Genshin Impact: Alhaitham / Characters

Alhaitham

Introduced: January 18, 2023 (v3.4 "The Exquisite Night Chimes" [first half])
Voiced by: Yang Chaoran (Chinese), Yuichiro Umehara (Japanese), Jun Seung-hwa (Korean), Nazeeh Tarsha (English)

Admonishing Instruction

"Oh? You're concerned about all the rumors you've heard about me? Don't bother, because I don't care whether you believe those rumors. Just don't throw extra trouble my way, and we'll be fine."

Rarity: 5★
Element: Dendro
Weapon: Sword
Constellation: Vultur Volans, the Flying Vulture

An eccentric star alumnus of the Haravatat Darshan and Scribe of the Akademiya, responsible for compiling data. After meeting the Traveler and Paimon and helping them fend off a hustler, events eventually lead Alhaitham to form part of a plan where him, alongside the Traveler and many other people around Sumeru, help overthrow the Akademiya Sages and free Lesser Lord Kusanali.

Alhaitham makes strategic use of Chisel-Light Mirrors, which augment all his regular attacks with a Dendro effect that cannot be overriden by reactions and periodically augments them with Projection Attacks which increase in potency proportional to the number of Mirrors he has on hand, of which he can hold up to three at once. His Elemental Skill, Universality: An Elaboration on Form, is a swift lunge whose direction can be altered in its held form and which automatically generates one to two Mirrors based on the number of Mirrors already present, while his Elemental Burst, Particular Field: Fetters of Phenomena, summons the Particular Binding Field, a phantasmal hall of mirrors that bounces a beam of Dendro energy to strike all foes within, as well as consumes any existing Mirror to increase its hits, before replenishing them after a brief delay, inversely proportional to the number consumed.^note

