‘Groverwatch’ Imagines a Muppet Rampage

When Blizzard Entertainment, the massive video game studio behind World of Warcraft, released Overwatch, they were prepared to market the game’s weird cast of character. Winston, a gorilla with a “Tesla Cannon,” was clearly destined for stardom — as was Tracer, the predictable, cosplay-friendly femme fatale. But one thing was clearly missing: Muppets. The game was (and critics somehow failed to see this at the time) problematically devoid of trigger-happy puppets. Now, the internet has solved that problem by coughing up a memorable meme, fan art for “Groverwatch,” a fake version of the shooter starring the cast of Sesame Street.

It’s a far cry from all that Overwatch fan porn — no we’re not linking to that — and also awesome because, well, Sesame Street.

The meme first popped up — as memes are wont to do — in the r/gaming subreddit. A user posted a carefully photoshopped image of “Groverwatch” that showed Grover stepping into the roles of every character. The image briefly trended on Twitter, inspiring other artists to take the idea even further. Oscar the Grouch suddenly occupied a trashcan with mounted machine guns. Grover donned Tracer’s armored bustier and, shockingly, pulled off the look.

This all begs a question: Who would win an Overwatch-style battle on Sesame Street? Big Bird has a height advantage, but Cookie Monster would do anything for a cookie and that sort of mercenary mentality can make a difference. Then there’s Ernie, the wildcard. He watches Bert sleep and seems a bit off. You gotta keep an eye on that guy. But the odds are probably on Mr. Snuffleupagus. Dude problem still has a grudge from the episode where the local newspaper ran this screamer of a headline:”Snuffy’s Got To Go!”

We doubt Sesame Street is going to team up with Blizzard for a shoot ’em up any time soon, but this at least promises more interesting cosplay at the next Comic Con.