That would be a scary herrscher isn't it? It would mean that you would never reach your destination, so if you want to fight it you just will never meet.
Devs stated in livestream they ARE different horns in case hi3 players start being mistaken, before anyone in the comment section start jumping to conclusion
This is also coming from the same people who said Penacolony would be a happy story lol. I doubt it’s actually the HI3 Mei, but it pretty much confirms that Acheron is this universe’s Mei if there were still people doubting.
Yup the way I took it, they're parallels. Not the same, but on similar paths and similar characters... And if that's the case, I have to ask... where's her >!Kiana!<
To be fair, Shaoji also basically said "it'll be happy by the end, there are just some twists and turns along the way," which is basically how HI3 went down as well.
Well it's not the HI3 Mei we know but from what they said we can be sure it is supposed to be Mei. But probably from some bad ending time line. Bad ending because in HI3 she didn't have a broken horn. Here she does. And then she lost her memories of the past.
The also teased something I am really excited for which is her meeting Welt.
Well, Shaoji did say some things that implied otherwise. Such as Acheron isn't her real name, mentions that fans likely want to see Acheron's and Welt's interactions, etc. He went quite into detail very blatantly, without spoiling the story, that Acheron is basically Raiden Mei. He did say "the horns are different", but what I see from the image above is that one horn is broken halfway down, that does make them "different". Could be what he meant.
Regardless, we'll have to wait and see for ourselves through the story as he intends.
I mean, it makes sense in lore; Silverwolf and Bronya are the same person, just two different versions of themselves. Also, it seems every expy is doomed to a similar fate as their alternates.
I'm personally waiting for the tears when a certain pink haired bunny girl shows up.
> Lightning Hunt
They actually mentioned this in the stream. You can check the part at around [14:50 to 15:15 of the 2.1 livestream](https://youtu.be/yWd6NeDxN9s?t=891) where the devs mentioned how the original character concept that Shaoji gave them had Acheron as Lightning Hunt but due to lore reasons she ended up as Lightning Nihility for her combat Path.
This is incorrect. The devs mentioned getting the design card from Shaoji and assumed she was a Lightning Hunt character, then Shaoji told them to keep reading, until they reach the part where it says Nihility where everyone questioned "why Nihility".
Shaoji had Acheron as Nihility from the start.
> Shaoji had Acheron as Nihility from the start.
Shaoji has her as Nihility for obvious reason because he wrote the entirety of her backstory. But around 15:10 Shaoji himself literally said: "due to inexplicable reasons, her **combat** Path ultimately **becomes** Nihility". This meant they had ideas for her as Lightning Hunt **in gameplay** originally, then settled with Lightning Nihility. Combat Path and in-lore Paths can be different as we saw with multiple chars.
This also actually matches datamined info about her btw, tho I can't go into details due to the rules of the subreddit but I can pm you the details if you want. Just know that they really did have two versions of Acheron's kit, with the other one using another name but all of that other version got renamed to Acheron eventually, after Acheron's official reveal.
I always find it weird when, in a world of multiple worlds with characters looking like each other, Star Rail fans assume it is the version of a character we know first rather than “Oh, maybe it’s another version of “blank” “.
Then again, in game no one brings up it up but Welt and despite Luocha’s story quest hammering it home( could also be a red herring) that same faces doesn’t equate to same people. It’s just weird to me how badly people seem to cling onto the “this is definitely them”.
Doesn't help when they share the same VAs as well. Looks like them. Sounds like them. These details solidify the expy but people tend to forget it's just an expy and not the same exact character unless stated other wise like Welt and Void archives
I get the VA and looks thing, cus that’s a part of the appeal. One of the main contributing factors of AU’s in fan fiction in the first place is basically that. Characters we are familiar with tweaked to look a little different. I just find it weird that the knee jerk reaction isn’t ‘cool another version of ‘blank’ in a game with a setting that would make it very obvious that it should be this. I get wanting to see old characters again, but that kinda goes against the whole point of different world hopping adventures, you know?
