Genshin Impact's Most Complex Character

Head to www.squarespac... to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code EISSOCIAL! 💜
-
Arlecchino, The Knave, The fourth fatui harbinger, Peruere and Father of the House of the Hearth is not only my spouse but also the best morally grey written character in Genshin Impact. This video tells you why!
💜💜*** I go live on Twitch Wed, Fri and Sat! 💜💜
***** TWITCH: twitch.tv/EisSocial *****
Join our Discord! (it's called E-cord, ain't that fun!)
/ discord
Misogyny Video: • Does Genshin Impact AN...
Gender Queer Video: • Genshin Impact IS a Ge...
Minsleif's Video: • How Arlecchino Reveale...
~~~~~~~~~~~
SUBSCRIBE TODAY !!
/ @eissocial
BECOME A Ko-fi MEMBER TODAY!
ko-fi.com/eiss...
TWITCH: twitch.tv/EisSocial
Follow my socials to keep updated on when I go live!!
Follow me
TIKTOK: / eissocial
TWITTER: / eistweeting
INSTA: / eissocial
~~~~~~~~~~~
edited by: @bluevioletXV1 !!! and me
researched by: me and jadechambir on twt
INTRO AND ENDING BACKGROUND MUSIC:
​⁠ @dancingkeomi :D💜
soundcloud.com...
Aged Paper Texture attribution: medialoot.com/...
If you’re reading this you're insane and I love you and thank you so much again for watching!! I Genshin and Fandom Discourse vids :) I'm just getting started, so stick around !
SOURCES:
all of the arlecchino videos
genshin-impact...
#genshinimpact #arlecchino #furina #alhaitham #kaveh #baizhu #genshin #dehya #sumeru #genshinupdate #shipping #tighnari #cyno #venti #nilou #candace #collei #dori #comedy #gaming #diluc #kaeya #heizou #kamisatoayaka #kamisatoayato #nahida #dendro #ayato #alhaitham #kaveh #ayaka #wanderer #scaramouche #balladeer #fatui #fatuiharbingers #pantalone #dottore #columbina #arlecchino #capitano #ajax #tartaglia #inazuma #mondstadt #liyue #sumeru #traveler #mc #aether #lumine #lisa #lanternritefestival #heizou #windblumefestival #kavehtham #fontaine #arlecchino #Lyney #lynette #Freminet #Focalors #Wriothesley #Neuvillette #Sigewinne #Clorinde #navia

[@pokeadam115]

Reasons I love Father: she has the hottest line in the entire game. "You overestimate yourself. You don't have the talent for bad things." That line just gets me everytime 😳

[@fedrikrose2277]

That line is wildly inaccurate, ask the Tanit tribe and the Iwakura clan, right you can't.

[@Ishakai_]

Even though she meant that as a threat, its kinda funny how every character so far don't really traveler to have a "bad side"...... Wait is this foreshadowing?

[@beamshark]

I wonder how Childe would be received if he were released today instead of at the very beginning of the game. I rarley see ppl taking him and his lore seriously and treat him as a gag character with no substance or complexity. Im happy that Arlecchino is getting the thought and time that she deserves, i love how deep her character is in all aspects, lore, design, etc. Been excited for her ever since the Fatui trailer dropped, these deepdive videos are my absolute fav❤

[@lu-__-]

yes! i began playing genshin seriously about 2years ago, and began to dislike childe due to awful interpretations of his character i deemed as fact. then, i started reeeaaally getting into the lore, and he is one of, if not the most, interesting, complex and thought out characters of the game. he's not my favourite by any means, but i grew to like his character an awful lot now. i'm sad people (past me included) get so easily swayed by such silly and joke-ish interpretations. i may be taking this too seriously hahah but idk. if you're going to talk about something, why wouldn't you inform yourself beforehand? for all it's flaws, i think genshin does a good job with characters, and childe is a nice example of it (plus, easy media-literacy check!)

[@wiseathena97]

Ugh fr. There's so many things that are interesting about his personality and lore. Like people will shit on his deeds in liyue to no end but they forget that in the Labyrinth Warriors event, he actually goes out of his way try and introduce himself to Xinyan and apologize for his actions before getting cut off by the traveler. Plus he's usually 100% honest to the traveler on what he's doing when they run into each other in other nations. And when it comes to lore, people forget that he's one of the few characters that's so heavily influenced by the Abyss bc of Skirk (both his fight style and the fuckery with his constellation). In Enkanomiya you can straight up see banners and weapons that look like his skill. Not to mention his name is fucking Ajax. Plus there's the added layer of his interactions with the harbingers. I remember reading some of his voicelines in the past and taking them as gospel but since the release of Arleccino and Scaramouche, there's this really sad undertone of him being easily manipulated because he's so young, particularly by Pulcinella who basically has Childe's family under his thumb. Edit: I typed this comment prior to watching the end section and I do have to agree with E in her comparison of Childe and Ei. Although Childe gets flack, he still gets less than some of the older female characters. To this day I've seen people go on about how Ei is such a bitch with like. No internal reflection after that thought lol.

[@adish1401]

Yeah I was called a hypocrite by a Childe apologist cause uhh... Apparently liking him because cool villain is fucked up, but "wanting a family with him" is fine :>

[@gingervald8601]

I was really hoping he'd do something war crime like in Fontaine to shake off that gag character treatment. He was most fascinating to me when he was the unhinged guy who treats maintaining a lie to his brother with the same gravity that he treats trying to drown an entire city of people. He can't stay my beloved war criminal if he doesn't even threaten to do war crimes.

[@drunknbard2807]

I blame hoyo for making the travelers relationship to him more like a friendly rivalry Theres nothing bad about it since we got to see the good in him but he also was about to nuke Liyue to fight god and the traveler seems to forget how dangerous he is whenever they're together. ((Then again the traveler is honestly inconsistent so many times))

[@YakiNatsurou]

Father SERVED in absolutely every category.

