The recent reveal of Genshin Impact’s next major region, Natlan, and nine of his (seemingly playable) characters has reignited criticism of developer HoYoverse’s penchant for researching and borrowing from real-world countries, from Sumeru’s depiction of the Middle East to Natlan’s riff on heavily African and Latino characters, but whose interpretations are almost exclusively filled with white or white-looking people. Well over a dozen Genshin Impact English voice actors have now joined countless fans demanding that Natlan have skin tones that match the people of the countries the region is based on.
As Eurogamer As reported, Valeria Rodríguez, the English voice of Sucrose, was one of the first Genshin voice actresses to criticize Natlan’s treatment of real people and their culture.
“If you use real-world deities, respect them,” she said in a tweet. “If you’re going to take inspiration from real cultures, respect that. I don’t mind things being inspired by different cultures – that’s great. Representation is great. But at least do a little research and show a little cultural appreciation.”
Rodríguez addresses the responses of people who would avoid Genshin’s English voiceover in protest against such comments. later reiterated: “I’m not deleting my tweets either. The tremendous response, both hateful and positive, means I’ve hit a nerve. I’m tired of being silent. It’s 2024. We can all do better.”
Rodríguez pointed to the Yoruba deity Ọlọrun, who was apparently the inspiration for Natlan’s wolf cub Ororon, and that in the mythological MOBA Smite, the god was depicted with dark skin, while Ororon is another pale man. “This is unforgivable,” she said. “Look at what a badass job Smite did with its own interpretation!!! It’s not hard!!!” At the time of writing, that post alone had over 2.7 million impressions according to Twitter analytics.
Ọlọrun is the supreme deity of the Yoruba. You could even find that out with a quick google search. This is unforgivable. Look at what an insane job SMITE did with its own interpretation!!! IT’S NOT HARD!!! pic.twitter.com/LbP3nuT3MKJuly 13, 2024
This example was echoed by Alejandro Saab, the voice of Cyno – one of the few characters with anywhere near dark skin from Genshin’s Sumeru region, famous for its deserts and tropical rainforests. “I didn’t know he was based on him… Ah, that’s bad,” Saab said. said by Ororo. “You still have time to fix it.”
Anne Yatco, the voice of Electro Archon Raiden, let’s put it this way: “I really hope that a video game company listens to its fan base when it faces legitimate criticism for several years in a row about how it conducts its research and includes elements/aspects of other cultures.”
Khoi Dao, the voice of Albedo, Posted a screenshot of a comment that wouldn’t have fit in a tweet, again specifically referring to Ororo: “When a game is so heavily inspired by real-world cultures and a character is based on the supreme deity of the Yoruba religion, and that character ends up looking like a pale Sasuke Batman, people are absolutely entitled to demand better representation, especially when said game is clearly committed to a global audience. I hope you continue to make your voices heard and I hope you are listened to.”
Sethos Voice Actor Zeno Robinson wondered“If even your core audience, the Chinese fans, are asking for better representation or for characters with different shades of melanin, who are you making these characters for?”
“I hope they accept the criticism with composure” said Xinyan and Barbara’s voice actress, Laura Stahl. “There’s no feigning ignorance. The source material is rich and audiences have been left hungry,” she added. In a follow-up tweet, Stahl quickly urged fans not to “attack the new cast members” as “it was virtually impossible for any of them to know what was going on” and “the conversation we need to have is not with them.”
“It is simply disappointing when parts of the world that are so rarely seen in the media are portrayed accurately,” said Beidou voice actress Allegra Clark. “I know this is ‘inspired by’ and not a 1:1 representation, but if you’re going to pull from specific sources, it would be so nice to see it as it was meant to be!”
Some voice actors expressed themselves more generally, but apparently with deliberate timing – all of these posts appeared shortly after the Natlan list was revealed – and with clear intent. “It shouldn’t be a radical desire to see yourself reflected in the media you consume,” said Yoimiya voice actress Jenny Yokobori. “Dark skin is beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” said Bill Butts, who voiced a minor character in Genshin but is better known as Owlbert in one of HoYo’s other games, Honkai Star Rail.
“We want to be seen and treated equally,” said Butts said in a later tweet. “Look at our beautiful and diverse backgrounds. Tell the wonderful stories of our people. They are incredible! Look at us as you look at others and smile at our beauty too.”
Christina Costello, the voice of Sumerus Collei, expressed Appreciating improved representation in the media, he advised fans and creators to “keep creating your stories. Keep sharing your stories. Keep demanding that your stories be shared, seen and heard. We all deserve it.”
Gorou voice actor Cory Yee divided a similar thread on “how representation can make a huge difference in someone’s life and why it matters.” Yee concludes, “Change is hard and I don’t know what the future holds. And I’m grateful that there have been improvements in representation; those are paramount. But this conversation is and will continue to be important. Stay vigilant and stay empathetic.”
The voice of the famously absent character Kaveh, Ben Balmaceda, wrote: “One of the things I like about (Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail) is that the story celebrates a wide variety of interestingly evolved cultures and how their differences each contribute something unique to create a wonderfully diverse and colorful society. I just think that’s pretty cool.”
Dani Chambers, the voice of Sumerus Nilou, has shared and praised one of the many Natlan fan art pieces floating around. This example (below) gives the lion girl Xilonen noticeably darker skin. “Look how beautiful that looks!” Chambers said. “I really hope they listen to everyone and what is being said!” One of Genshin’s bigger Twitch streamers, Dish, argues that “Fan redesigns are taking over the Natlan cast, I fear,” in a thread collecting similar character edits.
Many of these opinions were shared—literally with the share button—by other Genshin voice actors who (as far as I know) have not posted comments of their own. These include Kayli Mills, the voice of Keqing; Mara Junot, the voice of Lisa; Risa Mei, the voice of Kokomi; Kieran Regan, the voice of Heizou; Kimberley Anne Campbell, the voice of Nahida; Amber May, the voice of Dehya; and Anairis Quinones, the voice of Lynette.
hyv is fast but I’m faster… she’s so amazing #GenshinImpact #natlan pic.twitter.com/KAZ6zwCOD3July 12, 2024
It certainly hasn’t helped that of the few slightly dark-skinned characters playable in Genshin, almost all of them are among the worst units in the entire game in terms of combat performance. Dehya, Candace, and Xinyan are notoriously terrible, Cyno was one of the weakest five-stars in Sumeru, and Sethos is, at best, a worse version of existing characters. The strongest dark-skinned character is probably Kaeya, who was released at Genshin’s launch in 2020.
Of the nine Natlan characters revealed so far, the one with the darkest skin, a little girl named Iansan, was also first revealed in 2020 when Saab observed. This pattern has led to debates about HoYoverse starving the beast, so to speak: if the developer does indeed think that dark-skinned characters are not popular or well-received, then perhaps it is because it has repeatedly given them weak and cumbersome abilities for nearly four years, making them less attractive in a game where acquiring and building a new unit represents a significant investment.
Genshin has experienced backlash regarding representation before, but nothing on this level. I’ve reached out to HoYoverse for comment on this wave of criticism and will update our coverage if I receive a response.
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