photographed by MengJie Luan Studio. This Chinese group of talented individuals combined their efforts and skills to create this awesome D.Va cosplay that doesn’t fall short of the actual character in any respect. The adorable Mio has a few different D.Va skin cosplays you might wanna check out.
29 REINHARDT
The jolly juggernaut Reinhardt Wilhelm was once a highly decorated German soldier in pursuit of glory. After foolheartedly charging into battle that cost him his left eye and the life of his friend and mentor Balderich von Adler, Reinhardt developed an unwavering sense of duty and loyalty to Overwatch. This modern day knight fights with valor and courage to bring justice and protect his friends.
Reinhardt is like a big fuzzy teddy bear and it’s pretty hard to resist his charms. And while he may not be the easiest Overwatch hero to cosplay, it hasn’t stopped the most persistent and skilled craftsmen from trying. The award-winning cosplayers Egg Sisters Cosplay built this fully functional Blackhardt Reinhardt cosplay from scratch and impressed everyone at the 2016 Dragon Con.
28 SYMMETRA
Imagine having the power to literally bend reality. The ability to shape the world around you as you see fit. Wouldn’t that be cool? Well, we can always ask Symmetra. This light-bending architect has the ability to manipulate hard-light constructs and essentially bend reality. Satya Vaswani, known as Symmetra, originated from a poor family in India. Working for the notorious Vishkar Corporation Symmetra hopes to one day bring order and harmony to the world.
This obsessive-compulsive hero is often at odds with the likes of Lúcio as she doesn’t believe in the concept of freedom. But every Overwatch character has a place among the fans and Symmetra is no exception. One of her fans, a cosplayer who goes by Khainsaw, created this awesome Symmetra cosplay and captioned one of her photos with "Symmetra is love, Symmetra is life."
27 SOLDIER: 76
Jack Morrison, who now goes by Soldier: 76, is the target of an international manhunt. This disgruntled but kindhearted vigilante is hell-bent on waging war on those responsible for the collapse of Overwatch. As the former Strike Commander of the international peacekeeping organization, Soldier: 76 feels it’s his duty to bring the enemies who took down Overwatch to the light of justice.
Despite his sometimes grumpy behavior, Soldier: 76 has demonstrated his soft side on a number of occasions. His heroic nature and awesome abilities made him an extremely popular character. The cosplayer known as Tentacle Creations created this fantastic Soldier: 76 cosplay in appreciation of the Overwatch hero. The gifted Daniel has built tones of other cool costumes that you can find in his gallery.
26 DOOMFIST
Akande Ogundimu used to be an accomplished professional martial artist and heir to his prominent family’s prosthetic-technology company. Unfortunately, Ogundimu was cut in his prime after losing an arm in the aftermath of the Omnic Crisis. When opportunity arose to once again fight for something, Ogundimu became a mercenary and when he still wasn’t satisfied he killed his mentor and took over as Doomfist. Now, Doomfist is a high-ranking member of the notorious terrorist organization Talon.
Naturally, given the design and robustness of his eponymous gauntlet Doomfist is not the easiest character to cosplay. But when has a good challenge stopped cosplayers? Henchmen Studios -- a character FX & Design/Fabrication studio from Toronto, Canada -- built this jaw-dropping Doomfist cosplay for the character reveal. The man posing in this imposing costume is the model Rockley Rock.
25 REAPER
Gabriel Reyes, aka Reaper, is something like main villain of the game. But this high-functioning psychopath was once but a stand-up member of Overwatch. Fueled by feelings of jealousy and hatred towards his comrade Jack Morrison, aka Soldier: 76, Gabriel Reyes adopted his Reaper persona and set out to take down Overwatch agents one by one.
Reaper is a highly complex character and a very compelling antagonist, which makes him a fan-favorite. Cosplayers all around the world are working their hardest to create amazing Reaper cosplays, such as the one you see above. The man behind the mask goes by Deathstrike Cosplay and he comes from the Netherlands. His Reaper sure does look incredibly authentic and, to be honest, he kind of strikes terror into us.
24 SOMBRA
As one of the most notorious hackers in the world, Sombra knows that information is the best currency and uses it to manipulate those in position of power. Of course, Sombra wasn’t born this way. Just like the rest of us, she was once an innocent child. However, the cruel world forced her to change her ways. Now, she’s using everything and everyone at her disposal to further her goals and get to the bottom of a global conspiracy.
Upon her introduction, this resourceful hacker easily built quite the fanbase. We’ve managed to find a number of Sombra cosplayers, although none quite as amazing as pionKOR. This South Korean cosplayer created an incredible Sombra costume and reenacted the scene from the animated short Infiltration, in which Sombra blackmails the CEO of Volskaya Industries. For more Sombra images as well as an extraordinary Harley Quinn cosplay visit pionKOR’s gallery.
