Outside of Overwatch, Hanzo also appears in related media, which includes animated shorts and webcomics, as well as a playable character in the crossover multiplayer online game Heroes of the Storm.

The dutiful but heartbroken Hanzo subsequently denounced his family and fled Japan to travel the world, seeking redemption from the actions of his past.

He is an archer whose abilities include firing rapid bursts of arrows to engage high priority targets and jumping forward, as well as revealing the location of enemy players.

Hanzo has been well received by critics and fans alike, with praise being directed towards his character arc involving his brother, design, and abilities.

The Scatter Arrow was found by Blizzard and players to often be too powerful, able to take out tank characters with normally high damage in a single shot.

Any enemy caught in the line of fire and touching the dragons takes continuous direct damage, which can kill most unprotected characters within seconds.

Upon his father's death, the clan elders instructed Hanzo to straighten out his younger brother Genji who was following a carefree, playboy lifestyle.

"[17] Hanzo was added to the Blizzard's crossover multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm in December 2017, as part of the "Dragons of the Nexus" event.

[19][20] Hanzo's kit in the game is similar to his Overwatch abilities, including the charged, scatter, and sonic shot, wall-climb, and Dragonstrike.

[22][23] In the short, Hanzo returns to the Shimada castle in Hanamura to honor his brother Genji on the anniversary of their fight and the resulting latter's apparent death.

When Genji attempts to leave, Hanzo draws out his bow, labelling him a fool and stating that "real life is not like the stories [their] father told [them]".

Justin Carter stated that "he may take a lot of time to learn, but once you do, it pays off, and you’ll be one of the best snipers in your team while you play Overwatch.

[32][33] The term became further popularized by a viral tweet in March 2017, when a schoolgirl was reprimanded by her school for calling a classmate a "Hanzo main" for stealing her pencil.

Mognon stated that he created the church as a form of protest art in order to show how ludicrous the Brazilian legislative system is.

[34][35] In May 2017, the social networking website Tumblr sifted through its data in order to determine which character pairings in Overwatch were the most popular.

[41] Cassidy's voice actor Matthew Mercer has described the pairing as "adorable", noting that the characters' contrasting personalities makes the ship interesting.

[42] Director and lead designer of Overwatch, Jeff Kaplan, when asked by a fan at BlizzCon 2017, stated that McHanzo is one of his two favorite ships from the game; the other being Pharah and Mercy.