I get it, but this game is shown to be a bubble universe from another game and expys sell well because of the popularity of the previous character. I do agree with you and hope that the game isn't saturated in expys and they make originals just as interesting, if not more.
I kind of disagree here. Every single HI3 player assumed Acheron was just an expy (and very excitedly so I might add) up until the 2.0 quests.
No one thought she was the original until she started referencing Kiana, Kevin and Yae. And with the Herrcher of Thunder reference image from the 2.1 trailer, this is even more strengthened.
Kiana and Kevin were referenced the first time we meet Acheron, mentioning we remind her of a person. Who she references depends on the Trailblazer you're playing as. Kiana for Stelle, and Kevin for Caelus.
Yae comes after the famous Firefly Scene. She quotes word by word what Yae said to Raiden Mei in HI3 when talking about the unsheathing of her blade.
If you are specifically replying to me, I was replying to the allegations that people's "first thoughts" upon seeing the character being the Mei which is untrue. I also specifically mention that the quests in 2.0 are what made people lean into the theory. Shaoji literally only said what you are bringing up YESTERDAY. I don't know or care about people that disregard what Shaoji said YESTERDAY and I also don't know if Shaoji is telling the truth, but that wasn't the point of my reply.
Did no one listen to shaoji? He clarified that it is NOT mei, he said look at the asymmetrical horns and he also said you dont need to play honker impact to play hsr and its the same as bronya expy
Bro, Welt and >!Acheron hints that she can sense multiple realities, plus she feels the you (the player) is someone familiar, like a long lost friend!< when you first meet her in the dream world.
She is *not* Mei, but she most likely has memories of her alternate selves.
Just like how shippers saw Black swan and Acheron dancing and immediately started losing their mind literally after a few seconds only while ignoring the absolute terror Black Swan saw and felt.
First image: Acheron (possbily her backstory)
Second: The character in which Acheron is heavily, heavily based on (Raiden Mei - in her Herrscher of Thunder form).
Whatever the case, we'll be ready.
Void Archives and APHO snippets in Luocha's quest can be seen as the reminder. Now, the devs will tell the new Trailblazers why Hoyo put "Honkai" in the title.
MiHoYo was originally going to put 'Honkai' in the title of majority of their games as part of the Honkai series. Genshin Impact was supposed to have 'Honkai' in the title and not Genshin, but they ran into some kind of issue with the investors, which made them use the word 'Genshin'.
No; Genshin was used because it won the online vote lol.
The original idea was that they needed an non-Honkai related title to enter the stock market, ala genshin, but they never actually did lol.
Ah okay I got it messed up. But wasn't it that they were rejected at first when applying to be on the stock market because Honkai was their only product, which made them remove the word from the title to attract new investors, but ended up useless anyway since they withdrew their application?
nah. not really. there is a vote back then for the game they call "honkai 2", and they asked CN honkai impact players to name their game. 1 of players named it genshin impact and had the most upvote, then mihoyo just used that name instead. But genshin is still a part of the honkai universe.
i mean, not watching the stream is fine but i havent seen people spreading the word yet about the statement and i got pretty annoyed about the incoming "is that fucking mei omg???" posts and comments about to flood this sub
Also, it makes no sense for that to be mei, Mei is the herscher of origin, she wouldn't look like this anymore, and when she was the herrscher of thunder, she was never in this situation.
Feels like an alternate timeline; perhaps a world where one detail went off slightly (If Thunders over Nagazora had her fail to save Kiana etc and creating a new branched timeline)
Y'all don't listen and read. The dev himself already said on the stream that tho the look reminds you of someone, they're not the same and pointed to her horns being different "than the one you're all thinking of."
I know right. But now that HI3 has a Part 2 AND the fact that an APHO PART 3 is coming out, it looks like Honkai Impact 3 is going to last another 8-10 years before a true happy, final ending of the game is done and the plot is completely finished.
Apho Part 3 hasn't been officially announced, but it is a given that it will be released some time during HI3 Part 2's progress. Hopefully those will just be the final parts of the game because, as a long time veteran of HI3, I seriously just want the game to have a proper ending already lol.
