[3.8] Arlecchino's Secret Inspiration - Genshin Impact Lore

Arlecchino may be the harbinger we know the least about, and that's kind of why I've held off on making any concrete theories about her... until now.
After my deep dive into the historical inspirations for Fontaine, I finally have some fresh thoughts to share! So c'mon in, and let's get to know Arlecchino, the Knave.

**Timestamps**
No timestamps; watch the whole thing. It's short. Ish.

**More Information**
This section is a combination of citations and terms/topics that came up during the video alongside their wikipedia articles (or similar related sources) which should help get you started when doing your own research.

[Ashikai]

**NOTES & CORRECTIONS**
- I know I swapped two the country/nation orders like halfway through the vid. Sometimes I can't read.
- There's some confusion about the Khaenri'ah/Germany connection, and why it's not Mondstadt/Germany instead. This wasn't the video to go into that, so for now I'm basing my reasoning on Dainslief's line where he claims that nations are "built with steel and blood" which is a direct parallel to the speech "by iron and blood" given by Otto Von Bismark in 1862 as a part of Germany's unification efforts. There's a lot more we can go into on this subject, just felt like this one in particular was important to clarify.

[shakirmorgan]

11:40 OMG this makes even more sense when you realize Childe's line about her says she actively gives him an evil look. Since Childe likes destroying ruin machines, if this idea holds true, then Sandrone feels threatened by Childe's presence.

[NateDHWT]

I also wanted to throw out an observation that the decision to have Arlecchino appear in Fontaine is likely a reference Alice in Wonderland. In AiW, The Knave of Hearts is put on trial for stealing tarts, so having a character who - going by the other Fatui - will most often be referred to as 'The Knave' appear in the region that is known for all the trials it holds is... too on the nose to be coincidental.

Fun fact - in AiW, the Knave of Hearts was defended... by Alice.

[Senorgato]

I respect lore people in any game really but the amount of irl historical research it takes to piece things together and make theories is immaculate in genshin and I appreciate the lore specialists such as yourself for explaining it

[hisao-]

Love that crack theory at the end. I also think that it is highly likely for Sandrone to appear in Fontaine. It is not hard to think that the ultimate puppeteer could do something like gaining the control of all the robots walking around in Fontaine with a snap of her fingers. Oh boy the potential...

[lonelytac]

A theory about the playable Alercchino thing, I'd say that she's basically confirmed, like design-wise, since her suit splits to the sides on the back, and her hair is long and tied, which are traits most playable characters have, to give the player something to look at while gliding
Like Signora and pre-Wanderer Scara didn't really have those design details, and they either didn't become playable, or got a redesign

[quibee]

As soon as I saw Bosnia, Serbia, and Austria-Hungary on the screen I knew what you were going to talk about. Didn’t expect the cause of WW1 and that war in general to be a part of a Genshin theory, but as someone who’s interested in learning history, I’m definitely not complaining.

[nick_.]

As a german I always thought Mondstadt was more like Germany and Khaenri'ah was based on nordic countrys like Norway etc.There's a lot of german stuff and names like the cathedral, the food, the architecture, Klee (which means clover btw) in Mondstadt, also a lot of npc names are typical german like Anna, Hofmann, Sara and so on.
And Mondstadt itself is german (word for word translation is moon city, which reminds me a little of the three moon sisters)
Even though i know that they spoke something like german in Austria-Hungary too and
especially in the parts of Austria today, the culture is very similiar to the culture in (southern) Germany. So it maybe still fits.
I dont now that much about nordic mythology and we dont know that much about Kheanri'ah, but names like Halfdan, Dainsleif and so reminds me more of nordic names.

[PacWest]

Your Sandrone theory is super plausible. So far Hoyo has really been teasing the "nothing is as it seems" theme in Fontaine so I'd really enjoy a plot twist that she was behind a lot of the events we encounter. Really fitting for her puppeteer trait.

[justvictorys]

Now that you brought that up about Arrlechinos hands it kinda looks like she is turning into a Hilichurl or a paused process

[chickensky]

"Let's be real, most people were probably pretty 'meh' about the idea of Fontaine"
I guess I'm not most people then, because this is literally the nation of fancy outfits. I would have taken more women in suits, but I'm at least VERY glad Arlecchino got one. Now, we cope for her to be playable and to have a boss fight. I am SO hyped for her. <3
Thank you for this video, Ashikai, I will keep it in mind when we go through the story. I was surprised Angels specifically would get mentioned in this video as well, but the connection seems sound and I'm SUPER excited for it.

