Another teaser for Skirk was recently released by Genshin Impact, and here we are melting over the heartrending backstory just published. The tweet shows one Skirk with her guitar, singing in remembrance:
“It’s a melody I used to listen to when I was a kid. I have yet to forget it till this day.”
And oh boy, the replies? Such utter chaos! Some were joking about Skirk ditching school (because her master, Surtalogi, probably never thought of teaching her anything but fighting); others, meanwhile, were downright devastated at what it meant for her to be the last survivor of a lost civilization. User @yukarina_0103 hit the nail on the head: “This is the brutal reality of being a survivor of a lost civilization. Every single tradition and culture of the things you’ve used to… all gone.” Oof.
However, let’s take a brief moment to view the whole affair: Why is this heavy? Skirk is tied up with a destroyed civilization in terms of time. Time-wise, she is one of the very few cultural remnants or perhaps the last one. The fact she clings to the faintest memory of a melody already points to how deep her tragedy goes. And this is a recurring theme between Genshin Impact literature: characters weighed down by history lost behind them (looking at you, Xiao and Khaenri’ah crew).
The fandom went in multiple directions. Some of them demanded for more male five stars (shout-out to @BrookeLory for saying it straight: “Wake me up when you have new male 5 stars”); the others were obviously here to simp for her. @kaisacheron outright called Skirk “special girlie,” and honestly? Mood.
Then, there was talk about Surtalogi. Actually, he’s being roasted as being an absolutely awful teacher-all he taught Skirk was how to punch and kick, which may really be the source of her illiteracy when it comes to counting Mora. @sm0lmighto said, “They need to make him playable so we can throw him into a volcano.” Harsh but fair.
Thus there’s the art of tearing down, and this teaser is an absolute masterpiece in typical Genshin fashion that perfectly wraps the emotional narrative around what seems misleadingly simple combat and gacha mechanics. So very soon, Skirk’s story is to be another one of the voice-aching yet immensely compelling chapters in the game lore, with hundreds of players speculating on its place within the bigger picture.
And let us not even go on about the music, because really, Genshin never disappoints with its soundtrack. The theme of Skirk’s featuring that faint childhood melody? Chef’s kiss. It’s an understated, yet monumental, accent to her story put forward, and the players love it to bits.
All that sets up the future. With Fontaine’s story still ongoing and other characters soon to come out, Skirk’s story is probably far from over. Will she be playable? Will Surtalogi finally be held accountable for his inept enlightened ways? Time will tell.
For now, the whole community will wallow in the bittersweet tease—the feels are indeed plentiful. Be it for lore or memes or just plain love for Skirk, Genshin Impact sure knows this trick or two about hooking an audience.
