Archons!

In Genshin Impact we hear about the worlds “gods” almost right off the bat. No matter which Traveler you pick (personally I went with Lumine because—pretty girl is pretty) your companion Paimon suggests you head towards the first Statue of the Seven. This statue, of course, is a statue of the first Archon you will come across in your travels in this new land, and is by far one of the (in my honest opinion at least) funniest characters you will interact with. Barbatos. Or what we later learn. His name is Venti.

You learn the Archons are the deities of this new strange world and they look after each country, having divided everything up after a great war some hundreds of years ago. Not gonna get into the war itself because it’s not really necessary here.

Let’s get into the fun bits here, shall we?

Anemo

Venti. Barbatos. The Archon of Anemo. He is the God of freedom. But he is way more than meets the eye (just as the subtitle says, most of these three are). He started out as a simple wind spirit or sprite. Never really sure which is which as far as the Genshin world is really concerned, as we have yet to see either of them. We see the wisps that we follow around, but if he was one of those things, that would be slightly strange. But anyway…

He started as a little fey creature who followed around a bard. This nameless bard was fighting a losing battle against the last Anemo Archon, who was keeping the entire country locked up behind a giant storm. He wouldn’t let his people go, and kept them all contained. Now if you don’t know Genshin (and not sure why you’re here if you don’t but thanks for reading), then you’re going to be saying: “How the hell is some little bard and a fey going to stop a tyrant?” Well… inspiration. Believe it or not, my D&D and Fantasy video game friends, inspiration is a very helpful tool for any team. Here, it was helpful to an entire country worthy of people.

With the wind fey Barbatos at their said, the nameless bard inspired the people to rise and fight back against the Anemo Archon. They won their freedom, and Barbatos got praised along with the nameless bard. Sadly, the little fey spirit had to leave, and it left the nameless bard to live out their life in the new free country.

When Barbatos returned (and we learned it was because the little guy needed to sleep because he had used way more power than he should have), he was now the Archon and he was looking for his friend. But he was sad to know the bard was long dead and too much time had passed by. But that didn’t stop his free spirit at all. Barbatos took to the streets as a bard himself and brought music and life to the people of the new city of Mondstadt. But looks were deceiving, as the “free” city wasn’t free at all.

This is the first time we see Venti (the name he took among the people) really step out of the fey spirited role he had been in before. He was no longer the: “you can do this!” free spirited one, he was a devilish imp full of mischief and ready to cause any mayhem he could. This, of course, was helped by another of Mondstadt’s future historical figures: Vanessa, the Dandelion Knight.

Using the inspiration skills he learned from the nameless bard, and the mischief skills he picked up from being his own self finally, he and Vanessa could free the city once more from the tyrants that ruled it. Again, he left the city in capable hands of a friend. But this time it wasn’t to sleep. No, this time it was for another calling. This time it was for a war he could not avoid.

Barbatos does not speak of his time in the disaster that was the War on Khaenri’ah. He can’t because of the deal he made with the great ruler of the Archons, Celestia. She swore all the Archons to a secret pact that they could not speak of the events and sealed within the gnosis that they all carry. A pact that, if ever broken, would mean their death. We do not know what happened from his point of view, but we can assume that he caused even more damage to him than the death of his friends. He was sleeping off the fight when the nameless bard died, and he was probably gone when Vanessa finally died. These deaths could have taken a toll on the fun loving fey spirit which finally unbalanced him.

We got a peek at some powers that the great Anemo Archon had during the special trip to the Golden Apple Archipelago. It had blasted the land there off from the mountains of Mondstadt and flung into the sea off its coast, and they hinted that the Anemo Archon did it. Venti’s powers haven’t seen to their fullest in the game or comics that’ve released, but if that is indeed the case, it would make him a force of nature unlike anything we have seen in the game so far.

We know the Archons are powerful beings, and can reshape the very earth beneath their feet. But the way Venti carries himself never shows us he would do such a thing. He is always fun loving and laughing. Paimon calls him a “drunk bard” more than once, and many people within Mondstadt know of him as being a drunk as well. The power behind the destruction that created the archipelago does not add up to the bard we see and can play as (I can’t play as him because I missed his banner and well—as of me writing this he hasn’t gotten a rerun).

Now that Venti is without the gnosis and the connection to Celestia has broken, maybe we will see more of the “real” Barbatos. The one who is more mischief based. The fey spirit who has only picked up on the inspiration and nobility of the friends he had to leave behind. I hope so. Because I honestly would be more interested in seeing the more of that mischievous side of the bard than the drunk bard we’ve gotten.

Geo

We move now to the land of Liyue. The realm of contract and the home of the Adepti. It is here we first learn of the lord of mora, Morax. Or what the people inside Liyue call him: Rex Lapis. The traveler arrives as a ceremony is being held to herald the Archon to their land for the year. It is a ceremony that sees him come to the mortal plane to bless the people for the year. If you haven’t guessed already… the rite does not go to plan.

The Archon falls to the ground, supposed dead, and everyone believes the traveler is the one who did it. So you must flee while trying to figure out what has happened. This is where you mean an interesting man named Zhongli. He is a very knowledgeable man and can fill you in on several of the various customs in Liyue. The entire country differs vastly from Mondstadt, and it’s a bit of a culture shock moment. If it wasn’t for the kind man, the traveler (and the player playing the game) would have probably quit and gone home. But he can solve the problem around the rite and everything works out.

