Genshin Impact: Raiden Shogun / Characters

With the revelations about her true identity, there will be unmarked spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Raiden Ei / Raiden Shogun / Beelzebul, the God of Eternity

Introduced: September 1, 2021 (v2.1 "Floating World Under the Moonlight" [first half])
Voiced by: Juhuahua (Chinese), Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Park Ji-yoon (Korean), Anne Yatco (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/raiden_shogun_2.png

Plane of Euthymia

"Thunder's roar and lightning's flash. So ephemeral. This is why reaching Eternity is desirable. ...Actually, no — this is why reaching Eternity is necessary."

Rarity: 5★
Element: Electro
Weapon: Polearm
Constellation: Imperatrix Umbrosa, the Shadow Empress

The Electro Archon and god-ruler of Inazuma, who long ago promised the people an unchanging eternity. Sometime before the Traveler's arrival to Teyvat, she imposed the Sakoku and Vision Hunt Decrees, closing the nation from the outside world and seizing all Visions within Inazuma's borders to inlay them upon the Statue of the Omnipresent God in Inazuma City, triggering a national crisis. As the Traveler goes deep into the crisis surrounding Inazuma, however, they discover that there might be far more to her than meets the eye...

True to her fearsome reputation, the Raiden Shogun obliterates her foes with lightning-fast strikes as well as empowers her party's Energy charging. Her Elemental Skill, Transcendence: Baleful Omen, is a swift slash that bestows upon the active character the Eye of Stormy Judgment, which periodically augments their attacks with an Electro-infused slash and boosts their Elemental Bursts proportional to their Energy Cost. Her Elemental Burst, Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu, has her unsheathe the sacred sword Musou Isshin to hack away at foes with a condensed form of the Musou no Hitotachi, her signature finisher; afterwards, all her subsequent attacks become imbued with an Electro effect that cannot be overwritten by reactions, as well as restore Energy to the party and improve her resistance to flinching and Electro-charging damage; furthermore, her allies' Bursts gain the ability to generate stacks of Resolve used to build up the Chakra Desiderata, a ring of Electro orbs behind the Shogun, which are then consumed to supercharge the Musou Isshin the next time she unsheathes it.^note

