Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes. You probably know them better as Soldier 76 and Reaper. It’s the kind of rivalry that feels like it’s been ripped straight out of a classic Greek tragedy, only with more pulse rifles and shotgun blasts. If you've spent any time in the Overwatch ecosystem, you know these two aren't just characters on a roster. They are the foundation of the game's entire narrative soul.
Honestly, the "grumpy old man" vibe of Soldier 76 and the "edgy ghost" aesthetic of Reaper might seem like tropes at first glance. But look deeper. There's a reason Blizzard keeps coming back to this specific well. It’s about the collapse of an ideal. It's about what happens when two best friends have fundamentally different ideas about how to save a world that’s actively falling apart.
The Strike Commander and the Shadow
Before the explosions and the masks, they were just two guys from the Soldier Enhancement Program. Jack was the golden boy from rural Indiana. Gabriel was the gritty veteran from Los Angeles. When the Omnic Crisis hit, they were the ones who stepped up.
Most people assume the friction started because Jack got the promotion to Strike Commander while Gabriel was relegated to leading Blackwatch. That’s a bit of a simplification, though. While the official lore, specifically the Overwatch Anthology and various digital shorts, points to this leadership rift, it was more about methodology. Jack believed in the system. Gabriel believed in results.
Think about it. Overwatch was this shining beacon of international hope. But behind the scenes? Blackwatch was doing the dirty work. Gabriel was out there in the mud, handling the "unmentionable" threats while Jack was giving press conferences in a clean blue uniform. That kind of dynamic is a pressure cooker. It’s not just about jealousy; it’s about feeling like your soul is being eroded while your partner gets the credit for being a saint.
The Swiss HQ explosion wasn't just a plot point. It was the physical manifestation of their relationship finally detonating. For years, the community speculated about who actually started that fight. Was it a Talon infiltration? Was it a genuine mutiny? The Retribution event gave us a clearer look at Gabriel’s growing instability, showing a man who was tired of playing by rules that didn't seem to apply to the enemies they were fighting.
Soldier 76 and Reaper: A Contrast in Gameplay and Philosophy
When you're actually playing the game, the rivalry translates into two very specific styles of engagement. Soldier 76 is your bread-and-butter hitscan hero. He’s reliable. He has a heal. He has a sprint. He is the "standard" soldier. If you’ve played any shooter in the last twenty years, you know how to use him.
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Then you have Reaper.
He’s a flanker. He’s a tank buster. He’s a nightmare in a dark hallway. While Soldier 76 wants to maintain a medium distance and chip away at the objective, Reaper wants to get in your face and delete your health bar with those Hellfire Shotguns.
Why the Kit Design Matters
- Tactical Visor vs. Death Blossom: Jack’s ultimate is about precision and order. It’s literally an auto-aim that rewards positioning. Gabriel’s ultimate is chaos. It’s a "clear the area" move that relies on being right in the middle of the mess.
- Biotic Field vs. The Reaping: Soldier 76 drops a station to help his team. He’s still trying to be the leader. Reaper heals by dealing damage. He’s a parasite. He doesn't need a team; he needs victims.
It's rare to see character mechanics so perfectly mirror their narrative descent. Jack is still trying to be a soldier, even if he’s a vigilante now. Gabriel has completely abandoned the idea of being a soldier. He’s become something else—a literal wraith kept alive by a cellular regeneration process that is basically constant torture. Dr. Moira O’Deorain’s experiments on Reyes are some of the darkest bits of lore in the game. It wasn't just "science." It was the stripping away of his humanity to ensure he could never truly die.
The Talon Connection and the Long Game
We have to talk about Doomfist. And Sombra. And the whole Talon council.
Reaper isn't just a mindless thug for Talon. He’s a founding member of the current leadership. But if you listen to his interactions with Sombra, there’s this weird sense that he might have his own agenda. He’s hunting down former Overwatch agents. He’s crossing names off a list.
Soldier 76 is doing the same thing, just from the other side. In the Hero cinematic and the Bastet short story, we see a Jack Morrison who is tired. He’s older. He’s cynical. But he’s still hunting the people who took down Overwatch. He’s still looking for the truth behind the conspiracy.
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This brings up a massive point of contention in the fan base: Is Reaper actually a double agent? Some people point to his "I'm not the one who started this" lines or his lingering hesitation in certain cinematics. Personally? I think that’s wishful thinking. Making Reaper a "secret good guy" cheapens the tragedy. The whole point is that good men can be broken. The tragedy of Soldier 76 and Reaper is that they both think they’re doing what’s necessary.
