NOTE: Folders in boldface denote playable characters.

Liyue

Liyue is the nation of Stone and Contracts, under the patronage of the Geo Archon, Rex Lapis. A harbor-city located in eastern Teyvat, Liyue had been ruled by Rex Lapis for several millennia, who grew the nation into a bustling trade hub, and the most prosperous of the seven nations.

Though formally ruled by Rex Lapis, the Rex only makes one annual public appearance at the Rite of Descension to dictate his policies. Daily governance is instead conducted by the Qixing, a committee of seven business leaders sworn to uphold the Rex's laws. Rex Lapis's vision for Liyue is one of order—the creation of a nation where gods, immortals, and men can organize themselves through contracts.

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General Tropes

Dub Pronunciation Change: The characters of Liyue's name (璃月, pinyin "Líyuè") are read as "Riiyue" (the former via on'yomi, or Chinese-derived, reading, and the latter a transliteration; katakana リーユェ) in Japanese and "Riwol" (hangul 리월) in Korean.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Liyue is strongly based on China, with its Archon Quest's theme of the transfer of power from the godlike adepti to humans bringing to mind China's transition from imperial to republican rule early in the 20th century, while the tall rocks of Jueyun Karst to the west bring to mind the South China Karst covering the modern-day provinces of Chongqing, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan.
Meaningful Name: Liyue's name (璃月, pinyin "Líyuè") means "Glazed Moon." In addition, the first character can be decomposed into 王 (wáng, "king") and 离 (lí, "departure"), while the latter can also mean "month"; all three characters can be roughly read as "month of the king's departure," an allusion to the story of its Archon Quest involving the apparent death of Rex Lapis. In addition, Liyue's name is near-homophonous to 立约 (lìyuē, "establishing a contract"), befitting its reigning Archon's specialization in contracts of all kinds, as well as 礼乐 (lǐyuè, "rites and music"), referring to the values of, respectively, order and cultural harmony central to Confucianism.
Proud Merchant Race: Liyue is led by seven of their most influential business leaders and worships an Archon that has the ability to generate Mora. Many of the mortal playable characters are also actively involved in their family's business or run their own enterprises.

Adepti

See their individual page here.

Liyue Harbor

The capital of Liyue.

See their individual page here.

Qixing

See their individual page here.

Exorcists

Chongyun

Chongyun

Introduced: September 28, 2020 (v1.0 "Welcome To Teyvat" [game launch])
Voiced by: kinsen (Chinese), Soma Saito (Japanese), Yang Jeong-hwa (Korean), Beau Bridgland (English)

Frozen Ardor

"Discipline is everything. Unbridled passion can have disastrous consequences. Trust me, I would know. Oh, no no no, not from personal experience, of course... haha... uh..."

Rarity: 4★
Element: Cryo
Weapon: Claymore
Constellation: Nubis Caesor, the Cloud Cleaver

Heir to a famed clan of thaumaturges, Chongyun has the interesting dilemma of being too susceptible to Yang energy. While this overabundance easily vanquishes evil spirits and demons, he is also prone to intense mood swings—entering a manic, unhinged state if he gets too heated, and having no memory of these incidents afterwards. Therefore, he takes various precautions to keep himself from overheating, including abstaining from spicy foods and staying out of the sun.

Chongyun excels at agile, hard-hitting slashes and providing offensive support. His Elemental Skill, Spirit Blade: Chonghua's Layered Frost, is a downward slash that additionally creates a Chonghua Frost Field which imbues the party's melee attacks with Cryo, wile his Elemental Burst, Spirit Blade: Cloud-Parting Star, rains down three Spirit Blades made of pure ice on a group of enemies.^note

Alternate Identity Amnesia: Chongyun can't remember what he does in his Yang state, which bothers him.
Always a Bigger Fish: Discussed. Part of his desire to exorcise demons without the use of his Yang energy is out of concern that one day he will meet a demon undeterred by his Yang energy; lest he get caught flat-footed, he opts to expand his combat repertoire.
Ambiguous Situation:
- Xiangling believes Chongyun's "heated state" is his true self when his self-imposed barriers are down. Chongyun believes it is a curse. Which one is true, if either, is unknown.
- His character story also puts a mystery on why exactly he got a Vision: either because he wants to become the greatest exorcist in Liyue, or to control his Yang energy, or to rid the world of evil spirits.
Animal Eyes: He has slitted pupils like a cat.
Area of Effect: His Skill creates a Chonghua Frost Field wherein, for the next ten seconds, the party's melee (i.e., sword, claymore, or polearm) attacks become imbued with a Cryo effect. His first-ascension passive, Steady Breathing, adds an 8% boost to their attacking speed, giving him good synergy with most characters, in particular Pyro and Hydro Vision holders.^note
Berserk Button: As he works hard towards honing his skills and is immensely proud of his role as an exorcist, he despises being looked down upon and underestimated. That being said, when Hu Tao and Xiao make their remarks about exorcists, Chongyun's Yang energy nearly boils over.
Blessed with Suck: Having an abundance of Yang energy is great for exorcising evil spirits. Too bad it also sends him into an intense heated state that he cannot remember afterwards. To make it worse, even simple things like eating spicy food, exposing himself to the sun for a long time, or wearing warm clothing can trigger this. And even if it is useful in his duties, Chongyun himself rues having this trait, labeling it as a cheap trick. His Hangout Event tree shows that he needs to focus so heavily on not losing control of himself at any given time that merely tasting a chili or drinking a peppered drink can completely cripple him.
Blue Means Cold: Chongyun wears mostly white and blue and has ice powers.
Cassandra Truth: He sometimes faces disbelief from people who initially express doubt in his capabilities, as he does not have to do anything fancy to ward off spirits. However, he refuses to "go through the motions" like the so-called "exorcists" tend to do, and displays distaste for charlatans who make use of such tactics.
Celibate Hero: His voice lines at Friendship Level 6 says he wants to consider partaking in activities of "more passionate nature", but thinking about them is too stimulating because of his excessive Yang energy.
Cooldown Manipulation: With his second Constellation upgrade, Atmospheric Revolution, the Chonghua Frost Field gains the ability to shave 15% off the cooldown time of any Elemental Talent triggered within.
Crippling Overspecialization: Chongyun's innate Yang energy is perfect for ridding evil spirits, as his mere presence causes them intense pain and can make them cross over. Unfortunately, it also has an effect on his personality, causing him to go wild over very minute things such as tasting spicy peppers. Chongyun himself hates his condition and seeks to be rid of it.
Death from Above: His Burst summons three blades made of pure ice that impale enemies.
Determinator: He's decided to not give up so that one day, he can become the greatest exorcist in Liyue, control his Yang energy, and rid the world of evil spirits. His resolve is implied to be what earned him his Vision.
Does Not Like Spam: He hates any food with chilies in them. Not because he cannot stand the spice, but because they trigger his heated side.
Dub Pronunciation Change: The characters of his name (simplified 重云, traditional 重雲, pinyin "Chóngyún") are read as "Chō'un" (via kan-on, or Han Chinese-derived, reading; hiragana ちょううん) in Japanese and "Jung'un" (hangul 중운) in Korean.
Easy Amnesia: Chongyun cannot remember anything he does within his "heated" state.
Elemental Hair Colors: His hair is light blue, as befitting his Cryo vision.
Elemental Personalities: Zig-zagged. Chongyun suffers from an excess of Yang energy, which causes him to become very easily excitable, not at all in line with Cryo. However, he is aware of this, and works hard to suppress his vivacious side. His usual personality is rather tranquil and he rarely raises his voice, which would coincide with Cryo.
Exotic Eye Designs: As seen in the "Waterborne Poetry" Event Quest, he gains a diamond design to his pupils whenever he is in a Yang state.
Foil: To Diona. Both are youthful Cryo Vision wielders who excel at their respective occupations thanks to a unique gift they possess, but which the both of them take grievance with. In Chongyun's case however, he's a Claymore using exorcist who's aware of his overabundance of Yang energy and bothered by it because he believes if he continues to rely on it as a crutch, he'll be unprepared for when he runs into a truly powerful evil spirit. As for Diona, she is a bow-using bartender who was blessed by a fairy to always makes delicious drinks, something she writes off as a dream to this day, and can't stand it because it counteracts her goals to destroy Monstadt's wine industry. Paimom even Lampshades that the two are rather similar in the "Waterborne Poetry" event. The main difference is that, unlike Diona, Chongyun knows he has this blessing, while Diona doesn't know why she keeps making delicious drinks no matter how gross she does them.
The Fettered: His voice line about his Vision states that he doesn't try to rely in its power, instead preferring to vigorously train his thaumaturgy skills and martial arts.
Friend to All Children: The children of Liyue appear to look up to him, and one route of his Hangout Event tree shows him enjoying their company. While he is at first unsure on how to hang out with children, the ones he spends time with love playing hide and seek with him and adore the popsicles he gives them.
The Ghost: Prior to the "Waterborne Poetry" event in v4.1, his Yang split personality is not encountered in game (including his Hangout Event), only referred to by other characters.
Heroic RRoD: Trying to suppress his Yang energy from overheating his body, Chongyun once dug a hole in a frozen lake and soaked himself in the icy waters for three days. He suffered from a long-lasting fever after that incident.
Humble Hero: In his character story, a wealthy woman was so grateful for Chongyun exorcising an evil spirit that haunted her dreams, she initially wanted to reward him with gold and jewelry. However, Chongyun only took his usual fee of a hundred mora.
Icy Blue Eyes: When in his "normal" personality. Otherwise, subverted.
I Just Want to Be Normal: He wants nothing more than to rid himself of his overabundant Yang energy so he can experience life to the fullest without going into a heated state. He also wishes to fight demons and evil spirits like a true exorcist without having to rely on said state.
Instant Runes: One of his idle animations has him drawing and manipulating glowing blue sigils in mid-air. These sigils also appear when he casts his Elemental Burst.
In the Blood: Chongyun and Shenhe both have Cryo Visions. Chongyun also seems to have inherited a milder version of Shenhe's curse of bloodthirst in the form of his Yang energy, which can easily overwhelm him and turn him into a wild, Hot-Blooded person.
Irony:
- He is such a successful exorcist that he has never even met a ghost, since they flee in terror from his mere presence. This bothers him, as he feels guilty accepting payment for his exorcisms when he does not have to do much. It also leads to him being forced to use his imagination to describe what the ghost or demon looks like.
- Despite being an exorcist, others have often mistaken him for a demon due to his overabundance of Yang energy.
Kaizo Trap: Chongyun's fourth-ascension passive, Rimechaser Blade, allows the Chonghua Frost Field to coalesce into a Spirit Blade once its duration expires, which immediately drops down to deal wide-ranging Cryo damage on surrounding enemies and reduce their Cryo Resistance by 10% for eight seconds.
Man of Kryptonite: His presence is so intensely painful to ghosts they find themselves forced to flee from him or forcibly be made to cross over.
Mana Drain: Chongyun's fourth Constellation upgrade, Frozen Skies, restores 1 Energy whenever he hits enemies afflicted with Cryo (within at least two-second intervals).
Meaningful Name: His name means "layered clouds," since large, fluffy clouds are typically signs of cold weather, including snow.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: As of this writing, his Skill is the only one that infuses an elemental effect for melee units (i.e., Cryo to sword, claymore, or polearm).
Mighty Glacier: Pun aside, Chongyun hits very hard with his skillset, is capable of dishing out massive Cryo damage, and is fairly sturdy. However, he has a slower normal attacking speed due to wielding a claymore, and his Skill has a sixteen-second-long cooldown, though the former can be mitigated by the attack speed boost granted by the Chonghua Frost Field.
Mood-Swinger: His Yang energy can send him into a sudden, intense mood swing if he becomes overheated. It borders on being a Split Personality, given that Chongyun can't remember what he did afterwards. Xingqiu likes to induce his manic episodes by secretly sneaking spicy or hot stuff in his food. A notice board in Wangshu Inn describes how Chongyun went to town during one such episode, resulting in him wrecking the surroundings and Xingqiu having to pay for the damage. Diona gets to witness his Yang state firsthand in the "Waterborne Poetry" event.
No Social Skills: While not to Razor's degree, Chongyun's condition and family occupation made it so that he never spent time as an ordinary person. In his Hangout Event tree he clearly has trouble speaking to normal people and interpreting social situations, and he frets about not knowing what normal people do for fun or how to behave around children. However, despite his social awkwardness he is shown be good friends with Xingqiu, Xiangling, and Xinyan.
Odd Friendship:
- Despite being annoyed by Xingqiu's pranks and Xiangling's cooking antics, Chongyun hangs out with them in official art and is mentioned in their character stories as a close friend. Xiangling comments that she often sees Chongyun dragged by Xingqiu to dine in her restaurant. His Hangout Event tree describes Xingqiu as a good friend who is knowledgeable in many things.
- He is also friends with Xinyan, and she was surprised by his fiery spirit in his Yang state.
Out-of-Character Moment: When overheated from Yang energy, Chongyun tends to do awkward stuff that he would not be doing otherwise.
- One of his antics involved jumping on a receptionist's desk and chasing Xiangling around while thinking she was possessed by an evil spirit. When this happened in Wanmin Restaurant, even Xiangling was surprised that the "real" Chongyun would act so deranged.
- In her voiceline about him, Xinyan also mentions initially thinking he looked introverted, but was then surprised when, in one of her performances, he suddenly appeared on stage and started singing besides her. She wraps up the anecdote by remarking that one cannot judge a book by its cover.
- In "Waterborne Poetry", after he drank Diona's (non-alcoholic) "drinks", after seeing Xiao doing it firsthand, he enthusiastically explains the taste and ingredients in great detail (including the Jueyun Chilis and Slime Condensate that she put in earlier). This leaves the Cat Girl completely confused, as, until now, he is normally the reserved and quiet type and did not expect to see his more excitable side.
Power Stereotype Flip: Contrary to his element, he is easily excitable and tends to fly into fiery states easily. Downplayed in that he knows this and tries his best to keep himself calm.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: He plays this trope with himself, switching on a dime from a calm and collected blue oni to a wild and hot-headed red oni.
Situational Damage Attack: Chongyun's sixth constellation upgrade, Rally of Four Blades, adds a 15% power boost to his Burst against foes with lower HP percentages than Chongyun's, in addition to adding a fourth Spirit Blade.
Shaping Your Attacks: His Burst creates three large blades of ice (four, with a full Constellation) to slam down onto enemies. His fourth-ascension passive allows the Chonghua Frost Frield to coalesce into a Spirit Blade once it dissipates as well as inflict a Cryo Resistance penalty (see "Kaizo Trap," above).
Spin Attack: His Charged Attack has him swing his claymore and spin around in circles at high speed.
Spell Blade: He is able to infuse Cryo for polearm, sword or claymore users.
Sprint Shoes: His utility passive, Gallant Journey, shaves 25% off of the duration of Expeditions into Liyue he is sent to.
The Stoic: He rarely shows emotions even during his exorcism duties. This, alongside his honest and humble nature, earned Chongyun the reputation of having a "a heart of clear water, and a face of ice" from Liyuean scholars. His stoicism is mostly a front that he keeps in order to try and restrain his naturally fiery Yang personality.
Supernatural Repellent: His overly abundant Yang energy is an asset when it comes to exorcising spirits. All Chongyun needs to do is stay for a while in the haunted vicinity and the disturbances will stop.
Sword Beam: Chonghua's first Constellation upgrade, Ice Unleashed, allows him to unleash three icy blades at the end of his normal attack combo, each of which deal deal Cryo damage equivalent to half of his Attack stat.
Trademark Favorite Food: He snacks on a popsicle during one of his idle animations and notes the taste to be helpful in keeping his composure during his Hangout Event tree. He also says that he likes cold food from Inazuma.
Unexplained Accent: Among the very few characters to have a noticeably different accent from the entire playable cast; Chongyun's English voice actor, Beau Bridgland, is British, leading to a quite strange-sounding American accent.
Upgrade Artifact: A variant—his third and fifth Constellation upgrades, Cloudburst and The True Path, add three levels to, respectively, his Burst and Skill.
Vitriolic Best Buds: It is heavily implied that he, Xingqiu, and Hu Tao hang out regularly, especially since the other two share an interest in poetry and they often ask Chongyun to act as referee for their poetry battles. In Hu Tao's character stories, the three of them fill the street with laughs.
- For Xingqiu, while the former often plays pranks on Chongyun to the latter's dismay (to the point Chongyun jokingly suggests to open a fan club over his pranks' victims), the two are otherwise best friends.
- Subverted with Hu Tao, though, as he expresses in his voice-line that he doesn't like her because her irreverence towards exorcists irritates him to the point his Yang energy nearly takes over.
Who You Gonna Call?: He's the person to go to when a demon or ghost is haunting an area, and he is exceptionally good at it. Too good, in fact, that he feels bad for not having to do much to exorcise spirits.