open/close all folders

General tropes

Always a Bigger Fish: Yes, La Signora may be the legendary Crimson Witch of Flames, but the Raiden Shogun is a god who has slain numerous other gods to boot... and as such effortlessly kills Signora with a single attack.
Ambiguous Situation: While it is stated that Barbatos and Morax are the last two original Archons from the Archon War days, there's strangely nearly no mention of the first Electro Archon; the only book that might have alluded to it, the Sangonomiya Chronicles, only serves to further muddle the waters on when exactly the Raiden Shogun started her reign, alluding to an "Almighty Raiden Ogosho" who united Inazuma during the Archon War ("Ogosho" denoting a retired Shogun). Then it is revealed that the current Shogun, Ei/Beelzebul, was the twin sister and Body Double of Makoto/Baal, the original Electro Archon, who died in the Khaenri'ah Cataclysm, with only a few gods and spirits aware there were ever two of them.
Anti-Villain: A Type III (Well-Intentioned), and the core of her character. While she is enacting oppressive policies against her people in the name of eternity, they come from just as much a place of fear over her nation going the way of Khaenri'ah should they grow too powerful for the Heavenly Principles' liking, as much as it is out of grief over her sister's death during the Cataclysm.
Arc Villain: She serves as the main antagonist of the Inazuma Archon Quest, who is not aligned with either the Fatui or the Abyss Order, up to that point the primary villainous groups in the overarching story, and is the first hostile Archon the Traveler faces in their journey. The plot revolves around her people facing, resisting, and challenging her rule over the nation and her Sakoku and Vision Hunt Decrees. However, due to being closed off from the rest of the world for so long and mostly being unaware of the circumstances, her puppet body (which oversees her affairs in the outside world) became an Unwitting Pawn to the Fatui in tandem with corrupt elements within the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions, manipulated into enacting the former decree in order for the two Commissions to consolidate their control over international trade and law enforcement, and the latter so the Fatui can take advantage of the inevitable unrest and use the opposition as unwitting test subjects for their mass-produced Delusions. She still serves as the final boss however, and the arc concludes with her Heel–Face Turn.
Arc Words: Aside from "eternity" as her ideal and "erosion" as what she's trying to prevent, there's also "wishes," "ambitions," and "dreams" that are heavily tied to her and her story. Some of the descriptions for her Talents and Constellation upgrades mention those words. Her Vision Hunt Decree has her taking away people's ambitions in the process. She is convinced to abolish the decree after the Traveler shows her how the power of the people's ambitions can overpower a god's will.
Armor-Piercing Attack: Her second Constellation upgrade, Steelbreaker, allows the Musou Isshin to ignore 60% of her target's Defense stat.
Ancestral Weapon: The Musou Isshin was created by her twin sister Makoto/Baal, which Ei inherited after her death.
Beauty Is Bad: Subverted. She's easy on the eyes and the Arc Villain of the Inazuma chapter until her Heel–Face Turn, where she becomes more reasonable.
Berserk Button: She deems "exceptions" as the enemy of eternity, and will not hesitate to remove them. She sees the Traveler as one such exception, realizing they can use elemental powers without a Vision. In truth, this is just the Raiden Shogun puppet brokenly attempting to deal with a variable outside its pre-programmed directives by removing it. Ei herself is more intrigued than angered by the Traveler.
Bilingual Bonus: The Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview video names her as a part of the "Bakufu", a Japanese term which is synonymous with a Shogunate.
Blade Spam: Most playable characters have a bit of ending lag on the last hit of their attack combos, forcing players to use animation canceling if they want to keep up the pressure. The Raiden Shogun has no such delay, allowing her to continuously string together her already swift attack combos without pause. The fourth step of her normal combo (both the regular one and with the Musou Isshin) and her Charged Attack (only with the Musou Isshin) also has her performing a series of quick, swift slashes.
Blood Knight: Downplayed. Though she doesn't display it often, the Shogun does enjoy a chance to test her skills against strong opponents. Notably, during her rematch with the Traveler, when they manage to overcome her Vision Hunt Decree using the collective willpower of the hundred Visions, Ei gives a smile as she draws her blade, signifying that she sees the Traveler as a Worthy Opponent and is no longer holding back.
Body Double:
- Ei was a kagemusha for the real Baal —her twin sister Makoto— and continued the charade after Makoto's death, succeeding Makoto as the Electro Archon.
- The Shogun is also this for Ei, being modeled exactly to match her image while she resides in the Plane of Euthymia.
Bodyguarding a Badass: In her greeting line, she declares you to be her guard, only to say that if any danger arises, she'll handle the problem herself.
Bolt of Divine Retribution: Naturally as the Electro Archon, one of her attacks in her boss fight has her calling down thunderbolts in a wide radius.
Braids of Action: Wears her hair in a long braid and is the most powerful and skilled warrior in Inazuma.
Cerebus Syndrome: Shortly after Liyue's Archon Quest, Zhongli mentions her and discusses her iron-fisted rule. It's at this point where the story begins actively calling into question the benevolence of Celestia and its entire order of gods, not just ones like the Tsaritsa that are seemingly going rogue. This is proven when La Signora finds out the hard way what happens when you stand up against an Archon who's not as weak as Barbatos.
Cleavage Window: She has a low-cut top framed by lilac straps, creating a window over her breasts. This helps her unsheath the Musou Isshin from her body.
Collective Identity: The role of Electro Archon has been shared over the ages between three different women: Makoto/Baal, the first Electro Archon; her identical twin sister and body double Ei/Beelzebul, who continued to act as Archon long after her death; and the Raiden Shogun puppet, a Ridiculously Human Robot Ei set up to serve as her own body double after she retreated into the Plane of Euthymia.
Company Cross References: The Raiden Shogun is based on Raiden Mei from Honkai Impact 3rd, one of the three main protagonists of the original base game that chose to join the shadowy organization World Serpent in order to save her friend Kiana Kaslana from her condition by agreeing to become the Herscherr of Thunder, but eventually leaves the organization at some point within the next 8 years and returns to her friends. Just like Mei, the Raiden Shogun assisted the shadowy organization known as the Fatui by instating the Vision Hunt Decree due to believing that it goes with her version of Eternity until the Traveler convinced her that her methods were actually destroying her country and causes her to change her ways as a result. However, she was already the god of Electro to begin with in her case.
Control Freak: Zhongli theorizes that she has been convinced that only the gods themselves should control divine power, and to that end, she has closed off Inazuma and begun confiscating her people's Visions. It got so extreme, characters think this is the reason no new Electro Visions have appeared since. Paimon says that "things weren't this bad before", implying that something happened behind the scenes that caused her to take such drastic measures. This was later implied to be Ei trying to protect everything she had after experiencing countless losses in her lifetime. On the other hand, Ei herself states that she is just as surprised that no new Electro Visions have appeared, explaining that she doesn't have the authority to grant Visions.
Vajrada Amethyst Gemstone description: This body is the noblest and most eminent of all in this world. It should hold absolute control over this world. It once promised its people a dream: the never-changing "eternity".
Contralto of Strength:
- As fitting of the Electro Archon, the Shogun speaks in a deep and commanding tone. At least, the puppet does. Ei herself speaks in a much softer, youthful tone, although she has no trouble matching the Shogun's pitch when she's intimidating the Tenyrou Commission.
- This is also played with in Serenitea Pot conversations. Ei attempts to talk like the Shogun when challenging The Traveler to spar, but though she gets the diction and pacing right, The Traveler notices the timbre of her voice is off and guesses what she's doing, to Ei's disappointment.
Contrasting Sequel Main Character: "Arc", to be precise, towards Morax/Zhongli. Both of them are polearm wielders who jointly ruled their territory with another god (Makoto/Baal with Ei/Beelzebul, Guizhong with Rex Lapis), were considered the more martial of the pair, and ended up the sole survivor following a devastating war. However, Rex Lapis is well-known by many while Ei was a Body Double barely known to the public, and while Rex Lapis became a wise and knowledgeable god following Guizhong's death, Ei retreated into her own world after her sister died and is quite ignorant of the modern world. Also, Rex Lapis stepped down from ruling Liyue by pretending to be dead and currently lives as Zhongli while Ei uses an advanced puppet to rule Inazuma in her stead while she lives in the Plane of Euthymia cut off from the world.
Cooldown Manipulation: The Raiden Shogun's sixth Constellation upgrade, Wishbearer, shaves one second off the cooldown time of her allies' Elemental Bursts (with at least 1-second intervals and to a maximum of five seconds) whenever the Musou Isshin hits enemies.
Crime of Self-Defense: Despite only doing so since it attacked Inazuma and forced her hand, the people of Watatsumi hold her in contempt for the death of their deity Orobashi, judging from centuries-long tensions between the Shogunate and Watatsumi. Compounded with the recent troubles, this enmity prompted some Resistance soldiers to try and sabotage peace talks between Watatsumi and the Shogunate, represented by the Tenryou Commission, by spreading rumors about the latter's collusion with the Fatui.
Curb-Stomp Battle:
- The Traveler's attempt to fight the Raiden Shogun to rescue Thoma ends with the Traveler utterly defeated. Only a timely rescue from Thoma saves them from certain death. This even translates into the boss fight itself as it is not meant to be won. Their second battle pretty much goes the same way until Yae Miko steps in and helps the Traveler resonate with the power of the hundred visions, allowing them to defeat her.
- In her first Story Quest, Kujou Kamaji challenges her to a duel to be deemed worthy of being appointed Tenryou Commissioner. Calling it a "duel" is still generous at best, what with the Shogun more or less beating him black-and-blue without so much as a scratch. Nevertheless, it is implied that she's merely testing his resolve, being relieved that some of the Kujou's old virtues survive to this day.
Divine Conflict: As a warrior goddess, she participated in not only the Archon Wars, but also fended off Watatsumi's invasion of Yashiori island.
The Dreaded: While respected by the public, the Raiden Shogun is feared throughout Inazuma for her sheer skill and power.
- After watching her execute la Signora with the Musou no Hitotachi, both the Traveler and Paimon are so unnerved by the display of power that they not only leave Tenshukaku immediately, but even briefly contemplate postponing Yae Miko's plan, feeling they'd be no match for her. And when the Shogun attacks them as they reach the gate, the sheer Killing Intent she exudes is such that she briefly appears as a giant.
- In her first Story Quest, she offers Susumu a chance to become Tenryou Commissioner by besting her in a duel. He's naturally too terrified to take her up on the offer.
- Post-Heel–Face Turn, this gets Played for Laughs. During the "Akitsu Kimodameshi" event, she attends the Test of Courage and notes that while she herself wasn't scared, the contestants were terrified at the mere sight of her, leading the Traveler and Paimon to suspect that Miko brought her there for the sole purpose of messing with people. In the "Duel! The Summoners' Summit!" event, she participates in the Genius Invokation TCG tournament and notes that her opponents were noticeably terrified of her. In a later conversation with Miko, she expresses concern that the people of Inazuma are afraid of her.
Duality Motif: Her story heavily makes use of twins, doubles, and opposites. For years, Ei played as a Body Double for her twin sister, Makoto/the original Baal. Similarly, she eventually created a divine puppet in her image to play the role of the Raiden Shogun, so she in her despair could shut herself off from the rest of the world. In turn, the unfeeling Raiden Shogun puppet has her own counterpart in Scaramouche, the first puppet Ei generated in her experiment to find a suitable holder for the Electro Vision, who would develop a mind of his own.
Dub Pronunciation Change: "Raiden Shogun" (kanji 雷電将軍, hiragana らいでんしょうぐん) is the on'yomi, or Chinese-derived, reading of 雷电将军 [simplified]/雷電將軍 [traditional], which is read as "Léidiàn Jiāngjūn" in Chinese, while the Korean dub opts for a transliteration as "Raiden Syogun" (hangul 라이덴 쇼군; the characters can also be read via hanja as "Noejeon/Roejeon Janggun"/[뇌전/뢰전] 장군).
Duel Boss: You have to beat the Raiden Shogun using only Ei when faced in the latter's second Story Quest. The trounce domain version of her can be fought with anyone, however.
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Her eyes lose all light in them to visually illustrate when she's in the state of an Emotionless Girl i.e. the robotic divine puppet that is just carrying out pre-programmed directives rather than Ei directly controlling it, who feels literally nothing. Her eyes become noticeably brighter after she reunites with Yae Miko and befriends the Traveler.
Early-Bird Cameo: The Shogun was first mentioned in Zhongli’s drip marketing during the early months of when the game went online.
Enemy Mine: She executes La Signora after she loses a Duel Before the Throne to the Traveler. After that, the Shogun resumes being your enemy and tries to kill you the moment you step out of her grounds.
Equippable Ally: Her sword is so powerful because that is where Ei actually resides, with the Raiden Shogun instead being a divine puppet Ei controls to wield her true powers within the blade.
Even Evil Has Standards: She reprimands Signora that disciplining her subordinates is her right alone, after she beat up Kujou Sara for interrupting their conversation, then later executes the Harbinger after losing her Duel to the Death with the Traveler, showing that not even the Shogun approved of her actions.
Evil Counterpart: A downplayed example towards Barbatos. While the Anemo Archon's unwillingness to impose his rule led to the creation of the peaceful and individualistic Mondstadt of today, the Raiden Shogun's rule has created an oppressive atmosphere and civil unrest, albeit one rooted in Ei's ignorance of what's happening on the outside world. After the Inazuma Archon Quest, Ei decides to be more direct in ruling Inazuma, which ultimately leads to an improvement of life, while Venti still refuses to rule Mondstadt in any way.
Expy: Multiple elements of the Raiden Shogun serve as a reference back to Raiden Mei, the Herrscher of Thunder and one of the leads from Genshin Impact's sister game Honkai Impact 3rd:
- Her full civilian name is "Raiden Ei," a mere letter/phoneme off from "Raiden Mei."
- Both the Raiden Shogun and Mei have purple eyes and long purple hair, along with their mastery of lightning powers.
- One of HI3's supplementary comics "Escape from Nagazora" has a chapter titled "The Wrath of Baal", which showcases Mei's time as a Herrscher.
- Her appearance closely resembles Post-Honkai Odyssey Mei, and the sword she summoned bears resemblance with Herrscher of Thunder's signature weapon, the Key of Castigation, and its PRI-Arm upgrade, the Domain of Sanction.
- Inside her Plane of Euthymia, there is a blood-red moon that shines within the pocket dimension. This is a subtle nod to the chorus segment of Mei's theme "Honkai World Diva" in both HI3 and its predecessor Guns GirlZ.
  Lyrics: Crimson moon shines upon a town that is smeared in blood...
- Her normal attack animation, particularly the fourth and fifth hits, is similar to those of the Herrscher of Thunder.
- She has a unique trait in which, while the Musou Isshin is unsheathed, all her normal attacks are considered dealing Elemental Burst damage. This is a reference to HI3's Burst Mode and Burst Damage, which Mei as Herrscher of Thunder also has.
- Her Vision Hunt Decree effect that disables Elemental Talents is an oblique reference to Mei's ability to disrupt the connection between the Herrschers and their Cores with her electromagnetic waves, thus disabling their powers.
- In a more ironic twist, she cannot cook (and Ei refuses to with the implication that something terrible would happen), while Mei is a Team Chef for St. Freya crew famed for her excellent cooking.
- The Shogun's boss form introduced in v2.5 is also heavily inspired by Mei's own costume in her Herrscher of Thunder Super Mode.
Fashionable Asymmetry: Her left sleeve is tied above her elbow while her right sleeve is not, although in the past, both of her sleeves were tied above her elbows. She also wears her hair ornaments on the right side of her head, has a pauldron on her left shoulder, another ornament offset to the right side of her waist and violet flowers around her right ankle.
Fun with Homophones: Her Elemental Burst's description states: "Abandoning the void-like "Musou," she now shoulders a new "Musou"—the dreams and ambitions of all." The "void-like Musou" (無想, meaning "Unimaginable-ness") was used to refer to Musou no Hitotachi in the lore and the story, while the "new Musou-the dreams and ambitions of all" (夢想,roughly meaning "dreams/desires") is used on the Musou no Hitotachi in the description of this skill, and on the Musou Isshin.
Fights Like a Normal: The Raiden Shogun mostly fights with a naginata and katana, with the use of her Electro powers being an afterthought. To put into perspective how good she is, her skills are not only the template for most forms of Inazuman martial arts, but she is able to manhandle the Traveler, forcing them to require the ambitions of the people of Inazuma to stand a modicum of a chance in their rematch as well as kill a Harbinger. All these Ei accomplished without her Gnosis. In her first Story Quest, she faces off against Kujou Kamaji in a duel to test his worthiness to become Tenryou Commissioner and soundly defeats him without even using her powers.
Finishing Move: The Musou no Hitotachi kills almost anyone she uses it on in the story, from Kazuha's friend to Orobashi to Signora after losing a duel to the Traveler. Paimon even states in the Traveler's voice-over that were Traveler able to recreate its sheer power, there would be nearly no one who would be able to stand against them. The only two people known to have survived the technique are Kazuha, when he was empowered by two Visions, and the Traveler, during their first encounter. Ei will also note that she still wants to improve that technique, meaning it's only getting more deadly over time. In addition, her Burst begins with a condensed version of this technique.
Fisher King: The storms around Inazuma are caused by her emotional state, with them growing more powerful and destructive the more her mindset worsens. Technically speaking, the storms are presently controlled by the Shogun puppet. Ei claims that the storm worsening was just a bug, but considering that the Shogun itself seemed to be in a rather foul mood and actually pacing restlessly from being forced to stay cooped up in Tenshukaku...
Five-Second Foreshadowing: She's momentarily pushed back when dueling Kazuha, who at that point has the (temporary) power of two Visions. When The Traveler manages to access the power of all the confiscated Visions, it's enough to defeat her.
Foil: To the Traveler following The Reveal. Both had twin siblings that they lost to the fall of Khaenri'ah, both wield Electro, and if Aether is the Traveler, a side-by-side comparison has him sporting a similar braid with her. However, while the Traveler is a free spirit who is exploring Teyvat in search of their sibling while helping as many people as they can, Ei's sister died and she is forced to rule Inazuma in her stead, eventually enacting the Vision Hunt Decree in a desperate attempt to preserve Inazuma. Ei represents what the Traveler may turn out to be had their sibling perished.
Foreshadowing:
- The name of her Constellation means "shadow empress," a hint that the Shogun seen in public is but a Body Double for the real Electro Archon.
- Zhongli recounts her belief that her idea of eternity, or at least her interpretation thereof, was "closest unto heaven". Not long afterward, the Traveler learns that Celestia destroyed Khaenri'ah for its lofty ambitions. It is eventually revealed that Ei intended to lock Inazuma into a Medieval Stasis lest it share the same fate as Khaenri'ah.
- Her Character Demo trailer serves as one. There are plenty of hints that there's another side to her, including the profile shot that shows two of her side by side, and the camera panning from a translucent model of the Shogun to Ei, right before she pulls out her tachi. Her cryptic message of how "fantasy can only survive with an underlying reality" can also refer to how the Shogun draws power from her often.
Formal Characters Use Keigo: Which is justified considering said character is not just the nation's patron deity, but happens to be Long-Lived, so naturally her vocabulary would be more antiquated.
Gameplay and Story Segregation:
- You can pull and play as the Raiden Shogun even before completing Chapter II Act III. Prior to that point, she is still your enemy who sees you as an obstacle towards maintaining the Vision Hunt Decree and her ideals of eternity. That being said, if you invite her as a companion in your Serenitea Pot without completing the Inazuma Archon quests, it will be the Shogun puppet that speaks to you instead of Ei, as the latter is still secluded in the Plane of Euthymia.
- Naturally, all of the attacks she can use in her boss fight, including her immunity to Electro, are not present when she's playable. Otherwise, she'd be a very broken character.
- Her Vision Hunt Decree ability in her boss fight has two instances of this.
  - With it, she has the power to seal the powers of Vision users, but can't stop those who draw their powers from other sources like the Traveler. This leaves it unclear how she can seal the powers of the Archons (Venti, Zhongli, Nahida, and even her playable self) and Neuvillette, who don't use Visions at all to manifest their powers if you bring them into her boss fight.
  - Also, the idea behind the attack is clearly to prevent characters from relying on the Elemental powers their Vision gives them, hence the sealing of their Skills and Bursts. However, the attack does not account for characters dealing elemental damage in other ways; every bow unit is still capable of imbuing their Charged Shots with their respective elements, including level 2 charged shots unique to certain characters. Catalyst characters can also still use their normal attacks (including Neuvillette's unique charged attack), which always deal elemental damage. Alternate Sprints are also still on the table, so Ayaka and Mona can still inflict Cryo and Hydro onto her while dodging her attacks. Alhaitham can also still obtain his elemental infusion without his skill by hitting Raiden with a charged or plunging attack.
  - This is all not even getting into the fact that, canonically, the Traveler is the only one facing the Raiden Shogun. Not even Paimon was able to enter her realm, only the Traveler and Yae Miko canonically face the Raiden Shogun there. So she would have no need to use the Vision Hunt Decree as the Traveler doesn't have a Vision and Miko doesn't physically participate in the fight. This is of course glossed over for gameplay purposes.
