Filmmaker Reacts: Genshin Impact: Xiao

[@PhilipHarts]

Did you get Xiao in Genshin?? Follow my Twitch, I'm streaming tonight!: twitch.tv/philiphartshorn Also check out my main KZbin Channel with 200K subs: kzbin.info

[@youngkyle5516]

I'm waiting for Xiao banner since i start playing the game in May. I'm saving primo for him.

[@NeIIy]

Yes! He's my main damage dealer, love this little green bean to bits

[@intrvrtdghost9073]

He's my main and my most fave. Character in game so far. ❤️

[@rickytorres4213]

Got him c0 on first drop.. Hopefully more 2nd round

[@thohaytho9989]

I got him 1 day after my birthday and it was the happiest moment in my 1200+ hours spent on Genshin.

[@kailyngibbs161]

The fact that u can describe a character just from their trailer is mind boggling!!!

[@joshbrosh6626]

Tells alot about the developers puting theese filmmaking details They know what they are doing

[@poppywoo842]

It both shows his skill at reading this and also genshin’s skill at foreshadowing and making these trailers especially raiden shoguns one

[@banananiel3615]

The thing I love about Xiao’s demo; while the other characters are given sort of like a slow and gradual setting-up scene to introduce them, maybe some lines, but Xiao’s introduction just feels right-in-your-face and so abrupt. You can feel the impact in his landing. I like to think that reflects his character who doesnt like wasting time and gets straight to the point xD Edit: 18:51 you can get any character really no matter what your progress is. The only problem is some characters require items that are region-specific to level up, but this can be solved by playing co-op with friends whove unlocked those newer regions ^_^

[@RandomGirl119]

Exactly. He's not here to chat or get to know anyone. He's here to do his job and leave. Even with the child NPC in Qingce who said he saved her - he showed up at just the right time, saved her, disappeared, and she never saw him again. Even the dialogue in his trailer is basically "This is a job for me, stay out of the way" and "The job I've been fulfilling for eons has a heavy cost, but I'm used to it." It's all about the work he's doing.

[@HowMethods]

except you can't because you can only join people with wl equal or less than you

[@Okuni_]

@@HowMethods we can reduce our own WL though

[@Chyemmi]

The Karmic binds are an actual thing to his character and story. It basically is something along the lines of "the more he kills, the more pain is inflicted on him." Also a little thing I wanted to note is at the end, where his mask disperses and it pans out and he becomes smaller, while Liyue becomes bigger. It also really adds to his character. Out of everyone in Liyue, even the other adepti and Zhongli, he is the one that works the hardest to protect Liyue. He has a chaotic presence that is portrayed really well in his demo - with all the constant different shots and movement - and it comes off as powerful and demanding. But when all is said and done, he is just one person in the vast land that is Liyue, which he holds on his shoulders. Every other character of Liyue has a lot more lighter and calmer tones. There is combat in them and such, but out of all of them, Xiao is the one depicted in this endless fighting engulfed in darkness. I think it really does an amazing job showing off his character.

[@Chyemmi]

Also, I forgot to note. But that is an actual mask (you can see it always around his waist). When he's in battle, he dons the mask. It hides his human-ness (is that the right word?). When it's on, any emotions and any of his flaws are gone, and he is in complete business mode.

[@ennui7266]

Xiao's mask makes him more powerful, but causes him perpetual agony. In the game, that's represented by him losing HP during his ultimate, but also doing extremely high damage for its duration.

[@mariapazgonzalezlesme]

Xiao's lore is heartbreaking and you can't help but feel bad for him. You should rewatch his trailer in chinese, but that's merely my preference.

[@homiegang3740]

Yes! Xiao is actually a calm and composed character that carries a lot of pain, he appears very distant because he's afraid if people get too close to him, they might also be in danger. For some reason the English Voice direction are very different from the rest languages. The english voice portrays Xiao as more angry, violent and edgy character (I'm not saying the EN Dub is bad, I'm just saying it has different portrayal to it) Definitely check the other voice over for more variety! But mainly the Chinese Dub because it's the original.

[@megaconure]

do you have a link to the chinese version? I wanna see it

[@mariapazgonzalezlesme]

@@megaconure There you go! kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2qsZGZsetqNrsk

[@megaconure]

@@mariapazgonzalezlesme thank you!!

