Mei (Overwatch)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhou.

Mei
Overwatch character
Mei and Snowball from Overwatch
First gameOverwatch (2016)
Created byJustin Thavirat[1]
Designed byArnold Tsang[2]
Ben Zhang (equipment)[2]
David Gibson (animation)[3]
Voiced byYu "Elise" Zhang[4]
In-universe information
ClassDamage
OriginXi'an, China
NationalityChinese

Dr. Mei-Ling Zhou, commonly simply referred to as Mei, is a character who first appears in the 2016 video game Overwatch, a Blizzard Entertainment–developed first-person shooter. Originally conceived as a Canadian bounty hunter named "Frostbite" who encased her targets in ice, she was changed due to the developers feeling a light tone was necessary for the character, and redesigned her as a cute, Chinese scientist. Voiced by Yu "Elise" Zhang, Mei is stationed in Antarctica as part of the efforts of "Overwatch", a global peace-keeping force, to monitor climate change. After being revived from cryopreservation, she helps the reformed group combat a global threat, utilizing a pistol that can either generate ice beams or generate ice constructs, accompanied by her sentient drone Snowball. Since her introduction, she has appeared in various spinoff media related to the franchise, including comics and merchandise, and later in another Blizzard developed title, Heroes of the Storm.

Mei as a character has been well received since release, particularly by Chinese audiences as well as by University of British Columbia professor Christopher B. Patterson, who considered her both a stereotype and subversion of how the Chinese are viewed globally. Her appearance as a full-figured woman has also received praise, cited as a point for female diversity in gaming. However criticism arose when the game's sequel seemingly slimmed her figure down. In 2019, due to the Blitzchung controversy involving Blizzard, Mei's image was used to express support for Hong Kong during protests occurring within the country, pushed as a "pro-democracy" symbol on social media platforms and displayed by protestors outside the BlizzCon 2019 event.

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