23 WIDOWMAKER HUNTRESS
The deadly assassin Amélie Lacroix, known to her prey as Widowmaker, has an abundance of awesome skins. The recently released Widowmaker Nova skin seems to be gaining a lot of popularity among the players, but the Huntress skin is also a very eye-catching outfit for the cold-blooded sniper. Widowmaker’s Huntress skin has a Victorian feel to it and looks absolutely stunning.
And even though recreating this intricate design is a daunting task (to put it mildly) cosplayers have still managed to craft unimaginable Widowmaker Huntress costumes. The one that impressed us the most is the Russian cosplayer niamash, who sported this beauty at the 2017 Moscow Comic Con. The talented niamash has created a bunch of other awesome costumes which you can find in her gallery.
22 EFI (ORISA)
The Overwatch hero Orisa truly is one-of-a-kind. The OR15 program, originally established to enhance the defense of Numbani, was scrapped after Doomfist’s devastating attack and the remaining units were sold off. A genius engineer, the young and brave Efi Oladele, purchased an OR15 chassis and made a new guardian robot called Orisa to protect her city. Although, she’s inexperienced, with Efi’s guidance Orisa fights passionately in order to keep people safe.
Now, cosplaying as the actual four-legged and highly complex robot is not an easy feat. However, cosplaying as her awesome creator Efi is a whole other story. The talented cosplayer Akakioga created this incredibly accurate cosplay of Efi holding Orisa’s Supercharger. If you wanna see more awesome Overwatch cosplays from Akakioga pay her gallery a visit.
21 GENJI
If you haven’t heard Genji’s story yet go get yourself some tissues, we’ll wait. Genji was born into the Shimada family as the youngest son of Sojiro Shimada. He enjoyed a leisurely life until his father’s death. When his brother Hanzo took over the clan he wanted Genji to take on more responsibilities. Genji refused and the two brothers fought to death. Overwatch found Genji barely alive, patched him up and equipped him with a cyborg body -- something Genji found difficult to reconcile with. Still, with a little help from his friends, Genji managed to accept his new self.
This honorable cyborg ninja is one of the most popular Overwatch heroes with many cosplayers building all kinds of Genji costumes. Just Cosplay & Props is a cosplayer from Norway, who’s created quite a few Genji costumes, including the incredible piece you see above.
20 ROADHOG
Just as Sherlock needs Watson, Junkrat needs his faithful companion and bodyguard Roadhog. Originating from the Outback just like his reckless boss, Roadhog is a logical and much more pragmatic sociopath. After the Outback was obliterated and rendered radioactive, Mako Rutledge adopted his new persona -- Roadhog -- and became an enforcer. He was soon hired by Junkrat with whom he embarked on a crime spree around the world.
Although, Roadhog is far from being the most attractive Overwatch hero, he still has his fans. The cosplayer who goes by the name Pennstate67 seems to be quite fond of this merciless killer with a reputation for wanton destruction. This amazing cosplayer created an exceptionally authentic costume for Roadhog, which caught everyone’s attention at conventions.
19 ANA
Captain Ana Amari is in every conceivable way a force to be reckoned with. Being one of the best snipers in the world, Ana joined Overwatch as one of its founding members. On a mission to rescue hostages from Talon Ana was shot by Widowmaker and presumed dead. However, as we all know, she proved to be quite hard to kill.
Ana developed a considerable fanbase among Overwatch players and a lot of fans have created impressive cosplays of the Egyptian sniper. The incredible Russian cosplayer Ellari3l made this amazing Ana cosplay, as well as a "comfy grandma" version of Ana sipping tea on a cold winter’s day with Christmas decorations all around her. If you want to see more from this cosplayer we suggest paying her gallery a visit.
18 MERCY
The angelic Dr. Angela Ziegler, known as Mercy to her Overwatch teammates, is a brilliant scientist and fierce advocate for peace. The good doctor acts as a guardian angel for those under her care and abhors the use of violence. The peerless healer joined Overwatch in order to be able to help as many people as possible, even if she didn’t agree with everything the organization did.
Equipped with her Caduceus Staff, Mercy engages a healing stream which strengthens and resurrects her teammates. Needless to say, Mercy is one of the most popular and most cosplayed Overwatch characters. The fantastic Polish cosplayer Shappi, photographed above, perfectly captured the essence of Mercy as she wields her Caduceus Staff. The talented Shappi has an amazing gallery well worth your time.
17 TORBJÖRN
The enthusiastic engineer Torbjörn Lindholm was one of Ironclad Guild’s top weapons designers whose inventions include the giant mech called Titan and the peacekeeper combatant unit Bastion. Torbjörn was recruited as one of the first members of Overwatch for his superior engineering skills. He is distrustful towards self-aware AI, but he still took in Bastion after realizing his peaceful nature.