[@sneakretster]

@@homiegang3740 eh, EN Xiao might have a scratchy tone to his voice but he's not that angry, maybe a bit abrasive, though he's usually very subdued and even a bit quiet. It's definitely different than the other dubs of course, but I still think he's very composed outside of combat and moments when he's impatient or frustrated with mortals.

[@promisehonoridez2671]

In eastern, it is believed that whenever you kill someone, their grievance will remain on you. With accumulated grievance for slaughtering in Archon war, is what the karmic binds represent. That explains the suffering and like ephemeral state

[@LISA.WANG.]

17:47 The treehouse in the background too, it’s practically Xiao’s home and the place he can finally rest now that he finished his work- but the showing of the mask at the end was like, the work will never really finish and he needs to keep using it in the future So many little things were just perfect this trailer

[@meltjester7189]

the Story Teaser: Yaksha, Guardian Adepti, can provide more context to Xiao's prepetual agony, it could be worth a watch

[@WhiteKoneko]

Xiao is in fact a being known as an adeptus, a divine deity beast if you would. But not just any, he's a Yaksha, a warrior that serves under a contract with the Geo Archon to protect Liyue from vengeful spirits/gods. He's constantly in pain because of what he went through in his past(thus the dark red and black aura and tendrils). In Liyue he's known as the Vigilant Yaksha & Conquer of Demons. There were 4 others like him but sadly he all that's left in this endless war. He also has the ability to manipulate and devour dreams too. Xiao's mask holds a lot of his power too but using it now causes him pain but he has no choice. He can be sharp-tongued and blunt but he actually has a good heart(I compare him to a chestnut. Prickly outside, soft inside).

[@memegumin]

His suffering comes from 3 different main source, his karma from killing monsters, his tragic backstory, and that his karmik debt actually infect living beings so he is forced to exile himself while killing evil

[@silverstuff1146]

Albedo's rerun has been comfirmed by Mihoyo so it would be very cool if you did the a review on the Albedo trailer so you can get to know him better before you decide wether to pull on his banner or not. Albedo is from Mondstat so everyone gets a chance to farm for his materials.

[@LISA.WANG.]

15:17 I highly recommend watching a certain video about his design, just for your own curiosity; RedFlaim’s Xiao design video, he nutshell’s Xiao’s entire creation process published by the devs, what went behind his appearance, abilities and attitude, it’s fascinating

[@ruedelta]

At this point you might want to look at either the Klee or Hu Tao trailers, since they go for something more playful. Would love to see a breakdown of fun.

[@kailyngibbs161]

And Yoimiya as well. They all have a fun and/chaotic vibe going for them.

[@sparklefreeze87]

Klee’s trailer never fails to make me laugh.. she’s just soooo adorable!! The music in that one is so her too!

[@brin1169]

I second that. A breakdown of Klee's character demo would be awesome. It's so funny!

[@miinya8592]

Oh my god yes please i would love a breakdown of best arsonist child

[@AryaLux]

You can't recommend playful and fun Genshin trailers without including Yoimiya😭

[@NeIIy]

The fact that you could tell so much about him just from his character design.. Even though he doesnt really show it, he's very kind. He keeps his distance from others so they wont get hurt. Despite all the suffering he went through, he still has a pure heart: "He longs for a day to come when he will wear the mask and dance - not to conquer demons, but to the tune of that flute amid a sea of flowers."

[@yamdechu]

Their attention to detail is insane. You can see in the last bit, when it's zoomed in on Xiao's face, his eyes move a bit just like how real human eyes do when looking at something.

[@BltzZ]

Keep killing it bro! Glad to see you hitting that algorithm hard

[@PhilipHarts]

Thank you man! You too with the FF9!! Let’s collab soon!

[@LISA.WANG.]

