#pantalone analysis

So I did an analysis a long time ago regarding this very subject which can be read here, but since then more information has come out, so I wanted to revisit this topic. This analysis will be more in depth than my previous one, and I’m going to take this Harbinger by Harbinger, starting with Pierro and going down the list in order of rank (as of the start of the game’s plot). This series will also contain a fair bit of theorizing due to the fact we haven’t actually met a fair number of the Harbingers in the Genshin Impact Storyline yet. Each post will also start with a brief explanation of the Commedia dell’arte and the role the harbinger’s title usually fills. As such, due to length and fears of potential spoilers, the rest will be under the cut. I hope you enjoy.

So, real quick, the commedia dell’arte is a very early form of professional theatre, that involved specific stock character roles which are largely reflected by the Fatui harbingers via their titles/codenames. Notably, the story of these plays always revolves around two actors that are not reflected by the Harbingers, the Innamorati (lovers), whom the story follows. Our Harbingers are found within the other three classes of actors though. The Zanni, which are the lower class (the harbingers from this group are Pierro, Pulcinella, Scaramouche, Tartaglia, Arlecchino, and Columbina); the Vecchi, which are often wealth and/or older characters (Pantalone and Dottore); and the Il Capitano, who are self-styled captains and braggarts (Capitano himself, La Signora, and sometimes the Scaramouche character). 

Our Pantalone, also known by his codename: Regrator, is Rank #9 within the Fatui Harbingers. Within the commedia dell’arte the Pantalone character (sometimes called Pantaloon) is one of the four primary stock characters, is often a pivotal character for the plot of the story, and is almost entirely based upon currency and ego. Mirroring this, he represents money within the world of the commedia dell’arte plot. While he has a very high opinion of his intelligence, he often ends up being made a fool. One of Pantalone's chief drives with the plotline was to ensure that he had enough status to meddle in the affairs of others. Pantalone’s primary characterizations are that he loves his money and that he has emotional extremes. Furthermore, he is usually quite sinister and treats others rather cruelly to downright inhumanely. Indeed, the Pantalone character frequently starves his servants as a way of saving money and, if he were to let go of a servant, it would always be before dinner was served so that he didn’t have to feed them (He was just that petty and penny-pinching).

Pantalone usually serves as a parent or guardian to one of the Innamorati (often the female innamorata) and is very driven to keep his child and their lover apart for a variety of reasons. In the case where he is the parent/guardian to the female lover (which he usually is) he typically tries to marry her off to some rich, possibly older man, in an attempt to avoid having to pay a hefty dowry and part with his money (extra points if the marriage improves his personal financial status as well). When he is not married to the La Signora character (sometimes due to a complete absence of her character) or a similar character he is a widow or bachelor who is constantly making passes at the varying women he encounters, though he is always rejected. In fact the younger female characters would often outright mock him. (It is worth noting here that the Pantalone character usually is into, and flirts with, or is married to a younger woman, though there is very little explanation for this. It seems to just been a facet to his character. However, this facet was downplayed some in regard to the Pantalone’s costuming as time went on, though never entirely lost.). Furthermore, Pantalone's internal view of himself as a muscular, fit young man typically does not match his outside appearance.

Interestingly, the Pantalone character never forgets a deal nor any slight. His merits are described as being based on his actions, rather than his words.

Finally, it is worth noting that the Dottore character serves as foil to the Pantalone character, connecting the two. While Pantalone is your decadent wealthy merchant who is typically the father to one of the Innamorati while Dottore is a (often) wealthy erudite/scholar who may or may not be the father of one of the Innmorati (usually the girl) or the Columbine character. Furthermore, the Dottore character is often a friend, mentor, or competitor to Pantalone.

When not foiling Dottore, the Pantalone would sometimes foil varying female characters or, at the very least, give them a character to bounce off of in regards to their own characterization. 

As a curious but notable sub-type for this character that is also found mirrored in Dottore characters, there is a younger variant of the Pantalone character that has made some appearances. Oddly enough, rather than filling a parental role to one of the Innamorati or that of any other normal Vecchi role, this younger version serves as an opponent for the Innamorato (male lover) as a secondary love interest to the innamorata (female lover) or may in fact fill the role of the male lead in some cases. This is a plot point that appears to have come up later in the span of commedia dell’arte works, but is nonetheless an intriguing one in that we suddenly have a worthy adversary  of the same age for the innamorato that comes in the form of either a young version of the Pantalone or Dottore character. Even in more intriguing though is the fact that some commedia dell’arte adjacent plays (which could also be viewed as evolutions and/or  subversions of the general commedia dell’arte plotline) is that this young pantalone or dottore character might actually fill the role of the Innamorato and as such be the male lead for the play. (This appears to have occurred as the audience got bored with the typical innamorato (male lover) character which does not appear to have received the same gradual growth as the innamorata (female lover) character for unclear reasons.)

Within Genshin, Pantalone is another one of the Harbingers we do not know very much about. We know he was born into poverty, was never able to gain a Vision, and has an obsession with fair exchange as well as a grudge against the gods (implied to primarily be against Morax) based on their control of Mora flow. To this end he works with Dottore, which mirrors his stock character's connection to the Dottore character. We also know that Genshin’s Pantalone is working with Pulchinella on something referred to as Project Stuzha, though this does not appear to have a Commedia dell’arte basis.

Mirroring his stock character’s connection to wealth, Pantalone is noted to be in charge of Snezhnaya’s economic policies and is the wealthiest of all the Harbingers. Furthermore, we know his ambition is to make Snezhnaya the “heart that pumps money around the world” and to replace Mora. Indeed, he supposedly has a connection to the installation of Credit Coupons in the Fortress of Meropide, which were in circulation before Wriothesley, which suggests that Pantalone may very well be older than his design suggests. An intriguing plot point in and of itself considering his stock character’s position as an older man who acts like someone much younger. Nonetheless, all of this, paired with the way Childe and Wanderer describe him in their respective voicelines, suggests that Genshin’s Pantalone has an impressive ego much like his corresponding stock character. Indeed, it is possible that Pantalone intends to outright challenge Morax’s control of finances. However, any solid information for his character will likely have to wait until Snezhnaya’s release since Arlecchino stated that Pantalone never leaves Snezhnaya. However, it is worth noting that his presence has been felt in several nations now in the form of varying world quests, and that Pantalone’s underlings do seem to fear him. As such, it is possible that Genshin’s Pantalone may be just as hard on his ‘servants’ as the commedia dell’arte stock character.

It will be interesting to see how Pantalone connects with any possible Innamorati character since the stock character often serves as the father to one of them, though also sometimes fills the role of competition for the male Innamorato. Furthermore, due to the stock character’s importance to the overarching plot of the Commedia dell’arte it will be interesting to see how important Pantalone is to the overarching Fatui scheme. Indeed, he may have a very large role within the Snezhnaya archon quest. Supporting this idea is the fact that Pantalone’s name has been consistently appearing throughout other nations, either in minor quests or more major ones.