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A-G

The Ace: Alhaitham is a star alumnus of the Haravatat Darshan, which specializes in semiotics, linguistics, and study of runes, to the point that he is appointed Acting Grand Sage. He is also talented at pickpocketing, very skilled with the sword, in top physical shape, is very precise as a strategist, demonstrating an excellent understanding of psychology to integrate those it into his plan to free Nahida. He is also a good actor, as seen during the Archon Quest.
Almighty Janitor: Alhaitham is clearly overqualified to be just a "feeble scholar," to the point he is considered a strong candidate for the next Grand Sage. However, he rejects the promotion because he only helped the Traveler to keep his job and lifestyle intact.
Anger Born of Worry: A more stoic example than most cases. The "Parade of Providence" event suggests that Alhaitham is particularly harsh on Kaveh for his self-sacrificing nature because he knows that Kaveh's pursuit of his ideals has caused him more harm than good in life due to his tendency to prioritize the happiness of others over his own. After the second round, he noticeably has a concerned look after hearing about Kaveh's situation from Faruzan, and the Traveler later learns from Kaveh that Alhaitham scolded him in his own brutally honest way for problem-solving in a way that isn't befitting of his senior status, but also for putting himself in a situation where he would have to rely on luck to win the points that round, despite knowing full and well his "bad luck" caused him to lose the first one. Given that Alhaitham didn't mind Kaveh drawing lots again in the first place and even playfully teased him about it before the drawing began, it's clear that he was using lots as an excuse to scold him for putting himself in danger.
Animal Motifs: Birds of prey in general. His Constellation is named after a vulture in English and a peregrine falcon in Chinese and Japanese, while his name ("Haitham", هيثم) means "young eagle/hawk" in Arabic.
Armor-Piercing Question: As recounted in Kaveh's fifth Character Story, when Alhaitham met Kaveh again years after their relations soured during their Akademiya days, Kaveh unloaded all his repressed frustrations about how his life had came to ruin from trying to materialize his ideal vision onto Alhaitham, to which the latter asked what his attempts have done to him, causing Kaveh to reflect on his words, and ending with him resolving to not give up on his ideals no matter what.
Assassin Outclassin': The entire plot of Alhaithham's Story Quest is about him outwitting a scholar who attempted to kill him for personal reasons while he was Acting Grand Sage with very little effort.
Awesomeness by Analysis: In his Story Quest, he acknowledges Siraj's competence and meticulousness as researcher. Letting a test subject of his to escape is a mistake Siraj would never make, thus Alhaitham instantly knows that Ilyas is a bait intentionally sent by Siraj to lure him to the Hive.
"Back to Camera" Pose: His splash art shows his back view as he steps away from his Particular Binding Field, with his head turned to the side to face the viewer.
Badass Bookworm: A talented alumnus of the Akademiya who is often seen reading during his breaks, and a proficient fighter with a sword.
Badass Cape: He wears a cape that covers only his left shoulder, and he is one of the best fighters of the Akademiya.
Baritone of Strength: In the Japanese dub, Yuichiro Umehara gives Alhaitham a much deeper voice than the others, and he is a deadly practitioner of the sword, despite his claim as a "feeble scholar."
Best Friend: Formerly to Kaveh during their days at the Akademiya.
Bigger on the Inside: His house is more spacious inside than the exterior's small appearance would suggest with a very large entryway, an enormous living room, a large study, and several halls, two of which that connect to inaccessible doors. The back isn't connected to Sumeru City's giant tree, so it's impossible to handwave it as the interior being carved into it either. It's also large enough for Kaveh to have his own bedroom.
Blatant Lies:
- Alhaitham's statement to the Traveler that he is merely a weak, feeble scholar compared to the Eremites they are working with completely disregards the fact that he was able to easily overwhelm Mizri, a leader of an Eremite band, and fought Cyno, leader of the Akademiya's police, to a draw. Lampshaded by Kaveh in Alhaitham's Character Demo who calls the statement a bold-faced lie.
- Alhaitham's overall attempts to downplay his actual capabilities and achievements ultimately come across as this, as the results he brings forth with his actions contradict his humbler claims.
Boring, but Practical: In his character trailer, Alhaitham tells his friends that he tries to minimize the actual fight by analyzing first and then spot the weak points.
Alhaitham: Essentially, more time on contemplation, less time on execution. Simple, isn't it?
Cyno and Tighnari: ... Not really.
Kaveh: Ugh, I knew we shouldn't have brought this up to you.
Alhaitham: I thought my answer was quite engrossing.
Brick Joke: In the denouement of the Sumeru Archon Quest, Alhaitham offhandedly mentioned having taken both keys to his house with him when celebrating with his allies, only to casually dismiss it with an "oh well"; given that his roommate is Kaveh, as indicated earlier in the quest, he could be messing with him by keeping him locked out while he's away, or locked in since Kaveh won't be able to lock the door when he leaves. As a playable character, one of his idle animations has him pull out a pair of keys out of realization that he still has them in his possession while free roaming, only to smile and nonchalantly put them away.
Brilliant, but Lazy: Although intelligent, his first Character Story reveals Alhaitham to be too lazy to possess many ambitions unlike several of his peers. Also, in his voiceovers, he revealed that the reason he took the position of Scribe is because its work is simple, and that he'd rather nap if he has nothing to do.
Brutal Honesty: He doesn't hold back much of what he says, especially about Kaveh, because he believes that truth exists to serve no one. Kaveh's fifth Character Story reveals that this tendency soured their relationship after he bluntly stated that Kaveh does good for others to paper over his guilt complex, claiming that it would one day ruin him.
Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: He's constantly at odds with his roommate Kaveh due to their differing personalities and ideologies, and he has a voice line in which he expresses that he'd rather not have him home due to Kaveh working loudly in the dead of the night, but for some reason doesn't simply kick him out and reclaim ownership of his house. The reason why he allowed Kaveh to live with him in the first place, also tying into the reason he allows him to stay, is explored in his fifth Character Story, in which it's explained that Kaveh is an excellent mirror of himself whose presence as a fellow genius can expand and perfect Alhaitham's limited vision of the world, all of this suggesting that he actually enjoys or finds it necessary to have Kaveh around despite his complaints.
Cassandra Truth: Due to their vitriolic relationship, Kaveh doesn't believe Alhaitham's account about the events of the Sumeru Archon Quest while he was away.
Character Development: Alhaitham gets a little bit of development at the end of "A Parade of Providence" event, with this being further confirmed in an optional conversation with Kaveh in its denouement; while he acknowledges that other people hold certain views that he doesn't necessarily agree with, he doesn't see the point in arguing with others about the correctness of one's views anymore since sometimes being correct means nothing at all. He later confirms this to Kaveh who he's been debating philosophies with for years and who has been equally stubborn on his viewpoint, feeling that their discussions have long since moved on from right or wrong. After explaining this to him, he decides to back off and let Kaveh think what he wants about whether the Sachin incident will repeat again in the future.
The Chessmaster: He is responsible for much of the plot to rescue Nahida from the Sages, directing The Traveler and their allies along for the preparations. The plan itself involves a hefty dose of Batman Gambits and Flaw Exploitation regarding Sumeru's reliance on the Akasha, with a dash of Kansas City Shuffle.
Child Prodigy: He was one of these before maturing into a Teen Genius. Having been born to a Haravatat mentor and a Vahumana scholar, Alhaitham inherited his parents' intelligence and began reading abstruse academic journals at the age of seven, outpacing his peers in terms of intellect. Taking this into consideration, Alhaitham's preference for homeschooling meant he wouldn't be officially enrolled into the Akademiya until after her death. Kaveh's fifth Character Story also clarifies that he started school later than his peers, but that his grades stood out above the rest.
The Comically Serious: He's a stern and serious character whose eccentric personality causes him to do things such as turning a stew recipe into a pizza-like creation and buy extremely ugly decorations (according to Kaveh).
Color Motif: His design is mainly green, which fits his Dendro vision, as well as black, the color of the Haravatat Darshan he studied in.
Commonality Connection: His fourth Character Story reveals the reason he allowed Kaveh back into his life and home despite their openly vitriolic relationship. Kaveh is as similar to him as he is different; they have few familial connections, know each other better than anyone else, and are labeled geniuses by the Akademiya, but both have different outlooks on the world as scholars, which has made Alhaitham view Kaveh as a perfect mirror to himself. Alhaitham's grandmother, who raised him and whom he was very close to, was also a Kshahrewar scholar, the same Darshan that Kaveh is an alumnus of, adding another layer to their connection.
Cooldown Manipulation: His first Constellation upgrade, Intuition, shaves 1.2 seconds off the cooldown time of Universality: An Elaboration of Form whenever a Projection Attack hits an opponent (with at least one-second intervals).
The Coup: Is The Chessmaster behind the plan to overthrow the Sages in Chapter III Act V.
Deadpan Snarker: Despite his stoic personality, Alhaitham will occasionally let out a line or two like the example below, much to Paimon's annoyance. He becomes especially snarky around Kaveh.
Paimon: "He's starting to read his book again! Hey! Are you even listening?"
Alhaitham: "Would you like me to lend you something to read?"
Declining Promotion: Alhaitham is offered the position of Grand Sage at the end of the Sumeru Archon Quest after Azar is permanently expelled from the Akademiya. He declines, as he dislikes being a leader. That said, during his Story Quest he was appointed Acting Grand Sage anyway despite his reluctance, and at the end reveals that he immediately filed his resignation from said post, lest it become permanent, what with the lengthy process of selecting new Sages, let alone the Grand Sage.
Difficult, but Awesome: Alhaitham's kit is on the more technical side, as his optimal damage output and Dendro infusion is derived from carefully managing how many Chisel-Light Mirrors he has activated. Thus, planning his attacks ahead is crucial, and any mistake will be extremely punishing due to the brevity of each Mirror at four seconds, not helped by the comparatively lengthy cooldown times for the three sources of the Mirrors—eighteen seconds for both his Elemental Talents and twelve for his first-ascension passive, Four-Causal Correction (in addition to an above-average Energy cost of the Burst at 70 points). Perfectly scheduling each Mirror's activation, however, rewards astute players with Alhaitham becoming a blitz of Dendro attacks that can cut through swathes of opponents.
Dub Name Change:
- In English (or rather, Latin), his Constellation means the Flying Vulture while in Chinese^*written as 天隼 and Japanese^*written as 隼, its name specifically refers to peregrine falcons. However, it should be noted that "Vultur Volans" was a Roman-era name for the real-life constellation Aquila, the Eagle.
- Downplayed in the case of his actual name. He's called "Alhaizen" in the Chinese and Japanese voice-overs, but "Alhaitham" in the English and Korean voice-overs.
Does Not Like Spam: His least favorite food is vaguely any soup-like dishes because they're difficult to eat while reading. His specialty dish has him somehow transforming Sabz Meat Stew into a pizza-like dish instead, which would indeed be easier to eat while reading a book. It also appears that he just dislikes soup in general, as he requests to take it home in his "Spices of the West" dialogue without even trying it.
