Astral Express
Locations: Herta Space Station | Jarilo-VI | Xianzhou Luofu | Penacony
Factions: Stellaron Hunters | Genius Society | Interastral Peace Corporation
Aeons
Herta Space Station
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General Tropes
- Abandoned Laboratory: A large section of the station is reserved for Ruan Mei. She carries out her projects in more than one location, while the Antimatter Legion attack meant some parts of the Station needed to be sealed off, so by the time the Trailblazer is given access, it has been unused for a while. When the Trailblazer first visited, some sections are dark, there are disconnected wires releasing bolts of electricity, and there are Propagation insects left over from Ruan Mei's latest experiment infesting the place. Downplayed afterwards, when Ruan Mei's cuter creations flourish and spread and more robots activate, though there still aren't very many humans.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The Station's employees tend to be as quirky as they are brilliant. For instance, Hosea Lazaro was a researcher in Galactic Geopolitics and a former Astral Express crew who developed a number of Curios and inventions like the once-popular Kapo-Kali softdrink, before blasting off into Aeons-know-where when he got sick of the place, leaving a gaping hole in the Station. Even the normally sensible and wise Asta is Money Dumb due to having her financial sense skewed by her family's ludicrous wealth, forcing Arlan to hold onto her encryption key lest she make any more wasteful purchase.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: The first three playable characters from the Station fit into this trope, respectively filled by Asta, Herta, and Arlan (with Ruan Mei later joining Herta as the Ice).
- Multinational Team: Multiplanetary, in this case. Many researchers and personnel on the Space Station come from different planets with diverse inspirations from real-world cultures as shown by their names, ranging from English (Watson) to Chinese (Wen Mingde) to Japanese (Eikura Shuu) to either Gaelic or Turkic (Arlan).
- Single-Biome Planet: The Blue, The planet the station orbits, is mostly ocean.
- Weirdness Magnet: The Station is no stranger to all sorts of weird experiments, items, and happenings taking place, some of which were not even brought in by Herta in the first place, that the Trailblazer can either observe or participate in, which includes a pistol that gives arbitrary scores, a crown from an extinct race of crystalline creatures that makes the wearer's head "heavy" with knowledge, a toilet that teleports the user to a random location whenever they flush, a cup of coffee that can cause anyone brave and/or stupid enough to take a sip to faint with a mishmash of flavors, a computer virus that can drastically alter a person's personality, a race of Bedsheet Ghost aliens, and even a random talking plant. This is even lampshaded by Adler, a young researcher from the Department of Ecology, during a Daily Mission."Now that you've spent some time on the space station, don't you feel this place is... a little abnormal?"
Arlan
Arlan
Introduced: April 26, 2023 (v1.0 "The Rail Unto the Stars" [game launch])
Voiced by: Tao Dian (Chinese), Ryōko Shiraishi (Japanese), Kim Yul (Korean), Dani Chambers (English)
Click to see his full Warp artwork.
Head of Security at the Herta Space Station and Asta's second-in-command, who faithfully follows her orders, even to the detriment of his wellbeing.
Arlan puts himself in harm's way in exchange for punishing troublemakers with his greatsword, with his Talent, Pain and Anger, increasing the potency of all his attacks inversely proportional to his remaining HP. His Basic Attack and Skill, respectively Lightning Rush and Shackle Breaker, hit one foe at a time, with the latter consuming HP in lieu of Skill Points, while his Ultimate, Frenzied Punishment, hits up to three foes at once, and his Technique, Swift Harvest slashes at all foes.note
- Amplifier Artifact: By getting her Eidolons, you can upgrade his third and fifth Eidolon Resonances, Power Through and Hammer and Tongs, which will add two levels to his Skill and one to Basic Attack (Lightning Rush) with the former, and two to his Ultimate and Talent with the latter.
- Animal Companion: His splash art has him accompanied by Peppy, whom he genuinely enjoys playing with and caring for, and who serves as one of his few real breaks from his Workaholic attitude.
- Animal Motifs: His name can mean "dog" or "wolf" in Kazakh or Turkish, which goes hand-in-hand with his hardworking, loyal personality as someone taken in by Asta's family.
- Anti-Debuff: His fourth-ascension Bonus Ability, Endurance, halves his risk of contracting Damage Over Time debuffs, while his second Eidolon Resonance, Breaking Free, allows his Skill and Ultimate to remove one debuff from himself.
- Auto-Revive: Arlan's fourth Eidolon Resonance, Turn the Tables, automatically revives him once with a quarter of his HP whenever he is knocked out within the first two turns of battle.
- Battle Butler: While on paper Arlan is head of the Station's security force, he also serves as Asta's second-in-command, cook, caretaker for her pet dog Peppy, and minder of her digital wallet lest she overspend.
- Blue Is Calm: Despite his aggressive fighting style, Arlan wears primarily blue and is almost always calm and level-headed. He's the one who usually has to rein in Asta's eccentricities like her spending habits.
- Cast from Hit Points: His Skill consumes his HP (worth 15% of its maximum value, stopping if his HP falls to 1) in lieu of Skill Points.note
- Company Cross References: He shares numerous similarities with Cyno from Genshin Impact, being young men working as security officers for powerful research institutes, sporting medium height, dark skin, light hair, red eyes, and lightning-elemental powers, as well as being associated with canines.
- Covered in Scars: His Warp art features him nursing a fresh wound and there are scars on his arm and face. Dialogue options indicates that he has many more of them from encounters with threats within the Station. He doesn't mind though, wearing them as badges of honor that prove that he, not the researchers, got hurt."I'm proud of my wounds. They're a reminder of being able to protect everyone."
- Critical Status Buff: His Talent gives all his attacks a damage boost proportional to the percentage of HP missing from its maximum value (up to 36–79.2%). In addition, two of his Eidolon Resonances provide a damage boost whenever his HP falls below half: 10% for his Skill with his first, To the Bitter End, and 20% for his Ultimate with his sixth, Self-Sacrifice (in addition to increasing the damage to adjacent foes such that they equal to that dealt to his target).
- Crutch Character: Arlan is strong in the early game thanks to not requiring SP for his Skill, but its HP-consuming nature requires him to be babysat, and his damage potential loses out to less risky characters like Seele. That said, with enough investment and the right team composition, he can still be a more than sufficient damage-dealer.
- Extreme Doormat: He's too socially awkward to speak up against Herta whenever she assigns him a task he doesn't agree with or doesn't fit his skillset, often causing Asta distress whenever it begins taking a toll on his health.
- Glass Cannon: Arlan has very high damage potential and he's always SP-neutral at worst since his Skill consumes HP instead of SP. With a full Eidolon, he'll be able to deal his Ultimate's full damage to all targets. But this same playstyle will constantly whittle his health down until any stray attack will make him keel over, requiring teammates to protect him with shields to unleash his full potential.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: His Ultimate deals damage to a group of enemies,note , while his Technique immediately hits all enemies at the start of battle.note
- Invocation:(Ultimate activation) "Is that all you got?"(Normal speed and ×2 speed) "Let me pay you back...tenfold!"
- Life Drain: Arlan's second-ascension Bonus Ability, Revival, restores his HP (worth 20% of its maximum value) whenever he defeats an enemy while his HP is no more than 30%.
