Genshin Character Design Notes
wanted to write down some stuff i’ve noticed while studying genshin character designs for my rottmnt au in case anyone could find them useful for their own crossovers/ocs.
these are not hard and fast rules as much as they are simple observations and patterns i’ve seen across characters. i am by no means telling people how to design their characters!! these are just things that i personally try to keep in mind while designing and wanted to share for those who are interested.
sorry it’s long, i’m obnoxiously meticulous and wordy 😔
5-star characters will almost always be using their burst in their wish art and the effects will usually take up half or more of the space. many will either have an almost solid background and/or ground to stand on. an exception to both of these would be klee which could be due to her being made very early in development.
4-star characters can be using either their skill or their burst and their effects will usually be pretty minimal with much more empty space around the character. effects are also much more generic save for some talent-specific visuals like sucrose’s butterfly or xingqiu’s swords. even the 4-stars with more complex art look basic next to 5-stars with similar effects (ex: chongyun/eula, xinyan/dehya, candace/tartaglia).
all of the archons so far have had their nation’s scenery incorporated into their wish art. nahida is possibly an exception as it looks like it’s just her burst, even though the burst itself seems to be based off of sumeru’s architecture, but this could also be due to her being isolated compared to the other three.
i feel like this one’s a given but long loose/draping fabrics and dangling ornaments are basically a requirement. this game has gorgeous cloth physics and they very much like to use that to their advantage in their designs.
also the characters’ movements and combat style often play a part in how they are dressed, especially in regards to the cloth physics. characters with quicker and more active movements, like sword users or those with more energetic personalities, have smaller capes, wear pants/shorter skirts, and overall have fewer loose fabrics to obscure those fast movements; their clothing/silhouette tends to hug closer to the body. meanwhile characters that have less movement and/or are more elegant, like catalysts, will have longer skirts or other long clothing items that accentuate those types of movements better. there are no strict rules for this one, but in general the clothing should complement how the character moves, not work against it.
most characters will have a very unique hair style/coloration (yelan, dehya, xiao) or they will have hats/hair ornaments (shogun, shenhe, childe) and many will have both. either way, their hair and head is an important point to add visual interest.
this one’s kind of specific, it’s just a fun thing i noticed: there are very few characters, if any, without a high collar, choker, or otherwise covered neck. i guess they don’t really like leaving the neck exposed lol.
basically this entire video has a ton of very good observations, but the main thing i keep in mind from it is that characters will “always have an appealing view from behind” since that’s how they are primarily viewed by the player during gameplay. characters in most other series will have a backside of their design that basically gets the job done and not much else. but genshin takes care to have a back view that is just as unique as the front. skirts and capes will have their own unique silhouette and flow. clothing cut, fabric patterns, and accessories will create shapes that are just as eye-catching as those in the front. they are basically almost their own unique character design, completely independent of what’s going on in the front.
the legs tend to act as a sort of “break” for the eyes, especially when viewed from the front. not counting skirts, the legs will usually have less patterning and/or darker, more subdued coloration compared to the torso. many characters will have bare legs or plain colored stockings or pants with large amounts of blank space/simple patterning.
some will have brighter colors or noticeable patterns compared to other characters, but it is almost never the main point of interest in the overall design. ex: yelan, shenhe, and albedo all have very ornate leggings/pants, but at first glance it’s generally drowned out by the brighter colors + higher contrast shapes on their torso.
some characters like razor, noelle, and heizou are exceptions to the pants rule. in these cases, the legs serve to simply balance out the design. razor and heizou’s brighter colors add interest to an otherwise simple and almost monochromatic design and noelle’s armored legs make her feel sturdy and more ornate, fitting for a knight. they are detailed enough to enhance the design, but not enough to take away focus from the upper body.
since the characters spend a lot of time running, climbing, etc, their legs are never completely covered/obscured. skirts, if not split, are knee-length at most. otherwise their animations would probably be a clipping nightmare.
pattern placement is very intentional on every part of the character. fabric patterns will generally follow the cut of the fabric so as not to interrupt the “flow” of the design. repeatable/tileable patterns are almost non-existent, except to add texture to a small area like the scales on zhongli’s coat, dark patterns on sara’s skirt, and glittery star-like textures on parts of several characters’ outfits.