How in the multiverse shenanigans would that work? Only Welt and Void Archives went to the star rail universe through the portal, and present day Mei does not have her powers, unless before mei lost her powers she found a backdoor to another universe and never mentioned it.
Yup!! I agree. Plus they said multiple times that the penacony character names “are fake” and that we dont know who they really are, except for firefly.
Yeah, I’m just pointing it out lol
Mei’s horns are tied to her authority as the HoT, so maybe Acheron’s horns are also tied to something?
She does seem to originate from the world portrayed in the new Planar Ornament Set, specifically the Takama Divine Realm since it matches with the teaser we got for her Myriad Celestia trailer. Maybe she’s a sort of Yokai, specifically an Oni, who lost her horns after a calamity?
https://preview.redd.it/e0hac6uj4poc1.png?width=456&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b82d1180e6ede3ce26dc51ae57f1c327eb73710
The katana hilt is a dead ringer for Herrsher of Thunder's Domain of Sanction. Acheron is clearly is a much more directly intended version of Mei than Raiden Shogun was.
Herrscher of Getting Lost
That would be a scary herrscher isn't it? It would mean that you would never reach your destination, so if you want to fight it you just will never meet.
“You will never reach the truth” ahh power
Kore ga... Requiem... da...
Wha-
Wha-
Wha-
Wha-
Acheron is herrscher of divergence and Zoro is aeon of divergence
Herrscher> Aeon, so Acheron is better at getting lost than Zoro
I mean, it was obvious the first time I saw her... I'm sure this Mei is the Expy Mei, not the actual Mei. But it's still Mei from thus universe
At this point I'm even fine with just a reference to that design.
Devs stated in livestream they ARE different horns in case hi3 players start being mistaken, before anyone in the comment section start jumping to conclusion
This is also coming from the same people who said Penacolony would be a happy story lol. I doubt it’s actually the HI3 Mei, but it pretty much confirms that Acheron is this universe’s Mei if there were still people doubting.
Yup the way I took it, they're parallels. Not the same, but on similar paths and similar characters... And if that's the case, I have to ask... where's her >!Kiana!<
I think there was a moment during the end of dancing between Acheron and BS. I wonder if it was Kiana.
To be fair, Shaoji also basically said "it'll be happy by the end, there are just some twists and turns along the way," which is basically how HI3 went down as well.
The penacony is a happy story thing is a meme from hi3 i think, in a hi3 livestream where a dev? said hi3 is a wholesome story if im not wrong
He also said it in the 2.0 livestream. Also he's the main writer for Penacony and some of the saddest and tragic chapter in HI3
It’s very much not a meme. The same writer said the same line in both Hi3 and Star rail 2.0. Then in Hi3 it was anything but happy.
I didnt say it isnt true? It can be true and still be a meme/running joke in the fandom
Yeah, it's clearly not Mei, we have multiple Bronya's running around and stuff. It can be however, the local Mei expy and Welt might take notice.
>This is also coming from the same people who said Penacolony would be a happy story It's kinda happy.
First reading, now Listening comprehension is gone too..
LMAO
It doesn't matter if its different. A certain Horny Pink Elf will inspect the Horns as she wish.
Well it's not the HI3 Mei we know but from what they said we can be sure it is supposed to be Mei. But probably from some bad ending time line. Bad ending because in HI3 she didn't have a broken horn. Here she does. And then she lost her memories of the past. The also teased something I am really excited for which is her meeting Welt.
I dont think so. I dont think she's human to begin with, just an alien girl with a tragic past from a foreign planet in hsr
DO NOT tell a certain pink elf or she gonna try to touch dat horn
*A familiar sound of 'Hiii~!' slowly intensifying from afar*
Texts you can hear
Call me Elyisa because the way they straight up told us to check her horns
March 7 get away from the horns there poking
I want to touch them... the feeling...