- The Load: He gets injured early on during the Antimatter Legion's assault on the Herta Space Station, necessitating the Astral Express crew to escort him to safety.
- Meaningful Name: Arlan can mean "oath" or "pledge" in Gaelic, referencing his loyalty to Asta and the the Herta Space Station, while also meaning "dog" or "wolf" in Kazakh and Turkish, referencing his canine associations.
- Martyr Without a Cause: He's overly willing to sacrifice himself if it means helping others, even if there are ways to help without much self-harm. At the beginning of the game, he offers to activate the elevator for the Astral Express crew to ride before shutting it down again, leaving himself alone with the Antimatter Legion. March 7th and Dan Heng point out that they could help him get to the Master Control Room and then shut down the elevator, accomplishing the same result with as little danger as possible. This, along with his pride over his wounds, is likely why his path is Destruction.
- One-Handed Zweihänder: He wields a greatsword as long as he is tall, but most frequently brandishes it with one hand. He only uses both for heavy, overhead swings.
- One-Note Cook: Downplayed. Arlan is able to cook just fine, but people really rave about his fried rice in particular. According to Arlan, Asta loves it, so he cooks a bowl for the Trailblazer as thanks for helping him so often at the beginning of "Punklorde Mentality". At the end of the same mission, Screwllum specifically orders some from "a certain young man" aboard the Herta Space Station. He holds Arlan's fried rice in the same regard as a fine steak garnished with lemongrass and served alongside "compound milk".
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:(Battle Begins: Weakness Break) "Your number is up."(Battle Begins: Danger Alert) "Nothing can stop me."
- Significant White Hair, Dark Skin: Is the only dark-skinned playable character as of writing (v2.1), and has white hair.
- Single-Use Shield: His sixth-ascension Bonus Ability, Repel, allows him to nullify all incoming damage once (except for any Damage Over Time effect) whenever he enters battle while he has no more than half his HP.
- Undying Loyalty: He's completely devoted to Asta, whom he refers to as "my lady" and "Lady Asta" for feeding him at a charity kitchen. He swore to her then and there to repay her for the meal and has continued to do so ever since.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Arlan is extremely popular among his subordinates in the Security Department, who gush praise about their "Brother Arlan" and call him a "man among men" and a "tiger among wolves". His bravery, work ethic, and devotion to keeping his men safe go a long way toward explaining his popularity.
- Weapon Specialization: Arlan's associated Light Cone is "A Secret Vow
" (4★), whose "Spare No Effort" passive increases its wearer's damage output by 20–40%, which doubles to 40–80% if their target has a higher HP percentage, which suits well to his high-risk fighting style. - Wise Beyond Their Years: Despite being in his early to mid-teens at most, Arlan is the well-respected Head of Security at an important research station. He's consistently level-headed and approaches most situations with calm reasoning.
- Workaholic: Arlan is extremely hard-working, to the point of subjecting himself to Training from Hell on top of his duties as the Herta Space Station's Head of Security. His fanbase in the Security Department says he runs more than 21 km around the space station every day.
- "X" Marks the Hero: Has a "X" scar above his nose.
- Young and in Charge: His youth is highlighted by his female voice actor in every dub of the game. And yet, he's the Head of Security at a valuable research station among a group of much older men who look up to him as the "alpha wolf" and a "man among men". Herta also refers to him as a "boy" and a "fella".
Asta
Asta
Introduced: April 26, 2023 (v1.0 "The Rail Unto the Stars" [game launch])
Voiced by: Guiniang (Chinese), Chinatsu Akasaki (Japanese), Kim Hyeon-ji (Korean), Felecia Angelle (English)
Click to see her full Warp artwork.
Lead researcher of the Herta Space Station and its de facto leader in lieu of its oft-absentee head Herta. Inquisitive yet motherly, she makes it a duty to attend to her crew's needs, even to the point of covering the Space Station's expenses with her own money as scion to a prominent family within the Interastral Peace Corporation.
Asta inspires her allies into swiftly dispatching of their foes through her Talent, Astrometry, which generates up to five stacks of Charge that boost the party's Attack (but are also reduced by three for each successive turn) whenever she fires lasers from her telescope-cannon on her foes, either one at a time with her Basic Attack, Spectrum Beam, followed by four random beams with her Skill, Meteor Storm, or covering all foes with her Technique, Miracle Flash, in addition to generating an additional stack if at least one target struck is weak to Fire. Her Ultimate, Astral Blessing, summons a phantasmal orrery that boosts the party's Speed for two turns.note
- Adopt-a-Servant: As detailed in her third Character Story, Arlan first met Asta and her mother when they were volunteering at a charity kitchen. Having eaten his fill, Arlan wanted to pay back the cost of the meal by working for her household. The latter agreed, and he's been at her side ever since.
- Amplifier Artifact: By getting her Eidolons, you can upgrade her third and fifth Eidolon Resonances, Meteor Showers for Wish and Want and Nebula Secludes in Cold Cosmos, which will add two levels to her Skill and Talent with the former, and two to her Ultimate and one to Basic Attack with the latter.
- Anonymous Benefactor: A downplayed example for the Herta Space Station. Most of its facilities are funded by Asta's personal bank account, without whose support work on the Station would be much harder. The main reason she is anonymous is because neither she nor Arlan want to make a big deal out of it and nobody believes that Asta can be that rich.
- Badass Adorable: Asta is a beautiful, kind-hearted young heiress who nevertheless can hold her own in a fight and is considerably more cunning than she lets herself on.
- Benevolent Boss:
- Especially compared to the whimsical and oft-absentee Herta. Most of her expenditures go to the Station, she monitors the wellbeing of the staff, and is lenient on them because she knows staying on a space station can be mentally taxing, and Arlan has nothing but praise for her.
- Played for Laughs in Arlan's Companion Mission, in which she concludes from spotty evidence that Arlan has come to hate her. Asta is hysterical and profusely apologizes to a baffled Arlan while rebuffing all his attempts to make her feel better. It's not until she runs out of "evidence" to present that he's able to explain that his "trials" for managing an overbearing boss are because of Herta, who assigns him things so far out of his job description that he doesn't know how to handle them.
- Boom Stick: Asta fights with a modified telescope that can shoot laser beams and acts as a sort of Magic Staff for her Ultimate.
- Boring, but Practical: Her Ultimate merely provides a Speed buff for the party; given how important said stat is to the gameplay, however, it's a highly potent one.
- Casting Gag: Felecia Angelle, Asta's English voice actress, also did Mona Megistus of Genshin Impact, both young women with an expertise in studying the stars, a spellcaster-like fighting style, and wealth offset by poor money management, albeit with a Fire/Water Juxtaposition dynamic between them, Asta being the Fire to Mona's Water.
- Critical Hit Class: One of three stats Asta can upgrade via her Trace tree is her Crit Rate, with her getting a 6.7% boost once fully unlocked.
- The Chessmaster: Asta is more cunning and attentive than she makes herself out to be. In several Adventure and Companion Missions, she asks the Trailblazer for help investigating an issue, only for her to have already figured it out beforehand, only needing the Trailblazer to set the dominoes in motion with as little direct involvement as possible.