(this one is very iffy and better left to your own judgement, but..) asymmetry is common, but not necessary. in fact, most characters’ silhouettes are pretty symmetrical; the asymmetry is more often in the smaller details like patterns or ornaments/accessories than anything else. more noticeable asymmetry is usually in angled/layered skirts (ningguang, faruzan, barbara) and one-sided capes/sashes (kaeya, alhaitham, wanderer), while the cut of the “base” outfit is otherwise symmetrical. the asymmetry in these designs is noticeable because it is used well, not just often. exceptions to this (namely yoimiya and tighnari) are usually going for a specific look that fits the character’s personal and cultural background and their personality.
aaaand that’s about all i can think of at the moment. i’m sure a lot more research and thought goes into these designs than what is listed here, but i am just one non-professional artist and i am far from knowing all the ins and outs of mihoyo’s design process 😔 these are just a few of the (purely surface-level) visual observations i’ve made while making my turtle au lol.
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Hey Uncle Nina! I hope this doesn't sound rude, but why aren't you on AO3 anymore? I miss you :(
hi, anon! no this is not rude at all -- that is a very valid question! plus, it can be really confusing and disheartening when an author that you follow on ao3 randomly stops posting! i totally, totally get it! <3 :')
but for me, at least, posting my updates onto ao3 got suuuper stressful and unpleasant. like literally shredded my mental health.
but this!!! this is Fun for me <3 :) there's just somethin abt tumblr, idk.
i was holding myself to all these standards on ao3, stressing myself the fuck out...& i know i'm not supposed to delete the asks i respond to, but its nice that if i feel that compulsion, i can delete stuff/edit it without it being this big, gigantic thing i'm tampering w/.
...because an ask disappearing when i'm anxious is a bummer, but me deleting Entire Chapters and possibly entire fanfictions because of panic attacks i got...due largely in part to the ungodly Stress i incurred while writing them? not cute.
also, it was a little different when style/sp was super popular on ao3 and there were new fanfics/updates for stories everyday so when you posted something, it was very low stakes and if you just gave the tags a couple hours, your fic could be washed away onto page 2/3...
...but ohHHHHH my god its so SLOW right now!!! that i shit you not updates are sitting on the front page for like multiple days??? which is nice for people that want exposure ( and deserve it tbh! ) but a large part of the ao3 posting stress was me...watching my fic get views and not get kudosed or commented on so...if i was updating rn, i would be in hell. and i'm already in hell 25/8 doing my damn job.
which! i'm a working lady! i'm very busy and stressed! running a tumblr blog is waaaay less stressful than constantly updating a fanfiction tbh. and whats more? this is stress relieving for me. <333
i enjoy this little community of people who like my content on tumblr. its less vulnerable than a03 and way less aggressive than twitter. fr. you guys are super nice to me on here and i never feel stressed or pressured ever to post stuff. <33 its really fun for me to be able to answer really super specific questions about my fanfic for people who are actively seeking out that information! like its very...curated.
and its very specific in terms of my fanfics/ncuniverse stuff, but its nice for me because i can post a variety of diff content! like i can post up my little para things, snippets of dialogue, be silly and goofy in my ask memes, but also really serious in my ask memes, i can be in depth or mysterious, sad, funny, happy, really weird like idk you guys, i really enjoy the freedom i have on here to...create without limits? ig
it feels like i can give you a shit ton of information in different mediums without having to update my fanfics, like, idk, i guess its probably not as exciting to see my ask meme answers as it is to get fanfic updates, but i try to make them like little updates, yknow? it was also really annoying to have to keep you guys in the dark abt stuff in my fics/ideas i have bc i...havent updated, so now its like!! i can tell you stuff again which!!! AAAA!!! makes me so happy omg
but yeah, sorry for the sudden switch. sorry for not really writing but...this is much better for me. i feel a lot safer and comfortable doing this. i like answering my ask memes...i like talking to yall. in terms of my fanfics, i'm not entirely sure what that means...like if i'm going to update on ao3 or if i'm gonna just post experimental updates or pieces of my fics on here? if i'm just gonna tell all my stories thru elaborate answers to ur questions...
idk! IDK! and thats okay. i am having fun and i hope you have fun. thats all that matters. <3
-uncle nina in her healing idgaf era
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