genshin insanity

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Furina's struggle with her mental health and sense of self is a core part of her character, and one that I have done an ungodly amount of research into, so now it's here in a compiled list for anyone that's as insane as me. (sorry it's short I'm just tired, anything you want me to cover throw it at me I love genshin!)

The "Mask":

We most often see the struggle between the facade she puts on and her true self, as well as the conflict between her humanity and her false godhood, in her flashbacks. We see her put on a show for everyone, every second of every day, and because of just how long this went on for, she struggles to separate her true self from the "mask" she puts on. We see moments where she is interacting with the traveler and we can clearly see that she is trying to be her authentic self with the traveler, but every time we get a bit too close to something emotional, she falls back on her habits of acting. This is typically shown with her putting back on a smug smile and saying something about how she's the best and such, but it's a deflection tactic that she learned by necessity. Furina clearly doesn't know how to be without that persona anymore, leaving her feeling alone and isolated, which only makes everything worse.

One of the only times we truly saw her be without that mask was before she made it, when she was interacting with Focalors. The other was around 200 years into her masquerade, when she was crying alone. It shows how human she truly is, and how much she had to act.

Alone:

A scene that really highlighted just how alone she truly is was when he was talking with one of the citizens of Fontaine in her flashbacks, where in the middle of the conversation, Furina started crying. She had been holding it in for quite some time, but after hundreds of years, I'd expect her to break earlier. When confronted about this, even though she was very clearly struggling, she still had to act, saying that it was an abundance of hydro overflowing from her person due to her overwhelming powers, and that explanation was accepted without a doubt. In that moment, I imagine that Furina both didn't want the citizen to help her because of her mission, but also wanted someone to help her.

Attention:

Even the names of her hydro summons are used to show of her stature and grandeur, being Gentilhomme Usher, Mademoiselle Crabaletta, and Surintendant Chevalmarin. It's all very flashy and meant to draw attention to her. Same goes for her introduction to the traveler, showing her sitting in a very regal and poised status, and with the camera being pointed up at her, it adds to the sense of her being "above" everyone else. Her place in the courtroom is also high up, this is clearly an intended act from her.

Pierro - Pierrot: Servant and sad clown character (buffoon), white face paint and white flowy clown costume with large buttons

Il Capitano - Il Capitano: Indignant Loner (engages in fights but has very thinly veiled fear of them), military uniform

Il Dottore - Il Dottore: All-knowing doctor (usually an obstacle to love), black scholarly robe

Columbina- Columbine/Columbina: Perky maid/servent (often flirtatious), either colorful or black and white dress

Arlecchino - Arlecchino/Harlequin: Servant (often thwarting the plans of his master and pursuing his love with Columbine/Columbina), Colorful fitted vest and pants

Pulcinella - Pulcinella: Servant or master (simple man who has hardships but still smiles through them), baggy white outfit

Scaramouche - Scaramouche/Scaramouch: Braggart villain, black spanish dress

Sandrone - Sandrone: Cunning peasent (puppet), Corduroy jacket and pants, red and white cross-striped socks

La Signora - La Signora: A prostitute/courtisan (wants more jewels, more dresses, and more sex), very flamboyant and over the top dresses, many many jewels

Pantalone - Pantalone: Wealthy old man (the commedia representation of money), dark capes and red trousers

(vacant)

COLUMBINA LORE

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We currently don't have that much information on Columbina, but there are a lot of speculations. The first section is a recap of what we know, and the second is about theories, general interpretations, and my personal interpretations.

What we do know:

(feel free to skip this section is you just want to read the theories and interpretations of this information)

According to Nahida, the harbingers ranked number three and above have power equal to, or above that of gods. We don't know what her powers may be, but I have some speculations.

Columbina is shown to be entirely uncaring and apathetic during A Winter Night's Lazzo, as most other harbingers at least showed a little bit of respect at the funeral, but Columbina was draped across the coffin, singing like a child. She clearly understood that La Signora was dead, but she simply did not care. She even went as far as to "compliment" Dottore, even though she knew that he wouldn't take it as a compliment.

