Yanfei Bao

The cast of characters in miHoYo's '' Genshin Impact'' hails from the continent of Teyvat, which has seven nations: Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, Fontaine, Natlan, and Snezhnaya. Each nation is ruled by one of seven Archons, or gods. Nearly all playable characters control one of seven natural elements with help from a Vision, a device granted by the heavens to those with great ambitions, with the exception of some characters who control the elements through their own supernatural powers, such as Dainsleif, the Archons, and the Traveler.

Design

Some of ''Genshin Impacts characters were first introduced in an official manga released prior to the game's launch.

When designing characters, the designers first decide who the character is at their core as well as their needs, then may design the character to fit that original idea and those needs. Designers may also consider the relation of a character to other characters in Teyvat: for instance, the elegant and reserved opera singer Yun Jin was designed to juxtapose the fiery and unbound rock star Xinyan.

Many characters are derived from legends of certain nations: the adepti of Liyue, for example, are based on the Xian of Daoism. The idea of the Vision itself also derives from Daoism: the concept of a third eye manifests itself in humans in the form of their Vision. Some characters are also named after historical figures, such as Alhaitham and Tighnari.

Characters

Playable

The following is a table that lists all currently confirmed playable characters by region in alphabetical order. All playable characters are associated with a specific region, with the exception of the Travelers and Aloy, who come from their own world.

All characters wield one of 5 weapon types: swords, polearms, claymores, bows, or catalysts.

Outlanders

Mondstadt

Mondstadt was released in September 2020.

Liyue

Liyue was released in September 2020. Gaming and Xianyun are expected to be playable characters in the next updates.

Inazuma

Inazuma was released in July 2021. Chiori is expected to be playable character in the next updates.

Sumeru

Sumeru was released in August 2022, and introduced the Dendro element to the game.

Fontaine

Fontaine was released in August 2023. Clorinde and Sigewinne are expected to be playable characters in the next updates.

Snezhnaya

Snezhnaya is expected for release in 2025, with only character playable so far.

Non-player characters

* Paimon (Voiced by: Aoi Koga, Corina Boettger, Duoduo Poi (Shi Xinlei), Kim Ga-ryeong). The Traveler's guide and companion, who mostly speaks for them due to them being a silent protagonist.
* Sustainer of Heavenly Principles (Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya, Christie Cate, Tao Dian, Unknown). The mysterious god who fights the Traveler and abducts their sibling at the beginning of the game, thus beginning their journey through Teyvat.
* Katheryne (Voiced by: Mai Sato, Erica Mendez, Xiao N (Jiang Li), Park Go-woon). The receptionist of the Adventurer's Guild. It is revealed in the Sumeru chapter that Katheryne is a bionic puppet made in Snezhnaya.
* The Eleven Fatui Harbingers, the powerful lieutenants of the Tsaritsa. They are based on characters from the ''commedia dell'arte'':
** La Signora (Voiced by: Yui Shoji, Unknown, Ziyin (Qi Tianyi), Unknown). The Eighth Fatui Harbinger. She steals Venti's Gnosis and bargains with Zhongli for his Gnosis, as the Tsaritsa desires to collect all Archons' Gnoses. After helping to incite turmoil and a civil war in the nation of Inazuma, the Traveler challenges her to a duel that leads to her execution by the Raiden Shogun.
** Il Dottore, (Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki, Mick Wingert, Wu Lei, Park Seong-tae), or "The Doctor." The Second Fatui Harbinger, he is a mad scientist and the main antagonist of the Sumeru chapter, attempting to create an artificial god to replace the Dendro Archon.
** Arlecchino, (Voiced by: Nanako Mori, Erin Yvette, Huang Ying, Lee Myung-Hee), or "The Knave." The Fourth of the Fatui Harbingers, who is also known as "Father" to the children of the House of The Hearth. While being cunning and strategic, she plays an integral role in the Fontaine archon quests.
* Dainsleif (Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda, Yuri Lowenthal, Sun Ye, Choi Han). A wandering stranger from the fallen civilization of Khaenri'ah, who served as the captain of its royal knights and was cursed with immortality after failing to protect its citizens. He occasionally meets with the Traveler to share information he has gathered about their lost twin.
* Rhinedottir (Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka, Ivy Dupler, Fan Churong, Jeon So-yeon), or "Gold." An alchemist from Khaenri'ah with the ability to create life, she is the creator of Albedo, the dragon Durin, and the riftwolves that plague Teyvat. She is also responsible for triggering the cataclysm that destroyed Teyvat 500 years prior to the game's events.
* Alice (Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue, Rachel Kimsey, Zhang Qi, Yeo Min-jeong). Klee's mother. A powerful traveling sorceress who is often destructive.

Reception

The characters of ''Genshin Impact'' have enjoyed positive reception, especially in terms of revenue: as ''Genshin Impact'' is a gacha game, much of its revenue comes from sales of in-game currency players use to obtain characters. Most revenue comes from limited character banners. Across all platforms, including mobile, console and computer platforms, the game is estimated to have grossed nearly billion in its first year by September 2021, the highest ever first-year launch revenue for any video game. The mobile version grossed a further million between January and March 2022.

Several of the game's characters have enjoyed massive popularity and have earned millions of dollars in revenue. For instance, in March 2021, it was reported that Zhongli was the game's highest grossing character, with million reported in revenue at the time. This number was later eclipsed by the December 2022 release of Raiden Shogun, whose first banner earned million in two days from Chinese iOS sales; by the time the banner ended, it had netted around million in the Chinese market alone. Shogun's record was eventually broken by the November 2, 2022 banner, which introduced the Dendro archon Nahida and earned million in the Chinese market.

Controversy

In November 2020, following Zhongli's release he received criticism from fans; due to his equipment and gameplay being viewed as poor, many took Zhongli as an insult toward Chinese players. miHoYo published a blog post in response, noting that the character was working as designed. Later, miHoYo issued an apology, and promised to improve the character's kit during beta testing for version 1.3.

In early March 2023, HoYoverse was criticized following Dehya's release, as some of the game's fanbase argued that her kit was underpowered and dysfunctional, particularly compared to those of lower-rarity characters. Several players announced that they had stopped spending money on the game, while others sent feedback to HoYoverse demanding improvements. As one of the few dark-skinned playable characters in the game, some suggested that her poor skillset might be due to colorism, given similar accusations made against HoYoverse in the past. A campaign urging the wider playerbase to press HoYoverse for change trended on X under the hashtag #FixDehya, with many spamming the game's official account.

Notes

References

{{MiHoYo

Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact