What’s Up With Ororon? | Genshin Impact Design Analysis

[@Matsuri_haha]

I like how through your explanation is and isn’t just hate or simping. I love orororororororon too he’s so silly

[@words0up]

@@Matsuri_haha Thanks, I did my best to be unbiased in my judgement so I’m glad it payed off! Also I do very much love Ororon too!

[@ItzMooneh]

Samee I love his silly whenever his Granny is around😂

[@Steven-iw5cj]

While Kr community is just fawning over him 😭

[@19525-o]

+ jp community too

[@kleber8793]

​@@19525-o Don't forget the cn community ;D

[@flyingorange2482]

So basically everyone exept EN community

[@melonsapphire]

As part of the asian community, a lot of us like him 😄😄

[@sweetpotatoes8230]

Honesty I feel like a big part of the reason why the asia communities love Ororon sm is bc he fits their pretty boy manga/hwa/ua standard, even asian beauty standards in general. Hes REALLY pale like only a bit pinker than nahida... I myself like Ororons design too and think hes pretty but he DEFINITLY doesn't fit what he was based off. I know its really disrespectful to the god he was based of off, I cant just go liking a character that's a white washed god. :'/

[@RoyalTfrii]

Im more in the boat of "I love the character but i don't like his design much." It felt like they tried doing an emo themed character for a tribe based off of the night and bats but they ended up making him look like a VTuber just placed randomly in natlan. And then there is his name Ororun derived from a Nigerian creator deity, "Olorun," which although he does have a bright and caring personality which associates with Olorun being tied to being depicted as a light deity, his outfit doesn't really show that aspect of his personality and thats what puts me off. It would have been better if his name would have been derived from a god like Camazotz, a Mayan Bat God, since that would tie into his design more closely than Olorun.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Westerners hate him but Asians like Korean and CN love him. CN is even asking Hoyo to make him a 5 Star.

[@cheesykebs708]

Which is slightly unfortunate because the leaks suggest that he was meant to be a 5 star but because of how popular citlali became he got swapped. It’s sort of like what happened with siegwinne where she was meant to be a 4 star, got really popular and they changed her launch date and made her 5 star… not sure if it’s true but given how lacklustre siegwinne’s kit is it’s very believable

[@calavera6630]

As someone that grew up in LA, he literally is 100% what people at my school looked like/ wanted to cosplay as

[@Potato-uz8vq]

Wait, you mean you *didn’t* learn about the ancient Aztec Hot Topic?

[@words0up]

@@Potato-uz8vq I guess I shouldn’t have skipped all those history classes 😔

[@tipsyGnostalgics]

hes fine and all i just REALLY dont like his skinny jeans 😭

[@AnArtistInAVoid]

I have a couple problems with your evaluation of Ororon’s design. Maybe it’s just a difference in taste, but I don’t see the problems you’re mentioning. Firstly, you said the pinkish purple eye felt out of place without reason, but we learn in the Archon Quest that it is literally the point of that eye to look out of place, because it represents how his soul is incomplete. Secondly, I don’t think he’s supposed to look like a cat, but rather a bat, and after considering that, his dark color scheme makes sense. As for the scarf and busy patterns on his bat wings like cloak, maybe it’s just my personal preference, but the scarf really doesn’t seem like eye melting nonsense to me, and does serve the purpose of drawing attention somewhere where they want you to view his design pretty well, when looking at him from the front. Same goes for the patterns on the back of his cloak, when looking at the back. As for what the patterns mean? Looks a lot like abyss iconography, so it could be related to that, which makes sense, considering that the tribe he comes from is in lore doing stuff related to the happenings of the night kingdom, ley lines, and the abyss.

[@words0up]

@@AnArtistInAVoid I do like your interpretation of his outfit as a kind of cloak. It’s certainly an interesting thought, although my preference has always been for clear and comprehensive designs. Thanks for your feedback!

[@TheGwilwileth]

Thank you…

[@Woolint]

I legit liked ororon on first glance cuz he looked like a kpop male idol, and now after 5.1 even more cause he is naturally goofy 😁

[@melonsapphire]

Agreed. For my first impression tho, his appearance immediately reminds me of those MLs from shoujo mangas & isekai manhwa. The cool ikemen-looking trope that most female fanbase like.

[@sailorrinn6134]

Between the hood, ahoge, and anime hair, his head breaks immersion by being strangely tall. The pants break immersion by being...something a guy dipping his toes into style would wear in the real world. The only item providing shape is his weird cloak thing, so his whole body up 'til his head looks like a tube. The small, single bat ear looks very silly, given how edgy the rest of his outfit is trying to be. Like you said, the off-palette eye also makes him stick out in an odd way, as with the strangely detailed model. He's got vampire teeth. But not in an intriguing way. In a Spirit Halloween way. And that's all the racial implications aside. So it's like, not only is he pale white and cosplaying as an Aztec person, he's wearing a halloween costume while doing it. With all of this put together, I just could not take him seriously during the quest. I laughed when he showed up, before he even said anything. The child-like interactions he was constantly having with Citlali just made me feel pity for him. Like, he already looks like a middle-schooler exploring styles. Now he's being talked-down to and saying, "sowwy, gwanny..." It just left me feeling awkward. I guess I was meant to, but I assume I was also meant to be endeared by it all...which I wasn't. 😓 I like the neon colors. I really love bright colors that mesh well in outfits, and I also wear platform boots. I don't have a problem with the boots. I can ignore the random buckles and things, because all genshin characters have little doodads and such all over them. He just looks...so out of place, and not in a way that's harmonious. I guess we could take Mona, for example. She dresses nothing like anyone in the game, as far as I know; but we can forgive it because she looks great and acts confident while doing it. Plus, she works in a field that's literally 'out of this world'. I think it's safe to say that she sticks out in a harmonious way.

[@ph5.484]

i like ororon and generally like his design, and i appreciate how you included the positives of his character while also articulating the issues that others might be feeling but unable to put a name to. for my unsolicited take, the ubiquity of modern design elements in natlan is honestly not that surprising to me. i can think of quite a few examples of previous characters with modern design elements, like chongyun's hoodie, zhongli's suit-inspired coat and diona's... whole outfit, actually. imo i can't say that ororon looks particularly out of place next to, say, gaming and his lil cropped hoodie. it's also not unprecedented to have characters whose designs have little connection to the relevant irl cultures - a lot of mondstadt characters like fischl, bennett, and diona (again) have much more of a "modern fantasy" vibe than anything legitimately traditionally-inspired. all that is to say, i think ororon's design didn't come out of the blue, it's a continuation of existing trends in genshin's designs. evidently for some people his design specifically has crossed some line of acceptability with regards to modern inspirations and that's completely fair, but i wish more people criticising him would acknolwedge that genshin's previous designs aren't strictly traditional either.

[@misplacedpoetry9687]

Sinilar to the eye color issue Xilonen has a braid thats longer than the rest of her hair and just that already looks odd but its dyed bright pink and greenish Xilonen has a bit of the green in the jewelery she's wearing but there is nothing for the pink and it drives me crazy. Idk why so many naltan characters are like this

[@words0up]

@@misplacedpoetry9687 Oh absolutely, it annoys me every time I see it which is a shame because Xilonen is such a funny character

[@anetepaulakrinicka7830]

Maybe it's a mix of 90's or 80's with an ancient tribe. I have a feeling that Alice could be behind of this showing fashion magazine to Tribe and technologies like she showed a magazine of Kpop idols to Barbara.

[@misplacedpoetry9687]

@@anetepaulakrinicka7830 Maybe? seems not impossible but still wild that one person might be able to influence an entire nation to change how they dress, especially one that seems to care about tradition as much as Natlan

[@kalinadesseaux8011]

I just don't get it. Why does ororon get so much shade when literally the most "off" is ajaw

[@derekstapleton3396]

I find a living, breathing, pixelized lizard more strange than skinny jeans.

[@words0up]

@@kalinadesseaux8011 Honestly I could make an entire other video on why Natlan as a whole feels so different from other regions, but I still suspect there’s going to be lore behind that which is why I haven’t said anything. I do agree though, I had a similar reaction when Ajaw was revealed.