What Most Players Miss About the Lore
A lot of the nuance is buried in the maps. If you go to the Gibraltar map or the Dorado map, the environmental storytelling is everywhere. You’ll see files, discarded equipment, and dialogue triggers that only happen when both characters are in the match.
"You always were a poor student," Reaper mocks.
"I'm not the one who turned my back on everything we stood for," Jack shoots back.
These aren't just cool one-liners. They are references to their time in the SEP (Soldier Enhancement Program). They were lab rats together. They were the only ones who truly understood what it felt like to have their DNA rewritten for war. That creates a bond that most of the other heroes—even the ones who were in the original Overwatch—can't touch. Ana Amari is the only one who really sits in that same inner circle, and even she struggles to bridge the gap between them.
In the Bastet short story, we get that famous reveal about Jack’s past relationship with Vincent. It was a huge moment for representation, sure, but narratively, it served a deeper purpose. It showed that Jack chose the mission over a normal life. He gave up everything for the uniform. Reaper, meanwhile, had a family. We see him watching a family from the shadows in the Reflections comic. He lost his chance at a normal life because of the "Overwatch" ideal. One man gave it up willingly; the other had it stripped away by the chaos of their job.
How to Win the Matchup
If you find yourself in a 1v1 as Soldier 76 against a Reaper, you’re in trouble if you let him get close. That’s the core of their gameplay loop.
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- Maintain the Gap: As Soldier, your sprint is your best friend. Don't let him shadow step behind you. If you hear that "Reaping..." sound effect, you need to be moving immediately.
- Force the Wraith Form: Reaper is vulnerable the second he comes out of Wraith Form. Your goal is to poke him enough that he has to use it to survive. Once he’s out of it, hit him with the Helix Rockets.
- High Ground is King: Reaper has to work to get to high ground. Soldier can just... be there. Use the verticality of maps like King's Row or Hollywood to stay out of his effective range.
From the Reaper perspective, it's all about the ambush. You aren't a frontline tank. You are a predator. Wait for the Soldier to use his Biotic Field. Once that cooldown is gone, he’s much easier to burst down. Use your teleport to get above him. Drop down, two shots to the head, and he’s gone before the Tactical Visor can even lock on.
The Future of the Rivalry
With the ongoing narrative shifts in the game, the question is: can they ever reconcile?
Probably not. And honestly? They shouldn't.
The conflict between Soldier 76 and Reaper represents the fundamental question of the series: Can the world be saved through the systems we've built, or do those systems have to burn so something else can grow? Jack is the dying ember of the old world. Gabriel is the smoke of the new one.
We’ve seen new threats emerge—Null Sector, the Ramattra uprising—that make the old Overwatch/Blackwatch feud look like a playground squabble. But for the fans who have been here since the 2014 trailer, the heart of the story will always be those two old soldiers fighting a war that ended decades ago.
It’s about the ghosts we carry. Jack carries the ghost of the organization he loved. Gabriel literally is a ghost.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Players
If you want to dive deeper into this specific rivalry or improve your standing in the current meta, here are a few things you should actually do:
- Read the 'Bastet' and 'Code of Violence' Short Stories: These aren't just fluff. They provide the psychological groundwork for why these two act the way they do in-game. Code of Violence in particular is the best look we've ever had at Reaper's internal monologue.
- Master the Cooldown Tracking: In a Soldier vs. Reaper matchup, the person who wins is almost always the one who tracked the other person's "get out of jail free" card. If you're Soldier, don't ult until you know Reaper has used Wraith Form. If you're Reaper, don't engage until you see that Biotic Field go down.
- Watch the 'Old Soldiers' Comic: This is the definitive visual representation of their post-Overwatch relationship. It sets the tone for their encounters in the game and explains the dynamic with Ana.
- Listen to the Spawn Room Dialogue: Don't just alt-tab while waiting for the match to start. The interactions between Soldier, Reaper, and characters like Moira or Cassidy change frequently with game updates and provide clues about where the story is heading next.
The rivalry between Soldier 76 and Reaper is a reminder that in hero shooters, the "hero" part is often a matter of perspective. One man’s vigilante is another man’s war criminal. And in the world of Overwatch, both of these men are probably a little bit of both.