[@leni1029]

I really love her voice line about how she knows how flawed the home she created is. That she doesn't know what a home is supposed to look like and that she hopes that Lyney will do a better job one day. she is aware of her limitations and her trauma. she knows that a lot of the things she does aren't "good". She doesn't make excuses but she acknowledges her flaws. And she tries to fix and improve things in her own sometimes fucked up, dysfunctional way. And sometimes by encouraging somebody who can do better than her. And at the end of the day, it's Fontaine: everybody plays their role in this huge opera. She literally is the Arlecchino

[@bbysiea]

this is another reason why i love her; she's shitty at times, and she knows and acknowledges that. she doesn't know exactly what "good" is supposed to be, but her main goal is to break the cycle and care about her children.

[@tirofinale]

its funny because i saw mostly the opposite. people disappointed that she wasn't completely evil and was given a sympathetic backstory. tbh that would have been just as boring as arle turning out to actually be a very nice person. nah its the fact that shes a morally grey character and so complex that makes her so good and fascinating!

[@ScaraLoreRambler]

SAY IT LOUDER

[@leni1029]

it's almost disturbing how many people seem to be unable to process anything other than the categories "good" and "bad". like, no, they didn't make Arlecchino good. just more understandable. They gave her more layers and made her... a person. with reasons for her actions. Are the reasons or the actions always "good"? fuck no. And that's ok. it's a fictional character ffs ^^

[@motemo8413]

well that's just your opinion. completely horrible characters can have layers too. personally i am one of those people who were disappointed. i like her as she is in reality too but i would have preferred if she was this complete monster who was pretending/masking to be a nice person.

[@katharsis101-]

@@motemo8413 Agreed. A super evil character can still be sympathetic and have layers, while still being undeniably evil and misguided; for a good example, look at Walter White. Genshin's obssession with not making even one actually evil person is super weird and dampens the impact of the stories of its characters. Arlecchino could have had her backstory as a reason for her behavior while said behavior actually being wrong and evil, but instead we get "yeah she looks evil but actually she's kind deep down" as literally every other "evil character" this game has. Only Signora was a good case of an evil character and OF COURSE she isn't playable.

[@qh6od]

⁠@@katharsis101-tbh dottore’s portrayal as evil seems good so far

[@shimsokshim2995]

When Genshin's writing misses, it misses, but when it lands...oh my god.

[@roda_]

Arlecchino is such a morally complex character everytime i hear people talk about her i wince in pain knowing she's being reduced to a sexual object wether as Daddy or another victim of being a female character in an anime game

[@eleemaeli1830]

Yes It sucks, but we have tò be sincere with ourselves women are attractive, and if you don't exist you have no right tò begin with, the only right that Is possible tò you Is the copyright but only youre creator can use It, And most people don't play for the story so only basic sexual desire

[@ScaraLoreRambler]

FRR, it happens to so many characters and I hate it (I don't blame the people, nor do I think the general concept is trash, I just wished some characters were a TAD BIT more recognized for how deep of a character/how good their writing actually is, yk?)

[@John-hz8xy]

I agree, although to be fair, most people are looking for a good time, not a deep time, iykwim. TL;DR: To each one's own.

[@gia9049]

The fact that she doesn't even show skin and YET she gets sexualized has much as Raiden 💀

[@eliajshdjddj]

go outside

[@elijahgoh3265]

29:45 I find it very funny that during the Liyue Archon quest Childe nearly destroys the entire country by summoning an ancient sea monster, but during the Fontaine Archon Quest he protects the entire nation from destruction by a different ancient “sea” monster. So I guess morally it kinda cancels out /s. Ah Fontaine, truly the nation of justice

[@mikofanboy9711]

I thought he fight the whale because if not, it will kill him Plus as Neuvillett said, it will destroy the whole Teyvat (which include Childe family) so as a family guy he is, he will fight it :v

[@AlexisNess-mn4zw]

@@mikofanboy9711 Childe went out of his way to push himself beyond the limits(which he doesnt do usually) and went for the top of the whales head when it was about to eat the civilians.

[@mikofanboy9711]

@@AlexisNess-mn4zw correct me if I'm wrong but he already fight it the whole time till that point He trying to stop the whale consume people is like stopping it from getting "power up" :v And speaking of that part He also fight the whale to show up to Neuvi (Childe even thump down to him)

[@AlexisNess-mn4zw]

@@mikofanboy9711 Okay?He can fight it out of his own pleasure but we know Childe stops if he endangers himself too much Meanwhile here he went out of his way to save the civilians at the cost of him almost dying from fatigue and injuries. He specifically aimed for its head which was fruther away from him.

[@mikofanboy9711]

@@AlexisNess-mn4zw isn't his character is a hot head that alway want to fight to prove himself that he is stronger? I find it hard to believe he purely did it for the people I could only assume that he found the whale from his past and want to fight it? We also know his master was involved so I could also assume he did it to impress Shirk?. It feel more believable than do it because he care about the people (which is heavy contradict to his actions during the Liyue achron quest)

[@Sp1derBedo]

what i think is important in her character is that breaking the cycle of abuse doesn't necessarily happen in just one generation. in her perspective, she is giving her children what she wished for as a child but due to her upbringing, that is still flawed and at times abusive. what we're seeing in her character is the middle ground between the ramifications of the og abuser (crucabina) and the one who will most likely fully break the cycle (lyney). just like in real life, it will not be fixed with just one singular person

[@dorimaknae]

You are a breath of fresh air among all the toxicity and exclusionism in fan culture. Nuance exists, people! Seriously, thank you for blessing this site with these videos

[@rebeccacourtney5286]

I personally think of Arlecchino as a sheep in wolf’s clothing Someone who cares a lot but can’t show that for a variety of reasons (trauma, risking appearing weak to others more powerful than them or who’d exploit that, etc.) A cycle of abuse cannot be easily broken in one generation, and Arlecchino represents the middle stage. Awareness of the need to change but still bring held back by the past Lyney will be the best thing to happen to the House of the Hearth because he is going to have support from the beginning and be able to show his care for others without appearing any less strong Also I did call Crucebena and Dottore’s child experimentation partnership before her Dottore voiceline was revealed

[@phxcast799]

Wow you put it perfectly. Arlecchino is meant to represent the "gray" of many things- of morality, of breaking the cycles of abuse, etc. no wonder she feels like she cannot be put into a box.