Dramatic Deadpan: In the event "Parade of Providence", when Kaveh is confronting Sachin's remains attached to the Diadem of Knowledge and suddenly breaks it in the middle of Sachin's speech, Nilou reacts with a shocked gasp... while Alhaitham simply reacts with a deadpan yet mildly curious "Oh?".
Dual Wielding: The third hit of his normal attack string involves him briefly wielding a second saber made of Dendro energy.
Dull Surprise: In the climax of the "Parade of Providence" event, his response to Kaveh destroying the diadem is an emotionless “Uh!?”
Elemental Eye Colors: Zig-zagged. He has green irises as befitting his Dendro vision, but his pupils are red with some white in the centre.
Elemental Weapon: A variant, as he uses his Dendro Vision to create a second kukri in battle, separate from the sword that can be equipped to him.
Emperor Scientist: He is appointed Acting Grand Sage after the Sumeru Archon Quest, though he also quickly resigns from the position.
Everyone Has Standards:
- Alhaitham is blunt, shady, and self-interested most of the time, but he voices his displeasure at the Akademiya's schemes, calling them out for the flagrant violation of their own rules. He also believes in respecting the boundaries set in the pursuit of academics and knowledge, unlike his less scrupulous superiors.
- In his Story Quest, he describes Siraj's execution of his Hive Mind concept as "too conservative" and suggests that the only way it could be stabilized is by removing the test subjects' humanity. He immediately elaborates that had Siraj proposed such a thing, he would have lambasted the venture as equally senseless, noting how such inquiries into human evolution run hypocritically contrary to it.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
- He's more "pragmatic" than "evil"; that said, an argument between him and Kaveh on the Port Ormos bulletin board reveals that he can't comprehend why Kaveh would "waste" his time and mora helping ship merchants that were out of work instead of letting them go out to sea and try their luck. He even goes as far as to accuse him of acting like a "goody two shoes."
- The event "A Parade of Providence" reinforces his stance as an egoist, and he expresses a dismissive stance on empathy and idealism, viewing the latter as a philosophy that he doesn't agree with and one that unfortunately has its supporters. He also notes that Sachin, who himself was an idealist at one point, couldn't comprehend someone sacrificing themself for the greater good, in a way that he implied that he felt similarly.
Evil Is Petty: He's more "pragmatic" jerk than "evil", but Act V of the Sumeru Archon quest reveals that he can be quite petty, as the first thing he claimed he would do after being forced into the position of Acting Grand Sage would be to cut the funding to the already struggling to stay afloat Kshahrewar in order to spite his roommate, Kaveh, who had long since graduated from the Darshan.
The Exile: Subverted. When Alhaitham goes berserk from exposure to a Divine Knowledge Capsule (though it turns out he was faking it), Azar orders him to be kicked out of the Akademiya. Like every other exiled scholar before him, Alhaitham was later seen in Aaru Village, albeit getting there by himself, as exiting Sumeru City in between the Traveler freeing Nahida and confronting Scaramouche reveals that Alhaitham had knocked out the guards that were supposed to escort him. After the corrupt Sages were purged and Nahida ascends to rule Sumeru, he returns to the City.
Exotic Eye Designs: Alhaitham's eyes have green irises and red, diamond-shaped pupils with white highlights in their centers, making them stand out compared to most other characters' eyes with only colored irises and circular pupils in a slightly darker base color.
Expy: Of Su from Honkai Impact 3rd.
- In appearance, Alhaitham has the same grey hair with mint shades, a default outfit that is mostly black and green that has a sash on the left side of his body and heeled boots, as well as the same Chinese voice actor. However, Alhaitham eyes colours are the inverse of Su's, with the former having red pupils with green irises while Su has green pupils with red irises. Alhaitham also has a noticeably muscular body and short hair while Su's slim figure and long hair got him mistaken as the Lady of the Lake.
- Alhaitham and Su are similarly associated with birds, though Alhaitham is associated with birds of prey (specifically falcons and vultures) while Su is associated with peacocks from the form that he takes during his "Active Honkai Reaction".
- Both Alhaitham and Su have a complicated relationship with their ex-best friend, a fellow alumnus whose name starts with a "K", is a claymore user, and has a Cleavage Window, due to their Idealist vs. Pragmatist conflict.
Fantastically Indifferent: According to his Vision profile story, he didn't care much about receiving his Vision, even putting off looking into it until the next day because he was preoccupied with his research trip.
Of course, he knew what it was — a Vision, the proof of one's power. However, this item did not mean much to him. A believer might have perceived this divine item to be a thing most lofty, but to him, it was no more than a useful tool.
Female Gaze: During cutscenes within the game as well as his official reveal in the 3.4 livestream, the camera will occasionally focus and provide closeups of his sculpted torso and chest.
Fire-Forged Friends: The entire plot to save Nahida made Alhaitham and Cyno become cordial to each other, to the point Cyno says that Alhaitham is one of the few people he considers reliable despite their differences, and Alhaitham agrees to attend the party celebrating Cyno's reintegration to the Matra. His second Character Story anecdote also confirms that this also applies to the rest of the participants in the archon-saving operation, where Alhaitham will actually greet them with a nod or two when he sees them as a sign of their friendship.
- As seen in Alhaitham's trailer, he has become on familiar enough terms with Cyno that he is willing to join him, Tighnari, and Kaveh to hang out, drink wine and casually debate about his fighting style.
- In one route of Kaveh's hangout, he even turns up to Tighnari's dinner to celebrate Collei's progression in her studies. Kaveh expresses surprise at this, noting that he "could probably count the number of times [he'd] actually come to gatherings like this on one hand."
Flash Step: His Skill allows him to warp right in front of his target, and whose direction can be manually changed in its held form.
Flechette Storm: When Alhaitham possesses three Chisel-Light Mirrors, the Projection Attacks take on the form of raining Dendro blades.
Foil:
- To Kaveh on several points:
  - In Chinese, Alhaitham's^note and Kaveh's^note taglines in their character introductions form a duilian couplet, a type of Chinese poetry that requires using words and tones that may individually contrast each other but form complementary lines of meaning as a whole. As the earlier-released of the two, Alhaitham's tagline forms the top line of the couplet, while Kaveh's completes it.
  - In appearance, Alhaitham is a muscular Hunk with short grey hair and green irises in green and black skintight clothing while Kaveh is a slender Pretty Boy with golden medium-length hair, red irises and prominently wears loose red and white garments. They also wear wing-like capes that emphasize their Red/Green Contrast, though Kaveh's is fully fitted to cover his shoulders, while Alhaitham only wears his cape on one shoulder and has the other side hanging loosely off of him.
  - In personality, Alhaitham is cold and rational while Kaveh is dramatic and prone to acting on his feelings of righteousness even at the cost of himself.
  - Alhaitham has a limited range of facial expressions and rarely smiles, reflecting his usually serious personality. On the other hand, Kaveh is one of the most expressive characters in the game, displaying a wide range of facial expressions even in short exchanges, emphasizing that he is far more lively and dramatic.
  - Academically, Alhaitham followed in his father's footsteps and became a Haravatat scholar, whereas Kaveh took after his mother and enrolled in the Kshahrewar.
  - In Nahida's voice lines, she describes Alhaitham as "holding a body of knowledge more advanced than most could imagine" but doubts his wisdom due to how he views the vast majority of people, while Kaveh has "an almost-perfect grasp of what it truly means for Sumeru to be a Nation of Wisdom."
  - In terms of social status, Kaveh is renowned across Sumeru as one of the most high-profile architects in his industry, idolized by his juniors in the Kshahrewar, and he's viewed as a star alumnus. Compared to Kaveh, despite his brilliance as well as his position in the Akademiya, Alhaitham is relatively unknown.
  - In social relationships, Kaveh wants to fit in and, as an empath, has no trouble making friends, as evidenced by his friendship with nearly every Sumeru character prior to the Archon Quest. He was also said to have a lot of friends in school. Alhaitham, on the other hand, is asocial and decidedly had no friends before Kaveh due to finding these unnecessary. Even after "befriending" Sumeru main characters like Dehya, Cyno, and Tighnari, he still avoids most social gatherings, and his idea of being friends with them is acknowledging them in public before continuing on his way.
  - From a financial aspect, Kaveh is in debt to Dori due to the project he took on from her and has to room with Alhaitham secretly. Meanwhile, Alhaitham is affluent enough to afford a "cushy house" and sustain his lifestyle, especially after resigning as Acting Grand Sage.
  - In the Japanese dub, Alhaitham uses the casual and assertive first-person pronoun ore, while Kaveh uses the informal yet humble first-person pronoun boku.
  - They often argue about their opposing philosophies, with Alhaitham being pragmatic while Kaveh is idealistic, or Alhaitham being an individualist while Kaveh is a collectivist.
  - Alhaitham's fourth Character Story invokes this trope, explaining that the reason Alhaitham took Kaveh into his home in the first place is that he was so different from himself, and Kaveh's presence as a scholar with different views could enrich his outlook on the world. Kaveh's fifth Character Story also emphasizes on how their differences form a more comprehensive perspective of the world together.
    As far as Alhaitham is concerned, Kaveh is a familiar face, similarly lacks familial attachments, and is the polar opposite of himself as a scholar — that is to say, an excellent mirror.
    Rationality and sensibility, language and architecture, knowledge and human feelings... Things that can never be integrated are what constitute the two sides of the mirror — indeed, of the entire world.
  - Both their Constellations are birds. Alhaitham is represented by a vulture or peregrine falcon depending on the language, birds of prey with mostly black or gray feathers, while Kaveh is represented by the bird-of-paradise, which feeds mostly on fruits and insects, with the males having colorful feathers.
  - One of Alhaitham's idle animations has him look at projections of words, which contrasts with Kaveh's idle animation of him looking at a projection of an architectural design.
  - Alhaitham and Kaveh have both created multipurpose gadgets that they use in battle along with their abilities, though Kaveh's creation and how he uses it work on a much grander scale. As for Alhaitham, he invented headphones for his music player, and while their primary purpose is noise-cancellation and listening to music, they are also used to target and lunge at enemies via flash stepping. In Kaveh's case, he created Mehrak, a multi-function toolbox that can be used as his assistant in his work as an architect, or for combat.
  - Alhaitham's least favorite food is anything soup-based, while Kaveh counts soup as among his favorites. Additionally, Alhaitham's special dish is based from the Iranian herb stew Ghormeh sabzi, while Kaveh's is fatteh, which originates from Arabian cuisine, contrasting the cultures that their characters are derived from.
  - Alhaitham and Kaveh's contrasting senses of self-worth not only results in their opposing social behavior, but also cause them to become too self-absorbed in their perspectives and ignorant in some areas. Alhaitham is so sure of his "objective" perspective of reality and closed off to anyone that doesn't interest him that he is unaware that his belief that "healthcare is free in Sumeru" is actually erroneous, and Kaveh's Guilt Complex stemming from his father's death compels him to feel responsible towards any living creature in need, prioritize others over himself, and reject pure goodwill, resulting him, as Alhaitham puts it, to never achieve his ideal of "bringing happiness to all" because he does not include himself in that "all."