- In her Companion Mission, a user by the handle "You Already Know Me" invites the Trailblazer to an anonymous group chat spreading rumors of Asta's mishandling of the Station's funds. Once the Trailblazer decided to look into things, they choose to keep Asta unaware, reasoning that she has enough on her plate. By the end, once the Trailblazer dispels said rumors, "You Already Know Me" thanks the Trailblazer for their help and implies that their actions have been in line with their plans from the start. When asked about their identity, they dodge the question and post a sticker of Asta note before the group chat is abruptly disbanded by its owner, implying that Asta was in control of the situation from the very beginning.
- Later on, in the "Spirit Traces" Adventure Mission, Asta tasks the Trailblazer with tracking down a disguised monster and its accomplice. To get them started, she gives them a poem from an anonymous tipster. Said poem reveals the monster's hideout, hints at who the accomplice is, and includes a few lines meant to encourage said accomplice to turn a new leaf and live for themselves. The author of the poem turns out to be none other than Asta herself.
- Damage Over Time: Asta's second-ascension Bonus Ability, Sparks, gives her Basic Attack a base 80% chance to inflict Burn on her target for three turns.note
- Damsel in Distress: Ifrit kidnaps her briefly as part of his scheme to cause chaos onboard Herta Space Station. Fortunately, the Trailblazer and Dr. Ratio rescue her.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: For a daughter of businessmen and a lead researcher, Asta's fashion sense is questionable at best. She wears a white lab coat with mismatched sleeves (her right being longer than her left), half of a blue frilly skirt on her right hip over a whole black pleated skirt with gold star patterns, three belts of different colors around her waist, and two straps on her right leg (one on her thigh and the other on her ankle). Given that she's trying to hide her privileged background, this is likely deliberate.
- Fiction 500: Asta effectively funds the entirety of the Station off of her own credit card, a feat that makes so little of a dent in it that her mother actually messages her in concern that she's not spending enough by their obscenely wealthy standards.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: For her Ultimate voiceline, she makes an invocation to bless the Trailblazers. However, this only makes sense if the other three members of the party are the Astral Express crew (who are collectively referred to as "Trailblazers"); even if the rest of her team are her colleagues (Arlan and Herta) or complete strangers to her, she will still refer to them as "Trailblazers".
- Gathering Steam: Her Talent generates up to five charges of a 7–17.5% Attack boost to the party (hence a maximum of 35–87.5%), one for each enemy hit by his Basic Attack, Skill or Technique, two if any of them are weak to Fire. As the stacks are automatically reduced by three at the start of her second turn onwards, this incentivizes players to keep using her Skill despite its random damage range. Most of her upgrades are also tied to the stacks—her sixth-ascension Bonus Ability, Constellation, boosts her Defense by 6% per stack (hence a maximum of 30%); her second Eidolon Resonance, Moon Speaks in Wax and Wane, negates the next stack reduction after using her Ultimate; her fourth, Aurora Basks in Beauty and Bliss, increases her Energy Regeneration by 15% if she has at least two stacks; and her sixth, Galaxy Dreams in Calm and Comfort, reduces the stack reduction per turn to two.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: While the Station's staff all but worship Herta, the gossipers are quick to complain about upper management, Asta in particular. In fact, it hardly takes Ifrit any work at all to make them think she would go so far as to murder her detractors.
- Invocation:(Ultimate activation) "Everything is ordained by the stars."(Normal speed) "O' profound secrets of the stars, give these Trailblazers your blessing!"(×2 speed) "O' stars, give these Trailblazers your blessing!"
- Minored In Ass Kicking: Fighting isn't in her job description as the lead researcher on the Herta Space Station, but she's an able Support Party Member and an invaluable asset when facing enemies Weak to Fire.
- Money Dumb:
- It doesn't matter much given she hails from an obscenely wealthy family, but Asta has a habit of simply buying things for the Station with her own money, whether or not they needed them, ranging from replacements for machines they still have spares of to a whole starnought fleet for security. It can get so out-of-hand that Arlan tries to stage an intervention since her first instinct is to buy new things, and he thinks she's being irresponsible with her funds. Played with that she's well-aware that the Station's funds are limited, which just emboldens her to use her own money to cover the expenses.
- In the "From Xianzhou With Love" Adventure Mission, Asta tasks the Trailblazer with investigating a suspected scammer from the Xianzhou Luofu. When the Trailblazer gains direct access to said chat, she encourages them to intentionally get scammed as proof, and assures them that she will bankroll the expenses. Depending on your dialogue options, the Trailblazer can transfer as high as 200 million credits on Asta's dime, to which she wonders aloud if that's a lot of money to lose in these kinds of scams. After the mission, she does say that, following the money transfer system she's using, if she wants to transfer huge amounts of credits at once, the system will delay the transfer by a few days, which potentially allows her to cancel it.
- Nice Girl: Asta is an all-around sweet lady and Benevolent Boss who goes out of her way to ensure that her workers are treated well. This also forms a notable contrast to the oft-absent, more-than-a-little-distant Herta.
- Non-Idle Rich: Is from a very wealthy family. She reminds herself that she needs to work hard at the Space Station, otherwise she'll have to return to inheriting the family business.
- Number Two: She is the second-highest-ranking staff member on the Station after Herta, but since the latter is absent most of the time, Asta handles all of the actual day-to-day operations.
- Ojou: Beautiful, graceful, and secretly but obscenely wealthy. In the Japanese dub, Arlan even attempts to call her this ad verbum before correcting himself.
- Randomized Damage Attack: Her Skill launches five laser beams heavenward, the first hitting her target, the rest at random (including her target).note If used against a lone target, however, all the lasers will hit them for bigger damage and (against enemies Weak to Fire) quicker Toughness Gauge reduction. Her first Eidolon Resonance, Star Sings Sans Verses or Vocals, adds a fifth random laser.
- Rebellious Princess: Asta is not so fond of her parents, who are among the IPC's leaders, and she has been ignoring their attempts at communication for quite some time. As a child, she always wanted to be an astronomer, but her parents insist on having her partake in the family business and dismiss her hobbies as a frivolous pursuit. It wasn't until Herta visited them with the intent of recruiting Asta as her lead researcher that they changed their minds and agreed to her offer out of deference for Herta's reputation, which finally gave Asta the freedom to follow her heart's desire, and even then, as she mentions in her "About Self: Work" voice line, she has to continue working hard in the Station, lest she be left with no choice but to return to her family and inherit their fortune.
- Secretly Wealthy: Her being an heiress to high-ranking IPC executives is not a widely known fact, so the first thought some people have when seeing her purchase history is that she's embezzling money somehow.
- Spoiled Sweet: She's still on her family's bankroll despite ditching the family business to work as an astronomer instead, to the point that her mother expresses concern that Asta is not spending enough by their standards. Even with her obscene wealth, she's still a Benevolent Boss to her workers and an all-around sweet lady.
- Starter Mon: You're guaranteed to pull her during the tutorial for Warping, the game's gacha system.
- Status Buff: Asta's fourth-ascension Bonus Ability, Ignite, increases the party's Fire Damage by 18% just by having her in the party.