[@rebeccacourtney5286]

@@phxcast799The remnants of Clervie also seem to represent the lingering presence of Crucabena’s cruelty Now that she has been put to rest, Crucabena’s legacy is fully behind the House of the Hearth

[@lu-__-]

i was mindlessly aware of it, but this whole "in the middle" dynamic put into actual words is making me like her even more than i already did. wow.

[@justbasicallyscarlett]

I knew Arlecchino was morally grey but I love how this video showed that Arlecchino is grey in literally every way (like mentioned at 25:06) !! I really liked that you mention how it feels like Arlecchino cannot be put in a box, in a category because she just feels like she’s between the categories! I always felt it but never thought of it. Loved the video as always !!

[@Yuki_Ika7]

as a morally grey person myself (well, i act kinder but my thoughts are much, much darker but i still let that darker side out be it though being honest or extremely dark humor, so i guess i am light grey) i very much like her

[@ligglyhart]

my favorite description/representation of Arlecchino in the game is from one of her boss materials, Silken Feather. It reads: Before their thoughts have matured, young children are reliant on the meticulous care of their parents, just as fledglings need the aegis of an adult wing. It is to fulfill such wishes that "Father" wove dangerous spider-silk into a facsimile of feathers, that she might grant her family some warmth. she knows what she is and how she is perceived, but still goes above and beyond to provide for the ones she cares about.

[@ijustwannashareavid]

One thing that I haven't seen brought up before is that after her story quest, when you talk to Freminet and Lynette, they bring up how Arle never talks about how she saved them because she doesn't want them to feel like they owe her, and for that to be what ties them together. This, coupled with her line about spiders where she states how she prefers relationships where affections are not returned (what a telling line really), does make it kinda obvious to me that the reason she's so harsh and unyielding and deliberately scary towards the kids is in no small part because she knows that the hoth as it currently stands is not a good place for them, and when the time comes (as it has as of her story quest, now that she struck that deal with Neuvillette) she doesn't want them potentially seeing her as a figure of love and comfort to be what pushes them to stay in such a dangerous institution when they might otherwise choose not to. Clearly her methods are pretty extreme, and I'm sure quite a few of those children are coming out of this whole thing pretty traumatized lol, but one thing I'm sure of is that she absolutely cares about them and their wellbeing, although maybe she doesn't know how to "love" them. I don't think that's something she fully understands, and she's not interested in learning how to so much as she's focused on ensuring they can protect themselves and make their own choices. What a cool character

[@ez52]

100% yes. Finally, someone who actually understands her. It’s so rare to find Genshin fans with sufficient reading comprehension skills.

[@retto1155]

I'm probably in the huge minority but tbh Arlecchino, TO ME, is the easiest character to understand. Maybe my autism is showing idk. She always acts purely out of her (albeit unconventional) devotion to her kids, so whatever she ends up doing or saying makes complete sense to me. Abstract concepts like "good" or "evil" rely on perspective, which can be incredibly unreliable considering every person -- and every character -- will have a different definition of what "good" and "evil" mean for them. For Arlecchino, the concept is incredibly simple: "for the children," for better or worse. She raises these orphans and teaches them to be strong and to survive the harsh lives they've come into because it's much kinder than to let them try to make it on their own, at least in her eyes. She isn't the picture of warmth like you'd hope a mother ought to be, but that's the exact reason she chose to be a "Father" instead. The same hand that punishes is the one that nurtures. I like the way you put it wrt the kid on his deathbed; that she scolds because she cares enough to do so. Anyway I definitely don't have any irl mommy issues and have a completely normal expectation of motherhood and what being a caring mother looks like and I definitely don't get a remarkably warm and secure feeling whenever she makes her appearance 🙃🙃

[@emberthecatgirl8796]

The autistic need for a parent that doesn’t hide with their abuse? Now that’s something I can get behind!

[@bbysiea]

i love both of y'all. probably concerning we can all relate but i'm sure its fine! (platonically ofc)

[@MorgenPeschke]

I read her this way, too. If she's graded on a strict scale of objective Good and Evil, she looks really bad. If she's understood in the context of how she was raised, what her goals are, and the tools she has to reach those goals, then she makes sense. Not Good or Evil, just a woman with a singular focus and very few limits to what she'll do in pursuit of that focus. Thankfully for us, that focus is her children, and the chance the Traveler is going to try attacking the House is pretty slim 🤞

[@dazc9965]

late comment but yeah! I think black and white/good and evil are still relevant concepts when discussing her, since those are the standards of perception she has to work and purposefully obscures the lines of. I feel that her purpose as a character is to force the story (and audience) to question these things while being, herself, unconstrained by them. but for the philosophy of the person, agreed! as a child Arlecchino only experienced what looked like "good" as a cover for evil, so the two ideas are already confused and don't make much sense as objective posts. her goal, in my mind, is as neutral as every other part of her - to move forward. whether any action or consequence is good or bad for her, as with anyone, can only be measured by how it impacts what is important to her, which is stepping away from the pains of the past. a life in the House is not the best that any child could have, but Arlecchino is dedicated to at least giving them one. and relative to the one she got, her methods - good or evil - seem to be working :p (also off topic but since you sort of mentioned it, my bug/spider autism is SO happy that Arlecchino exists lmao)

[@retto1155]

@@dazc9965 🤝🤝 you GET it

[@crabbss1762]

Youre literally my fave video essayist atm (we‘re passionate about the same topics)

[@lookinlikeasnack5540]

i love arlecchino bc i think hot enbys should be allowed to be evil as a treat sometimes

[@bbysiea]

this

[@m0cha_xx]

I feel like a kaveh mental health deep dive video would be rlly cool if u made one, that's js a suggestion tho

[@Suited_Nat]

