Overwatch 2’s latest Hero has arrived with the release of the Season 6 Invasion content update. Indeed, Illari joins the Support Roster as the tenth Hero in that role, wielding the power of the sun in battle. However, Illari is the first character to join the roster of Overwatch 2 without any prior links to other Heroes, making her quite the mystery. If you’re looking to learn about Illari’s background and life, then look no further; we’ve got all you need to know.
Overwatch 2 – Illari’s Background & Origin Story, Explained
Illari is a Peruvian youth, wielding the power of the sun on the battlefield through her Solar Powered Rifle. Illari’s name is of Quechuan descent, roughly translating to ‘dawn’ and ‘bright’, tying into her persona quite nicely. Illari is fluent in this indigenous Peruvian language, with many of her in-game voice lines being spoken in Quechuan, or involving Quechuan slang.
During my time in the Overwatch 2 Season 6 Invasion early access press interviews, it was also revealed by the devs that Illari has a pet Llama — hence all of the Llama-themed cosmetics and collectibles available in this season’s Battle Pass and bonus Llama Pajama Legendary skin for Illari. Despite her bright and sunny powers, Illari is quite the gloomy soul on the surface, with many of her quotes reflecting tragedy and loss. Because of this, you may find yourself curious about her past and the experiences she’s faced as a young Hero, so we’ll elaborate on this information below.
Growing up, Illari was a big fan of a group known as the Inti Warriors, a group of noble protectors harnessing solar energy. Illari demanded training from an early age and worked hard everyday in hopes of joining their forces. Even from an early age, it has been stated that Illari’s potential was enormous and that her trainers would believe her to grow into one of the strongest Inti Warriors of all time.
Illari dedicated all of her free time to training, hoping to live up to the legend of her name that was already growing around herself and her community. Finally, her work all paid off when she was accepted into the group, becoming the youngest member of the Inti Warriors in history.
To help store and control the power of the sun, every Inti Warrior was instilled with solar threading. When it was Illari’s augmentation ceremony, the Inti Warriors all gathered in tradition, ready to welcome her to their forces with open arms.
However, while they had noted her as a prodigy, nobody could have forseen her true power — the procedure of her augmentation ceremony unleashed a devastating blow of solar energy from her body, detonating a blast that destroyed the entire chamber, taking the lives of all the Inti Warriors, and robbing Illari of the future she had spent her life striving for.
Guilt-stricken by the tragedy, Illari felt unable to face anyone and isolated herself from her community as a result of refusing sympathy. Living with the trauma of the event, Illari replays the accident over and over in repetition inside her head, troubled with the thought of whether things would have been different had she never pressured the Inti Warriors to accept her strive towards greatness.
With a lack of other paths to follow, Illari has devoted herself to continuing her daily training, despite having nobody to guide her. Over time, one thing has become clear to Illari — she is the last Inti Warrior, and she must face the world alone.
That’s everything you need to know about Illari’s backstory and Hero origins in Overwatch 2. Now that you know all about her past and what drives her towards greatness, why not check our complete guide covering her hero abilities and how to play her in game? This way you’ll be an expert on all things Illari in no time!