Except for one small little detail. The Archon that fell? Was a fake. The real Rex Lapis wasn’t dead at all, but had given up his gnosis to another in a contract bet when Liyue could defend itself without him. The kind man who had helped you the whole time? Yeah, he was Rex Lapis.

While his knowledge of everything Liyue should have clued everyone in to his actual identity from the start, there are a few things that stop people from realizing that Zhongli is Morax. The biggest one, he’s broke. Like he’s the beggar on the street broke. He’s the one who goes to a restaurant and sits there and only eats the free bread and water before leaving. While he’s put together and looks regal, he hadn’t got a mora to his name, which is strange for the GOD OF MONEY.

The twist is that he never thought of mora before. Because he could create it whenever he wanted to, it was never an issue. But once he turned over his gnosis, it was. He just never really thought about it until it’s right in his face. Paimon even brings up the idea that he should have made a bunch of more to save away, and he flat out says he never thought of doing that.

Zhongli is not shy about talking about his past. He loves and enjoys history and will talk about it whenever the moment arises. As the eldest of the three Archons we currently know, he is the only one who has full knowledge of the Archon war. Though the memories are all bitter-sweet to him. He talks about losing friends and family during it, like the Salt God and Lord of Dust, and he does not take the loss like a normal person would. Having lived for over six thousand years, he is more used to grief than an average person. He has accepted the fate of his friends, and carries on their memories and stories to share with those around him.

For this Archon, looks aren’t as deceiving as they appear to be. He is as tough as the stone in which he was once lord over. He is as everlasting as the long history in which he holds so dear. Zhongli is a fellow who cares for the people of his country and the country itself.

Electro

This one might get tricky.

In the beginning, the Electro Archon, Baal, was a kind and caring individual. She took care of her people with an open heart and caring eyes. Listening to their woes and worries before she acted without remorse for those who would hurt them. The Raiden Shogun was known for being gentle to her people, but to their enemies she was as deadly as a lightning storm on a metal ship.

Baal’s name was Makoto. She was a kind soul who wanted to see no harm come to the people of Inazuma. But when Celestia called, she went. She had no choice and had to leave her country behind to go off to a war she did not fully believe in, because her lord said she must. Makoto did not make it back to Inazuma, and it forever changed the country for it.

For this is where things get a little tricky, because they hinted that not even Celestia knew that Makoto was not the only one acting as the Archon of Inazuma and Electro during her reign. No, she had a twin sister. Ei.

Beelzebul was unknown to the masses of Inazuma and acted as a shadow to the Raiden Shogun. She would be her protector and her sword. Doing the deeds that Makoto’s delicate heart could not handle. Ei would do these things for her sister without a second thought.

When Makoto went to Khaenri’ah, she left Ei behind. Choosing instead to fight the war herself, even though she knew she wasn’t a fighter. Ei was heartbroken and hurt that her sister had left her behind, believing that had she had been at her sister’s side that she would have lived and they would have returned alive together (My theory is that no—Celestia had her hand in things and I don’t think Makoto was going to return at all.). Ei ended up taking over as the Electro Archon of Inazuma in name alone, as she never had the gnosis of Makoto, and thus had no connection to Celestia.

Ei would spend her days doing all she could to continue on the path that her sister and she had set out on. To bring eternity to Inazuma. It was only when the traveler arrived Ei would realize that her ways were not correct and that she had strayed too far from her sister’s original path.

Ei is a troubled woman who never really had a moment to mourn the passing of her dear twin sister. As someone who has lost close family members in a short amount of time, it takes time to reconnect to life after a close loss. They threw Ei into one mess after another and had no time to stop and really mourn the losses she was facing. She lost her twin, and then her best friends, leaving only her familiar and her to look over Inazuma.

That Ei locked herself in a mindscape is not something that I would say is unbelievable. She needed time, and she had created what she thought would be a suitable alternative to her ruling. A puppet who had a strict set of rules to follow. These rules caused problems, of course, and eventually the people of Inazuma rebelled against those rules, but all of that is just human nature. We don’t like being told how to live and what is “best” for us, and for the people of Inazuma. That is just what was happening.

Ei, having realized her wrongs and is trying to better herself, is character advancement that is on par with some of the best character development arcs in video games. It will take her time to mourn the losses that she’s faced in the past still, but she has hope for the future still. Hope for a bright Inazuma, which I’m sure we aren’t done with yet.

Future

Alright so those are the three Archons we have so far. We of course have the name drop of the Cyro Archon, but I don’t touch on her as we haven’t seen her and we know nothing really about her. There is still a lot of game to come and we still have four archons left to see. I’m excited to get to meet the next one up on the table, which I believe will be the Dendro Archon.

We shall see what the future holds and remember to keep looking outside the box when you look at these characters. Even though they might appear to be “gods”, they are people too. People who are being used as puppets by a greater power… a greater villain even? We shall see.

Enjoying my lists, reviews, and stories? Check out the rest of my work, share it with your friends, or maybe leave me a small tip. Every little bit helps!

Thanks for reading!