Qiqi looks at the viewer from the bottom of the bed.
HoYoverse just released a new story trailer for Genshin Impact, and a burning question is consuming the entire fandom: How does a small child carry one of Genshin’s strongest DPS characters on his back? As of this writing, “HER WHAT???” is currently the most voted topic on the Genshin Reddit. Fanartists have come up with their own theories, and they’re horrifying.
Yesterday, the developers released an animated trailer in which the guardian hero Xiao faints after fighting multiple monsters. When she wakes up, the apothecary Qiqi explains that she was carrying him on her back. Absolutely no one present disputes this, despite the fact that Qiqi is a child.
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Endless Suffering Short Trailer | Genshin Impact
Qiqi is probably one of the most famous characters in Genshin Impact. Not because it’s powerful, but because the gacha system gives it as a consolation prize to anyone who didn’t manage to get the character they actually wanted. That’s why the community reacted so strongly: they spent over two years thinking she was just a nondescript healer. Could it be that a secret power has been hidden all along?
Fortunately, Genshin fans will always find a way to justify the shocking lore. Part of that is because the HoYoverse has always encouraged fandom and speculation. The other reason is that Genshin is so internally consistent with its narrative that everything in its official material is taken as absolute, meaningful gospel. So even if the HoYoverse makes a joke that’s patently absurd, fans will take the time and effort to explain to their peers how Qiqi is the most hijacked character in the game. Here are my favorite examples:
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Qiqi has exceptional upper body strength and just carries a grown man (teenager?) in the normal way.
Qiqi can transform into an absolutely horny woman with a bodybuilder’s figure. I’m 90 percent sure this is a reference to Biscuit Krueger from the popular Hunter x Hunter manga.
This image mocks Qiqi’s status as a gacha spoiler. She often appeared when players tried to download for someone else, and so it became a common joke to photoshop popular Genshin characters into Qiqi’s color palette. This joke makes special use of Alhaitham, who is physically powerful despite his protestations of being just a “weak scientist”. So the image doesn’t just imply that Qiqi is strong – it implies that she’s been deceiving us all along.
This artist is kind to Qiqi and accepts that she is still very much a child. Despite her limitations, she was kind enough to pull Xiao back up by his feet.
This artist is unkind to Xiao and suggests that he was dragged while flapping like a kite in the wind.
While it’s true that we don’t see the back of Xiao’s outfit, this interpretation of the night’s events seems a little sinister.
Xiao’s lore suggests that he takes the form of a bird and has official merchandise for him as a puffy finch. I doubt that “The Bane of All Evil” turns into such a cute and fluffy bird, but this is definitely an artistic interpretation that is kind to both him and Qiqi.
Regardless of how Qiqi managed to carry someone bigger than her, fans can agree on one thing: The Pharmacy Assistant is the true gigachad of Genshin Impact.
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