#kaslana expy things...?

[third--planet]

Is it a good time to bring up that Primordial One's powers look strikingly similar to Phainon's...

[herrscherofmetal]

anyone who knew me in 2021 knew I was an absolutely VILE person for Kevin Kaslana and I'm sure they all had a sigh of relief when I finally left that phase

and now they're all shivering in their boots because he's back and so is my Kevin/Phainon simping era

[k423s]

tis’ i, crepe.. with a very, very, definitely important ask.!!!!!!!!

I was thinking about your bronya & tsaritsa posts earlier today,, and I was wondering if there’s any other characters you think may end up being (or. already are) hi3 expys too? lore/arc wise, or just by design :3

ohhhhhhh you opened up a large can of worms w this one.. ii start visibly vibrating w excitement

general criteria are like. matching voice actors, very similar designs, some overlapping similarities. ie: mei and ei both having things to do with origin, time-fuckery (kinda), having similar designs, both being named raiden, being associated w lightning, sword users, etc. mostly we look at lore for talking about alts :3

lore-wise/confirmed (ordered by nation):

sustainer of heavenly principles -> kiana kaslana (herrscher of the void) of course mhy couldnt go a game without mentioning their favorite child. both share voice actors and similar designs. i also think its really interesting knowing that sirin (whos basically kiana's herrscher persona atp) was the first herrscher of the current era that actively abided by the will of the honkai (this being that exists outside of the honkai universe) and how the sustainer of heavenly principles is likely apart of the primordial one's four shades <- which again. the primordial one and the heavenly principles are pretty certainly NOT from teyvat. images below (note: the upwards pointing ahoge, the eye colors, the yellow powers, the red color schemes between kiana's herrscher of flamescion battlesuit, etc. in order: hi3 kiana HoF, genshin, hi3 kiana HoV, genshin)

venti -> wendy obvious one their names are similar (in chinese the first character of their name is the same and related to weather). they both have some control over the wind w venti being the archon of anemo and wendy being the herrscher of the wind. their designs are also similar if you look at their archon/herrscher forms. wendy's actually from ggz but i dont know enough about hr ggz counterpart to talk about her :( which sucks bc i heard shes written better and w more depth there. visual similarities below (take note: hair, wings, color scheme. in order: hi3, ggz, and genshin)

lore-wise i do think its interesting how HI3 wendy struggles with a lack of freedom while venti is the archon of freedom. (wendy: is wheel-chair bound due to a procedure/experiment gone wrong because of her being a literal child soldier. + being kidnapped by both schicksal and ae + being a narrative parallel to bronya who notoriously struggles with freedom especially in the chapter we meet wendy in)

raiden ei and raiden makoto -> raiden mei also obvious. i dont know where to even begin here. their surnames being the same; both being associated to lightning and thunder; mei and ei being sword-users; even lil things about ei like the fact that she cant cook whlie mei can because mei has a kiana to cook for and ei doesnt!; mei being the herrscher of origin and raiden shogun's auto attacks being named origin; mei having a line about reforging kiana's swords when it breaks as a symbol of strength and raiden shogun's passive being related to leveling swords and polearms. even like story-wise, while i think they did a shitty job w ei, i can see the bits of mei they were going for! the divided identities w mei (the real gentle and compassionate her being represented w makoto, a cold and cruel facade of hers being the raiden shogun, and the in-between version of her that just tries so hard to maintain eternity and change fate as a means of grief being represented with ei). and see. did not include GGZ mei heree bc i dont know enough about her. visuals below (take note the eye color, hair, the red accents in ei's clothing. in order: HI3 mei HoT, HI3 APHO mei, genshin makoto, and genshin ei.)

