Overwatch was going to have a cat with a jetpack as a hero

As is common at the time of creating any game, there are ideas that are left aside for lack of money and resources, or because the final result is not satisfactory. Blizzard Entertainment is no exception, and this time revealed that, for a while, they thought that taking a cat to Overwatch was a good idea.

Known as Jetpack Cat, the character was an early concept of Overwatch, but was left out. Jeff Kaplan, director of the game, revealed the existence of the feline hero during an interview with GameSpot, noting that "it was too ridiculous to enter Overwatch."

This day, during BlizzCon 2017, Kaplan and the main character artist, Arnold Tsang, showed some of the first ideas they had for Overwatch and that were born when the Blizzard MMO, Titan, was canceled. Kaplan said that Jetpack Cat was created at that time, and although it was fun, they felt that the hero did not fit the universe they were building.

Blizzard had two ideas to materialize Jetpack Cat. The first was a caricatured version of a cat with a heroic touch. The other was a lazy feline who used an armchair as a jetpack.

It seems that Blizzard had an obsession with creating an animal hero, as the team planned a flying crocodile, a gargoyle, a robotic ape and more. However, the most terrifying is a child who drooled and had a burning head. What the hell.

Will these heroes come out of purgatory and come to Overwatch someday? According to Kaplan, no. "These could be ideas for another game, but not for Overwatch," he said.

Blizzard also planned to introduce a character known simply as Hockey Hero, which somehow helped Lúcio's creation. In the next image we can see an alien creature and an armored hero.

Finally, Kaplan mentioned that, during the first days of development, Blizzard thought of approximately 50 ideas to create characters. Some initial concepts managed to get to the end although with certain changes. For example, Frost was the first step to create Mei; Mercy was once called Angelica and Pharah had the name of Mercy; Torbjorn had the name Ironclad; and Genji was going to carry the name of his brother, Hanzo.

In BlizzCon 2017, Blizzard introduced Moira, the new Overwatch character. She is a scientist from Talon who will work as a support hero, as she will be able to heal her allies and cause damage to the enemy.