The Seven

**The Seven Archons**, typically shortened to **The Seven**, are the seven gods who reign over the seven regions of the world of Teyvat. Over the centuries, and due to certain certain events, the membership among **The Seven** have changed over the centuries. Out of the original members of the original Seven at the time of their founding, only Morax, Barbatos, and Beelzebul remain out of the original members. The original Cryo, Hydro, Dendro, and Pyro Archons were replaced respectively by Murata, the God of Justice, Olga (otherwise known as the Tsaritsa, and Lesser Lord Kusanali (inside the body of Greater Lord Kusanali).

As noted by Greater Lord Kusanali, the Archons are associated with an element and an ideal, by which they formed their territories' environment and determined their method of governance over their regions. Only the Tsaritsa, the God of Justice, and Lesser Lord Kusanali drastically changed the environment of their predecessor' territories, due to being enraged by their predecessors' deaths.

The original Seven were the victors of the Archon War two thousand years before the main story. By the start of the game, only three of them remain: Barbatos, Morax, and Baal. Of the current Seven, Sumeru's God of Wisdom is the youngest, at 500 years old (upon ascension). This however, is later proven false with the revelation from the Tsaritsa who commented on Sumuru's God of Wisdom being even older than her.

Each Archon has an internal magic focus called a Gnosis, which allows them to resonate directly with Celestia. By comparison, Visions are "primitive" — a Gnosis is later revealed to be a symbol of ownership over The Seven as is directly stated by the Tsaritsa in her story quest --- — it also symbolizes an Archon's godhood as well.

## History

The Archon War began an indeterminate time in the past, and ended around 2,000 years ago. During this period of time, many gods and archons roamed the land, locked in a bitter struggle for supremacy. It appears that the battles associated with the Archon War are a multitude of local struggles that were grouped together by human history. For example, Barbatos became the first Anemo Archon among The Seven after the death of Decarabian 2,600 years ago, while Morax is implied to have already become Geo Archon by the time the last of the original Seven claimed their title and thus brought an end to the War.

The original Seven appeared to be relatively close, sharing a common duty of guiding humanity and often gathering in Liyue for drinks. However, over time, five of The Seven passed away, and some of the newer archons no longer adhered to the duty of guiding humanity.

Murata, the suspected current Pyro Archon, came into power some time before Barbatos went into slumber for the first time. When he woke up 1,000 years ago in response to the aristocracy's oppression of Mondstadt, he tells Vennessa about Murata and speaks about her with familiarity.

At some point in time, the previous Hydro Archon died and was replaced by the God of Justice. The Oceanids who served her did not get along with the new archon and went on self-exile from Fontaine, spreading all over the continent and world itself.

500 years ago, the alchemist Rhinedottir, also known as "Gold," caused the destruction of Khaenri'ah and created multitudes of monsters which ravaged the world of Teyvat. Among those who were slain in the ensuing wars were the God of the Woods and the Raiden Makoto, who were subsequently replaced by the God of Wisdom and Raiden Ei respectively. The Tsaritsa was also greatly affected by the cataclysm, resulting in a drastic change in her personality.

During this time, the Traveler and their sibling descended on Teyvat and, seeing the chaos, attempted to leave this world, only to run afoul of the Unknown God. While the twins did not meet The Seven during this time, The Seven are aware of them and have been awaiting the Traveler's arrival.

## Powers and Abilities

An Archon's strength derives from the level of control they exert over their respective region. Barbatos, who refuses to govern Mondstadt directly due to following his ideal of Freedom, is the weakest of The Seven despite being the second-oldest member. By contrast, the Tsaritsa, who commands the Fatui, is extremely powerful. Lesser and Greater Lord Kusanali are another good example, while Lesser Lord Kusanali doesn't govern her nation physically, her puppet made to be an ethereal version of her "purest form" as a former nature spirit fulfils her duties as ruler of Sumuru and thus Lesser Lord Kusanali is extremely powerful despite having ascended fairly later on as the last member of the current Seven.

### Elemental Control

Each Archon presides over their respective element and have used it to shape the landscape and climate of their respective territories. This ability seems to be held by any god and not only The Seven, but ever since the end of the Archon War, there have only been seven Archons at a time.

Unlike humans, who rely on resonance with a Vision to use the elements, the three Archons seen so far were already affiliated with their elements before becoming Archons: Venti was originally a wind spirit who ascended to godhood, historical records regarding Morax address him as the "God of Geo" long before he became the Geo Archon, and Ei (and by proxy, Makoto) is an "incarnation of lightning."