I can’t wait. A deep dive on my fav character in Genshin? I’m in lol

[@Dumbledork777]

it is so interting just to see how fandom treats male villian characters vs female moraly gray charcters and I think that's so interesting to have a look at and its roots(btw I am 8 mins into this video) I think we need to all question ourselves on how we treat basically the same charter but if gendered swapped especially since the world we live in is so rooted in patriarchy (edit) I just finished this is the greatest arlecchino vid ever

[@Pellow_Blue]

The topic of "you would like this character if they were a different gender" is imo a very important discussion to have in the hoyoverse community as a whole. I see time and time again in this fandom the male characters treated as if they are redeemable but the female characters as if they aren't. I could go on about this with scara v ei but it's 2am where I live and I am tired. (Granted tho scara and ei is a bit of a bad comparison since the main reason people dislike ei is just cause she was rushed but I swear on my life if you look deeper into her character then she's actually very well written outside of the archon quest😭)

[@AlexisNess-mn4zw]

Its victim mindset. Childe is a morally grey male character whom the female fandom cant help but misscharacterize

[@AdamB_29]

I cannot tell you the amount of times when I've had conversations with people and I've mentioned something along the lines of "I don't think there exists such a thing as a good or bad person, just good or bad actions, and nobody can truly be called one or the other" and oh my god the reaction I get is always some form of challenge. I'll never understand it

[@thawingkarma233]

You’re shocked people challenge your opinions? What were you expecting them to do? Bow down and bark for you while saying: “Yasss queen, slay!” and praise you for merely sharing an opinion? You do know that’s how conversations/discussions/debates happen…right? It’s called an opinion for a reason… Like…wow. I can tell you why people challenge your opinion: Because you’re wrong. There *are* good and bad people in the world. Anyone can make mistakes, but whether they deeply regret it that or not determines whether they’re a good or bad person. It still does not change what they did, and that fact alone is prove enough that good and bad people exist in this world. If you truly don’t understand that, then you have a lot of growing up to do, because clearly only a child would have that kind of mentality. The real world is not a game, you’ll know once you grow up.

[@CreatrixTiara]

​@@thawingkarma233This absolutist thinking is children. People are nuanced and can't be reduced to just "bad" or "good", especially when what counts as "bad" or "good" can differ so much between communities and cultures. The feeling of remorse is not enough. Plenty of people have personality disorders that make it hard for them to feel remorse - and yet they are able to live good lives that help others, precisely because they are aware of their actions. Meanwhile there are people who are guilted into feeling remorse for things like being gay - but is that remorse justified?

[@saif-gv6gl]

​@@thawingkarma233it's ok lil bro, all of us have our own bad opinions

[@thawingkarma233]

@@CreatrixTiaraThe exception does not make the rule. Also do you think Nicholas Cruz is not an awful person because: “Well, humans are nuanced and cannot be characterized as good or bad.” Yeah, no. You can make the argument that he was going through a lot mentally, so what? Does every person who struggles with their mental wake up and decide: “Man, what a greta day to go to my school and take the lives of dozens of my innocent classmates.” No. He is a horrible individual, and there are millions of other people that are more or less just like him. So yes, good and bad people are actually a thing. Welcome to the real world.

[@thawingkarma233]

@@saif-gv6glIf you have nothing of value to say or bring to a conversation, then it’s best if you said nothing at all. Can’t say I’m surprised, the anime picture checks out.

[@oblivivian]

I just feel like not every villain needs to be redeemable. But I fear with our media literacy at an all time low those types of stories cannot exist

[@ScaraLoreRambler]

I agree honestly, though I love how Arlecchino's story is written and also don't mind redeemable/sympathetic villains at all as long as they're written well, I do hope Hoyo makes more pure evil characters, and not just those who outwardly express it either(ex: Dottore), I hope Columbina will be that type of character :)

[@alfiikae1232]

The fact there even has to be a video like this explaining Arlecchino is quite devastating for me TT

[@swtormadness]

The funny thing about Arlecchino's flames is that it doesn't actually destroy who those characters are. Those flames are so precise that they only remove the memories related to the House of the Heart, but the people's personalities and hobbies stay the same, which is further indicated when those two kids that talked about theatre keep talking about theatre and what they want to watch next even after their memory is wiped out as well as that guy who sells papers when he says that he is going to get married soon, which also means that even love is not erased despite the fact that the guy fell in love during the time he was an active agent (those flames are insanely precise, like seriously). Arlecchino puts it in such a way as if flames were killing their true selves (LIAR), but those flames only kill the secret agent part of them, not who they truly are in the end, which is cool. The coolest part about Arlecchino though is that she prefers people to make up preconceptions about her rather than explain stuff, because she can later use it to her advantage. And she did exactly the same thing to the children. She only let them think they're going to die because she wanted to show them all that Lyney is their next leader, the next king by positioning herself as the villain Lyney must stand up to. And also she wanted to prove to Lyney that he always lived up to her expectations. That he was never lacking in anything. Him standing up for the rest was supposed to prove that to him and the others at the same time (real chess 5d here, Arlecchino). So them thinking the punishment was death was to her advantage. It was all just an elaborate theatre play. Nobody was harmed, nobody was hurt and nobody was kept against their will. Those that left are finally free with their lives intact, only lacking very specific memories, while those that stayed did so of their own free will, so even though being the agent of the House of the Heart is dangerous, at least now it was their choice and it was just all part of the plan :D Manipulative queen. (Yes I know how silly and bad it sounds that they're at least now child soldiers that chose this life xD It's bad they are, but welp, agency!) She used this whole situation to reveal the solution she was using for years, and even went to tell Neuvillette about it to make it legitimate even though she was doing it for 5 years straight already. (Like damn, that was some elaborate gymnastics right there). I love her. Step on me, Father. "I gave my children a way out" "And you gave them trauma" "Details". Morally grey slay. Let's go!

[@medremedy7669]

casually noticing our one and true king E looking suitably vicious today

[@eff-fume]

Fatui had a 3/3 writing hit rate for me so far. Signora unfortunately died before she could do something, lol.

