User:Amaranth Sparrow/Sombra1before

Sombra is a character within the world of Overwatch, and the subject of an ongoing ARG.

Story
"She who has the information, has the power..."

Sombra is an unidentified individual operating out of Dorado whose skills include computer hacking and cryptography. She is a known associate of Reaper, and possible Talon operative, specializing in espionage and intelligence assessment. It seems that she may have infiltrated LumériCo's security systems, and the company has gathered information on her as well as Soldier: 76.

Pre-release promotion
Sombra's existence has been hinted at since early pre-beta builds of the game via easter eggs, in-game clues, and developer comments. Following the release of Ana as the 22nd Overwatch hero, a series of cryptographic puzzles have slowly been unveiled as part of an ongoing ARG. More in-depth information on the ARG can be found on the Game Detectives wiki.

In-universe hints

 * The name Sombra first appeared during Ellohime's pre-beta stream of Overwatch. While exploring Dorado, Ellohime discovered a table in the LumériCo power plant's control room with three classified manila file folders labeled "SOMBRA [CLASIFICADO]," "SOLDADO: 76 [CLASIFICADO]," and "JACK MORRISON [CLASIFICADO]," along with photographs of Morrison before and after becoming Soldier: 76.


 * Some newspapers on the ground in Dorado have an article featuring a silhouette in a hooded cloak, with the headline "¿Quién es 'Sombra'?" ("Who is 'Sombra'?").


 * Many terminals can been seen in the LumériCo power plant on Dorado. Some of the terminals that display "Niveles de Sincronización del Núcleo" ("Core Synchronization Levels") have blinking error messages which read, "ACCESSO NO AUTORIZADO: Protocolo Sombra" ("UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS: Sombra Protocol").


 * Reaper sometimes says, "Where's Sombra when you need her?" when he spawns on Dorado.


 * In the comic Ana: Old Soldiers, while attempting to infiltrate Hakim's compound in Egypt, Soldier: 76 overhears radio chatter between Reaper and Hakim coming from the earpiece of a fallen guard. The two briefly discuss intel regarding an incident involving Helix Security International. Reaper threatens that Sombra better be able to make use of it.

Alternate reality game

 * In the Origin Story reveal trailer for Ana, two encoded messages briefly flash on the screen at 1:16 and 2:11.   When converted from hexidecimal and passed through a XOR cipher using the key constant "23," the decrypted text reads: "sombra... la que tiene la información; tiene el poder..." (lit. "sombra... she who has the information, has the power...").


 * At the end of the Developer Update video for Ana, a beep is heard and and four images flash across the screen. The first, second, and fourth are test cards, while the third was decoded into a QR code which, after scanning, reads: "Estuvo eso facilito? Ahora que tengo su atencion, dejenme se las pongo mas difici." ("Was that easy? Well, now that I have your attention — allow me to make things much more difficult.")


 * In the Summer Games 2016 video, two hidden messages were discovered. The first, located in the energy trail of Tracer's chronal accelerator, is an encrypted and salted message which has yet to be deciphered. The second is a series of directions hidden in the background of various shots which formed a compass; when asked about the compass in the August 3, 2016 Developer QA livestream with Fairlight_Excalibur, the developers said it was "over their heads," leading to the discovery of an encoded, circular image on Dorado's skybox.

Developer Comments

 * Eurogamer questioned Jeff Kaplan about whether it was strange that fans had theorized that Sombra would be featured in Hero. Jeff replied, "No, it was not strange. We have put a lot of hints, all over the game and out of the game, so I would say it's about time that people are concerned with who Sombra is. I hope they keep researching more and find more hints that are out there."


 * When asked about Sombra in an interview with Kotaku, Jeff Kaplan said, "I think people have learned that she’s a fun character for them to search and to learn more about and that, like the X-Files, the truth is out there. We’ll see what players discover over time. [...] I think that’s up to Sombra, to give you a cheeky answer. Sombra will let people know when she wants more to be known about her. She’s very good at that sort of thing."


 * As of June 6th, 2016, there were still undiscovered hints about Sombra, according to Jeff Kaplan.


 * On August 3rd, 2016, Fairlight_Excalibur asked the developers he was interviewing if all of the clues regarding Sombra that had been "scattered around" had been located, if not solved. Jeff Kaplan replied, "I gotta be honest with this one, this stuff is so far over my head, that I just don't understand. It's very top secret covert ops, even on the team, so most people don't even know." After Fairlight said he felt lied to and that Jeff does know, Kaplan replied, "It's a mystery."

Trivia

 * "Sombra" is a Spanish and Portuguese word meaning "shadow."


 * Due to "23" being the key used to decipher the code in Ana's Origin Story video, it is likely that Sombra will be the game's 23rd hero.


 * Sombra has been the subject of considerable speculation since her name was first unveiled. Prior to the reveal of Ana as the 22nd playable hero in Overwatch, a photograph of Ana wearing her Shrike mask found on Temple of Anubis was incorrectly identified as Sombra, leading to a widespread assumption that the two characters were one and the same, and that Sombra was the rumored in-development support sniper character.


 * Datamined character dialogue extracted from the Version 1.1.0.2.30270 Public Test Region game client suggests the possible future inclusion of hiding and detection mechanics.