Her symbol, as shown in the harbinger wheel, is a crying dove.

She has six wings on her head, and she hasn't been shown to open her eyes, even while standing. She was clearly awake, but she chose to not open them.

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Theories and interpretations

Speculations about her power:

Given what we have seen about her, I speculate that in game, she will most likely wield a cryo vision. It may be a bit on the nose, as she is a harbinger (centered in Snezhnaya), but her personality seems to fit that of cryo characters. With how apathetic she is, she is most definitely cold on the outside. There are many ideas about her backstory, so we don't know if she experienced a significant loss, but she may have been subjected to truths that caused her to be so uncaring, resulting in the loss of her old self.

I personally think that she is going to be a catalyst user, dealing cryo damage from afar, without exactly exerting herself. She simply doesn't care enough to be more upfront. I think her next option would be a polearm, as it seems to suit her (and if she had a scythe polearm like arlecchino, it'd be a nice contradiction from her Seraphim inspiration). A sword or a bow could suit her, but I'm unsure. She has the name The Damselette, and Wanderer (in his About Damselette voiceline) stated "a 'damsel' who is oblivious and innocent at any given time, and unconcerned and unfeeling in any given situation", so leaning into that "damsel in distress" charade, I believe that a catalyst would be the best choice, to push the idea of being weaker, and being unable to engage in physical combat, even though that is likely not the case.

Her elemental burst may involve her opening her eyes, as it may allow her to do more damage or inflict a status effect upon her opponents.

One common theory about her abilities is that she may be able to freeze people. She might be able to stop them in their tracks (without her cryo abilities, but out of fear), and people assume that it may be related to her abilities shown in Hoyofair, where she has many wings and large eyes, which might be something she uses to "freeze" enemies.

Her personality:

We can deduce from the way she acted during La Signora's funeral and existing voicelines about her that Columbina, on top of being entirely uncaring, is extremely unpredictable, and most likely insane. Even Childe said that he would test his strength with anyone, but not her, because something doesn't feel right. Given that, and her interaction with Dottore, she probably says things to get under people's skin, or to creep them out.

Her constellation:

Her constellation gives us an idea of how she wants others to perceive her. She most likely paints herself as a "damsel in distress", and uses that to further her personal goals, before casting away whoever had helped her.

(Credit for this idea goes to the poster of the theory I linked for her constellation) At the beginning of the book Before Sun and Moon, the first section is titled "When the Dove Held Branches", and with Columbina's constellation being a dove, it may have a connection to that. The poster connects Columbina to a Seele, speculating that she may be one of the Seele race, who escaped the fate brought upon others of her kind (similarly to the Goddess of Flowers from Sumeru), and kept her mortal form.

The Seraphim Inspiration:

Columbina is quite clearly based on a Seraphim, the highest ranked angel in Christian, Jewish, and Islamic religion, which are depicted to have six wings, similarly to Columbina. They are stated to circle around God's throne, singing "Holy, Holy, Holy", and proclaiming his greatness to anyone who comes near. With Hoyoverse games, this likely has a deep meaning. The "God" in Teyvat is most likely the Primordial One, or the First Who Came. One speculation is that she was a cherished "angel" (it's unsure as to what name she possesses there, but she was under the Primordial One) who did just that, but gained some knowledge that broke her and caused her to be uncaring and to resent Celestia. Seraphim angels are also stated to be kind, and to help, but the "truth" that Columbina may have uncovered caused a mental break of sorts, resulting in her current personality and occupation.

Columbina in the Commedia Dell'arte:

All of the Fatui Harbingers are named after Characters in the Commedia Dell'arte, with Columbina being no exception. The character she is based on, Columbine (meaning Little Dove), is a stock character (a character with a personality/story that is easily recognisable across many forms of media) that is titled the Tricky Slave, who is an intelligent and cunning character who furthers the relationship between those above them, ensuring that they reach a happy ending.

