Athena is the narrator and the announcer in Overwatch and Overwatch 2.

Story

Background

“	After all these years, it feels good to finally focus on the research that I am truly passionate about. The Athena prototype has been deemed a success, so much so that Jack's finally agreed to authorize my new project [imitating Jack] "Pending further evaluation."	„
	~ Mina Liao

Athena was created by Dr. Mina Liao. The prototype version was deemed a success, which paved the way for approval of the Echo Project.^[2] Athena herself served as Overwatch's artificial intelligence, managing all internal security for the agency.^[3]

After Overwatch's disbandment, Athena remained with Winston, helping him with tests at Watchpoint: Gibraltar as well as monitoring his health.^[4]

Recall

“	Every time you see news of this sort, we go through this. Remember, recalling Overwatch agents to act in duty comes with great risk. The Petras Act clearly states: any Overwatch activity is deemed illegal and punishable by prosecution. I know. You're right. That's the way the world is. But I do miss the old days.	„
	~ Athena and Winston

When Winston watched the worsening events of the world from the news reports, he was motivated to recall Overwatch agents to active duty. However, Athena stepped in before he could do it, reminding him of the Petras Act which made any Overwatch activity illegal.

The base was attacked by Talon agents, including Reaper. The agents immobilized Winston with taser cables, while Reaper headed to another room and attached a device to machinery on the wall. Athena determined that the device was hacking into her systems to extract the database of Overwatch agents, and alerted Winston to it.

Winston managed to fight off the agents, but Reaper knocked him out. Athena's voice awakened Winston, warning him that Reaper was going to have all the Overwatch agents' locations. Winston managed to defeat Reaper and destroy the hacking device. From his terminal, he scrambled to stop the download and save Athena. To his shock, the screens went black and she became unresponsive. After a tense moment, Athena came back online and announced that the virus had been quarantined.

The agent recall screen reappeared before Winston, and he again considered the choice. This time Athena made no protest as Winston finally decided to activate the recall.^[4]

Providing Wisdom

Athena advised Overwatch agents in their operations via the Orca, including Nepal, Lijiang Tower, and Ilios.^[5]

Reflections

Athena celebrated Christmas together with Winston, Tracer, and Emily, where she engaged her "party mode".^[6]

Reign of Talon

“	Executing: full system termination. Winston...thank you.	„
	~ Athena's final words

After the attack on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Athena had been shut down completely as Winston destroyed the core systems to prevent Overwatch's data from falling into Talon hands.^[7]

Trivia

• Athena was the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology.
• Athena serves as the map announcer of Hanamura in Heroes of the Storm.
• Like Echo, Athena has a dry sense of humor. Echo has speculated that this is due to them sharing programming.^[8]
• Concept art for Echo and Iris appear to feature Athena's "A", though the logo was only added to fill empty space in the designs.^[9] Concept art for the The Iris, a cut map, also included the logo, suggesting Athena controls the facility.
• At one point, there was a screen on Watchpoint: Gibraltar that read, "Athena: Winston please respond..." which has since been removed.^[10]

References