Genshin Impact has dropped a motherlode of Fontaine and update 4.0 reveals in the past 12 hours, momentarily coaxing the game's community out of hibernation and into the sunlight as everyone prepares for the fashionable new region and the billions its gorgeous characters will no-doubt rake in for developer Hoyoverse.
A far-reaching video teaser dubbed the Final Feast set the avalanche in motion, with about a dozen Fontaine characters revealed. We've seen some of them before in years-old lore snippets, but this is a big and largely brand-new look into the movers and shakers of Fontaine. We have names and voice actors for them, too.
- Freminet — Paul Castro Jr.
- Egeria — Courtney Steele
- Lyney — Daman Mills
- Lynette — Anairis Quiñones
- Navia — Brenna Larsen
- Charlotte — Maya Aoki Tuttle
- Wriothesley — Joe Zieja
- Sigewinne — Sarah Williams
- Clorinde — Crystal Lee
- "The Knave" Arlecchino — Erin Yvette
- Furina — Amber Lee Connors
- Neuvillette — Ray Chase
Thanks to the Japanese Genshin Impact Twitter, we can start to put some of these names to faces. Standouts include Clorinde, the Bloodborne Lady Maria lookalike who wears an Electro vision in the trailer, and Navia, the golden blonde whose Geo vision can also be seen. As a reminder, Navia is the first Geo character announced since Yun Jin's release in January 2022. Furina, the white-haired top hat enthusiast seen at 3:08, is also expected to be a Hydro user – seemingly even the Hydro archon – given her coloration, teardrop adornments, and conspicuous name (it's a long story; ask Kusanali, I mean Buer, I mean Nahida)
"Sometimes it distracts with a feint, others it pretends to slip up and reveal a flaw... When things get serious, sleight of hand dazzles more than the magic itself. Can you guess what it is?"#GenshinImpact #Lyney pic.twitter.com/t72X41eQXbJuly 3, 2023
Official details for Freminet, Lyney, and Lynette arrived on the heels of the big trailer, confirming their debut in update 4.0 as Fontaine's first playable characters. Given Genshin Impact's two-banner structure, it's likely one of these three characters is a four-star, though the first five-star of Fontaine is currently anyone's guess. Freminet and Lyney both get a lot of screen time in the new video, so my gut says they're both five-stars.
Freminet is a Cryo claymore user described as a stone-faced lone wolf of a diver. His character description also says he's an automaton, which fits with the humanoid robots seen in the Fontaine regional teaser. Lyney is a Pyro user, as well as one-half of the magic act that also includes assistant and Anemo user Lynette. Given that Lynette is Lyney's assistance, it's easy to picture Lyney being a five-star with Lynette as a four-star on his banner, but that's just speculation.
"That's already the fifth time this month... Haven't you learned not to mess with Lynette?"— Words muttered by Freminet to a vacuum cleaner, overheard by Lyney as he left his room in the dead of night.◆ LynetteElegance in the Shadows◆ "Multi-Function Magic Assistant"◆… pic.twitter.com/GFBXzExi4dJuly 3, 2023
We know Charlotte to be a Cryo user from the update 3.8 reveal, and Lyney and Lynette have been shown before. Notably absent from this list is Arlecchino, the white-and-black-haired Harbinger positioned as the antagonist of the video. We first met Arlecchino in a Fatui Harbinger teaser from last year, which confirmed she's codenamed The Knave and voiced in English by Erin Yvette.
We don't know if Arlecchino will be playable yet, but she's an early frontrunner for the most-anticipated Fontaine character. Naturally, fans are expressing their thirst in several, extremely normal ways.
not to be dramatic or anything, but i would literally cut down an entire forest of trees with a paper knife while fighting off wild rabid creatures barehanded and build a medieval castle with the wood just for a chance that arlecchino would look at me for even a brief instant. pic.twitter.com/coNQvvku5UJuly 3, 2023
SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL, I'M IN TEARS pic.twitter.com/0BKGJk0OoLJuly 3, 2023
How I look asking Arlecchino to step on me pic.twitter.com/huirLAg4XrJuly 3, 2023
GOD ARLECCHINO IS SO MOTHER 😭 pic.twitter.com/zjweYKytZ9July 3, 2023
Whether you're new to Genshin or gearing up for Fontaine, here's our final Genshin Impact tier list to help you pick the best characters.