[@sumanaiii4552]

She introduced Harbingers into the story and got 2 Gnosis. There’s also Dottore

[@NixFaerie]

I logged on to genshin after like almost 2 years like a month ago and I ended up getting her on my like 3rd roll. I didn't know who she was but she was a genshin girl in pants so I was pretty happy

[@dancingkeomi]

okay but the look in the video?? the eatery is crazy, looking gorgeous

[@bbysiea]

i LOVE arlecchino. she's morally grey, has complex lore and background, gay (arlecchino and columbina in that italian play occasionally being lovers) and ZOOO WEEE MAMA

[@Avi_Mavi]

I think in this case ,,mother“ is a term for somebody who from an outside perspective seems loving and caring to her children ,but in reality is strict and unloving (for arlecchino atleast,because in her time as a child,the house was ruled by a ,,mother“ like that) So because her thinking of those bad traits of that „mother“ she will be ,,father“ , who seems strict and unloving but realy does care about her children . (Sorry if my english is bad,english isnt my first language )

[@phxcast799]

In her attempt to seperate herself from the concept of mother she knows, and to protect her children from that version she choose an extreme version of "father". She's in the gray area of breaking cycles of abuse, she has awareness of them but goes to an extreme to break them. I'm assuming Lyney represents the breaking of the last sage, with him being more openly affectionate towards his siblings, and not having the same risks as Arlecchino choosing to be affectionate. I think she's self aware of this to som extent, that's why she chose Lyney as the successor. What a beautifully written character. Her theme is to be gray, from her morality to her parenting.

[@Avi_Mavi]

@@phxcast799 wait i love that interpretation! It realy does make sense now why she wants Lyney to be the succesor…

[@Shrine.-]

Arlecchino is definitely my favorite character in genshin, we can only hope that Natlan can bring us another character as amazing as Arlecchino I'm not too interested in Capitano but I have high hopes for him

[@lionkingartoria8213]

This is hilarious, but....when you drum rolled I said out loud, "She's morally grey!" We are on the same wavelength there. 😂

[@Keithinnie]

She’s definitely a very interesting character

[@KimieVII]

The vast majority of my favorite characters are morally ambiguous (that's what makes them so interesting tbh) and every single time, without fail, I see the fandom taking these characters and oversimplifying them and deciding they're either "good good" or "bad bad" ...

[@ViralwingX]

Raiden Ei, Childe, Arlecchino, Wanderer, Zhongli even Nahida. All of them complex as it gets. The fandom puts them into boxes. All of these are far more complicated than Good or Bad. I know a few people are going to ask? What's wrong with Nahida? So I'll explain. Nahidas flaws and the conceqences of them are pushed under the rug so quickly it's kind of unnerving. Absolutely everyone forgets that Nahida could have solved Sumerus Archon Quest from minute one. By just taking over the people of Sumeru like she did on the bridge. But her morals and her inferiority complex. Kept her from acting in the nation best interest until it got out of hand. That isn't to say she's to blame for all the issues in the nation. No. My point is that she could have, and should have acted sooner than she did. A lot of people have gotten hurt under the Sages rule. Even if we just wanted to count the People of the Dessert. That's still a large amount of people. Yes she definitely wants to do good things. But in not acting she unintentionally allowed more harm to happen than good.

[@ZombiBunni_]

THANK YOU for the comment about the opinions towards Childe vs Arlecchino. I feel like I've seen a thousand takes on her but only really "I love him" or "he annoys me" about Childe... Some of the opinions on Arlecchino make sense (in general, I think people have too little rep for evil women, so wanting her to be more evil was something I always understood to be "I want to see this in media more often *period*") -- but I think the moral grey area Father ended up with was exactly what I expected/wanted from the get go. We were purposefully given contradictory interpretations of her from every single angle, and I was inclined to believe that her peers were most likely ONLY seeing her façade whilst the kids were aware that it was one AND that they were frequently seeing another version of it. The kids still had rose colored lenses (it's hard not to love your parental figure, it takes a LOT to break that bond & these kids also grew up with bizarre boundaries of acceptability) but I figured that they were at least a lot closer to what her core might actually end up being. The actions in Lyney & Lynette's backstories plus Freminet's mom situation pretty much cemented my reading/hope that she would end up way more caring than Scara & Childe would have us believe (or had ever been privy to) & still maintain the demeanor expected of the role

[@emp_m9686]

The scene when Arlecchino steps on that man OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Arlecchino is a great addition to the roster, and I hope to see more characters like her

[@lightishredgummi]

Arlecchino is absolutely the _definition_ of morally gray, but I honestly interpret her as more "good," mostly due to the context of her actions. is it bad to be raising child soldiers? yes, obviously. considering that the fatui probably just wants _someone_ to run the house of the hearth, would I wanna risk entrusting the place to anyone but Arlecchino or someone _she_ chooses? not really! the fact that she wasn't truly antagonistic during the archon quest already gave her a few points in my book, but then her "strict and unloving father" line made me certain that she truly _cares_ about the children under her care. she describes and presents herself as the antithesis of the previous knaves outward persona, but just like "mother," it's simply a mask to put over her more "true" nature. in a way, she's making the best of a bad situation, which is a really admirable and "good" trait to have. she's morally gray, but she's probably just as (or more) _"good"_ as any of us could realistically hope to be, if put in her shoes. meanwhile Childe... Childe scares me lol. I honestly kinda dislike how buddy-buddy he and the traveler are with each other.

[@mumi1865]

Arlecchino in fandom is either perceived as 'a disappointment of an 'evil character'' or the 'best evil character because she is ruthless and will kill children'

[@italk2much]

i’m a proud arlecchino main, she’s such a good character

[@julietedwards2768]

Are you planning on making a video on Cyno’s second story quest being SO CYNARI CODED because OMGGGGGGG IT WAS SO GAY

[@bbysiea]

CUP. LITERALLY ONE CODE WORD MADE THEM *SO* MUCH GAYER

[@julietedwards2768]

WAIT WHAT I DONT GET IT I HAVENT FINISHED IT YET

[@PacifistDungeonMaster]

Arlecchino? More like Arlecch-E-no! amirite?