Shenhe

Shenhe

Introduced: January 5, 2022 (v2.4 "Fleeting Colors in Flight" [first half])
Voiced by: Qin Ziyi (Chinese), Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Lee Hyun-jin (Korean), Chelsea Kwoka (English)

Lonesome Transcendence

^{Frostflower Dew}

^{Click to see her as a child}

"If I treat people kindly, they call me an adeptus, and if I put them in their place, they call me a witch. Heh... The one thing you'll never hear them call me is 'human'. They all seem to agree that I'm fundamentally... different from them."

Rarity: 5★
Element: Cryo
Weapon: Polearm
Constellation: Crista Doloris, the Crest of Sorrow

Adopted daughter and disciple of Cloud Retainer. Hailing from a branch of the same clan of thaumaturges as Chongyun, various events conspired to bring her under the wing, so to speak, of the adeptus, who not only trained her in the way of the adepti, but also helped her control a childhood curse that frequently draws out her aggressive, nigh-murderous urges. Some time after the Traveler saves Liyue from Osial and the Fatui's influence, they meet Shenhe during a quest to rebuild the Jade Chamber, which she helps them with, equal parts due to willingness and the Traveler showing her their kindness.

Shenhe's training under Cloud Retainer allows her to summon "Talisman Spirits," phantoms made in her likeness that attack in tandem with her, with a particular specialization in empowering Cryo Vision holders. Her Elemental Skill, Spring Spirit Summoning, is in its base form a lunge in tandem with a Spirit; in held form, she instead summons a Spirit to attack her foes from afar; in either form, she generates an Icy Quill, which increases the power of Cryo-elemental attacks and lasts until either its duration expires or it has reached a quota of such attacks, with both extended in its held form. Her Elemental Burst, Divine Maiden's Deliverance, has her let loose a Spirit to attack enemies within an area-of-effect that also decreases their Physical and Cryo Resistances.^note

