While many of Overwatch's heroes come with a diverse and vast array of interesting traits and deep lore, Reaper is perhaps one of the richest, and most interesting characters. One of the game's original heroes - or anti-heroes - Reaper comes with a plethora of unique traits and a deep history; much of which is steeped in darkness and vengeance.

It's of course fun to play Reaper and blast your way through the frontlines with your dual-wielding shotguns, or perform that devastating spin move, Death Blossom. Yet, there exists a wealth of factoids and background surrounding this death-personified DPS that are just as fun to learn about.

RELATED: Overwatch: 10 Two-Hero Combos You Should Be Running

And so, let's take a closer look at one of Overwatch's darkest, most mysterious heroes, as we review the fascinating facts about this solider-turned-wraith that you didn't know.

10 The Deep Meanings Behind His Mask

One of the most distinguishable features of Reaper is that ominous skeletal mask that shrouds his face in darkness. While the bulk of the influence behind its design is clearly drawn from the more stock visuals of the pale, skeletal face of the grim reaper, there are a couple more likely indirect influences that give it its more distinct look.

For one, the Blackwatch emblem, the group which Reaper commanded, seems to be an influence with its similar shape. Additionally, though, it's been speculated that his mask is a nod to the Mexican Barn Own, which, in Mexican folklore, is said to be the messenger from the land of the dead. This would certainly be a clever reference, and the white face and long, slender nose do seem to resemble this owl.

9 He's A Former Soldier For The Us Military

This walking personification of death and vengeance wasn't always a shadowy grim reaper figure who tossed away shotguns like they were trash. No, at one point, he was a respectable soldier in the US military, and an average guy by the name of Gabriel Reyes. He was enlisted as a senior officer in the US's Soldier Enhancement Program as "Solider 24."

He also developed a friendship with Jack Morrison here, aka Soldier 76, who eventually rose up the ranks as the Strike Commander of Overwatch. Reyes, meanwhile, was relegated a somewhat lesser status as the head of Blackwatch, which handled smaller covert ops missions at night.

8 A Carryover From A Cancelled Game

Overwatch now stars a whopping 30 heroes, each with their own array of unique traits and lore. But Reaper is actually one of the original 3 characters that go all the way back to the game's conceptualization, along with Tracer and Widowmaker.

RELATED: Cheers, Love!: Tracer's 10 Best Overwatch Skins Ranked

His character was inspired by original concept art, along with a carryover design of what was meant to be a character class in the canceled game, Project Titan. This game was meant to be a sort of MMO successor to World of Warcraft with FPS elements, which helps to explain Reaper's emphasis on shottys, along with his dark fantasy-tinged design.

7 Was A Mentor To McCree

One of the interesting bits of dialogue you may have heard is between Reaper and McCree, which include "I taught you everything you know." He also remarks about how he "was never a good student" when defeating him in-game. This is because McCree was in fact an apprentice that studied under Reaper/Reyes during their days in Blackwatch.

After being apprehended as part of a sting operation, the outlaw McCree was given a choice to be sent to prison or join Blackwatch. The gun-slinger wisely chose to join up with Reyes, Moira, and the Blackwatch crew. This certainly helps explain why the two come with a somewhat similar style of DPS play.

6 A Civil War With Overwatch And Soldier 76

An ongoing theme with Reaper seems to be his bloodlust and his thirst for vengeance. But just why is he so angry, and what is he avenging? Well, Reaper (then Reyes) had been relegated from the main faction of Overwatch to a lesser role performing covert op duties during night missions of Blackwatch.

His disfigurement, marginalized standing, and the increasing rift and disagreements between Reyes and Overwatch, all contributed to a downward spiral that produced his eventual violent nature. This rivalry traces all the way back to Reyes' time with Soldier in the US military, where 76 received more recognition despite Reyes leading the strike team against the Omnic threat. These events helped morph Reaper into the vengeful anti-hero he has become.

5 Both A Product And Bringer Of Decay

Since Reaper has a very prominent theme of "death," his characteristics of decaying and sapping souls naturally go hand-in-hand with this. As players of this DPS powerhouse are aware, Reaper draws the lifeforce from the targets he shoots which gives him healing. His rather grim lore sheds some light on this unique in-game ability.

Supposedly, the bodies of his murder victims are reported to be "pale, empty dry husks of life, with signs of intense degradation." It's also claimed that Reaper is a failed genetic alteration which forces his cells to decay and regenerate at an extremely fast rate. This would explain his ghostly impervious Wraith ability in Overwatch.

4 Comes With Various Pop Culture References

Reaper's character has quite a bit of depth; not just with his interesting lore, but with the plethora of references associated with him. His design was partly based off another iconic Blizzard title, Starcraft, who also happen to be dual-wielding units called Reapers. There is also a not-so-subtle reference to Poe's The Raven, which is apparent with the Reaper's "Nevermore" skin, along with a "Headless Horsemen" Halloween skin. His gun drop reload animation also seems to be a Matrix reference.

RELATED: Overwatch: The 20 Best Overwatch League Skins, Ranked

He additionally references a variety of quotes from various pieces of pop culture. His "I'm not a psychopath, I'm a high functioning psychopath" line is a nod to BBC's Sherlock. He also spouts the more obvious "if it lives, I can kill it" which references the Schwarzenegger line from Predator. He's apparently a fan of heavier music too, as his "I'm back in black," is a nod to AC/DC while "this is my curse" is the line of a Killswitch Engage track.

3 Voice Actor's Reaper Theme

Marluxia in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories.

It would seem that Reaper's voice actor, Keith Ferguson, is no stranger to voicing characters with prominent themes of death and darkness.

Aside from Reaper, Ferguson also voices Romulus Blood in the game Undead Knights, Kargon, Prince of Darkness in Darksiders II, and Marluxia in Kingdom Hearts. Marluxia even sports a giant sickle, which is very much in line with the grim reaper theme that Ferguson seems to cover quite a bit. I suppose the deep, raspy voice lends itself to these sorts of dark, intimidating characters.

2 His Connection To Moira And Mercy

Moira isn't merely Reaper's companion during their time fighting for Blackwatch; she holds a deeper significance with him. As the story goes, during the rebellion of Blackwatch, Reaper had enlisted the mad scientist to help transform his genetic makeup, morphing him into the ghostly grim reaper phantom he is now.

Though it seems that Reaper shares some important history with Mercy as well. This backstory is touched upon with brief exchanges between these contrasting heroes of light and darkness. Mercy's lines to Reaper - "this is not what I intended for you, Reyes," and "what happened to you?" suggest she has something to do with his transformation to darkness as well.

1 He's Ambidextrous

Overwatch Reaper Death Blossum

As it turns out, Reaper seems to be left-handed; or possibly even ambidextrous. This would explain his dual-wielding, in addition to him favoring his left hand, as he always beginnings firing with his left shotgun. When he stands cross-armed, his right arm is in front, which is how lefties cross their arms. Though the fact that he occasionally does begin firing with his right hand (depending on when you reload) suggests he could be ambidextrous.

While it seems like a minor detail, it turns out that even this trait could hold some significance. In Christian theology, God's "left hand" man, the Archangel Gabriel (also Reaper's real name), was known as one of the angels of death. This certainly would describe Reaper.

NEXT: Skyrim: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Lycanthropy