Even using the word “debt”, you are spot on in your analysis 👏 13:40 “Please die faster so I don’t have to keep suffering” is sorta what I’ve always taken away from it :’)

[@Yorekani]

Xiao is an adepti. The adepti have protected the land of Liyue even before the founding of the nation as such. Morax is an adeptus and he founded Liyue. "Rex Lapis" is the title the people of Liyue use to show their respect for him. I view adepti as mythical beings who are long-lived and rather powerful. Not all of them specialize in combat, but Xiao certainly does. He's been around for many wars and always experienced bloodshed in the thick of it. As for the "karmic binds", your guesses were pretty spot on. There are many powerful entities in the world of Teyvat. There are still lingering effects after killing them. Xiao tries to disperse the accumulated malice because bad things happen if it's left to fester on its own. However, you can't clean up without getting dirty yourself. He has to shoulder the grudges from all those he killed throughout the eons. That would do a number on anyone, but it's even worse in this world because said grudges seep into the mind and can drive one insane, monsters and people alike. Xiao is very resilient for not succumbing to this madness. The mask does give him power, but it's not cursed. He suffers because he used his power to vanquish countless foes. Those feelings of grudge and malice are obviously stronger when he's going about vanquishing even more foes and wielding his power. As far as I can tell, everyone has to deal with karma and past grudges in some way. It's not a specific curse from the mask. Other characters simply deal with it differently.

[@MagusDouken]

When he is not wearing his mask, it rests upon his belt. He keeps seldom, away from others as the demon inside only knows blood, and at times, that is all he can see in himself.

[@jerious1607]

The strings are likely a reference to karmic strings or strings of fate. Chinese and generally Asian cultures believes in karmic debts both positive and negative. In Xiao's case, slaying produces negative karma. It can be seen as a psychological and spiritual weight upon him all the time. Genshin establishes "erosion," the eventual end of anything, as a core concept. Zhongli also describes indirectly states that erosion takes many form, from time, losing memories, being left behind by your companions, and external and internal corruption.

[@vishnunair2057]

Hu Tao's demo next. please! I love how you break down the character, their personality and what not just from the video. Keep up the amazing work!

[@solarya2684]

I have Xiao, and he's my main eheh I really love him, he's quite the complex character imo. He does look cold at first sight but he's really caring... The english version make him sound more aggressive than he is. In Chinese, he's actually pretty soft spoken and calm when he talks, even when he attacks Also, if you haven't seen Albedo's trailer, I think you should react to it!

[@AryaLux]

His gameplay is amazing imo, you jump high and then plunge into your enemies with brute force while losing HP periodically due to the curse, which many people find boring and not creative, but it suits his character perfectly. He's putting all of his anger and pain in those plunges in a brutal, almost satirical manner.

[@akinela1214]

4:31 "It feels so short" I laughed at this ufjajdscbd Xiao is the shortest teenage body in the game, and Xiao can translate to ''small'

[@SoyDavidYT]

On his Gameplay he actually Lose HP during his mask state so it makes sense that sentence of "The price I pay, for Eons of Slaughter"

[@Leighv]

It is customary for Yaksha to wear their mask when fighting demons. The mask itself doesn’t hold any power or anything ,but it is very symbolic for his character and backstory. Also, the karma that was mentioned in the trailer basically explained is: because he’s killed so many demons all the bad karma from the demons he kills kinda sticks to him. Since he is over 2000 years old and he’s spent his entire life as Yaksha (in short: a demon slayer), he has accumulated so much Karma that he is in almost constant physical pain. This pain is so bad that all of his peers either went crazy or killed themselves. But, Xiao had continued to live on, suffering alone, as the sole surviving Yaksha for many centuries. This is just a very short and simplified explanation, but I hope it helps!

[@johnuno3881]

The mask makes him stronger because it releases more of his power and full strength in short time because of consequences of using the power, basically it acts as statistic amplification during his fight why would it not hold any power? The mask itself literally came from his inner 3rd eye that's why it has anemo particles when it dissolves and dons meaning it still holds any power since it came from his anemo 3rd eye power, all adepti and yaksha have similarities in having source of power in inner 3rd eye, but like I said the mask itself came from inner third eye meaning it still holds any power but it isn't the source of his powers, the inner third eye is. The mask isn't only for fighting demons, but it also acts as his statistics amplification whenever he fights stronger opponents. The hips mask is symbolic of his being yaksha and backstory, while the mask in his face when he dons it is part of his powers

[@solistri]

I was literally rewatching this demo today and thought "hey I think Philip would like this one" that's crazy

[@PhilipHarts]

I’m so honored 😭😃😃

[@sherokun3692]

I love how Xiao has the mask on his face and on his hip at the same time

[@noox13]

Ephemeral circumstance referring to how problems or situations are temporary but he gets perpetual agony from it. And then "Be severed karmic binds!" Karma being what causes his pain. This is represented in game. When you ult he gets huge attack boosts but looses health while in this stronger state.