Abusive Parents: After the death of her mother, Shenhe's father ignored her dying plea to take care of Shenhe, and instead opted to sacrifice her to a lingering remnant of an evil god in order to revive his wife, especially after the demon informed him of Shenhe's curse. However, a journal entry Yun Jin and the Traveler find in her village suggests he came to regret this when the demon didn't keep its end of the bargain, possibly since Shenhe was fighting back hard enough to prevent it from doing so, apologizing to both his wife and Shenhe in his final entry before hanging himself in shame.
Added Alliterative Appeal: Her Red Baron title, "The Divine Damsel of Devastation".
Almighty Janitor: Currently works as a waitress and delivery girl for Wanmin Restaurant (as a way to be able to experience more human interaction), this despite being one of the more powerful characters in Liyue.
Animal Motifs: Her outfit evokes a red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis). Apart from keeping in line with Cloud Retainer's avian appearance, the bird is a symbol of longevity in Chinese Mythology, commonly depicted carrying away humans who attain immortality; while adepti are not immortal they are certainly Long-Lived, and Cloud Retainer in particular rescued Shenhe from her battle with a demon, as well as taught her adeptal arts. In addition, during the Ming and Qing dynasties the bird also came to symbolize loyalty, befitting Shenhe's fealty to her master and adoptive mother, and her name literally means "speaking crane," denoting her as a human adopted by the crane-like adeptus.
Area of Effect: Her Burst creates a field within which a Talisman Spirit is let loose to attack enemies for twelve seconds within its radius, in addition to imposing a penalty to their Physical and Cryo Resistances. Her first-ascension passive, Deific Embrace, adds a 15% boost to the Cryo Damage Bonus of allies within its radius, while her second Constellation upgrade, Centered Spirit, extends its duration to eighteen seconds, as well as adds a 15% boost to the Critical Damage of the party's Cryo-aligned attacks.
Ax-Crazy: Defied. Shenhe had been cursed with intense homicidal urges since she was a child and had her soul bound by red ropes to curb them along with her emotions in general. While she's mostly civil, she still gets the occasional urge to dispose of whatever inconveniences her in the most violent manner possible. She's well aware of this, and states that she avoids crowds because of it.
"My polearm doesn't distinguish friend from foe, and there is clearly a limit to the red ropes' power. That's why I loathe crowded areas."
Because You Were Nice to Me: She first met the Traveler and Paimon when she's getting accosted by a couple thugs trying to mug her under the guise of selling her information for the building of a second Jade Chamber, to which they respond by getting the Milileth to arrest the thugs and bail her out. This, followed by the both of them treating her like they would anyone else despite initially assuming she's an adeptus, leads to her accepting the two as friends.
Bizarre Taste in Food: Zig-zagged. When the Traveler first met her, they learn that she previously went from restaurant to restaurant and bought all their signature dishes, only to take a small bite and simply leave after. After they get some thugs off her back and decide to take her to a treat, she asks for Qingxins, Violetgrasses, and Glaze Lilies, which she immediately devours. She then reveals that she actually finds them bitter, but they're what she normally ate in the mountains and she didn't want to get too attached to Liyue's local cuisine in case she didn't feel like staying. The herbs themselves are not part of some special adeptal diet either, rather it's because apparently none of the adepti in Jueyun Karst can cook; during The Exquisite Night Chimes Mount Shaper muses to Moon Carver that if he'd been able to use Cloud Retainer's Supreme Cuisine Machine then poor little Shenhe would have had more to eat than just herbs while growing up.
Black Comedy: Thankfully, her homicidal impulses are only expressed verbally and restricted to comedy.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: Her lack of interaction with society, dampened emotions, and urge to kill seemed to have led to a strange set of morals. She causally suggests murdering competitors in finding materials for the new Jade Chamber because it's a competition. And in a Serenitea Pot line, she suggests to kill a flock of birds under the assumption that their singing woke the Traveler up.
Brick Joke: One of Chongyun's idle voice lines has him recite a mantra^note, only to fumble the last line due to always forgetting it. Shenhe, who was introduced over a year later, finally completes the mantra in one of her idle voice lines^note"Mind be purged, world be saved".
…But He Sounds Handsome: Downplayed and subverted. When Yun Jin tells the story of the Divine Damsel of Devastation, a positive spin on Shenhe's Dark and Troubled Past, she admits to liking the story, but comments how the little girl in the story may not have been as brave as the story makes her out to be, but aspires to be as brave as her.
Charles Atlas Superpower: Even before she started her training, Shenhe was already strong, capable of fighting off the remnant of an evil god for three days straight at the age of six. Shenhe's training under Cloud Retainer has only made her stronger, capable of lifting a huge chunk of plaustrite and carrying it all the way to the Jade Chamber's construction site by herself.
Cool Aunt: Chongyun refers to Shenhe as "Auntie," though there is some ambiguity as to their exact relationship, as the Chinese word Chongyun uses to refer to her, xiǎoyí (小姨), can refer to either the youngest sister or female cousin of the speaker's mother. That said, Shenhe seems accepting of the role, expressing a desire for him to visit her in the mountains to train together. It's also implied that her dislike of Xingqiu is due to his tendency to play pranks on him.
Xingqiu: (About Shenhe) "I find that Miss Shenhe seems to look at me somewhat fiercely, so I daren't approach her lightly. Bizzare, did I inadvertently upset her? Or maybe... upset someone close to her?"
Crippling Overspecialization: Shenhe is highly focused on boosting the damage output of Cryo, as well as melee to a lesser extent, units. Outside of that, she is not as powerful.
Cursed with Awesome: She bears a terrible curse that comes packed with intense homicidal urges that have only grown stronger with age, forcing the adepti to seal her emotions away to dampen them. This curse is why she was sacrificed to the evil god her father summoned... and is also why she survived the experience, as she fought back with nothing but a dagger. She was fighting for three days and nights before she was found by Cloud Retainer, who claims that it could have been possible for Shenhe to win.
Cutscene Power to the Max: While a powerful 5★ capable of buffing her party's Cryo Damage, including hers, her gameplay wouldn't suggest that she's capable of freezing an entire tsunami like she does in the climax of her Character Quest.
Cutting the Knot: When offering a solution to the Traveler and Paimon on how to win the competition, Shenhe suggests simply killing the other competitors and has to be told how that's not a viable option.
Dark and Troubled Past: Presumably since she was born, she was afflicted with a steadily growing curse that gave her intense homicidal tendencies, and it's implied that she caused her mother's death as a result. Her father, driven mad with grief, tried looking into ways to revive his wife, which culminated in a demon offering to do so in exchange for Shenhe, with her father accepting the deal upon learning of her curse, with some harsh parting words to boot. Shenhe, with nothing but a exorcism knife she got from her mother and at the tender age of six, fought the demon to a stalemate for several days, only passing out when Cloud Retainer showed up to fend the demon off and Shenhe was certain she wasn't a threat. Taken in and trained by the adeptus thereafter, she eventually returned to her old village to find it destroyed and abandoned, with her father hanging himself out of guilt over his actions.
Deadpan Snarker: Despite her lack of social contact, Shenhe is no stranger to dry verbal barbs, such as suggesting that a drunken guest leave her alone if he wanted to drink from an orifice of his choice, or on a more light-hearted example, playfully mimicking a saying by Cloud Retainer on mortal food.
(About Least Favorite Food) [...] "'The common delights of the mortal realm pose no hindrance to the adepti, thus, we may indulge in all manner of dishes as we please'... these are the exact words my master said."
Defrosting Ice Queen: When she was first introduced, Shenhe was very (pardon the pun) cold, and thought nothing of proposing murder as a solution to any and all problems. But as she grew more accustomed to human society and made friends, she began to exhibit Cracks in the Icy Façade, to the point that she now smiles happily when meeting up with acquaintances (as opposed to her being The Stoic early on), even taking a job as a waitress and delivery girl at Wanmin Restaurant in an effort to expand her horizons further.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:
- Shenhe's father tried to sacrifice her to an evil god to revive her mother. Emphasis on "tried," because she fought back viciously, and would likely have outlasted her opponent even had Cloud Retainer not stepped in. Mind you, this is the sort of enemy that Xiao and the other Yakshas dedicated their lives to fighting, and she stalemated it for three days and nights at the age of six with nothing but a dagger.
- Near the end of her Story Quest, after the Traveler gets injured by Beisht, Shenhe freezes the tsunami that Beisht summoned, then chases after her when Beisht retreats underwater and defeats her alone.
Doomed Hometown: The next time she visited her old village after she was taken in by Cloud Retainer, she found the place in ruins. Cloud Retainer noticed that she seemed rather upset by this upon her return.
Dub Pronunciation Change: The characters of her name (simplified 申鹤, traditional 申鶴, pinyin "Shēnhè") are read as "Shinkaku" (via kan-on, or Han Chinese-derived, reading; hiragana しんかく) in Japanese and "Sinhak" (hangul 신학) in Korean.
Elemental Hair Colors: Though she was born with black hair, it turned white after she combed it thrice with the White Jade Comb that Cloud Retainer gave to her as a mark of her apprenticeship, and it presently fits her Cryo vision.
Elemental Personalities: Invoked by the red ropes. Shenhe's personality was far more murderous as a result of a curse, before she was found by Cloud Retainer, who made her wear red ropes in her clothes that not only subdued said murderous streak, but the rest of her emotions as well. The result is that despite her still having violent trains of thought once in a while, Shenhe is for the most part stoic, bordering on being an Emotionless Girl, which coincides with possessing a Cryo Vision.
Emotionless Girl: Downplayed and justified. The adepti bound Shenhe's soul with red ropes to restrain her homicidal tendencies, which had the side effect of sealing away much of ability to show emotion. On the other hand, Shenhe's tone during a few voice-overs can be differentiated enough to know when she's pleased or upset (she sounds amused after imitating Cloud Retainer, and a little disappointed that other people treat her like an outcast), and she has done her best to improve on showing emotion and on her lack of social skills.
Emotion Suppression: As a result of the red ropes on her clothes. She can still show emotion through her voice, but rarely changes her expression.
Exotic Eye Designs: Has white, double-ringed pupils.
Fighting Spirit: Shenhe specializes in summoning Talisman Spirits, ethereal beings made in Shenhe's image.
- Her Skill has her either dash at an enemy in tandem with a Spirit in its base form, or command a Spirit from afar to attack her enemies in its held form, in addition to both forms generating an Icy Quill. Her first Constellation upgrade, Clarity of Heart, adds an extra charge.
- Her Burst has her let loose a Spirit to slash away at her enemies within an area-of-effect that also reduces their Physical and Cryo Resistances.
Foil: To Ganyu. Both are Cryo Vision holders who are raised and trained by Cloud Retainer and worry about integrating into human society, but in every other area they're opposites. Shenhe is a full-blooded human who finds more affinity with the adepti and is a melee fighter, while Ganyu is an actual adeptus but is closer to humans and is a ranged fighter. In terms of work, Ganyu has an important post with the Qixing that often sees her working overtime, while Shenhe is a waitress at Wanmin Restaurant that always gets off the clock on time. Ganyu's meticulousness that sees her do well at work also tends to make her overthink things, especially when interacting with people, while Shenhe's sheltered upbringing has made her more blunt while giving her an air of confidence. Even fanservice-wise their choice of clothing draws attention in opposite directions, with Shenhe's drawing attention to her hips and legs, and Ganyu's to her breasts and back.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Shenhe is hyped up as one of the most physically powerful members of the cast, so it's a bit odd how she's designed as a Support Party Member for Cryo teams. She's not weak, but gameplay-wise she's meant to play sidekick to characters like Ganyu and Ayaka who will outdo her in terms of damage output; the narrative suggests the opposite.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: Her eyes glow a bright blue when she summons a talisman to freeze the tsunamis stirred up by Beisht, just in time to stop them from engulfing the rest of the combat forces present.
Hartman Hips: Her hips aren't any more pronounced than any of the other tall women such as Beidou, Eula, Jean, and Rosaria, but between her bodysuit and hip windows, her design heavily emphasizes them. Even one of her idle animations shows her giving her hips a sway or two.
Head-Turning Beauty: In Xianyun's Story Quest, a group of men note how attractive the new waitress at Wanmin Restaurant is and try to flirt with her. Unfortunately, that waitress is Shenhe, who will threaten anyone with violence at the slightest provocation.
Hidden Buxom: Downplayed. Her chest isn't exactly that well-hidden, with her wearing a skintight bodysuit with only a flap-like shirt over them, but compared to her Hartman Hips and long legs, which have no such thing covering and even have windows on each side to expose some skin, they're unlikely to get as much attention. Averted with her 4.4 Lantern Rite outfit, an elegant qipao-style gown which does away with the flap and exposes the line of her cleavage through the mesh covering.
Hiding Behind Your Bangs: Her right eye is usually covered by her bangs, and she's rather asocial (but is working on it).
I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: Shenhe makes a point of denying any deliberate attempts at heroics, and notes that any monster slayings that happen to go about are a force of habit. One character story detailing her killing monsters near a village were her removing an unpleasant distraction from her and her master's meditation. And she claims that she merely fought Beisht on account of the latter attacking the Traveler.
Important Hair Accessory: When Shenhe was first taken in by Cloud Retainer to become her apprentice, she was given the White Jade Comb, with which she combed her hair thrice to sever her ties with humanity. She has since held on to it as a sign of her fealty to the adeptus, and it also appears on her Constellation.
In the Blood: Shenhe and Chongyun both have Cryo Visions. Whereas Chongyun seems to be cursed with powerful "Yang energy," Shenhe by comparison is cursed with bloodlust which are subdued with red ropes.
Jack of All Stats: Although she lacks healing and defensive abilities, Shenhe can still serve as an adept DPS/Support unit. Her playstyle is largely about empowering Cryo-based teams by using her Skill to grant the party an Icy Quill, which increases Cryo damage from all possible sources proportionate to Shenhe's Attack stat, meaning you can build her with DPS in mind while still making her a capable supporter for fellow Cryo characters.
Jiggle Physics: Her skintight wardrobe barely does an endeavor, with her animations showcasing her bouncing attributes every now and then, but her jiggle is far more subdued than other tall females like Beidou or Lisa.
Lady of War: A quiet exorcist who fights with smooth, elegant polearm attacks.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: One of her character selection quotes.
"Understood. ...I just have to stand here, right?"
Leave Me Alone!: Her introverted nature stems from her potentially aggressive impulses, a result of her curse. There are very few people that she will open herself towards like the Traveler and Chongyun, and while she's working on her social skills, she'd otherwise rather be on her own.
Long-Lost Relative: To Chongyun. In the Chinese dub, Chongyun specifically calls her "小姨"^notepronounced "xiǎoyí", a title that refers to the youngest aunt or female cousin on the mother's side. Since Shenhe is an only child, she is Chongyun's biologically related cousin on his mother's side.
Mama Bear: Towards Chongyun. She expresses an interest in training him and loathes Xingqiu for regularly playing pranks on him.
Money Multiplier: Played with. Her utility passive, Precise Comings and Goings, increases rewards by 25% when dispatched on an Expedition in Liyue for twenty hours.
Ms. Fanservice: Shenhe has large, mildly bouncy breasts barely hidden by a white breast curtain, and wears a skintight bodysuit that shows off all her curves, with two windows at her waist that expose her bare hips. She's also one of the tallest playable females in the game, and her Mystical White Hair only makes her more beautiful.
Murder Is the Best Solution: Between not growing up in human society and her curse which amplifies her aggressive urges, she's remarkably quick to suggest violent solutions to even the most mundane problems. For instance, when she learns that the Traveler is participating in a material foraging competition for the building of a new Jade Chamber, Shenhe's first thought is to murder their competitors, and she has to be told that's not an acceptable choice.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Shenhe doesn't look like someone who could lift several tons of ore on her shoulder, but that's exactly what she does with a huge chunk of plaustrite.
Mystical White Hair: Shenhe has silver-white hair, contrasting the black hair she was shown to have as a child. This is a result of combing her hair thrice with the White Jade Comb per Cloud Retainer's instructions to symbolize severing her ties with the mortal world and entering her tutelage. Shenhe did so with no hesitation, and keeps the comb on her person to the present day as a sign of her connection to the adeptus.
Navel Window: Though this detail is omitted on her 3D model, in official artwork her navel is visible through the mesh of her clothes.
No Social Skills: As she spent the majority of her life in the presence of the adepti, Shenhe's ability to interact with other humans is understandably poor, and made worse when her murderous tendencies begin to kick in. When being harried by persistent individuals, she may offer a few curt words before moving along with her business, at best; at worst, lethal force (in more ways than one) is brought into consideration. Fortunately, the Traveler and Cloud Retainer's tutelage have allowed her to break out of her shell a bit.
Person of Mass Destruction:
- Zig-zagged. It's explained that, should Shenhe not even have her red ropes, she could become an even more dangerous person than what she already is as a result of her curse. These red ropes and the tutelage of the adepti are the reasons she is more stoic and controlled about her powers, though causing her emotions to peak is implied to still cause her to break away. This is driven home when she freezes a gigantic tsunami created by Beisht when attempting to protect Liyue and the Traveler from her rampage.
- It's also discussed by Yun Jin. Completing the "The Crane Returns on the Wind" quest unlocks a voice-over from Yun Jin where she recalls an opera called "The Divine Damsel of Devastation", and claims she was surprised the "divine damsel" this opera is based on is a real person.
Red Baron: Judging by Yun Jin's famous opera, one of Shenhe's titles is "The Divine Damsel of Devastation".
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: When the Traveler gets injured fighting Beisht, Shenhe promptly cuts loose and freezes her tsunami in its tracks. Beisht then dives down to the seafloor to recuperate. Shenhe is so pissed off she follows the serpentine deity and beats her up so hard she is forced to retreat for a longer while. Evidently, no one and nowhere is safe from Shenhe's wrath.
Situational Damage Attack: Her Skill generates an Icy Quill, which increases the potency of all Cryo-aligned attacks, be it infused regular attacks or Elemental Talents, based on a fraction of Shenhe's Attack stat, lasting until either ten seconds have passed or five Cryo-aligned attacks have been used, with the held form of the Skill extending the Quill's duration to either fifteen seconds or seven attacks. Her fourth Constellation upgrade, Insight, additionally grants her stacks of Skyfrost Mantra for sixty seconds whenever her allies' attacks trigger the Quill's enhancement, which can then be consumed once she triggers the Skill anew to increase its damage potency by 5% per stack (to a maximum of fifty stacks, or 250%), while her sixth, Mystical Abandon, negates the quota buildup from Cryo-infused normal or charged attacks.
Situational Sword: Shenhe only truly shines when she teams up with fellow Cryo Vision holders, buffing their damage output significantly.
Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration:
- Shenhe and her distant nephew Chongyun have a unique synergy together; since each party member gets their own Icy Quill, the two can be combined with other characters that have powerful melee attacks to get more mileage out of each use of her Skill through Chongyun's own.
- Shenhe, both as a human and a Vision holder, has a good deal of raw power, being capable of easily lifting a giant piece of plaustrite and freezing an entire tsunami. This translates to the high levels of Attack needed for her playstyle, which has the potential to surpass or at least come close to 3,000 if built optimally.
Statuesque Stunner: Shenhe is tall, attractive, and wears a skintight bodysuit that leaves little to the imagination.
Status Buff: Her fourth-ascension passive, Spirit Communion Seal, allows her Skill to grant a 15% damage boost for her allies, either to their Elemental Talents for ten seconds in its tapped form, or to their normal, charged, or plunging attacks for fifteen seconds in its held form.
The Stoic: For a definition of one. Shenhe doesn't emote much and she speaks a good deal of her dialogue with a polite, to-the-point tone.
Stop Worshipping Me: Downplayed; due to her otherworldly demeanor and powerful aura, she is often mistaken for an adeptus. While she does take to the adeptal lifestyle like a fish to water, she's still human, so being mistaken for an adeptus bothers her quite a bit.
Stranger in a Familiar Land: Despite being born in Liyue, being raised from her youth among the adepti made her alien to her human heritage, and she has worries if she can ever fit back in.
Superpower Lottery: Even by Vision holder standards, Shenhe is shown to be extremely powerful. She has Super-Strength that allows her to lift a giant chunk of plaustrite with ease and also can use her Cryo Vision powers to summon a Fighting Spirit she can fight in tandem with.
Super-Strength: Due to her training by the adepti, Shenhe is capable of easily lifting tons worth of plaustrite on her shoulder and getting to their destination faster than the Traveler. Unsurprisingly, she gets confused for an Adeptus.
Tareme Eyes: Her eyes are a bit droopy, emphasizing her stoicism and Emotion Suppression.
Unskilled, but Strong: Shenhe's playstyle simply revolves about getting her ATK as high as possible to further enhance the Cryo Damage buff she applies with her Icy Quills, which comes with the side benefit of her attacks, Skill and Burst dealing naturally high damage. However, this near pure focus of ATK comes at the expense of her ability to deal powerful Critical hits, whether it being her ability to actually proc them or dealing much damage with them at all.
Upgrade Artifact: A variant—her third and fifth Constellation upgrades, Seclusion and Divine Attainment, add three levels to, respectively, her Skill and Burst.
Vapor Wear: Because of the location of the windows on Shenhe's body suit, it's impossible for her to be wearing panties.
Weapon Specialization: Shenhe's Wish banner frequently runs concurrent with that for the Calamity Queller (5★), which she also wields in her artwork. With its Ascension passive of Attack (3.6–16.5%), as well as its "Extinguishing Precept" passive that boosts its wielder's Elemental Damage Bonus by 12–24% and bestows the "Consummation" effect for twenty seconds after using an Elemental Skill, which boosts their Attack stat by 3.2–6.4% per second which doubles if the wielder is off-field (to a maximum of six stacks, hence 19.2–38.4%), this further increases Shenhe's combat prowess in between bursts of Spring Spirit Summoning, especially if she is fighting inside the field generated by Divine Maiden's Deliverance.
When She Smiles: Look at her!◊
Wrong Line of Work: Xianyun's Story Quest reveals that since Shenhe has moved to Liyue, she has gotten a job as a waitress at Wanmin Restaurant. The Traveler and Paimon are quite embarassed to see Shenhe on the job, as she hasn't picked up quite yet that you're not supposed to threaten your customers, even when provoked.
You Remind Me of X: Xingqiu says she reminds him of "a good friend of (his)", likely refering to Chongyun, who happens to be her nephew.
Younger Than They Look: While Shenhe looks like a tall, mature woman, during Xianyun/Cloud Retainer's Story Quest she reveals that she has been her disciple for at least ten years; combined with the fact that she was six when the adeptus adopted her, this implies she is sixteen years old at the very least.

Shenhe's Parents

???

Exorcists of Tianheng Thaumaturgy, noted in a Ragged Notebook in Shenhe's home village.

Abusive Parents: Shenhe’s father ignored the dying plea of his wife to protect their daughter, and instead sought to sacrifice her to a demon who promised that he will bring back his wife in exchange for Shenhe’s life. Fortunately, Shenhe survived the demon’s attack for 3 days with only a knife with her until Cloud Retainer found her and took her as her disciple. Out of guilt, Shenhe’s father hanged himself.
Deal with the Devil: Shenhe's father attempted to exchange Shenhe's life to an evil god for his wife. He first attempted to exchange his own life, but decided to use Shenhe's when the demon pointed at her.
The Lost Lenore: Shenhe's mother was this to her father, sending him into grief-induced insanity and prompting him to sacrifice his daughter to revive her.
Posthumous Character: They are both deceased before the start of the game.

Qingce Village

A remote village in the northern reaches of Liyue, largely populated by the children and the elderly, with most adults working in Liyue Harbor.

Chang the Ninth

A hapless individual who lost out on his fortune and now lives in the outskirts of Qingce Village and an aspiring novelist who took part in Inazuma's "This Novel is Amazing" contest.

