Genji - Overwatch Guide - IGN (2024)

Genji the cyborg is a powerful melee Character, with a wide array of abilities that allow for easily mobility, long range precision attacks, and the deflection of enemy projectiles. You can learn more about him, his role, abilities and the best ways to play as him, and ways to fight against him.

Role

Genji is an Offense hero who specializes in melee combat. Although his primary attack is a ranged Shuriken toss, his other skills focus on melee combat attacks. He specializes in speed and damage, but lacks defense and health making him extremely weak if caught out of position.

Genji is a character that should be sneaking around the edges of the map and slashing at the people he finds wandering around by themselves. His ultimate allows him to jump into fights more recklessly, but even then caution should be used as he doesn't have much health to draw upon.

Bio

Abilities

Genji Tips

How to Play As Genji

• Genji is best played as a fast hitting, mobile damage dealer. Get in, dish out some attacks then get out.
• His shurikens have perfect accuracy so use them to snipe far off targets.
• Deflect everything! It's one of the most powerful skills in the game, and will kill Bastion and other high damage characters in a heartbeat.
• His Ultimate allows him to dash around, dealing massive melee damage. This is best used when the enemy are distracted, as well placed shots can still ruin your day.
• One of his biggest strengths is his mobility. He has a high move speed, and can run up walls and even double jump! Use this to traverse maps quickly and in ways people might not expect.
• At close range, Genji's alternate fire, which throws the shurikens horizontally, does more damage than his standard fire. This is because it can be fired faster, and all three shurikens hit the person directly before you.

How to Counter Genji

• Mei is a direct counter, as she will lock him in place. Not so tough when you can't run away!
• His deflect only works on direct projectiles, so explosions from the likes of Pharah or Junkrat will still hurt him.
• Roadhog and Reinhardt are strong counters, due to their high health, and their abilities that allow them to pull Genji in or push him back, respectively.

Skins

Below are all the skins that can be purchased/unlocked for Genji.

Story

The cyborg Genji Shimada has made peace with the augmented body he once rejected, and in doing so, he has discovered a higher humanity.

To learn more about others, head over to our Characters page!

As the youngest son of the master of the Shimada ninja clan, Genji lived a life of luxury and privilege. He had little interest in the family's illegal businesses, and although he excelled at and enjoyed his ninja training, he spent most of his time pursuing a playboy lifestyle. Many within the clan considered the carefree Genji to be a dangerous liability, and they resented his father for coddling and protecting him. Following the clan leader's untimely death, Genji's older brother, Hanzo, demanded that Genji take a more active role in their late father's empire. Genji refused, enraging Hanzo. The tension between the brothers built to a violent confrontation that left Genji on the verge of dying.

Hanzo believed that he had killed his brother, but Genji was rescued by Overwatch and the intervention of Dr. Angela Ziegler. The global security force saw Genji as a potential asset in its ongoing operations to combat the Shimada clan. As Genji's injuries left him clinging to life, Overwatch offered to rebuild his body in exchange for his help. He was put through an extensive process of cyberization, which enhanced his natural speed and agility and augmented his superlative ninja skills. Transformed into a living weapon, Genji single-mindedly set about the task of dismantling his family's criminal empire.

But as time passed, Genji felt increasingly at war with himself. He was repulsed by the mechanical parts of his body and could not come to grips with what he had become. When his mission was complete, he abandoned Overwatch and wandered the world in search of meaning. He drifted for many years before crossing paths with the omnic monk Zenyatta. Though Genji initially rejected Zenyatta's wisdom, the benevolent omnic would not be deterred. In time, Zenyatta became his mentor, and under the monk's tutelage, Genji reconciled his dual existence as both man and machine. He learned to accept that: although he had a cyborg body, his human soul was intact, and he came to see his new form as a gift and a unique strength.

Now, for the first time in his life, Genji is free. Even he cannot say where his path will ultimately lead.

[Via playoverwatch.com]