@@mightypurplelicious3209 ?that's why I said "not THAT much". If you really think there's no reason behind all the characters looking attractive then you must be very naive.
not trying to be pretentious or anything, the dark shadowy effects when xiao uses bane of all evil could also be interpreted as ink wash painting like the acient Chinese confucianism artists, would often draw. Combining the buddhism influence and taoism mythology, xiao is definatly the most representive character of Chinese culture in Liyue, since these three philosophy are engraved in China's long last history.
I like your theory, but unfortunately not the case in Xiao's design. 1. In Ancient China, lots of artists can draw, some of them under influence of Confucianism but to be honest also lots of them don't have much to do with Confucianism. (Normally, artists under big influence of Confucianism would pursue a more "official" or "glory" career with fame than a normal one, because of what Confucianism promoted majorly.) In Chinese, it's called 仕途。 So ink wash painting and Confucianism are not necessarily related. 2. Also, Confucianism is probably not related to Xiao's character design as well. You can see based on the story in this game, and Xiao's personal history, Confucianism, and its theory are quite far away from what Xiao represents here. (which is a painful past, suffering, protection, and even redemption) Xiao is more in the religious realm here, lots of designs as explained in the video are inspired by Buddhism. I know in the West, people would sometimes consider Confucianism as a religion, but that's actually not true in China and Chinese history. Confucianism is simply part of Chinese culture, but never a religion. 3. As we can see in the trailer when Xiao has this dark power around him, he is basically suffering, and in the game quest, when other living things (hilichurls) got contact with Xiao, they also got contact with the dark aura and Xiao said specifically "this is the karma I accumulated"... Anyway, thought you guys might be interested to know :P
@@lechungus1832 Chinese and Japanese culture share a lot of common design (because Japan originated from China). We commonly see Japanese demon mask thanks to worldwide entertainment media (anime/manga) and Japan love of demons in theater- whislt China and other Asian country with similar masks, if I recall, seldom use the mask other than for certain rituals.
I'm gonna lose my sanity because of that boy.. I'm gonna make my 10th wish tomorrow and I really want to have him in my party, I also have 3 healers.. GEEZ THERE'S ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT UGH
@@anna7_8476 He's the CEO of mihoyo. Do you remember the strange hilichurl in genshin with a Chinese character on his face. That's also his reference. And that character is actually his first name in Chinese...
I got Diluc instead of Xiao, but that Diluc also allowed me to be able to get Venti in 1.4 within the first day. So what I'm saying is I'm mad but im not mad
Man the details and lore in this game is just amazing, you can tell there’s a lot of passion and care into each playable character(also if cosmetics do become available later on, xiao could easily use his original design, I know a few people who’d love that).
@@somebodyyouknow5813 I think you meant english dub? And while the eng VAs are wonderful, I have to agree that I didnt like Xiao's voice much in English dub. The Chinese voice actors suit the characters much better imo
@@mikumikuwoooeoooooo8450 no no, the English translation specifically. I have no problems with the voice… but as someone who understands Chinese, I can’t help but notice a LOT of the translations kinda messed with Xiao’s character. CN ver Xiao is some kind of sage, he gives off a heavenly vibe and speaks like he’s in a Shakespearean play. Seriously, dude’s level of poetic is rivalled by only Zhongli. Instead of the “he doesn’t want to speak to me he’s dangerous” vibe you get in ENG, CN gives you a sort of “I don’t think I have a right to be in his presence” vibe. And I’m kinda sad it doesn’t convey that- direct translations are good but words have subtle implications that direct translations just can’t get across, which was sorta just, well, slightly disappointing?
@@somebodyyouknow5813 Good point. Many translations are often inaccurate, in particular more complex languages. I wish I could understand some chinese so I could better appreciate the character now that you've mentioned it. Hopefully translations improve in the future!