[@Kisara-ST]

​@@words0upI do really hope there's gonna be a lore reason like Alice sharing Earth's culture with them while staying there for a while or something, because it's something that really shocked me when 5.0 got released. Fontaine has always been described as the most advanced nation in Tevyat, with its steampunk victorian setting, but then comes Natlan with graffitis, rollerskating, pixel dragons, DJ setsz breakdancing, and so much more stuff that feel like they belong in ZZZ or Star Rail instead of Genshin.

[@words0up]

@@Kisara-ST That's what I was thinking! I personally subscribe to the theory that Natlan echoes Simulanka in that theres some sort of alternate fantasy realm thing going on, which is why I think they have all this weirdly cyberpunk/modern theme.

[@maplered5042]

People already saw many times how Nathan broking players expectations, but they still found something to be angry at 🙁

[@starnorthstarnorth]

this discourse is crazy to me. All natlan designs are out of place. They put casual streetwear into my high fantasy game. There is a flying pixel dinasour. We should be mad about Kinnich not Ororon.

[@ninny_alt]

ajau is a phlogiston projection, his true form is kept in kinich's wristband thing

[@words0up]

@@starnorthstarnorth I’m really just holding out hope that there’s a lore explanation for Natlan’s whole futuristic gimmick. I do love when different regions in games have different aesthetics, but if it’s not lore based then I feel like Genshin could have probably implemented this new feel into the game a little smoother.

[@j.j.juggernaut9709]

@@ninny_alt And why would a magical projection look like a pixel video game in a world with no computers or video games? Get real please, as much as I love pixelated stuff, this is just a not well thought-out excuse and still some of you players run with it 💀

[@sarah_.2224]

i mean i really dont see a problem tbh

[@starnorthstarnorth]

@@words0up the aesthetics have always slightly differed but in a way that still feels cohesive. It used to be fun to point out the differences in character designs and attributing to cultural differences, and it always made the regions feel unique and separate. however, this honestly just feels like HYV realizing that fantasy is falling out of style so they pivoted to make things more aligned with the new trends of casual-cyberpunk and urban streetwear aesthetics. This just feels like trendhopping, and any lore reason behind it would likely have been made for the purpouse of allowing them to branch out like this, but nothing will change my mind in the fact that its bad character design. Genshin designs have been getting stale, and these are actually unique and cool designs, but they dont fit the game at all. They could have done so much better.

[@anetepaulakrinicka7830]

Guys, I have a theory. What if Alice was all behind of this showing a 80's and 90's fashion magazine to Natlan people and giving technologies to rave? Same way Alice did to Barbara, by showing a Kpop idol magazine to her.

[@allisonmorrison3762]

One he's not a cat he's a bat and the black reminds me of a fruit bat

[@words0up]

When I said cat it was a slip of the tongue but thank you for alerting me! and I'm definitely not opposed to the use of black in color palettes I just think there should be more variety in the shades used since it would add clarity.

[@Deepstab1]

I gotta say I actually like the twist genshin went with with Natlan’s designs, most of the time when you hear about a fantasy setting inspired by African or old American cultures they bring up stereotypical tribal designs but here they have the most modern attires in the entire game

[@Luischocolatier]

Why do people hate him? Very simple: his name and origin calls back to the great god Olorun of the Yoruba religion but his design looks like a hot topic goth teenager who doesn't leave his room.

[@Muiuiiu]

It's also very likely that his name derives from the Maori word "ororongo" meaning "audio" which is fitting since he has sound related abilities. But still the only thing on his design that reminds us he's from Natlan are the tribal tattoos

[@Luischocolatier]

@@Muiuiiu I mean, every other "primary" language besides English (so Chinese, Japanese and Korean) explicitly call him Olorun: オロルン (Ororun), 올로룬 (Ollorun), and 欧洛伦 (Ōuluòlún) so there's no way to go around it... he's based upon Olorun.

[@Scarlet_Studios]

​​@@LuischocolatierThe R and L sounds are commonly interchanged in Chinese transliteration, so you cannot say that 欧罗伦 is Olorun because it sounds more similar to Olorun. Also, Olorun in Chinese is 奥洛伦. Japanese and Korean localizations have repeatedly proven to not necessarily have more information than the English localization, so those can't be used as reference.

[@Luischocolatier]

@@Scarlet_Studios The mental gymnastics you guys do to not acknowledge he's supposed to be black would baffle even Simone Biles herself.