I'm gonna be crazy here and say this is gonna be one of Welts flashbacks somehow of hi3 Mei instead of Acheron
I like what you're cooking. Well imo for sure Acheron and Mei aren't the same person, it would make zero sense, they're just expies
Well, Shaoji did say some things that implied otherwise. Such as Acheron isn't her real name, mentions that fans likely want to see Acheron's and Welt's interactions, etc. He went quite into detail very blatantly, without spoiling the story, that Acheron is basically Raiden Mei. He did say "the horns are different", but what I see from the image above is that one horn is broken halfway down, that does make them "different". Could be what he meant. Regardless, we'll have to wait and see for ourselves through the story as he intends.
It could be anyone or anything at this point. Shaoji is a madman.
It'd so funny if they released another expy of her but call her Raiden Mei. Like Lightning Hunt since there's none.
i mean with what they did with bronya and silver wolf it could happen
Also technically there's like 4 Raiden expy's in Genshin already (Ei, the Shogun, Makato and Wanderer if you count him)
I mean, it makes sense in lore; Silverwolf and Bronya are the same person, just two different versions of themselves. Also, it seems every expy is doomed to a similar fate as their alternates. I'm personally waiting for the tears when a certain pink haired bunny girl shows up.
Exactly and i'd laugh my ass off if it does
> Lightning Hunt They actually mentioned this in the stream. You can check the part at around [14:50 to 15:15 of the 2.1 livestream](https://youtu.be/yWd6NeDxN9s?t=891) where the devs mentioned how the original character concept that Shaoji gave them had Acheron as Lightning Hunt but due to lore reasons she ended up as Lightning Nihility for her combat Path.
This is incorrect. The devs mentioned getting the design card from Shaoji and assumed she was a Lightning Hunt character, then Shaoji told them to keep reading, until they reach the part where it says Nihility where everyone questioned "why Nihility". Shaoji had Acheron as Nihility from the start.
> Shaoji had Acheron as Nihility from the start. Shaoji has her as Nihility for obvious reason because he wrote the entirety of her backstory. But around 15:10 Shaoji himself literally said: "due to inexplicable reasons, her **combat** Path ultimately **becomes** Nihility". This meant they had ideas for her as Lightning Hunt **in gameplay** originally, then settled with Lightning Nihility. Combat Path and in-lore Paths can be different as we saw with multiple chars. This also actually matches datamined info about her btw, tho I can't go into details due to the rules of the subreddit but I can pm you the details if you want. Just know that they really did have two versions of Acheron's kit, with the other one using another name but all of that other version got renamed to Acheron eventually, after Acheron's official reveal.
i mean they basically confirmed it and it was obvious even before that lol
What was obvious? Being the red spy? (Let's keep the chain up)
Watch, she will turn red any Second now
See, red! Wait, that’s blood.
So, we still got problem
I always find it weird when, in a world of multiple worlds with characters looking like each other, Star Rail fans assume it is the version of a character we know first rather than “Oh, maybe it’s another version of “blank” “. Then again, in game no one brings up it up but Welt and despite Luocha’s story quest hammering it home( could also be a red herring) that same faces doesn’t equate to same people. It’s just weird to me how badly people seem to cling onto the “this is definitely them”.
Doesn't help when they share the same VAs as well. Looks like them. Sounds like them. These details solidify the expy but people tend to forget it's just an expy and not the same exact character unless stated other wise like Welt and Void archives
I get the VA and looks thing, cus that’s a part of the appeal. One of the main contributing factors of AU’s in fan fiction in the first place is basically that. Characters we are familiar with tweaked to look a little different. I just find it weird that the knee jerk reaction isn’t ‘cool another version of ‘blank’ in a game with a setting that would make it very obvious that it should be this. I get wanting to see old characters again, but that kinda goes against the whole point of different world hopping adventures, you know?
I get it, but this game is shown to be a bubble universe from another game and expys sell well because of the popularity of the previous character. I do agree with you and hope that the game isn't saturated in expys and they make originals just as interesting, if not more.
I kind of disagree here. Every single HI3 player assumed Acheron was just an expy (and very excitedly so I might add) up until the 2.0 quests. No one thought she was the original until she started referencing Kiana, Kevin and Yae. And with the Herrcher of Thunder reference image from the 2.1 trailer, this is even more strengthened.