  - Alhaitham is Brilliant, but Lazy, preferring to put in minimal effort in anything that doesn't interests him and has no ambitions other than living a simple existence, while Kaveh is a perfectionist Workaholic to the point where he would sacrifice sleep and comfort to make changes to his own work without anyone's input and has lofty ideals that he strives to achieve despite acknowledging that he may not be able to attain them without losing himself in the process.
  - Alhaitham and Kaveh were raised in single female guardian households after the death of their fathers in their formative years, but Alhaitham's grandmother gave him the love and support he needed to become a self-confident and mentally healthy adult while Kaveh's mother inadvertently neglected her son's emotional needs because of her depression, causing him to develop a Guilt Complex and constantly struggle severe self-worth issues and internal conflict.
  - They have very different fighting styles that contradict their personalities. Alhaitham is noted to be rather lazy, but has a faster, aggressive, and physically strenuous combat style, combining acrobatics with sharp-cornered strikes and targets and lunges at enemies with his Skill. Meanwhile, Kaveh is hardworking to the point of being a workaholic and is always keeping busy, but has a slower and more hands-off approach to combat. He rarely directly wields his claymore despite being shown to be able to, instead utilizing Mehrak's grab function and syncing it up with his own body movements to control its direction and impact with sweeping circular motions. His ability to buff and manually detonate Dendro cores for extra damage also plays into his hands-off style, as it would involve gaining the most benefit with minimal added effort.
  - Alhaitham's Burst creates a phantasmal hall of mirrors that prominently features a four-pointed star at the center like the one featured in the Musing Tawny Tapestry carpet furnishing, which mentions the Kshahrewar in its description, while Kaveh's is more simplistic, projecting a cubic space that resembles a laser level (calling back to his occupation as an architect), while his Dendro-infused normal attacks and Skill feature the same six-petaled design on the Glorious Emerald Tapestry carpet furnishing that the description mentions was made by Alhaitham.
- He and Cyno have a lot of common points. Both are Akademiya alumni who prominently wear black, have serious and deadpan personalities, defected from the Akademiya during the Archon Quest to help the Traveler save Nahida, and received their Visions while reading. However, they differ in the details of those points. Cyno is driven by his strong sense of justice and is straight-up lawful, while Alhaitham is moved more by cold logic and his own interests, and is willing to bend the rules if he finds them logically flawed. Cyno can be a dork off the clock, while Alhaitham is serious almost all the time. And while Cyno's title is General Mahamatra and leader of the Matra, Alhaitham's usual job as a scribe at the Akademiya is pretty much the equivalent of a file clerk.
- He and Tighnari are both snarky Dendro Vision holders named after historical Arab scientists who prominently war dark green, have similarly green and red/orange two-toned eyes and are at one point in time the Best Friend of a light-haired red-eyed Akademiya senior. However, Alhaitham has a strained relationship with Kaveh while Tighnari's and Cyno's relationship is mostly harmonious, save for Tighnari's lack of tolerance for Cyno's joke-telling. Furthermore, within the two pairs, Alhaitham is the junior with a simple green and black colour scheme who works as a civil servant in the Akademiya in contrast to Kaveh's colourful clothing and occupation as an independent architect while Tighnari is the junior with a more colorful outfit who insists on working outside of the Akademiya in contrast to Cyno's predominantly purple and black outfit and position as General Mahamatra.
Foreshadowing: During the second act of the "Parade of Providence" event, Kaveh is able to provide the Traveler and Paimon the files on Sachin as Alhaitham asked him to look over them earlier. This foreshadowed that Alhaitham knew Kaveh would be involved with Sachin in some way, not only because Sachin wanted Kaveh as his successor, but also because Alhaitham looked into Kaveh's father's past involvement, which he informs Kaveh about in a post-event conversation between them.
A Friend in Need: Alhaitham continuously going out of his way to help Kaveh slowly recover from his bankruptcy and mental issues despite his self-interested personality, wish for a quiet and untroubled peaceful life and the strained tensions between them says a lot about how much he values him.
Friendless Background: Alhaitham's Character Stories reveal that before meeting Kaveh, he decidedly didn't have any friends due to a lack of interest in interpersonal relationships. In his childhood, he chose not to attend a public school because he found other students and lectures boring half a day into being there. This mindset continued into adulthood, as he avoided unnecessary interactions to the point of being impossible for his colleagues to find during work hours.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Alhaitham doesn't have a particularly strong positive impression among his peers, many of whom treat him with caution or distrust due to his rational and blunt personality. This likely stops being the case after the Sumeru Archon Quest as his Character Demo demonstrates that he hangs out with Kaveh, Cyno, and Tighnari for Genius Invokation TCG sessions and drinks, and many of the voice lines about him from other characters reveal that they are aware of his cold demeanor, but value his talents and qualities. Furthermore, his Story Quest reveals that some of the antipathy leveled towards him by other scholars was due a disgruntled scholar who had personal grievances against him artificially implanting his hostility into his test subjects to work together to get rid of Alhaitham. In one route of Kaveh's Hangout Event tree, Tighnari even invites Alhaitham to a celebratory dinner to mark Collei's progression in her studies to consult his opinion on the future literacy curriculum the forest ranger designed for her along with Cyno and Kaveh, and they go on to "enjoy a relaxed and pleasant dinner" together.
Friendship Denial: Alhaitham claims that he and Kaveh aren't friends when asked by Paimon despite there being a lot of evidence to the contrary, such the as pair continuing to live under the same roof despite their constant bickering, their casually going to cafes and taverns together (and Alhaitham consequently regularly covering Kaveh's tab), and Alhaitham mentioning Kaveh a lot, to the point where he has four voice lines dedicated to him, the last which was supposed to be about Tighnari. Even outside of his voice lines, Alhaitham makes a couple of unprompted allusions to Kaveh, which confuses whichever character that is around to hear him mutter about him, such as Dehya and Paimon.
The Gadfly:
- Despite his complaints and desire for quiet, Alhaitham seemingly enjoys arguing with Kaveh and uncharacteristically goes out of his way to do so:
  - Viewing the message boards across Sumeru will show that Alhaitham occasionally unpromptedly responds to messages Kaveh leaves first, leading to an argument.
  - In the Sumeru Archon Quest, there are two instances of Alhaitham going out of his way to fight with Kaveh, the first being Alhaitham's choice to be vague when Kaveh came to him seeking information about the situation with the sages, which devolved into an argument that Alhaitham egged on. The second is after the Traveler and Paimon finish speaking to him after his discourse with Kaveh, and Alhaitham says he should leave before Kaveh shows up to argue with him again. Exiting the room and returning shows that not only did Alhaitham stay and wait for Kaveh to come back, with his dialogue further suggesting that it had been a while since Kaveh left and came back, but he also continued to egg on the argument they would have.
  - The conclusion of the Sumeru Archon Quest has Alhaitham realizing he snagged both his and Kaveh's house keys, but instead of thinking to return them to him, he laughs it off and says, "Oh well." It also carried over to Alhaitham's first idle animation, while in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean he’s surprised that he had them on his person before letting out a "hmph" and putting them away. In English, Alhaitham stares at the keys before muttering a "whatever." In all versions, he can actually be seen smiling while examining the keys.
  - In his Story Quest, he teases Kaveh about the painting he was trying to hang up after Kaveh checks in on him to see he's safe, causing Kaveh to walk off in a huff. Notably, he is smiling during this exchange. In the argument between them at the end of the quest, he pokes fun at the painting again to piss him off after Kaveh criticizes his capabilities as the Acting Grand Sage.
  - After revealing to Kaveh about Kaveh's father's involvement with Sachin in the 3.6 Interdarshan Championship, Alhaitham playfully asks Kaveh to thank him a third time when Kaveh thinks he pretended to not hear him the previous two times.
- Alhaitham appears to get a kick out of bullying Paimon and has done so numerous times during the Archon Quest, much to her annoyance. It carries over to his 2023 Birthday message, where he suggests she go to the House of Daena and read some books "that she may enjoy" knowing that she finds the books he finds enjoyable perplexing, sending her some more reading material the following year. Even in his birthday art caption, Paimon fears accidentally waking him up because of the prospect that he might ask her an impossible question.
- He also occasionally likes to make some quips when talking about his hobbies, half-joking that he purposely chooses to read complicated books to mess with others.
Gathering Steam: Chisel-Light Mirrors infuse all his attacks with a Dendro effect that cannot be overridden with elemental reactions, periodically augment his normal attacks with Projection Attacks within at least 1.6-second intervals, which increase in potency depending on the number of Mirrors on hand (to a maximum of three at a time), and are consumed to increase the hits of his Burst.
Gem Tissue: Alhaitham inexplicably has a diamond-shaped green gem embedded between his collarbones, which he shows off through a similarly diamond-shaped window in his shirt.
Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand: Alhaitham is the Firm Hand to Candace's Gentle Touch. He explains to the Traveler that while she will cuddle them to their heart's content, he'll remind them of the seriousness of their situation.
Good Is Not Nice: His words and antisocial behavior have a tendency to offend others, but his actions, such as leading Nahida's rescue operation to personally intervening in Matra operations to figure out how to implement much-needed reforms in the Akademiya as Acting Grand Sage, speak for themselves. This is downplayed, however, as he primarily did these to keep his simple lifestyle intact, to the point that he immediately resigned as Acting Grand Sage after only a few days due to the unwanted workload it would place onto him. He also treats saving Nahida as though it was a matter of course for what it would lead to and doesn't take pride in having done so.
Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: A temporary example with Nilou as the commentators of the Interdarshan Championship. Nilou was cheerful and tried to give good commentary, occasionally looking to Alhaitham for additional input, while Alhaitham only commented on what he believed was necessary, resulting in dry commentary on his end when he was asked questions on anything else. He would also leave the site after every round without telling anyone where he was going.
Guile Hero: In addition to his aforementioned skills as The Chessmaster, Alhaitham also puts on an epic act of failing at being a Fake Defector and Obfuscating Insanity that utterly fools Azar, using the chaos to plant a tampered Knowledge Capsule that becomes an important cornerstone to his entire plan.
- In his Story Quest, he immediately saw through Siraj's plan to use Ilyas as a Trojan Horse and allows the latter to fulfill his objectives while subtly manipulating him in order to turn the former's Hive Mind against him. In addition, he ensures Cyno tasks the Matra with investigating and apprehending the Hive's infiltrators in the Akademiya in order to ensure the breakdown of its unity.
Guyliner: It's subtle but he wears red eyeshadow at the sides of his eyes. He also has drawn-on bottom lashes, possibly meant to resemble the kohl makeup that is commonly worn in the Middle East.