When Overwatch fell and his weapons were scattered around the world, this good-natured engineer took it upon himself to stop them from falling into the wrong hands. Torbjörn may not have a huge fanbase, but there are still those who’ll go to extreme lengths to make an awesome Torbjörn cosplay. The British copslayer Makunix built this impressive Torbjörn cosplay costume and turned quite a few heads at the 2017 Kitacon.
16 MEI
Mei-Ling Zhou, the sole survivor of a catastrophic event that took place at Watchpoint: Antarctica, awoke lonesome after an almost decade-long cryostasis. On her own adventure to preserve the environment and the ecosystem, this brilliant climatologist travels the world equipped with her portable climate-manipulation technology. This adorable hero is accompanied by her ever-faithful assistant drone Snowball.
Mei is a very popular character among cosplayers and a lot of them indeed look rather amazing dressed up as her. Our pick for this list was Anna Lam, known in the community as Bananzers. This incredibly talented cosplayer and photographer looks absolutely delightful in her Mei outfit and we couldn’t resist her adorableness. If you want to see more from Bananzers we point you towards her website, it shall not disappoint.
15 ZARYA
The self-proclaimed strongest woman in the world Aleksandra Zaryanova, better known as Zarya, turned to weightlifting and bodybuilding at a young age in order to help her hometown recover from the Omnic Crisis. Zarya joined the Russian Defense Forces and later Volskaya Industries determined to defend her country from the omnics. However, Zarya’s views on omnics seem to change when she rescues the omnic hacker Lynx Seventeen from an explosion.
The boastful Russian bodybuilder has acquired quite the fanbase among the players of Overwatch, so cosplayers dressed up as Zarya are not an uncommon sight. The cosplayer you see above goes by the name of Chrome Casualty and she created this impressive Zarya cosplay with the help of Kaitlin/Kat, Rage Gear Props, UmbranWitch Cosplay and Doan. For more awesomeness visit their galleries.
14 TRACER
The Overwatch hero Tracer has somewhat of a sob story and it’s very difficult to remain indifferent no matter how unflappable you are. Lena Oxton, aka Tracer, was a victim of a failed experiment and had to have the chronal accelerator implanted to keep her tethered in the present. The adorable Tracer is the face of Overwatch and one of the most popular characters to cosplay.
The incredible Russian cosplayer and costume designer who goes by the name Fenix Fatalist pulled off the most amazing Tracer cosplay. Fenix went from lawyer to full-time cosplayer and hasn’t looked back since. She’s created tones of jaw-dropping costumes, including the incredibly accurate Tracer cosplay you see above. If you visit her gallery, and you really should, you’ll find only the most awesome costumes and very cool original Overwatch jackets.
13 HANZO
The expert bowman and assassin, Hanzo Shimada succeeded his late father as the leader of the Shimada clan. Instructed by the clan elders to straighten his younger brother Genji, Hanzo attempted to make Genji more responsible. After Genji refused to obey the brothers fought and Hanzo was left believing he had taken his brother’s life. Unable to cope with what he’s done, Hanzo left the clan and is now working on restoring his honor.
Archers are always a big hit and Hanzo immediately became one of the most popular characters in the game, which is also evident by the amount of cosplayers dressing up as this Japanese hero. The incredibly talented Rae Kay Cosplay, featured on the image above, created what is perhaps the most accurate Hanzo cosplay ever. The resemblance truly is uncanny.
12 MERCY WITCH
We’ll call it -- Overwatch skins are freakin’ insane. Just go browse any hero’s skin gallery and you’ll see what we mean. One of the most popular skins, especially in cosplay, seems to be the Mercy Witch skin. And honestly, we can totally see why people like it so much. The mere concept of having the team medic dressed as a witch and presumably handing potions and reciting incantations is amusing on its own, but the design of the skin is what sells the idea.
The Mercy Witch skin was released as part of Overwatch’s Halloween event and immediately became a huge hit. Ukrainian cosplayer who goes by the name Night Lights Mastery managed to create the perfect Mercy Witch cosplay, which was able to shine in all of its glory thanks to Pugoffka-sama’s awesome photography skills.
11 PHARAH
The drop-dead gorgeous Fareeha Amari is a sight to behold. Her Raptora suit is a stunning piece of armor and her beauty is pretty much unmatched. This brave hero who rains justice from above has established herself as one of the most popular characters among Overwatch fans. However, due to the intricacy of her Raptora, Pharah is not the easiest hero to cosplay.
Yet, this brilliant cosplayer pulled it off and made it look magnificent. Ukrainian cosplayer Oksana Sherstyuk who goes by Moon-ka created this amazing Pharah cosplay from scratch and it looks insanely accurate. The wonderful images of Moon-ka as Pharah were taken by the cosplay photographer CamilaCarter. Both of these girls have a lot more to show off, so be sure to check out their galleries.