Genshin Impact fans and voice actors accuse Hoyoverse of whitewashing the characters of the Natlan region

Genshin Influence is a gacha RPG, so it’s understandable that character design is a big focus. However, a preview of the upcoming Natlan region and some of its characters has drawn a different reaction from fans and several English voice actors of the multiplayer RPG, who are accusing developer Hoyoverse of cultural appropriation and whitewashing.

The Natlan region and upcoming characters Mavukia, Kinich, and Ororon are all inspired by African cultures and real-life deities like Mahuika of the Maori, yet the characters highlighted in the preview are all white, sparking a long list of critics and requests to change the character design from several members of the game’s English-speaking voice cast on Twitter.

The outcry even led to a petition on Change.org, which has so far received over 53,000 signatures.

“When a game draws so heavily on real cultures and a character is based on the supreme deity of the Yoruba religion, and that character ends up looking like the pale Sasuke Batman, then it’s absolutely their right to demand better representation,” writes Albedo voice actor Khoi Dao.

Sethos VA Zeno Robinson joined the call, writing: “If even your core audience, the Chinese fans, are asking for better representation and/or characters with different shades of melanin, then who are you making these characters for?”

Other members of the English cast also point out that African deities are better represented in other games, argue that being inspired by a region should not mean completely removing the culture, or point out that these requests to Hoyoverse are nothing new.

“I could stay silent about this and protect myself, but we people of color don’t always have to stay silent and allow others to bullshit us and disrespect us so we can continue to progress at half the rate of our white counterparts,” writes Sucrose actress Valeria Rodriguez. “When you use real-world deities, RESPECT them. When you reference real-world cultures, RESPECT THAT.”

Ọlọrun is the supreme deity of the Yoruba. You can even find this with a quick Google search.
This is unforgivable. Look at what an amazing job SMITE did with its own interpretation!!! IT’S NOT HARD!!! pic.twitter.com/LbP3nuT3MK

— Valeria Rodriguez 🍉 (@ElvisBadger) July 13, 2024

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