Overwatch lore can be tricky to follow at times. The way that pieces of canonical information are sporadically released out of chronological order can make it difficult to tell what is happening, when it’s happening, and in many cases, how old people like Pharah are, considering how they’ve been surrounded by Overwatch their entire lives.
As has been well-documented, the Overwatch organization that the game is named after is a bit of a family affair. With many of its original members being on the older side, like Ana, Reinhardt, and Torbjörn, younger heroes on the roster are often children of the OGs.
Pharah, whose real name is Fareeha Amari, may be one of the original heroes in the game, pre-dating Ana, but the elder sniper support hero (who was the first character added to the game post release) is actually Pharah’s mother.
Related: All LGBTQ+ characters in Overwatch 2
Meanwhile, Blizzard deepened Pharah’s canonical background ahead of Pride month this year by confirming fan speculation that she is a lesbian. Given how frequently she is associated with the support hero Mercy and how well they synergize strategically in the game, some fans have tried to suggest that the two might have a connection that goes further than just that of teammates in battle.
While there’s no hard evidence to suggest a romantic connection between the two, lines of dialogue that include Mercy calling Pharah her “knight in flying armor” have turned the heads of fans that think the two might be flirting. However, the ages of the two heroes when they met might make such speculation come across as a taboo topic.
How old is Pharah in Overwatch 2?
Pharah is 32 years old, according to a previous iteration of the official Overwatch website. While Blizzard no longer displays the ages of heroes on their character pages, Pharah’s age was originally listed as 32.
Related: Blizzard finally confirms 2 more LGBTQ+ Overwatch 2 heroes, celebrates Pride with free cosmetics
This means that Ana, her mother, gave birth to her when she was around 28 years old. The former second-in-command at Overwatch was listed as 60 years old when she was added to the game.
Meanwhile, Mercy was listed as being 37 years old, just a few years older than Pharah. While the five-year age gap certainly isn’t a deal-breaker for grown adults in their 30s, the suggestion that the two could be more than teammates gets a little inappropriate when you consider how old they were when they met.
An image of Pharah as a young girl included in Ana’s origin story video in 2016 confirmed that Pharah met Mercy when she was in her early teens, or even younger. For that reason, I find it difficult to believe that Blizzard would codify a Pharah and Mercy love arc in the game’s canon despite Pharah’s recently revealed sexuality.
