Overwatch's Next Hero Might Be A Robot Or An 11-Year-Old Girl

Meet Efi Oladele, an 11-year-old robotics prodigy, the most recent recipient of the Adawe Foundation's genius grant, and—if the fan community is correct—the key to Overwatch's next playable character.

An interview with Efi written by Atlas News—an in-continuity newspaper that previously published articles about Sombra, Overwatch's newest hero—appeared earlier today on the official Overwatch website. In the interview, Efi discusses her reaction to receiving the genius grant ("Much better than winning the science fair," she says) and describes her deep love of robotics and artificial intelligence.

"After my mom and dad got me my first robotics kit, I became obsessed with putting together little drones," Efi says. "When I started to get good at it, I tried to build robots to do my chores and help around the house. My parents think it's cheating... It's no fair!"

As far what Efi plans on doing with the grant money, she isn't saying, although her desire "to build something that can keep us safe" has many fans speculating that one of Efi's creations will take center stage as Overwatch's next hero. Polygon notes that pitting an 11-year-old against gun-wielding adults might be too macabre for Blizzard's colorful and light multiplayer shooter, and a robot sidekick would be an excellent way to feature Efi as a character without putting a child directly in Widowmaker's crosshairs.

Previously, Blizzard vice president Jeff Kaplan claimed that the next Overwatch character wouldn't be who fans think it is, implicitly shooting down rumors that the villainous Doomfist will be the game's 24th hero. Post-release, Blizzard has added two characters to Overwatch's ever-expanding roster: the hacker Sombra, and Ana, a sniper whose healing abilities can be used to keep her teammates alive—provided that you know what you're doing.