[foxinthebox]

"Everyone was 'meh' about idea of Fontaine until the trailer droped"
Me who has been saving for Fontaine since 1.2 : 😮

[sillychotu]

Since this video discusses the possibility that arlecchino and damslette are seelies it reminded me of a previous theory about paimon also being a seelie and I can’t help but think about the similarity in paimons appearance compared to arlecchino. However I do believe it is more likely paimon is NOT a seelie and rather a manifestation of the eighth gnosis/ the king piece, representing the “Omni element”, hence the crown on her head and the triquetra on her clothing that is used to represent any element in the tcg. This is also why the traveller can use multiple elements, because currently they posses the king gnosis of the Omni element.

[joaodeon]

Your cracked theory was exactly what I was thinking when I saw marionette for the first time and now with the goddess of dust “link”, I really want it to be true.

[DAVIDGAMER]

Arlechino is so beautifully messed up in every universe and we all love her for that lmao

[lexam]

Ashikai speaking about my country in a Genshin video, what a timeline to be alive

[vinhinh]

Would love to have a child-collector minigame in the game with arlecchino. Gotta catch all 151 types of orphan

[TinkRomero]

A Crack Theory of my own.

Arlecchino is a survivor from Sal Vindagnyr!

My only proof of this is actually from the Catalyst “Frostbearer”, which has a color scheme very similar to Arlecchino’s. It has an ascension appearance that I wish to point out as well. Before ascension, the butterfly attached to this catalyst, is white; After ascension, the butterfly is red.

I believe that Arlecchino used to have White X’s for eyes, but after her hometown was destroyed then revitalized by Durin’s blood, it turned into Red X’s.

Now! The Frostbearer has lore on … Sal Vindagnyr … obviously. It tells us about the Princess, who is the Daughter of the Priestess, how she was born under the Irminsul, and received its blessing. I believe that the Divine Nail destroyed Sal Vindagnyr, which made the Princess end up losing her life. And when Durin revitalized the Tree, it revitalized the Blessing on the Princess, revitalizing her as well. Only to awaken right after the Cataclysm, and to find her hometown completely destroyed and forgotten. Destroyed by the Gods, so in some way or another, she joined the Fatui who had a common goal with the Princess, and named her Arlecchino. (And considering her Dark arms being like a Hilichurl, it’s also likely that the destruction of Sal Vindagnyr turned her into a Hilichurl, and the revitalization reversed it.)

Also, during the Teaser, Arlecchino makes a point on “captivating the audience”, this might be something that Butterflies do, captivate people.

Also, one other thing about Dragonspine that makes no sense. Why would Durin’s blood revitalize the Irminsul? And why was it revitalizing the Tree with Butterflies?
The Frostbearer says a line from the Trees perspective, and the Tree is reaching out for ichor. Gods Blood. Durin isn’t a god, so that’s a weird thing to say, but what’s even weirder is that the Tree thought it was reaching out for ichor of all things … Irminsul has some kind of connection to ichor, which is crazy to think about!
The point that I almost swerved off to here, is that Durin’s blood is red. This is confirmed by Frostbearer as well, Irminsul Tree usually have a Gold or Blue glow to them, like the Ley Line Blossoms. (Morax says that Mora is his blood … so, his blood is gold!) The Dragonspine Tree is red, this is because of Durin’s Blood. If it was revitalized properly (whatever properly means in this context), Arlecchino would have Gold Eyes.
… and don’t Khaenri’ahns have Blue eyes? Weird, I’ll think about that more another day.

[beannnn]

5:35 Sumeru is also inspired by india, serbia and the other arabic countries, more middle eastern ones, not just persia.
Really love your videos btw! thanks for uploading this fun theorizing content! :D

[bootay]

I'm surprised there was no mention of the Knave from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the character who is defended in court by Alice for theft against the Queen of Hearts.
maybe in order to steal the gnosis the Fatui fake a theft and prove the archon to be mutable in court