List of Genshin Impact characters

The cast of characters in HoYoverse's Genshin Impact hails from the continent of Teyvat, which has seven nations: Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, Fontaine, Natlan, and Snezhnaya. Each nation is ruled by one of seven Archons, or gods. The seven Archons stand for seven different elements: Anemo (air), Geo (earth), Pyro (fire), Hydro (water), Cryo (ice), Electro (electricity), and Dendro (plant). Nearly all playable characters control one of these elements with help from a Vision, a device Celestia grants to those with great ambitions, with the exception of some characters who control the elements through their own supernatural powers, such as the Archons, Dainsleif, Neuvillette, and the Traveler (Aether/Lumine).
Some of Genshin Impact's characters were first introduced in an official manga released prior to the game's launch.
Genshin Impact producer Cai Haoyu said that characters are one of the most important components of the game. The characters have unique gameplay based on different elements, which represent the cultural characteristics of the respective regions the characters are from. The multi-character design of the game is derived from Japanese card games. To meet the needs of players, new characters will be continuously introduced. At the same time, contrary to mainstream and past designs that used characters to serve the plot, the production team made a design in which the narrative is centered on characters, carrying out multi-plotline parallel narratives under the same worldview. In addition, the characters of Genshin Impact are the main source of profit for the game, while other content in the game is provided to players for free.
Each character is designed by a team rather than an individual and there are no "art director" or "creative director" positions in MiHoYo. The production team will first establish the character's background story and place of residence, then conduct internal discussions and brainstorming. The production team will work as a group to evaluate the character's art style, background design, and gameplay mechanics based on player preferences. After the character concept design is established, the character design process will enter the modeling stage. The production team will continuously review the character's 3D model to ensure that it is consistent with the concept drawing. In terms of character rendering, the in-game character model and the scene are rendered independently. The scene uses deferred shading, while the characters use forward rendering, allowing the production team to control all lighting effects to ensure that the effect of the character presentation always meets the artist's expectations. To maintain the display effect of the character's face, a system that will automatically adjust according to the direction of the main light source was designed. In terms of the overall shadow effect of the character, the production team will ensure the cartoonishness of the character through cel shading, allowing the character to be affected by real-time light sources.
In terms of character artificial intelligence (AI) design, the production team has been developing the game's character AI system since 2017. AI is mainly divided into three categories: humans, wildlife, and non-player characters (NPCs) in combat. There were more than 200 types of AI in the early stages of the game. With the increase in AI brought about by game updates, the production team designed an AI framework and established an independent AI pipeline, breaking the inference modules into different categories according to each function to facilitate subsequent updates and maintenance. The character's behavior is based on a decision tree system to determine the character's skills or movements, and the data will be imported into the animation system for execution. The entire system facilitates giving NPCs different personalities and special abilities, also allowing boss-type characters to have unique actions.
In terms of character background setting, the production team will create the character image by building interpersonal relationships for the character and refining the regional cultural background of the character's origin. Before the character is officially launched in the game, miHoYo will release character-related videos through its official social media accounts for promotion. In the initial stage, "Character Teasers" will be released to show the character's image, identity and personality. This kind of video is usually produced in Live2D to help players establish a first impression of the character and spark discussion among players about the character. After that, the "Character Demo" videos are released, showing the character's 3D model, combat animation, skill effects, and some story clips about the character. Finally, "Collected Miscellany" videos show how to use the character's skills, basic stat changes and other information, also explaining the character's personality based on the worldview.
After the character is officially launched in the game, the production team will launch a character-specific plot, or add content for the character to interact with players in the main storyline and event quests so that the character can attract players' attention soon after its launch. If the player obtains the character, they can obtain more information about the character through character stories. The stories will be gradually unlocked as the player's friendship level with the character increases. In the character's voice-over list, players can see and listen to the character's views on other characters. In addition to showing the character's interpersonal relationships, this also shows the character's personality and values. Some voice lines in the voice-over sections tease things to come, serving as hints and references to upcoming content in the game, including new characters.
