Summary
People who show great ambition in the vast world ofGenshin Impactare rewarded by the gods with a Vision. Visions are holy relics that give people various elemental abilities. In Teyvat, the ambition of Vision bearers often leads them to ascend to important community roles, such as influential leaders, stalwart soldiers, savvy politicians, and more.
Amid the defined framework of elemental powers there are abnormalities: people who wield elemental forces without a Vision. These outliers are rare, with most elemental practitioners lacking Visions originating from non-human or illustrious origins.
Region
Mondstadt
The Seven Archons, commonly referred to as The Seven, are elemental gods who rule over the various regions of Teyvat. After the Archon War, each of The Seven received a Gnosis, an internal elemental focus that denotes their title of Archon; Archons do not need Gnoses to use their elemental abilities, but their internal foci can summon a massive amount of elemental power and give wielders special abilities.
Venti, also known as Barbatos, is the first Archon the Traveler meets; up to this point, the people of Mondstadt spoke of the Archon with reverence and gravity, but Venti defied expectations, setting the stage for the rest of The Seven. While Venti holds the strength of an Archon, he is also flighty, loves his drink, and does not personally oversee the running of Mondstadt.
Liyue
Zhongliis the oldest of the current Seven Archons. He grew weary of being Morax the Archon and decided to retire by faking his death, so he has built a new life as a consultant at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Venti and Zhongli are the last two remaining original members of The Seven.
Over the years, Zhongli collected many titles and names, including Morax, Rex Lapis, the Prime of Adepti, Deus Auri, the Groundbreaker, and the God of Commerce.
Inazuma
The currentRaiden Shogunof Inazuma exists in two forms: a metaphysical and a physical. The metaphysical form of the Shogun is Ei, the Archon’s true form, dedicated to obtaining eternity for the people of Inazuma by meditating in the Plane of Euthymia.
The playable Raiden Shogun character is the puppet Shogun. Living beings can see their breath on Dragonspine, but Raiden and Scaramouche cannot.
Meanwhile, the physical form of the Shogun is a puppet created by Ei. This puppet oversees the day-to-day governing of Inazuma, based on a series of rules and conscripts programmed by Ei.
Sumeru
The people of Sumeru callNahidathe Lesser Lord Kusanali. Throughout her life, Nahida was largely ignored in favor of the memory of the previous Dendro Archon, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.
Gnoses can be transferred from one Archon to another, as seen with the succession of Nahida from Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.
As the god of wisdom, Nahida can visit people’s dreams and commune with Irminsul, a tree that is connected to the Ley Lines and holds the memories of Teyvat.
All (Upon resonating with a Statue of the Seven)
Unknown
The Traveler refers to one of two different twins, Aether or Lumine, depending on who you choose to play at the start of the game. The siblings are explorers, thought to be gods of their realm, who travel across the universe. In their adventures, they encounter an unknown god who captures one of the twins and sends the other into Teyvat.
Disregarding cutscenes, the Traveler is only able to wield one element at a time.
Early in the game, the Traveler discovers that they cangain elemental abilities by resonating with one of the Statues of the Seven; thus far, it is unknown why this gives both twins elemental abilities. Aloy is another world traveler, introduced during a crossover event, but unlike the Traveler, she receives a Cryo Vision, meaning there is something integral to the Traveler that gives them an innate ability to organically control the elements.
Fontaine
The Seven Sovereigns are the strongest elemental dragons in Teyvat, and before the age of Archons, dragons ruled as the elemental Authorities. But the Primordial One overthrew the dragons' Authority when he came to Teyvat, eventually replacing them with Archons and binding their abilities, so the Seven Sovereigns can only return to full power after the corresponding Archon dies and returns their elemental Authority to the Sovereign.
Neuvilletteoversees Fontaine’s court and trials as the Chief Justice and the decision of the courts is determined by the Oratrice Mecanique d’Analyse Cardinale, a mechanical device that channels Fontaine’s citizens' belief in the justice system that was created by Focalors, the last Hydro Archon. Focalors used her Authority over the Oratrice to sentence herself to death, and she believed that the hydro elemental Authority rightly belonged to Neuvillette, so a guilty verdict allowed her to restore Neuvillette’s power as one of the Seven Sovereigns.
Snezhnaya
Created by the Fatui, Delusions mimic the abilities of Visions, and they can be used by anyone, granting wielders elemental abilities; while delusions are believed to be stronger than Visions, using them drains the person’s life force. Childe is the youngest Fatui Harbinger and acts as the organization’s vanguard, and despite his friendly personality, Childe’s true passion is fighting strong opponents.
Tartaglia’s Delusion is electro. When wielding both his Delusion and Vision, Targalia can dual wield both elements, though the playable character only has access to hydro.
When Childe is first introduced, he has a Vision, but after reuniting with Childe in Fontaine, the Traveler learns that Childe’s Vision has been malfunctioning. To avoid interfering in battle, Childe gives his Vision to the Traveler for safekeeping and relies on his Delusion instead.
Adepti are pure elemental beings that were born from the flow of energy between heaven and earth. Adepti usually look like either humans or illustrious beasts, and Xianyun’s natural Adeptus form, called Cloud Retainer, is an illustrious white crane with red under her eyes.
Xianyun’s Vision disappears when she is in bird form.
Like most adepti, Xianyun has a Vision while in human form, but it is unknown how she received her Vision. The Adepti do not need Visions to access their elemental abilities, but Xianyun uses her Vision on a whim because that’s what humans do.
Xiaois not simply an adeptus, but also a yaksha: a race of fierce illuminated beasts. After the Archon War, residual hatred of the fallen gods caused plagues and hardships across Teyvat, so Morax recruited the yakshas to fight against the gods' manifestations of hatred.
Before he was rescued by Morax, Xiao’s original name was Alatus.
Over time, their mission tainted the yakshas with overwhelming madness and despair, and one by one, all the yakshas fell except for Xiao. How Xiao received his Vision remains a mystery, because he does not need a Vision to access his elemental powers, and we aren’t sure to what extent Xiao utilizes his Vision.
Ganyuis half-qilin (an illustrious beast) and half-human; she is particularly close with Xianyun, who she sees as a maternal figure, and Xiao, her mentor. 3,000 years before the events of Genshin, Ganyu aided Morax in the Archon War, fighting for peace for Liyue; upon its conclusion, as humans began to organize their government, Ganyu dedicated herself to them, becoming the secretary for the Liyue Qixing.
She sought to become a bridge between humans and Adepti, and upon making her decision, Ganyu received her Vision. Since Ganyu is half-qilin, her Vision doesn’t grant her access to her elemental abilities but magnifies them, and unlike the other playable Adepti characters, Ganyu actively uses her Vision to fight for peace in Liyue.