Bookworm: Chang has amassed a sizable collection of literature, including books that are out of print like the second volume of the "Teyvat Travel Guide" and volume 6 of "Legend of the Shattered Halberd".
Break the Haughty: Subverted. Despite losing his fortune thanks to his "behavior" and being forced to live in Qingce Village (plus being harassed by Maocai's goons for his Cor Lapis), he hasn't learned any form of humility one bit. He is openly disdainful of having to live with "Penniless Peasants" and is more than happy to ditch the village he's in should he get his fortune back.
Distressed Dude: The poor dude gets picked on by a scheming merchant who is backed up by thugs and the Fatui who wants his remaining Cor Lapis stocks for less than the intended market price. Luckily the Traveler and Xingqiu get him out of the predicament.
Get-Rich-Quick Scheme: Chang becomes a novelist after hearing that a Liyue novel has become a massive best seller making a ton of Mora and Chang wants in on the fortune.
The One That Got Away: He had a neighbor in his youth that loved his stories. She disappeared one day, and Chang believes it was due to her family quietly moving away to separate the two. One of his reasons for participating in the "This Novel is Amazing!" is to become famous through winning and his friend would seek him out and they could reconnect. Tragically, Chang's desire to find his childhood friend is all for naught, since the girl in question is Little Nine, who actually died of hypothermia after falling into a river all those years ago. He doesn't even get a chance to get closure from her ghost since she disappears after doing the Book in the Woods quest.
The Rival: He views "Zhenyu"^NoteXingqiu's penname as one and enters the "This Novel is Amazing" contest as a Liyue author after Zhenyu's Legend of Sword is a massive hit.
Too Dumb to Live: This guy is very willing to rile up the local Hilichurls just so he get can get an inspiration of writing an "Epic Battle" novel (shortly after an adventurer didn't show up). Paimon even lampshades how idiotic his tactic were and, if not for the Traveler, he would get more than just a beatdown.

Dongdong

A young boy who is searching for his father, and who also dreams to be a part of Crux Fleet when he grows up.

Disappeared Dad: Dongdong's father went sailing through the isles, and went missing. He ended up in Golden Apple Archipelago somehow and is rescued by the Crux.

Granny Ruoxin

Community leader of Qingce Village.

The Caretaker: Is in charge of the children's safety, and once looked after Chang the Ninth when he was young.
I Was Quite a Looker: Fan Er'ye describes her as being beautiful and gorgeous in her youth, and was once worked as an actress at the Heyu Tea House.

The Chasm

A large mine in southwestern Liyue. Following a series of accidents and reports of miners seemingly driven insane, the mine was closed off on orders from the Qixing a few years ago, but has since begun a gradual reopening.

Jinwu

A safety technician who worked in The Chasm over twenty years.

Cool Big Sis: To the miners whom they view her as their older sister.
Mrs. Exposition: She provides an explanation about the history of The Chasm, prior completing the first step of Chasm Spelunkers.
Parental Substitute: Acts as a substitute parent for other children while their parents are busy.

"Qi Nan"

A mysterious girl wandering the depths of the Chasm claiming to be the daughter of a miner named Qi Ding, encountered during the World Quest "The Chasm's Bounty." However, there may be something more sinister to her than meets the eye.

Creepy Child: Whoever or whatever the entity calling itself "Qi Nan" takes the form of a young girl. What they really look like is unknown.
Nothing Is Scarier: We never figure out exactly who or what the entity masquerading as "Qi Nan" really is or what their plans are after they follow the Traveler out of the Chasm.
Wham Line: The real Qi Nan is an adult woman who has just began working with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, meaning that the Qi Nan the Traveler and Paimon had been interacting with the whole time was an impostor. Unfortunately, she runs off to parts unknown before the Traveler can question her and is never seen again.

The Missing Miners

Long, Bold Cen, Brave Cen, and Mao

The four Chasm miners who went missing during Zhongli's second Story Quest.

Brainwashed and Crazy: They are all hypnotized by Jiu revealed to be Azhdaha into digging the cave underneath Nantianmen. And they all attempt to bum rush both Zhongli and the Traveler when they approached them.
No-Harm Requirement: Is subject to this. Because they are regular people who are brainwashed, the Traveler and Paimon are understandably hesitant to fight them in self defense. Zhongli simply decides to summon a magical shield to neutralize them without needing to lay a finger on them.

Uncle He

Jinwu's long-lost uncle who was thought to be long dead after venturing deeper into the Chasm to look for a toy belonging to the daughter of one of his coworkers until the Traveler finds him in the Glowing Narrows, having gone a little crazy from living off the mushrooms and fungi in the area.

Cloudcuckoolander: Has a rather erratic mindset which is prone to getting him into trouble. Justified, considering he’s been trapped deep in the Chasm for years with almost nothing to eat but fungi and mushrooms.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: His bloodshot eyes, eccentric behavior, and obsession with eating "mushroom meat" brings to mind that of a drug addict.
Ear Ache: Frequently mentions his ears to be itchy, which according to Khedive is from fungal spores growing inside them.
Insistent Terminology: Refers to the flesh obtained from mushrooms and fungi as "mushroom meat", even when told the correct term for it.
Long-Lost Relative: Has been trapped inside the Chasm for many years and was thought by his family to be long dead, until the Traveler finds him and brings him back to civilization. While Jinwu is overjoyed as she never once believed him to be dead, she becomes concerned as to what kinds of effects the plants and fungi has had on He’s body. Fortunately, Khedive's analysis reveals that with medicine, rest, and time, He will eventually be back to his old self.
Never Found the Body: Jinwu's reason for believing that her uncle was still alive, to the point where she never even attended the funeral organized for him. Turns out he is very much alive and well (despite being a little loopy from eating mushrooms and fungi for so many years), much to her joy.
Trademark Favorite Food: "Mushroom meat" (i.e. the flesh from fungi and mushrooms living in the Glowing Narrows), which he claims to have helped him build his strength and cured his lower back pain. His obsession and desperation for it is so great that after being rescued and brought to the surface he's willing to go back down into the Chasm even when forbidden by the Millelith.

Wang

The miner who prays to the stone monument to honor the Millelith & the Yaksha's sacrifice during The Cataclysm.

Quest Giver: Of The Millennial Mountains.

Xamaran

A giant sentient mushroom residing deep within the Chasm in the Glowing Narrows. He requests the Traveler's help with repelling the dark mud due to his own power having waned over time.

Big Good: For the Chasm's underground, anyway. Xamaran mentions that he has been working to repel the dark mud and protect his kin from it for a long time, but his power has been greatly weakened by the time the Traveler shows up. Fortunately, energy from the Lumenstone torch is enough to restore his strength.
Bioluminescence Is Cool: He and his kin are a species of mushroom from Sumeru that supposedly evolved to produce their own bioluminescence to survive, although an offhand comment from Khedive implies that it may actually be from them absorbing energy from the Divine Nail in the Chasm's depths.
Fungus Humongous: Is a giant sentient bioluminescent mushroom that can communicate with people by spreading spores around them.
Misplaced Wildlife: Khedive's analysis reveals that Xamaran and his kin are a species of forest mushroom indigenous to Sumeru that somehow found its way into the Chasm's underground and evolved bioluminescence to survive.
Third-Person Person: Speaks like this.

Wangshu Inn

A popular restaurant and inn located atop a tall rock midway through the road between Liyue and Mondstadt, as well as a frequent stopover of Xiao in between his spirit-watching duties.

In General

Badass Crew: It’s implied that all the staff members of the inn are secretly working for the Qixing as intel agents, and provide Xiao of shelter and support in case they are needed. Verr Goldet and Huai'an are both in charge of the inn, Smiley Yanxiao is a retired thug, and Jiangxue used to wield a vision before retiring to be an artisanal fisherman.
Inn Between the Worlds: They are in charge of keeping the place as an observation point to observe demon activity and provide shelter for Xiao when he's off duty since the spot is an strategic site to survey all the monster activity. Occasionally Huai'an sends the Traveler to dispatch of some monsters nearby as a daily commission.

Jiangxue

A former Vision holder and a fisherman who can be found fishing at the nearby docks.

All-Powerful Bystander: Seems like an unassuming fisherman, but he happens to be a particularly powerful Vision holder, even taking down a particularly tough Ruin Hunter without any effort.
Hidden Depths: Is actually aware of the Traveler being able to manipulate elements despite lacking a Vision, knows the recipe for Chicken Tofu Pudding and its methods of making it, has the ability to sense and read a monster's movements, and it's hinted that Verr Goldet, the boss of Wangshu Inn isn't from Mondstadt since none of the locals know or even heard her name before.
Lazy Bum: Is accused of being this by Smiley Yanxiao whom he refers to him as "Mr. Doesn't-Know-How-Lucky-He-Is". After completing a World Quest, Yanxiao teaches him how to help in the kitchen so that he can have more things to do than fish all day.
Noodle Incident: Mentions about having used his Vision to do "bad things", what thing he did isn't revealed.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: When the Traveler had a hard time destroying a very durable Ruin Hunter, Jiangxue is forced to use his Vision once again to take care of it. But we don't see him in action since the screen fades to black momentarily before going back to normal and Paimon's surprised that he didn't even lift his finger to defeat it.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Jiangxue is not his real name, having abandoned it a long time ago.
Picky Eater: Averted. According the Yanxiao, he's not a picky eater like Huai'an and he'll eat any food that Yanxiao whips up.

Smiley Yanxiao

A burly man who runs the kitchen in Wangshu Inn.

Because You Were Nice to Me: Yanxiao was a thief who've attempted to steal stuff at the Wangshu Inn before he was beaten to submission by the Inn's boss (Verr Goldet), then took him in as their Head Chef. Touched by their good-will, Yanxiao cleaned up his act and went on to become one of the greatest chefs in Liyue.
Ironic Nickname: For a guy nicknamed "Smiley", he's got a pretty stern face.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
- He's initially rather gruff and impatient despite his name to the point he's essentially (in Paimon's words) Liyue's version of Wagner. That said, he becomes much nicer upon helping him solve his problem involving Dusky Ming. And in Moonlight Merriment, he is surprisingly shy to the point he suffers from a brief Stage Fright (until Xiangling encourages him).
- He also display this attitude towards Jiangxue and despite being annoyed, he clearly cares for him and consider him to be his friend. And by the time one of his World Quest has been completed, he'll teach Jiangxue how to help in the kitchen.
Reformed Criminal: He used to be a thug, until he changed his ways and stayed at the Wangshu Inn as the head chef.
The Rival: Becomes Xiangling's during the Masterful Chef's competition in the Moonchase Festival. Xiangling even correctly guesses that he will be the Final Boss that she faces in the end.
Supreme Chef: His culinary skill is on par with Xiangling's, and only lost the Masterful Chefs by one vote. Even his customers who ate his cooking have nothing but praise for his cooking, and one of them is an Adeptus.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Is terrified of ghosts. The Traveler had to deal with the ghost of a little girl to earn his trust and enable him to return to the kitchen.

Verr Goldet & Huai'an

Verr Goldet and Huai'an

The owners of the Wangshu Inn, who are in reality secret agents who work directly for the Qixing.

Badass Normal: Huai'an has no vision but is an expert martial artist who can throw down even with even the largest of monsters.
Destructive Savior: Accidental example. Huai'an once sent a heavy-set monster (implied to be a Mitachurl) flying and destroyed one of the stair-bridge to Wangshu Inn hence he has to rely on the Inn's elevator system until he repairs the bridges himself.
Mysterious Past: Verr Goldet claims to be from Mondstadt, but nobody there has heard about her.
Happily Married: Both are a married couple who own the inn.
Silk Hiding Steel: Verr Goldet might look like a normal inn owner, but she is really a covert agent for the Qixing and has been able to beat Smiley Yanxiao into submission.

Crux Fleet

A world-renowned fleet of experienced sailors, artisans, merchants, and adventurers who travel and reside aboard the ship "Alcor", unofficially acting as naval force for Liyue.

In General

Badass Crew: Under the guidance of their captain, the entire crew went through many adventures and challenges, which even claimed some victims among them. Yet this does not deter them from continuing to follow Beidou on extremely dangerous voyages such as those to go to Inazuma or from facing powerful sea creatures such as Haishan and Beisht.
Badass Normal: With the exception of their captain and Kazuha, many of them are normal people without any Vision or other particular magical powers or abilities, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to defend themselves.
The Dreaded: They are notorious among pirates to the point that engaging them in a fight is tantamount to committing suicide.
Undying Loyalty: Many of the crew members were people Beidou personally helped and took their problems to heart, so much so that everyone is unconditionally loyal to her (even former members). It also works for all of them outside with regards to their trading partners.
Venturous Smuggler: A benevolent version. As revealed in Heizou's Hangout Event, they are responsible for bringing in goods to Watatsumi Island so that residents can get by.

Beidou

Beidou

Introduced: September 28, 2020 (v1.0 "Welcome To Teyvat" [game launch])
Voiced by: Tang Yajing (Chinese), Ami Koshimizu (Japanese), Jeong Yoo-mi (Korean), Allegra Clark (English)

Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean

"If you can change something, change it. If you can't, don't waste time thinking about it. That's how I go about things. But really, if you get stuck, come find me. I'll help you deal with it."

Rarity: 4★
Element: Electro
Weapon: Claymore
Constellation: Victor Mare, Conqueror of the Sea

Leader of the Crux Fleet and a seafarer famed throughout Liyue for her immense strength and legendary adventures, most notably her defeat of the sea serpent Haishan. To her crewmates, she is also an admirable and well-respected leader who prioritizes their well-being above all else. She is also notorious for her brazen demeanor and complete lack of fear towards the law—a trait that ironically earned her the trust of Ningguang. This lack of fear towards the law is crucial in letting her help the Traveler trek to Inazuma.