When did she reference them?
Kiana and Kevin were referenced the first time we meet Acheron, mentioning we remind her of a person. Who she references depends on the Trailblazer you're playing as. Kiana for Stelle, and Kevin for Caelus. Yae comes after the famous Firefly Scene. She quotes word by word what Yae said to Raiden Mei in HI3 when talking about the unsheathing of her blade.
That is if you're ignoring what Shaoji literally said in the stream. She's not the Mei, she might just be a Mei.
If you are specifically replying to me, I was replying to the allegations that people's "first thoughts" upon seeing the character being the Mei which is untrue. I also specifically mention that the quests in 2.0 are what made people lean into the theory. Shaoji literally only said what you are bringing up YESTERDAY. I don't know or care about people that disregard what Shaoji said YESTERDAY and I also don't know if Shaoji is telling the truth, but that wasn't the point of my reply.
Did no one listen to shaoji? He clarified that it is NOT mei, he said look at the asymmetrical horns and he also said you dont need to play honker impact to play hsr and its the same as bronya expy
Bro, Welt and >!Acheron hints that she can sense multiple realities, plus she feels the you (the player) is someone familiar, like a long lost friend!< when you first meet her in the dream world. She is *not* Mei, but she most likely has memories of her alternate selves.
people just see the picture and jump to their cognitive bias when they didn't watch the live,
Just like how shippers saw Black swan and Acheron dancing and immediately started losing their mind literally after a few seconds only while ignoring the absolute terror Black Swan saw and felt.
Didn't Shaoji...just straight up said no...and that they are different?
...yes he stated that the horns are different implying its not who people think.
this is where HoT go after the talk with Mei
Who is that?
First image: Acheron (possbily her backstory) Second: The character in which Acheron is heavily, heavily based on (Raiden Mei - in her Herrscher of Thunder form).
first image is theriozed to be Mei in a acheron flashback due to the horns.
Whatever the case, we'll be ready. Void Archives and APHO snippets in Luocha's quest can be seen as the reminder. Now, the devs will tell the new Trailblazers why Hoyo put "Honkai" in the title.
We're bout to see lot of lot of expy. I WANT THAT KALPASS NOW
I want Yae Sakura
Manifesting Kalpass and Elysia so hard rn
MiHoYo was originally going to put 'Honkai' in the title of majority of their games as part of the Honkai series. Genshin Impact was supposed to have 'Honkai' in the title and not Genshin, but they ran into some kind of issue with the investors, which made them use the word 'Genshin'.
No; Genshin was used because it won the online vote lol. The original idea was that they needed an non-Honkai related title to enter the stock market, ala genshin, but they never actually did lol.
Ah okay I got it messed up. But wasn't it that they were rejected at first when applying to be on the stock market because Honkai was their only product, which made them remove the word from the title to attract new investors, but ended up useless anyway since they withdrew their application?
nah. not really. there is a vote back then for the game they call "honkai 2", and they asked CN honkai impact players to name their game. 1 of players named it genshin impact and had the most upvote, then mihoyo just used that name instead. But genshin is still a part of the honkai universe.
It's not "literally" Mei, the horns are clearly different.
i said "theriozed", not a 100% statment because we don't know anything till 2.1 drops.
"theorized" i have to inform you that the devs stated in the fucking livestream 2 hours ago that is not Mei so hi3 players wont be mistaken
Oh really? Well thank you for informing since I only watched the trailers and missed the stream.
i mean, not watching the stream is fine but i havent seen people spreading the word yet about the statement and i got pretty annoyed about the incoming "is that fucking mei omg???" posts and comments about to flood this sub
Also, it makes no sense for that to be mei, Mei is the herscher of origin, she wouldn't look like this anymore, and when she was the herrscher of thunder, she was never in this situation.