[@klee8846]

Actually the 10:40 part when Xiao was binded does actually have to do with the Genshin Lore. In the Archon war, Xiao was imprisoned by another God. That God and Morax(Zhongli) fought and Zhongli buried the god with his stone spears that later became the guyun stone forest. After that, Xiao was freed and became a wandering monster. Zhongli rescued him and sealed his monstrous power and became a Yaksha. When he dons his mask, he unleashes that monstrous power but also had a great toll on his body. 500 years ago during the cataclysm, Xiao and the other yakshas protected the people of Guili Assembly (Later became Liyue Harbor) after the war, the 3 yakshas became overcome with the evil and wreaked havoc to each other leading to their deaths while the fourth one disappeared. Xiao was the fifth and last one and the only known survivor. (Edit: the monstrous power was actually a curse put to Xiao by the God that Zhongli killed)

[@johnuno3881]

When did the yaksha mask power became a curse? Isn't the mask part of his anemo powers in his inner third eye? When it dissolves in his idle the anemo particles is there and when he dons it the anemo is slowly covering his face, meaning it's part of his anemo powers from inner third eye. The mask itself is from his third eye also from his own power, the inner third eye being the source of powers, the mask is from their own powers in third eye as elemental manifestation, the mask being statistic amplification to make themselves stronger is carried among all the yakshas. non of the character in teyvat gives power only celestial gods. He cant use karma as powers, the karma is side effects, when he dons his mask the karma itself only manifests

[@klee8846]

@@johnuno3881 all of the yakshas wear masks, it's to drive off evil spirits and to contain their bad karma

[@johnuno3881]

@@klee8846 according to insights when the yaksha mask dons it they use their full potential powers while manifesting the karmic energy, "when he dons his mask the karmic debt manifest itself greatly enhances both of his combat capabilities" meaning the karma manifests and show up but that doesn't mean he can use the karma as power, also the yaksha mask in GI works differently in irl, like to drive away devils like that. The mask are used originally to bloodshed if the opponents are strong Xiao can use his full potential

[@graceharvieux9960]

I'd be quite interested to see you react to Kaedehara Kazuha's demo and break down some of the creative choices they made

[@NamSilhan]

11:31 Yeah, he can call out living people's souls when they asleep and make them think it's a lucid dream, while the truth is their soul is in the actual reality (Open World game indeed hahah) & they can feel the pain when our playable characters beat them up. They'll woke up drained (kinda forget was it mental drain only or also physically). The game hasn't show us yet if this draining process can cause an actual death, though. I'm assuming Xiao can actually choose to do remote kill or just remote torturing via this weird dream session thing.

[@disappointing.]

undoubtedly the best trailer, for the best character

[@tngpn_]

majoras mask is a really interesting comparison i wouldnt think of that!!!

[@dalgona4819]

Great vid as always! Waiting for an Albedo review in the future

[@marzycielka7331]

Video is great! Maybe now Albedo (from Genshin Impact too) trailer?

[@straystranger1450]

Xiao's character teaser does explain a bit on his plauge if you're interested in knowing what his origin and his purpose and what not. Just an opinion

[@geon4534]

also reacts to the short animations from Honkai impact 3 (it's a game also made by mihoyo) PS: Look for the final lesson

[@aPotatoTryingHerBest]

I'm so happy you did this one:D i think you'll like albedo a lot too!

[@kryzai9302]

Xiao is the one character I want the most, but the upcoming character, Itto, is really getting in the way lmao You should react to Hu Tao next, it's not as serious as Xiao's, but I love her demo because it has a different, more playful feel than other trailers

[@Numby322]

I just got Xiao 2 days ago.. I got him unintentionally but I'm happy

[@Ryuuoujin]

You should watch the Story Teaser - Yakshas: The Guardian Adepti video it explains a bit about more Xiao, Yaksha and Zhongli. Also you should wtach the Klee video, I like it the best.