- Support Party Member: Asta specializes in boosting her allies, exemplified with her Ultimate, which provides a 36–57-point Speed buff to the party for two turns. Conversely, her offensive ability is not as potent, typically limited to her Skill (which randomly hits enemies) and her Technique (which deals damage to all enemies at the start of battle, worth half of her Attack stat).
- Suspicious Spending: Subverted. This nearly gets her in trouble in her Companion Mission. When she spends a large sum of money to buy supplies and materials to repair the space station, since Herta herself won’t do it out of laziness, several staff members get suspicious, and think that she’s embezzling the money. It turns out, her parents are executives within the IPC, meaning that she really is richer than she'd like to admit.
- Team Mom: Despite being relatively young (compared to Herta), Asta constantly frets over the wellbeing of the crew, especially Arlan.
- Uncle Pennybags: Given her vast allowance, Asta tries to help cover the costs of repairing the Station by buying replacements and extra supplies to make life better for the staff. Arlan has to prevent her from going overboard and buying unnecessary stuff like an entire starnought fleet.
- Vapor Wear: Asta's shirt exposes her sides in a way that it's impossible for her to be wearing a bra.
- Weapon Specialization: Asta's associated Light Cone is "Planetary Rendezvous" (4★), whose "Departure" passive increases the damage output of allies who deal the same damage type as the wearer by 12–24%, hence adding another buff to her support-oriented kit, especially towards her fellow Fire units, more so if she has activated her fourth-ascension Bonus Ability.
Herta
Herta
Introduced: April 26, 2023 (v1.0 "The Rail Unto the Stars" [game launch])
Voiced by: Hou Xiaofei (Chinese), Haruka Yamazaki (Japanese), Kim Seo-young (Korean), Patty Mattson (credited as "PJ Mattson") (English)
Click to see her full Warp artwork.
Founder and namesake of the Herta Space Station, as well as the designated eighty-third member of the Genius Society. Her wisdom is offset by her quirky, reclusive personality, often interacting with the outside world through an army of puppets modeled after her younger self.
Herta reins in crowds of enemies with her giant mallet through her Skill, One-Time Offer, which increases in potency if her foes have at least half their HP remaining; her Talent, Fine, I'll Do It Myself, which is triggered whenever the party drops at least one foe's HP to below half; or her Ultimate, It's Magic, I Added Some Magic, where she conjures a giant gemstone which she slams down onto them. In addition, her Technique, It Can Still Be Optimized, boosts her Attack for the first three turns of battle.note
- Absent-Minded Professor: Herta is revered for her achievements, but she tends to abandon her projects very fast. An example is the Space Station, which she has left to Asta. She also has a collection of objects in the space station that she seems to have lost interest in.
- Amplifier Artifact: By getting her Eidolons, you can upgrade her third and fifth Eidolon Resonances, That's the Kind of Girl I Am and Cuss Big or Cuss Nothing, which will add two levels to her Skill and one to her Basic Attack (What Are You Looking At?) with the former, and two to her Ultimate and Talent with the latter.
- Anti-Debuff: Herta's fourth-ascension Trace, Puppet, reduces the risk of contracting crowd-control debuffs by 35%.
- Battle Cry: "Time to twirl!" or "Kuru kuru" (meaning "spin") in Japanese, which has become memetic due to the sheer frequency this line is heard by players. Her Talent is triggered whenever an enemy's HP falls below half, which causes her to launch a Spin Attack during which she says this line.
- Body Double: Herta has 281 (of which 249 are active) "marionettes," through which she can be present in many places at once. There's an achievement for finding all of her marionettes in the Space Station.
- Carry a Big Stick: Her weapon is a giant hammer she easily handles despite her own small size. It has a few mechanical components and is Gem-Encrusted, which she also weaponizes in her Ultimate.
- The Chosen One: She is an Emanator of Nous the Erudition, having been personally marked by the Aeon as an embodiment of their Path.
- Collector of the Strange: Herta has amassed a personal collection of Curios in her museum on board her station, which are odd relics that are considered strange by the researcher's standards and right up Herta's alley. Some of these Curios include:
- The Rating Pistol: A gun with an eyeball on it that will rate whatever it's starring at a random score. No one is sure what metric it uses.
- The Unbearable Weight: An imperial crown from the late emperor of the Tottonids that will give the wearer vast amounts of knowledge, making their head "heavy".
- The Astro Rod: A rod that can apparently see through a planet's internal structure. The Flavor Text upon examining it insists that the one on display is the original prototype, while other Astro Rods have been mass-produced since.
- The Crackup Conch: A conch shell that can tell jokes, or so Asta's research team initially thought.
- A few Joy Filtration Sets: Gray-colored cubes that people can take pieces off to gain joy.
- Total Eclipse of the Heart: An odd cup-shaped object that, according to the Curio Management Log, will disintegrate anything that touches its outer ring if activated.
- The Energy Black Hole: A heating device with supposed ties to the Landau family on Jarilo-VI that is actually incapable of heating anything. It instead absorbs surrounding heat energy, hence the odd name.
- The Traveler's Wind Glider from Genshin Impact.
- Fragmented remnants of Himeko Murata's greatsword from Honkai Impact 3rd.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Herta is an absolute monster during mob encounters with her multi-hit Skill, Ultimate, and Talent (the latter triggered whenever her allies reduce an enemy's HP below half)—emphasis on "HP below half," as once you pit her against damage sponges such as bosses, her performance suffers, with both her Basic Attack and Skill having the same Break Meter damage output. Even when she triggers her Talent, it does negligible damage because she can only spin once. It's at least downplayed against Flunky Bosses such as Silvermane Lieutenants, the Abundant Ebon Deer, and the Swarm: True Sting; with their flunkies around, there will be more chances of Herta using her follow-up attacks and deal some extra damage to the boss, even if not by a whole lot. Herta is also a fantastic choice in Pure Fiction, which involves fighting waves of weaker enemies that give her Talent plenty of chances to trigger.
- Critical Hit Class:
- One of three stats Herta can upgrade via her Trace tree is her Crit Rate, with her getting a 6.7% boost once fully unlocked.
- Herta's second Eidolon Resonance, Keep the Ball Rolling, boosts her Critical Rate by 3% up to five times per battle (hence a maximum of 15%) whenever she triggers her Talent.
- Crutch Character: In light of Herta's aforementioned Crippling Overspecialization with cleaning enemy mobs, a common use for Herta inside the Simulated Universe is to have her to sweep through enemy mobs, then swap her out for boss fights in favor of someone better suited for them.
- Do Androids Dream?: In Penacony's Golden Hour, you can use one of the Dreampeek Calls to peek into one Herta puppet's dream. The Trailblazer then hears nothing but "baaa"s, confirming that androids do dream of electric sheep.
- Egopolis: The Herta Space Station is named after her, her office contains what is essentially a museum exhibit dedicated to herself, and even the on-ship currency is named after her and depicts her likeness.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Despite her disinterest in morality and ethics, Herta is unwilling to work with Dr. Primitive, a fellow Genius Society member, since his criminal record with the IPC and Galaxy Rangers could cause her many a headache.
- She's genuinely appalled at what the IPC did to Chadwick and their use of the Imaginary Implosion Pulse, and honors his Last Request to keep his research far away from the IPC's grasp.
