Since her introduction, she has appeared in various spinoff media related to the franchise, including comics and merchandise, and later in another Blizzard developed title, Heroes of the Storm.

Despite her sexuality not being explicitly discussed by Blizzard, many Western fans have viewed her as a lesbian, though journalists have noted this perception is not necessarily shared amongst Russian players.

Developed for Overwatch, Zarya's concept started around gameplay elements, namely Game Director Geoff Goodman wanting to implement a character with a heavy gun and a shield generator.

"[2] She was created in part to satisfy calls from fans to add more diverse body types after the initial set of heroes were revealed for the game.

She wears armored fingerless gloves on each hand with similar plating and wires extending from the wrist to the fingers, and an elbow pad on her right arm.

[13] Her design was significantly altered for Overwatch 2; in particular her haircut was changed into a ponytail with side fade, while her arm tattoo was extended into a full sleeve.

Seeking strength to protect her people and homeland from future assaults, she became a bodybuilder and weightlifter, and was expected to break a number of records in the world championships.

[15] To this end she uses a particle cannon, originally stated to have been torn off an enemy vessel,[4] but later retconned to be a company's experimental weapon deemed too heavy for others to use.

Working hesitantly alongside a friendly omnic named Lynx, they track down and capture Sombra, only for the hacker to reveal that the CEO has been receiving technology from partnerships with the enemy forces.

Once full the ability can be activated to fire a projectile that upon contact explodes into an area of effect field that will pull enemies towards it and immobilize them for a short period of time.

"[1] While most of this gameplay was adapted for her appearance in Heroes of the Storm, she was given a second ultimate ability option, called "Expulsion Zone", which was designed as an alternative to Graviton Surge and expels enemies from the area for a brief period of time.

[25] Since then she has been featured on various merchandise such as hoodies,[26] promotional images themed around holidays,[27] and an action figure by Hasbro, with a black and yellow armor variant released as an exclusive for GameStop stores.

"[32] This particular sentiment was held by Kelly Cardigan of Kotaku, who cited her as an inspiration to begin lifting weights and engage in bodybuilding, calling her "exactly the hero I needed".

[34] In 2019 Kotaku's Cecilia D'Anastasio noted many Western fans perceived Zarya as a gay icon, with multitudes of artwork depicting her as a lesbian in response to her appearance,[35] a sentiment shared by fellow contributor Nathan Grayson.

Russian journalist Tim Seyfelmlyukov achieved similar results with his own study, comparing her design to a lesbian stereotype and telling D'Anastasio that people with her appearance were "super rare gems in Russia" due to the country's harsher laws against homosexuality.