The community is going wild in the best way possible after HoYoverse dropped some juicy lore on the impending Genshin Pyro Archon Mavuika. From the official Genshin Twitter account came a projection into the potential fiery sovereign of Natlan with the caption “Instead of confining themselves to the heavens, gods should broaden their horizons in the world below.” Of course, the fandom went berserk with reactions, hotter than Mavuika’s supposed pyro abilities.
He is the “brightest, most splendid, most resplendent flame reborn,” and he seems to possess something called “Kiongozi” (perhaps a new weapon, title, or gameplay mechanic to be fleshed out later). What really started catching on was that in the notes, the word “War” was put in quotation marks, setting off immediate response discussions as to whether this implies that Natlan is indeed a culture that disdains warfare, as opposed to the Warlike culture it has been given in Teyvat lore.
Observant gamers such as @bluedragonjet went on to say, “They really have to put War in quotation because people never realize that Mavuika and the people of Natlan dislike war.” That led to an entire discussion on how the Pyro Archon might turn out to be a subversion of expectations, with @TheBookOfTruth0 adding, “I love how WAR is on quotation, while GOD isn’t… Thank you Hoyoverse for confirming again that Mavuika is a true god.”
In the meantime, the character design brought with it yet another layer of chaos into the community: one player (@IchisWannabeCos) immediately began begging for a “young Mavuika Tribe outfit,” and others further debated whether some of these elements were AI-generated or simply badly done hand-drawn layers in the promo art. Things escalated so far that @silverhualian was forced to call out some WuWa supporters for trolling under the Genshin post: “idk what you wuwa fans are doing here when you don’t even like the game.”
If it were not for the hype, @Nero60402746 managed to detour it with “Natlan must have really flopped if you keep having to steal her into the spotlight,” with counterarguments spilling out for the up-and-coming region; and, of course, the gacha woes could never remain silent for long as @TFisher079 nervously inquired, “Who’s on banner next… do I keep saving?” Because let’s be real here – primogems keep us broke for life.
There were also some very entertaining cross-fandom moments: @David066832011 gave a picture of Kratos from God of War physically challenging Mavuika while the wife wars commenced with @jon8652 stating, “Mavuika is hotter, Raiden is more beautiful.” Engrained are the Genshin behaviors.
The very circumstances of the reveal make it all the more interesting in the ongoing Archon lore. With Fontaine’s storyline coming to an end and players still trying to recover from the emotional trauma of recent quests, something as wild as Natlan’s fiery ruler dropping philosophical bombs about gods engaging with the mortal world appears to be another great story-maker. The emphasis by Hoyoverse on Mavuika’s link to the “world below,” rather than celestial matters, really forces one to begin wondering about the possibility for a fairly grounded, humanized Archon, as opposed to its past incarnations.
As usual, the developers gave us just enough crumbs to keep countless conversations going without really giving away anything on a grand level. Are Mavuika and friends or foes? How does Kiongozi tie in with gameplay? And the last question on everyone’s mind – when is Natlan coming out? Currently, the world’s likely going to be spending time analyzing every pixel of promo art, arguing about pyro meta, and spending. The hype flames are lit, and this Archon reveal has already begun shining brighter than Bennett ult at C6.