Gathering Steam: Whenever the Raiden Shogun's allies use their Bursts, the Shogun will gain stacks of Resolve, represented by the Chakra Desiderata, a ring of Electro orbs on her back, of which she can collect up to sixty and which are then consumed whenever she unsheathes the Musou Isshin to supercharge it. Her first-ascension passive, Wishes Unnumbered, adds two stacks (within at least 3-second intervals) whenever the party obtains Elemental Orbs or Particles, hence making it far easier to build up Resolve, and her first Constellation upgrade, Ominous Inscription, increases their potential for Resolve stacking by 20%, with Electro Vision holders having four times as much.
"Get Back Here!" Boss: She spends most of her boss fight teleporting around.
Glowing Eyes of Doom:
- You see a particularly chilling example of this after The Traveler beats Signora: the Shogun slowly walks toward the defeated Harbinger with the Musou Isshin in her hand, and her facial expression doesn't change in any manner except that her eyes glow brighter the closer she gets to Signora.
- In her second story quest, this is used to differentiate Ei from the Shogun, with Ei having her eyes constantly glowing while the Shogun puppet does not.
God-Emperor: Compared to Barbatos, who takes no part in ruling his nation in favor leaving things to the Knights of Favonius and spending most of his life as a bard, and Morax, who at most did an annual appearance before faking his death and eventually leaving the work to the Qixing while spending the rest of his life as a businessman, the Raiden Shogun is much more hands-on about ruling her nation. This is later double subverted as it initially turns out the Shogun is but a puppet for the real titleholder, Ei, and that the Tri-Commission are the ones more in control, before Ei's Character Development shows she's much more active when ruling her land.
God Is Evil: She rules Inazuma with an iron fist, forbids her people from leaving the islands, confiscates their Visions (which destroys their memories and removes all their ambition), and cannot be persuaded or swayed by any means. Averted with Ei, as she is tricked into thinking that the Shogun's policies are beneficial to Inazuma and she was eventually persuaded to change her mind by Yae Miko and the Traveler.
God Needs Prayer Badly: A variant. Based on the Flavor Text of her first-ascension passive and how her Burst is said to "Gather truths unnumbered and wishes uncounted," she doesn't need worship to survive, but they do make her stronger. Gameplay-wise, each Energy collected and Burst unleashed will fill her Resolve meter, further increasing the power of her Burst. This also helps explain why she's so much more powerful than Venti or even Zhongli: Barbatos (Venti) was never concerned with being worshipped, believing that humans didn't need a god to guide them; and while Morax (Zhongli) certainly was worshipped, he was thought to be somewhat distant and only appeared on special occasions. The Shogun literally lives in the capital, and all the people of Inazuma know it.
God of Thunder: She's the Archon of Electro and can manipulate the weather at will.
God Save Us from the Queen!: Played with before being ultimately subverted. When the Traveler first heard of the Shogun, she was described as a self-centered, arrogant, narcissistic, and egotistical tyrant who rules Inazuma with an iron fist and habitually confiscates Visions, and even personally executes dissenters. The truth is that those actions are of the Raiden Shogun puppet, deceived by both the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions, in collusion with the Fatui, into enacting decrees that ultimately serve to consolidate the former two's rule over Inazuma. The real Raiden Shogun, Ei, is ultimately a well-meaning woman who at worst is shellshocked from the death of her sister and witnessing the destruction of Khaenri'ah. She resumes being The High Queen after her Heel–Face Turn.
Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She's a regal and graceful Lady of War who has purple as her Color Motif.
Have You Tried Rebooting?: When Ei tells The Traveler that the Shogun Puppet is no longer responding to her commands, Paimon flat-out asks "Have you tried turning it off and then turning it back on again?" Ei doesn't get the reference, only saying that the Puppet wasn't meant to be "turned off".
Heel–Face Turn: Following her defeat by the Traveler and Yae Miko, the latter is able to get through to Ei and convince her to be more hands-on in running Inazuma like she used to, and she agrees to rescind the Vision Hunt Decree, even as she makes clear that she will continue her pursuit of eternity, just with some adjustments to her definition thereof. The Shogun then becomes an ally.
Heroic Ambidexterity: Played with; while she tends to wield her polearms as well the Mussou Isshin with her right hand, when she kills La Signora, she does so holding the Musou Isshin in her left.
Holy Halo: In the story, as well as her boss fight, she's commonly seen with a ring of Electro energy behind her back, with several Electro orbs adorning it, referencing the mythological Raijin's ring of drums. As a playable character, the ring is the visible sign that Chakra Desiderata is active.
Hopeless Boss Fight: The first fight against her isn't meant to be won, as she eventually seals away all of your party's Elemental Talents (except the Traveler), and the fight ends a few moments after that.
Hope Crusher: Visions aren't simply the source of their holders' powers, but are also the crystallized manifestation of their ambitions. By taking someone's Vision away, an important part of who they are goes with it, leaving them hollow shells of their former selves who often can't even remember the things they held most dear. Fittingly, her boss fight theme during this phase of her characterization is titled "Bane of Ambitions." Ei affirms that any harm that follows them might be a result of their own ambition getting the better of them, and believes that it's better for them to lose their ambitions than to lose their lives due to their own ambitions, a sentiment based on her own experience and trauma. Only the Traveler and Yae Miko's efforts and words convince her otherwise.
Iaijutsu Practitioner: While the Raiden Shogun wields the Musou Isshin, she "unsheathes" it from her left hip to perform a swift slash for her first attacking combo, then quickly "sheaths" it back if she does not follow up with other attacks.
I Control My Minions Through...: Authority and Loyalty, with an unintended side of Fear thrown in. She's Inazuma's deity, revered and respected by many, though also feared due to her status as a War God with countless battles to her name and the danger of what would happen should you either challenge her to a duel or backstab her. Regardless, the soldiers in the Tenryou Commission are truly loyal to her (to a fault) and genuinely believe she's doing what's best for Inazuma, opposing the Traveler at every opportunity. Later subverted post Ei's Heel–Face Turn, with the Tenryou Commission no longer being an antagonistic faction.
- She exploits the Fear part of the trope in her first Story Quest after confronting the Kujou and Takatsukasa clans, having wisened up about their part during the Tenryou Commission's collusion with the Kanjou Commission and the Fatui to attempt to fool the Shogun into ratifying the Vision Hunt Decree.
  Raiden Shogun: [...] If you still think you can copy the Fatui's strategy of providing me with deceptive information to produce flaws in my judgment... you will see me appear once again as I have done today — only next time, my blade will show no mercy.
  Takatsukasa Susumu: Understood. Thank you, Almighty Shogun, for your wisdom and mercy!
I Have Many Names: Her names and titles include Baal, the Raiden Shogun, the Immortal Shogun, the Narukami Ogosho, the God of Eternity, Ei (her actual name), and Beelzebul (her actual divine name).
Impossibly-Low Neckline: She wears her kimono ever so low that it exposes her cleavage. Justified, as this is where the Musou Isshin is sheathed.
Important Hair Accessory: Wears Makoto’s fan hairpiece behind her own after the former’s death, signifying how she now has to shoulder the responsibility of being Archon alone.
Irony:
- The so-called God of Eternity has had a shorter reign than both her fellow Archons, Barbatos and Rex Lapis, and in fact the title itself has already changed hands once. The head of Genshin Impact's Creative Concept and Writing team has noted that "eternity" is very contrary to Electro's themes as well. Lightning is instant; it comes in a flash. Inazuma's culture also has many elements that are about transience, just like fireworks. In Japanese culture, cherry blossoms symbolize transience, as their blooming season is short, but in-game, the Thunder Sakura blooms year long, symbolizing the Raiden Shogun's Eternity. Makoto understood this, and embraced transience and what can carry on despite it, while Ei did not, leading her to try to preserve everything, despite the constant changes in even herself.
- The Shogun's goal is to implement "eternity" in Inazuma, keeping it in a state of tranquility and peace. However, her Sakoku and Vision Hunt Decrees have had the opposite effect, instead triggering a civil war.
Jiggle Physics: Raiden's breasts have some fairly noticeable jiggle in her running animation.
Katanas Are Just Better: The Raiden Shogun's signature weapon is the Musou Isshin, a tachi imbued with Electro energy that she only pulls out in an emergency, such as when she slew Orobashi. Gameplay-wise, it serves as the lynchpin of Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu.
Knight of Cerebus: The first two Archons the Traveler meets are a laidback free spirit who's weaker for not ruling his nation (Barbatos/Venti) and a dutiful ruler who actually wanted to step down from his lofty position (Morax/Zhongli). The Raiden Shogun, meanwhile, is an relatively more antagonistic figure who rules over Inazuma with an iron fist (though it's worth mentioning that it's the puppet who's antagonistic, whereas Ei is Not Evil, Just Misunderstood).
Lady of War: Graceful, elegant, and more than willing to pull out a weapon to decide important events. Between her and the previous Electro Archon, she's the better warrior by a long shot.
Leg Focus: Several cutscenes begin with the camera either panning up or simply focused on her legs.
Lethal Chef: As of v4.2, the Shogun is the only playable character who cannot cook whatsoever. Due to this, she has no specialty dish. By comparison, Amber, Bennett (whose specialty dish happen because they cook them the wrong way), Hu Tao and Ayato (who has a trait that generates bonus "suspicious" versions of any food they make) can at least still cook in gameplay. One of Ei's character profile lines (aptly named "Ei's Troubles") even implies something bad will happen if she does...
"Don't try and get me to cook. I can take care of anything else... but not that."
Light/Darkness Juxtaposition: Her appearance clashes with that of her best friend, Yae Miko, with the Shogun donning a darker attire (itself a case of Dark Is Not Evil for Ei), while Miko dons a white attire.
Lightning Bruiser: Pun aside, this applies to both her boss and playable versions.
- As a boss, The Shogun is not only monstrously quick to attack you, she also inflicts high Electro damage. You're given very little time or tells to learn her rapid attack patterns, and to boot, she has high HP and full resistance to Electro damage. No matter who and how well built your main character is offensively, even your strongest attacks will only inflict chip damage, and even powerful bursts like Eula's Lightfall Sword barely make a dent in her HP. In fact, the first fight with her is statistically designed for you to lose.
- As a playable unit, in addition to boasting pretty solid-yet-balanced stats^note, her attacks hit extremely hard, her Skill augments the active character's attacks with Electro-elemental slashes, and she's capable of making even heavy enemies flinch with her strikes. Once she unsheathes the Musou Isshin, she strikes even faster and harder, with a wider radius and imbued with an Electro effect that cannot be overridden with elemental reactions; with her focus on Energy Recharge, it may be ready to whip out again once it ends. Each successful Burst is also capable of empowering and recharging your other units. These traits make the Shogun a very flexible unit, being able to be built for DPS in mind while also working as a general Support Party Member.
Long Hair Is Feminine: Despite her authoritative and stern nature, she's still a Lady of War with feminine grace, which is illustrated by her long purple hair that reaches past her waist, though she keeps it contained in a braid so it doesn't get in her way.
Master Swordswoman: She's a Multi-Melee Master, but is particularly renowned for her skill with her tachi Musou Isshin, being able to slice with god-like speed and precision. In fact, such is her swordfighting skills that all Inazuman sword art originate from her Musou no Hitotachi.
Meaningful Name: Her divine name, Beelzebul, is a derivative of Baal/Bael, first demon of the Ars Goetia who teaches invisibility, and is in turn named after an assortment of gods of fertility, rain, and lightning in Canaanite Mythology, the latter point befitting her dominion over Electro. The invisibility angle also plays into a major plot revelation about Ei being "invisible" to most of Inazuma, acting as the Body Double of her twin sister Makoto, who does hold the divine name "Baal".
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Her Burst, unlike others that enhance normal attacks (such as Diluc's or Xiao's), will have her normal attacks deal "Elemental Burst damage." This means that effects that are tied to normal attack damage^note won't work on her as long as she wields the Musou Isshin, while other effects that are tied to Elemental Burst damage^note will.
Minidress of Power: Her kimono is evocative of this, wearing a short one that very visibly exposes her Modesty Shorts while simultaneously being a combat-focused god.
Modest Royalty: She's the ruler of Inazuma but she doesn't have much cash on hand either, as there's no commerce on the Plane of Euthymia where she usually resides, and she can just ask the Tri-Commission to bring her anything she needs. Her voiceline when opening a treasure chest is even telling you to keep the content, as she has no need for it.
Modesty Shorts: She wears a pair of short shorts below her kimono. This is good considering she otherwise wears nothing beneath, and they could otherwise be confused for a pair of briefs.
Ms. Fanservice: The kimono she wears is short enough to show her Modesty Shorts, which are quite short and help emphasize her thigh-high stockings, which bring attention to her long, shapely legs. She also wears her short kimono off-shoulder, which shows her plunging neckline (the top of from which she unsheathes the Musou Isshin in both cutscenes and her Burst), bringing attention to her large breasts and making it clear she's not wearing anything beneath her kimono. Her pose in her promotional art even looks like it came from a model shoot compared to her fellow Archons.
Multi-Melee Master: As shown both in her boss fight and as a playable character, she's a master in the use of polearms and the katana. To put it bluntly how skilled she is, her fighting style is the basis of all other martial arts in Inazuma. Her Burst also allows her to switch from a spear to a katana, and her Ascension quotes have her discussing the level of practice she has with both weapons.
Mythical Motifs: The Raiden Shogun borrows some elements from Japanese Mythology.
- Her position as god-ruler of Inazuma, as well as her self-imposed isolation causing a lot of chaos, brings many parallels to Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestor of the Japanese imperial family.
- "Raiden" is an alternate name of Raijin, god of thunder. To further hammer the connection, the halo-like Chakra Desiderata brings to mind the ring of drums surrounding Raijin.
Narcissist: Based on her quotes on Electro Ascension gems, and the ruthless dictatorship she enforces on her country and people, it appears that the Raiden Shogun is a seemingly vain and self-centered god who has a titanic ego. However, it ends up a subversion as the Traveler discovers that the authoritarianism imposed in her name was orchestrated by corrupt elements within the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions, in collusion with the Fatui, having taken advantage of Ei being so disengaged from the world she doesn't even notice their corruption, and her lines about the Electro Archon's perfection were about the Shogun puppet who she created to be the perfect and eternal ruler she could not be.
Naginatas Are Feminine: She's typically depicted with Engulfing Lightning, one of two naginatas in this game and one of the few Polearms available to the player that is not a spear. Her fighting style with Polearms is also clearly based on naginatajutsu, wielding them in an open fashion instead of thrusting. A fitting style for a Lady of War.
Necessary Drawback: Downplayed. Her Burst is fantastically powerful and also serves to charge up her allies' Bursts, but it has among the highest Energy costs at 90 points. Nevertheless, the fact that her Ascension stat is Energy Recharge percentage (which can reach 32% at her sixth) renders said cost moot, especially if players prioritize growing that stat, as her fourth-ascension passive, Enlightened One, increases her Energy restoration whenever she wields the Musou Isshin and Electro Damage Bonus by, respectively, 0.6% and 0.4% for every 1% of her Energy Recharge stat above 100%.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Many of her traits are based on Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the last and longest shogunate of Japan from 1603 to 1868. Specifically...
- In Japanese subtitles, her Constellation is called "Tenkabito" (天下人, "Seat of the Person Under Heaven"), a title given to the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan—Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, during whose military campaigns Japan was slowly unified at the tail end of the Sengoku Period, an almost-150-year-long period of civil strife.
- The Vision Hunt Decree is a reference to "sword hunts" during Oda and Toyotomi's reigns, and the Statue of the Omnipresent God is a reference to the latter's ambitious plan of melting down all the confiscated swords to build a giant statue of the Buddha.
- The Sakoku ("closed nation") Decree was named after a real-life decree enacted during the reign of Ieyasu's grandson Iemitsu.
- One popular trope in Japanese historical fiction is that Ieyasu might have had a kagemusha, or Body Double. Ei used to be one for the her sister Makoto, the original Electro Archon.
- In Japanese subtitles, the Plane of Euthymia is called "Pure Land of One Mind" (一心浄土, Isshin Jōdo). Ieyasu was a devotee of Jōdo-shū ("Pure Land School"), a Buddhist sect prioritizing on the personal pursuit of enlightenment amidst the chaos of Sengoku-era Japan. In addition, the sect mainly worships Amidabutsu (Amitābha), the Buddha of infinite light/longevity, fitting the Raiden Shogun's ideal of eternity. In addition, she makes references to Miroku (Maitreya), the future Buddha currently sending avatars to help prepare humanity to achieve complete enlightenment, much like how Ei is represented in the mortal realm by a puppet.
No-Sell: Fittingly for the Electro Archon, she's immune to all Electro damage. Though of course, this doesn't apply as a playable character and as a Trounce Domain boss.
Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: When the Traveler first heard of the Raiden Shogun, all they heard about her is that she is a self-centered, arrogant, narcissistic, and egotistical tyrant who rules Inazuma with an iron fist and habitually confiscates Visions, and even personally executes dissenters, much to the confusion of locals who, until recently, revered her as a benevolent goddess. As it turns out, those actions are just made by the Raiden Shogun puppet, who has been deceived by corrupt elements within the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions, in collusion with the Fatui, into putting her imprimatur to decrees that ultimately serve to consolidate their rule over Inazuma. When the Traveler finally meets the real Electro Archon, Ei, she turns out to be a reasonable woman who is willing to change her outlook, if at worst gullible, negligent, and horribly depressed to the point of locking herself away and leaving the nitty-gritty of governing Inazuma to her puppet and the Tri-Commission.
Not Me This Time: Ever since the Vision Hunt Decree started, Electro Visions also stopped appearing, leading people to believe that the Shogun had stopped handing them out. In her voicelines, Ei is surprised to hear this, and reveals that the Archons' will doesn't actually factor into whether Visions are granted or not. The desires of the people are a key factor, along with some other criteria she can't talk about. Version 4.2 finally explains that Visions are created from the shattered elemental authority of the Seven Sovereigns that originally ruled Teyvat before they were killed by Phanes and stripped of their rightful authority. Because of this, it's heavily implied that the real reason Electro Visions have stopped working in recent years is because something has happened to the Electro Sovereign.
Not So Invincible After All: After spending most of the Inazuma Archon Quest as an implacable threat other characters could only hope to run away from, Kazuha manages to parry her Musou no Hitotachi to a standstill with the help of friend's Vision. Shortly after, the Traveler pulls the same trick on a much larger scale by drawing on the ambitions of a hundred visions to fight her on equal grounds.
Odd Name Out: One of the only Archons thus far that doesn't take her name directly from the Ars Goetia, with her borrowing it from the corruption of Baal, Beelzebul, instead.
Orcus on His Throne: With the exception of important events like executing Kazuha's friend, confiscating Thoma's Vision, and battling the Traveler, the Raiden Shogun doesn't really do much in person, leaving it to her forces from the Kanjou and Tenryou Commissions to act on her behalf. And even after Thoma and the Traveler openly defy her, she doesn't bother pursuing them after they escape, merely ordering their capture. This is because her puppet is only pre-programmed to stay at Tenshukaku and carry out official functions and whatnot, and Ei herself doesn't want to be involved in the world at all, locking herself in her Plane of Euthymia and only directly interfacing with her puppet when someone attacks it.
Ominous Visual Glitch: When her Electro energy becomes concentrated enough, she can invoke this effect by turning the surrounding area red with visual glitchy distortions that can cause headaches to anyone. This is experienced by the Traveler after they come out of Tenshukaku after their duel with Signora.
Ominous Walk: Has a habit of slowly, but confidently, strutting towards her opponents, tachi in hand, as she makes her way to execute the loser of a duel before the Shogun's throne. Even La Signora is shown to lose her cool when she sees the Shogun ominously walking toward her to execute her.
One-Hit Kill: Her boss fight's Final Calamity attack, which will instantly kill the active character who's not protected by the barrier from her Flower of Remembrance, regardless of health, defense, or even shield.
Pay Evil unto Evil: She is not amused by La Signora's actions, and promptly executes her once defeated by the Traveler in a duel before the throne, earning the second confirmed kill in-story. While both the Traveler and Paimon were unnerved by this display of power, remember that Signora's a sadistic,^note vengeful, and cruel^note Harbinger who pulled strings for the Fatui, making her death ultimately her just deserts.
Person of Mass Destruction: She cleaved Yashiori Island in half during her battle against Orobashi with the Musou no Hitotachi, killing it and creating the Musoujin Gorge in the process.