While people on Teyvat commonly believe that the Archons grant Visions, they actually have no control over the distribution of Visions and are largely unaware of circumstances surrounding Visions. However, within her Plane of Euthymia, Ei could enact the "Vision Hunt Decree" effect to seal all characters' Elemental Skills and Elemental Bursts besides the Traveler's. Because the Plane of Euthymia is Ei's personal dimension, there is not enough information to determine how this effect works or whether Ei is capable of enacting this anywhere else.

#### Gnoses

While gnoses are described as being emblematic of an Archon's status and give them a direct connection to Celestia, their exact purpose and abilities remain a mystery. They evidently grant Archons a large power boost and the "divine ability" to defend their nations, and Zhongli attributes the ability to mint Mora as something that "requires the use of the Geo Archon's power." Lesser Lord Kusanali has also mentioned, through possessing Greater Lord Kusanali's body and speaking to her people directly, that the "power of Dendro is greatly augmented back to it's ultimate peak of power before it's gradual decline in power when the second Dendro Archon Eugénie de Montijo was slayed in Khaneri'ah 500 years ago.

### Vessel Creation

On multiple occasions, Archons have fashioned humanoid vessels using their powers as an Archon, perhaps through the use of their Gnoses. Venti's vessel was his first use of his newfound divine power after ascending to godhood as the Anemo Archon. Zhongli's body was likely created through this method as well, as he states that his "structure is not the same as that of normal people." After becoming the first Electro Archon, Makoto "reforged" Ei's body after Ei gave up her bodily form so Makoto could ascend to the "heavenly citadel".

Although gods are immortal, their physical vessels — including those made with the power of an Archon — have finite lifespans and can be "killed," while their consciousness can fade away. By the time of the main story, five of the original Seven have died and been replaced. While pondering how she would overcome her physical lifespan, Ei stumbled on a method of creating synthetic puppets indistinguishable from true life, which she used to create Scaramouche and the Shogun. After giving her Gnosis to Yae Miko for safekeeping, Ei discarded her physical form, the Shogun warning her that there was no return from giving up her body. Due to no longer having a physical body, Ei is only able to manifest herself outside of her Plane of Euthymia by using the body of the puppet as her own.

Vessels created through an Archon's power have another major weakness: they are incapable of being healed through ordinary means, including a Vision-bearer's healing abilities. Venti harnesses the power of the massive tree at Windrise twice to heal himself; first was to expunge the abyssal magic that poisoned him via Dvalin when the Traveler unintentionally interrupted them, and the second was to recover after having his Gnosis taken by Signora. The exact properties this tree holds is unclear, but it may have a connection to Celestia: according to legend, it grew from the spot where Vennessa ascended to Celestia.

## Members

Only Barbatos and Morax remain the current Archons who are original victors of the Archon War, while the other five have been replaced over the past 2,000 years. Baal died 500 years ago in the cataclysm and has been replaced by her twin sister, named Beelzebul, under the name "Baal." Greater Lord Kusanali also died 500 years ago in the cataclysm and has since been replaced by her "child" Lesser Lord Kusanali. After the events of the current story chapter, memories of the Greater Lord, as well as the remains of her existence have been completely erased, making Lesser Lord Kusanali, both a member of the original Seven, as well as one of the three remaining Archons of the original Seven.

## Trivia

* When casting Elemental Skills and Bursts, the ends of an Archon's hair glow brightly with the element's color.
* They are the opposite of the Grecia Continent's eight Archons, who are referred to as "half-Archons" rather than "full-Archons" — it is currently known to only the Grecia Continent's sub-Archons why there is such a distinction between the two — it has traceable roots to the time of the first Mortal Realm's Archon Euthymia Kochō who was the first deity to be referred to by the title of "Archon". This suggests that before Euthmyia — nobody had ever used the title of "Archon" — over the centuries, this title came to refer to the deities who ruled over a group of adepti, regardless of their location.
* Danu, a newborn half Qilin and half Yaksha adeptus is the reincarnation of Guizhong, the God of Dust and as such possesses Guizhong's soul but not her memories. Thus she is considered an unofficial member of the Seven and unofficially, would have become Liyue's new Geo Archon if the original Geo Archon hadn't given his gnois up.