H-W

Hard Light: Alhaitham's Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst involve using glowing energy constructs to do more damage based on the number of Chisel light Mirrors he has summoned. They take the form of blades in his Skill and a glowing hallway in his Burst.
Headphones Equal Isolation: Alhaitham's headphones are connected to a music player he keeps in his sash. He uses them to listen to music or block noise in order to read in peace and avoid talking to others.
Hiding Behind Your Bangs: He has his left eye covered by his hair, which goes with his stoic and loner personality.
Homeschooled Kids: While he was initially enrolled in the Akademiya at the age of seven, he was pulled from school the same day due to his disinterest in his fellow students and the boring lectures his teachers gave. From then until his grandmother's death, he was homeschooled, and developed his critical thinking skills through reading his family's physical book collection.
Humble Hero: Subverted. He often describes himself as "merely a feeble scholar", to the point others think it's either false modesty or him trying to downplay his actual strength. In reality, Alhaitham just doesn't see the necessity of bragging about himself to others, and he hardly sees himself as a heroic person, since all his motivations are just logical actions to keep his own lifestyle intact.
Hunk: Has some shades of Pretty Boy due to his chiseled face, but Alhaitham is still pretty tall and muscular, with his outfit showing off some of his abs and especially his biceps. Alongside Itto and Wriothesley, this especially puts him at odds with most of the playable male cast.
Hypocrite:
- In his "Alhaitham's Troubles" voice line, he comments on people inviting additional trouble into their lives and advises them not to do so, as life has enough hardships. This advice comes from someone who has welcomed their noisy ex-friend back into their life as an indefinite housemate with whom they constantly bicker.
- Another example happens in Alhaitham's Story Quest when Kaveh nags Alhaitham about not cleaning up his books in front of the Paimon and the Traveler, aka their house guests, and fills the room with an awkward silence. Alhaitham calls him out on his supposed lack of conversational skills, despite being far worse at it, and Kaveh doesn't let the comment slide.
Alhaitham: Can you feel the awkwardness in the air? I hope you're aware of your lack of conversational skills.
Kaveh: Oh, so the pot's calling the kettle black, is he?
Iconic Item: His gold and green headphones, which he's never seen without.
Idealist vs. Pragmatist: Many of his arguments with Kaveh revolve around their differing values and philosophies, with Kaveh being the idealist while Alhaitham is the pragmatist. This is exemplified by their friendship-ending argument during the joint project in their Akademiya days: Kaveh wanted the other participants to be able to keep up with him and Alhaitham due to believing that wisdom should be uncovered by many people and that the gaps in their abilities were obstacles that could be overcome with effort, while Alhaitham felt that the gap in talent between themselves and the other participants was too wide to be compensated even with hard work. Hence, Kaveh wore himself thin trying to help the other participants while Alhaitham refused to help, causing them to clash when the other participants became discouraged and exited the project.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Despite his impressive intelligence and various skills, Alhaitham is ultimately a very normal person who desires nothing more than to live a normal, comfortable life, even if he has to go to extreme lengths like overthrowing the sages and utterly changing Sumeru's political landscape to do it. He's largely successful at pursuing the normal life he wishes to lead, too.
Improbable Use of a Weapon: Alhaitham can kick his kukri at his opponents, like what Zhongli did with his spear before him.
Individualism vs. Collectivism: Alhaitham's individualism has recurringly clashed with Kaveh's collectivism in their numerous debates. Alhaitham is harsh on Kaveh's altruism due to the latter's self-sacrificial tendencies, while Kaveh criticises Alhaitham's selfishness at not helping others unless he can benefit himself in exchange when he has great capacity to do so without disadvantaging himself.
Insufferable Genius: Though Alhaitham doesn't boast his genius, his strictly logical approach and blunt manner of speech often rub people the wrong way. He also does not hesitate to call out when others are mistaken about something, often doing so in a rude manner. He also had this reputation back when he was a student in the Akademiya, as his peers and teachers described him as difficult to get along with despite, or even because of his exceptional brilliance and talent. Kaveh was the only one who disregarded his reputation and decided to approach and befriend him anyway.
Intelligence Equals Isolation: Alhaitham's intelligence led him to prefer homeschooling at a young age as he found everyone else at school to be boring, and as a student at the Akademiya he would skip classes if he decided self-learning would be more efficient and did not mingle with fellow students to the point where Kaveh, who he views as his equal, was his Only Friend. Unlike other examples of this trope, however, Alhaitham is completely content with his solitude, believing that socializing is unnecessary and preferring to spend his time alone.
In the Blood: According to Alhaitham’s fifth Character Story, he inherited his intelligence, talents, and personality from his parents.
Jerkass Has a Point: Deconstructed. Alhaitham is harshly critical of Kaveh's situation as well as aspects of his personality, such as his altruism and empathy; however, he does so partly out of concern for his old friend's proclivity to risk or even sacrifice his own comfort and happiness for the sake of others, causing him more harm in various aspects of his life. However, his crude manner of expressing his worries and his own propensity to harshly criticize Kaveh for not only his worldviews but also for unrelated matters out of spite have done more harm than good in trying to get Kaveh to acknowledge and be more receptive his legitimate advice and criticisms.
- Kaveh's Hangout Event revealing that he's fully self-aware about his issues, as well as perfectly capable of self-reflection without Alhaitham's input further deconstructs this as it suggests that Kaveh disagrees with him at least in part because he's such a jerk with his delivery.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Alhaitham hates small talk, can be rude to almost everyone, and is not averse to beating information out of people; however, he has displayed a more decent side on occasion.
- He has shown to display some kindness towards the Traveler, and while he threatened a couple Ayn al-Ahmar thugs with violence and was rude to the staff of the restaurant they were in, the fact that the former were scamming people to get rich enough to win an auction for the Divine Knowledge Capsule and that the latter are willing accomplices makes his behavior understandable. He also had the decency to warn the Traveler about the scam and forces the thugs to return the 500,000 Mora the Traveler paid them, even if he was just using them as a pretext to disrupt the scheme, and warns them to be wary in the future in case the Eremites try outright mugging them instead.
- In Aaru Village, he intercedes for Shani and emphasizes to the Traveler that her reluctance to share information with them was not out of malicious intent.
- He volunteers himself as a replacement prisoner for the Radicals in order to secure the captured maddened scholars and get more intelligence for the party, despite acknowledging the risks should the Radicals decide to act irrationally.
- Alhaitham is openly complimentary of Dehya's intelligence (note that the Akademiya has discriminatory policies against desert folk) and is disappointed that she chooses to remain among the Eremites instead of working for the Akademiya where her brilliance could be of good use.
- Despite their attitudes toward each other during most of onscreen their interactions and Alhaitham's desire for a peaceful life, he allows Kaveh, who lost his home due to debt, to room with him despite regularly being at each other's throats. Even after overthrowing the government to keep his peaceful life intact, Alhaitham doesn't make much of an effort to get rid of him, instead only passive-aggressively asking when he'll build himself a mansion or suggesting he should move out if Kaveh can't stand his personality, rather than the other way around. Even further, he doesn't push the issue after Kaveh changes the subject and Kaveh is seen at home decorating in Alhaitham's Story Quest, which takes place some time after this argument, implying that he only made these remarks out of spite.
  - Several message board conversations also confirm that Alhaitham regularly pays some of Kaveh's frivolous expenses, such as his tavern and café tabs.
  - In Alhaitham's Story Quest, Kaveh complains about Alhaitham not helping him with housework and leaving his books in a state of disorder. While Alhaitham doesn't acknowledge Kaveh's comment during the discussion or in the NPC conversation between them after, reading his thoughts via Nahida's skill will reveal that he plans to tidy them up and move the unused ones to the House of Daena, implying that he did take notice of what Kaveh said.
  - An optional post-"Parade of Providence" conversation between him and Kaveh reveals that he was secretly looking into Sachin in part because of Kaveh's father's past involvement, which is why he had asked Kaveh to look over the files in Act II of the event. After the Interdarshan Championship was over, he sought Kaveh out specifically to inform him about it. As well, he chooses not to argue with Kaveh's view that the Sachin incident won't repeat again since he believes their debate has long since moved on from who's wrong or right, mirroring his earlier statement that sometimes being correct means nothing.
  - Kaveh's fifth Character Story reveals that after Kaveh went bankrupt, despite how their friendship ended disastrously and not seeing him in years, Alhaitham could tell his old friend was going through something while all of Kaveh's other friends were oblivious, and he listened to Kaveh all night as he vented about how life had oppressed him. Following this, Alhaitham invited Kaveh to his home and the two began living together.
  - Soup is Alhaitham's least favorite food, while warm soup is one of Kaveh's. Alhaitham will ask if he can take any soup the player gives him home in his "Spice's From the West" event dialogue, implying that he'll give it to Kaveh.
  - In a branch of the "A Dear Memento" path of Kaveh's Hangout Event, he expresses concern for Kaveh after hearing from the Traveler that he's been having trouble, distracting him so that he could discuss it with the Traveler privately after Kaveh initially tried to prevent them from telling him. He also offers some insight and understanding of Kaveh's situation in a non-critical way, explaining that Kaveh should be able to reject unreasonable demands from clients as the leading genius of the Kshahrewar and a talented architect with a claim to fame, but that he doesn't due to his tendency to prioritize the feelings of others over his own. In the end, he comes to the conclusion that while Kaveh's issues could be solved with a change in his personality, they should respect the path he’s chosen for himself because everyone is different.
- At the end of his Story Quest, despite Ilyas' role as Siraj's Trojan Horse, he expresses nothing but sympathy for his circumstances, even noting that he is braver than he gives himself credit for.
  "Judging from his experiences, he is more courageous than the average person. There's no need to lay even more criticism on him. Criticizing the brave only shows how weak you are."
Kansas City Shuffle: In Sumeru Act V, Alhaitham allows Azar to figure out that his seeming betrayal of the Traveler to him was actually part of their plan, which causes Azar to have the Traveler and Paimon imprisoned and order Alhaitham exiled. This way, Azar doesn't realize that the Traveler and Paimon's imprisonment wasn't just an unfortunate sacrifice, it was a necessary part of the plan, nor does he notice that Alhaitham's real goal was to feign insanity to swap the Knowledge Capsules on Azar's desk.
Kukris Are Kool: As part of his basic attacks, Alhaitham wields a kukri in his left hand. His Projection Attack at three Chisel Light Mirrors rains down kukris in a small radius around him for lots of damage.
The Leader: Types 1 and 2. Alhaitham is for all intents and purposes the lynchpin of Nahida's rescue operation, formulating a fool-proof plan and utilizing his assets masterfully to execute it flawlessly with a level head. While Alhaitham tries to downplay his capabilities as one, the Traveler, Cyno, and Dehya all admit that he is a wise leader and has what it takes to lead Sumeru to the new era as the Grand Sage; they only wish that he also possessed the charisma to bolster morale. He even held the Grand Sage job for a while in his Story Quest, doing very well in the role before he resigned from the position at the end of it.
Light 'em Up: Played with. While Alhaitham holds a Dendro Vision, such powers take the form of light, namely his Burst using mirrors to reflect bright Dendro energy around to slash apart targets.
Like an Old Married Couple:
- His seemingly constant public bickering with Kaveh makes them come off like one. The two apparently bicker in the open so often that it's gossiped about around Sumeru. Despite this, the two still live together and appear to know each other very well.
- His Story Quest plays this up, as Kaveh essentially acts like a househusband to him, taking care of housework and decorating the home for them, seemingly without Alhaitham's permission, which Alhaitham doesn't appear to care about outside of making fun of Kaveh's difficulty with hanging a painting straight. Kaveh also demands that Alhaitham take him with him when he goes furniture shopping, which Alhaitham doesn't object to, only focusing on the fact that Kaveh would make him buy him a drink afterward.