- In the v1.6 Livestream, Herta makes no secret how much she dislikes Dr. Ratio. She openly and angrily admonishes how rude he can be when teaching, often bringing his students to tears and leaving them an emotional wreck.
- Gemstone Assault: Her Ultimate fires a giant cat head-shaped diamond which she slams down onto enemies with her mallet. For the sake of gameplay consistency, its damage still counts as Ice damage because, not only is there no Earth element in the Star Rail universe, but characters are always set to one element.note
- The Ghost: While she interacts with the outside world through her marionettes, the actual Herta has yet to make an in-person appearance.
- Hypocrite: She openly dislikes Dr. Ratio, partially due to his massive ego, which is rich coming from someone who has an egotistic streak herself.
- Improbably High I.Q.: While no actual number has been given, the official website describes her as "the human with the highest IQ in The Blue". She is also capable of pondering what would take a normal researcher a lifetime in seconds, which wouldn't be humanly possible in real life no matter how gifted said human was.
- Injured Vulnerability:
- Her Talent automatically triggers a Spin Attack that hits all enemies whenever any of her allies' attacks drop a foe's HP below half.note If more than one foe have their HP drop below half at the same time, Herta will spin more times at once, equal to said number of enemies. Relatedly, her fourth Eidolon Resonance, Hit Where It Hurts increases the Talent's damage by 10%.
- Her first Eidolon Resonance, Kick You While You're Down, boosts the damage of her Basic Attack, What Are You Looking At? (worth 40% of her Attack stat), whenever her target has no more than half their HP, which helps improve her otherwise mediocre single-target damage.
- Inverted with her Skill, which deals 20% extra damage if her enemy's HP is over half.note In addition, her second-ascension Bonus Ability, Efficiency, raises said extra damage to 45%.
- Insufferable Genius: The Trailblazer can call her "the most annoying person they've ever met," even as her genius is widely recognized and respected even by other outstanding scientists.
- Invocation:(Ultimate activation) "Do you know who I am?"(Normal speed) "Ever seen a diamond this big? It's all yours!"(×2 speed) "This big diamond... is all yours!"
- Lack of Empathy: She doesn't care about you beyond your immediate usefulness and she's not afraid to show it. For example, when the Trailblazer is accidentally hit by IX's Brown Note, Herta, still needing them, starts giving them encouragement to snap them out of their despair. It works, but by making the Trailblazer angry, because the Trailblazer knows full well she isn't being sincere.
- Mean Boss: Downplayed, as Herta is never openly abusive towards her personnel, and she never makes any outward threats to reduce their payments or fire them, but she is generally loath to take responsibility for overseeing their work and doesn't really care about their wellbeing, valuing her own interests and experiments above all else. This on top of being an Insufferable Genius means she's hard to approach, especially Arlan, who has to constantly deal with her because she keeps unloading tasks unto him that typically fall beyond the Security Department's purview.
- Me's a Crowd: She's created hundreds of marionettes that she can use as proxies for herself, allowing her to monitor and perform tasks all over the station. The playable Herta is just one of many of them.
- Money Dumb: In Topaz's promotional trailer, "Expert Tutorial", Herta got her account frozen for overcharging, leading Topaz to come to collect her dues. While no numbers are given, the enormous bell curve and Asta's horrified reaction imply that Herta spent a truly astronomical amount of money. Considering that Asta thinks 200 million credits is pocket change, one has to wonder what Herta did to accrue such a tab.
- Mythology Gag: In the "Space Comedy" trailer, Herta makes the same pose as Kiana from the app icon of Honkai Impact 3rd.
- Older Than They Look: Her portrait and her puppets resemble her younger self, but Kafka speculates that she is at least a hundred years old. Herta apparently has also found some means of de-aging herself.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist:
- Technobabble of her accomplishments imply expertise in this universe's equivalent to quantum physics.
- She's good enough at medicine to extend her lifespan, "reverse aging" her cells.
- She contributed to the Simulated Universe's code, so that means she's also a software engineer.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When she learns about Chadwick's presence in Penacony, Herta quickly loses her snarky and sarcastic attitude and becomes dead serious about helping him, even going so far as to defy her own IPC patrons to do so.
- Overrated and Underleveled: A prodigal scientist so gifted she found a way to reverse her own aging, over a century old, the leader of the game's starting area, an Emanator, and the overseer of the Simulated Universe. Much like Ningguang, her status as merely a 4★ unit is a questionable one. Then again, the playable Herta is technically one of her marionettes as opposed to the real Herta, who has yet to make a direct appearance.
- Pet the Dog: She may be an apathetic Insufferable Genius most of the time, but Herta is capable of some kindness from time to time, with a strong implication that her respect and kindness has to be earned. In particular, she holds great respect for Chadwick, the 79th member of the Genius Society, and the lengths he went to keep the knowledge of the Imaginary Implosion Pulse away from the IPC, and later honors his Last Request to safeguard the information he entrusts to her far away from the IPC's grasp.
- Proud Beauty: Herta knows that she and her marionettes are easy on the eyes. One of her idle animations has her examine a portrait of herself:"Hm, not bad... But the real me is better! Hehehe!"
- Remote Body: The real Herta has a lot to do and uses robotic replicas as proxies.
- Semi-Divine: She is an Emanator of Nous.
- Simple, yet Awesome: Her kit is very simple and straightforward since her Skill and Ultimate hit all enemies, but it's very effective due to her Talent allowing her to automatically attack all enemies whenever one of her allies reduce one foe's HP to below half (which can be easily done just through striking weaknesses). As such, she's extremely efficient for farming as well as dealing with enemy mobs (especially if they happen to be weak to Ice).
- Skewed Priorities: Thanks to her ego, her thought processes can be a bit out there. Screwllum is endlessly amused to find out that the special encryption system she personally asked him to develop was not meant to protect the space station or even her collection, but to prevent Mustache Vandalism on her holographic portraits. Specifically for her own portrait.
- Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Herta is a Insufferable Genius and Absent-Minded Professor who starts and drops projects at a whim, and even if something holds her interest (like the Trailblazer in the prologue's Non-Standard Game Over) she eventually moves on to other things regardless. As a playable unit, she excels in handling groups of common enemies, but struggles with her lack of staying power against bosses.
- Smart People Build Robots: Part of her accomplishments is building hundreds of robots so they can act in her place.
- Starter Mon: Outside of the gacha, she can be obtained for free by progressing through the prologue chapter. As an added bonus, you get most of her Eidolons for free via progressing Simulated Universe, making her the only other character to do so besides the Trailblazer.
- Status Buff: Her Technique boosts her Attack stat by 40% for the first three turns of the next battle. In addition, her sixth Eidolon Resonance, No One Can Betray Me, boosts her Attack by 25% for the next turn after using her Ultimate.note
- Status Effect-Powered Ability: Her sixth-ascension Bonus Ability, Icing, gives her Ultimate a 20% damage boost against Frozen enemies.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Herta's value is usually negligible against bosses, since her kit revolves around having lots of low-level foes to swiftly dispatch with her wide-ranging attacks. The Abundant Ebon Deer, however, seems almost tailor-designed for her, given that its habit of periodically summoning waves of saplings to hinder your offense and eventually overwhelm you with its action economy becomes a liability when faced with Herta's crowd-control kit; compounded with its innate weakness to Ice damage, this ensures Herta can spam her Talent ad infinitum. Same goes with the IPC Team Leader.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Despite being a Mean Boss at best, Herta's researchers are all fanatically loyal to her. They treat her with the highest reverence and even print cryptocurrency with her face on it.