[@appletree13]

That's more or less how its actually said lol

[@bonk8311]

i feel the opposite abt the ei and childe thing. i see so many more people shitting on childe than i do on ei lol edit: this might also be because i mainly interact with the fandom on reddit, and ppl loooove their boobies over there. one time on the main subreddit i said i liked childe and someone replied saying "oh so you support terrorism?" like girl WHAAAAAAAAT

[@Aeonian_puppy]

I absolutely adore Arlecchino it’s not even funny. She has taken up so much of my thoughts for so long. And I hate when people try to push her into something she isn’t. Like writting or drawing her as some big titty mommy, there are thousands of characters for you to butcher like that why did you pick the scary hot androgynous gay woman????

[@fardareismai4495]

Because those people feel uncomfortable with the hot gay androgynous woman, and objectification is a tool to take characters' power. It sucks.

[@rosalynelippington]

Because those people can’t comprehend the idea that anime women can be more then collectible waifus, or someone for themselves or Aether to “collect”.

[@phxcast799]

​@@fardareismai4495the real world and the online world aren't so different are they? They can't stand women who they cannot put into caged boxes of their limited perception. She is meant to question everything- grayness is the purpose of her character, gray morality, being in the gray area of breaking abuse cycles, that is her theme. People just lack comprehension skills and can't digest characters who aren't one dimensional fan service tropes.

[@fardareismai4495]

@@phxcast799 Yup, you got that right... It's frustrating to see how unwilling people are to look past their biases

[@phxcast799]

@@fardareismai4495 their loss 🤷 I'm glad they're being driven away, let us comprehension-skills-having and gay people enjoy her.

[@delrodriguez9422]

I dont know why when E said: "Everything about points to her being...." I straight up though she would say GAY!!! 😂😂

[@MarTheWorstGaymer]

Yes! Father content!!!

[@VAMiyoyu]

my fav yapper right here

[@pip_a_doodle2175]

31:58 "Late stage capitalism has our attention be the only power in this society" that's such a hot take and I want more discussion plz /pos /gen

[@EricAvant-zg4fo]

OMG i never noticed her walk! But finally someone with good Arlecchino takes 😩😩😩 one thing that bothered me the most is people called her the MAIN ANTAGONIST of the fontaine story like....she absolutely was not?

[@ImportantBeef]

Me a Childe apologist AND Arlecchino apologist 💅🏽💜💖💙

[@takendruid]

Proud to call myself a Childe apologist and an Arlecchino fan 🫡

[@jellybonesmasterfue45]

Arleccinno is one of my fav character, both meta and lore wise.

[@admiralbizmarckch.8235]

I guess you could put her in the Anti-Hero category possibly. Although I am not 100% about it still, but definitely she is in the gray zone of characters. Great video by the way!

[@VaioletteWestover]

Just one correction, she didn't actually lie about being from Fontaine, she just never said where she was from. She mentions that people just assumed she was and she didn't bother to correct them. It's part of her character where she uses misinformation and assumptions about her as a weapon.

[@volfawott7417]

I find this misunderstanding funny even through teapot dialogue you can tell she 100% considers herself a Fontainian just not by birth obvious. In the teapot dialogue if you ask her why she likes looking at the sea she mentioned that she's rarely ever met a Fontainian native or adopted that didn't profess a fondness for the waves. At first the fact that she brings up Fontainians after already telling us she wasn't born there might confuse people until she adds the clarifying context of native or adopted Fontainians. Since we know she's not a native one it's clearly obvious she's referring to herself as an adopted fontainian

[@morganh3179]

Wooooo yep that one took me a minute cause of the auto captions😭 16:01 Good video though!!

[@Ookamiryoshi]

"I just want her to kill me" Same gurl

[@elijahswanson619]

I absolutely love Arlechino. I can understand why people think her murdering people makes her evil, but she is not evil. She has murdered people, but for good reason. She has done it to save her children on serval occasions and those people were horrible. Not an excuse, but she did it to save children from people that would hurt them. Also her childhood was messed up. Like what do you expect someone to be like after killing her best friend because the person who was supposed to be her mother forced her to. So yeah, she is my queen and my main and no one will take that from her. I am a simp and I’m not sorry.

[@nisijones4619]

Spoilers] I find it veryyyyyy interesting and telling of her overall character that they purposely hinted throughout the entire quest that she was killing children and "doing away" with those who betrayed her, and she herself made no effort to hide this assumption, only for it to then be like ✨️surprise✨️ she's just wiping their memories and giving them a better life. It's a damn good way of showcasing that she's not afraid to put up a fight/play dirty and will be morally questionable, but she still draws the line at some things (namely child experimentation) and her having such distaste of Dottore shows that. She WANTS people to have a certain conception about her (likely due to the fact that she's literally in an organisation of extremely powerful people and she knows the dangers that come with being associated with them, and likewise their own feelings towards her and the House). Not saying she isn't morally questionable because she definitely is, but it really leans into what I feel the first story quests were trying to give us of her character - a DIPLOMAT above all else, she's gonna fight if she has to, but she's damn well manipulative enough to get the job done otherwise Also it's just nice to see a woman be represented in THIS WAY - I feel like "mothers" and mother figures in popular media very much take a certain stich/aesthetic that Arlecchino is very notttttt - she cares about her children just as much as she cares about personal gain and she knows that despite popular belief, sometimes its the "father" That's better than the "mother"

[@velaethia6]

I love Arlechhino so much that. For a solid week I just kept rewatching her videos. Specifically the one where she kills her childhood girlfriend and then her "mother" I just wish I pulled her weapon. I'm legit doing my daily quests as Arle while watching this. I'm pretty sure the "other world" is Teyvat as I don't think Khanriah is in Teyvat or rather I think it's under Teyvat.