Beidou favors a slow but hard-hitting attacking style, as well as lulling foes into attacking her. Her Elemental Skill, Tidecaller, is an Electro-charged slash which, in its held form, allows her to assume a defensive stance beforehand, increasing the potency of the slash depending on the number of hits she takes, while her Elemental Burst, Stormbreaker, shocks surrounding foes and summons the Thunderbeast's Targe, a phantasmal shield made in the image of Haishan, which discharges thunderbolts that jump between enemies in tandem with the active character's normal or charged attacks, in addition to boosting their resistance to Physical damage and flinching.^note

100% Heroism Rating: Compared to the Qixing, who are more controversial, Beidou is extremely popular around Liyue for her legendary feats and selflessness, to the point that people are willing to surrender treasure that legally should be theirs just because she wants it. In one branch of her Hangout Event tree, she manages to intimidate a gang of Treasure Hoarders into changing their ways just by turning up where they're hunting treasure.
Absurd Phobia: Beidou is, bizarrely, camera-shy, as shown during her Hangout.
The Alcoholic: As one would expect from a veteran pirate. One of her idle animations has Beidou taking a deep swig from her flask.
All-Loving Hero: There's almost nobody that Beidou doesn't care about; her backstory explains she constantly tries to help the common folk when they're in dire times, and an oft-retold story centers around how her crew saved a merchant ship during a bad storm and split their supplies with the passengers, despite how rations were running low to begin with. The only people she doesn't like are the Treasure Hoarders and other criminals (and even then, she will give them opportunities to change their ways, as one of her Hangout Endings shows).
Animal Motif: The sea serpent, specifically Haishan, which shows up in her Constellation and the Thunderbeast's Targe.
Barrier Warrior: The Thunderbeast's Targe bestows a reduction to the active character's damage intake and risk of interruption, in addition to a Chain Lightning effect (see below). In addition, Beidou's first Constellation upgrade, Sea Beast's Scourge, allows her Burst to erect an Electro-elemental shield for fifteen seconds, with absorption worth 16% of her Max HP.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Beidou and her crew once rescued a private boat's passengers during a stormy voyage, going so far as to split their food and water rations with them, and as a sign of appreciation those passengers became her loyal trade partners.
Benevolent Boss: Beidou is extremely kind and generous towards members of the Crux Fleet. Even sailors who left the Fleet are provided benefits and offered various business opportunities.
Big Damn Heroes: Beidou and Kazuha were among Kokomi's mercenary reinforcements that rushed in to relieve Gorou's troops from a losing battle with the Shogunate Army.
Big Eater: Eating and drinking are Beidou's favorite activities when she's not out in the sea. Bonus points if the food was prepared by Xiangling. When discussing her favorite food, she cuts it short because it starts to open her appetite up!
(About Favorite Food) "[...] Sitting down to a big hearty meal together, where everyone can fill their bellies — now that's when things get lively! Haha, alright, alright, all this talk is making me hungry!"
Black Sheep: The Qixing see her as this within Liyue's commerce sector because of how she flagrantly ignores the rules, and despite countless warnings and heavy fines, she takes it all in stride and carries on anyways.
Broken Ace: Beidou has a rather boisterous personality and seemingly carefree nature, but her Hangout event reveals that she was a homeless orphan at the age of six who was on the verge of starving to death before being taken in by a kindly village chief. As if that wasn't bad enough, the village was dying, and when the chief died two years later, she was driven out by the other villagers, who were looking for someone to blame for their misfortune and claimed she was a curse because of her name ("Beidou" is one of Teyvat's constellations, with its star "Alcor" being considered a death omen).
Brutal Honesty: She always says what's on her mind without caring about consequences. It's part of what makes her infamous, but as Ningguang points out, it also makes her a dependable business partner.
The Captain: Of the Crux Fleet.
Chain Lightning: Apart from defensive buffs (see "Barrier Warrior," above), the Thunderbeast's Targe augments the active character's normal and charged attacks with bursts of electricity that can jump between nearby opponents. Beidou's second Constellation upgrade, Upon the Turbulent Sea, the Thunder Arises, allows the discharge to bounce to two other targets.
Charles Atlas Superpower: There's plenty of tales about Beidou's incredible feats, and in any other case you'd be right to assume it's at least partially because of her Vision. But her most famous achievement, the slaying of Haishan? That was what got her that Vision. She pulled it off with nothing but raw skill and determination.
Cleavage Window: Has one of these formed from the outline of her qipao and the top of her leotard.
Contralto of Strength: As if Beidou hadn't already been widely established as one of the most badass characters in the game, both her respective Japanese and English voice actresses have a remarkably deep voice that is exploited extensively during combat.
Conveniently an Orphan: It is implied by her Dark and Troubled Past that Beidou's biological parents are dead.
Cool Big Sis: Acts like this towards a few of the younger characters, while characters such as Xiangling, Hu Tao, and Kazuha directly refer to Beidou as such in all but the English dubs.
Counter-Attack: The charged form of Beidou's Skill has her shield herself with her claymore, with the released counter-hit increasing in potency depending on the number of times she takes damage (to a maximum of two).
Cult of Personality: Senior Crux Fleet sailors used to regale newcomers with stories of Beidou's amazing feats that they had witnessed firsthand, but as the Fleet expanded these tales soon became larger-than-life until her reputation almost made her sound like a deity. Beidou herself, however, just chuckles at them.
Damage-Increasing Debuff: Her sixth Constellation upgrade, Bane of Evil, allows the Thunderbeast's Targe to impose a 15% Electro Resistance penalty on surrounding enemies.
Dark Is Not Evil: She's tall, imposing, wears a black and red outfit, has red eyes... and is one of the kindest and most heroic people one could ever meet.
Dark and Troubled Past: In one of her Hangout Event routes, while trying to find a suitable place to take a photo with the Traveler, Beidou takes them to the ghost village of Downriver, across the Bishui River from Wangshu Inn, revealing that she was a homeless child who was so desperate that she chased a stray dog that stole a half-eaten rice bun she found lying around, and in the midst of it she was noticed by local fishermen who gave her some proper food. Later on, the village chief decided to take her under his wing, teaching her everything he knew about the customs and traditions of the village. A year later, however, he succumbed to illness as a famine and a poor fishing season struck at the same time, leading most villagers to point fingers at each other until they all decided to blame Beidou instead. It's a far cry from her adult life as a powerful, wealthy pirate captain who answers to no one except herself.
Defense Mechanism Superpower: Beidou's fourth Constellation upgrade, Stunning Revenge, bestows upon her a 20% boost to Electro Damage Bonus for ten seconds whenever she takes a hit.
Difficult, but Awesome: Her Skill emphasizes patience and timing by teaching players to not only wait for an enemy's attack, but to also learn their fighting style so they can find the most opportune moment to counterattack. It's worth the effort, though, since Beidou can absorb tons of damage before kicking it right back to the enemy and then some.
The Dragonslayer: Stories of her heroic feats were born from that legendary battle with Haishan, an ancient sea serpent infamous in both Liyue and Inazuma. The Crux Fleet battled the beast for four days in tumultuous waters, with Beidou delivering a deathblow that split Haishan's head open, and it was then that she was gifted her Vision.
The Dreaded: One of her Hangout Event routes shows that Treasure Hoarders are so scared of Beidou that they instantly surrender if she shows up.
Dub Pronunciation Change: The characters of her name (北斗, pinyin "Běidǒu") are read as "Hokuto" (via kan-on, or Han Chinese-derived, reading; hiragana ほくと) in Japanese and "Bukdu" (hangul 북두) in Korean.
Dub Personality Change: Downplayed, but she's noticeably hammier in the Japanese dub than in the English dub.
Empowered Badass Normal: Beidou was already capable of taking down Haishan with nothing but human mettle and the aid of her shipmates when she landed herself that Electro Vision.
Eyepatch of Power: She sports one and is very badass.
Face of a Thug: Rare female example. You wouldn't expect a tall, imposing woman with red eyes to be a rather chill and heroic lady, would you?
Famed In-Story: Rumors describe Beidou as someone who can split mountains, part the sea, draw lightning through her sword, and fell even the mightiest sea beasts. Only some of these are true.
Foil: To Ningguang, whom Beidou occasionally works with. Ningguang is a member of the Qixing, the rulers of the land, and keeps secrets inscrutably, while Beidou is the "Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean" and has a reputation for honesty. Even their designs also help to emphasize the similarities and differences between them in the same way.
Freudian Excuse: Judging by her childhood spent as an orphan who had to fight for every scrap before being ostracized by an entire village, it's safe to assume that's why Beidou constantly butts heads with the Qixing. Doubles as Irony, since Ningguang also grew up poor until she chose to work within the marketplace's legal systems instead of fighting against them.
Friendly Pirate: Despite her overall pirate aesthetic, she's one of the friendliest people you can ever hope to meet.
Friend to All Children: Among those who respect her, children seem to look up to Beidou the most.
- Little Yue was taken in and raised by Beidou and the rest of the Fleet after his parents, themselves crew members, died during a voyage.
- On some Daily Commissions, you can run into Little Meng, Fei, and Lulu, who play pirates aboard a merchant ship moored at Chihu Rock, imitating what they picked up from Beidou.
- Whenever the Alcor takes to port, the young ones of Liyue such as Yaoyao like to come aboard and play, while Xiangling and Xinyan revere her for her bold personality. Xingqiu also greatly respects Beidou, but bemoans how she treats him like a kid whenever they meet up.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: In the story she's renowned for her fighting skills that, in addition to giving her a powerful Electro Vision with the killing of the Haishan, netted her quite a reputation in Liyue. Gameplay-wise, she's a 4★ unit who's perfectly decent but needs some practice with before you can get the most mileage out of her.
Genius Bruiser: Strong enough to wield a claymore and slay a leviathan without the need of her Vision, and smart enough to play chess and beat Ningguang.
Good Feels Good: In one of her Friendship voice-overs, she admits she helps those with less opportunities out of a kind desire.
(More About Beidou: III) "You wanna know why I help the common folk? Why not? Everyone has their low points in life. I don't really do anything, other than help steer those who are truly lost towards a brighter future."
Hard-Drinking Party Girl: One of her idle animations is chugging from her flask, she drinks heavily in her Hangout event, and loves a good time.
Happily Adopted: She had been happily adopted by a village elder as a child. Sadly, once this elder died, she was driven out of the village when the other residents chose her as their scapegoat for a severe famine and a poor fishing season.
Herd-Hitting Attack: Her second Constellation upgrade, Upon the Turbulent Sea, the Thunder Arises, gives the Thunderbeast Targe's lightning arcs the ability to hit two more enemies.
Hidden Depths: Her Hangout Event tree reveals that, despite her apparent self-confidence in her own abilities as a warrior, a sailor, a vigilante, and a businesswoman, she's quite shy about her appearance and is uncomfortable with the idea of posing for the Traveler's photos. She's also completely unaccustomed to flirting.
Hot-Blooded: One of the reasons why she's so admired and respected is her energetic, outgoing personality that allows her to accomplish what others thought impossible. It's also why she keeps getting into trouble with the Qixing.
Ironic Name: Despite how her name references the Big Dipper, Beidou's actual constellation is a completely different one that was invented for the game.
Jiggle Physics: Beidou's running animation has some of the most expressive breast bounce of any playable character thus far.
"Just Frame" Bonus: Both of Beidou's ascension passives incentivize players to strategize the Counter-Attack potential of her Skill. That for her first, Retribution, immediately triggers its fully-charged counter-hit should it be unleashed at the same time she gets hit (with the game giving specific audiovisual cues for the timing, namely a distinct sound and the background turning dark purple), while that for her fourth, Lightning Storm, bestows upon the aforementioned attack the ability to bestow a 15% boost to the damage potency and speed of her normal and charged attacks for ten seconds, as well as sharply reduces the delay of the latter.
The Lad-ette: A boisterous woman who boozes it up at every opportunity.
Lady of War: She's quite attractive, but she's still a seasoned pirate captain who manages an entire fleet and is very capable of taking on some of the greatest threats in Teyvat.
Large Ham: In the Japanese dub, Ami Koshimizu makes Beidou sound boisterous during combat, but even doing something as simple as mining ore can trigger loud roars when she swings her sword.
Leotard of Power: Wears a black one underneath her Qipao.
Loophole Abuse: The Counter-Attack mechanic of her Skill deals higher damage when timed right after an enemy attack. However, this mechanic also works when Beidou is under a damage-over-time debuff—basically, it's possible to just set her on fire and then use the Skill to perform counterattacks (including "just-frame" counters), which should be pretty easy to do if the player's main damage-dealer is a Pyro Vision holder.
Marshmallow Hell: Accidentally does this to the Traveler when she hugs them during one of her Hangout Event endings.
Meaningful Name: Tying into her unofficial association with the Qixing:
- While each member of the Qixing holds a title corresponding to the Chinese name of a star within the Big Dipper asterism of the constellation Ursa Major (the Greater Bear), "Beidou" (北斗) is the Chinese name for the Big Dipper itself. In-universe, the star of Beidou is synonymous with death.
- The Crux's flagship takes her name after Alcor (80 Ursae Majoris). Though itself not considered a member of the Big Dipper, Alcor forms a double star with Mizar (Zeta Ursae Majoris), which is considered part of the asterism. Appropriate for a woman whose power and influence rivals that of members of the Qixing despite not being one of them herself.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: The first character to make use of deflective counterattacks, with the second one being Yun Jin.
Mighty Glacier: Like other claymore units, her normal attacks are pretty slow, but she makes up for it by having good defense, dealing plenty of damage, and possessing an Elemental Skill that can let her tear up enemies with the right timing.
A Mother to Her Men: She cares deeply about her crew as much as her crew worships and respects their captain.
Ms. Fanservice: Beidou is a good-looking lady, what with her intriguing appearance and a seductive physique accentuated by her dress that highlights her ample breasts, and her qipao which leaves her thighs and neckline remarkably exposed.
Mundane Utility: Her Skill applies the Electro element to herself. This is useful for various Inazuma puzzles involving the use of Electro-imbued objects, such as using Relay Stones in Electro current puzzles and Lightning Strike Probes.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Beidou's name is taken from a star associated with death in Liyuan culture, leading to her being driven out from her childhood village after she became a scapegoat for a series of misfortunes.
Neutral No Longer: Like Kazuha, Beidou decides to return to Inazuma and join the Resistance after learning about the Traveler pushing back against Raiden Shogun, even though she's not a resident of the country and has nothing to directly gain from getting involved.
Nice Girl: Despite her tough appearance, Beidou is a highly kind and sociable woman who quickly makes friends with the Traveler, both in-story and in playable voice-overs. Her backstory also explains she constantly helps the common folk around her if they're experiencing troubles.
Odd Friendship: With Xiangling. Their character profiles name them both as friends, with Beidou bringing Xiangling exotic fish to cook. Beidou also learned her specialty dish, the Flash-Fried Fillet, from watching Xiangling cook. What makes their friendship truly odd is that Beidou's crew once kidnapped Xiangling while looking for cheap eats after a long voyage. Beidou, however, was so impressed by Xiangling's cooking that she rewarded her handsomely and declared her the greatest chef in the land. Since then, she agreed to supply Xiangling exotic ingredients to cook with.
Out of Focus: Despite having been in the game as a playable character since launch, Beidou has not made any appearances in the main story, side quests, or events for quite a while. It's not until v1.6 that she finally makes her debut in the story, and since then, she appears every now and then in Liyue-themed quests and got her own Hangout Event.
Overrated and Underleveled: Downplayed. Beidou is a legendary sailor famed for such feats as killing Haishan before she even received her Vision. However, she's a 4★ character who can be outclassed by 5★ Claymore users. However, with the right artifacts and weapons, and mastery of her Counter-Attack-oriented Elemental Skill, she's still a force to be reckoned with.
Parental Substitute: She adopted Little Yue after his parents, who were both members of her crew, died during Fleet's travels.
Pirate Girl: Despite not being explicitly called that (though there's room to read between the lines about what "cargoes" she carries sometimes), she absolutely has the aesthetics and mannerisms of a pirate and is specifically a huge walking love letter to Ching Shih. Since she takes on work for Ningguang, she is also technically a privateer.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Beidou has plenty of stories about her adventures and accomplishments, but most of them have nothing to do with traditional pirate antics. The kids playing pirate in Liyue Harbor will even rebuke the Traveler for pretending to rob them, saying they should be a "good pirate" like Beidou who doesn't steal from anyone.
Rags to Riches: As a child, she was so poor that she survived off of stealing from fruit trees and chasing down stray animals that snatched what little food she could find. Even when she was successful enough to captain her first ship, business floundered as other merchants rejected her services. These days she's the wealthy, powerful captain of the Crux Fleet and receives commissions from even the Qixing.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: Beidou was already pretty strong pre-Vision, but after earning her Electro powers by slaying Haishan with one fell blow from her claymore, she practically became a legend in Liyue.
Red Baron: Beidou holds a reputation as the "Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean".
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted. While she's an experienced pirate captain and thus not someone you want to get on the bad side of, she's also one of the nicest heroes around.
Reduced Mana Cost: Played with. Her utility passive, Conqueror of Tides, shaves 20% off of the party's stamina consumption while swimming.
The Rival: To Ningguang in both a personal and business sense. When on ground, Beidou likes to sell her exotic wares and exclusive business info while flaunting the laws, and if she gets hit with a fine she'll simply pay it off and resume her work like nothing happened. According to Ningguang, Beidou has paid so many fines that it'd be enough to buy her a new ship. The personal sense seems to be one-sided, though, as Beidou claims she holds no hard feelings.
Secret Relationship: She and Ganyu share a close friendship, with Ganyu respecting Beidou to the level of reverence. Given her history with the Qixing, who Ganyu serves as secretary to, Beidou requests the Traveler to keep their friendship a secret.
Self-Made Woman: As the one who built the Crux Fleet from the ground up, Beidou fiercely asserts that neither Ningguang nor any of the other Qixing are pulling strings behind the scenes, and that her responsibilities lie solely with the Fleet.
Significant Birth Date: February 14 is Valentine's Day, befitting one of the most caring and kindhearted people in the game.
Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: As a woman of the sea, Beidou obviously has to learn how to swim with strong lungs. Fittingly, her utility passive reduces the stamina consumption of swimming.
Small Role, Big Impact: Excluding any events involving her, Beidou really only shows up at the prologue to the Inazuma Archon Quest, but she's responsible for safely getting the Traveler into the isolationist nation, setting in motion a chain of events that end with Ei's reformation, the abolition of the Sakoku and Vision Hunt Decrees, and the reopening of Inazuma to the outside world. She also shows up again as part of Kokomi's reinforcements.
Smart People Play Chess: Her profile claims she once beat Ningguang at chess, stunning Ningguang's entourage—not because she was able to beat the Tianquan, but because she dared to. She's also able to keep up with whatever new editions Ningguang comes up with and is the only person who can do so.
Spell Blade: Both her Elemental Talents temporarily infuse her claymore with Electro energy.
Statuesque Stunner: She's very tall and very attractive.
Stellar Name: "Beidou" is the Chinese name for the Big Dipper.
Super-Strength: She is a very capable fighter, but Liyuan folk tales take it to a whole new level.
Tall, Dark, and Snarky: A tall woman? Check. Dark brown hair? Check. Sarcastic sense of humor? Check.
Team Mom: Everyone in the Crux Fleet highly respect her, and she considers ensuring their safety to be her top priority, even over exploring and attaining wealth.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: According to the Pier Laborers' Gossip story entry, Beidou managed to slay a three-headed hydra by hurling her claymore, letting it spin round as it cut through the monster before then having it return to her hand.
Trademark Favorite Food: She loves anything that's hot, fried, and/or spicy, while her Odd Friendship with Xiangling implies that she's fond of seafood. Of course, bonus points again if it is anything made by Xiangling.
True Companions: Beidou collaborates with Ningguang to do work for her, yet she insists that the two of them are on equal footing. When Ningguang's advisers worry that Beidou is acting too much like a maverick, the former defends Beidou with this line...
Ningguang: "On the contrary, Beidou is the most reliable person in Liyue. Just tell her the truth, as well as what's in it for her, and she'll come around in her own time."
Upgrade Artifact: A variant—her third and fifth Constellation upgrades, Summoner of Storm and Crimson Tidewalker, add three levels to, respectively, her Skill and Burst.
Venturous Smuggler: One route of her Hangout Event reveals that she has the Crux involved in smuggling goods out of Liyue. However, the job that she and Traveler do is to distract the Millelith from the actual smuggling operation. Heizou's Hangout Event tree would reveal that the goods are shipped to Watatsumi, where she gets desperately needed supplies to the relatively poor islanders without having to deal with the high taxes of the Kanjou Commission. And in Yoimiya's first Story Quest, she notes that she occasionally assists the Fleet in smuggling fireworks out of Inazuma to be used for Liyue's Lantern Rite festivals, despite restrictions set forth by the Sakoku Decree.
Weapon Specialization: Beidou's artwork depicts her wielding the Blackcliff Slasher (4★). Its Ascension substat is Critical Damage (12–55.1%), while its "Press the Advantage" passive gives its wielder a 12–24% Attack boost within half a minute after defeating an enemy, which can stack up to thrice at a time and with each stack's duration treated separately (hence a maximum of 36–72%), which incentivizes players to carefully time Beidou's attacks to maximize the benefits reaped.
We Need a Distraction: One route of her Hangout Event tree has her and the Traveler buy some goods from the market and bring them to Guyun Stone Forest, where they’re inspected by the Millelith. This is to distract the Millelith from a secret smuggling operation that the Crux was doing at the same time, which Heizou’s Hangout Event would reveal was going to Watatsumi Island.

