Canonical Facts About Jesse McCree
requested by @homestuckdumpingsite
MCCREE AT 17 COULD PASS FOR A GROWN MAN
This is a fact corroborated by Pharah in the same photo
She’s five years younger than Mercy or Mccree but looks to be a child in this picture where they are clearly older teens. So Pharah here would have been about 12 years old. McCree looks like an adult. He’s well built and tall and his shoulders are more similar to the much older members. An argument could be made for a 12-15 year old Pharah, but that still just means McCree would have looked grown even in his late teens. His Overwatch info lists him as 38 but his official release as 37, which means Gabe possibly falsified his age to get him into Blackwatch.
Also, I’ve seen a lot of boys who look like full grown men despite being in their mid to late teens, so it’s not a stretch that a young man like McCree who’s been fighting since childhood would have grown big enough to give that impression.
MCCREE KNOWS SPANISH
Ironically, despite Gabriel Reyes being of canonical Spanish descent, Mccree is more likely the spanish speaker, given his origins in Santa Fe New Mexico. He also speaks a few words of it in the Trainhopper comic,
and is seen drunk in a bar in Dorado.
Apart from the fact that NOT knowing Spanish in a gang in Santa Fe and a bar frequented by questionable people in Dorado would have likely killed him faster, his ties to Blackwatch probably allowed him to learn multiple languages. If not, Spanish would have been the most convenient for him to learn.
JOEL MORRICONE IS LIKELY HIS COVER NAME
This is more of a fan theory but it has several backing facts, such as the fact that McCree has a voice line: Don’t know what you heard, but my name’s not Joel. Best remember that. Joel was his placeholder name before the reveal of characters, Morricone is a name referencing Ennio Morricone, who composed for multiple Westerns (Westerns from whom Mccree’s whole Cowboy vibe was based on). Also his background says he went underground but recently resurfaced which either means he just laid low for many years or he had a cover identity to hide behind. Also him being present in Hanamura while Mccree saved a ramen shop is an interesting coincidence.
ANA AMARI WAS HIS TEACHER
Always was a good shot, but I got a few pointers from the best. That’d be your mother.
It’s an honor fighting by your side, ma'am.
HE EITHER GAVE GABE HIS GUNS OR KNOWS WHO DID
You weren’t given those guns to toss ‘em around like trash.
LIKE GABE, MCCREE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT HIS REPUTATION SO LONG AS HE SAVES PEOPLE. ALSO, HE HAS A CRIMINAL REPUTATION WHICH HAS STUCK WITH HIM FOR A LONG TIME.
This is shown especially in the Train Hopper comic.
HE’S MORE INTERESTED IN SAVING PEOPLE THAN IN GETTING INVOLVED WITH LARGER PLOTS
The fact that he dumps a suspicious payload off a cargo train instead of contacting anybody, and the fact that the in fighting in Overwatch made him leave instead of picking a side means that McCree has a heroic idealism which, with his past as a criminal, is something he values over bureaucracy or larger plots. Over his own reputation. His heroism is very pure in its form, very old Hollywood hero or vigilante in style.
For all his gunslinging heroism however, he’s got a very sedate personality, probably as a result of past pains that he’s learned to let go of in favor of helping those he can and living his life.
He’s got a good sense of humor and a charming wit (as seen in his voice lines), but isn’t particularly silly or goofy. He’s more like a Clint Eastwood Cowboy – irreverent and rough but ultimately cool and collected.
He’s never been rich or refined, as seen in his interactions with Hanzo and his line in the comic:
but that just means he’s humble and knows how to rough it and survive on basics and bare necessities.
And finally, a personal opinion based on canon:
McCree very likely chose to don the “silly Cowboy getup” because it was his more visual way of portraying his switch from criminal to hero–albeit a vigilante hero.
He may already have worn the hat because it’s common enough in New Mexico as a cultural thing, but the whole getup, serape, boots and all
Is meant to portray him as what he wants to be. A vigilante hero, rather than a criminal. A character that he portrays, but also his goal in life.
Which I think, for all that he talks like a grizzled older man, is a very optimistic way of him to act, to show just how much being a hero means to him.