- Weapon Specialization: Herta's associated Light Cone is "The Birth of the Self" (4★), whose "The Maiden in the Painting" passive boosts the power of its wearer's follow-up attacks by 24–48%, which doubles to 48–96% if their target has less than half their HP, hence making it much easier for her to quickly dispose of enemy mobs.
- The Wonka: "Eccentric" doesn't even begin to describe Herta. She's arrogant, haughty, will create or abandon research projects on a whim, and has very little empathy for others. However, this doesn't take away that she's probably one of the most intelligent individuals in the entire universe, hence her being inducted into the Genius Society.
Ruan Mei
Ruan Mei
Introduced: December 27, 2023 (v1.6 "Crown of the Mundane and Divine" [first half])
Voiced by: Zhang Wenyu (Chinese), Saori Onishi (Japanese), Yoon Yeo-jin (Korean), Emi Lo (English)
Click to see her full Warp artwork.
Eighty-first member of the Genius Society and an expert in biological sciences and one of the creators of the Simulated Universe.
Ruan Mei enhances her allies' ability to severely compromise their foes with strums of her mystical stringed instrument. Her Skill, String Sings Slow Swirls, puts the party in the "Overtone" state for three turns, increasing their damage output and Weakness Break Efficiency, while her Ultimate, Petals to Stream, Repose in Dream, creates a mystical field that for two turns enhances the party's Resistance Penetration and allows all their attacks to mark foes with Thanatoplum Reblooms that explode whenever they are about to recover from Break, delaying their next turn. In addition, her Talent, Somatotypical Helix, boosts her allies' Speed and adds an extra hit to their attacks based on her Break Effect whenever they Break enemies. Furthermore, her Technique, Silken Serenade, puts her in the same-named state that automatically triggers her Skill at the start of battle with a negated SP cost; in the Simulated Universe, it has an additional effect where attacking enemies will cut into their Toughness Gauges regardless of resistances as well as immediately triggers their type's associated debuffs and deal additional damage if they Break foes in such a manner, with increasing Toughness damage proportional to the number of Blessings accrued beforehand.note
- Amplifier Artifact: By getting her Eidolons, you can upgrade her third and fifth Eidolon Resonances, Viridescent Pirouette and Languid Barrette, which will add two levels to her Ultimate and Talent with the former, and two levels to her Skill and one to Basic Attack (Threading Fragrance) with the latter.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Her Ultimate deploys a field which boosts all of the the party's Resistance Penetration stats by 15–27% for two turns. In addition, her first Eidolon Resonance, Neuronic Embroidery, allows the field to let the party's attacks ignore 30% of their target's Defense stat, while her sixth, Sash Cascade, extends the field's duration to three turns (and increases her Talent's Break Damage by 200%).
- The Bard: Ruan Mei utilizes a ruan, a Chinese string instrument, to provide buffs to the party.
- Control Freak: Ruan Mei tells the Trailblazer that she despises matters that escape her control. This, along with her trust issues, is why she drugs them with an Anti-Truth Serum so they won't blurt out anything about her or her research in public.
- Creating Life: On top of her incessant research and incredible breakthroughs in biological sciences, this is ultimately what drew Nous's gaze upon her. After the death of her parents, she worked nonstop to eventually recreate them from scratch while in the process basically taking her entire planet's laws on biological evolution and breaking them over her knee.
- Early-Bird Cameo: She was first seen in the "Geniuses' Repose" Light Cone and has a very rare chance to appear in an Occurrence event in Simulated Universe, long before appearing as a playable character.
- Easily Forgiven: Considering that she secretly attempted to clone an Emanator of Propagation inside Herta Space Station and tricked the Trailblazer into cleaning up her mess for her, it's quite surprising that the Trailblazer didn't seem particularly angry at Ruan Mei for it, at least not enough to report what she did to Herta or Asta, basically allowing Ruan Mei to get away with it scot free. In fact, the way they ask her "do you trust me now?" in the end implies that they're actually trying to understand and help her resolve her trust issues.
- Flower Motifs: Plum blossoms. The name "Mei" means "plum" in Chinese. She mentions them often, either referring to the fruit or flower with concerns to desserts, scents, or comparing her observations to them. Her outfit also has them, with two pinned to her hip and the small of her back, and on her shawl. In Chinese floriography, they can mean "perseverance in adversity" as they're known for being capable of blooming even in harsh winter, fitting for a tireless scientist with ice powers who plumbs the secrets of life and may have aspirations for godhood.
- Forgets to Eat: In the time when she was reconstructing her parents post-funeral, she would go for stretches of a time where regularly eating and sleeping were simply not a thing, only passing out when she'd reached her limit.
- Genius Loci: One of her many creations is a sentient planet.
- Genius Sweet Tooth: In the "Geniuses' Repose" Lightcone, Ruan Mei takes a break to enjoy a freshly-made dessert, and a rare event named after her in the Simulated Universe depicts her with a cherry-blossomed dessert. She views sweets as a wonder of life and cooking as akin to nurturing a universe. Despite not really appreciating the fanfare of a welcome party, she still enjoys the confections that generally come from them, and her character story reveals she's been an avid lover of sweets since childhood.
- Godhood Seeker: Ruan Mei's Character Trailer implies that she seeks to become an Aeon or an Emanator, so she can truly seek answers to the deepest questions of biology and evolution.
- The Hermit: She used to live with her family on a planet known as "No Man's Land" which doesn't exactly inspire constant human interaction outside immediate folks. After losing her family and meeting Nous, she secluded herself. Even initial attempts at inducting her to the Genius Society failed as she'd simply dispose of their letters, and even now she carries on her research with little to no interaction with others.
- Invocation:(Ultimate activation) "Every petal in life's garden..."(Normal speed) "...will be swept away, by the wind of time."(×2 speed) "All will be swept away by the wind."
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Ruan Mei specializes in making it far easier to Weakness Break enemies and dishing out further punishment.
- Her Skill bestows the Overtone effect which, for three turns, boosts the party's damage output by 16–35.2% and Weakness Break Efficiency by 50%, helped along by her Talent granting an 8–10.4% Speed buff to every ally but herself as well as augmenting their attacks (including hers) with an explosive icy flower whenever they Break enemies.note
- Her Ultimate deploys a field that boosts the party's Type Resistance Penetration by 15–27% and allows all their attacks to inflict Thanatoplum Reblooms, which explode whenever affected enemies are about to recover from Break, dealing additional Break damage and significantly delaying their next turn.note After Thanatopium Rebloom's effect is triggered on an enemy, said enemy cannot be inflicted with the status again until they fully recover their Toughness Gauge.