Kazuha

Kaedehara Kazuha

A wandering samurai from Inazuma who is currently with Liyue's Crux Fleet.

See his entry here.

Chenyu Vale

A valley North of Bishui Plain known for its tea.

In General

Lost Colony: Some members of the Aranara seemed to have lived here at some point if the ruins of their houses found in select corners are of any indication.
Meaningful Name: Its name, 沉玉谷, means "Sunken Jade Valley", referring to the Jademouth, massive pieces of jade that protect the river from flooding.
Mystical Jade: Jade has a particularly greater religious significance in Chenyu Vale than other areas in Liyue, with the Flavour Text of the Sacrificial Jade catalyst stating that its residents used to carve and throw jade objects into the Bishui River as offerings back when Chenyu Vale had yet to be subsumed under the Rex Lapis' rule. This tradition is no longer being carried out in the present, but artifacts such as the Echoes of An Offering set and the Jademouth still show the importance of jade in Chenyu Vale's history.

Gaming

Yip Gaming

Introduced: January 31, 2024 (v.4.4 "Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze" [first half])
Voiced by: Xie Ying (Chinese), Shōhei Komatsu (Japanese), Kim Yoon-ki (Korean), Caleb Yen (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gaming.png

Leonine Vanguard

"Whether it takes me uphill, downhill, or out to the sticks, I get the goods from A to B — I'll even take 'em across the sea if needed. So don't worry, you're in safe hands. They don't call me the Gold-Standard Guard for nothing!"

Rarity: 4★
Element: Pyro
Weapon: Claymore
Constellation: Leo Expergiscens, the Awakening Lion

A cheerful young man from Qiaoying Village, Gaming works as a guard for the Sword and Strongbox Secure Transport Agency. When not working as a guard or playing with his suanni companion Man Chai, he heads the Mighty Mythical Beasts, a Wushou dance troupe, against the wishes of his businessman father.

Gaming blends swordsmanship and teaming up with Man Chai to pepper foes with explosive leaping strikes. His Elemental Skill, Bestial Ascent, is a swift thrust that launches him in midair should he hit a foe, upgrading his next plunging attack into Charmed Cloudstrider, which deals Pyro damage that cannot be overridden with reactions in exchange for consuming some HP, while his Elemental Burst, Suanni's Gilded Dance, summons Man Chai to pound on a group of enemies, temporarily imbues him with Pyro, heals him, and assumes Wushou Stance, where Man Chai will peridocally join him in combat to reset the cooldown of his Skill so long as he has over half his HP.^note

A Boy and His X: A cheerful boy and the juvenile Suanni that he befriended by playing with him all day long.
Animal Motifs: His introductory quote compares him to numerous animals, but his primary motif is the Chinese “nian" lion. Both his constellation and title reference a leonine beast, and his design inspiration comes from the traditional Southern Chinese lion dance.
Asian Lion Dogs: His main Animal Motif. One of his pendants has the face of one, and Gaming is noted in his flavor text to perform a masked "Wushou Dance" for audiences when not working as a guard. He also has a pet Suanni which is modelled after them.
Big Eater: His voice lines indicate that he really loves food, and his favorite hobby is to get dim sum at any opportunity.
Cast from Hit Points: His unique plunging attack drains HP equivalent to 15% of its maximum value (unless it falls below 10%, in which case the HP loss is negated) in exchange for heightened damage potency.
Cooldown Manipulation: Wushou Stance negates the cooldown time of Gaming's Skill so long as he has over half his HP.
Critical Hit Class: His sixth Constellation upgrade, To Tame All Beasts, increases the Critical Rate and Damage of his unique plunging attack by, respectively, 20% and 40%, besides increasing its damage radius.
Dance Battler: He applies "Wushou Dance" techniques when battling.
Dark Is Not Evil: He and Man Chai are black and red not just to signify the element that they wield, but also to reference the Guan Gong lion◊.
A Day in the Limelight: The main story of the 2024 Lantern Rite event revolves around Gaming's strained relationship with his father and the subsequent effort by Xianyun, the Traveler and a few others to help him reconcile.
Dub Pronunciation Change: To reflect Gaming's Cantonese inspirations, the pronunciations of his and Man Chai's name can differ depending on the dub.
- For Gaming, the characters of his name (simplified 叶嘉明, traditional 葉嘉明, jyutping "Jip Gaaming") are read as "Yè Jiāmíng" in Mandarin, "Yō Gamin" (katakana ヨウガミン) in Japanese, and "Yeop Gamyeong" (hangul 엽가명) in Korean. In addition, to emphasize Gaming's Cantonese cultural aesthetic, in the Chinese dub he speaks with the appropriate regional twang.
- For Man Chai, its characters (文仔, jyutping "Man Zai") are read as "Wén Zǎi" in Mandarin, "Wen Tsai" (via romanizaiton; katakana ウェンツァイ) in Japanese, and "Un Dong" (hangul 운동) in Korean.
Floating Limbs: Unlike other suanni who control Hydro and Anemo, Man Chai's paws aren't attached to his incorporeal torso made of fire.
Foil: He is the complete opposite of Shenhe in pretty much every conceivable way possible from their looks to personalities and even the way they fight. Shenhe is a Cryo character who is best used as a support for others while Gaming is a Pyro character who works best after getting buffed. Their family situation is also completely the opposite of each other, Shenhe's father cast her aside while Gaming's father wants to hold onto to his son for as long as possible. Shenhe really values the bonds of family she has made and sees them as keeping her grounded while Gaming sees his family bonds as more of a burden that prevent him from flying free. Subsequently, Shenhe is unable to understand Gaming's resentment towards his father.
Goomba Springboard: His Skill normally has him dash forward; if he hits an enemy, he will be launched upward, facilitating his unique plunging attack.
Idiot Hair: He has a single strand of hair behind his headband that defies gravity, reflecting his cheery nature.
I Miss Mom: While he doesn't show it openly, he misses his deceased mom terribly, often re-reading her letter and crying while thinking of her in the privacy of his room. Eating char siu, which he is found of, also brings back his memories of her.
Immune to Flinching: While the Wushou Stance is active, Gaming enjoys heightened interruption resistance, freeing him to spam his Skill with abandon.
Improbable Use of a Weapon: His attack finisher involves swinging a claymore while being held with a lion head's mouth.
Ironic Name: Gaming gave Man Chai (文仔, "cultured person") his name in the hopes that he would be well-behaved, but the suanni proved too rambunctious to be so.
The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Gaming, a Dance Battler who works as a convoy security guard, is a big fan of Yun Jin, citing her as an inspiration for his own performances, hoping to reach her level of success.
“Yun Jin's a huge inspiration to me! Everyone agrees that she's a fantastic singer, from the experts to the casual listener. Incredible. If the Mighty Mythical Beasts ever get half as successful as the Yun-Han Opera Troupe... don't pinch me, 'cause I won't wanna wake up!”
Like Father, Like Son: Like his father, Gaming diverged from the family trade in his career pursuits, though his father went into commerce while Gaming is trying to become a full-time performer while working in security. Yip Tak even admits that their similarly headstrong natures tended to cause them to clash which resulted in their present estrangement.
Meaningful Name: Gaming's full name is Yip Gaming (叶嘉明), with his family name meaning "leaf," reflecting his hometown Qiaoying Village's centuries-old tea-making industry, while his given name is composed of the characters that respectively mean "lucky" and "bright." Coupled with his lion dance inspirations which are often performed especially during Chinese New Year to usher in good fortune, Gaming's name is very fitting for a Pyro Vision holder who protects the fortunes of the merchants whose cargo he escorts.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Much like Kazuha, he employs an alternate plunging attack upon with his Skill; in his case, he performs a rolling attack with his lion head. However, he'll only jump if he connects with an opponent, otherwise, he'll simply do a short dash.
Mirror Character: Gaming and Xinyan are both claymore wielding Pyro vision holders from Liyue who are struggling performers that rebelled against expectations and traditions to pursue their passions and attempt to increase the popularity of their respective chosen arts in the mainstream.
Missing Mom: Gaming's mother passed due to health-related issues caused by overexertion when Gaming was younger.
Odd Name Out: Gaming is, as of v4.4, the only one among the playable Liyue cast whose name is rendered in Cantonese instead of Mandarin (see "Dub Pronunciation Change" above).
Precious Puppy: Just look at Man Chai's small fluffy body and the way he enthusiastically lunges to lick/snuggle up to Gaming. In terms of appearance and mannerisms, Man Chai is no different than a devoted puppy to Gaming, and the developers also mention taking inspiration from a colleague with a pet dog.
Regenerating Health:
- His first-ascension passive, Dance of Amity, restores his HP equivalent to 1.5% of its maximum value in 0.2-second bursts for 0.8 seconds (hence four bursts and a total healing of 6% HP).
- His first Constellation upgrade, Bringer of Blessing, heals him equivalent to 15% of his Max HP whenever he and Man Chai link.
Regenerating Mana: His fourth Constellation upgrade, Soar Across Mountains, restores 2 Energy (triggered within at least 0.2 second) whenever his unique plunging attack hits enemies.
Rolling Attack: His alternate plunging attack involves rolling down on the ground while donning a lion head costume. His Burst capitalizes on this, so long as Man Chai jumps back to him, he is able to perform additional rolling attacks.
Teen Rebellion: Though it is ambiguous how old exactly Gaming is, with his boyish looks, apparent youth and his short stature compared to his father, it can be deduced that he is likely close in age to the other Liyue boys. His dyed red hair and eyebrow piercing hidden behind his bangs suggest that he had tried going all out against his father's wishes when he ran away from home after being pressured to inherit the tea business.
The Runaway: Gaming ran away from home after getting into a fight with his father, who wanted him to take over the family tea business and viewed his practice of Wushou dancing as childish.
Situational Sword:
- His fourth-ascension passive, Air of Prosperity, provides either a 20% boost to his Incoming Healing Bonus if he has less than half his HP, or 20% to the damage potency of his unique plunging attack otherwise.
- His second Constellation upgrade, Plum Blossoms Underfoot, bestows a 20% Attack boost for five second whenever he is healed beyond his Max HP.
The Social Expert: Gaming's friendly, easygoing and sociable nature allows him to get along with basically everyone meets on his travels.
Sprint Shoes: His utility passive, The Striding Beast, enhances the party's sprinting speed by 10% during daylight hours (i.e., 06:00–18:00).
Street Performer: When not working as a guard for Sword and Strongbox, he puts on performances in Liyue Harbor in hopes of sparking greater interest in Wushou.
Strong Family Resemblance: Heavily downplayed, since Gaming has the flashy appearance of a playable character while his father Yip Tak uses an NPC model, but they do share the same shade of dark brown hair^note.
Trademark Favorite Food: He is a fan of dim sum dishes, an assortment of bite-sized Cantonese dishes, with a majority of his voice lines mentioning dim sum or tea in some capacity. In particular, he is fond of char siu, or barbecued pork, with his specialty dish being a pair of char siu baos shaped like his Wushou head.
Tron Lines: His outfit, and his accessories, will light up whenever his Elemental Burst is active or is doing an idle where he practices with the lion head (in the latter case, while his outfit will usually glow in orange, there is a chance he will glow into bluish-purple instead).
Unexplained Accent: In the English dub, he has a hint of a Chinese-American accent while his father has a stronger one. Generic regionless accents being the norm for the EN dub, this is peculiar despite being apt.
Upgrade Artifact: A variant—his third and fifth Constellation upgrades, Awakening Spirit and Evil-Daunting Roar, add three levels to, respectively, his Skill and Burst.