Pet the Dog:
- Despite having slain their patron deity Orobashi during a war millennia ago, she nevertheless allowed its worshippers at Watatsumi to keep worshipping it, hoping it would posthumously appreciate its people's offerings.
- After La Signora defeats Kujou Sara and proceeds to mock her, the Shogun reprimands that disciplining her subordinates is her right alone. And in a way, her allowing the Traveler to challenge La Signora to a Duel to the Death and executing the latter when she loses suggests that even the Shogun was outraged by the actions of the Fatuus.
- At the end of her first Story Quest, she duels Kujou Kamaji at his request after no one else from the Tenryou Commission dares. Calling the result a "victory" would be an understatement, but at the end of it, it's shown Ei accepts in order to test Kamaji's resolve, and spares his life at the end. Ei even notes that she was actually holding back, is relieved that their duel ended with Kamaji being merely knocked out, and claims the Shogun puppet would have lopped off his head without so much a second thought had she been in control of her own body.
- In a way, what Ei did to Kunikuzushi, who was the prototype of the Raiden Shogun puppet, also counts. After he had unintentionally developed his own consciousness, Ei opted to seal his powers as a puppet and allow him to live as a normal human rather than disposing of him. Of course, Kunikuzushi later went on to become the Fatui Harbinger Scaramouche (and his flashback in v3.1 reveals that he considers it to have been abandonment by his mother), but even then her voicelines indicate she still doesn't feel like asserting control over him.
Physical God: The Shogun is this like the other Archons, but she notably didn't adopt a human form like the other gods of the North, Barbatos and Morax, as her true form is indistinguishable visually from a human. Even after shedding her body and leaving an automaton to run things in her place, the situation hasn't changed much. The Shogun is a Ridiculously Human Robot that seems as powerful as Ei was prior to becoming Archon, and Ei can take control of her body at any time.
Pocket Dimension: Ei lives in the Plane of Euthymia, a special dimension sealed within the Musou Isshin the Raiden Shogun draws out whenever needed.
Power Floats: She can levitate off the ground by creating platforms of Electro under her feet.
Power Incontinence: The Shogun accidentally makes the lightning storms surrounding Inazuma significantly worse when Ei disables some of her functions so she cannot leave her palace and cause more unrest. Ei must be informed of this in her plane and forcibly turn down the storms.
Power Nullifier: In the first fight against her, she unleashes her Vision Hunt Decree and seals away your party's Elemental Skills and Bursts (except the Traveler's).
Power Stereotype Flip: The Electro Archon is... nigh-devoid of emotion. This is in stark contrast to most of the Archons (minus the Hydro Archon (though she's a bit of a complicated case)), whose personalities tend to fit their element. This, however, applies mainly to the Shogun Puppet; Ei herself averts this.
Purple Is Powerful: Her hair, clothes, and overall color scheme are purple and she is the Electro Archon of Inazuma.
Red Baron: "The Immortal Shogun" and "The Narukami Ogosho".
Rank Scales with Asskicking: She is the ruler of Inazuma, one of the Seven Archons, and an immensely powerful deity. Subverted in the past when she let her sister become the first Electro Archon despite Ei being the better fighter.
Redemption Demotion: Like Tartaglia before her, her playable version is nowhere near as powerful as the version that serves as the Final Boss of the Inazuma Archon Quest, nor the later weekly boss version. She has a fraction of the stats, far fewer moves, way more limited Flash Step abilities, and various other nerfs to make sure she doesn't break the game.
Regional Redecoration: The Musoujin Gorge Gorge is the result of her killing blow on Orobashi during the Watatsumi invasion of Yashiori island.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: She subverts this when it comes to the Ars Goetia theme naming of the other gods. The name "Beelzebul" is one of many corruptions, or even another aspect of, Baal from Canaanite Mythology. This mirrors Ei/Beelzebul being the twin sister and Body Double of Makoto, the original Baal. In myth, Baal is also known as a god of weather and storms, with one of their traditional symbols being a thunderbolt, making it a fitting name for the Electro Archon.
Shadow Dictator: Played With. The people of Inazuma knows the Raiden Shogun rules over the nation and have seen her in person, but what most don't know is that there used to be two of them, and the current Raiden Shogun they often see is a divine puppet created by the real one. Only in very rare occasions does the real Ei walks the streets of Inazuma. Her Constellation name is literally "Shadow Empress".
Sharing a Body: The Raiden Shogun puppet has its own consciousness, and it has to approve of Ei's action. Normally Ei is content to let the puppet do her thing, but if she detects that Ei is acting against established parameters, she would refuse to submit and rebel against Ei, which does happen towards the end of Ei's second Story Quest.
Shock and Awe: And yet, despite being the Electro Archon, her control over electricity is an afterthought during battle. Nevertheless, it's evident the Shogun has extremely powerful dominion over Electro (and in Ei's case, even without the aid of her Gnosis). The Musou no Hitotachi is a clear example of this, striking the opponent with lightning multiple times after the initial slash, followed by a Bolt of Divine Retribution. Additionally, the Shogun also can also bend the weather to her will, as seen when she creates a never-ending tempest around Inazuma under the Sakoku Decree. To top it all off? She is immune to Electro damage during her boss battles (except as a Trounce Domain boss).
Shout-Out: Similarly to Ayaka, the Raiden Shogun's playstyle has drawn several comparisons to Vergil. This is especially shown in the second phase of her rematch where she draws her sword as one of her attacks is a near-identical replica of Vergil's signature Judgment Cut and her strongest attack, the Musou no Hitotachi looks visually similar to Vergil's Judgment Cut End. Also, the Sword Beams she fires resemble Vergil's Drive attack when using Force Edge.
Signature Move: The Musou no Hitotachi, where Ei demonstrates the pinnacle of her swordsmanship by dealing half-a-dozen or more slashes to her opponent in a moment. In-story she used it to kill Orobashi, Kazuha's friend, and later La Signora. The playable version of the Raiden Shogun uses it as the starter to her Burst.
Single-Stroke Battle: Her execution of La Signora consists of her slashing her once before the latter is assailed by multiple slashes and then struck by a thunderbolt, reducing the latter to ashes. Granted, La Signora was just defeated by the Traveler and likely very weakened, but this doesn't make the feat any less impressive. In fact, Paimon even comments on how powerful the attack was as they were leaving, claiming that such an attack would be impossible to even defend against. The sight was so terrifying, that both the Traveler and Paimon for a brief moment even consider abandoning Yae Miko's plan of challenging her.
Skewed Priorities: Whatever danger she saw in her people's Visions, ordering them seized results in all of Inazuma's big players becoming too preoccupied with the resulting unrest to attend to other dangers brewing right under their noses. This neglect nearly results in the evil spirits trapped underneath the Sacred Sakura growing out of control and the Mikage Furnace going through a meltdown, the latter which gave a number of Orobashi fanatics the chance to destroy the wards trapping its taint, which creates perpetual thunderstorms and cursing people all over Yashiori Island. Part of this is because the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions deliberately lied to her in collusion with the Fatui, who are actually playing both sides of the civil war in order to use the rebels as unwitting test subjects for their mass-produced Delusions as well as harvest Tatarigami for their use, so between Ei shunning the outside world and the Shogun puppet's rigid adherence to her directives, she never finds out any different and is kept unaware of the true extent of any problems being caused by her neglect.
Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration:
- She enforces the Sakoku Decree by surrounding Inazuma with fierce lightning storms. These storms are present in gameplay as well: trying to cross the sea will have players eventually run into a gradually intensifying wall of lightning bolts, and even if they somehow persist the game will eventually just kick them back to the shore they came from altogether. After Ei abolishes the Sakoku Decree following her second Story Quest, the storm barrier disappears.
- There are two instances of this in her second Story Quest: first, when the player uses a trial version of the Shogun, she plays normally. However, the second time will have her sometimes freeze out of nowhere. This reflects the Shogun puppet beginning to see Ei as a threat to Eternity, and thus preventing her from doing as she pleases.
- Continuing on the above, during the confrontation with the Shogun puppet, both times it's a one-on-one battle, with the player controlling Ei and only Ei because the Traveler is staying out of the fight. Because it is happening in Makoto's consciousness, will and resolve has a huge effect on the battle, and both the Shogun puppet and Ei can resurrect whenever their HP hits zero as a show of their "resolve." Furthermore, because Ei is depicted as using the Musou Isshin in a cutscene, her Burst automatically charges during the fight, allowing the player to keep using the Musou Isshin and thus even the odds in the boss battle.
Split Personality: The Raiden Shogun puppet has her own personality/programming, based on Ei's. However, she's made so that she will pursue Eternity at all costs, while Ei still has her own sapient mind and emotions, and is more approachable and friendlier than the puppet. Most of the time, the "Shogun" personality is out on "autopilot" while Ei confines herself in the Plane of Euthymia, but Ei can choose to take over on special occasions. Her character story entry shows that they can speak to each other.
Stance System: In a similar manner to Tartaglia, her Burst allows her to switch from a polearm to the Musou Isshin. And since her Ascension stat is Energy Recharge and players are generally encouraged to increase it further, expect to be able to whip it out a lot.
Standard Power-Up Pose: When she powers up to unleash Musou no Hitotachi against the Traveler, she does a rather feminine variation before pulling out her sword.
Start X to Stop X: Downplayed. By necessity, her enforcers of Vision Hunt Decree can still wield Visions, since they potentially will have to fight Vision holders to seize their Visions. However, if any of the enforcers is seen as "unworthy," they can have their Vision taken too, as shown by a former Tenryou officer and Vision holder Ayaka sends the Traveler to meet. And it's implied that once the Vision Hunt Decree is fully enforced, all of the enforcers' Visions will also be taken regardless of circumstance.
Status Buff:
- Her Skill can boost the damage potency of the party's Bursts depending on the amount of Energy they use.
- Her fourth Constellation upgrade, Pledge of Propriety, allows her to confer a 30% boost on her allies' Attack stats for ten seconds once she sheathes the Musou Isshin.
Super Gullible:
- A very dark version, with the Shogun just going along with whatever the majority of the Tri-Commission tells her she should do. Ei herself is complacent towards the Raiden Shogun's decisions unless proven wrong, believing that she shouldn't concern herself with "matters not related to Eternity" and that the Fatui are no actual threat in their current form. It didn't help that the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions, in collusion with the Fatui, have her Locked Out of the Loop, making her believe that nothing wrong is happening, while at the same time shutting out the Yashiro Commission, the only one opposed to the decrees.
- Played for Laughs in Ei's first Story Quest, when she is confused by mundane things in the modern world like the latest stories and taking photos.
Super Mode: Her Burst has her swap her spear for her signature tachi, the Musou Isshin. She starts off with her signature finisher, the Musou no Hitotachi, a swift Electro-imbued slash; then, for the next seven seconds, she slashes away at her enemies, with her attacks imbued with an Electro effect that cannot be overridden with reactions and the ability to restore 1 Energy to the party whenever her attacks connect (with at least 1-second intervals and limited to five instances), in addition to heightened flinching resistance and immunity to Electro-charging damage. Furthermore, the damage potency of the Musou Isshin (as well as Musou Hitotachi) can further increase depending on the number of stacks of Resolve consumed whenever she unsheathes it.
Superpower Lottery: Being an Archon makes her naturally more powerful than other characters, but her ability to seal away others' control over the elements with her Vision Hunt Decree makes her a truly dangerous opponent, as she can effectively render her enemies powerless. Only those who do not draw power from Visions like the Traveler are immune to it.
Supermodel Strut: Both in cutscenes and in her walk cycle, she has a particular sashay in her step and a swing to her waist that makes her look like she's walking down a catwalk. While the fanservice factor is there, this also helps to make her look commanding, confident, and regal.
Support Party Member: Downplayed relative to the previous playable Archons, the Raiden Shogun is perfectly viable as a party's main carry, due to the substantial amount of damage she can deal as part of her Burst. If you elect not to use her in that role, she can also buff the damage dealt by her ally's Bursts using her Skill and deal damage from off-field simultaneously, but where she really shines in terms of support is her unparalleled energy regeneration. The catch is that in order to provide that energy, she needs to use her Burst. She can only do so while she's on the field, so she requires more attention than other support characters. As a consequence, she functions more as a DPS/Support hybrid. You can focus on her Skill, but you're frequently better off using a more specialized character in that case.
Sword Beam: One of her attacks in the boss fight has her fire a crescent blade of Electro from her polearm as a ranged attack. In the rematch, when using her tachi, she'll fire four of these. Three in the form of discs and the last one being a slow-moving horizontal slash.
Take Up My Sword: Literally. Her sword, the Musou Isshin, originally belonged to Makoto. Much like its previous owner, it was less a tool of war and more a symbol of peace. It only saw service after it passed into the hands of the Shogun (or more accurately, Ei) following Makoto's death.
Tareme Eyes: Quite notably has these, which serves to add to the creepiness and danger. They reflect Ei's true personality after The Reveal, being much more personable and kind.
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The Musou no Hitotachi consists of a single swipe of the Musou Isshin, followed with a series of high-speed slashes ending with a Bolt of Divine Retribution. It is her strongest attack, yet thus far she's mostly known to use it as a finisher against opponents who have already been defeated, such as anyone who loses a duel before the throne.
Took a Level in Jerkass: In-Universe; both locals and stranded foreigners alike lament at how better Inazuma was before the Raiden Shogun ordered both the Sakoku and Vision Hunt Decrees. Yoimiya even likened the idea of "eternity" Inazuma once enjoyed to an easy life of quiet retirement, as opposed to the open tyranny enforced in the present. In truth, this is due to the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions, in collusion with the Fatui, lying to the Shogun puppet about the necessity of such measures, with Ei being too complacent and depressed to personally double-check.
Trademark Favorite Food: Desserts. Some of her emojis include her enjoying a dessert or two, including dango.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Befitting her experience as a War God, her utility passive, All-Preserver, halves the Mora cost of ascending swords and polearms.
Unorthodox Sheathing: The Raiden Shogun sheathes the Musou Isshin straight from her chest and heart, in a manner very reminiscent of Victoria's Secret Compartment.
Upgrade Artifact: A variant—her third and fifth Constellation upgrades, Shinkage Bygones and Shogun's Descent, add three levels to, respectively, her Burst and Skill.
Vapor Wear: Since she wears her kimono off-shoulder, the resulting neckline shows with clarity she doesn't wear a bra or sarashi to keep her chest bound.
Victoria's Secret Compartment: She unsheathes the Musou Isshin from her cleavage, in a manner evocative of this.
Villain Baal: Shown to be the very first antagonistic Archon, whose tyrannical rule instated a few years ago has thrown the nation into chaos and disarray until the Traveler is convinced to step in. However, it later turns out to be a complicated subversion due to two factors — first, Baal is the title of Makoto, the first Electro Archon, and which title is later adopted by Ei/Beelzebub upon the former's death without much fanfare, due to the population being largely unaware of the existence of twins; second, Ei herself is actually presented as well-meaning but heavily traumatized by the loss of her twin, her lousy rule being an effect of leaving a puppet of herself in her stead to rule Inazuma, and whose unchanging ideals make her antagonistic while her Super Gullible nature combined with that is what ends up doing harm to the land.
Villain Has a Point: While the Vision Hunt Decree is, at best, heavily flawed in both premise and execution, the Shogun isn't entirely wrong in viewing people's ambitions as dangerous, as much to themselves as to others around them. The Inazuma Archon Quest makes a number of cases where people are undone by their own reckless pursuit of ambition, and not all of them are Vision wielders:
- Kurosawa paid for "emergency provisions" out of pocket. While a noble gesture, it's clearly unsustainable as a long-term solution given that he's drowning in debt from doing it so often, and he just hid the truth and amassed more debt instead of doing something more practical like making an actual emergency provisions program funded by the government.
- Domon was haunted by the fact that he had personally crushed the ambitions of many of his peers on his way to becoming the strongest practitioner of his school of swordsmanship, but had been repressing his inner demons by sheer force of will instead of actually addressing them in a healthy fashion.
- Teppei is a good man with noble aspirations, but he is also so desperate to help that he plunges eagerly into combat despite the fact that he's clearly not ready. His dreams of glory leave him vulnerable to the predations of the Fatui, who provide him with the Delusion that he ultimately burns out his entire lifespan with trying to help.
- Kujou Takayuki and his underlings helped the Fatui plunge Inazuma into unrest in a misguided attempt to secure the supremacy of the Kujou Clan. For his trouble, he ends up stripped of power, and his clan reduced to pariahs while awaiting judgment for their treachery.
- And last but not least, Khaenri'ah was destroyed by Celestia in the Cataclysm for overstepping its boundaries. As powerful as Ei is, if Inazuma also ends up defying the Heavenly Principles, she has no hope of defending her land from the forces that destroyed the greatest city of mankind overnight. Trying then to remain beneath notice is a sound idea on paper, if only things were so simple in reality.
- This is countered by Yae Miko later on. As proven by the Traveler, the ambitions of the people can be strong enough to overpower the will of a god; this is part of the reason she agrees to abolish the Vision Hunt Decree. The ambitions can also outlive their owners, and "burn bright and true for eternity".
Villain Override: Downplayed. The Shogun's eyes glow when there are attacks on her because the extremely skilled Ei is taking direct control of her puppet body, to shore up its less capable auto-defense routines.
Wake-Up Call Boss:
- Gameplay-wise, she serves as a warning to people who have become complacent. If caught off guard, her special ability to seal powers away can render even some powerful skills and characters completely useless. Many players who were attempting to try and abuse shields were in for a rude awakening.
- Defied later, with Yae Miko giving the Traveler special training to practice dodging her attack patterns in preparation for their rematch.
Walking Spoiler: So much of the Raiden Shogun's nature is buried in plot twists, like the fact that the emotionless Shogun who walks around the waking world is an autonomous puppet and the Raiden Shogun's true identity not being Makoto/Baal, but rather Ei/Beelzebul, Makoto's surviving twin sister and body double, that discussing the most crucial factors of her character means discussing spoilers.
Weapon Specialization: Apart from the Musou Isshin she wields during her Elemental Burst, the Raiden Shogun is frequently depicted wielding Engulfing Lightning (5★), both in her boss battles and in promotional materials, and whose Wish banner runs concurrent with hers. Apart from being visually appropriate for the Raiden Shogun, gameplay-wise it further accelerates her ability to unsheathe the Musou Isshin, both through its Ascension substat of Energy Recharge percentage (12–55.1%) and its "Timeless Dream: Eternal Stove" passive which increases its wielder's Attack stat by 28–56% of their Energy Recharge above 100% (to a maximum of 80–120%), as well as Energy Recharge by 30–50% for twelve seconds after using their Elemental Burst.
Weather Manipulation: In the prologue to the Inazuma Archon Quest, Kazuha mentions that the Raiden Shogun is capable of bending the weather to her will, creating a perpetual tempest of wind and rain around Inazuma to keep the native Inazumans inside the country and outsiders away from it. Sure enough, if one tries to cross the ocean in-game, they will encounter a lightning storm partway through that eventually kicks them back to whatever shore they came from.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: With an emphasis on "extremist." As the Electro Archon, she rules over Inazuma with an iron fist, decreeing the Vision Hunt Decree that strips everyone of their Visions, and the isolationist Sakoku Decree that physically manifests itself as a storm outside Inazuma's borders to keep outlanders away and citizens from fleeing, in order to preserve Inazuma from "erosion." Unfortunately, this has done very little other than cause widespread unrest, and as it turns out, most of what is happening is due to a terrible misunderstanding, courtesy of the corrupt leadership of the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions, in collusion with the Fatui, who deliberately lied to the Raiden Shogun puppet into ratifying both decrees by pandering to her pursuit of eternity. Ei did not get involved for the longest time not only because of her centuries-long trauma over the deaths of her sister Makoto and their friends, but also because she believed the Shogun was justified in ratifying them, and that it's better that Vision holders lose their ambitions than be undone by it. Eventually, after the Traveler, with the help of her old friend Yae Miko, defeats Ei, she comes to reason and admits these measures were too extreme.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: An interesting variant. Her character teaser indicates she was affected by the loss of her friends and her twin sister Makoto, but rather than grieve over the cost of immortality, she pursues eternity to bring moments to a still.

