Mei-Ling Zhou
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Mei-Ling Zhou, Mei |
| Occupation: | Scientist |
| Relationships: | |
| Fandom: | Overwatch |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Mei-Ling Zhou, usually known as Mei is a playable character from Overwatch, a first-person shooter game by Blizzard Entertainment.
Canon
Mei is a climatologist who was stationed at Antarctica to monitor the weather. A storm struck, however, and in a last-ditch effort to survive Mei and her fellow scientists went into cryostasis.[1] Mei was the only one to survive and now travels the world in an attempt to protect the environment and re-establish an eco-network across the globe. The cryostasis is also how she gained her in-game ice related abilities.
Fandom
Mei is popular in fanworks although, since she is not directly a part of Overwatch, she does not get as much attention as other main characters incluing Lena Oxton and Jack Morrison. This is reflected on fanwork websites such as Archive Of Our Own; Mei has 959 fanworks on AO3 as of 14/06/2017, whereas Lena Oxton has 2847 as of 14/06/2017.[2][3]
An interesting aspect of the fandom surrounding Mei is that she is oftened considered evil or satan. This is a strong contrast to her canon presentation - which is friendly and happy. This is because her in-game playstyle involves forcing other players to watch helplessly as they are slowly frozen and killed by Mei, in a process which many see as evil.[4]
Tropes within fanworks include:
- Mei being satanic, evil, or having a dark side
- Puns to do with temperature, winter or the cold
- The phrase 'a-mei-zing!' is very popular
Shipping
The juggernaut ship including Mei is Zarya/Mei. A possibility for why this ship is popular is because both come from cold environments (Zarya is Russian). Another popular ship is Junkrat/Mei. Fans of this ship are attracted by the contrast of the characters theme, and their close canon ages are likely a factor.
Example Fanworks
[Examples illustrating common tropes; gen works; pairings other than those with their own articles]
- Mei Alone: Ecopoint Belarus by Brokenhorn
- To Come True by SenkoWakimarin
- Big V, little v by Band_aid
- Mei-Ling Zhou Overwatch by Shakav088
Communities and Archives
- Mei-Ling Zhou works on Archive Of Our Own