Junker Queen | |
---|---|
Real Name |
Odessa "Dez" Stone[1] |
Status |
Active |
Nationality |
![]() |
Occupation |
Gladiator Champion (formerly) Ruler of Junkertown |
Base |
Junkertown, Australia |
Affiliation |
Junkers |
Leah De Niese | |
Quotes |
Quotation page |
Role |
Tank |
Health |
425 |
Character Video
| |
The Junker Queen is an upcoming Tank hero in Overwatch 2.
Overview[]
The Junker Queen is designed to take part in close combat with enemy heroes. Many of her abilities apply wounds that cause enemies to slowly drain health. This life-steal passive adds to her survivability and aggression. Pushing the boundaries of brawling, Junker Queen can be considered a "berserker tank," whose survivability is directly connected to how many enemies she's wounding.[2]
Abilities[]



Wound: 15

Strategy[]
- While Junker Queens passive "Adrenaline Rush" does give her self healing capability, it cannot be expected to be as reliable as channeled abilities such as "Take a Breather", "Self Repair", or "Recall" for recovering lost health. It mainly functions to make Junker Queen last longer on the battlefield.
- Commanding shout is similar to Lucios Sound Barrier. While it can be used to save yourself, its best used as a way to save teammates from life threatening ultimates or used during a skirmish to increase chances of victory.
- Carnage has a relatively short range, it is best used against up close enemies such as Reindhardt or Doomfist, or it can be used to hit multiple grouped enemies at once, not only dealing wound damage, but healing Junker Queen for a significant amount.
Story[]
The Junker Queen (also known as "the Queen of Junkertown" or simply "the Queen")[3] is the cutthroat leader of the Junkers.[4] The Queen is fierce, resourceful, and no stranger to survival,[2] happy to run headfirst into battle. Possessing a magnetic gauntlet, the Queen often wields an axe and blade in conjunction, able to call them back using said gauntlet, in order to achieve her brutal ends.[2]
The Queen is based in Junkertown,[4] and has ruled over her subjects for the last decade. For the Queen, every city is her battlefield, every seat is her throne, and everyone on the planet is her subject—whether they know it or not[5]
All the Junkers have to be careful from getting on her bad side.[3] She has a group of enforcers that she sends round to the people of Junkertown when they don't pay their taxes, among other tasks.[6]
Background[]
The Queen was originally a fighter and champion[7] in the Scrapyard. A charismatic and skilled fighter, she became the town's ruler as a result of her prowess as a mech combatant.[8]
The Queen's Rule[]
“ | Listen up you wretched scum. I see your struggles. Trying to survive in the wasteland. It's time to face the facts. The end of the world's come and gone. Your past lives are a dream. It's time you woke up. They thought they could take our land and give it to the machines? They were wrong. We won the war. And now we reap the spoils. We built a new world from the ashes. So step into the Scrapyard. No rules. No mercy. Only the strong survive. This is your queen. Welcome to the apocalypse. Welcome to Junkertown. | „ |
~ The Queen |

Odessa Stone, now the Junker Queen
In the decade that followed her battle against Mason Howl, few dared to challenge the Junker Queen, and none succeeded.[9]
One of the town's Junkers named Junkrat blabbed on and on about a 'treasure' he had found in the ruins of the Australian omnium. She came to suspect that his claims might have some truth in them, and she sent some of her enforcers to wring the truth out of him. Unfortunately, the enforcers were incapacitated by another Junker named Roadhog, who became Junkrat's partner in crime.[6] The two went on to cause the Queen a string of problems, including stealing her gold and blowing up her summer shack. The pair were exiled as a result[10] and she gave orders for them to not be re-admitted to Junkertown, and if they were seen again, to shoot them on sight.[11] After a worldwide heist spree, they returned to Junkertown to assassinate her but were stopped at the town gates.[10]
Trivia[]

