Genshin Impact has an extensive roster of characters, all designed to pull on your heartstrings, causing you to sell your soul to Satan to obtain precious primogems, using your real dollar bills for silly gacha game money. One of those characters is known as Wanderer, but unlike many other characters, he started as a person you meet in a quest and remained unplayable for a few years after.
We first meet him in a limited-time event, the Unreconciled Stars event quest in version 1.1, the first update after the game’s release. When we meet him, he introduces himself as a traveler from Inazuma, a nation inspired by Japan. Near the end of the quest, it’s revealed to us that he is the Sixth of the Fatui Harbinger, the Balladeer.
After his initial appearance, many fans went crazy, YouTube videos of theories, speculations on his lore were posted, along with many people being interested to learn more about him. Around this time, the reception was mostly positive, or people didn’t know him as he only showed up in a limited-time event.
His next appearance in the game was during the Inazuma Archon quest, the main storyline. During this quest, we learn he’s behind the production of delusion, a power that drains the life force of the person using it, resulting in their passing. Confronting him, we get some iconic lines, lines known even by some people who’ve never played the game, typically used on TikTok as background sound while the video plays.
When our character goes to fight him, we are knocked out due to a toxic purple smog made from the hatred of a dead snake god. A shrine maiden known as Yae Miko comes to our aid, trading something the Balladeer greatly wants, for our safety. The shrine maiden soon tells us his story: he is a puppet greeted by the God of Thunder. He was discarded by the God, and he wanted to receive what he was made to keep, the God’s Gnosis, a divine artifact, which he was made to hold in his body.
Many fans became ecstatic, knowing their theories of him being related to the God of thunder, Ei, were true. His reception around this period was moderately the same as before; his popularity skyrocketed, but with increased popularity came an increase in unfair hatred.
We later see him again, this time in the Sumeru archon quest, the storyline after Inazuma.
The overarching theme is to accept yourself, to make change, understand consequences, and fix them. This is a gross understatement and a very simple summary, but the result is still the same. Leaving a powerful message. He isn’t suddenly a good person, still displaying his more selfish behaviors, but he has changed where it matters. In his overall actions.
Many people love his character for all these reasons, while some do not. Some believe his development is shallow, that he hasn’t changed at all. Some find him bratty and annoying, and while it’s fine to have an opinion on a character, it is unfair to call them a bad character for it. While I agree, he isn’t fully redeemed, I feel as if that’s part of the charm. Many characters have been redeemed and changed, but sometimes it’s nice to keep a more morally grey character. He has put the people through a time loop, lasting for roughly 168 “days,” reliving a festival over and over again. The cause? Scaramouche, in his attempt to ascend into Godhood, has put the people in this loop. The God of Wisdom refuses to accept this, so with her help, we go and fight him.
The God of wisdom, and you, the main character, outsmart and defeat him. After this, Nahida offers a deal. He works for he, and she will allow him to reside within her nation. She has him look at a tree, containing all past and present information. In guilt for who he’s harmed, he erases himself, hoping to give those people a second chance. But instead of their fates being changed, the history changed. All those innocent people died at the same time as before, but in different ways. We try to make him remember his past, giving him his memories back, and he finally accepts the things he’s done and wishes to change.
