There are many rumors about Efi Oladele in Overwatch. Will she be the new hero? Or is Blizzard planning something completely different?
Blizzard has gotten Overwatch fans excited about a new hero who is slowly appearing on the horizon. In a fictional interview, the developers introduced Efi Oladele, an eleven-year-old girl from Numbani. She is a genius in robotics and has already secured a scholarship at a young age – a glorious future indeed. But who is Efi Oladele? Will she be the next hero in the game?
Efi Oladele – Once a child, now an adult?
A popular theory in the hours following the release of the interview was that Efi had made these statements in the past. Players came to this conclusion because the article’s publication date was “today” and not in the future where Overwatch takes place.
This means that the interview would have taken place years ago, and Efi would no longer be eleven years old, but long since an adult. However, this theory was quickly debunked by Michael Chu, the Lead Writer of Overwatch. He explained on Twitter:
“The date only corresponds to the date of our release in the ‘real world’. The interview takes place at the current time in the Overwatch timeline.”
Consequently, Efi is definitely still a child, even if one or two years are added in “Overwatch time” since the first cinematics.
“Efi” as a hero? Unlikely!
It seems rather unlikely that Efi could be a playable hero herself. She is still a child, and although not everything in the Overwatch world is wrapped in cotton, it would still be surprising. Blizzard is hardly going to allow players to shoot at a child.
However, there could certainly be several conceivable “workarounds” to avoid this problem. Efi could, due to her talent for robotics, receive her own battle suit to enter the fray like D.Va in metallic armor.
In general, it seems more likely that one of Efi’s inventions will hit the battlefield and not Efi herself.
Efi is an inventor with a sharp mind and a strong desire to create useful robots that can take over your work and “one day protect humans”. What would be more likely than a robot, possibly even with highly developed artificial intelligence? In the interview, Efi has “a plan” for what she wants to do with the scholarship money – what could that be if not a new invention that could then be playable as a “hero”?
From the number of current heroes, the next one should be a tank – Efi would therefore build a protective robot. That would also fit well with her desire to protect humans.
Is the interview just the setup for a plane crash?
Some people also suspect that the interview is just meant to introduce Efi’s dramatic story. After all, she mentions that she is planning a flight with her parents soon – her first flight. This way, Blizzard is laying the groundwork for a sad “the plane crashes and the parents die” story. The culprit could be the Talon organization.
Perhaps Efi herself will die, and one of her parents will seek revenge or want to keep her good plans alive. The possibilities are numerous.
Does the artwork reveal more than intended?
One last important clue is that someone has gone to the trouble of creating artwork of Efi Oladele – Blizzard usually only does this when the character still finds ‘use’ somewhere. And when you take a closer look at the displayed image of her, it becomes clear that she has her right arm bent as if she is supporting herself somewhere. What is she supporting herself on in her artwork? Surely on her invention! It’s conceivable that it’s a remote-controlled robot that she controls from a safe distance. Additionally, the yellow “cable” is rather suspicious…
Hopefully, we won’t have to wait long for an answer – since Blizzard has learned from the Sombra debacle, new information should follow in a few weeks.
You can find out more about Efi Oladele and her interview here.
