Arlecchino may be the harbinger we know the least about, and that’s kind of why I’ve held off on making any concrete theories about her… until now.
After my deep dive into the historical inspirations for Fontaine, I finally have some fresh thoughts to share! So c’mon in, and let’s get to know Arlecchino, the Knave.
**Timestamps**
No timestamps; watch the whole thing. It’s short. Ish.
**More Information**
This section is a combination of citations and terms/topics that came up during the video alongside their wikipedia articles (or similar related sources) which should help get you started when doing your own research. This list is not meant to serve as a bibliography.
Arlecchino: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Arlecchino
House of Hearth: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/House_of_the_Hearth
Angel Ranks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel
Seraph: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraph
Cherubim: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherub
Hand of Glory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_Glory
Melpomene Mask (Sock and Buskin): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sock_and_buskin
WWI Oversimplified: https://youtu.be/dHSQAEam2yc
Crash Course European History WWI: https://youtu.be/_pFCpKtwCkI
Simple History WWI: https://youtu.be/Fmobm9pZtTg
WWI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I
Concert of Europe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_of_Europe
Young Bosnia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Bosnia
Franz Ferdinand: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria
Austria-Serbia Relations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AustriaSerbia_relations
source
*NOTES & CORRECTIONS*
– I know I swapped two the country/nation orders like halfway through the vid. Sometimes I can't read.
– There's some confusion about the Khaenri'ah/Germany connection, and why it's not Mondstadt/Germany instead. This wasn't the video to go into that, so for now I'm basing my reasoning on Dainslief's line where he claims that nations are "built with steel and blood" which is a direct parallel to the speech "by iron and blood" given by Otto Von Bismark in 1862 as a part of Germany's unification efforts. There's a lot more we can go into on this subject, just felt like this one in particular was important to clarify.
having my country mention in your videos was not something i had expected
We've had quite some North Africa inspirations for Sumeru, including Amazigh which apparently wasn't part of the Persian empire. So swapping it for the Umayyad Caliphate (which is the dynasty who stretched them from Iberic peninsula to parts of India) or at least adding it is more adequate.
genuinely asking, isnt khaenri'ah more norse?(not taking germany out of the equation, but adding on it maybe)
also fontaine being more western europe, the garcia npc in sumeru points to the basque country no? doesn't necessarily imply just spain(since its also in france) but do you think it's possible to have the iberian peninsula there or probably too soon as of now?
I still think Arlecchino is still rank 10 because that means Capitana is rank 10 and childe says he is to low for him and I also think that maybe instead of a Serafin, she is some type of demonic creature because of the trailer, her eyes glow red just my opinion
No WW2 DLC for Genshin? Sadge
That intro up to 0:22?! Ash is really getting into the energetic side of things!! 🤣🤣
ngl I was really disappointed to see no outright confirmation that Sandrone would be in Fontaine. With the nation's fascination in engineering, I thought for sure we'd see her. I know there's still a chance, but I think I'll lower my expectations -sadly.
What about the theory of Arlecchino being Diluc’s mom?
I don't think the Sandrone lady being the puppet to the ruin machine was a crack theory, i felt like everyone was 50/50 on that. but when you mentioned your wish of sandrone being part of the fontaine arc, i gasped bc i also thought all of the automatons and steampunk décor was heavily implying sandrone and it would be so cool if true
Mehn, traveler could 1v1 signora…and she's rank 8 while arlechinno is 10.
I wonder how their fights will be handled
I think she will be playable, she has a pyro vision on her upper back
If arlecchino is not playable, I'm just dropping the game
I’ve actually had the theory about the actual Sandrone being the robot for so long! It’s cool to actually see someone else say it!
If you look at Arlecchino's sleeve and suit pattern,they both resemble wings, and theres four so four wings.
Never in my life had I thought that I would enter an Ashikai's video and she would mention my country 🤩 Btw so does this means literally represents Serbia 😅
living for that crack theory at the end tbh, I always look forward to your lore videos!! <3
I don't think the idea that the ruin guard is the Real, Actual Sandrone is crack at all. I think that's probably accurate. Which leads to the next question: How sapient were the original Khaenri'ahn creations? and could that possibility (the creation of sapient life) have anything to do with the gods' destruction of the nation?
I think Mondstadt is closer to Germany than Khan is to Germany, because it seems that Khan is closer to nordic/scandinavian with them waging their war being akin to the viking raids and expansion
That said, if Khan is germany and Mond is Austria, it would be great to see if the two had closer ties than most would think of
sumeru is a combination of persia and south asia (indian subcontinent)
random question are you the yanfei va?
Wait isn't Mondstadt based off of Germany and Sumeru a mixture of India and the Middle East?
you talk so fast BREATH PLEASE I CANT KEEP UP
Her hands look like a hilichurls hands. Could be as old as the cataclysm.