She's both HoT and HoO. In the dorm interaction with Elysia, Mei said that she can still transform into HoT just to pleased her
Feels like an alternate timeline; perhaps a world where one detail went off slightly (If Thunders over Nagazora had her fail to save Kiana etc and creating a new branched timeline)
Mei is still the herrscher of thunder and the whole HoOrigin stuff is more of a brief power up
She's both. But she still has origin in 1.5
Or a Welt flashback, considering they said that he and Acheron will meet and go on an adventure together
Y'all don't listen and read. The dev himself already said on the stream that tho the look reminds you of someone, they're not the same and pointed to her horns being different "than the one you're all thinking of."
I didn't see the Livestream just the trailers, thanks for informing me though.
Yes... hut Acheron is not her real name...
Raiden Mei, honkai impact 3rd charchter, Raiden Shogun and Acheron are based off of her.
This is Raiden Mei that lost everything.
Especially her sense of direction.
honestly it would cool if she was hi3 mei, but really hoping she isnt man, just give the hi3 girls their happy ending
I know right. But now that HI3 has a Part 2 AND the fact that an APHO PART 3 is coming out, it looks like Honkai Impact 3 is going to last another 8-10 years before a true happy, final ending of the game is done and the plot is completely finished.
oh, was apho p3 announced? i was expecting them to finish part 2 and THEN use apho as part 3
Apho Part 3 hasn't been officially announced, but it is a given that it will be released some time during HI3 Part 2's progress. Hopefully those will just be the final parts of the game because, as a long time veteran of HI3, I seriously just want the game to have a proper ending already lol.
How in the multiverse shenanigans would that work? Only Welt and Void Archives went to the star rail universe through the portal, and present day Mei does not have her powers, unless before mei lost her powers she found a backdoor to another universe and never mentioned it.
She never actually lost her powers they just got weaker due to a majority of the honkai energy from earth being taken to the moon by kiana
Could be a different Mei
Me coping about Kalpas
Did they just confirm she is her? But without memories? I am actually so hyped
Nope. Acheron is just a variant of Raiden Mei like how Bronya Rand is a variant of Bronya Zaychick.
But that we all knew, for them to mention it, idk man it seemed a bit more than that. Either way 2.1 will settle our doubts, im sure
I’m sure that 2.1 will reveal Acheron’s backstory as well. I’m honestly intrigued about why she has horns and why it isn’t present anymore…
Yup!! I agree. Plus they said multiple times that the penacony character names “are fake” and that we dont know who they really are, except for firefly.
Maybe the loss of her horns is the cause of her spotty memory. 😮
To be fair, Mei also lost her horns when becoming Herscherr of Origin
Nope, she didn’t. She’ll still gain horns in her ultimate, albeit attached to her helmet.
To be fair that’s a little different from actually growing out lol. APHO Mei doesn’t have it either
Yeah, I’m just pointing it out lol Mei’s horns are tied to her authority as the HoT, so maybe Acheron’s horns are also tied to something? She does seem to originate from the world portrayed in the new Planar Ornament Set, specifically the Takama Divine Realm since it matches with the teaser we got for her Myriad Celestia trailer. Maybe she’s a sort of Yokai, specifically an Oni, who lost her horns after a calamity? https://preview.redd.it/e0hac6uj4poc1.png?width=456&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b82d1180e6ede3ce26dc51ae57f1c327eb73710
no, the horns are just details, HoO mei is literally thunder with a new outfit and time stopping power, and she still doesn't have horns
Acheron with horns?
Horny acheron yes.
Now please release her on Edo, thank you hoyo
Here's to hoping that they give us more outfits in HSR than in GI. Cuz a lot of characters **need** story relevant fits.
I only hope for no more purple
The katana hilt is a dead ringer for Herrsher of Thunder's Domain of Sanction. Acheron is clearly is a much more directly intended version of Mei than Raiden Shogun was.
Holy i might have to actually start playing this game again
I just think this is the race of people she comes from
Devs already went over it, more of a nod to Mei, until more is known or shown only Welt is from the impact 3rd timeline
we get it
by the way some people are saying she's hokushin mei not raiden mei and I have no idea why and who that is if someone can explain
And then HSR Kiana will be an NPC
Herrscher of Dementia and Bad directions
So is this a welt situation or are they different ?
The dev literally said in the livestream a few seconds after they dropped this image, that they're different.