She was often shown to be the most practical and intelligent character on stage.

The name, Columbine, ended up becoming the most common term for soubretta characters, who are female servants that are often flirtatious in nature.

I don't think that the flirtatiousness will carry over into Columbina (at least in its entirety), but I do think that the fact that she was often depicted as the most intelligent and down to earth character on stage has meaning. It may be a way of showing her knowledge of the speculated "truths" I mentioned earlier, truths beyond typical mortal knowledge/comprehension. She might be the most "enlightened" out of the harbingers, the one who knows the most about the inner workings of Celestia, and the one who knows the most about what is beyond the fake sky.

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This is in two parts because I was sharing my notes as I researched and needed to do something, so its in two parts now ------ Delusions themselves: They are given to those loyal to the tsaritsa in the fatui ranks by the archon herself, most likely meaning that it does tie into what the person is like, as if the theory about archons hand out visions is true, she would know the requirements for them, or at least have noticed them over time. One important thing to note is that in german, visions are called "The Eye of God" and delusions are called "The Eye of the Devil" Arlecchino's delusion and vision: Arlecchino possesses both a pyro delusion (used in her boss fight and is featured in beta design leaks that are similar to the current design) and a pyro vision (used in regular gameplay), which is quite strange. Her vision appears to be dim/dulled compared to other visions, suggesting a deeper meaning (as i really dont think its a mistake, this is hoyo we're talking about). Her vision also has a snezhnaya casing, even though visions tend to reflect where the user got their vision, which might suggest that there is an aspect to the casing of visions of the persons aliegence. It is also confirmed that Arlecchino's curse caused her to have natural pyro abilities, which is even stranger so. The running theories are that she is using it to amplify her own power to further the fatui or maybe for personal gain, or (what i am personally leaning to) is that it relfects her personality and her instability. Many design elements of a character tend to relfect what they are like as people, so it might be a relfection of that

EDITS FROM AFTER A BIT MORE RESEARCH:

Arlecchino - another layer of depth is that in her voicelines, it actually states that she is from Khaenriah

Vision replacement theory - Another theory is that delusions replace visions when being used, but thats more wishy-washy

Childe's Foul Legacy Transformation - For the first two stages of his boss fight, he follows the same rule we have seen elsewhere, with someone only being able to use either a vision or a delusion, never both at the same time (as childe uses his vision in his first stage, and his electro delusion in his second stage), but in his third stage, the foul legacy transformation, he uses both. The running theory, and what I had come up with before, is that it may have something to do with the abyss. He gained the foul legacy through being stuck in the abyss, and so using that ability, that might be why he is able to use both at once, in fact, they are both seen on his person during that transformation.

Another theory as to why Arlecchino uses a delusion in her boss fight but a vision in normal gameplay - Delusions are more powerful than visions, so she may be using it to be stronger during her fight, but the reason they aren't always used is because they have more repercussions

Personal idea on that topic - I believe that she may have gotten a pyro delusion either because she already had natural pyro abilities and she had a pyro vision, so she was simply more comfortable with pyro and would adjust easily, but another idea is that it may be because her body might not be able to handle another element. We see with delusions that vision wielders are naturally able to use a delusion of a different element, but due to Arlecchino's curse, she may be unable to use any other elemental power Quick note if anyone is confused on why most are able to use delusions well, but in inazuma it caused harm to everyone wielding them: Usually, time is taken to make delusions, they are crafted carefully and go through many tests, and are personally approved by the tsaritsa (from what I've gathered), so they are fairly stable.

The difference in Inazuma stems from why they were creating delusions in the first place. It was to help the fatui, but they were not made for the fatui. The goal in mass producing them was to give them out to the people of Inazuma, in order to bring the whole nation down. That was what they were trying to do, as seen with them handing them out and bribing the commisions, they were trying to take Inazuma down while remaining in a good light with the Raiden Shogun so that she wouldn't be able to stop them, as she was unaware of their plans and thought of them as good people.