Bothers me that people keep ignoring the possibility of Sandrone being the robot solely because of leaks of playable models. It even HOLDS the 'girl' like a puppeteer, for God's sake and absolutely nothing can garantee that any of the harbingers are aware of that possibility too.
This theory is my favorite by far. Karkata could be a hint to this FR. Zhongli might be unaware of her existence and even tho is not really Guizhong still would be shocking to him to see her and I'm here to HOPE. I don't usually pull for girls but I'll have to pull for her is this turns out to end up like this.
YES THANK YOU. I immediately noticed Arle's wings and was wondering why no one was talking about them.
Mondstadt and it’s surrounding area is inspired by southern Germany; Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg to be specific. Those states are known for their (mostly meat, grain and potato-based) hearty food, castles, the Black Forest, their wine production at Lake Constance and their funny, seasonal, traditional festivals.
Linking the whole of Germany to Khaenri’ah is likely to much.
But you could link Kaenri’ah to Prussia, which once was a part of the German Empire way back then, if you take the Bismark quote into the view (like you described it in your pinned comment).
Bismarck was once the Prime Minister of Prussia and even the Chancellor of the Northern German Union. He has the nickname “the Iron Chancellor”still to this day. About 16 years after his death, the Great War started and with it the downfall of the German Empire. Similar to a certain great and powerful region/faction.
Thos hands honestly just look like the safety gloves woman wore back in the time period fontaine is based on, they had claws attached to the finger tops.
Inconspicuous swastika
just kidding 8:05
If Arlecchino has 4 wings on her broach and two in her hair, she is also technically a Seraphim because she has 3 pairs of wings.
Her hands could be black as punishment from either betraying the Tsaritsa or someone else.
Bruh MIHOYO JUST MAKE HER PLAYABLE. She’s the hottest character in the game despite showing like 0 skin (aside from her blackened hands). That sounds like an incredibly easy W for Mihoyo in china. There are more people thirsting over her already than almost any character I’ve seen released.
The moment you mentions Bosnia, Austria-Hungary, and Serbia I got an immediate flashback to learning about WWI in middle school and felt the universe align with two words "Black Hand". Never expected something we used to joke so much about with my class mates, cause it sounded like a silly name to us, to hit me like a truck years in the future
This may be a stretch but am I the only one that thinks the Harbingers are the Flamechaser’s parallel in genshin’s world? Because there’s 11 Flamechasers in Honkai Impact 3rd and one director, Kevin Kaslana. just like the 11 harbingers and Pierro. and in the Elysia animated short there was a shot were it showed all of the flamechasers symbols in a circular form just like the Harbinger constellation chart. I don’t know it might be a stretch but it’s adding up so nicely
Fan favourite? Kinda going far…
The suit also looks really terrible and awkward, honestly her design is complete trash unfortunately, but knowing Hoyo, there must be some lore reason for it to be this bad (personally, I speculate she is a vampire.) The only cool thinig about her visually is the fact she has necrosis in her hands, and the face/hair [though I'm not a fan of the long hair, even though women generally look better with long hair, in her case the suit is so ugly and chaotic that the hair just makes it worse.)
Then again, she is ugly and chaotic (Childe/Scaramouche lines), so it's possible this is the reason why her design is so F tier. Shame, she had so much potential from WNL. Still, I do find her interesting as a character at least from what we know so far, and I like the contrast we see in her 'voices' from the 'nice' Arlecchino in WNL to the real one in Fontaine's teaser. We know the WNL one is fake because 'we don't want to make the children cry' is delivered so coldly, she's right up there with Pantalone, Scaramouche, and Pulcinella on punchable/unlikable Fatui characters for me. All of them are so slimy and gross, it's a shame Signora had to die and not her, Signora deserved better.
Oh well. At least we have Columbina and Dottore, who are pretty based. And the other Harbingers not spoken of also have interesting designs/lines, we know we're not getting scammed with a design that looks promising only to fall flat. Dottore's overall is the best, though — best Fatui, best Genshin character, overall just the best. Hopefully we'll see some traces of his time in Fontaine catfishing people as 'Escher' (German for 'asher,' naughty boy hehe.)
7:47 All I understood was Columbina x Arlecchino is canon
I don't think Arleccino is Seelie, I think she is Unseelie. And I think that your theory on Damselette being Seelie makes sense.
I think they are suppose to be the opposites.
Sumeru is a fusion of India and the Abbasid Caliphate + Egypt.
Just from the intro opening line, am I really the only one who was immensely excited for Fontaine the most just from the Travail teaser alone 😭 it was the nation i was looking forward to the most because i loved the aesthetic of Lyney and Lynette and the Archon's ideals from the Gemstone description and what Dainsleif said was already interesting in and of itself. Out of all the nations it was the one I was looking forward to the most, more than Inazuma or Sumeru or even Snezhnaya 🙂 (not saying i dont like Sumeru or Inazuma or anything like that, their releases have both been great esp Sumeru)
Alright, can not wait to see World War 1 in Genshin 🙏
so is celestia USA?