- Her Technique also has a form of this when in the Simulated Universe, granting the active party member the ability to deplete Toughness when entering combat regardless of type. Any Weakness Break inflicted this way will trigger debuffs related to the attacker's damage type, and Ruan Mei will deal additional damage equal to 100% of her Ice Break DMG. The toughness depletion increases by 100% per Blessings on hand, to a maximum of twenty (i.e 2000%, enough to break most bosses' Toughness Gauge in one hit).
- Apart from her Trace tree having a significant amount of buffs that improve her Break Effect, her second-ascension Bonus Ability, Inert Respiration, boosts those of her allies by 20%.
- Her second Eidolon Resonance, Reedside Promenade, bestows a 40% Attack boost for allies whenever they target Broken enemies, while her fourth, Chatoyant Éclat, boosts her own Break Effect by 100% for three turns whenever an enemy is Broken (not necessarily by her alone).
- Lack of Empathy: She sees no issue in drugging the Trailblazer to prevent them from speaking anything about her and sending them to fix her mistakes (i.e. a failed clone of Tayzzynroth's Emanator that she created in the first place). When the Trailblazer confronts her about the latter, she doesn't appear to be concerned for their wellbeing, and her prior talk about "compensation" is never brought up again. She also has difficulty showing her creations any sort of affection, claiming she doesn't understand love.
- Mad Scientist: More subdued than others, but her pursuit of science has led her to create some rather unsavory things. Aside from the fact that her first interaction with the Trailblazer has her effectively doping them with a serum that prevents them from talking about her in any way, it's also revealed that she attempted to clone an Emanator of Tayzzynroth within the depths of Herta Space Station, and the only reason it didn't cause untold disaster is because it died within 56 seconds of breaking out and the Trailblazer keeping it occupied for said duration.
- Meaningful Name: "Ruan" is the word for her stringed instrument, while "Mei" is the plum, known for still blooming despite the cold.
- Ms. Fanservice: Ruan Mei is a very beautiful woman whose dress exposes her long and shapely legs, props up her ample breasts via a corset, and even has a transparent Navel Outline. Her aloof nature is alluring in its own way as well. It's downplayed, though, in that her beauty is not given any special attention in the story.
- No Social Skills: Much like her fellow Genius Society members, Ruan Mei spent most of her time on research rather than learning how to interact with other people. When she visits the Station, she doesn't even bother announcing her arrival, so most of the staff weren't aware that she is already onboard. She also remains cold and distant from her creations, who love her unconditionally and crave her attention and approval. She even admits to the Trailblazer that she's often at a loss at how to deal with other people, leading her to just avoid social interactions and attachments altogether.(After telling the Trailblazer that the Anti-Truth Serum will make them forget her) "That way, the connection between lifeforms will be erased. Friendships, secrets, grudges, lies, all will disappear. It will make our lives... more relaxing."
- One-Hit Kill: Downplayed, but in sharp contrast to her normally lacking damage as a Support Party Member, Ruan Mei can do this through her Technique in the Simulated Universe with a strong build (i.e with high enough Break Effect stat) and enough Blessings. Since Break damage is partially calculated off the Max Toughness of the enemy (which elites and bosses have much more than mooks do), her very first attack can cause enough damage to outright one-shot a boss phase or at least come really close.
- Parental Neglect: Her creations are far less gifted than she was hoping for, and she is also a very busy woman. Her creations instinctively recognize her as their mother, yearn for her approval, and are saddened knowing full well that they do not live up to her expectations. Still, even if she is disappointed in and neglects them, it is implied that Ruan Mei is still touched by their feelings on some level.
- Psychometry: Has a form of it, which she calls a work habit. She can touch a biological organism to immediately understand its construction, which she does upon meeting the Trailblazer in person for the first time and commenting that they're a perfect experimental specimen.
- Rare Random Drop: She can appear in the Simulated Universe as an Occurrence event, but she is easily among the rarest, if not the rarest event out there. And for good reason, as encountering her gives you a choice between obtaining all Blessings of a certain Path or 2,000 Cosmic Fragments. A second version of her encounter gives you the choice between enhancing all of your current Blessings or ten random Curios, or (in Swarm Disaster) ten "cheat" chances to guarantee the chances of your "Path Dice" roll. And if you have Ruan Mei in your party when getting this event, you can pick to get all of the rewards simultaneously.
- Regenerating Mana: Her fourth-ascension Bonus Ability, Days Wane, Thoughts Wax, regenerates 5 Energy for her every turn.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Moving your camera in a way to peek under her capelet reveals that her dress does not cover her back, save for some straps supporting her dress.
- The Sociopath: Zigzagged. Ruan Mei drugs the Trailblazer with her Anti-Truth Serum and essentially makes them deal with her Emanator of Propagation clone, and she doesn't end up showing much concern for their well-being afterward. However, Ruan Mei openly admits that she has difficulty with empathy and trouble interacting with others, along with her trust issues.
- Status Buff: Her Skill buffs the whole party's damage output. Her sixth-ascension Bonus Ability, Candle Lights on Still Waters, gives it the ability to bestow an additional 6% damage boost to the party for every 10% of her Break Effect stat above 120% (to a maximum boost of 36%, meaning it will max out if the aforementioned stat is at least 180%).
- Support Party Member: Break damage is relatively static, based on level and Break Effect, and cannot land critical hits, so Ruan Mei's own damage won't be especially good even if her Break Effect is very high. Where she shines, however, is her ability to boost her allies' damage output, Speed, Toughness reduction, and Resistance Penetration so they can Break foes quickly and really bring the pain.
- Symbol Motif Clothing: The trim of Ruan Mei's dress, her garter, and her hairpins have a helix pattern resembling the structure of DNA, befitting a scientist with primary focus on biology.
- Truth Serums: Inverted. When enlisting the Trailblazer's help, she first feeds them a dessert spiked with an Anti-Truth Serum so they cannot speak the truth when answering questions around Ruan Mei or even mention her by name. She has trouble extending trust beyond herself, so this measure serves to both shield her research and protect the Trailblazer. Said serum will also eventually wipe their memory of Ruan Mei as an added bonus. Although the Trailblazer doesn't forget her by the end of the mission, so it's ambiguous if she was lying or if it simply failed to work.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Back in her childhood, she was showered with love from her parents and grandmother, leading her to try to understand different forms of love. After both of her parents died, however, she believed that they failed to "keep their promises with Grandma" and she also thought she let them down for failing to protect them, leading her to proclaim that "only science never lets anyone down". From there, she turned into a recluse with trust issues who focuses solely on her research and has trouble socializing on a more casual/personal level, and "love" now only perplexes her.
- Weapon Specialization: Ruan Mei's associated Light Cone is "Past Self In Mirror" (5★), whose "The Plum Fragrance In My Bones" passive increases its wearer's Break Effect by 60-100%, generates 10 Energy for all allies at the start of each enemy wave, and 2 more effects tied to using Ultimate: increases damage output for all allies by 24-40%, and if her Break Effect exceeds 150%, also regenerates 1 Skill Point. The increase in Break Effect fits with her kit which relies on said stat, the buffs tied with Ultimate also goes well with her own, and she helps with generating a few energy for her allies as a bonus.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Ruan Mei says this is the reason she has difficulty approaching her creations even though they yearn for her approval.