Tropes applying to the Raiden Shogun, the Guardian of Eternity (MAJOR UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD)

The Shogun / Raiden Shogun / Magatsu Mitake Narukami no Mikoto

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

The Shogun, in her Magatsu Mitake Narukami no Mikoto boss form

Voiced by: Juhuahua (Chinese), Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Park Ji-yoon (Korean), Anne Yatco (English)

"You will be inlaid upon this statue."

The Raiden Shogun that the people of Inazuma revere and fear is, in truth, a shared identity, at present shared between the Electro Archon, Raiden Ei, and her physical vessel, an intelligent puppet referred to as the "Shogun." Created by Ei after the Cataclysm, she physically ruled Inazuma according to Ei's ideals of Eternity, while the Archon, traumatized by the Cataclysm, retreated into a pocket dimension known as the Plane of Euthymia to meditate and reflect. As nominal ruler of Inazuma, the Shogun safeguards its Eternity with an iron fist, ruthlessly cracking down on all she deems a threat to her directive. Having been engineered to totally resist the erosion of time, her devotion to Ei's Eternity is itself eternal, unchangeable by even the power of the gods.

A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Downplayed. During Ei's second Story Quest, when she starts understanding Makoto's philosophy, the puppet begins to resist against Ei, whose change of heart due to coming to understand Makoto's wisdom she interprets as a symptom of erosion. This culminates in Ei confronting the puppet in Makoto's own Plane and ultimately convincing her that her change of heart is of her own volition, leading the puppet to finally stand down.
Arc Villain: During Ei's second story quest, the Shogun puppet starts seeing Ei herself as a threat to eternity when she sees how much Inazuma has changed in the last few centuries and forcefully attempts to eliminate her. However, she changes after Ei and the Traveler defeat her in combat.
Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Her presence helps the Traveler force La Signora into a Duel to the Death, and after the former wins the puppet executes the latter.
Black-and-White Insanity: The Shogun sees things as either beneficial or detrimental to her pursuit of eternity. When met with something that does not neatly fit into categories or her perception of the world, her answer is to destroy it.
Battle Theme Music: Reflecting how the Raiden Shogun is the Ridiculously Human Robot extension of Ei, while the music in the first phase of the Boss Battle against the Raiden Shogun in her second Story Quest is the same as Ei's own from the Archon Quest, the music during the Shogun's Magatsu Mitake Narukami no Mikoto state swap out the traditional Japanese instruments of Thunderings of the Merciless for the rock variant, The Almighty Violet Thunder.
Emotionless Girl: Ayaka notes that the few times she’s been in close proximity to the Raiden Shogun at official events, the latter conducts herself with an emotionless dedication towards her ideal of Eternity. When encountered during the story, her facial expression and voice rarely indicate emotion beyond mild irritation, even as she prepares to execute the Traveler. Later interactions with the Traveler have her showing gradual signs of curiosity, even amusement. In truth, it's only the puppet who lacks emotions, with Ei having the actual emotions and sapient mind.
Evil Counterpart: To her predecessor, Scaramouche. Their physical appearances, personality, and relationship to their creator could not be more different. While the Shogun is a tall and imposing woman who serves as Ei's Body Double, Scaramouche is a slim young man who could be easily mistaken for a relative. The Shogun has very little personality and loyally carries out her programming, considering herself Ei's assistant, while Scaramouche was found "unsuitable" because he developed a sense of self that Ei could not bring herself to destroy, and his resentful personality is the result of feeling betrayed and abandoned by his "mother." Ultimately, both end up taking on the role of a "helper" to an Archon, though this entails very different roles. The Shogun stays in Tenshukaku to serve as Ei's Body Double, rarely taking action and overseeing Inazuma's day-to-day business, while Scaramouche, following his rebirth as the Wanderer, chooses to serve Kusanali as her agent in the outside world.
Exact Words: After the Traveler defeats La Signora, the Shogun acknowledges their honor and says they are free to leave Tenshukaku alive. True to her word, the Traveler is free to make their way towards the entrance, but the moment they step outside, she immediately launches an attack.
Glamour Failure: Her puppet nature is fully revealed in her boss form, most visibly on her limb joints.
His Name Really Is "Barkeep": Due to having no sentience of her own, the puppet Raiden Shogun is only referred to as such. The game makes it clear by showing her dialogue as explicitly the "Raiden Shogun", whereas her true self's dialogue is shown as "Ei".
Honor Before Reason: Whenever someone announces a "duel at the throne", either against the Shogun herself or other opponents in the vicinity (i.e Signora), she'll readily accept the duel with no objections regardless of whether the person up to the challenge is her enemy. The Traveler takes advantage of this to get a fight against Signora despite them being a wanted criminal and an "exception" that the Shogun wants to eliminate, and as soon as the Traveler emerges victorious, she upholds her end of the deal by sparing their life up until they leave Tenshukaku.
Innocently Insensitive: Played for Laughs. Because of her inability to show emotion, some of her more cordial voice lines can come off as quite caustic in nature, compared to Ei who's far more polite.
Raiden Shogun: ("Receiving a Gift: III" Voice-Over (Dislike)) Consuming this would be physically detrimental. Remove it from my presence.
Ei: ("Receiving a Gift: VI" Voice-Over (Dislike)) Ehhh... allow me to decline.
"It" Is Dehumanizing: Yae Miko calls the puppet an "it" to distinguish her from Ei and emphasize her synthetic nature.
Logic Bomb: Played with. The Traveler's very presence alone can invoke this paradox on her, who was not programmed with dealing with people who can control the elements even without Visions in mind. However, instead of breaking down, the puppet deems the Traveler as an "exception" and attempts to eliminate them directly as the best course of action.
Lost Technology: The puppet is noted to be built using technology from an age long past, with potentially no one but Ei even knowing its origins.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: Compared to La Signora^note, Tartaglia^note, or even Ei, who's Locked Out of the Loop but well-intentioned and willing to parlay with the Traveler even after escaping following a lost duel, the Shogun doesn't waste her time. Not on stopping the enforcement of oppressive policies and taking Visions away. Not on analyzing the Traveler's anomalic but ultimately benevolent nature. Not on giving the Traveler a chance for them to convince her that what she's doing is wrong. The Raiden Shogun will track down the Traveler, and will try to kill them, no matter what, all because she sees them as "an exception" and thus a threat to Eternity.
Not So Stoic: She is visibly shocked after Kazuha, who managed to reawaken his late friend's Vision, intercepts her surprise attack on The Traveler and deflects it.
One-Winged Angel: When Ei goes off to confront her puppet in her second Story Quest, the puppet is capable of transforming into a highly powerful and more advanced form that sports incredibly powerful attacks, including a One-Hit Kill. Said form becomes a new weekly boss that can be fought for talent materials.
Organ Autonomy: A full-body autonomy rather, as the puppet essentially allows Ei to use its body rather than Ei piloting it freely. During Ei's second Story Quest, when she detects Ei's personality beginning to stray from her own established parameters, she rebels and refuses to move as Ei wants. Ei then has to face the puppet to make her submit and acknowledge that her change of heart is not a product of erosion.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Whether it was intentional or not, Ei's creations ended up with personalities that sharply contrast as much as she contrasted with her own sister. The Raiden Shogun is the cold, unemotional Blue to the fierce, emotional Red of the prototype, Kunikuzushi/Scaramouche. The Raiden Shogun strikes many people as being robotic, even without realizing her true nature, and she tends to strictly follow her programming with little interest in being her own separate person from Ei. In contrast, Ei released her prototype after witnessing his emotional nature, which led him to develop a sharp-temper and a rebellious attitude.
Ridiculously Human Robots: The Raiden Shogun walking around Inazuma is a highly advanced puppet body that Ei created to be a lifelike Body Double. In fact, some of Ei's lines and official art even imply that the puppet is fully capable of eating and drinking if she wants to. That said, there are a few giveaways as to her synthetic nature: the Shogun puppet often uses somewhat robotic choice of words, and her demeanor when she's following her directives is devoid of any emotion. She is also one of the only two playable characters (the other being her predecessor the Wanderer, to not visibly exhale in cold environments such as Dragonspine, implying she doesn't need to breathe.
Super-Toughness: According to Ei, the Shogun was purpose-built to be extremely durable, withstanding the battlefield and Erosion alike. She even suggests that the Traveler make use of this in an emergency, deploying the Shogun to deal with anything too dangerous for a living being to deal with.
Tranquil Fury: When the Traveler manages to escape her wrath thanks to Thoma's intervention, her cold tone doesn't change, but she declares that she will kill the Traveler the next time they meet.
"Seize him/her under the decree. Next time, I will strike twice."
Ungrateful Bastard: It's hard not to paint her as such after the Traveler defeats La Signora in a Duel Before The Throne and sets them up for the Shogun to eradicate a threat to Inazuma... followed by the Shogun trying to kill the Traveler immediately after said Enemy Mine ends. Though it's justified, since as a puppet she's most likely unable to circumvent outside of her programming to eradicate threats to eternity.