The fact that the Hilichurl dance was probably done with the help of motion capture and there was an actor in a suit who danced like them makes me so happy for some reason 😂
Gacha games are free because their main target demographic are whales who spend a shit ton of money that covers the cost of f2p players so there’s no need to feel bad
I know I am super late to this but to add, actually the idea of Yakshas "wanting to achieve happiness" isn't quite an accurate translation. Yakshas are naturally loving deities and extremely kind (which is why I disliked his English VA, the Korean and Chinese are the best). Also, the idea of karma here is also not just "bad karma". As a practicing Hindu-Buddhist (most Hindu-Buddhists also practice Taoism and most Chinese religions too, it's not a black and white thing for most of us), there are 12 different types of karma. The main reason why I dislike the English VA is that one of the biggest parts of karmic law is humility. People say that the Korean, Japanese and Chinese are "rude" but tbh, they're more straightforward which ties in well with the karmic law of here and now. So yeah, it's not just about him struggling with his "bad karma" of killing but more of the lingering energy or "bad residual karma" of the demons and villains after they are destroyed that causes Xiao to be that way. Also, with the draining of health, it's actually pretty common in Eastern beliefs. When a person, mostly a shaman, is in a trance (usually it is said that Devayakshas enter the bodies of the shamans in order to send messages to the people, similar to Mortal Lingering and Dream Trawling in the game itself), it drains a lot of their energy and causes them to pass out after. Hence why Xiao is also not a people person, not just because he's "edgy". Avoiding people also helps retain his energy and focus, when he needs to use them in an actual battle. This is shown more in the Chinese and Korean dubs, not directly, but the way it was said was that way. This brings us to the lore of Yakshas, which is that they love observing and protecting humans, but they also prefer staying in the wild far away from the interaction. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva himself transforms as a yaksha to destroy evil. They're also technically the proto versions of Gods themselves because Yakshas are more connected to the elements themselves and lack "human characteristics". This is why adepti like Ganyu, Yanfei, and even Zhongli are able to live among human beings easier compared to someone like Xiao. This can also be said about the other adepti like Cloud Retainer, who prefer being alone. Also, these are just my theories based on my beliefs, being a Hindu-Buddhist since I was a child and my studies in Asian Art. Don't take me too seriously, just sharing ideas.
Bruh I'd like to tell u that many of our Chinese players think of xiao's mask as a Japanese one and abused mihoyo for its "unpatriotic".They just despise their OWN culture! And mihoyo just shut their mouth whis this article.
Sighh that’s so disappointing to hear. They’re literally blinding themselves just so they can hate on another culture. All the cultural elements in this this game are amazing
@Unknown One Yeah we all know that.But xiao's mask 「傩面」and history around it were almost forgotten.And morden Chinese people known nothing about it but Japanese masks are widely known by the world.Then many "Genshin ANTI" spreaded rumours that xiao's mask are one of the Japanese ones and caused our misunderstanding.
I’ve been waiting for Xiao since the closed beta, I loved his design and I knew upon seeing him I wanted to play genshin, he will always have a permanent spot in my party setup
@@sarahalviz979 yep like i said ive been waiting for him since the closed beta he is the one character i c6 and will be the only character that i spend money to c6
you can tell how much love has been put to him. forgetting meta numbers and dps talks, xiao is one of the most fun characters to play with and yes to look at too not just oh he's so handsome. xiao is genuinely beautiful his design hits all my spots. the traditional VS modern, light vs dark and so much culture love and appreciation all in one single character. you can feel all of it while playing with him.
Genshin truly shows how not all free games are simple, hastily written cash grabs. Not all game companies are in it for the money, some just want to make art and tell a good story. Mihoyo puts so much time and effort into this and I will constantly thank them for that.
