The recent reveal of Genshin Impact's next major region, Natlan, and nine of its (seemingly playable) characters has rekindled criticism of developer HoYoverse's penchant for researching and borrowing from real countries, from Sumeru's take on the Middle East to Natlan's riff on what strongly seem to be African and Latin American elements, but filling its renditions almost exclusively with white or white-passing people. Well over a dozen of Genshin Impact's English voice actors have now joined countless fans calling for Natlan to feature skin tones that match the people of the countries the region is based on.
As Eurogamer reported, Valeria Rodríguez, the English voice of Sucrose, was among the first Genshin voice actors to criticize Natlan's handling of real people and their culture.
"If you’re going to use real-world deities, respect them," she said in a tweet. "If you’re basing off of real cultures, respect that. I’m fine with things being inspired by various cultures - that’s awesome. Representation is dope. But bare minimum do some research and show some cultural appreciation."
Addressing replies from folks saying they would avoid Genshin's English voiceover in protest of such comments, Rodríguez later affirmed "I’m not deleting my tweets either. Seeing the huge response, both hateful and positive, means that I struck a chord. I’m done being silent. It’s 2024. We can all do better."
Rodríguez pointed to the Yoruba deity Ọlọrun, who was seemingly the inspiration for Natlan's wolf boy Ororon, and how the god was accurately represented with dark skin in mythological MOBA Smite, whereas Ororon is another pale male. "This is unforgivable," she said. "Look at what a sick job Smite did with their own interpretation!!! It's not hard!!!" At the time of writing, this post alone has upwards of 2.7 million impressions according to Twitter's analytics.
Ọlọrun Is the supreme Yoruba deity. You could find that with a quick Google search, even. This is unforgivable. Look at what a sick job SMITE did with their own interpretation!!! IT’S NOT HARD!!! pic.twitter.com/LbP3nuT3MKJuly 13, 2024
This example was picked up by Alejandro Saab, the voice of Cyno – one of the few remotely dark-skinned characters of Genshin's Sumeru region, famous for its deserts and tropical rainforests. "I didn’t know that's who he’s based on… Ah that’s bad," Saab said of Ororo. "You still got time to fix it."
Anne Yatco, the voice of Electro Archon Raiden, put it this way: "I really hope that a video game company listens to its fanbase when valid criticism is made multiple years in a row about the execution of its research and inclusion of elements/aspects of other cultures."
Khoi Dao, the voice of Albedo, posted a screenshot of a comment that wouldn't fit in a tweet, again latching onto Ororo specifically: "If a game draws so heavily from real-world cultures and bases a character on the supreme deity of Yoruba religion, and that character ends up looking like pale Sasuke Batman, people are absolutely within their rights to demand better representation, especially when said game has a clearly stated commitment to a global audience. I hope y'all keep making your voices heard, and I hope they listen."
Sethos voice actor Zeno Robinson wondered, "If even your base audience, the Chinese fans, are asking for better representation/or characters with different shades of melanin, who are you making these characters for?"
"I hope they take the criticism with grace," said Xinyan and Barbara voice actor Laura Stahl. "There’s no ignorance to feign. The source material is rich, and the audience has been left hungry," she added. In a follow-up tweet, Stahl was quick to tell fans "don't attack the new cast members" as "there was virtually no way any of them could know what this was" and "the conversation we need to have is not with them."
"It’s just disappointing when parts of the world that are so seldom reflected in media could be portrayed accurately," said Beidou voice actor Allegra Clark. "I know this is 'inspired by' as opposed to a 1:1 depiction, but if you’re drawing on specific sources it would be so lovely to see it done the way it should be!"
Some voice actors spoke more broadly, but seemingly with purposeful timing – all of these posts arrived on the heels of the Natlan roster reveal – and clear intent. "It shouldn’t be a radical desire to want to see yourself reflected in the media you consume," said Yoimiya voice actor Jenny Yokobori. "Dark skin is beautiful. Don't let anybody 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 looked upon and treated equally," Butts said in a later tweet. "Look at our beautiful and diverse backgrounds. Tell the wonderful stories of our people. They're incredible! Look upon us as you look upon others and smile at our beauty, too."
Christina Costello, the voice of Sumeru's Collei, expressed appreciation for improved representation in media, and advised fans and creators to "keep creating your stories. Keep sharing your stories. Keep asking for your stories to be shared, to be seen, to be heard. We all deserve it."
Gorou voice actor Cory Yee shared a similar thread on "how representation can make a huge difference in someone's life and why it matters." In closing, Yee writes: "Change is hard and I don't know what the future holds. And I am 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 famously absent character Kaveh, Ben Balmaceda, coincidentally wrote: "One [of] the things I like about [Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail] is how the story is a celebration of a wide variety of interestingly developed cultures and how their differences each contribute something unique to create a beautifully diverse and colorful society. Just think that's pretty neat."
Dani Chambers, the voice of Sumeru's Nilou, directly shared and praised one of the many pieces of Natlan fan art going around, with this example (below) giving the lion girl Xilonen noticeably darker skin. "Look how beautiful this looks!" Chambers said. "I really hope they hear everyone and what’s being said!" One of Genshin's bigger Twitch streamers, Dish, likewise argued that "fan redesigns are carrying the Natlan lineup I fear" in a thread collecting similar character edits.
Many of these sentiments have been shared – literally, with the share button – by other Genshin voice actors who haven't (to the best of my knowledge) posted comments of their own. That includes 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 fine #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 rank 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 small girl named Iansan, was also first revealed in 2020, as 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 aren't popular or well-received, perhaps that's because it has repeatedly given them weak and clunky skills for nearly four years, thereby making these characters less appealing for a game where acquiring and building a new unit is a significant investment.
Genshin has seen blowback on representation before, but nothing on this level. I've contacted HoYoverse for comment on this wave of criticism and will update our reporting if I receive a reply.