Tropes applying to Ei/Beelzebul, the God of Eternity (ALL SPOILERS ARE UNMARKED)

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

Her Excellency, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho, God of Thunder

"I'm fearful because of what I witnessed five hundred years ago... her demise and... that thing. But if... if it were you, everyone would be safe. You would've saved the world... just like I cherish the memories of everything in Inazuma, if you remember me, I'll live forever."

The true form of the Raiden Shogun and the current God of Eternity, who the Traveler first meets and duels within the Plane of Euthymia. After dueling her a second time, the Traveler, with the help of Ei's old friend Yae Miko, is able to best her and warn her of the damage the Vision Hunt Decree has wrought to the nation, convincing her to abolish the Decree and reconnect with her people. As the Traveler gets to know Ei better, they learn that much of the crisis is rooted in her despair over the deaths of many loved ones—in particular her identical twin sister Makoto, the original Electro Archon to whom she once served as kagemusha, or body double—during the Cataclysm that destroyed Khaenri'ah half a millennium ago, as well as fear of Inazuma suffering the same fate should it outgrow Celestia's control. As she begins to rethink her ideal of Eternity, however, the Raiden Shogun puppet rebels against her, forcing her to engage the latter in a duel inside the lingering plane of Makoto's consciousness for what seemed like half a millennium, from which she ultimately emerges victorious and convinces the puppet that her change of heart is no symptom of erosion, freeing her to implement further reforms, starting with abolishing the Sakoku Decree.