Most definitely agreed! I stayed in this game because of the lore, characters, and world building. Not for 50k crits. I've tried so hard to not have my opinions and love for certain aspects of this game be swayed by the whales, complainers, and min-maxxers. Its very refreshing to see the behind the scenes, hard-work, and time put into every detail of this amazing game that I'm glad I get to experience. And I especially love finding videos like this where more people are like you who have the same view on the game as me!
its honestly kinda dejecting to watch those types of videos, like "you can only get this if you spend massive amounts of money". and also listening to people analyze lore and characters is really interesting in general
it doesn't even cost that much I got him before I even started spending money and I bought primohems to get vwnyi later because I just want to support the game (and get venti )
I think that a small part of him, somewhere, also resents humanity; that seeing people so free of pain while he bears it all on their behalf is like ice in the lungs and salt in a wound: it makes it worse for him. And that is likely the fault of his mentality. Don't agree? This was insinuated during the last laturn rite quest while he was refusing to enter the city.
i have huge respect for this guy to bring out the dark facts to light so that people with 10 IQ wont blame and bring hate on mihoyo for not introducing new charterers fast
I am so moved. I might cry. I have so much respect for the developing team of Genshin Impact, they are an inspiration and are what a aspire to be as an artist. God I might cry. They’re so passionate and it really shows. I usually don’t regret skipping character banners, but I think this is the one time I truly regret skipping a banner.
im so glad someone talked about it !! when i draw fanart i tend to go a bit overboard with the research, so when i was drawing xiao for his birthday, it was so much fun researching about him !! the amount of care the team puts into these characters shines through so much and i think that's a part of the reason the game is so fun to play ^^
"it's cool when a character's lore is taken into account when designing character gameplay." yea especially when done right because it's really easy to mess up
As a cosplayer I think this is really interesting to know more about his design. I never knew that his accessories were made in jade and symbolized a lot of things! It makes me get a better understanding and a better idea of how I should create his parts.
Xiao is the reason why I discover this game and now an addict. For unknown reason I'm getting feeds of his release, then I watched a trailer and now I'm here! Thank you my beautiful Adepti
this is honestly so effective and concise. i hope u continue making these. thank you for taking the time to put all these sources together into a video of such short length! also... 4:00... mihoyo, skin when? LMAO
I have one nitpick with Xiao's character model. When he uses Bane of all Evil he puts on his mask. But he also has a mask on his waist. So now he has two masks, one on his face and one on his waist.
@@RedFlaim Also I found a glitch where if you activate Bane of all Evil while interacting with an NPC at the same time the burst is cancelled but the mask will still remain on your face.
Thank you so much for this video! I love learning about this! It’s very enlightening and gives great insight and gratitude for the process of designing a character!
I love when games inplement culture into they're games I'm especially excited for characters that come from inazuma because I know a lot of Japanese folk Lore and mythology way more than an avarage non-Japanese person
This video is amazing. I hope there are more of these explaining the reason behind the design of other characters or regions as well. As for Xiao, I appreciate his design more now.
dude, this was so cool! honestly, one of my worries is that i won't be able to fully appreciate genshin impact bc THIS is how much work they put into one character, and its summarized too.. ik mihoyo has a lot of people working on different, small projects, but the care put into this game makes me so happy it exists, and want to be careful when discussing + posting about it, because the content deserves just as much analysis as the creators put into it. thank you for doing xiao and genshin justice, subbed :D
Just discovered your channel and you do an amazing job. This reinforces my idea of Genshin being a game to enjoy and play slow. There are so many things besides getting the highest DPS and leveling up super fast. I feel bad for those who are losing all these deep aspects of the game 😔
So happy this is the character MHY published a development process for, it's so fascinating, there's so much for Xiao and he was so carefully thought out
Damn...the effort they put into making the characters and literally everything in the game is just amazing. I respect mihoyo a lot for that. That's why i love this company so much!
Thanks for the video! I got in the game after Xiao's banner ended, so I never knew much about him. I actually thought Xiao resembles a war veteran suffering from severe PTSD or something. This video gives so much insight about him. Xiao banner re-run when XD
Yes, this is why i pull for xiao. I love character with deep lore and xiao...awww. he so cute. Also about him been untrue to what he wants making me wanna pampered on him. Tsundere indeed! Sad that mihoyo change his face expression when you go to his weapon. I knew something weird but didnt thinking much until I found someone mention it the difference between close beta and release xiao. His expression so cute. Dat surprised face.... ≥w≤ kyuuuu!!!