Junker Queen poster
- Similar to HAL-Fred Glitchbot on the Hollywood map, the Queen used to have in-game voice lines on certain triggers throughout Junkertown.
- The Queen's voice was missing in the patch prior to the reveal of Wrecking Ball, leading to speculation of her being the next hero. This was later confirmed to be a bug by Michael Chu.[12]
- In the Wrecking Ball Story trailer, it is revealed that she has blue hair.
- The Queen's knife is called "Gracie."[2]
Development[]
As of April 2019, Arnold Tsang had produced several pieces of concept art for the Junker Queen, and according to Jeff Kaplan, the team had "big plans" for her, though the plans were on more of a long-term timeframe.[13] The Junkertown map showcased her tough, almost brutal, personality, and the developers wanted her abilities and playstyle to match that energy. When designing the Queen, her playstyle and kit were derived from her pre-existing lore. She was designed specifically for Overwatch 2's 5v5 nature.[2]
The Carnage ability was the starting point of the Queen's design, as she had always been depicted with an axe prior. Remembering the issues they'd had with Genji, the axe was made an ability rather than her primary attack. The original iteration of Carnage let her throw her axe following the initial swing before recalling it back to herself with her magnetic gauntlet; however, when implemented, the practice of throwing her axe felt wrong. It led to a rigid playstyle that didn’t allow for the use of other axe-based abilities while her weapon was out-of-hand, so the throw was swapped to a slash with a wound effect. The concept of throwing and recalling her weapon eventually led to her next ability: Jagged Blade.[2]
Jagged Blade was inspired by one of Reinhardt's old abilities, where he could throw his hammer at the enemy. Despite not making it into Reinhardt’s final kit, this prototype ability heavily inspired Jagged Blade. Whereas Reinhardt had to go and pick up his hammer, the Queen is able to recall the blade back to her via her magnetic gauntlet. Care was taken to ensure that the gauntlet didn't make the Queen feel too "mage-y" or similar to Sigma, who can levitate people and objects. Instead, the gauntlet was designed in a way that the Queen uses her magnetic powers to control her axe and knife.[2]
The Commanding Shout ability was implemented to enhance the Queen's "tankiness." This was the first team movement speed buff in the game since Lúcio. The ability was intentionally designed as such, rather than something like a dash or teleport, as it helped reinforce her nature as someone who sprints headfirst into battle.[2]
Initially, her Ultimate was a spinning whirlwind-type ability. However, the developers wanted to incorporate her gauntlet into her Ultimate. They didn't want to the Ultimate to feel elegant or magic-influenced, either, because it didn’t align well conceptually with character, so they tried to push her magnetic gauntlet to its limits.[2]
On June 12, 2022 it was revealed that she would be a playable hero in Overwatch 2.[14]
References[]
- ↑ The Wastelander
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2022-06-21, A DESIGN FIT FOR ROYALTY: AN INSIDE LOOK AT HER MAJESTY, THE JUNKER QUEEN. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2022-07-03
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 2017-09-12, New Map Preview: Junkertown | Overwatch. YouTube, accessed on 2017-09-15
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 2017-08-21, Junkertown | New Escort Map | Overwatch. YouTube, accessed on 2017-08-22
- ↑ 2022-06-17, Promotional Email: Reload and Recap the Overwatch 2 Reveal Event, Name!. Blizzard Entertainment, sent on 2022-06-17
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Junkertown: Wasted Land
- ↑ A Charismatic, former Gladiatorial Mech Champion: The Queen. Twitch, accessed on 2018-06-23
- ↑ 2017-09-12, New Map Preview: Junkertown | Overwatch. YouTube, accessed on 2017-09-15
- ↑ 2022-07-15, "You're in! Welcome to the Overwatch 2 Beta" (email). Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2022-07-16
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 2017-08-21, "Junkertown: The Plan" | Overwatch. YouTube, accessed on 2017-08-25
- ↑ 2017-09-01, Overwatch Fans Are Losing It Over A Character Who Has Barely Appeared. Kotaku, accessed on 2017-09-01
- ↑ 2018-06-23 Junkertown queen's voice has been removed from Junkertown Blizzard Forums accessed on 2018-07-02
- ↑ 2019-04-17 Fareeha - Live at Blizzard HQ! EVENT HYPE
- ↑ 2022-06-12 "Release Date Reveal" | Overwatch 2 Youtube accessed on 2022-06-12
Heroes in Overwatch
| |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() D.Va |
![]() Doomfist |
![]() Junker Queen |
![]() Orisa |
![]() Reinhardt |
![]() Roadhog |
![]() Sigma |
![]() Winston |
![]() Wrecking Ball | |
![]() Zarya | |||||||||
![]() Ashe |
![]() Bastion |
![]() Cassidy |
![]() Echo |
![]() Genji |
![]() Hanzo |
![]() Junkrat |
![]() Mei | ||
![]() Pharah |
![]() Reaper |
![]() Soldier: 76 |
![]() Sojourn |
![]() Sombra |
![]() Symmetra |
![]() Torbjörn |
![]() Tracer |
![]() Widowmaker | |
![]() Ana |
![]() Baptiste |
![]() Brigitte |
![]() Lúcio |
![]() Mercy |
![]() Moira |
![]() Zenyatta |