yae miko -> yae sakura also obvious w their names and designs asjdbjb. also both being mikos, narukami shrine being heavily associated w sakura blossoms, the fox and kitsune inspirations. and!! the medicine-food kiss in one of miko's books literally being something sakura did to kallen. they dont act similarly at all but i think thats part of what makes miko a successful expy. ei acts more like sakura than miko does! and the fact that their stories with losing their sisters and that spurring such intense grief within them is soooooo oughh.... i love eimiko from a multiverse perspective bc i think with it, it allows miko and sakura to be so so linked while also not being very similar, meaning we get more from miko's character if we know sakura but we dont need to know sakura to know about miko!!!! i also of course have to mention the grand narukami sakura tree and yae sakura's connection w sakura trees and grief.. the way the grand narukami's tree is a symbol of ei's grief for makoto AND the site where miko sends off the spirits of the youkai to rest :]. iirc, sakura's GGZ and HI3 lore are similar enough. images below (note: their hair, color palette, ears. in order: HI3, GGZ, genshin)

nahida -> theresa the whitewashing w this one is so ugly it makes me so mad bc story-wise i actually think nahida is a successful theresa alt. i just hate that they used it as an excuse to whitewash her. like. theresa being a clone of kallen whos physical body can only age to 13 and nahida being a small splintered part of rukkhadevata..... nahida being locked up by the sages because they didnt respect her and otto keeping theresa cooped up both because he cared about her and didnt wnat her to get in his way......... nahida being the archon of wisdom and theresa being the principal of st freya......... EVEN LIKE. THE TIME BETWEEN RUKKHADEVATA & NAHIDA BEUNG THE SAME AS KALLEN & THERESA (500 YEARS).. and, of course, nahida's attempts at addressing the discrimination/inequality between the two sumeru regions being akin to theresa's attempts to right otto's wrongs after she becomes schicksal's overseer. also the religious imagery w theresa and kallen veing christian and nahida and rukkhadevata and both being underestimated for their young appearances. not including ggz theresa here. (below is theresa's verdant sky skin, the first battlesuit of hers we see, and nahida. after is kallen and then rukkhadevata. take note the color schemes, braids vs ponytails, height)

al haitham -> su same as nahida it pisses me off so so much they whitewashed al haitham for this. but looking aside from the obvious visual similarities for a sec ok listen hear me out. su's buddhism and association w honkai's realm sumeru AND al haitham, of course, being from sumeru which is a nation heavily inspired by buddhism.... al haitham having connections to mirrors and light.. su literally keeping his eyes closed for the majority of the time......... both being rather quiet...... they do not act similarly though which i think serves them both well :] something abt su having such strong morals and convictions and literally being a fucking hero and carrying a lot of guilt in part because hes a healer who's lost so many while al haitham has a seemingly "uncaring" demeanor (not actually uncaring btw) which is something imparted onto him by his grandma.. visuals below (in order: HI3 su, genshin haitham)

design-wise:

heres a few people have suggested but i just dont agree or theyre only linked through design.

lisa -> rita (fallen rosemary battlesuit especially)

jean -> durandal/bianka

kazuha -> jingwei fu hua

young shenhe, xianyun -> azure empyrea fu hua i do not. get this one tbhes.

theres also welt yang/joachim and zhongli but while i think theyre very fun to think about in tandem from a lore perspective, i really dont think zhonglis inspired by joachim. FUCK I CANT ADD ANY MORE PHOTOS.

[harostar]

HONKAI POSTING

Or "How I flail and scream at the latest update, and ramble while also theorizing on how this will parallel Honkai Impact 3rd and the Elysian Realm".

So some HI3rd breakdown, to get things started:

Flamechasers and the Previous Era:

The Honkai manifests in a roughly 50,000 year cycle with an unknown number of cycles occurring before the Previous Era.

It's called that because...well....it was the Era prior to the current one. This was a golden era of great technological advancements, which was ultimately destroyed by the Honkai. T

he primary force focused on combating the Honkai was FIRE MOTH and its genetically-enhanced soldiers, MANTIS. These soldiers underwent surgical procedures to modify them, including using genes from Honkai beasts and ICHOR, to turn them into global-level super soldiers.

During the "Tragedy of Binding", in which the Herrscher of Binding emerged and killed much of humanity's MANTIS soldiers, only a handful were left. Humanity was facing extinction at that point, with little hope left.

One soldier, a mysterious woman named Elysia, proposed that the surviving MANTIS soldiers form a group. A sort of superhero team, if you will.

The Flamechasers.

Her proposal was shot down, but these 13 survivors would still essentially gather to create the final plans to save humanity. They also created the Elysian Realm, a virtual realm populated by AI simulations created from the Flamechasers' memories.

In the final days of the Previous Era, Elysia emerged as the 13th Herrscher and was slain by humanity's strongest warrior:

Kevin Kaslana, codename "Deliverance".