[@ladyonyx3811]

when I first met this character, I was impressed and intimidated. I related to him but his coarse and almost vehement attitude was a turn off in the beginning. That was before I understood him. When I got the chance to watch someone react to a bunch of trailers, I decided to watch. When I did, I was not surprised to note his attitude in the beginning of it. To me it was an almost sulky jealous and deep hatred towards humanity. The music and the shots in the first part of the trailer were phenomenal. I took a semester of cinematography in highschool (theory only, not practice) and it reminded me a lot of some things. I agree that Genshin pays incredible attention to building a character arc using all the tools at their dispense: color contrast, choreography, camera shots, music, etc. The part that caught my attention the most was in the middle of those flashing scenes of the mask about 1/3 of the way through the trailer. In the midst of the serious faces and scary mask, there was one shot / one look of a vulnerable Xiao. It was then I realized that perhaps his attitude of superiority maybe not for such a shallow reason as I'm an adeptus and you a meaningless mortal that I have to protect. Fast forward to the intense string of shots of a Xiao in absolute agony due to his "karmic binds" which is a manifestation of his guilt and loneliness which feeds malevolent energy stemming from the ghosts of his past. Ghosts that he hasn't let go of. Many don't know that Xiao's past goes further than just being a yaksha. His history before that was even worse and it was that past that causes him the suffering he has and has made him hard and untrusting. Xiao now is one of my three favorite characters: Childe and Albedo my other two. Great job on this breakdown. I really appreciate your perspective.

[@SirCastic17]

I think you'd really like Sangonmiya Kokomi's demo as a filmmaker

[@brin1169]

Yeah it is very artistic film wise

[@miinya8592]

"He has almsot a kind face to him but then the mask looks so demonic-" *Cries in genshin*

[@kizgaming2352]

Insignificant uwuu

[@hophip8049]

The Philip x Pause button ship. The S.S. PP

[@TheLabFGC]

When Philiph Feel Hartshorn spotlights Hartshorn, my just Xiao when Philiph spotlights Hartshorn. Wow

[@seouleater6989]

I highly recommend Hu Tao and Kazuha's demos, they're something special.

[@yen2201]

I kinda want you to react to Venti, Klee, and Hu Tao's trailers just for fun XD

[@ph0ton-h4i]

I'd love to see you react to Hu Tao's trailer, it has a very interesting vibe I think you might like :)

[@PhilipHarts]

Thank you! I may have to!!

[@Howcanhelaugh]

15:14 it depends on which language you play with. For ex Eng: angry raging loud edgy Jp: calm focused dark numb

[@Howcanhelaugh]

The climax of that music really reminds me of giorno’s theme

[@samratchoudhuri6533]

Actually he didn't sever his karmic binds, he still is under pain. He wears that mask to protect what's human left of him, he takes on the evil power from some old evil god and just takes on it whole which is the debt

[@johnuno3881]

No, he dons the mask to unleash his true and full power to fend off demons immediately at the same time it makes him 2x stronger than his base form (without mask). According to devs the mask manifests karma but it doesn't mention that he takes evil powers.

[@The_One_O_One]

I recommend the hu tao trailer next

[@TheHarrybobo0328]

the original video has subtitles

[@FloeticsPH]

Klee and Hu Tao's trailer next for a more fun beautiful reaction.

[@jasmine9581]

With Xiao next-- I gotta come back to Eula after, sorry 🤭 0:10 I hope someone mentions him being angstiest in English

[@yiqingtan4079]

I don't have him but I really want him.

[@sarahgrellchen5687]

The character i want most is Scaramouche but hes not even confirmed by mihoyo to be playable in the future yet, But they would cut themselfs in the flesh so much if they wouldnt make him playable so....Hopes are up

[@Vesperon]

did you see that the trailer is cut off on the right? you should reupload this and fix it

[@mahendrayudhach.]

You should try ayaka's one. I think that the best trailer genshin ever made

[@novahendrick4609]

my character (before even seeing this) is Xiao

[@poggersbks1e341]

His mask is a yakshas mask xiao is originally a spiritual being if your playing the game I won't spoil but xiao is not really a born human being

[@alfarodominguezpatricio5176]

Amazing video!! React to Kazuha next!!!