Little Mao

A young boy who lives in Qiaoying Village. Appears in the World Quest series "Chenyu's Blessings of Sunken Jade".

Tagalong Kid: Subverted. Despite being a little kid who tags along the Chenyu's Blessings questline, he actually knows a lot of useful information about the Vale's history and folklore.
Wise Beyond Their Years: He knows a lot about Chenyu Vale's history and folklore as well as the hydrodynamics of the Bishui River running through it, having learned a lot of it from Lingyuan.

Yip Tak

Voiced by: June Yoon (English)

A tea merchant and Gaming's estranged father.

Character Development: Having received Zhongli's advice and witnessing Gaming's successful Wushou dance in the climax of Lantern Rite, Yip Tak agrees to "loosen his hold" on Gaming and gives him his blessings to pursue his dreams.
Fantasy-Forbidding Father: He always preferred that Gaming join the family business instead of wasting his time performing Wushou dancing, which prompted Gaming to run away from home. The two have had a rather strained relationship ever since.
Follow in My Footsteps: Yip Tak kept insisting to Gaming to inherit his tea business when he wasn't interested, which served to widen the schism between them.
For Your Own Good: Yip Tak was extremely adamant in his position because he was worried about Gaming's financial security in the event that he is unable to maintain the fitness required for the physically demanding jobs as guard and Wushou dancer.
Like Father, Like Son: Like his son, Yip Tak diverged from the family trade in his career pursuits, though he went into commerce while Gaming is trying to become a full-time performer. Yip Tak even admits that their similarly headstrong natures tended to cause them to clash which resulted in their present estrangement.
Parents as People: Yip Tak wants the best for his son, but takes a longer view than him and worries about what Gaming's prospects will look like in years' time, when he can no longer perform his current, physically demanding occupation. Despite his love for his son, they also have a bad personality clash, both of them being stubborn and prone to arguing, and Yip Tak notes it might be for the best if they don't live under the same roof to keep from getting under each other's skin constantly.
Reasonable Authority Figure: While Gaming might think otherwise, in his conversation with Zhongli, Yip Tak makes it clear his sole reason for disapproving of Gaming's dream is because he worries for his son's future, that while Gaming is able to get by now, that won't always be the case and as he gets older his options become limited. It's obvious his worries at least come from a place of genuine love and aren't even that misplaced, as even Gaming admits he can't actually live off Wushou dancing.
Strong Family Resemblance: Heavily downplayed, since Gaming has the flashy appearance of a playable character while his father Yip Tak uses an NPC model, but they do share the same shade of dark brown hair^note.
Unexplained Accent: In the English dub, he has what Americans would consider a Chinese-American accent. Gaming also has one but it's much more subtle. Generic regionless accents being the norm for the EN dub, this is peculiar despite being apt.

Others

Azhdaha's avatars

Jiu

Voiced by: Matthew Greenbaum (English)

A mysterious little girl at the Dragon-Queller tree that seals away Azhdaha near Mt. Hulao.

Ambiguously Human: Jiu's status as a regular human child is unclear because, unlike Kun Jun who is confirmed to be a normal human that was possessed by Azhdaha's benevolent half, the same cannot be said for Jiu, who disappears outright once Azhdaha's true form is sealed again by Zhongli, implying that she may have been the literal manifestation of his malevolent half. Further complicating things is the fact that Jiu is no longer present at the Dragon-Queller tree onward after you complete part II of Zhongli's Story Quest.
Creepy Child: Jiu spends her time near the Dragon-Queller tree in Nantianmen and speaks in very cryptic and creepy lines about Azhdaha's eventual resurrection, seemingly looking down on Rex Lapis for usurping him. Initially, most players brushed her off as some lunatic Conspiracy Theorist, but then Version 1.5 dropped which reveals that she is one of two incarnations of Azhdaha himself who brainwashes the miners to dig out his seal, complete with glowing red eyes, elevating her creepiness factor.
Non-Standard Character Design: Unlike normal NPCs, she has unusually brightly colored hair similar to the playable characters.
Vocal Dissonance: When she appears in Zhongli's second Story Quest, she speaks in a deep masculine voice. Justified Trope, as her actual identity is (at least heavily implied to be) essentially an Anthropomorphic Personification of Azdaha's wrath and hatred, so it's actually Azdaha's voice.
Walking Spoiler: Very hard to discuss without mentioning the role she plays in Zhongli's second Story Quest.

Kun Jun

Voiced by: Adin Rudd (English/Normal) & Matthew Greenbaum (English/Possessed), Kohei Kiyasu (Japanese), Beichen Liu (Chinese).

A descendant of Kun Family who seem to have an affinity for Geo ores.

Brainwash Residue: A benevolent example. Kun Jun's rock psychometry was due to the benevolent half of Azhdaha possessing him and once the homicidal half is calmed down, Azhdaha gives Kun Jun back his body. Xinyan's domain during the "Summertime Odysessy" event reveals that Kun Jun gained the ability to detect if stones contained ores or not, implying that a bit of Azhdaha's powers linger in him.
Heroic Host: Is revealed to be none other than the benevolent half of Azhdaha who currently possesses his body.

Starsnatcher

Starsnatcher, né Wang Ping'an

Voiced by: Patrick Seitz (English)

A masked man claiming to be one of the last Yakshas.

Acquired Situational Narcissism: He only started to pretend to be a Yaksha because he wanted to goof around with the Sigil of Permission he found in his grandfather's stuff, but people following him around and giving tributes to him got to his head. After the Traveler and Xiao get through to him, he becomes The Atoner and returns the Sigil.
The Atoner: After the Traveler and Xiao knock some sense into him, he's thankful for the encounter and expresses remorse for disrespecting the Yakshas before going off on a self-pilgrimage to redeem himself. He eventually decides to rebuild Pervases' temple and stay there to maintain it.
The Bus Came Back: He returns in v2.4, meeting the Traveler and Xiao again after stumbling into Pervases' temple which he (with support from the Liyue government) fixes in the course of a few days.
Dub Name Change:
- In the Chinese dub, his moniker is Duōxīng-Juéchén Tiānjūn, translating to "Heavenly Lord Who Picks Up The Stars and Seizes The Celestial Bodies". Since this is a mouthful to translate, the English dub shortens it to Starsnatcher.
- Per Alternate Character Reading, his real name in the Japanese dub is Ō Heian.
Fake Ultimate Hero: He introduces himself as one of the last remaining Yakshas by using a Sigil of Permission to scare off monsters. However, later in Xiao's Story Quest, it becomes clear that Starsnatcher is only a human and a fraud who is misleading people with a make-believe story, as Xiao notes that his methods of exorcising monsters without killing them is not how Yakshas go about their business. After beating some sense into him, Wang gives up the Starsnatcher title and returns the Sigil to reflect on his actions.
Meaningful Name: "Wang" means "king" and "ping'an" means "safe, peaceful", befitting him pretending to be a legendary hero.
Odd Name Out: In his Chinese name, he is known as a Tianjun ("Heavenly Lord"), versus the other important Adepti being known as Zhenjun ("Perfected Lord"), a hint that he isn't who he claims to be. As the Zhenjun prefer to stay away from people, it's likely that Wang got their titles wrong.
Surprisingly Happy Ending: The Traveler beating him up in his dreams was meant to scare him off from his scams, but instead, since Xiao is an actual Yaksha, his reaction is surprisingly very humble, admitting he had committed sin, that he must atone for his wrongdoings, and returning the Sigil without realizing the Traveler and Xiao wanted it back. He thanks the Traveler for giving him this opportunity to meet Xiao, and Paimon lampshades that this wasn't the reaction they were expecting. He finds happiness after rebuilding Pervases' temple.
Zero-Effort Boss: He's treated as a boss, but barely lifts a finger when you fight him (his only attack is to throw a weak roundhouse kick if you get close to him) and the fight ends the moment his HP drops below 50%.

Sun Yu and Little Que'er

A pair of warriors consisting of Sun Yu wanted to traveled to Jueyun Karst and ask the Adepti's help in reviving the Guhua Clan, and is accompanied by his surrogate sister, Little Que'er.

Tropes related to Sun Yu

All for Nothing: He originally went to Jueyun Karst to seek the Adepti's guidance, however, he reveals that not only was there no reply, but reluctantly admits that he is fruitlessly hanging around in one spot. He also tells the Traveler that while he was out in a grocery at Liyue, he was approached by a merchant from Fontaine, and, at his suggestion, decided to Start My Own without the Adepti's help, via by traveling throughout Teyvat.
Like Brother and Sister: Views Little Que'er as his surrogate younger sister ever since they were kids.
Morality Pet: For Little Que'er whom she listens to. He is the only person who can keep her behavior in check, though even then, he has to directly tell her to stop.
Nice Guy: Is pretty humble and kind, a very sharp contrast to Little Que'er's behavior.
Post-Support Regret: During "The Day the Sword Departs" commission, he eventually reveals that he is aware of Little Que'er's temperament and is proven to be a hindrance to his goal of bringing the Guhua Clan back. He then decides to ditch her to start his original quest unimpeded.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The flipside to Little Que'er's's attitude. He is humble, understanding, and treats the Traveler like his better. Also unlike Que'er, he acknowledges his own limitations and asks the Traveler to train him.
The Remnant: Is one of the remaining Guhua disciples after the clan's disbandment.