However, things were not so straight-forward.

Elysia was a singular existence that was believed to have been created or born from the Imaginary Tree itself. She was born a Herrscher, but had no connection to the Will of Honkai and felt no animosity towards humanity. In fact, Elysia was a being filled with an overwhelming love for the world and humanity. She called herself the "Herrscher of Human", while the few aware of her true nature gave her existence another name:

"Herrscher of Origin", an existence that broke the cycle. She sacrificed herself, having Kevin kill her and returning to the Honkai. In doing so, Elysia created new Rules and altered things for the new Era that would make it possible for humanity to finally triumph over the Honkai.

First, the next cycle's Herrschers would have the same Authorities and emerge in the same order as those in the Previous Era.

And second, Elysia made it possible for the next cycle's Herrschers to retain their humanity and not fall to the Honkai.

Most of the Flamechasers died, but a handful survived and became involved in guiding the next cycle of humanity.

First and foremost among them was Kevin, appearing before ancient humanity with his infant son. His bloodline would become House Kaslana, one of the pre-eminent clans to fight the Honkai and the bloodline of heroine Kiana Kaslana.

(Extra fun fact: Void Archives, the guy that was Welt's companion and created Shush? Is a super-weapon/tool created by the Flamechasers during the Previous Era. So was the device hidden inside Welt's cane, "Star of Eden".)

So how does this tie into Star Rail and the Chrysos Heirs?

Well, first and foremost! Many of the Chrysos Heirs are at least loosely based on the Flamechasers.

Phainon is almost certainly a counterpart to Kevin Kaslana, much like Acheron and Raiden Mei.

Cyrene is a counterpart to Elysia.

Like the situation with the Honkai, it seems that Amphoreus is trapped in a cycle of death and rebirth. The Flame Chase is a cycle of defeating a set group of gods, and then taking their place in the next cycle. Humanity is wiped out, and then reborn.

We have some indications of an "Emperor's Scepter" being at the center of this mess, drawing in the Genius Society to deal with it.

And now we have Phainon, our Kevin expy, at the center of destroying/creating the new world.

And our Elysia expy, Cyrene, appearing to him at this vital moment.

Will she, like Elysia, be a being central to breaking the cycle?

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

Hello hello! I'm the local Hi3 lore nerd!

I totally feel the Cope. I love all those characters, and I'd rather have them alive than dead. Vill-V and Kallen are VERY underrated characters and both more or less got fridged lmao. Give me my girls back please

That said... as a Hi3 player, I have good news! Firefly might not get fridged like the other two because she is nowhere near an expy!!

I don't wanna be rude to OP so details under the cut, for the curious only:

Firefly's hair and eye color are nothing like Vill-V’s (left + middle for those who only know hsr), even the iris color is wrong. Hairband placement is different as well. She lacks the air vents.

Doesn't look like Kallen (right) either, the eyes are wrong, the bang patterns are wrong, the color is wrong and she's missing the iconic Kaslana white even Nahida kept. They also don't share any motifs I can notice.

While it's true Firefly gets stabbed through the chest, both the MC and Dan Heng have gotten that treatment, so I don't think that's a Kallen thing either...

If you’re looking for an expy in Penacony, Acheron is a very obvious Mei expy (even the CN/JP voices are the same, and the way CN Acheron is voiced is exactly Mei that shook me lmao).

Firefly seems to be her own character with her own story to tell and her own secrets ;3

firefly is not a counterpart of anyone

Her eye color and hair shape is similar to Vill-V from Honkai Impact 3rd. As well as her headband. She's also been compared to Kallen Kaslana because of her hair color, the similar smile, and her death scene.

