Genshin Impact players just went bonkers when miHoYo dropped some very fresh Shenhe lore about the enigmatic Cryo polearm user with shining white hair. The official tweet teased with somewhat cryptic backstory details, citing “The power of the spirits is no falsehood,” which leads us to believe that far greater mysteries surrounded this divine maiden. What set the forums ablaze had to be the fact she was not always that silver-haired beauty.
A bit of debate arose as to exactly when Shenhe’s hair turned white. The conflict of opinions spilled over: some said that she came with those pale locks since childhood, but the official notes directly put down the matter; nope, it was actually black/dark grey. This started the ensuing reply-chain: @ethancaptor replied with, “Wait but I thought child her already had white hair?” to which @tertene said, “She was rescued when she was still a child by Cloud Retainer… her hair was not always white.”
The debate grew venomous as it was apparently missed by @ShotsForLife, whom @AycSenpai set about mocking with “Found the dumbass cutscene skipper.” Ouch. Meanwhile, there was @RKnaaren saying, “Nope, her was originally black/dark-grey,” while @a3thern showed proof of her original hair color via a post on Hoyolab.
Beyond the drama of the hair, players can’t seem to stop obsessing over Shenhe as a character. The replies range all the way from “COME HOME SHENHE” to similarly desperate cries from fellow gamers trying to pull her. @Khrono2K throws down with “So good I got her on the Special Banner of Liyue,” while @herrscher_san are about to go full-out with “I’m going for c2.” The thirst is real, folks.
And that lore drop just serves to deepen the tragic story of Shenhe. A quick poke to the back of some cutscene skippers there (@ShotsForLife), she was almost sacrificed as a child to a dark god, but the adeptus Cloud Retainer saved her from this fate, and out of this awful trauma her hair turned white—generic xianxia trope of sudden white hair change that Chinese players immediately recognize as either a sign of extreme emotional distress or a cultivation breakthrough.
And timing for this character focus is not really incidental. With the Genshin Impact 5.7 update almost upon us, the community is already stoking speculations about a Shenhe rerun banner. @iByJorge’s confused “is the version coming Tuesday or Wednesday..?” sums up their general anticipation. @Brooklyn_Jordan chimed in and gave a much-needed perspective on the timezone question for anyone wondering who really gets the updates first.
While others somewhat begin to fade from the meta, Shenhe remains the people’s choice, not least as an undeniably fitting Cryo support. @Kosmikaze4real even provided proof as to how “they do still care about her,” showing that miHoYo hasn’t quite forgotten about this dearly beloved character released all the way back in Version 2.4.
More of those new lore tidbits shed new insights into Shenhe, explaining her somewhat ice-cold demeanor and her trademark white hair. It’s details like this that keep Genshin Impact’s world alive and ever-changing. Whether you are a day-one Shenhe or still praying to RNGesus, one thing is sure: the tale of this adepti disciple continues to entertain the Traveler community. Until then, please excuse us as we go pre-farming some Qingxin flowers just in case that rerun really is going to happen soon.