[@Scarlet_Studios]

​@@LuischocolatierContinuing to blatantly lie because you can't refute a single thing I've said.

[@AlmaHeartfire]

Everyone I know sympathizes and likes ororo I think it's just kinda nitpicky to hate on the designs throughout the games there's been a mix of modern with old fashioned

[@idrilaapproves]

I LOVE ORORON SM, i like him since day 1, but after 5.1, he become my fav character and my comfy character and in some parts, i can relate to him, i really love him!!!💜💙🖤 Christmas ororon approves 🦇✨️

[@justvibingowo736]

Dude dressed with his eyes closed

[@sweetpotatoes8230]

Idk but a comment i saw weeks ago got stuck in my head i dont remember it exactly but i worded it to sound more cocky ig, (in genshin pov) "ah yes, ur culture, gods, music everything is amazing. We'd love to put everything in our game! Except for you"

[@words0up]

@@sweetpotatoes8230 unfortunately I’m not affiliated with the impacted cultures enough to be able to speak on their behalf, but there’s definitely a conversation to be had around how Genshin has handled Natlan

[@windeen]

I'm a (professional, traditional artist who is a freelancer) fine artist under my real name, so I understand perfectly what your pointing out and fully agree. Him and Chasca- their character personality is fine.... Would not say that I personally like them (either of them - I actually like Chuychi and Citloli more. But in Chuychi's case- anyone who completed 5.1 knows). But I REALLY hate their designs. I also don't know why on earth he's going to be a 4-star electro bow user. We already have 3 characters in the 4-star electro bow but no electro bow 5-stars. Likewise we have 3 characters who are 5-star HYDRO bows, and no 4-star bow users. There are other issues (in regards to rarity and weapon types and elements), but I have no idea why bow users for electro and hydro are skewed so much in one direction or another. Anyway, good video. I would have subbed but I don't know what your channel is going to be like 😅 since this is the only video I found on your channel. So I'll hold off on subbing for now. Good luck.

[@words0up]

@@windeen Thank you for the kind words! If you’re curious, my next video will probably be a redesign of Ororon since I want to walk my talk, so perhaps if you can use that to judge the quality of my channel!

[@windeen]

@@words0up Looking forward to seeing it!

[@raineterni2219]

Maybe his design is weird, not well put together and confusing because man angsty teen tm put his "cool edgy outfit" together himself while not knowing what he was doing. He lowkey reminds me of some of my very old ocs when I was convinced that the more neon on black I get the better. And maybe genshin designers wanted us to not know where to look at. Idk, it felt quite awkward and so out of place when I first saw that guy in a daylight when we were supposed to talk to him, maybe it was the feeling we were supposed to get from him? I don't know, but I'm quite curious what was hoyo really aiming for with him, since they obviously know how to design a good character and are using the general designing guidelines otherwise.

[@lucassividanes7535]

So, I don't want to sound rude, but did you read the part saying that the ororon's soul is fragmented? Like, his design is entirely about that, the eyes, the colors being divergences between several dark tones and several light tones. the face will be asymmetrical to show the same thing. everything in his design screams contradictory opposite. the jeans part is just because hoyo is distancing itself from the medieval theme, something that has already been done since the end of inazuma EX: ultra mega technological puppets that look like cyborgs, giant mecha, internet with akasha, literally in Fonteine we have generators in the shape of containers with pneuma and ousia. With each passing nation, technology increases, and honestly as a Brazilian, they are doing a great job the way they are doing it (except for the skin tones)

[@words0up]

@@lucassividanes7535 Don’t worry, you phrased it very politely! My response is that I know Ororon’s soul is fragmented, but I personally think they could have found a better way to show this since I found what they did took away from the comprehension of his design. Also from the start we’ve had some futuristic elements, such as Ruin Guards, but everything including the Akasha has had a somewhat fantasy and non-modern style (after all we didn’t have literal computers in Sumeru). I’m glad to hear your input though! Thanks for engaging!