[charlie-boyfriend]

that hsr bronseeles insane btw? i love them both so much soooo fun crazy girls separately too but then ithink: Hmm what if hi3 bronseele saw hsr bronseele. and i eant to CRY a little but also (AND ESPECIALLY) vice versa too like if hsr bronseele saw hi3 bronseele I DONT KNOW HOWEVER: I completely trust this game w my expys now btw. Genshin did ok i mean venti goes hard actually one of the best genshin characters in GENERAL and eimiko r both like Fine i dont hav anything bad to say. and then here comes AL HAITHAM i hate the bitch or i mean i dont care but as a supposed su expy he is absolutely unforgivable. So i am revokung genshin rights if they do my hi3 faves i have to look away. But hsrs doing good. That himekos somehow so comforting to me im sorry. Charlie has mo. Nevermind. I like himeko i do. Im saving all the passes for if they do like any kaslana girl expy OR idk someone super cool fun kit and all Its taking strength cos seeles awesome but no seele i can get u later if i regret things sorry seele you should go to other people. Ugh shes so good tho. Ugh

[heroes-never-discourse]

if you ever feel bad about being a monoshipper, let me tell you that you can NOT be a worse monoshipper than me

i am STRUGGLING to enjoy yaebaal, even though by all accounts it should be a ship i'm at least tangentially into

why?

because yae miko and raiden shogun are very obvious expies of yae sakura and raiden mei from honkai impact, and i shipped yae sakura/kallen kaslana and mei/kiana before i even met miko and baal, and i do not ship yae sakura/mei

literally the only thing standing in the way of me enjoying this ship is the fact that i ship alternate universe versions of them in an entirely different game with different people and not each other

i am a mess

[cantarella]

About your post where you pointed out how Kaveh is pronounced Kevin in the CN Dub, got me to remember how, funnily enough, I legit thought Kaveh was supposed to be a Kevin expy when leaks about him first started. (I conveniently forgot about how the kaslanas do not necessarily have counterparts in genshin). I saw that the Su expy character had super close connections to a passionate blonde character and went "ah". But Kaveh does share so many similarities to Kevin and just the Kaslanas in general. His whole love for humanity and his willingness to help even if it's harmful to himself. He is emotional and passionate and is known to act in the heat of the moment to do what is "right." And actually as I'm typing this, he reminds me a lot of Kiana too. But I do think it's interesting how in a way if he is supposed to be Kevin in whatever way, they gave him Honkai Su's character and personality. Kaveh is so much like Su it's no wonder I got attached to him just as much too. There's even voice lines from each of their partners (Kevin talking about Su and Alhaitham talking about Kaveh) that comment on how emotional and sensitive they are. Kaveh works himself to the bone to help others and always is willing to help people, just like Su. Anyways, sorry this is so long, but even if Kaveh isn't technically a Kevin expy I do think in a way he is very much obviously based off of him and Kiana too to an extent. Like Kaveh to me is the closest we've had so far to a kaslana-esque character.

And I just like how hyv decided to swap Kevin and Su's personalities in their alternate universe counterparts. I already am so in love with Kaveh he's like a mash of Kiana and Su to me (who are my most special honkai babygirls in the world).

anon do not apologize for this I adore it. I am kissing you on the mouth. you understand me I have been screaming for so long about how mhy writes characters to be parallels and foils of each other, both in the same game and across them. it's honestly the best angle to analyze their writing from

I think you're totally right about kaveh being the most kaslana-esque character we have so far. he's so passionate, emotional, kind, driven and with a strong sense of duty to a self sacrificial degree. he fits the bill so much when I first learnt of him in 3.0 I had too thought for a moment the "no kaslana" rule in genshin would be proven not to be real and that he'd be a kevin expy. but overall he's definitely more similar to kiana, they're both so empathetic and a bit idealist and gullible but want to believe in the goodness of the world despite the odds. god I love them so much I will explode into a million pieces

also about al haitham and kaveh/su and kevin thing, I think what they've done with the first two is recreate the same ideological conflict the other two have to it's purest essence. kevin believes the end justifies the means no matter what, su believes no amount of results is worth such cruel methods. everything else put aside their conflict is of rationality vs empathy. which is essentially what al haitham and kaveh represent. they have been designed to be reflections of each other after all

[gatomont]

I don't agree that Robin is a Kaslana, but I could see it if pushed. I feel like Black Swan is more of an Aponia expy though. They share a voice actor, have a similar thing going on with a church like vibe, and it feels like she might have a butterfly motif. Black Swan has actively told about the future during the web event. Also, Black Swan has a voice line about March 7th. And March is really not beating the whole "Elysia expy" allegations.

firefly is not a counterpart of anyone

Her eye color and hair shape is similar to Vill-V from Honkai Impact 3rd. As well as her headband. She's also been compared to Kallen Kaslana because of her hair color, the similar smile, and her death scene.