[@whitewinesupernova]

I realllyyyy love this video. You talked about so many things about Arlecchino I would've NEVER noticed. Such an interesting character truely

[@nunsongici]

you are not only my ray of sunshine but my ray of hope too. banger video, yet again. love you and the tall lady

[@-Desire]

You're slaying the blazer fr

[@_snowy_weather_]

Oh! There's also a grey area in her birthday too! She's a Leo-Virgo cusp since she's born on August 22nd, the last day of Leo, the day before Virgo starts. Sometimes August 22nd births are considered pure Leos since they're born within the Leo timeframe, but Leo-Virgo cusp is also it's own thing too! I only know this because her birthday is also my birthday :)

[@starpeep5769]

This is so yippee... I cant wait stan arle ❤️❤️❤️ SHE YASSED THIS VIDEO 😭😭😭😭 AS ALWAYS E YAS SAVE E'S FAMILY BY SUB LIKE OR ELSE *gun to ur head*

[@jojolaivas3532]

Okay first off, amazing video as always! Also the way you transitioned into the sponsor had me howling ngl

[@1Henrink]

*E* ! That look with the red blazer is FIRE !!!

[@Cyanos161]

I feel like at the end, we will fight against 5 Fatui with 5 Fatui on our side, thet we are friends with, Childe, Hat Guy and Arlechino. Imagine Hat Guy talking about him bein a one of the 11, and Arlechino and Childe being like: "the fuck are you talking about?" Lmao

[@fafflytailslogisonicuite104]

Please, E, do a video about Overwatch's lore and their queer characters!!! That game has a beautiful storyline, a several great amount of comics- Unfortunately its Company is uhhh, not one of the good ones in terms of constant monetization, but- The writing department has done a great job nonethless.

[@TMithu]

Is your outfit inspired by the Hoyofair Idol design of Arlecchino? :o

[@neyuse]

Moraly grey character exists geshin fandom: ??????????

[@quasant9742]

Your room is so pretty gurl 😭 can u make a room tour one day??

[@rainbrowz]

The thing that I find positively refreshing about Arlecchino is she KNOWS where her flaws lie, she KNOWS she's not the ultimate caretaker, she KNOWS what she is and what she isn't. To me, that's extremely powerful and helps add on to her complex character. For instance, she intends for and knows that Lyney will take over her spot as Father of the Hearth to lead The House of the Hearth in a better direction for everyone with his integrity. She knows she can't be that and I can't help but wonder if her intentional distance isn't related to her curse, similar to Xiao's frame of mind. There's A LOT we don't know about her, and we know Genshin loves it's controlled drip-feeding of information to keep players coming back for more.

[@helenewild9233]

BABE!!!! WAKE UP!!!!! E DROPPED AN ARLECCHINO VIDEO!!!!!!

[@stanloonaur69]

i have come to notice that the red make-up you wear in this video extenuates your eyes and makes them appear larger

[@herrnarr3577]

I always assume that people understand what author meant, especially when it's clearly shown and obvious (just like with Arlecchino, who literally tells u her motivation, her past and her present relationships with the world). Until I interact with fandom. I got my fair share of pseudo-intellectualism accusations just for trying to correct people misenterpreting things that I love, but I'd rather be a pseudo-intellectual in a situation when you have to explain stuff like genshin character in 4.0 when the writing is more clear and cohesive than ever. Also being a fatui enjoyer 🎉🎉 better to never interact with fandom space tbh. Not worth it. But I really like you and the way you explain things. Out of plenty of genshin creators, you're the exception for me - I don't want to flatter, just stating a fact. I remember seeing your queer analysis and potential canon pairings exploration of genshin characters.

[@kyral6750]

I literally JUST did her story quest today, holy cow

[@tigaron02]

So something I find interesting is how in the trail for 4.0 Arlecchino chastises them for not remembering they aren't just magicians but actors, playing roles for all to see. Which is an apt way to think of how she behaves in the world in general. She play polite and easy going when doing diplomacy, as a father is she is strict with her words, but she also shows a caring side because while a father might chastise you for failing they should help you improve. She is a spy master, murderer, philanthropist, and whatever else she might need at a moments notice to help her get more information from her targets. She is honest with the Traveler but only as much as she wants or needs to be to get what she might need from their interactions, but as the Traveler is younger, and on good terms with her children she treats them fondly in her own way. In most ways she is the exact opposite of "Mother" who played at being kind, sweet, and caring while she was a monster in the shadows. The children didn't know her truth, didn't fear her and even believed her lies, while the two who knew her best were not fooled. In essence Arlecchino has chosen to be something gray so she can make the choices she has too without fear, but also makes sure those choices will be ones she won't regret or cause more undue harm to her children. She has raised them up to be good at their jobs, and trained them to think independently of her when they need too. Unlike "Mother" who wanted the children to come to her for everything, she made them dependent on her for control. In the end a character who seems evil but does good things or does evil for a good cause confuses people because narratives have for a long time enjoyed black and white morality (not in all things but a majority) so as complex character villains get footing it causes people discomfort because... well the moment you agree with the bad guy, aren't you bad too?

[@bookishblossom8670]

i haven't been in the fandom properly for a year now so i heard "childe apologist" as "child apologist" and thought they were just being an apologist for the children Arlechino was going to kill-

[@ryanharrison7808]

its like another Eula again where the story quest does literally slap you with (roughly) I like when people believe the wrong things about me, I can use these assumptions. She is SO in control of her very perception and uses that to her advantage, people writing her off as one or the other is what she WANTS which is such good writing but lord people lack media literacy ugkhfdkj. also when people get mad shes not generic super evil insane and bring up Childe and Wanderers lines about her, those lines are THEIR opinion of her and both of them are emotionally unreliable narrators like come on people 😭

[@Roxanne13579]

I feel like I had the exact opposite reactions to the fandom at large to Childe and Ei. I thought Ei was awesome and I loved the complexity of her character. Meanwhile, I looked at Childe and was like '... this guy is an asshole!'

[@ido_artiguess]

I have made it my mission to collect and simp for every single hot harbinger

[@Gogolenergy]

Arlecchino has very much so expanded the Tavat is hell theory

[@figlet6427]

I WAS WAITING FOR THISSSS

[@cuackers-m6x]

Your honor she said CHILDE enjoyer.