[@PhilipHarts]

Big thanks to Ridge for sending me this wallet and supporting the channel! Here’s the site if you want to check them out! > ridge.com/phil

[@Average_Homo_sapien]

Xiao! Xiao!! Xiao!!!!! Ily so much why won’t you come home 😭

[@Vesperon]

Lets get that intro down to 30 seconds

[@SnowxXxAngel]

I got Xiao! I hope he gets a rerun early 2022! so I can get constellations! The mask is like a mark of his being a Yaksha. They were a group of Adepti who swore an oath (signed a contract) with Rex Lapis to defend Liyue from the corruption and malice that remains from the Archon War (fallen gods that failed to become Archons, their powers and their grudge seep into the land and affects wildlife negatively; or something like that at least) Xiao is the last remaining Yaksha. I could include what happened to them, but you'll probably/maybe eventually find out yourself...

[@jasmine9581]

A leak says he might be back for 4.4 -- how are your Xiao cons now

[@SnowxXxAngel]

@@jasmine9581 My Xiao is only c0... because any time he had a rerun previously, was alongside other banners I wanted to pull for first (like characters I didn't have yet) But he is max level friendship and lvl90 and I got Primordial Jade Spear for him at r2....

[@foolpersona_]

Please do Hu Tao and Ayaka next! Thank you

[@mariuwu1424]

please do kazuha next!!!!!

[@THEassasination]

I'm on guaranteed pity and saving for ganyu

[@du_auch_da4520]

Can you do Albedo?

[@MihuKat]

Hey hart I think your videos are very cool. You always bring it over so easily. Are you going to make more videos in the future? You are pure inspiration. I'm looking forward to your next video. U will Improve and be A GOD Best wishes Share love Buddy love HOPE SUPPORT! Mihukat^^ did u played abyss sometimesß:D^^?

[@juniper1350]

can u react to kazuha’s next?

[@florkychan3591]

You X Pause Button uwu very nice ship 😳😳

[@highnoon3188]

U should check out hutao trailer too

[@mazzmasskun4113]

Next reaction Albedo Demo bro, i recomend his demo video 👌

[@joejunior4700]

I like your reactions but I get this weird voice and mouth unsynchronize issue, my internet is fast enough for 1080 60 but idk why I'm getting this.

[@WhiteKoneko]

Xiao simp right here!

[@batelsonelson2638]

SPOILER ALERT DONT READ THIS UNLESS U DONT MIND XIAO SPOILERS during the archon war, a god took control of Xiao, forcing him to kill a lot of people, so Rex Lapis kills that god and frees Xiao, it wasnt because he killed hilichurls of something, and also, he is a yaksha, and during the archon war, all of the yakshas died, exept him, his mask is also a yaksha mask

[@gmamamamo6408]

You should react to honkai impact animation or character trailer

[@aze5705]

React kaedehara kazuha trailer

[@youknowlikealiar1300]

I personally don't like the directing for the Xiao's english voice actor. It makes him feel like perpetually angry, while the other languages (I love the jp one) show his personality much better

[@respox2191]

The EN dub doesn't do Xiao's character any justice, it makes him sound like an angry, edgy teen reveling in violence when he's exactly the opposite. He's a tragic figure carrying the weight of eons of slaughter on his soul, but he remains a kind, caring, watchful guardian of Liyue even if it means he has to continue fighting for eternity. The other language dubs convey this better.

[@RandomGirl119]

I've heard about this, and I have to wonder why the English director had his VA do it like this. Because of the voice acting, I thought he was just edgy at first, but now I see that he's quite tragic and sad, and he has a cute side to him with how he is nice but has his walls up between him and everyone else. His birthday mail was just adorable.

[@captainpeanut6427]

I don't really mind his EN voice. It's still a good portrayal of the character, just in a different way. He uses his aggressive way of speaking to keep himself isolated from society while still keeping watch over it. The CN and EN voices essentially portray 2 different versions of Xiao, but imo neither of them are bad. The aggressive voice doesn't contradict the fact that he is kind and caring, similar to how Eula is kind despite what she says.

