An Unnecessarily In-Depth Look into Moira O’Deorain
Under the cut is a long-winded examination into Moira and how I presume she became the cunning, sly mad scientist we know today. I wrote it out during quarantine because why not. This has been peer-reviewed and modified via an Overwatch/art Discord server. Please refer to the bottom of the post for my evidence/citations.
Let’s start with her twisted state of mind (the reason most of us love her, let’s be real). I believe Angela’s best interest in the safety of living creatures was a main contributing factor. It makes sense to me to think Angela reported her research to the higher ups out of fear of Moira "partaking in unethical procedures on living creatures", especially considering Moira’s published paper that was all on modifying genetics. Angela got painted as the good guy angel for exposing that, when Moira was only using time-tested experiments on rabbits, not like she was testing on humans. Yes, Angela was probably actually scared that Moira was being cruel and enjoying it too much (which she might have been, we don’t know) and was worried it might escalate. I don’t think Angela had any idea it would blow up that badly and ruin Moira’s entire career.
Whether or not Moira has always had a mad scientist inside of her is debatable, seeing as she presumably did graduate from a university at some point to be a renowned geneticist. Universities typically do not like or condone insane experiments and such antics, though in order to publish such a terrifying and controversial paper takes some kind of mental instability. Taking that into account, this means that either Moira is a better actor than we thought and had everyone fooled, or Angela and Overwatch just broke her completely. We won’t know unless Blizzard gives us more backstory. (Please give us some kind of lore, I am begging.)
Now, next we analyze the timeline we have (at the moment, Blizzard likes retconning). With Retribution, the comics, her release trailer shown at Blizzcon, and her origin story, I believe this paints a pretty tidy picture.
Here is my take on Moira’s descent into the manipulative witch she became.
Moira and Angela worked together somewhere, probably Overwatch based on Moira’s lab coat skin.
Moira publishes a paper about genetic and neurological reconditioning, dealing with cells. Her results are irreplicable and sketchy, damaging her reputation. Overwatch kept her working on smaller projects.
Moira either didn’t like or didn’t trust the biotech and opted for experimentation on rabbits, seen as unethical and cruel by the scientific community.
Angela reported her to the higher ups, most likely out of fear of things escalating because of her paper. Overwatch fires her.
At this last hit to her reputation, Moira’s lab is completely defunded and shut down, and she loses her right to practice science. At some point in this period, Angela stole some notes from Moira, which are found in Switzerland.
She continues to live in the abandoned lab and experiments on herself out of the public eye, causing the scarring on her right arm. This is likely due to not being able to afford new lab rabbits. Meanwhile, around this time, Blackwatch is created.
Moira joins Blackwatch as their medic without Overwatch’s high officials’ knowledge and begins testing on Gabe. Angela does not interact/interacts very little with Moira at this time that we know of.
Moira joins Talon behind the scenes, probably because of the unlimited funding and shared gray morals (sacrificing lives for humanity’s progression, for example).
Amelie is kidnapped by Talon. Part way through her neural reconditioning Overwatch saves her, though she kills Gerard and goes back. Let me point out that Moira is, as far as we know, the only geneticist capable of making such heavy modifications to someone’s DNA/body.
Gabe acts insanely out of character by killing Antonio, to which Moira appears very satisfied with a smug smirk and neat posture.
Overwatch falls apart because of it, likely part of Talon’s plan that Moira played a large part in.
Gabe joins Talon with Moira and Widowmaker, while Moira joins the higher ranking scientific officials in Oasis as Minister of Genetics.
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Now for the tidbits of information that backs up my theory and provides evidence. To start, a lot of the information I’ve gathered comes from the official Gamepedia, the Blizzcon 2017 transcript, and her page on the website. Here are the rest, including hyperlinks. Hyperlinks are in italics.
Her origin story:
She worked for Overwatch, but someone eventually "silenced" her. She states they were holding back her research due to ethics.
She leaves her lab in her lab coat, which she is seen in when Blackwatch comes to get her, meaning she’s more than likely still at the abandoned lab.
She experiments on Gabe, which the artist of the video admits he’s terrified of.
Retribution event:
Her ease with the execution, and the fact she smirks and just seems so... satisfied with his performance shows to me that she was expecting this behavior. (Just according to keikaku...)
She seems mostly unphased for the rest of the escape sequence.
Voice lines:
She and Amelie have an interaction where she asks, “How are you feeling, Lacroix?” Amelie very sharply responds, "I don’t feel. That’s the point, isn’t it?". Amelie phrasing the last part as a question proves Moira knows what happened to her, Moira being the one most likely to have done the work.
Angela and Moira’s first interaction ("Describing your work as unethical would be a kindness." "But the true question is whether or not you can deny my discoveries? no, I didn’t think so.") hints that they worked together sometime, to the point Angela knew how Moira’s experiments worked.
Moira also mocks Angela when she kills her, saying "Our guardian angel~" in a dry, sarcastic tone, hinting that Angela harmed her in the past and Moira found it satisfying to get back.
Comics:
In Legacy, Ana and Jack are seen pursuing Talon agents in Overwatch uniforms. Ana gets shot by Widowmaker, who was already converted. This means Amelie was taken while Overwatch was still together, therefore before the Venice Incident. Seeing as Moira was the one operating on Amelie based on common sense, she had been working for Talon behind Blackwatch’s back.
In Retribution, an explosion goes off that kills hundreds and severely injures Gerard. Jack seems uneasy with Gabe’s response to the incident, asking him to rethink if hunting Antonio down will help in the long run. At the end of the comic Gabe is portrayed with shadows like Reaper’s owl skull mask, hinting that Moira’s experiments had messed with his head a tad.
Other sources:
Angela and Moira both have each others' work in their labs in the Switzerland and Oasis maps, respectively, as well as confirmation from Michael Chu that they have a deep background history with each other. (See Participant #3 in this hyperlink)
Moira named her test rabbit from her origin story "Better Angela" out of spite; Angela had to have done SOMETHING to deserve that.
Moira replicated the Valkyrie suit to a degree, meaning either they worked together or Moira stole it and adapted it for her biotech needs. (Also see Participant #3 in this hyperlink.)
Angela and Moira both have sprays that clearly show they were once friends (or at least colleagues), namely the ones in front of the Overwatch logo and “Shadow” and “Light”.
Moira wears a headpiece like devil horns, most definitely to spite Angela’s halo.
I am more than happy to hear any feedback or additions to this whole thing, and if you’ve made it all the way through I appreciate it greatly. I know it’s long-winded and I could’ve made it much shorter, but I wanted to cover all the bases I could.
Thank you.