Actually Pretty Funny: During her first Story Quest, the Traveler takes her to the Yae Publishing House and offers her some light novels to read. If the traveler picks one that is about a person being reincarnated as the Raiden Shogun, Ei will find it entertaining instead of feeling insulted like Paimon feared, though it's largely because she suspects it was Yae Miko's idea. This is later confirmed if you talk to Miko afterward, as she's pondering whether to commission either a sequel or a new book about someone reincarnating as herself instead.
Affably Evil: In stark contrast to the Shogun, Ei actually shows a far more polite side when the Traveler returns to the Plane of Euthymia, even holding a conversation with them before she battles them. Played with in that she's not actually evil to begin with, just well-intentioned, and she pulls a Heel–Face Turn following her defeat.
Angsty Surviving Twin: Ei's twin sister died during the Khaenri'ah Cataclysm half a millennium ago, and the tragedy shocked Ei into locking herself up within the Plane of Euthymia and refusing to deal with the world directly, leaving it to a pre-programmed puppet to carry out the role of Raiden Shogun except for the rare occasions she directly controls it.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Believes in this to some extent, as she reveals that the Kujou Clan first became head of the Tenryou Commission when its then-current head beat her in single combat.
The Atoner: After finally opening up to the world, Ei feels great remorse for the harm her neglectful rule has wrought upon Inazuma and vows to do better. Her two subsequent Story Quests show her starting to do right by her country, such as abolishing the Vision Hunt and Sakoku Decrees, stripping Kujou Takayuki and Hiiragi Shinsuke of their positions for conspiring with the Fatui into lying to her, meeting her subjects on a more personal basis and learning from them, and confronting the Raiden Shogun puppet when she rebels against her upon interpreting her change of heart as a symptom of "erosion."
Backup Twin: After Makoto's death, Ei took up her position as Electro Archon, with most of her subjects (except for Yae Miko) being unaware of the change in leadership.
Badass Adorable: Ei is the Electro Archon, undoubtedly a formidable warrior, and occasionally displays childish innocence while relaxing or whenever she rediscovers the outside world, as well as speaks in a softer, more feminine tone.
Benevolent Boss:
- During her second Story Quest, when she, the Traveler, and Paimon visit the Kamisato Estate to borrow a tea set, the guard, humbled and nervous, attempts to be as accommodating as possible, offering to inform Ayato of her visit and he'll get the tea set immediately. Ei says that he can be at ease and informs him that just the tea set will do, even saying that he can take his time with it, and thanks him once he returns with it.
- In a Quest as part of the Irodori Festival, Ei happens to visit the police station during a stroll and happens upon Sara explaining to the Traveler and Paimon about the methods for caring for statues made in her likeness, with her observing the one they just brought Sara and appears to try making conversation by asking if she collects them. While Sara denies it in embarrassment, even trying to claim that the statue is the Traveler's before leaving to perform other duties with a small bit of dejection, Ei is implied to see through the deception and coyly offers to gift the Traveler one that was given to her to give to Sara instead.
Beware the Nice Ones: While the Shogun herself is more strict than overtly malicious, Ei is a kind and personable woman once one gets to know her. However, as shown in her first Story Quest with the argument between the different clans in the Tenryou Commission, Ei can be all business and just as strict as the Shogun is; not to mention, she is still the Electro Archon, so any threats to Inazuma will be dealt with accordingly—as La Signora learned the hard way.
Battle Theme Music: Fitting for a seemingly hopeless fight against the oppressive Japanese-inspired Electro Archon, the Boss Battle against Ei in the Plane of Euthymia is accompanied by Bane of Ambitions and Thunderings of the Merciless, both of which are fast-paced tracks that combine Japanese traditional instruments such as the shakuhachi flute with electronic beats that sound absolutely like Ei manipulating the electromagnetic waves in the very air around you and throwing ear-shattering thunder right at you to crush your dreams of defeating her.
Brains and Brawn: The Brawn to her twin sister Makoto's Brains. While her sister was far from defenseless, between them Ei is easily the better fighter by a long shot. Makoto focused on the arts and governing the people, while Ei fought her battles.
Broken Ace: On one hand, Ei is one of the most powerful and accomplished warriors in Teyvat, and proof of her might is all over Inazuma and in the lore, such as Musoujin Gorge being a result of her splitting Orobashi in half and her effortlessly slaying an (albeit weakened) Signora, a demigod in her own right. On the other hand, she is shellshocked from the deaths of her sister and friends and the events of the Cataclysm and has spent half a millennium shut off from the world. It took the direct intervention of both the Traveler and Yae Miko for her to finally start coming to terms with her losses and begin moving on.
Broken Bird: The loss of her friends and twin sister left her really broken; so much so, she made a puppet of herself to rule in her stead while she locked herself in a distant plane to meditate. Her laissez-faire nature towards the Shogun's misinformed claims that the decrees wouldn't interrupt her vision of eternity contributes to this, being too depressed to double check the damage they would do to Inazuma. By the time the Traveler bests her in combat with the help of Yae Miko, the latter calls Ei out on this, until Ei reveals just how broken the events of 500 years ago left her. This continues on her second Story Quest, where despite showing very important Character Development, moving forward until the very end, and moving on from her sorrow, she still shows sadness upon reuniting with the memories of her people and later her twin sister.
Brought Down to Badass: An interesting case on which Ei does it to herself. Because Ei was unable to take the Electro Gnosis with her to her Plane of Euthymia, she left it in Miko's care. But even without her Gnosis, Ei is "merely" a seasoned War God with countless battles to her name; her powers are fueled by her resolve and the worship of her people, and her Multi-Melee Master skills with sword and spear are such that she generally doesn't need to use her Electro powers when she (or rather, the Shogun) is down to business; and when she does, it's not pretty.
Character Development: Her Story Quests showcase Ei's change from clinging to the past and trying to preserve it even to the detriment of the present, to slowly learning to let go and finally move on from her losses, embracing change and the transient nature of things.
Cloudcuckoolander: Ei displays a number of rather childlike tendencies outside of her stoic Archon persona.
- She has a massive love of sweets to the degree that she is unconcerned about cavities, saying that teeth are easily replaceable.
- She often defers to thinking way too long and hard over what the best possible solutions to problems could possibly be, even over trivial matters.
- When Ei temporarily disabled some of her functions, the Raiden Shogun puppet can be found frantically pacing around the throne room of Tenshukaku and seemingly highly annoyed over the fact she can't do much of anything at the moment.
Comically Missing the Point: Ei has trouble understanding modern stories, such as when she mistakenly thought that a Reincarnation story about a hilichurl is a non-fiction account about hilichurls. She does, however, understand that another Reincarnation story about the Shogun isn't meant to be accurate and doesn't find it offensive.
The Conqueror: In place of her sister Makoto, Ei personally led the Shogunate Army in the early days of Inazuma, slaying monsters and bringing the other islands of the Inazuma archipelago to heel.
Create Your Own Villain:
- She is the creator of Kunikuzushi, the prototype of a series of puppets meant to carry the Electro Gnosis and rule Inazuma in her place, which culminated in the Raiden Shogun. Despite her precautions, he developed a mind of his own and thus deemed him unsuitable; however, because she did not have the will to either destroy or assert control over him, she opted to put him to sleep and abandon him in Tatarasuna, where he eventually awoke years after Ei sealed herself away. Kunikuzushi's awakening saw him take Ei's actions as Parental Abandonment, and after a series of tragedies broke him mentally (partially orchestrated by Dottore to make him easy to manipulate), he joined the Fatui as Scaramouche, and returned after hundreds of years to wreak havoc twice.
- The other puppet she created, the Raiden Shogun, also becomes the antagonist of her second Story Quest, when she rebels against her and forces her to prove that her change of heart is not the result of her will being eroded.
Cynicism Catalyst: The death of her old friends, but especially her twin sister Makoto, the original Electro Archon, during the Cataclysm ago drove Ei deeper into despair and loss of interest in engaging with the world.
Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Gender-inverted and deconstructed. After the first puppet she created, Kunikuzushi, showed emotional weakness (she saw him crying in his sleep), Ei deemed him inadequate to hold the Electro Gnosis, but neither did she have the heart to either destroy or assert control over him. Instead, she put him to sleep in Shakkei Pavillion so the puppet could decide his direction in life once he wakes up, even leaving him a feather containing her symbol, presumably meant to help him. Unfortunately, regardless of her intentions, Kunikuzushi saw Ei's action as Parental Abandonment, her symbol only bringing him more trouble than it is worth, thus giving him enormous mommy issues.
Dark Is Not Evil: As the Almighty Shogun, her purple attire has darker accents to it, not to mention her hair is a dark shade of purple (coming close to black), but Ei's intentions for Inazuma carried no malice, and following her defeat, she listens to her people and is shown to be personable.
Dead Person Impersonation: Ei/Beelzebul was not the original Electro Archon; rather, she was the twin sister and Body Double of the original, Makoto/Baal, having taken up her position after she died during the Cataclysm 500 years ago with almost no one in Inazuma aware that their Archon had died.
Defeat Means Friendship: After being defeated by the Traveler, Ei befriends the Traveler and enjoys their company as seen in her character quest. She also maintains a Friendly Rivalry as she sometimes requests to spar with the Traveler.
Defrosting Ice Queen: When the Traveler first meets Ei in the Plane of Euthymia, she has a stoic demeanor, although not as cold and emotionless as the puppet. Upon their return, she expresses her curiosity over how much of an anomaly they are before dueling them again, and once she is reunited with Yae Miko, she begins to express her feelings more openly and is visibly happy to see her again. By the time of her Story Quests, she has lost most of her icy exterior, has become more lively and sociable, and shows her kinder side, although she can still be serious when the situation calls for it.
Despair Event Horizon: She has lost so many loved ones through the years, but she truly snapped after her twin sister Makoto died fighting dark forces from Khaenri'ah during the Cataclysm. Broken by this particular loss, she turned into a recluse inside her own mind while letting a mechanical Body Double lead Inazuma for her, and she has also taken steps to design it so it could rule forever in an eternal, unchanging Inazuma.
Determinator: In her second Story Quest, Ei spent centuries battling the Shogun puppet in a Pocket Dimension where time flows more slowly than in the outside world. Because the battle is taking place inside the remnants of Makoto's consciousness, resolve and willpower have a huge effect on the battle, which is important because the Shogun was made to withstand erosion, and thus her willpower is unmatched by any living being; however, Ei manages to match the puppet evenly through sheer will and determination alone, eventually even emerging victorious, showing how absurd her determination can be. This even becomes a gameplay mechanic during the final boss fight, as whenever Ei's health falls to zero, she will instantly recover, implying that her indomitable will is what's keeping her fighting.
"The will I carry within me will never be eroded nor destroyed!"
Didn't Think This Through: Her Fatal Flaw.
- Yae Miko constantly chides her for leaping into hastily conceived ideas and stubbornly sticking to them even when they start going awry. In fact, the crisis of the Inazuma Archon Quest is the consequence of one such decision (see "Well-Intentioned Extremist", above, and "Trauma Conga Line" and "Unwitting Instigator of Doom", below). Ei was unwilling to step in due to having taken the Shogun's words at face value (unaware that the latter was being manipulated by corrupt elements within the Tri-Commission in collusion with the Fatui), letting the crisis fester to a boiling point until the Traveler, with the help of her old friend Miko, managed to reach out to her and open her eyes to what was really happening.
- She deliberately made it so her puppet form's precepts would not easily be able to be modified. After all, "eternity" is stasis, so why would changes be needed down the road? This comes back to bite her extremely hard when she herself begins to change after the Traveler and Miko's intervention, as her puppet starts resisting her will as she has begun to stray from the puppet's pre-programmed ideas of "eternity".
The Disembodied: She willingly sacrificed her own body long ago to help her sister Makoto take her place among The Seven, though it was later recreated. After Makoto's death, she created the Raiden Shogun puppet and transferred her consciousness into the Plane of Euthymia sealed within the Musou Isshin. In the present day, the puppet essentially allows her to use the body according to established protocols, and violating that leads to it refusing to move and other unpleasant things, until she changes the setting.
Ditzy Genius: Ei is a master of the sword and spear, a skilled engineer who can create lifelike, nigh-indestructible autonomous puppets, and an effective ruler once she resolves to make up for her past neglect, but centuries of isolation has effectively made her a Fish out of Temporal Water with almost No Social Skills, and she still retains something of a tendency to act before thinking, such as when she ordered the Shogun puppet to not leave Tenshukaku so it can't cause problems while she reassesses her idea of Eternity, which ends up causing a lack of administration in the Tri-Commission and the Puppet's emotional turmoil leads to worsening storms in Inazuma's borders.
Dub Name Change: In the Chinese dub, her name is pronounced as Yǐng. Ironically, "Ying" (with a flat tone) was the Chinese name of Sakura, Yae Miko's counterpart in Honkai Impact 3rd.
The Fettered: Played with. According to Yae Miko, when she first entered the Plane of Euthymia, Ei was unable to take the Electro Gnosis with her there, so she left it in Miko's care and in any case severed ties with Celestia. That said, even without the Gnosis, there is little doubt that Ei is an extremely accomplished warrior, whose powers are simply an afterthought when fighting, instead opting to use her Multi-Melee Master skills to fight — and it works.
Fighting Your Friend: Ei was forced to fight her oni friend Chiyo when the latter returned from being devoured alive but corrupted, which can be seen for a split second in her character teaser. She ended up cutting Chiyo's arm and a horn before the oni escaped, her fate left unknown.
First-Name Basis: She and Yae Miko call each other by their first names, signifying their intimate relationship, as nobody else in Inazuma ever refers to them as such. She later requests the Traveler and Paimon to call her by her first name as well.
Fish out of Temporal Water: Stepping out as herself for the first time in 500 years, Ei is baffled by how much Inazuma had changed during her self-imposed isolation.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Played with in regards to her dynamic with Makoto. Between the two, Makoto cared more about the experience of the present moment, while Ei often worried about the future. But it was because Makoto valued transience that she was able to understand humanity better. On the other hand, Ei's lack of understanding of humanity and Makoto's idea of eternity, combined with her lack of experience as a ruler, trauma from both the fall of Khaenri'ah and Makoto's death, and simple-minded stubbornness, caused her to rush into drastic action without so much as a second thought, which created a lot of Inazuma's troubles, and she spent half a millennium unaware of what was happening until the Traveler reached out to her.
Foreshadowing: She reveals that it is not by the will of the Archons that Visions are granted or denied, and that the key is people’s ambitions and another criteria that she can’t explain. Indeed, Neuvillette would reveal that Visions are in fact fragments of the elemental authorities of the Dragon Sovereigns who were usurped by the Primordial One. Which further leaves it up in the air as to why no new Electro Visions have been granted since she closed off Inazuma from the rest of Teyvat.
Freak Out: The death of her sister Makoto, the first Electro Archon, really did a number on her mental state, with her largely disengaging from the world and becoming obsessed with the idea of an unchanging eternity and never losing anything again.
Gadgeteer Genius: The body that she walks around with is a divine puppet that she personally made after much study and experimentation. She was also responsible for creating Kunikuzushi/Scaramouche, the first of her creations. According to Yae Miko, she believes that in the present day, there is no one except her who can still create such advanced puppets. Ei even states in her voice lines that even were her puppet body to be destroyed, she could easily just build a new one, so she has no need to be worried if there was ever an emergency.
God Is Flawed: Ei is genuinely trying to do what she thinks is right for Inazuma, but ultimately Makoto's sudden death and the resulting shock left her woefully unprepared for the position of being an Archon. She's often described as being immature and headstrong, and, even by her own admittance, didn't really grasp Makoto's ideals or those of her people that well. By the end of the Inazuma Archon Quest she began working on it, and it began to bear fruit on her two subsequent Story Quests.
Graceful Loser: Ei takes her loss against the Traveler pretty well, and she agrees to abolish the Vision Hunt Decree according to the Traveler's wishes.
Gray Rain of Depression: A somewhat more literal example, with Ei's Fisher King powers causing literal rainy, gray storms the more depressed she is.
Hates Being Alone: She may not admit it, but losing her loved ones and secluding herself for hundreds of years has taken a toll on her mental health, leaving her extremely depressed and cynical. Just seeing Yae Miko again causes her to finally smile again and she has become noticeably more cheerful when she hangs out with the Traveler and Paimon. At the end of her first Story Quest, she insists to the Traveler and Paimon that she doesn't need company, but Miko tells them that she does enjoy company, though she finds it indulgent because of her status as a god.
Heel Realization: After her defeat at the hands of the Traveler, the wills of the people whose Visions she had stolen, and Yae Miko, the latter convinces Ei to govern Inazuma directly like she used to, and she abolishes the Vision Hunt Decree, but makes it clear that she will continue her pursuit of eternity. Throughout her Story Quests, she starts to move on by exploring the new Inazuma with her own eyes; it takes seeing this and some of the more benign, even beneficial changes that occurred in the five hundred years she sealed herself away to get her to acknowledge just how stifling and futile her reckless pursuit of eternity really would have been. By the time of the second Story Quest, she starts to learn to embrace transience, and also tries to take out a threat to Inazuma on her own instead of relying on the Tenryou Commission.
Heroic Sacrifice: If the book Treasured Tales of the Chouken Shinkageuchi is to be believed, back in the Archon War, Ei chose to "give up her bodily form" to help Makoto ascend as the Electro Archon. After Makoto established the Shogunate, she would later reforge a new body for Ei, thus reuniting the twins side-by-side once more.
Hidden Backup Prince: The fact that Makoto ruled Inazuma jointly with Ei before the Cataclysm was a secret that only a select few knew. Ei even wonders briefly in her second Story Quest whether Makoto leaving for Khaenri'ah without telling her was meant to protect her.
High-Heel Power: Ei wears heels and as the Raiden Shogun is a Physical God, the most powerful being in her land, and the highest authority around. Her cutscene approaching the Traveler is all about this trope, emphasizing her high heels, divine power and authority.
Hikikomori: Ei has locked herself into a small dimension, the Plane of Euthymia, inside the Musou Isshin the death of Makoto and their friends, leaving an advanced puppet and the Tri-Commission to run Inazuma in her place while she sealed herself away from the world that brought her so much pain. Because of this, she's often joked to be an otaku by both the fanbase and her Only Friend Yae Miko. That said, the concept of fiction is something that's brand new to her, and she mostly spent her time meditating in her realm.
Hyde Plays Jekyll: In one of her Serenitea Pot lines, Ei tries to get you to spar with her by pretending to be the Shogun, feeling you would have reservations about striking her otherwise.
I Hate Past Me: As her Character Development progresses, the Shogun puppet embodying her past self starts to question her decisions, stops working for her, and ultimately rebels. Ei is forced to face her in a centuries-long duel inside the lingering plane of Makoto's consciousness to make her submit to her will once and for all.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Ei had gained and lost many friends since the advent of Inazuma, thus one of her primary motives for remaining in her Plane of Euthymia is to not experience loss again. Her only surviving friend from the past, Yae Miko, would later chastise her for abandoning their friendship in pursuit of eternity, saying that such a course of action had become unhealthy for her.
- When she is finally defeated by the Traveler, Miko remarks at how the skies above the Plane of Euthymia brightened, implying she felt happiness at seeing an old friend.
- After Ei befriends the Traveler and Paimon, she begins to show more of her true personality, which is more kind and laid back than her initial stern personality.
- Towards the conclusion of her first Story Quest, Ei stubbornly asserts that she does not need companionship, nor was she ready to immediately accept it; however, it's obvious that she appreciates hanging out with the Traveler. Miko laughs this off, stating being a god Ei is just too proud to admit it, and tells the Traveler that if they ever wished to see Ei again, she would happily lend them the Permit Pass, adding that they should also bring sweets with them on their next visit.
Know When to Fold 'Em: When the Traveler accesses the collective power of every Vision confiscated by the Vision Hunt Decree, it allows Ei to be decisively beaten. As a lifelong warrior, she holds no animosity towards the Traveler (or Yae Miko for her part in orchestrating the plan) and accepts her defeat graciously.
Yae Miko: You've lost, Ei.
Ei: (amused) Yes. I have.
Laser-Guided Karma: Ei created the Raiden Shogun puppet to unflinchingly pursue her ideal of eternity for Inazuma, even if that ultimately caused problems in the long run. When she began to have second thoughts about said ideal, especially as she began to explore the outside world and eventually understand how Makoto reconciled eternity and transience, the puppet rebels against her, interpreting her change of heart as a symptom of erosion. Ei had to fight her puppet for five hundred years to prove otherwise.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Played with. When the Puppet begins malfunctioning during Ei's second story quest, Paimon suggests "turning it off and then turning it back on again" (i.e. the way you fix around 90% of problems with any computer, smartphone, or game console). Poor Ei doesn't get the joke, simply stating that the Puppet wasn't designed to be turned off once activated.
Madden Into Misanthropy: Downplayed. Ei's attitude on life was warped by the trauma of the deaths of Makoto and their friends, as well as witnessing Celestia brutalize Khaenri'ah. She has no understanding that people might want to live their own lives and follow their ambitions no matter the cost, leading her to ignore the puppet's tyrannical leadership, believing she was making the best possible decisions until the Traveler manages to reach out to her.
Maternally Challenged: For a loose use of "maternal", due to the Frankenstein-ey nature of her motherhood. While Ei had good intentions in leaving Kunikuzushi in Shakkei Pavillion (because she didn't have it in her to either destroy or assert control over him despite considering him deficient and wanted him to live a normal life), she seemingly didn't realize that her actions could very easily be interpreted by him as Parental Abandonment, especially when said puppet is sentient, practically newborn, and sees her as his mother. This would lead Kunikizushi to have massive mommy issues, which were amplified when he became Scaramouche.
Meaningful Name: "Ei" serves as several different references.
- "Ei" is the kan-on (Chinese-derived) reading of 影 (yǐng, "shadow"); her Constellation's name is Latin for "Shadow Empress"; both allude to her history as the Body Double for the original Electro Archon and her twin sister, Makoto.
- "Ei" is also the kan-on reading of 永 (yǒng, "eternity"), a clear allusion to her ideal.
- Finally, "Ei" is also one consonant away from "Mei," the character from Honkai Impact 3rd, whose design serves as inspiration for Ei's.
My God, What Have I Done?: During her second Story Quest, Ei meets the ghosts of people who passed away during the Cataclysm. She already realized by that point that her dogged pursuit of eternity wasn't quite the right thing, but only after she listened to their hopes and dreams did it truly sink in that she'd spent five hundred years trampling all over what these people had bravely given their lives for, and vows to do right by the people of Inazuma, even if that eventually meant fighting her own puppet.
My Sibling Will Live Through Me: Following her twin sister Makoto's death during the Cataclysm, Ei has been carrying on as "Makoto" and desperately trying to realize her sister's dream of an ever-enduring Inazuma, despite not understanding it the way Makoto did.
Mysterious Past: Compared to the other Archons^note, the origins of the Raiden twins are unknown, with their earliest in-game lore starting from their victory in the Archon Wars. What the twins are exactly (other than the Elemental Embodiment of Electro) has yet to be elaborated on.
Never Be Hurt Again: Her true motivation for her actions, from pursuing eternity for all things to locking herself away in the Plane of Euthymia where she doesn't have to directly interact with anyone. After losing her friends and family, she never wanted to suffer loss again, even if it meant leaving the governance of Inazuma to others and refusing to discern right and wrong for herself, and if it meant she had to put her nation into stagnation and suppress the ambitions of her people.
Never My Fault:
- Played for Laughs when discussing Thoma. Ei felt bad about how her actions nearly got his Vision taken but felt that the Shogun should be the one to extend a formal apology since she was technically the one who attempted to take it. Though the Traveler evidently scolds her, and she relents to give it some thought.
- Otherwise, this is averted on the events of the Archon Quest, as she fully admits her faults and accepts responsibility for what happened.
Nice Mean And In Between: Of the three bosses-turned-playable characters, she is the Nice to Wanderer's Mean and Tartaglia's In-Between.
Nice to the Waiter: For a god both highly respected and feared throughout Inazuma, Ei shows to be a polite and reasonable woman whose interactions with her subordinates, Tri-Commission staff, or even just common Inazumans are nothing but polite and cordial on her part, and she's never shown antagonizing any of them directly without very good justification.
No Matter How Much I Beg: She made it ridiculously difficult to change her puppet's settings, but there's a reason for that. Erosion is very real, and the puppet is made to withstand its effects and enforce Ei's decree of eternity upon Inazuma without losing focus. In the finale of her second Story Quest, Ei fights the puppet in a centuries-long duel of both martial skills and determination just to make the latter acknowledge that her change of heart is not a product of erosion.
Not Helping Your Case: Played for Laughs. Should a thunderstorm be the current weather and lightning strike close, Ei will fail to try to improve the situation by stating the very last thing one would want to hear.
Raiden Shogun: (When it Rains) Rainfall alone does not constitute a storm. Thunder is required.
Ei: (When Thunder Strikes) Oh, dear me! That didn't frighten you, did it? After all, you are in the presence of the most supreme and terrifying incarnation of lightning in the whole of Teyvat!
Nothing Is Scarier: Played for Laughs as well. Ei refuses to cook and also refuses to go into any details as to why or what would happen if she did.
Not So Above It All:
- According to a kid in Inazuma City, his tribute to the Raiden Shogun at her shrine is candy, and in exchange, he wishes for his tests at school to be canceled. Sometimes, the candy is taken and the tests are mysteriously canceled. Indeed, Ei has an extreme Sweet Tooth, to the point she thinks just eating desserts counts as a meal.
- Ei also refuses to cook out of fear of something.
- Since Ei has spent so much time locked in her Plane of Euthymia, she is utterly confused by all sorts of mundane things in the current mortal world, like light novels and Kameras.
- At the end of her first Story Quest, while she insists to the Traveler and Paimon that she doesn't need company, Yae Miko tells them that she does enjoy it, the idea of company is just indulgent to her. Additionally, it's pretty clear through the events in the story that she says it to hide the fact she Hates Being Alone.
Only Friend: For Yae Miko. A big part of why she wanted to bring Ei out of the Plane of Euthymia is not only because she thought an eternity of solitude is too cruel for Ei, but also because Ei never said goodbye to her before she left. Coupled with the fact that Miko tried to confirm that they're still friends at the end of the Archon Quest, it's easy to see that they missed each other. She gets better later on when she befriends the Traveler and Paimon.
Parental Abandonment: In a manner of speaking. She abandoned the divine puppet, Kunikuzushi (who would later become Scaramouche) in Shakkei Pavilion because, despite deeming him unsuitable to hold the Electro Gnosis, she did not have it in her to either destroy or assert control over him. Nevertheless, Kunikuzushi interpreted it as abandonment, grew to hate Ei for what he perceived as cruelty, and it became part of his Freudian Excuse when becoming Scaramouche.
Polyamory: Discussed. During their trip to the Yae Publishing House in Ei's first Story Quest, the Traveler can show her a harem light novel. Ei suggests that the best solution to the protagonist's Unwanted Harem problem would be to Marry Them All, only for Paimon to say that would be a rather anticlimactic ending.
Reasonable Authority Figure: As part of her Character Development, Ei displays this in her Story Quests, allowing Kujou Kamaji to challenge her to be deemed worthy of being Tenryou Commissioner despite the disgrace his father brought to their clan. She spares him after defeating him, a stark contrast to the merciless Shogun puppet, and postpones the Kujou Clan's punishment, both out of pragmatism, as the Clan is still needed in the coming reforms to Inazuma, as well as respect for Kamaji's courage.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to both Makoto's and Yae Miko's Blue.
- Makoto was more focused on the arts and leading Inazuma, her image heavily evoked grace and demureness, and perfectly understood the ideals of "eternity". Ei, on the other hand, was more passionate about martial arts, fought the battles that the Shogunate faced, and the events that led to the Despair Event Horizon left her with a blurry idea of pursuing "eternity", making her more reckless than the former. In fact, Ei's Character Development involves becoming a wiser leader in Makoto's absence by embracing change and transience.
- While Ei's much more approachable after her Heel Realization, many of her reckless decisions (that Miko happily and openly disparages) were fueled by both her lousy state of mind after the events of the Cataclysm and being Locked Out of the Loop in Inazuma's changes for five long centuries. Even after that, she still takes the all-or-nothing decision of dueling the Shogun in a five centuries-long duel, something Miko readily chastises as stubborn. The Japanese dub plays with this a bit though, as Ei speaks with keigo (reminiscent of a Blue), while Miko speaks in a more informal dialect (akin to a Red).
Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Ei is indisputably one of the strongest fighters in Teyvat and amongst the Archons, but almost completely lacks in social skills and evidently struggles with some of the most mundane tasks like cooking. It's even more evident considering she's currently the only playable Archon character who lacks an ability for overworld usage with the closest thing being reducing the cost for ascending certain weapons. Justified, as she was the one who handled all the fighting and war-related problems back when Makoto was still alive and had little time to develop other domestic skills.
Secret Test of Character: Downplayed, as she really is looking for someone who is able to beat her, but she calls out Takatsukasa Susumu for being afraid to put his life on the line to become Tenryou Commissioner even after saying that serving the Shogun with one's life is the highest honor. When Kujou Kamaji takes her up on the offer, she accepts even though it's plain as day that he stands no chance, and even as she's beating him black and blue she's thinking about how some of the Kujou Clan's former courage, honor, and moral integrity managed to survive into the present in spite of the crimes of his father Takayuki. For that reason, she decides to spare him and postpone his clan's punishment.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Many of the problems Inazuma faced stem from the trauma Ei experienced from losing many loved ones, in particular her sister, and witnessing Celestia brutalize Khaenri'ah for daring to defy it. Having to cope with all that and suddenly having to assume the role of Electro Archon, it's no wonder that she might not have been in the best mental state.
Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Ei trained herself to be a powerful warrior who could go One-Woman Army (and in fact did when she slew Orobashi), but was unable to replicate the domestic traits that defined her twin sister Makoto after the latter's death, possibly including cooking. In-game, she's an extremely strong unit who can also empower other characters, but has no usable ability in the overworld unlike her fellow Archons, including the inability to even cook; in fact, her field passive is still combat-related, halving the price of ascending swords and polearms, her favored weapons.
Spare to the Throne: Having been focused on martial arts for most of her life, Ei was not prepared to shoulder the political responsibility of being Electro Archon alone when her sister died, causing her to create puppets to help her manage the intricacies of governing Inazuma.
Survivor's Guilt: In her second Story Quest, Ei laments that, for all her might, she wasn't able to protect her loved ones during the Cataclysm, all the while sounding like she's on the verge of crying; keep in mind that as Makoto's Body Double, she was supposed to fight and even die in her sister's stead. So not only did Ei lose her friends in rapid succession, but she also failed to do her duty because Makoto ended up fighting and dying in Khaenri'ah instead of her. It's no wonder she became so messed up and traumatized from the experience.
Sweet Tooth: Desserts are Ei's self-proclaimed favorite food. A kid in Inazuma often leaves candy at shrines for her in exchange for getting his tests canceled, and she is surprised when informed that it's not customary to eat dessert at the start of a meal. To top it all off, she mentions how cavities aren't a big deal since she can replace those teeth anyway. Fellow Archon Venti even points it out, citing it as a weakness of hers, and Yae Miko also mentions that she likes desserts within the Electro Archon's Story Quests.
Symbolic Cast Fadeout: Her character teaser has her being surrounded by friends and her twin, Makoto before each fades away one by one. This hints at the many tragedies she suffered during the cataclysm and her motivation to isolate Inazuma in a misguided belief that only an "unchanging" eternity could protect her nation.
Token Good Teammate: She is this to the three bosses who are playable as characters, as Tartaglia is still aligned with the Fatui, and Scaramouche/Wanderer, despite having left the organization, is still angry, bitter, and cynical after regaining his memories. Ei, on the other hand, fully redeems herself and softens up after the Inazuma Archon Quest.
Took a Level in Kindness: A peculiar case on which events show she actually used to be kindhearted to begin with. Still, Ei eventually comes to realize the harm that her policies have been doing to her nation and works to undo the damage she caused during her centuries of isolation. Her Story Quests reveal her personable side, showing how warm she can be outside of her Shogun persona.
Trauma Conga Line: One that involved losing many loved friends and family through the centuries. The tengu general Sasayuri died during an earlier conflict between the Shogunate and Watatsumi. The oni Mikoshi Chiyo was swallowed by a "beast of sin" and tainted by its dark energy, later reemerging as an insane husk of herself and attacking Ei, who was implied to have been forced to kill her in self-defense. The Kitsune Saiguu succumbed to a "dark will" that consumed her body and memories to nothing. But what truly drove Ei past the Despair Event Horizon was the death of her twin sister Makoto/Baal, the original Electro Archon, during the Cataclysm. A deeply traumatized Ei then decided to create an autonomous puppet to rule Inazuma in her place while she sealed herself away inside the Plane of Euthymia out of fear of losing any more she once held dear.
Tsundere: Invoked briefly at the end of her first Story Quest; when she tells the Traveler and Paimon to stop making it sound like she needs company, which Yae Miko confirms later at the Grand Narukami Shrine that it was just a matter of pride.
Yae Miko: [...] It's not that gods don't need the company of others, just that the idea of a god having company seems indulgent to her. But you don't belong to this world. Perhaps you are just the company she needs.
Unknown Relative: After Scaramouche erased himself from Irminsul, Ei no longer remembers the prototype puppet she created who named himself "Kunikuzushi" and caused chaos in Inazuma as one of the Fatui Harbingers. Only time will tell if she will ever remember him again.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Much of the strife throughout the Inazuma Archon Quest happened simply because Ei is unwilling to play a more direct role in governing Inazuma, instead creating a puppet and assigning the Tri-Commission to rule in her place while she enters a self-imposed isolation. This allowed certain corrupt elements within both the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions, in collusion with the Fatui, to lie to the Shogun puppet into approving the Sakoku and Vision Hunt Decrees, with Ei being complacent enough to simply take the word of the puppet, who was being deliberately Locked Out of the Loop, at face value. It took the Traveler, with Yae Miko's help, to break through to Ei and tell her what's really happening in the outside world. Sure enough, once defeated, she lifts the Vision Hunt Decree, and later, aided by the Traveler, the Sakoku Decree.
War God: She was this when she jointly ruled Inazuma with her twin sister Makoto. Ei would fight in many wars on behalf of her sister. In fact, all sword and polearm techniques in Inazuma can be traced back to her martial arts.
We Have Reserves:
- A non-malicious example towards the Shogun puppet — Ei says in one of her voice-overs that you don't have to bother protecting the Shogun, and even if her body is damaged beyond repair, she can just make another.
  Ei: Despite serving as my guard during this journey, you need not shield me from danger. The Shogun's constitution is rather robust, and in the event she does break down, we can simply get a replacement. In an emergency, just send her into the fray.
- Otherwise, this is averted. Ei's second Character Quest's Act II has her reunite with a disembodied memory of a pair of Shogunate Samurai and, after they part, Ei admits she let her grief blind her from how valiantly they fought, and that not creating a better future for Inazuma dishonors their sacrifice.
Worf Had the Flu: Following the end of the Traveler's second battle against Ei. Upon talking to Yae Miko, they discover that Ei had never used the Electro Gnosis all this time, as she couldn't bring it into the Plane of Euthymia, and the Shogun puppet was also unable to use it. It is unclear if the Traveler would have been able to defeat her even with Miko's assistance and the hundred Visions had she been fighting at full power.
Worthy Opponent: Ei views the Traveler as this since they are the only known individual to have defeated her (albeit with outside help). Her voice lines indicate that she wants to spar with the Traveler again in order to hone her skills.

