A trio of horror-themed costumes have leaked earlier today for three Overwatch heroes, days before the game’s annual Halloween Terror event officially starts on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
Each skin was compiled in a thread on the Overwatch subreddit, which initially had a single image showing Zenyatta’s upcoming costume. The other leaked skins are for Mei and Symmetra, with each hero resembling a different mythological figure. These skins turn the respective heroes into a Jiang Shi, a Chinese hopping vampire (Mei), and figures resembling an Ifrit (Symmetra) and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu (Zenyatta).
Following Chinese folklore, Mei is dressed in robes from the Qing Dynasty and a hat with a ward charm. Gamers might be familiar with this image from the Darkstalkers series, which includes Hsien-Ko, another Jiang Shi, or Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, as a secret boss. A Jiang Shi typically results from an “improper death” and suicide, which contrasts with Mei’s typically cheerful demeanor. Additionally, Jiang Shi steal the life force from humans, creating more of the fabled vampires.
Zenyatta undergoes the most transformation, as his Cthulhu-like skin gives him purple skin with green accents and facial tentacles. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu debuted in America during 1928 and has an almost cult-like following (including a satirical presidential campaign) across the internet, television and video games nearly 90 years after its conception.
Besides the above skins, an image leaked of Reaper’s new duds and advertising the 50 items players can obtain during the October event. Like prior events, these limited-time items include emotes, highlight intros, player icons, sprays and victory poses.
The Halloween Terror event starts Oct. 10 and ends Nov. 1.