WARNING: LONG POST!

For a fanfiction I’m currently working on, I’m developing a theory on a certain subject currently shrouded in mystery in the Overwatch lore: What the living fuck did Hanzo do to Genji to warrant cybernization, and how did Mercy save his life?

For this post I will be using pictures as references. Sorry for the mediocre image quality!! Here’s a link to the original quality images: https://imgur.com/gallery/7DCJ5

So to kick things off, I simply downloaded a picture of Genji’s Blackwatch skin.

Why the Blackwatch skin specifically?

A lot of my story involves Genji’s time with Blackwatch.

It shows which parts of Genji’s body are cybernetic and which are still organic more clearly than his classic skin.



Next I recorded my initial thoughts looking at this skin. I was mainly looking for how Genji’s body appeared to be operating and what Hanzo might have done to cause it.

I quickly realized, however, that in order to go further I needed to consult a basic diagram of a human male’s internal organs. (Funny enough cause I got a C in bio, lol :P)

I did a side by side comparison and sketched a rough outline of Genji’s internal organs – as they would be in his organic body, that is.

As you can see, most of Genji’s vital organs are covered by cybernetics. Since there are tubes clearly pumping something to the inside of the cybernetic armor, it can be concluded that he does indeed have cybernetic parts underneath it. Which draws me to this conclusion: Genji’s left arm and face were the only organic body parts to survive. Well, at least the only organic body parts to survive enough to remain functional without cybernetic implants.

So, what was the damage to Genji’s vital organs?



In case you can’t read the key I used on the left:

Gold is moderately damaged.



Shit brown is extremely damaged but still salvable.



Burnt brown is damaged beyond repair and needs a replacement.



(THESE ARE ALL BY MERCY STANDARDS, BTW… which means damaged beyond repair is literally unrecognizable as organs)

This is all speculation, but judging by where the aforementioned tubes in the middle of Genji’s cybernetics lead and where the cybernetic armor is in general, I think it can be safe to say the majority of his vital organs were damaged beyond repair. The reason some of his organs are only severely damaged instead of damaged beyond repair (since y’know all of them are technically covered by the cybernetic armor save for most of his left lung) is because they lie closer to the left arm – or the one part of Genji’s organic body that was spared. This includes the heart (NOT THE AORTA though, so technically not his entire heart), the lower part of his left lung, and his left kidney.

Now, keep in mind that the violent confrontation between Hanzo and Genji was pretty clearly a swordfight; the slash in the tapestry at Hanamura, the scars on what remains of Genji’s organic body, and their mutual talents in swordplay are evidence enough of this. But how did a sword inflict such devastating damage to Genji’s internal organs? And on top of that, how can there be such a huge difference in the amount of damage between Genji’s left arm and the rest of his body?

The answer is simple: the dragons.

Think about what Hanzo’s dragons do in game. They’re a huge wall of “oh shit avoid this” that’s relatively easy to dodge if you aren’t caught off guard. They’re unleashed via his weapon; he fires an arrow, they appear. But keep in mind: the bow was not originally Hanzo’s weapon of choice. Of all the skills listed on Hanzo’s official bio, swordplay is the only one we haven’t seen him use. He presumably abandoned the sword because it was what he used to kill Genji. But a weapon is a weapon is a weapon, and more likely than not Hanzo’s unleashed the dragons with his katana in the past.

Think about Genji’s dragonblade. If you’re caught in that ult without a way to escape, you’re more or less fucked. On a squishy like Genji, two blows and you’re dead. Strike after strike after strike. Each one doing horrific damage. And Genji only has 1 dragon. Hanzo has 2.

Imagine Genji’s dragonblade with double the pain, double the damage, and double the devastation – both physically and emotionally. That was what Hanzo did to Genji, in the broadest of terms. He unleashed his own dragonblade onto his brother. In game-mechanical terms, that would bring the damage from just a single strike – originally 120 – to 240. Genji has only 200 health. It could only lead to disaster for him.

To make things even more complicated for Mercy, I believe that when the Shimada dragons “consume their enemies,” they literally burn them from the inside out. (Because seriously, consider the idea that the dragons burn a person from the inside out. It sounds fucking badass.) Hanzo’s dragons roasted Genji’s vital organs. He is left with horrific burns on the inside of his body – both 3rd and 4th degree – and to top it all off, Hanzo slits his brother’s throat. (Thus the destroyed larynx/vocal chords.)

With this theory in mind, it’s easy to understand why Mercy would be overwhelmed. She’s never seen injuries like this before, let alone the damage. She doesn’t know what caused them. She doesn’t know who caused them when she first rescued Genji. She doesn’t even know what would have the capability of doing such damage – and leave the target still alive, no less. But she does know one thing: she has to try to save him.

Listed in dark purple are Dr. Ziegler’s medical solutions for the damaged organs. (This does not, of course, include the enhancements made for the sake of making Genji a living weapon.) Most are synthetic replacements, but the organs not damaged beyond repair were treated with bionic healing. Mercy did not want to replace anything unless there was absolutely no chance of salvaging it.

Which brings me to the specifics of Genji’s cybernization.

I haven’t been talking about the back of his body as much because I haven’t completed a thorough analysis of it, but here is the work I’ve done thus far:

My writing is kind of small, so I’ll elaborate.

There are two types of cybernetic enhancements in Genji’s body: those needed to keep him alive, and those that make him more of a living weapon.

At the base of it all is a power module: the big glowing circle on his right shoulder. It powers all of Genji’s cybernetic body. Power tubes carry the power from the module to all of his cybernetic parts – both organs and limbs.

Genji’s synthetic major organs:

Right lung



Aorta (part of the heart)



Stomach



Liver



Intestines



Vocal cords and/or larynx



Genji’s cybernetic limbs:

Right arm



Both legs



Both feet



Synthetic muscles on his right arm and back



Other miscellaneous cybernetic enhancements include Genji’s cybernetic spine – which holds his stitched-together body up – and his biotic lenses – which enhance his vision to a near superhuman level. Obviously he also has shriukens built into his right hand that he can fire and reload at will.

And keep in mind: this was only the first prototype. I haven’t even started on the specifics of Classic Genji’s cybernization. Actually, in comparison to Genji’s current cybernetic body, Genji’s Blackwatch cybernetic body was very clunky and primitive. But that’s a topic for another post.

I think I kind of rambled, so I hope someone was able to follow this! XD If anyone has any questions, comments, or suggestions, I’m all ears :)