Torbjörn Lindholm
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Torbjörn Lindholm |
| Occupation: | Engineer |
| Relationships: | Reinhardt Wilhelm - Co-worker, Angela Ziegler - Co-worker, Lena Oxton - Co-worker, Bastion - guardian |
| Fandom: | Overwatch |
| Other: | |
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Torbjörn Lindholm is a playable character from Overwatch, a first-person shooter game by Blizzard Entertainment.
Canon
Torbjörn is a past agent of Overwatch. He is an engineer, specialising in robotics. He was known for building weapons systems before the Omnic Crisis, which he regrets.[1]
Torbjörn is very short, and may have dwarfism. This could be a reference to the Dwarf race in Blizzard's MMORPG World of Warcraft.[2]
Dwarfism Controversies
It is not canonly known whether or not Torbjörn has dwarfism. This has resulted in some discussion in fandom about whether he's just really short, or actually has a genetic condition. In turn, this has led to arguments where people have been insensitive - like a reddit thread that describes him as a 'weird human'.[3] As well as this, a lot of fans tend to call Torbjörn disgusting, nasty, or a gremlin.[4] This is usually because it is very easy to win when playing as him - especially on console where it is difficult to aim - but some fans argue that this can be ableist when it is an attack on his appearance.
Torbjörn wins by doing absolutely nothing
A popular joke in the Overwatch fandom is getting play of the game (a highlight at the end of every match) when playing Torbjörn by doing nothing. Since Torbjörn's main utility is being able to create an automatically firing turret, it is possible to get play of the game while away from keyboard, sitting, dead, or hammering uselessly at a wall. Examples of this include:
- Torbjörn wins by doing absolutely nothing by Gabriel Restrepo
- Torbjorn wins by doing nothing by Chris Ragnacci
- Overwatch - The Cult of Torbjorn by Muselk
The meme of '______ wins by doing absolutely nothing' was coined by youtube videos about Luigi winning in Mario Party mini-games by doing nothing. The term is extremely popular when referring to Torbjörn POTG's.
Fanon
Torbjörn is often portrayed as a fatherly figure to Angela Ziegler and the Omnics of Overwatch. Fanworks also tend to exaggerate his love of machines and robots, or focus on his pirate alternate skins.[5]
He is not a popular character to star in fanworks.
Shipping
Torbjörn is a very unpopular character to ship. In canon he has a wife and many children, but they are firmly background characters and there is little to no fanart focusing on them. The main ship is Torbjörn/Reinhardt, which stems from canon interactions and voice lines. There is also a crack ship of Torbjörn/Bastion, which comes from Torbjörn's almost concerning love of machines. (when his turret is destroyed, he yells 'my baby!')
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
[Examples illustrating common tropes; gen works; pairings other than those with their own articles]
Fanart
- OW-Torbjorn by Versiris
- Torbjorn by BillCreative
- Molten Cooore by Quirkilicious