Characters / Genshin Impact: Raiden Shogun

With the revelations about her true identity, there will be unmarked spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Raiden Ei / Raiden Shogun / Beelzebul, the God of Eternity

Introduced: September 1, 2021 (v2.1 "Floating World Under the Moonlight" [first half])
Voiced by: Juhuahua (Chinese), Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Park Ji-yoon (Korean), Anne Yatco (English)

The Shogun / Raiden Shogun / Magatsu Mitake Narukami no Mikoto

Voiced by: Juhuahua (Chinese), Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Park Ji-yoon (Korean), Anne Yatco (English)

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / Genshin Impact: Raiden Shogun

Edit Locked

With the revelations about her true identity, there will be unmarked spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Raiden Ei / Raiden Shogun / Beelzebul, the God of Eternity

Introduced: September 1, 2021 (v2.1 "Floating World Under the Moonlight" [first half])Voiced by: Juhuahua (Chinese), Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Park Ji-yoon (Korean), Anne Yatco (English)

The Shogun / Raiden Shogun / Magatsu Mitake Narukami no Mikoto

Voiced by: Juhuahua (Chinese), Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Park Ji-yoon (Korean), Anne Yatco (English)

Previous

Index

Next

Introduced: September 1, 2021 (v2.1 "Floating World Under the Moonlight" [first half])
Voiced by: Juhuahua (Chinese), Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Park Ji-yoon (Korean), Anne Yatco (English)