Mercy is a character developed by Blizzard Entertainment for their Overwatch franchise. She was introduced at launch in their 2016 first-person hero shooter video game of the same name and again appeared in its 2022 sequel, Overwatch 2. Mercy has also featured in its related animated and literary media. Lucie Pohl voices Mercy in English-language Overwatch media.
Within the Overwatch narrative, "Mercy" is the callsign of Swiss doctor Angela Ziegler, who provided key medical support for the original Overwatch group. In-game, she is a Support class character who can heal and buff teammates and resurrect fallen teammates.
The character is one of the more popular in the game, being noted by Blizzard to be the most played support character during the game's beta. However, her resurrect ability has been criticized in competitive and professional play levels, given the swing in momentum the ability creates. Her gameplay mechanics have undergone various reworks and patches in an attempt by Blizzard to make her a more well-rounded playable hero.
Development and design
Art and character
Mercy was one of the first twelve Overwatch characters introduced at Blizzard's BlizzCon 2014 event. A Polygon story covering the event noted Mercy was equipped with feathery wings, a healing stream, and a pistol. Mercy is voiced by Lucie Pohl, a German voice actress. While Blizzard had been trying to find an actor native to the area that could perform a good Swiss-German accent, they found Pohl's accent to be good for the character and selected her instead, according to lead writer Michael Chu.
In concept art for Overwatch, prior to her final design, Mercy had been represented as a black man with white hair and a broad build, but otherwise having similar outfits and abilities as the released version. The character was originally named "Angelica", with "Mercy" being the name of the character now known as "Pharah". Confusion among the game's beta testers arose, which involved players switching to Angelica when requested to switch to Mercy. As a result, Blizzard renamed Mercy as "Rocket Dude", before the character became known as Pharah, while simultaneously, Angelica was renamed Mercy.
In addition to her default skin, Mercy has received themed cosmetics, such as during the game's 2017 "Year of the Rooster" event. During May 2018, Blizzard partnered with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to offer a limited-time "Pink Mercy" skin that can be purchased by players, as well as a corresponding tee shirt with all proceeds going to the charity to support breast cancer awareness (akin to the pink ribbon). Blizzard reported that the charity sale raised over , the largest single-year donation that the Breast Cancer Research Foundation had seen.
On Overwatchs accompanying website, Blizzard published a fictional biography for Mercy, listing her real name, age, and base of operations: Angela Ziegler, 37, and Zürich, Switzerland, respectively. The fictional bio also describers her as "a peerless support, a brilliant scientist, and a staunch advocate for peace." In the Overwatch universe, she is known to have been affiliated with Overwatch, being their head of medical research, and operating as a field medic and first responder while with them. She ascended to these positions in Overwatch via becoming the head of a prominent Swiss hospital, after which she developed a breakthrough in the field of applied nanobiology, which attracted the attention of Overwatch. Although she disagreed with the militaristic methods implemented by Overwatch, she used their resources to develop her winged Valkyrie swift–response suit. Mercy found herself at odds with her superiors and others in Overwatch, despite her medical contributions.
Mercy is also mentioned in Genji's fictional biography, with one line stating, "Hanzo believed that he had killed his brother, but Genji was rescued by Overwatch and the intervention of Dr. Angela Ziegler."
In a fictional news report published by Blizzard, Mercy is quoted as commenting on the end of the Overwatch organization, describing the growing negative relationship between Soldier: 76 (Jack Morrison) and Reaper (Gabriel Reyes): "after Morrison's promotion to strike commander, his relationship with Reyes changed, the tension became more pronounced as time went on. I tried to mend things. We all did. Sometimes when the closest bonds break, all you can do is pray you stay out of the cross fire."