On character birthdays or during in-game events, players will receive letters from relevant characters to increase interaction with players. miHoYo has launched character design surveys to gather feedback on players' opinions on the game's character designs, including what they look for in characters, whether the character's design is close to reality, fits their identity and personality, is original, lines up with other from the same faction, or contains regional cultural elements.
Outside of the game, miHoYo will sometimes launch fan creation activities for specific characters to guide players to participate in discussion and creation, better promoting the characters. The free official manga allows players and fans of characters to spend more time with characters while introducing new characters to them, helping players better understand the game's lore and shedding light on the backgrounds of upcoming characters or those not in the game. In the collaborative activities with KFC, the characters participating in the activities will appear as another side of their persona that is different from their in-game side, with a more modern and lifelike essence.
In terms of gameplay, the playable characters have constellations. When the player obtains the character for the first time, it is called "C0". After that, when the same character is acquired repeatedly, the constellations will be activated, which can provide additional status effects; each character has six constellation levels. The character's constellation name and the names of each level are usually related to the character's setting and identity. For example, Hu Tao's constellation name (Papilio Charontis) is related to work in the deathcare industry. The player can choose the Traveler's in-game birthday and celebrate the birthdays of all other playable characters plus Paimon. On character birthdays, the player will receive a short message from the character, including their signature dish and other items; for the Traveler, a birthday cake is sent to the player via in-game mail.
When designing characters, the designers first decide who the character is at their core as well as their needs, then may design them to fit that original idea and those needs. Designers may also consider the relation of a character to other characters in Teyvat: for instance, the elegant and reserved opera singer Yun Jin was designed to juxtapose the fiery and unbound rock star Xinyan.
Many characters are derived from legends of certain nations: for instance, the adepti of Liyue are based on the Xian of Daoism. The idea of the Vision is derived from Daoism: in the game, the concept of a third eye manifests itself in humans in the form of their Vision. Some characters are named after historical or literary figures; for example, Alhaitham, Tighnari, and Xiangling are named after Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Tighnari, and Xiangling from Dream of the Red Chamber.
The following is a table that lists all currently confirmed playable characters by region in alphabetical order. All playable characters are associated with a specific region, with the exception of the Travelers and Aloy, who come from their own world.
All characters wield one of 5 weapon types: swords, polearms, claymores, bows, or catalysts.
Mondstadt was released in September 2020.
Liyue was released in September 2020.
Inazuma was released in July 2021.
Sumeru was released in August 2022, and introduced the Dendro element to the game.
Fontaine was released in August 2023.
Natlan was released in August 2024. Natlan characters are grouped into the six tribes of the nation: Nanatzcayan (Children of Echoes), Meztli (People of Springs), Huitztlan (Scions of the Canopy), Mictlan (Masters of the Night-Wind), Tlalocan (Flower-Feather Clan) and Teteocan (Collective of Plenty); each of which aligns with six of the game's seven elements and owns a specific species of Saurian (tamed and developed dragon).
Snezhnaya is expected for release in 2026. Some characters from Snezhnaya have already been released due to their involvement in other regions' Archon Quests.
Khaenri'ah is expected to be released after Snezhnaya.
The characters of Genshin Impact have enjoyed positive reception, especially in terms of revenue: as Genshin Impact is a gacha game, much of its revenue comes from sales of in-game currency players use to obtain characters. Most revenue comes from limited character banners. Across all platforms, including mobile, console and computer platforms, the game is estimated to have grossed nearly US$3.7 billion in its first year by September 2021, the highest ever first-year launch revenue for any video game. The mobile version grossed a further US$567 million between January and March 2022.
Several of the game's characters have enjoyed massive popularity and have earned millions of dollars in revenue. For instance, in March 2021, it was reported that Zhongli was the game's highest grossing character, with US$15.5 million reported in revenue at the time. This number was later eclipsed by the December 2022 release of the Raiden Shogun, whose first banner earned US$9 million in two days from Chinese iOS sales; by the time the banner ended, it had netted around US$33 million in the Chinese market alone. Shogun's record was eventually broken by the November 2, 2022 banner, which introduced the Dendro archon Nahida and earned US$34 million in the Chinese market.