Tropes related to Little Que'er

Ax-Crazy: If she threatens to kill you just because you wanted a conversation with her, then you'll know how dangerously unhinged and volatile she is.
Boisterous Weakling: Implied. According to Hanquan (an NPC affiliated with Yanshang Teahouse), she grades martial artists depending on their combat prowess - one is the highest and nine is the lowest. Sun Yu is ranked as number two - but Hanquan never mentions Que'er despite the implications that the latter trained and studied alongside Sun Yu. Which means that, for all her boastfulness and insults that she hurls at the Traveler, she is so Pathetically Weak that she doesn't deserve to be ranked at all.
Break the Haughty: She undergoes this in "The Day the Sword Departs", she spends her time being abrasive, rude, and needlessly violent to anyone. So the moment Sun Yu decides to depart from Liyue in order to find ways of bringing the Guhua Clan back (with even him acknowledging that Que'er's behavior is an obstacle to his goals), she is completely shattered and reduced to a broken mess. When finding her alone at her usual spot, she is too distressed to even pay attention to the Traveler's presence.
Bullying a Dragon: She boasts how she can freely kill the Traveler if Sun Yu isn't around to keep her worst impulses in check, ignoring the fact that she is a regular human threatening someone who has the power to weaponize the elements and is just as skilled with the blade, if not better (not to mention the many achievements they achieved throughout their journey); compared to the actual threats that the Traveler has faced, she's small fry in comparison. If she made those same threats to a combat-capable person who is far less patient and easily provokable (like, say, Shenhe), she would be signing her own warrant for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor instead. The Traveler is also publicly hailed as a hero to Liyue after the Osial incident, so even if she somehow manages to kill the Traveler, the Qixing (some of whom are even friends with the Traveler) and Millelith will certainly hunt her down and have her arrested.
Clingy Jealous Girl: She's extremely hostile towards anyone and anything that threatens to draw Sun Yu's attention away from her. To an extent, this even applies to the entire Guhua Clan itself, as Que'er resents how he seems to care more about reviving the clan than her.
Don't You Dare Pity Me!: According to Sun Yu, she refuses to acknowledge at her own weakness no matter the circumstance. He tells the Traveler that if he were to help her directly, she'll outright refuse it.
Hate Sink: It takes a lot of unwarranted rudeness towards others (even towards the Traveler) and nasty implications on wanting to harm a defenseless associate of her partner to bring this story irrelevant NPC into a despicable character among the likes of the Hiiragi and Kujou clan heads and Azar. Like the aforementioned three, she can eventually get a healthy dose of karma by completing "The Day the Sword Departs", albeit it took 19 patches from the game launch to start doing so.
Hypocrite: In "The Sparrow Studies the Blade", when the Traveler tells Sun Yu what does he want when talked to, Que'er snaps back at them to show respect to her partner. However, she herself is abrasively rude and disrespectful towards others without provocation.
Ineffectual Death Threats: Exaggerated; she hurls death threats towards the Traveler, but sorely lacks the capability of actually carrying it out, even without Sun Yu's presence being accounted for; the Traveler is several times stronger and physically resilient compared to a regular Teyvat human (with Que'er being one of those humans), so she can't go through with her threats even if she tried.
It's All About Me: It's made very clear that her world revolves around Sun Yu, and him alone, and doesn't understand why he wanted to revive the Guhua Clan despite also studying there. She also refuses to go with Sun Yu, despite being asked beforehand out of pride and is left completely alone when he departed the nation as a result.
Jerkass:
- Of the non-story NPCs, she's far by the most unpleasant and unapproachable of them, with absolutely no redeeming or sympathetic qualities whatsoever; at best, she hurls taunts and insults at anyone (including the Traveler), and, at worst, even issue death threats for the crime of talking to her. None of her on or off-screen actions indicate that she's even capable of even a small amount of genuine kindness. In essence, she makes Heihachi look less of a jerk by comparison.
- Even when considering her close relationship and association with Sun Yu, she never once considered that her foul attitude comes off as unprofessional and would make Sun Yu look bad in front of strangers and his associates. She does not even try to meet Sun Yu one last time and bid him farewell on his journey and wish him good luck, meaning that for all her claims that Sun Yu is important to her, she never cared about his personal feelings or even sympathize with his goals.
Karma Houdini Warranty: Although Que'er is presented as someone who isn't meant to be sympathetic or likable in the slightest with how she talks shit to others and threaten them without provocation, the game never allows the player to do anything to her despite this, resulting in her getting away with her attitude and behavior scot free years since the game's release. She gets her punishment once Version 3.3 is released, where the player can complete a series of Daily Commissions where the Traveler helps Sun Yu wrap up some tasks so that he can journey outside of Liyue on his own without Que'er in tow, causing the latter to shatter emotionally.
Kick the Dog: In the 1.3 Lantern Rite, Que'er is shown to be demanding towards Sun Yu in asking about his relationship to Zhiruo (a former Guhua Clan member who is currently a regular civilian). When coupled with her hostile attitude towards others and throwing death threats to them, she is implied to be perfectly willing to hurt others even if they are not able to fight back or defend themselves.
Mugging the Monster: She freely utters threats towards the Traveler... not realizing that said Traveler is both a proficient swordsman with the ability to weaponize the elements and is hailed as a hero in Liyue. If she actually followed through with her threats, she will very quickly find that out the hard way.
Never My Fault: After Sun Yu left her to embark on his journey beyond Liyue, Que'er assumes that he never cared about her, completely ignoring that Sun Yu had already tried to convince her to come along, but her aggressive attitude (which she does not acknowledge) in not wanting to leave her homeland proves her unwillingness in supporting Sun Yu's goals.
No Social Skills: Instantly acts hostile to anyone if talked to regardless of intent, and immediately states her intention on killing the Traveler for simply wanting to say hello if Sun Yu isn't around to keep her in check.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During "The Day the Sword Departs".
- According to Sun Yu, she can be normally placated if she goes out of hand since he is the only one who can keep her behavior in check, but she becomes completely unreasonable the moment he is leaving Liyue to travel around Teyvat, that even Sun Yu cannot persuade her at all. A sign of that her unhealthy relationship with him is finally emerging and her inability to leave the nation out of pride.
- During "Day 1 of departure", she is much more somber and doesn't even attempt to assault Zhiruo when the latter attempts to comfort her. Keep in mind that in the first Lantern Rite event, she is really insistent in asking Sun Yu information about her, with implication that she has ill intents with the Guhua senior. And the fact that they are found alone in a temple at Mt. Tianheng (with the overlooking Waypoint at the mountainhead), a good location where Little Que'er can freely assault (or even kill) Zhiruo without any witnesses around.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The mean flipside to Sun Yu's niceness. She is a violent, vicious, and abrasive jerk who treats the Traveler as if they are a threat and is very quick to interrupt them before they can explain themselves.
Toxic Friend Influence: She constantly tries to (unsuccessfully) talk Sun Yu out of bringing the Guhua clan back, and in "The Sparrow Studies the Blade" commission, she attempts to (also unsuccessfully) convince Sun Yu that the Traveler is a threat. Karma bites her in the ass when Sun Yu eventually decided he's had enough and starts his journey to revive the Guhua Clan without the likes of her following him. Bonus points as she refused to go with him despite being persuaded beforehand.
Ungrateful Bitch: When the Traveler gave her a tea at Sun Yu's behest in "The Sparrow Studies the Blade" commission, she never thanked them for their efforts,^note instead, she has the gall to lash out at them for even giving her aid, then, after paying them, tells the Traveler to scram.

Wanyan

An archeologist who is interested in uncovering the secrets of the Archon Wars lost to time. She is one of the members of Yinyuan Hall.

Awful Truth: Havria, the goddess she worships, was murdered by her own people rather than the Geo Archon like she expected.
Blatant Lies: She claims to be an archeologist, but everyone in the group can easily tell that she isn't one because she only knows everything related to Havria, but fails at recognizing simple relics that even Kliment knew.
Break the Haughty: Wanyan is fanatically devoted to Havria, the Goddess of Salt, who she naively believed was killed by the hands of Morax, the latter whom she openly resents (right in front of Morax himself, even if she's unaware of that). When she finally found out that Havria was a weak God who died at the hands of her own people instead of by Morax as she expected, to say that she didn't take it well would be an understatement. All of her talk and confidence in her claims fell apart at that very moment, prompting her to run off in despair and is never seen again.
Crisis of Faith: After Zhongli reveals the truth about Havria's death, she refuses to acknowledge the facts, despite seeing all the evidence at her temple. Whether she accepts it in the end or not remains a mystery.
Cruel Mercy: On the receiving end; when she is insistent on wanting to take both of Havria's treasures even if it meant violating Zhongli's contract, she is willing to accept even death as proof of her devotion to the Goddess of Salt. Zhongli however, thinks this is too easy of a punishment for her and opts for an alternative without ever needing to lay a finger on her: by revealing the Awful Truth about her God. Needless to say, this hurt her far more than anything else that Zhongli could have done.
Dramatic Irony: She requests the aid of Zhongli after hearing him give theories about the Geo Archon that are much less complimentary than those of the other scholars. She thinks she's found someone who is willing to think negatively of Rex Lapis and will back up her efforts to prove Morax betrayed and murdered Havria, completely unaware that he is Rex Lapis and simply doesn't like people overhyping his abilities.
Spotting the Thread: How Zhongli and the Traveler can tell she is lying about being an archeologist: She keeps using "Morax" instead of "Rex Lapis", which tips them off that she has a hidden agenda related to Havria.

Historical

After the fall of the Guili Assembly and the death of Guizhong during the Archon Wars, Rex Lapis moved his people to the south and established Liyue. Under his guidance and the assistance of the Adepti to defend the city from supernatural threats, Liyue grew and enjoyed more than 3,000 years of stability and prosperity.

Cataclysm Period

Boyang

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2023_01_31_at_83457_pm.png

Voiced by: Chen Haotian (Chinese), Tabuchi Shohei (Japanese), Gianni Matragrano (English)

One of Yelan's ancestors and a comrade to Bosacius when they fought together at the Chasm during the Cataclysm.

Demon Slaying: Is part of a group of exorcists charged with combating against the demons and monsters.
Dying Alone:His ultimate fate, as Bosacius ended up passing away before him.
Heroic Sacrifice: He devised a plan to trap the monsters from Khaenri'ah inside the depts of the Chasm. Because this needed both an Adepti and human to operate the Fantastic Compass, they voluntarily sealed themselves alongside the monsters.

Rongzhao

An Exorcist who is one of Yelan's Ancestors who fought at the Chasm during The Cataclysm. He is Boyang's younger brother.

Demon Slaying: Like his older brother, he was part of the team of exorcists charged with battling demons and monsters.
Sanity Slippage: Although he survived the Cataclysm and managed to go back to Liyue, he went completely insane after his exposure to Bosacius's karma.

Time Unknown

Han Wu

A famous Liyuean blacksmith who forged the Prototype series of weapons (together with fellow blacksmith Yun Hui) and some of the Blackcliff series of weapons (some others were done by his son Han Ce).

Dug Too Deep: He once tried mining for rare minerals in the Chasm, but he and his mining crew ended up trapped by a cave-in. When he tried cutting his way out with his sword, a loud roar was heard; he thought that some sort of ancient dragon was beneath the cave. Much later, when the Chasm was struck by an earthquake, he forged Blackcliff Slasher and made a shrine near the cave and placed the claymore on it, believing that it'll ward off the dragon's influence.
Family Business: While Han Ce at first just wanted to be a wanderer, the incident at the Chasm that involved his father made them reconcile; not long after Han Wu's death, his son decided to continue the smithing business.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Many of his crafted weapons are famously powerful; Prototype Rancour, for one, can cut deep through stone even just by being dropped from high height.

Kunwu

An ancestor of Kun Jun. Originally a scholar of the Akademiya of Liyue origin.

The Smart Guy: He is an intellectual scholar who originally wanted admittance to the Akademiya in pursuit of knowledge but changed his pursuit upon possessing the Sundial of Enduring Jade.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Since possessing the Sundial of Enduring Jade on his hands, he instead carved his own path as a craftsman upon discovering it has no flaws. He is the person who crafted the Solar Pearl, Dragon's Bane, and the Lion's Roar.

Skipper

"Skipper"

A Liyuean captain who was once a benevolent individual to his crew. After the tragedy struck him, he lost his crew, leading him finding the sea monster to avenge his crew.

Pyrrhic Victory: He succeeded killing the sea-monster and avenging his crew, at the cost of his life.

Skyrider

"Skyrider"

Little known about this Young Noble named "Skyrider". He believes that Swords could make the owners fly like an adepti, just like in a Liyuean Fantasy.

Deconstructive Parody: He is likely based off the common trope in xianxia novels where cultivators can fly on their swords. A xiān is an immortal being in Chinese Mythology, while Xiá, usually translated as "hero", is specifically a person who is brave, chivalrous, and righteous. So he is basically a Deconstructive Xianxia Hero.
Too Dumb to Live: Instead of accepting the truth that the swords would not fly, he blames the sword and throws it away, but decided to use a bigger sword and went to Guyun Stone Forest. Alas, the results are predictable, and he dies.

Yun Hui

The seventh head of Yun Family. He was a well-known member of the Qixing.

The Blacksmith: Once ran his family weapon forge before he became a member of the Qixing.

Characters / Genshin Impact: Liyue

Edit Locked

Liyue

Adepti

Liyue Harbor

Qixing

Exorcists

Chongyun

Introduced: September 28, 2020 (v1.0 "Welcome To Teyvat" [game launch])Voiced by: kinsen (Chinese), Soma Saito (Japanese), Yang Jeong-hwa (Korean), Beau Bridgland (English)

Shenhe

Introduced: January 5, 2022 (v2.4 "Fleeting Colors in Flight" [first half])Voiced by: Qin Ziyi (Chinese), Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Lee Hyun-jin (Korean), Chelsea Kwoka (English)

???

Qingce Village

Chang the Ninth

Dongdong

Granny Ruoxin

The Chasm

Jinwu

"Qi Nan"

Long, Bold Cen, Brave Cen, and Mao

Uncle He

Wang

Xamaran

Wangshu Inn

Smiley Yanxiao

Verr Goldet and Huai'an

Crux Fleet

Beidou

Introduced: September 28, 2020 (v1.0 "Welcome To Teyvat" [game launch])Voiced by: Tang Yajing (Chinese), Ami Koshimizu (Japanese), Jeong Yoo-mi (Korean), Allegra Clark (English)

Kaedehara Kazuha

Chenyu Vale

Yip Gaming

Introduced: January 31, 2024 (v.4.4 "Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze" [first half])Voiced by: Xie Ying (Chinese), Shōhei Komatsu (Japanese), Kim Yoon-ki (Korean), Caleb Yen (English)

Little Mao

Yip Tak

Others

Jiu

Kun Jun

Starsnatcher, né Wang Ping'an

Sun Yu and Little Que'er

Tropes related to Sun Yu

Tropes related to Little Que'er

Wanyan

Historical

Cataclysm Period

Boyang

Rongzhao

Time Unknown

Han Wu

Kunwu

"Skipper"

"Skyrider"

Yun Hui

Previous

Index

Next

Introduced: September 28, 2020 (v1.0 "Welcome To Teyvat" [game launch])
Voiced by: kinsen (Chinese), Soma Saito (Japanese), Yang Jeong-hwa (Korean), Beau Bridgland (English)

Introduced: January 5, 2022 (v2.4 "Fleeting Colors in Flight" [first half])
Voiced by: Qin Ziyi (Chinese), Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Lee Hyun-jin (Korean), Chelsea Kwoka (English)

Introduced: September 28, 2020 (v1.0 "Welcome To Teyvat" [game launch])
Voiced by: Tang Yajing (Chinese), Ami Koshimizu (Japanese), Jeong Yoo-mi (Korean), Allegra Clark (English)

Introduced: January 31, 2024 (v.4.4 "Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze" [first half])
Voiced by: Xie Ying (Chinese), Shōhei Komatsu (Japanese), Kim Yoon-ki (Korean), Caleb Yen (English)