- Despite their previous disagreements in the event, in Act III of "A Parade of Providence," he dismisses Kaveh's celebratory dinner party because he believes Kaveh will pack up some food and bring it home for him. Scanning Kaveh at dinner with Nahida's "All Schemes to Know" skill reveals his internal dialogue about ordering more food to take home, indicating that Alhaitham was correct.
Loner-Turned-Friend: While it was only hinted at in his own fourth Character Story, Kaveh's fifth Character Story goes into greater detail; Alhaitham was decidedly a loner in the Akademiya, as he was not interested in interacting with other people and was described as difficult to get along with by his peers and even teachers in the Kshahrewar. Kaveh, who was lonely after his mother left for Fontaine for work, approached him in the House of Daena, with the two eventually becoming best friends after some interactions. Kaveh's "About Alhaitham: It's Complicated" voice line confirms that they were quite close during these days.
Men Can't Keep House: Even with Kaveh around to do the housework, a closer inspection of his home shows that there are books littered everywhere. Kaveh calls him out on it in Story Quest, nagging him to tidy his unsorted books away if he's no longer reading them. While Alhaitham initially snarks at Kaveh for making the room awkward by calling him out on his unwillingness to help with housework, scanning him with Nahida's "All Schemes to Know" skill before leaving his house reveals that he plans to do something about the mess.
(There's dust on the bookshelves. I should tidy them up sometime and bring any unused books to the House of Daena.)
Mirror Character:
- He shares a lot in common with Lisa. Both are highly intelligent Akademiya alumni with green eyes who have low-key positions as librarians^note. The difference between them is the motivations behind these lifestyles. In the case of Alhaitham, he only wants to have a quiet life and describes himself as a man with very little ambitions, while Lisa was one of the brightest minds in the Spantamad Darshan until she returned to Mondstadt and settled down as librarian of the Knights of Favonius out of disappointment with the Akademiya's bad practices and her desire to have a steady job that allows her to have tea breaks.
- He and Dori are both significant figures in Kaveh's life who are extremely reclusive despite their wealth, and have caused the architect no shortage of trouble and annoyance due to their self-interested personalities, but also helped him in contrasting ways. Dori helped Kaveh achieve his ideals by granting him full creative freedom with the design and construction of the Palace of Alcazarzaray that he couldn't find in previous projects, while Alhaitham helped him with the practical realities of living by sheltering him after he became homeless. Though Alhaitham doesn't condone Dori's behaviour, he expresses appreciation at her attitude towards life.
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Another factor contributing to his decision to stand against the Akademiya. Already put on guard by the Sages' promise of divine knowledge, he eventually realized after his first outing with the Traveler that they intended to dispose of him by rendering him insane with a Divine Knowledge Capsule.
Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Subverted. Alhaitham can be a jerk with the way he talks and with the rational lens he views life through, but a plot point in his Story Quest is how others will readily make assumptions about his motivations and how he views others when in reality, he doesn't have any bad intentions and doesn't look down on anyone; rather, he only wants to keep his distance and look at the world objectively.
The Mole: During the middle one-third of the Sumeru Archon Quest, he admits to the Traveler that the Sages originally assigned him to spy on them with the promise of "divine knowledge," but has since given up on that mission by the time they met at Port Ormos, and has also grown suspicious of the offer after seeing Mizri being driven mad from using the Divine Knowledge Capsule. During the climax, he uses his long-standing order to pretend to betray the Traveler, both to lull the Sages into complacency and so he can sneak the Traveler in as a Trojan Prisoner and rescue Nahida.
Money Multiplier: Played with. His utility passive, Law of Reductive Overdetermination, gives him a 10% chance to craft double the amount of Weapon Ascension materials.
Motifs: Mirrors. They show up prominently in Alhaitham's character demonstration and his gameplay and one of his talent ascension materials is Mirror of Mushin (from the Shouki no Kami). Alhaitham also represents one side of the two-sided mirror that reflects the world, encompassing knowledge, language, and rationality, as well as learning, thinking, and doing, whereas Kaveh represents the opposite side, encompassing sensibility, architecture, and human feelings, as well as benevolence, compassion, and comprehension.
Moveset Clone: Alhaitham is a reworked Keqing. Like the Yuheng, Alhaitham is a swordsman whose Skill allows him to instantly warp to his targets and grants an elemental infusion to his weapon for a few seconds, while his Burst covers a wide area-of-effect dealing multiple slashes of elemental damage to those caught in it. There are some similarities in their animations, as best shown in their side-by-side comparisons.
Mr. Fanservice: For someone who calls himself a "feeble scholar", Alhaitham is incredibly ripped and the camera angles in some cutscenes make no effort to hide that. In addition, his default outfit consists of a skintight sleeveless top that accentuates his muscular physique, as well as showing off his prominent abs and biceps.
Must Have Caffeine: According to his "Good Morning" lines, he can't start a day without coffee.
It's a little early for me... Let me get a cup of coffee first.
Never Be Hurt Again: Both Alhaitham and Kaveh backstories reveal that after their big feud with each other, Alhaitham removed his name from both of their project due to being hurt by what Kaveh said to him. This left a lasting impact on Alhaitham's view on relationship and friendships with other people, and it isn't until the main story begins where he started to think twice about his view on friendships.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed:
- Alhaitham's name and genius bears several references to Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), a tenth-century Arab physicist and astronomer from the Buyid Emirate (in modern-day Iraq) who spent much of his life working for the Fatimid Caliphate (in modern-day Egypt), in particular in optics.
  - Alhaitham's kit revolves around generating phantasmal mirrors to either augment his regular attacks or bounce beams of Dendro energy, referencing the historical al-Haytham's work in optics.
  - According to legend, al-Haytham feigned madness so he can be placed under house arrest and escape suffering worse from the notoriously temperamental Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, whose ambitious hydraulics project at Aswan he declared impractical. Similarly, Alhaitham faked being driven mad by the Divine Knowledge Capsule in front of Azar so he can sneak the Traveler in as a Trojan Prisoner so they can contact Nahida; in addition, his Story Quest reveals that a year ago he vetoed Siraj's thesis to create a collective consciousness on the grounds of impracticality, to say nothing of possible ethical violations.
- Alhaitham can also be read as the Genshin Impact equivalent of Aristotle, especially when his relationship with Kaveh, who appears to represent Plato, is considered;
  - Alhaitham's philosophy, egoism, corresponds to Aristotle's way of thinking, whereas Kaveh's philosophy, idealism, corresponds to Plato's.
  - Aristotle and Plato famously debated opposing philosophies, which Kaveh and Alhaitham frequently do in between their other trivial debates.
  - Plato was Aristotle's senior, which mirrors the seniority Kaveh claims over Alhaitham in age and graduation status.
  - Both Kaveh◊ and Alhaitham's respective Portrait poses visually call to mind the poses of Plato and Aristotle in the famous "The School of Athens" painting.
  - Alhaitham also references Aristotle’s book "The Physics" in Archon Quest Chapter III: Act IV, which the real-life al-Haytham wrote a critique about.
Nominal Hero: Of the "Leave Me Alone" variety. During the Sumeru Archon Quest, the primary reason he decided to lead the rescue of Kusanali and foil the Sages' plans was so he could keep his simple lifestyle intact. And towards the end of his Story Quest, he reveals to the Traveler and Kaveh that he tendered his resignation as Acting Grand Sage almost as soon as he was appointed to it, all while keeping the same salary after he's demoted back down to being a Scribe.
Not in This for Your Revolution: His primary motivator for assisting the Traveler in solving Sumeru's crisis, and overthrowing the Akademiya's former system, wasn't for heroic purposes nor for any sort of personal gain such as usurping Azar from his position (even when he was appointed Acting Grand Sage, he immediately tendered his resignation after a few days); he simply enjoys his position as the Akademiya's Scribe and the sages' schemes would've greatly dampened the enjoyment he draws out of it.
Not So Above It All: Alhaitham is known for being an extremely rational person. This doesn't stop him from engaging in petty arguments with his roommate Kaveh on noticeboards across Sumeru and in public.
- Despite his image as a serious scholar, he isn’t above engaging in social activities like banquets or casual hangouts, as he willingly goes to the banquet organized by Nilou and drinks at the tavern with Kaveh, Cyno, and Tighnari while they are in the middle of a game of Genius Invokation TCG. When talking more about himself, he tells that he goes to the tavern for an after-office drink, questioning why it’s so weird that he also has very common pastimes.
- His voice line about the desert is him complaining about sand in his shoes.
No, You: He does this in "A Toast to Victory," with this being the first demonstration of how his normally calm and rational disposition shifts into an impudent and immature personality during his arguments with Kaveh.
Kaveh: Maybe it's because you've never said anything good about me before.
Alhaitham: Yeah, well, I share a similar sentiment. And anyone who knows you as well as I do would surely do the same.
Obfuscating Insanity: He pretends to lose his mind with a Divine Knowledge Capsule in front of Azar, allowing himself to be subdued along with the Traveler and Paimon, all to trick the Sages into complacency and think they have everything in control.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: Played for laughs. In "Parade of Providence", Kaveh suggests dividing the two points with Faruzan because they worked as a team, but Alhaitham clarifies that he hasn't found a rule that admits that, and then Kaveh suggests adding that rule. Instead of flat-out denying him that, Alhaitham also trolls him with his typical straightforwardness.
Alhaitham: Well, you're free to send the organizing committee an application outlining your naive proposal. They'll get back to you within three working days.
Kaveh: Three working days?! It'll be too late by then!
Alhaitham: Unfortunately for you, even dreaming is gonna cost you.
Odd Couple: The stoic and pragmatic Alhaitham is this with the romanticist Kaveh. In Nahida's voice line about Kaveh, even she is surprised to hear that they are roommates.
Odd Friendship:
- Surprisingly, he gets along with Dehya, praising her smart mindset, and that she would be an excellent addition to the Akademiya if she decides to take a break from being a mercenary. Dehya politely declines but receives well the compliment. After the Archon Quest, she and Alhaitham are seen getting along well during Cyno's party. In his voicelines about Dehya, Alhaitham laments that she has potential wasted with the Eremites, but understands that she might find the scholar life boring.
- He also has a good opinion about Nilou. Despite the Sages looking down on her for being a performer, Alhaitham praises her dedication to her arts. When both are chosen to host the Parade of Providence, they get along pretty well.
Omniglot: According to Alhaitham, one of the requirements to graduate from the Akademiya is to master at least twenty languages, and his ability to read the script of Deshret's civilization during the Sumeru Archon Quest is crucial to revealing the truth behind the collapse of said civilization and the nature of the Scarlet King's relationship with Rukkhadevata.
Once Done, Never Forgotten: Played for Laughs. He has a habit of using things Kaveh has done in the past (or several minutes prior) against him in their arguments.
Only Friend: Back when they were students at the Akademiya, he had an "only friend" in Kaveh, who was also his first known friend. Their friendship, however, did not continue due to their inability to agree on anything, and they are still at odds with each other years later.
Only Sane Man: Despite what everybody thinks of his attitude, Alhaitham is possibly the only person in Sumeru who actually has their marbles together, as the Sages are treading on forbidden territory with their ambition to create a god, and over-reliance on the Akasha making the general populace ignorant to the Sages' machinations. Finally, the Traveler's, Cyno's, Candace's, and Dehya's "hit first, ask questions later" mentality prevents them from learning about their enemy objectively and allows the sages to lead them astray. If it wasn't for Alhaitham's calm rational mindset and his knowledge on the Akasha, rescuing Nahida and punishing the Sages would've been a pipe dream.
Passive-Aggressive Kombat: His method of arguing with Kaveh involves passive-aggressively bringing up of Kaveh's failings, much to his annoyance.
Perpetual Frowner: Rarely ever smiles; the times he does, it tends to be so small that it's easy to miss.
The Philosopher: Downplayed, although he displays this trait, aligning his views with egoism. This puts him at odds with Kaveh, another philosopher whose views align with idealism, and they have frequently debated each other on their opposing philosophies through the years they have known each other, never reaching a consensus, as stated in Kaveh's "Old Sketchbook" story:

Page 31: Some academic notes and architectural drawings.
Postscript: "Our views are aligned, and they are complete." This line has been struck out.
"Our views are contradictory, but it is through contradiction that more speculation and philosophy may be born." This line has been retained.

Page 47: An excerpt from a school publication. The original title is unknown, and the preserved content is as follows:
"The selfish cannot understand wisdom's final destination. Though all of us might claim to have a place in this great hall of learning, we must understand that it is people, and not knowledge, that make our world what it is. Without a vessel, knowledge shall have no home. Universal values must naturally have some merit to be named such, and denying their general meaning does not mean that minority viewpoints will arise accordingly. This is the case with aesthetics. Beauty is something objective that exists in human hearts. It will not lose its value simply because some people cannot understand it."

"To view oneself as some mighty vessel is to fall to the narrowness of the researcher. Know that truth has never existed for the sake of individuals. The logic of the world coexists with nature, and this will not easily change whether it is interpreted as such or not. Excessive belief in the object is self-disclosure just the same, a manifestation of a lack of confidence in the subject. Moreover, one who is sufficiently self-confident will not need to constantly use plural forms of address, such as 'we.' I alone am sufficient to sustain this position — this I can assert."

Pop Culture Osmosis: As his name is a common Semitic name that is still used in present day, Alhaitham will pop up in Google searches about the historical scholar he is named after as well as prominent figures that share his name.
The Power of Language: As a Haravatat scholar and the Scribe, he is well acquainted with the impact of words, contemplating in his Character Teaser how words have recorded all matters under the sky, but only form an incomplete picture of the entire truth. He also comments how "a few words were enough" to bring down Siraj and his Hive during his story quest, telling the latter to "believe in the power of words".
Power Stereotype Flip: Instead of the nurturing, kind personality that's associated with nature and thus Dendro, Alhaitham is instead pragmatic (in a guile way), blunt and disinterested in stuff that doesn't concern him (which is a lot). Downplayed in that he's still a decent person.
Pragmatic Hero: If it means getting the job done, Alhaitham isn't afraid to make harsh or otherwise manipulative choices which is in line with his logical worldview. In his own Story Quest, he makes the risky move of pretending to trust the scholar Siraj even though Alhaitham knows Siraj is leading him into a trap and is part of the collective abducting people for experiments in the Akademiya. This is all to use the man as a pawn in collapsing the collective from the inside by playing on Siraj's ego which ends up working perfectly.
Properly Paranoid:
- In the Archon Quests, Alhaitham abandoned his original assignment to spy on the Traveler and decided to research the Divine Knowledge Capsule on his own because of his doubts about the Sages' offer of "divine knowledge" in exchange for obeying his orders. His suspicions turn out to be well-founded when he witnesses Mizri going mad as a result of receiving said knowledge.
- In his Story Quest, Alhaitham instantly deduced that Ilyas is a mole sent by Siraj to lure him to his doom based on his own experiences with the Vahumanna scholar and sought to take action personally in order to sabotage Siraj's plans.
Real Men Eat Meat: He is the buffest male character in the playable cast and he appears to prefer meat, as his special dish, "Ideal Circumstance," is made from "Sabz Meat Stew," and his preferred dishes in the event "Spices of the West" are "Fragrant Steak" and "Fragrant Sunshine Sprat." He also discusses the difficulty of grilling meat with the player in his special dialogue for his preferred Furnishing Item, "Fervid Aroma."
Rage Within the Machine: He had his doubts about the Sages' intentions when one of them approached him to spy on the Traveler in exchange for "divine knowledge," which were confirmed when he witnesses the consequences of using the Divine Knowledge Capsule firsthand. This leads him to start planning The Coup to overthrow the Sages.
Raised by Grandparents: His parents died when he was young, leaving him to be raised by his grandmother as detailed in his fifth Character Story.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes turned red when he seemingly uses the Divine Knowledge Capsule in a desperate attempt to escape being imprisoned by the Corps of Thirty when Azar "figures out" his plan to hinder the Sages, which, as past victims of the Divine Knowledge Capsule have done, made him insane and proceed to attack Azar. It turns out to be subverted however, as he had modified his Akasha Terminal beforehand to turn red to fool Azar, and it (along with his eyes) return to their normal color once he is safely escorted outside the Akademiya premises.
Red/Green Contrast: Alhaitham primarily wears green and is a calm individual while his passionate roommate Kaveh wears red.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is the Blue (cold, stoic, and analytical), to Kaveh's Red (histrionic, emotional, and temperamental).
Reflecting Laser: His Burst summons the Particular Binding Field, a phantasmal hall of mirrors that bounces beams of Dendro energy four times within its damage radius; if there are Chisel-Light Mirrors active, they are consumed to add a pair of extra hits each (for a maximum of ten). His fourth Constellation upgrade, Elucidation, increases his own Dendro Damage Bonus and his allies' Elemental Mastery stats for fifteen seconds by, respectively, 30 points and 10% per Chisel-Light Mirror consumed whenever he triggers the Burst (for a maximum of 90 points and 30%). This effect is cleared if Alhaitham uses his Burst again while it is still active.
Regenerating Mana: A pair of variants regarding Chisel-Light Mirrors.
- Two seconds after triggering his Burst, Alhaitham generates a number of Mirrors inversely proportional to that consumed when the Burst was triggered: three if none are consumed, two if one, one if two, and none if three. His sixth Constellation upgrade, Structuration, removes this restriction and allows him to regenerate three Mirrors regardless of the number consumed beforehand, in addition to a Status Buff (see below).
- Alhaitham's first-ascension passive, Four-Causal Correction, allows his charged or plunging attacks to generate one Mirror whenever they strike enemies (within at least twelve-second intervals).
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: In his Story Quest, he gives one to Siraj after defeating him that breaks down just how self-absorbed the latter's perspective was.
Siraj: I know very well that you've never viewed me as an equal. When you were with us, you always had a distant look in your eyes. You don't need to hide it. I know it better than anyone else — the arrogance that comes with being a genius. Nobody likes being treated like that!
Alhaitham: Your perspective is entirely born from your habitual way of looking at things. From your perspective, you probably think I'm like you: someone who doesn't "fit in." However, I've never placed myself on a pedestal. I just want to distance myself from meaningless noise and look at everything objectively. On the other hand, you have failed to come to terms with who you truly are. You care too much about winning and how others perceive you.
Siraj: You mean to say that... I'm the arrogant one here?
Alhaitham: Is that not so? Arrogant, and emotionally fragile.
Reputation Apathy: Throughout his life, most people who knew him described him as difficult to get along with and unapproachable. Despite this, he is unconcerned and actively wishes for people to continue perceiving him in this way, even going so far as to warn the Traveler against sending any trouble his way even if they believe the rumors surrounding him.
Reed Richards Is Useless: And by choice. He is a genius who holds a body of knowledge that is more advanced than most people could imagine, making him probably one of the most intelligent characters in the entire cast. That said, when it comes to his personality, he has a lazy, self-centered, and lacks ambition, and only uses his intelligence for his own gain. Even when put in a position where he could have helped Sumeru with his vast knowledge as Acting Grand Sage, he instead opted to cut funding to Kshahrewar out of spite for his roommate, a former student of the Darshan, and then quickly resigned to resume his duties as a Scribe at the scheduled time.
Right-Hand Hottie:
- Alhaitham is a muscular and handsome man, whose work as the Scribe involves administrative work such as minute-taking during meetings, classifying and archiving documents as well as drafting ordinances.
- Unlike Yae Miko before him, his significant role in the Archon Quest does not earn him this position with the Dendro Archon Nahida, as overthrowing the Akademiya leadership and saving her were all done so he could return to his normal life; once it's over, he loses almost all association with her, with Wanderer becoming her right hand instead in A Parade of Providence.
Roommate Drama: He annoys the hell out of his roommate Kaveh due to his coldly logical and stubborn personality. One of their most common discussions involves their different taste in decoration and Alhaitham leaving his books scattered around the house.
Save Your Deity: Is the strategist and leader who organised the effort to free Kusanali from her prison during Chapter III Act V.
Secret-Keeper: Being the one who houses Kaveh, he is naturally one of the few characters aware of Kaveh's bankruptcy and is tasked with keeping it hidden from the public. However, he appears to be less concerned with concealing other aspects of Kaveh's current situation, as he readily informs the Traveler and Paimon that they're roommates after being asked what their relationship is and later tells Kaveh that he has no reason to hide the fact that they live together so carefully because the truth will eventually come out.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: He is the Manly Man next to Kaveh’s Sensitive Guy. While not emotionless, Alhaitham observes the world through a more rational lens and doesn't let his emotions influence his actions. He also is poor with housework, visibly more muscular, and dresses primarily in black and dark green. In contrast, Kaveh is far more emotional and views the world through a compassionate lens, helping others even at the expense of himself. He's also an artist, is tasked with tidying up the house (which he appears to do unprompted at times, according to Alhaitham's Story Quest), has a more slim body, and dresses colorfully.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Alhaitham always carries some book with him, which he reads during his breaks. When Paimon wants to know what his book is about, she can’t understand a single paragraph and gives up completely. Makes sense, since he is from the Akademiya's Semiotics school.
"I like reading difficult and abstruse books, and seeing others scratch their heads in confusion. I'm only joking. I don't delight in others' misery, and rarely do I encounter a book that's difficult for me."
Signature Headgear: Wears a pair of green noise-cancelling headphones with golden embellishments with a wire attached to his left headset that extends down his torso. As a playable character, this appears to enable his flash stepping Elemental Skill.
Sincerity Mode: At the end of the Sumeru Archon Quest, during a conversation with Kaveh, he lets in slip a remark about his concern for the architect's absence in Kusanali's rescue. The latter still doesn't buy it, though.
Alhaitham: So, what great building did our master architect work on this time?
Kaveh: Like I need to tell you! Keep your nose out of my business.
Alhaitham: No, I think we deserve to know. Where were you when Sumeru needed you most?
Sleeves Are for Wimps: Downplayed. Alhaitham's outfit doesn't include sleeves, although he does wear opera gloves, which would mitigate this effect. The thing is, it ends up making the fact that Alhaitham has fairly large biceps more visible. Not really noteworthy in and of itself, except he's the only character with biceps that large. Even Itto, who is tall with washboard abs, doesn't have much in the way of muscle mass.
Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Alhaitham's more technically demanding playstyle befits his Awesomeness by Analysis approach to fighting.
Small Role, Big Impact: Not Alhaitham himself, but his deceased grandmother, whose relationship with him is detailed in-depth in his fifth Character Story, was a major contributor to the character Alhaitham is in the present. Most importantly, the prayer she left for him in one of her books that encouraged him to live a peaceful life is the primary reason he goes so far to honor her wish and preserve his lifestyle in the Sumeru Archon Quest, even overthrowing the government to do so.
The Smart Guy: Alhaitham serves this role while working with the Traveler, Cyno, Dehya, Candace, and Nilou to uncover the Sages' conspiracy and subsequently overthrow them to put Lesser Lord Kusanali back into power.
Snark-to-Snark Combat: Most of his onscreen interactions with Kaveh consist of the two snarking at each other after they get off-subject.
The Social Expert: Despite his introverted personality, Alhaitham knows exactly how people at the Akademiya think and behave, which he exploits in favor of the group's plan to rescue Nahida. He is in charge of formulating the plan, since he discovered that they were tracking Cyno's patterns, manages to avoid a scholar by making him think that he is supposed to know why they were at the Akademiya unannounced (which works as expected), takes advantage of Azar's arrogance by letting him believe that they were outmatched, and knows very well that the guards are too reliant on the Akasha, allowing him to manipulate them by tampering with their orders.
- He utilizes his understanding of Siraj and general human behaviour against the latter in his story quest, not only recognising Ilyas as bait that Siraj had put out to lure him in from the very moment he saw him, but also made remarks to Ilyas that enable him to question the power hierarchy of Siraj's Hive Mind as well as the unjustified loathing towards Alhaitham that Siraj had imbued in all his subjects as the Overmind, causing the members of the Hive Mind to eventually overthrow Siraj when Ilyas returned to the collective consciousness and share his feelings of doubt with the other members.
Spell Blade: His Skill summons a Chisel-Light Mirror that endows his normal attacks with a Dendro effect that cannot be overriden with elemental reactions, in addition to triggering a wide-ranging Projection Attack whenever his enhanced attacks hit enemies, with increasing potency depending on the number of Mirrors on hand.
The Spock: He's known for operating purely by rationality, which leads him to take actions and express opinions many people would find unacceptable. This causes a lot of conflict with his roommate Kaveh, who's The McCoy.
Sticky Fingers:
- For an academic, Alhaitham is really good at snatching things out from under people's noses. Not only does he sneakily pocket the Divine Knowledge Capsule while Mizri was being arrested, when he pretends to use it in Azar's office and wildly attacks in a fit of apparent insanity, he deliberately crashes against the Grand Sage's desk, and uses that brief moment to not only swipe a specific Knowledge Capsule, but swap it for one that contains a fake order to arrest an escaping Kusanali. The Traveler notes that this is partly because of how Alhaitham keeps his head cool when under pressure.
- This is Played for Laughs in his second idle animation, as it shows him realising that he accidentally snatched Kaveh's house key along with his own.
Status Buff:
- Alhaitham's second Constellation upgrade, Debate, allows him to gather up to four stacks of a 50-point Elemental Mastery boost that last eight seconds each whenever he generates a Chisel-Light Mirror, and which can continue to stack even if there are already three Mirrors active.
- In addition to allowing him to fully replenish his Chisel-Light Mirrors (see above), his sixth Constellation upgrade, Structuration, increases his Critical Rate and Critical Damage by, respectively, 10% and 70% for six seconds should he generate Chisel-Light Mirrors if there are already three in the field.
The Stoic: Downplayed. Alhaitham can show emotions, though he rarely does, and changes in his facial expressions are hard to notice if the player isn't paying attention. For example, there is virtually no difference between his "Default" and "Serious" expressions in Kamera mode, and his "Pensive" expression is just him squinting a little.
Storm of Blades: When triggered through plunging attacks, Projection Attacks manifest as a rain of swords made of Dendro energy.