[@iinskiyuii]

as a player who uses all of the dubs, I dont think theres anything wrong with the en dub, i think its more of a preferences thing

[@Vesperon]

and make that sponsor spot less jarring I mean, your a filmmaker right? how about a nice transition

[@promisehonoridez2671]

Xiao's lore is the reason I play Genshin Impact, I'm so glad I decided to click and watched his trailer

[@SkyMina_]

Xiao mask doesnt give him some sort of power, he himself is a powerful being as a Yaksha. Reason him wearing a mask is to prevent himself from being corrupted/corroded by all of the life he has taken. It was to prevent him from being an evil being or loses his mind. In the past , theres also a lot of evil yaksha that love killing everything in sight and cause chaos. You have to watch Xiao story teaser , cause you can see other yaksha that corrupted actually have their mask cracked. So this shows , they cant control themself and drive them insane. So the mask is more like a symbol to protect them.

[@johnuno3881]

"The mask gives power but great suffering" " When Xiao dons mask karmic debt manifest itself greatly enhances both of his combat capabilities, time after time he dons mask to protect liyue" idk where you come up with Xiao wear mask to prevent himself being corrupted tbh Xiao uses the mask to make himself stronger basically it acts as his statistics amplification whenever in fight, the more Xiao uses it the more suffering is coming as the consequences of using the power. The mask isn't symbolizes something like to protect themselves from corruption, the mask isn't symbol of anything but it is to make them strong whenever they fight stronger opponents, the mask itself came from his own anemo vision as we can see when he dons the mask the anemo powers is slowly covering his face and it dissolves in his idle with anemo particles, meaning the mask came from his inner third eye which is the source of his anemo power. Basically it shows like this the inner third eye provides both of his anemo powers and his mask, without the inner third eye as source of his power both of his anemo power and mask (including the ability of it being stat amplification), will not be there in short the mask is elemental manifestation from his vision in inner third eye. And pls give me a source where the game itself describe the mask as, karma suppressor, to avoid karma energy to leak and to prevent him from being corrupted. Because the game itself says it manifest karma while unleashing his true and full power not to protect him from that karma energy. The mask in his hips symbolizes his duty as a yaksha his mask on his face when he dons mask that it has anemo particles it is from his power.

[@johnuno3881]

Also as for mask cracked in the teaser it means they're fully corrupted. Also they're in the middle of the fight when their powers has run out they use their full power, remember the more they uses their power the more karma is leaking also the mask powers has timer meaning the more yaksha uses their mask power the more it cracks up and run out.

[@SkyMina_]

@@johnuno3881 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bH7Oc5uNhdJ7osU watch this and you will understand, Yaksha is made by Zhongli with a purpose. To slain the Evil god. Incase you didnt know yet, god emotions or residue will have a negative emotions that will be absorb to their environment or surrounding (refrence : God of salt, Zhongli Archon Quest). Why do you think Zhongli has to create this 5 team of yaksha? Because negative emotions will effect him as well. We all know Zhongli is strong enough to slain all of the god if he want to. But here , he have to makes sure it didnt effect himself. (Also refrence to Raiden Archon Quest) Now , why they have a mask? The reason they have a mask is because it was given by Zhongli for them to surpress the negative emotions that they will absorb while completing their tasks (refrence Chasm Archon Quest). Are there more than 5 Yaksha? Yes theres more , but most of them died in the battle. There more of them that are tasks to defend Liyue in the Archon War. And fun facts, they didnt wear a mask but already have vision power. This explained that all of 5 yaksha already have vision power without their masks. To add more , Xiao doesnt need his mask to use his power nor his mask give him power. Its some sort of protection from the negative emotions. (Refrence to Xiao Archon Quest) This also backing up and symbolises that all 3 corrupted Yaksha break their mask and lost control while still retain their power. They goes insane and uncontrollable. Theres also a proof that negative emotions effect environment which is a leyline that are related to Azdaha (refrence Zhongli Archon Quest part 2)

[@SkyMina_]

@@johnuno3881 you have to really dig around for information about it , you might missed some info from archon Quest to fully understand it. This is what i love about Genshin , player have to dig around themself (theres a bunch of book in the game that people doesnt care to read).

[@johnuno3881]

@@SkyMina_ I knew all Xiao lore. As a Xiao main from start of the game until end game from his first banner release I already knew all yakshas lore. You might want to read dev insights (where his lore came from) or atleast in his f10 character profile. Because me, I already read and knew all and I doesn't encounter with Xiao mask being used only to protect himself from karma, theres stopping the karma from seeping and entering soul and body.

[@miguelbarcenas9795]

Genshin is good. But Honkai Impact has better storytelling and character development. Should check it out.