Genshin impact twitter skin#

But it's also another example of how fantasy is rarely divorced from reality, especially when it comes to depictions of race and culture. But none of that addresses the fact that it appears that some small aspect of hilichurls was clearly inspired by indigenous peoples and how that reinforces negative racial stereotypes faced by those communities.įor now, it feels like any meaningful discussions are being overrun by the chaos inherent in hashtags as defensive fans mobilize to defend MiHoYo.

Others contend that hilichurls are a mere clone to other iconic monsters like the Legend of Zelda's bokoblins. Many of these arguments, especially with regard to hilichurls, are predicated on the belief that players are wrong to judge them negatively because Genshin Impact's story is still ongoing and potential story beats might absolve them of being evil. (opens in new tab)' It already has over 1,800 comments-many of which are pushing back against the backlash and the claims that MiHoYo has been insensitive in its depictions of different races within the game. One of the top posts on the Genshin Impact subreddit right now claims that ' #BoycottMihoYo is so stupid. Other players argue that describing Kaeya as 'exotic' is a mistranslation from the original Chinese version of the game and is more meant to reference that he's an immigrant from a country outside of the continent of Teyvat.Īll of this is complicated because the answers and evidence are, in many ways, based on tiny details found in the game.

Genshin impact twitter skin#

In the case of Xinyan, for example, other players have pointed out that she is likely considered scary not because of her skin color but because she's the Genshin Impact equivalent of a punk rocker. It feels like any meaningful discussions are being overrun by the chaos inherent in hashtags as defensive fans mobilize to defend MiHoYo.Ĭombined with Genshin Impact's loosely defined lore and story, it makes it difficult to find a clear answer. It's an issue that mirrors criticism with how different fantasy franchises, like Dungeons and Dragons, depict certain races like orcs.

Simply put, hilichurls are monsters-ones that appear to be, at least in part, inspired by real-world indigenous peoples. Genshin Impact's story and dialogue also explicitly says that hilichurls are evil (or manipulated into being evil, depending on how you interpret its complicated lore), unintelligent, and uncultured. They wear stereotypical tribal clothing and conduct tribal dances and ceremonies, and are frequently led by magic-using hilichurl shamans. Hilichurls are humanoid creatures and one of the primary enemy types that players fight throughout the game and are depicted in the story as a kind of indigenous species of Teyvat. Though just a few seconds long, this clip has sparked controversy over how Genshin Impact potentially uses real-world minorities to influence the design of its fantasy races. In that video, there's a shot of an artist working on one of Genshin Impact's main enemies, called hilichurls, while using reference material of what appears to be dancing indigenous Americans. It's not certain what kickstarted the trending hashtag, but one of the central issues has to do with a post made by Twitter user venluvr who shared a snippet of a video created by MiHoYo late last year that tours its offices in Shanghai, China.