[@lucassividanes7535]

@@words0up But how could you make an outfit modernly magical? like, it's just a pair of pants, and yet, couldn't a pair of ripped jeans be used to say that he lives with little? as we ourselves see that he is away and has donated things. So here in Brazil, the fashion for ripped jeans has come and gone several times, it has become a symbolism for "favela people"/"people with little purchasing power" but it has also become symbolism for cool, or flashy, people, like what they did with xilonen, she wears denim shorts ripped at the bottom. I don't know how the USA or England see this trend of ripped jeans, but for someone from my point of view, wearing this in the ororon seems super right, since the other clothes that we have as originating in our culture look more like cowboy clothes and owners of large rural properties, the opposite of what ororon wants to be presented

[@lamontehughes7318]

Asia loves him!

[@silliiya]

THANK YOU

[@bedosworld4327]

I like him as a character, but I’m not a big fan of his design. I feel like it’s too much everything at once.

[@hagarrastamnz596]

oroboy hate is stupid 🙃

[@Notafan765]

He is so silly

[@userAsiral]

I wish they gave him a full cloak or something 🎉

[@thekittykatie]

as a pale mexican goth I approve of him

[@Mr.Koopix]

I think a lot of Natlan's character designs don't fit in well with their environment. They look like heroes from completely different regions, even though they live in the same region. And the modern fashion outfits take me out of the game every time compared to the npc and the enemies. Some of the characters could be in honkai star rail or zzz. The region and the characters don't communicate the same thing to me.

[@walking-the-flower-path]

Same here. Out of all the Natlan character, I find his and Mualani's designs to be the least offensive. Before the region released, I was contemplating getting the pyro archon, but now? Her kit will probably be really good, but I can't imagine having Mavuika on my team.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

​@@walking-the-flower-pathSeriously. Just Pull. I know you'll Regret not Pulling for her.

[@walking-the-flower-path]

@@silverhawkscape2677 but I cannot stand her design 😭😭😭What in the world is she wearing? I cannot unsee the zippers on her biker outfit (yes, it's more than the one in her front). The thing is, I want so so so many others more, so it's actually a good thing that the Natlan character designs are so bleargh. Imagine if they were good, then the lost would be even longer.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Ororon only showed the Different Taste between CN and KR and Westerners. Given how they have Polar opposite responses.

[@silliiya]

YES YES REDESIGN PLS

[@words0up]

@@silliiya Glad to hear you’re interested, since I’m actually working on one right now! Hopefully it lives up to the expectations lol

[@GongGong-i3e]

Damn this is the reason why there's no gacha character who is fat or ugly. Unlike One Piece Treasure Cruise that has a lot of ugly meta characters like Blackbeard, Big Mom, etc

[@MADba111]

He's way too overdesigned. Like, the person that drew him kept adding details to make the drawing more detailed, but had no idea how the finished design should look like. His messy design would be more at home in Honkai than GI. Heck, most of Natlan's characters suffer from this. The only design I actually like is Kachina. Also, no joke, I actually noticed that he has animal ears only at the very end of the quest chain. It just blurs together into an amorphous blob of black and blue.

[@willowthelyxra]

But I wuv him... 🥺

[@TheLaren533]

Ororon is a nice guy that Citlali said, But I'm thinking he's introvert from his personality to me.

[@DaveCalungsod]

I loveeeeeeee ororon so much, his submissive personality that shines especially with granny😂😂😂 But yeah I really don't like the jeans it looks so plain and empty

[@yato2639]

Tbh genshin fans these days just want to hate on genshin for a reason or not

[@Kexrus_]

genshin ppl try not to hate challenge (impossible) honestly tho, ppl hate this guy?

[@pepita2437]

I love Ororn, and I will return to Genshin just to pull for him. XD

[@kawaiimika7974]

Can y'all stop acting like profesional designers? How come y'all are complaining about him BUT NO ONE is talking about how Al Haitham's design is all dark green with no patterns? Or Diluc whose outfit is all brown? Girlies, shut the front door. 5:40 ...So what if pink is not present in the outfit? Literally so many characters are designed this way.

[@icraveaffection]

But Professional designers and artists themselves are hating on his design?? the issue is that the outfit is all over the place, no matter what his color palette is, it had the potential to look good but it's just messy. That's why alhaitham and diluc look good, because they look organised, not some sort of emo hybrid

[@eszterfodor1136]

i don't like Natlan, looks like a different game.