[@oikawascursedplushie9912]

😂

[@ArgKnoxville86]

I agree with your assesment, and also I don't have a problem with her being a grey character. My question is what is MyHoyo going to do? As in who is going to be our enemy for the game? Genshin impact has 2 main storylines and then some personal stories for each region. We have the "I am looking for my sibling and whatever is going on with that?" - and the "The Fatui are taking the Gnosis from the Archons of each region and we dont know why but it feels wrong so we want to try stopping that" This 2nd implies that the Fatui are "evil"- Mainly because the game puts the Fatui Harbingers in front of us to fight them, but also the cinematic they released one year ago paints them in a very ominous way. But so far, Childe fought us because he likes fighting and more or less he is almost our friend. And Arlechinno here is a grey character that could have killed us but didnt so we cannot consider her our enemy entirely. So who will be?? Is Genshin trying to tell us that in the end the Fatui were not the evil character of this story? The problem is not that that is bad plot to follow, the problem is that it feels pointless to follow then. If we go back to the basics, we are an outer dimensional being that came across someone that took our sibling, we are trying to get them back, sure we can help the people of this world but other than that if no evil is being done that presents any complication for us, should we really care? We could care if the Fatui "were trying to take over the world whatever" since we have bonds to the people of Teyvat, but if they are just "not evil" but missunderstood... I dont know really if we should even intervene.

[@violet_franz]

amazing video as always. chop chop queer, i need more. feast mode activated, Feed. Me. NOW!!!!!

[@vincentbarraza1115]

Arlecchino is a well-written character. Hands down. She's like Thanos.

[@sensennsen]

Orobashi is quite complex. A serpent God that forbade a dangerous riddle about reality. It was about the "Cause" and "Effect". We don't know whether he knows more than this, as the riddle is long lost, older than most the tablets written. The question returns, what was Orobashi hiding?

[@Tovy]

I mean, the kids did die, pretty much. They're memory are wiped, so they basically no longer exist. She's competent and achieves her goals and def gaslights her children, but she's a product of her trauma. She's trying to be different from her predecessor, but often ends up the same in a different way

[@Алексей545-т6б]

About question on the matter... Lets be fair - most likely Traveler join Fatui and help them in fight against Celestia so concepts like "good" or "evil" would vastly changed during next two regions

[@Craft-wq1es]

Hoyo resisting the urge to remind everyone that the Doctor experiments on children

[@caro_creates7185]

I could only focus half the time while watching this The other half I was gay panicking at Arlecchino…

[@Duriretlan]

Honestly I love the Harbingers, villains forever

[@lemonjoyce3018]

A thing about her design is that it could be inspired by the storks, since in green mythology storks were birds that aided hera by kidnapping children, as Arlecchino raises kids for Tsaritsa, hera=Tsaritsa as the latter is also a goddess of love

[@christianvalentine2724]

E, THIS IS NOT A DRILL I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!! listen to sethos' voice line about alhaitham and kaveh!

[@ShelbyLikesStuff]

I’ve always said this since Arlecchino was released. She isn’t a good parent, but she loves her kids.

[@phxcast799]

I feel like she's in the middle stage of breaking cycles of abuse, awareness of the cycles but given her position and experience with love she does not show it in the common ways, she breaks some cycles but not all because of her own trauma. Lyney will break the remaining cycle of affection I'm assuming.

[@Kadeebee089]

the way you fucking laughed when you said “I’ll fucking kill you” i’m DEAD. 😂😂😂

[@corinmiyuki4078]

I love your videos 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@Vamp_Valentine_]

This made me think, Obviously the harbingers were made to be foils of eachother. But Arle and signora really show the difference of walking a line of morality and existing in absolutes. In their designs signora is only black white and red no grey. Both are stories of trauma but one is resolved and one is forevermore. Even in their transformations. Signora puffs up to scare you, represented by butterflies. Volatile, fragile and erratic. Arle stays the same size, is spider like, cunning and shows mercy. I truly think ESPESCIALLY with Natlans resurrection imagery how Signora was givien the ultimate punishment killed by a god and reduced to ASHES (cough cough Phoenix imagery) ... That she can be a parallel to Arle if she's given a second chance. I think it could be a beautiful story if she's allowed properly grieve instead of lashing out. I can imagine she'd fully clad in black and grey old style mourning attire. Ooo Natlans gonna be good I can't wait to see if columbina follows the parallel herself in way given her design is also while black grey and pinkish/red

[@mynameisnotcool8426]

there is a difference between childe and ei + arle that i think you forgot. while in the liyue quest we don't spend much time at all sympathising with all the people he hurt, but in childe's story quest we spend a lot of time seeing him in a good way. in ei's case the inazuma quest spent a lot of time showing her as an antagonist and allowing us to bond w/ npcs like teppei whos deaths are indirectly linked to ei. we don't spend enough time sympathising w/ ei in comparison. something similar goes for arle, but instead her quest and the fontaine quest portray her in a very neutral light. there reason she is lambasted is because she is hurting playable characters that, unlike in the inazuma quest, are written very well and are very easy to sympathise with (lyney, lynette, freminet). i won't lie, misogyny may have a part to play, but it is hardly the only factor.

[@AlexisNess-mn4zw]

None suffered because he knocked out 5 milleth and adepti took care of the Osial situation.

[@mynameisnotcool8426]

@@AlexisNess-mn4zw yea that just furtheres my point, nobody really gets hurt onscreen

[@AlexisNess-mn4zw]

@@mynameisnotcool8426 Because Osial hadnt reached Liyue. Whole reason Child even did that was because he knew Morax would beat Osial and then he would try to fight him. Esp since Morax had already defeated Osial prior.

[@mynameisnotcool8426]

@@AlexisNess-mn4zw wait so would he have hurt civilians?? sry im not brushed up un liyue lore lol i forgot all of it

[@AlexisNess-mn4zw]

@@mynameisnotcool8426 No. He knew Morax was alive and wanted to have Morax show himself vs Osial then later he would fight Morax for the Gnosis