In November 2020, following Zhongli's release he received criticism from fans; due to his equipment and gameplay being viewed as poor, many took Zhongli as an insult toward Chinese players. miHoYo published a blog post in response, noting that the character was working as designed. Later, miHoYo issued an apology, and promised to improve the character's kit during beta testing for version 1.3.
In early March 2023, HoYoverse was criticized following Dehya's release, as some of the game's fanbase argued that her kit was underpowered and dysfunctional, particularly compared to those of lower-rarity characters. Several players announced that they had stopped spending money on the game, while others sent feedback to HoYoverse demanding improvements. As one of the few dark-skinned playable characters in the game, some suggested that her poor skillset might be due to colorism, given similar accusations made against HoYoverse in the past. A campaign urging the wider playerbase to press HoYoverse for change trended on Twitter under the hashtag #FixDehya, with many spamming the game's official account.
In October 2021, voice actor Li Yuantao, who was the Chinese voice of the character Oz, was accused of having multiple affairs and cheating on his wife. He also used his fame to manipulate multiple girls into having sexual relationships with him, some of whom were minors. The game's publisher, HoYoverse, cut ties with him and removed his character from the game's rate up system for a year.
In February 2023, allegations of abusive behavior and sexual exploitation of minors were made against Elliot Gindi, the English voice actor of the character Tighnari. Gindi apologized for some of his actions but denied the allegations of preying on minors. He was widely condemned by the Genshin Impact community and fellow voice actors, with the voice director of the game, Chris Faiella, seeking to take action against Gindi. HoYoverse later fired Gindi for "breach of contract", and replaced him with Zachary Gordon.
In April 2021, some called for a boycott of the game over claims of bigotry in the game's content. Others pointed out how the only playable characters with dark skin at the time were described as "exotic" or "scary" in the game. On August 24, 2022, the game released the 3.0 version, introducing the Sumeru region. Though the region is perceived to take inspiration from the cultures of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, many of its playable characters and NPCs were depicted as white-skinned, prompting accusations of whitewashing and colorism.
In early March 2023, HoYoverse was criticized for the release of the Sumeru character Dehya, as a portion of the game's fanbase argued that her abilities were underpowered and dysfunctional. As one of the few dark-skinned playable characters in the game, some fans suggested that her poor skillset might be due to colorism, given similar accusations made against HoYoverse in the past.
In July 2024, HoYoverse released a trailer of the nation of Natlan, which is inspired by pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, Africa, and Polynesia. The character designs received criticism for perceived colorism and cultural appropriation, as the majority of the characters are depicted with white skin. Among those criticizing included voice actors Khoi Dao, Zeno Robinson, Jenny Yokobori, Alejandro Saab, Valeria Rodriguez, Allegra Clark, and Anne Yatco, who respectively voice the characters Albedo, Sethos, Yoimiya, Cyno, Sucrose, Beidou, and the Raiden Shogun in the game.
As a result of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, multiple English voice actors have stopped voicing their characters, either because they are part of SAG-AFTRA, or because they are striking in solidarity.
In March 2025, HoYoverse replaced the English voice actor for Kinich, John Patneaude, with Jacob Takanashi as a result of Patneaude withholding his work to support the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. Shortly after announcing his new role, Takanashi received heavy backlash from other English voice actors, with most accusing him of being a "scab". Public opinion was initially divided on this issue, with some supporting the voice actors' push for AI protections, and some criticizing the perceived lack of professionalism displayed by the voice actors.
Around this time, it was discovered that the interim agreement presented by SAG-AFTRA to HoYoverse contained clauses that would turn Genshin Impact into a union project, thereby preventing non-union voice actors from working in the project long-term without either joining SAG-AFTRA or leaving entirely, leading many to accuse SAG-AFTRA of using AI protections as a guise to obtain more power in the voice acting industry.