Strong Family Resemblance: If the "stiff-looking couple" that Kaveh's mother met more than thirty years ago were indeed Alhaitham's parents, Alhaitham not only looks like his father, he also has the same mannerism of lifting up his leg to rest on his knee when sitting in a chair to read.
Surrounded by Idiots: Nahida's voice line about him implies that he regards the majority of people as defective since they are incapable of achieving his level of intellect. His Story Quest, on the other hand, implies that rather than looking down on others, he observes them with indifference.
Symbol Motif Clothing: Curiously, his cape features a few of the same eye-like motifs that can be found on the Golden Wolflord.
Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He is tied with Kaveh for being the tallest male of the Sumeru cast, dresses in green, teal, and black, and he occasionally has his moments of deadpan sarcasm (especially around Kaveh).
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Initially, he is not fond of Cyno and does not enjoy having to work with him. Regardless, the two manage to put aside their differences for the sake of the greater good of Sumeru, and by the end of it they have formed a friendship based on mutual understanding.
Think Nothing of It: He dismisses the Traveler's thanks in the Archon Quest due to his lack of interest in keeping track of personal favors. This mindset doesn't apply when Kaveh thanks him, however, leading to this exchange in "A Parade of Providence":
Kaveh: "…Thanks for letting me know all this."
Alhaitham: "Uhh, what?"
Kaveh: "I said, thanks for letting me know. Hey! Stop acting like you didn’t hear me! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?"
Alhaitham: "They say that earnest thanks should be given thrice, so… One more time, please."
Token Good Teammate: Along with Cyno, he is only member of the Akademiya to never support their plans, stating that the Sages' actions have crossed the line.
Ungrateful Bastard: Played for Laughs towards the end of his Story Quest. When Kaveh points out that he took the time out of his day to tidy up the living room for Alhaitham instead of catching up on his work, instead of thanking him, Alhaitham brings up that Kaveh needs to pay him the rent he's owed so he can buy furniture with it, a reaction which only ticks Kaveh off more because of his poor decorating choices.
Tsundere: A Harsh example. He treats Kaveh harshly during their interactions but expresses concern for him when he isn't around or paying attention, suggesting he cares about him more than he lets on. This is exemplified in the second branch of Kaveh's Hangout Event's "A Dear Memento" path, where he uses his usual The Gadfly tendencies to distract Kaveh before privately asking the Traveler to elaborate on their claim that Kaveh was having trouble with evident concern after Kaveh walks out of earshot. They have a discussion about Kaveh's situation, which Alhaitham offers insight into, and praises Kaveh in the middle, before returning to his usual teasing tendencies as soon as Kaveh returns.
- Before this, Alhaitham had approached Kaveh and the Traveler in the House of Daena from a distance after allegedly hearing Kaveh's loud voice through his noise-canceling headphones, claiming he wouldn't have noticed them otherwise. From the player's point of view, Kaveh was speaking at normal volume, and Alhaitham was nowhere to be seen when they first arrived, meaning he shouldn't have heard him talking anyway. This implies that either Alhaitham's headphones are defective, or he noticed them come in and was waiting for a point of entry to intervene.
Unreliable Expositor: In spite of his claims of wanting to uncover the truth of the world, Alhaitham occasionally makes claims that are contradicted by reality:
- According to Alhaitham, a stall owner once conned Kaveh into buying keychains to feed children in poverty, which he found amusing for Kaveh to fall for due to Sumeru providing free healthcare while also implying that the nation meets the needs of its residents. However, the story gives us reason to doubt his claim; not only does the player have to take Alhaitham's word for it that the duping happened (with these words coming from someone the player comes to know as self-serving and who mocked Kaveh helping people that were actually in need before), but his reasoning as to why Kaveh was getting conned is incorrect:
  - The lack of affordability of Sumeru's healthcare has been brought up at several points in the story, with Dehya at one point speculating that the Homayani family struck a deal with Hakan Al-Ahmar to pay off healthcare loans.
  - In Dori's backstory, her sister passed away because of her family's inability to afford the needed medicine, which kicked off her obsession with money in the present.
  - Even if Sumeru City provides for its residents, the people of the desert are not actively included in this coverage, and struggle to survive each day, with Dehya's Character Teaser showing her bringing an orphan from the desert to an orphanage in Sumeru City to give them a better life. If Kaveh was duped, it might have been because the stall owner wasn't as charitable as he claimed, not because there aren't starving children. That said, it's just as likely that Alhaitham was just being Alhaitham and viewed Kaveh's actions as unnecessary due to him involving himself in someone else's problems.
  - Daily Commissions involving the Bimarstan, Sumeru City's medical wing, reveal it to be understaffed to the point that just cleaning up after patients can be too much, much less keeping track of the treatment progress of patients that have returned home. Doctor Zakariya often has to make sure his patients are actually following his prescribed treatments, and is also burdened with creating prescriptions for people as far away as Aaru Village. Even though the Bimarstan claims to provide free healthcare, it could easily be too busy for urgent cases, or too underfunded for cases involving extensive and more importantly expensive treatments, which is a problem that can crop up in free healthcare systems in real life as well. It probably doesn't help that the fees and tax revenue from business tend to end up as funding for the Akademiya's researchers; a tax officer by Sumeru's docks is berated by her superior from the Navbed for lowering those extraneous rates to encourage trade.
  - At the end of "A Parade of Providence," Kaveh chooses to donate all of Sachin's money to help poor families, which Alhaitham, the scribe, must ratify and report to the Akademiya. This suggests that there are still children living in poverty and not getting the support they need in Sumeru, despite the availability of free healthcare.
- Alhaitham also makes a strange comment in his "About Tighnari" voice line, claiming that Kaveh foolishly built a house on top of a Withering Zone. Without context, this statement just makes Kaveh look like an airhead that made a dumb and dangerous decision; however, Kaveh's fourth Character Story reveals that Alhaitham wasn't telling the whole story, and painted a completely different picture of the incident. Not only was the "house" Kaveh building the Palace of Alcazarzaray, it was also not built on a Withering Zone; the Withering crept onto the property despite all of Kaveh's immaculate planning and preparation for anything that could go wrong, making it an unfortunate incident that no one involved in the project could have predicted nor prevented. Even stranger, there is no indication that Tighnari himself had any involvement with the Withering Zone incident, let alone that he knows it happened in the first place, despite Alhaitham stating that Tighnari not holding it against Kaveh makes him a good person; neither Kaveh nor Tighnari speak of his involvement, and they both talk fondly about Kaveh asking for his help in picking the ornamental flora for the Palace of Alcazarzaray. Tighnari also has no idea how or why Kaveh ended up in debt in the first place, further indicating that he's in the dark about the whole thing.
- In "A Parade of Providence," despite knowing why Sachin chose Kaveh in the first place, Alhaitham claims that even Sachin struggled to comprehend the notion of sacrificing oneself for the greater good, implying that he believes Kaveh and Sachin's perspectives aren't completely aligned. This is despite the fact that Sachin's satisfied smile after Kaveh rebelled against him indicated that he approved Kaveh's decision to not better his life in order to help others in need, which was, in itself, a form of sacrifice, and allowed Sachin's consciousness to move on now that he's chosen the right successor. Tighnari also later implies that Sachin chose Kaveh knowing he would make that decision.
- Alhaitham provides insight into Kaveh's situation in The First Ideal Path of Kaveh's Hangout Event, stating that Kaveh should have the right and confidence to reject any unreasonable demands made of him, and that Kaveh's attitude has a fundamental flaw that must be corrected in order to reconcile his desire to please his clients while also being satisfied with his own work. This is contradicted by the events prior to this discussion, as the Hangout Event began because Kaveh was tired of his client's unreasonable demands and left the project entirely, telling him to find another genius to work with. In the path where he is convinced to work with Badawi again, Kaveh is also able to reach the conclusion of standing his ground against his client on his own, without falling into the same pitfall of letting Badawi control the direction of his design in the way Alhaitham suggested he would. The path ends with Kaveh coming up with his own design inspired by the Traveler, which he is proud of and does not seek Badawi's approval over.
Unreliable Narrator: While Alhaitham's fourth Character Story is not narrated by him, it does tell the story of his Akademiya days with Kaveh leading up to their present situation from his perspective and leaves out key details that were only revealed or clarified with the release of Kaveh's fifth Character Story. Among these details, some notable things include:
- The first time Alhaitham and Kaveh met. Kaveh first approached Alhaitham in a library after hearing about him from his peers and teachers, which is also brought up in one route of Kaveh's Hangout Event.
- The title of the joint project they worked on together, which was a thesis titled "Decoding the Runes and Architectural Philosophy of King Deshret’s Civilization."
- While Alhaitham and Kaveh initially began the joint project together, other students came and went when they realized they couldn't keep up with the two intellectually until they were again the only ones left working on it. Alhaitham's side of the story solely focused on the fact that Kaveh is the only person with whom Alhaitham had ever worked on a project, making no mention of other participants.
- The presence of other participants was also revealed to be what caused their relationship to strain rather than the project itself, as Kaveh was frustrated with Alhaitham's refusal to help others, and Alhaitham was frustrated that Kaveh spread himself thin by helping others rather than accepting that "ordinary" people can't keep up with them and there's nothing they can do about it, no matter how hard they worked. This eventually led to their big, friendship-ending argument, in which they both said hurtful things to each other and Kaveh declared that he regretted ever befriending Alhaitham.
- There's an explanation for how they began living together. After coincidentally reuniting in Lambad's Tavern sometime after Kaveh went bankrupt, Kaveh spilled his guts to Alhaitham about how difficult life had been on him, which Alhaitham attentively listened to all night. Following this encounter, Alhaitham invited Kaveh to live with him.
- Kaveh's story also explains their home; it was originally a research center assigned to them by the Akademiya for their project, but it eventually fell into disuse and was given to them to do what they please. The property was converted into a proper home after Kaveh forfeited his rights to it. However, according to Alhaitham's Character Story, it was always a house that Kaveh turned down because he already had a home at the time.
Upgrade Artifact: A couple of variants:
- Alhaitham's fourth-ascension passive, Mysteries Laid Bare, increases the damage of Projection Attacks and the Particular Binding Field by 0.1% for every point of Elemental Mastery he has, to a maximum of 100% (equivalent to at least 1,000 points).
- His third and fifth Constellation upgrades, Negation and Sagacity, add three levels to, respectively, his Skill and Burst.
Vague Age: In Kaveh's fifth Character Story, he is revealed to be two years younger than Kaveh, who is implied to be in his late twenties.
Vitriolic Best Buds:
- Downplayed. They both respect each other as geniuses and don’t consider themselves to be friends in the present after the falling out they had in their Akademiya days, but they’ve stuck together for so long that they’ve garnered a reputation around Sumeru for their vitriolic relationship.
- During his Story Quest, Alhaitham appears to dismiss Kaveh's concern for him after learning about the Siraj incident. However, we see the tail end of Alhaitham telling Kaveh about Siraj and the two discussing it in an extra conversation that takes place after the Traveler and Paimon "leave" Alhaitham's house to get dinner.
We Used to Be Friends: His fourth Character Story hinted at the story behind his relationship with Kaveh, although Kaveh’s fifth Character Story added clarification. They were best friends in the Akademiya, having approached him first in a library after hearing from their peers and teachers that he was difficult to get along with. Their friendship began to deteriorate while working on the joint project “Decoding the Runes and Architectural Philosophy of the Ruins of King Deshret’s Civilization,” as they discovered that they were utterly different in views, academic direction, how they treat others and personalities. But while their differences caused strain, what ultimately ended their friendship was Alhaitham pointing out that Kaveh used excessive altruism to try and escape from the guilt he felt over his father’s death, and that one day it would bring him to ruin. Angered, Kaveh declared he regretted ever befriending him, and they parted ways.
Weapon Specialization: Alhaitham's Wish banner runs concurrent with that for the Light of Foliar Incision (5★), whose Ascension substat is Critical Damage (19.2–88.2%), while its "Whitemoon Bristle" passive increases its wielders Critical Rate by 4–8%, as well as endows them with the "Foliar Incision" effect whenever their element-imbued Normal Attacks hit enemies (with at least a twelve-second interval), which increase the damage of Normal Attacks and Elemental Skills by 120–240% of their Elemental Mastery stat, lasting either for twelve seconds or 28 hits, hence allowing Alhaitham to get a lot of mileage out of Chisel-Light Mirrors.
Wild Card: Downplayed. Despite being affiliated with the Akademiya, whose leadership has been showing extremely questionable behavior throughout the Sumeru Archon Quest, the end of the First Act implies that Alhaitham may have his own agenda. After secretly stealing the Divine Knowledge Capsule from Mizri, he contemplates whether to immediately return it to the Akademiya or pry into its secrets. While he sides with The Traveler against the Akademiya, he makes no bones that he has his own agenda, which turns to be opposition to the Sages' schemes threatening his way of life as a Scribe, as well as the autonomy of his fellow scholars.
With Great Power Comes Great Perks: He was largely uninterested in receiving a Vision because it was of no use to him in his research, though he believes it is effective for resolving physical disputes.
You Remind Me of X: In his Story Quest, Paimon nags Alhaitham about attempting to leave her and the Traveler with unanswered questions about Siraj, to which Alhaitham responds by vaguely saying, "Your behavior is reminding me of some other people." Skip to the scene inside his home in which Kaveh has a similar reaction to Alhaitham abruptly leaving without an explanation, suggesting that Alhaitham was comparing Paimon to him.

Characters / Genshin Impact: Alhaitham

Alhaitham

Introduced: January 18, 2023 (v3.4 "The Exquisite Night Chimes" [first half])
Voiced by: Yang Chaoran (Chinese), Yuichiro Umehara (Japanese), Jun Seung-hwa (Korean), Nazeeh Tarsha (English)

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Characters / Genshin Impact: Alhaitham

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Alhaitham

Introduced: January 18, 2023 (v3.4 "The Exquisite Night Chimes" [first half])Voiced by: Yang Chaoran (Chinese), Yuichiro Umehara (Japanese), Jun Seung-hwa (Korean), Nazeeh Tarsha (English)

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Introduced: January 18, 2023 (v3.4 "The Exquisite Night Chimes" [first half])
Voiced by: Yang Chaoran (Chinese), Yuichiro Umehara (Japanese), Jun Seung-hwa (Korean), Nazeeh Tarsha (English)