Peppy
Peppy
Asta's dog, who's more often seen in Arlan's company.
- Intellectual Animal: Peppy is downright sapient, being able to understand complex commands from Asta (such as to hunt down a Curio) and play Aetherium Wars. With the help of a specialized Synthesia Beacon, he can even talk.
- Precious Puppy: It's unknown just how old Peppy is, but his small size definitely would make one think he's a puppy.
- Sharing a Body: One of his gadgets makes it possible for him to "synchronize" with another being, giving them shared control over his body.
- They Have the Scent!: Peppy's nose is used to help track down a Curio during the "It All Started With a Man and a Dog" quest chain.
The Wubbaboos
The Wubbaboos
A race of Astral Spirits seldom seen in the universe who are known for causing pranks and possessing people just for fun. They're being studied by the Department of Ecology to uncover their mysterious origins.- Bedsheet Ghost: Wubbaboos appear like floating stitched-up bear masks with ghostly tails dangling below. It's unknown if this is their actual physical form or it's meant to conceal their true forms underneath.
- Due to the Dead: In the Adventure Mission "Requiem Mass", the Wubbaboos go around the station to search for stuff that belonged to the deceased researcher Eikura Shuu, who once took care of them and perished in the Antimatter Legion invasion, so that they can build a memorial for him.
- Friend to All Children: The Wubbaboos take more of a liking to children than adults because at least children can play along with their pranks without being annoyed. They even formed a close friendship with the kid researcher Adler for this very reason.
- Giant Mook: While you don't actually fight it, the giant Wubbaboo is just a larger variant of the standard Wubbaboo and appears to be the race's leader on the station.
- Non-Malicious Monster: They're given a medium containment level status because, while Wubbaboos are not deadly on their own and they don't maliciously harm people, their pranks can get out of hand to the point that they can cause collateral damage on the station, hence researchers need to approach them with caution. It's also mentioned in the lore that they once caused unintentional deaths of some of the Nameless due to their bodies being incompatible with the Wubbaboos' possessions.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: They're essentially space ghosts of unknown origin who go around the universe to possess people as a prank.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Wubbaboos resemble round Bedsheet Ghosts with tiny little bear ears and adorable faces. According to lore tidbits, they are descendants of a race of ethereal entities known as Astral Spirits that were attracted to the free emotions of the Nameless and tried to possess their bodies, with incompatible people suffering instant death. Wubbaboos inherited the possession abilities of their ancestors but are largely benign and mostly use it to prank other living beings.
- You No Take Candle: The Wubbaboos are barely capable of speaking the human language as their speech pattern consists of broken sentences with single disconnected words that barely sound coherent, combined with traces of Pokémon Speak as they say "Woo" in-between words.
Xenohydro
Xenohydro
A sentient liquid creature with the ability to shapeshift into anyone at will and is one of the Curios being contained on board the station. It escaped and went rogue when the Antimatter Legion destroyed its containment, and is the focus of the "Ever-Changing" and "Spirit Traces" sidequests.- Anything but That!: In "Ever-Changing", this is how the Xenohydro blows its disguise when the real Wen Mingde suggests to the Trailblazer to put both of them into containment, which the Xenohydro complains that it doesn't want to go back to. This reveals the Xenohydro's identity and commences the following fight against it.
- Blob Monster: Its true form is described to be an amorphous liquid resembling water. However, we never actually see this form in-game outside of its disguises since when the player fights it, it transforms into an Ice Out of Space monster instead.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: It has no bearing on the main plot and is seldom mentioned before its official debut, only showing up all of a sudden to be the focus of two sidequests.
- Power Copying: Strongly implied. When fighting the Xenohydro directly, it takes the form of an Ice Out of Space monster complete with its entire moveset and ice powers 1-to-1. This suggests that the Xenohydro can copy powers of whoever it shapeshifts into.
- Shapeshifting: This is the Xenohydro's main shtick, being able to shapeshift into anyone near flawlessly as demonstrated when it transformed into Wen Mingde in "Ever-Changing" and the Trailblazer in "Spirit Traces". However, there is one quirk about the Xenohydro that provides a clue to its identity; the fact that its speech sometimes has a gurgle effect, which is a telltale sign that it's the imposter.
Ruan Mei's Creations
Ruan Mei's Creations
A group photo of the catlike ones.
The results of Ruan Mei's experiments in Creating Life. She abandons them for being failures in her eyes in the Seclusion Zone, where they are later found by the Trailblazer.
- Anthropomorphic Food: Most of them look like cats wearing mooncake, while others look like shumai dumplings. They also have glands that release pheromones with the same smell as the food they resemble. This is mostly because of Ruan Mei's Sweet Tooth, though a robot informs the Trailblazer that the decorative "cakes" double as a sensory organ. You can later get a recipe to craft them as a consumable item.
- Driven to Suicide: Ruan Mei's logs indicate that some of the critters took their own life from the stress of their creator abandoning them and living in the abandoned seclusion zone surrounded by Swarm creatures.
- The Eeyore: While many of them adjusted to their brand new life and worked hard to impress their creator, a few still feel depressed from Ruan Mei's abandonment. One creation, named Gray Bean Paste, is so despondent of being abandoned that the Trailblazer's attempts to cheer them up fail to snap it out of its funk.Gray Bean Paste: I knew it... I'm a failure, and so are all of you. This is the recycling station, and we're destined to be dumped! Meow!
- Nearly Normal Animal: They are sapient, but have animalistic behavior and are unable to speak with humans without a specialized Synesthesia Beacon, instead making cute animal noises such as "Meow".
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Most of them look like cartoon cats with adorably large eyes and wearing cake, which only enhances the heartbreak when the player learns Ruan Mei has been emotionally neglecting them.
- Sapient Eat Sapient: It's possible to craft them as consumables in the Synthesizer and it's indicated that they taste like tears, so they may still be alive if consumed.
- Uncatty Resemblance: The Trailblazer is tasked with breeding them and ends up with special ones resembling people they know. One of them (the one that looks like Herta) speculates that this is not a coincidence, but the result of a spiritual connection between the Trailblazer and their associates. The one that resembles Ruan Mei herself does not go unnoticed; she said that some other creations even got her and the real Ruan Mei mixed up and whimpered "mommy" in her presence. Interestingly, unlike Ruan Mei herself, this creation does show care for her fellow creations and wishes to take a group photo of everyone (like Ruan Mei herself requested earlier through a message) to be sent to her, so at least she can pass "everyone's feelings" to their creator.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Regardless of their personalities (which are unique and distinct from each other, not unlike normal people), they all share one thing in common: their yearning for Ruan Mei as their creator and "mother". Some of them act positive about it and believe that she will notice them if they work hard enough, while some others are more negative, believing themselves to be worthless in her eyes. Ruan Mei acknowledges their attachment to her but has no idea how to respond to their feelings. In the Critter Pick event, after you create one creation that shares an Uncatty Resemblance to her ("Lambda's Friend") and messages her about it, you can tell her that all of them miss her and are waiting for her to visit; she tells you to send a group picture of them to her later, stating her curiosity about what will become of them. In the end, when you take a group photo of her unique creations and message her, she feels enchanted and says that maybe she'll visit the space station again to see them.
