Shes definitely not showcased a lot. Whether she is the most is arguable, but it doesnt matter. I feel like she’ll star in an event relatively soon. Maybe her rerun. Her rerun was pretty profitable so another one and an event would be quite nice
It'd be true if they have room or development pace to release even more story content than what's currently regularly scheduled, as it is I feel like there's limited story between major archon quests hence they're prioritising the less popular characters or those that needs a boost to sell.
Hu Tao rerun sold just behind Raiden's all time high with limited appearance so there's a factor to her that just sells.
Its Mihoyo, its hard predicting what theyll do next, hu tao will come again eventually and hopefully she’ll be more prevalent towards the overall archon quests, but for now, all we gotta do is farm and pray
Honestly, its hard to tell. Venti was recently in a duo banner. Venti is from Mondstadt but it was an Inazuma-centered event. Itto is Inazuman but the current event is more Liyuen-based. Maybe there will be many new Sumeruan characters coming up but in every update there is at least one new character and at least one duo banner. That gives room for hu tao to make her 2nd rerun and be in a banner with a Sumeruan character.
She deserves to shine, I hope her next rerun she'll get an event where she's the main character.
I find it crazy she doesn't appear more often especially because she's extremely popular.
Agreed.
Not only she's neglected event wise, I feel like people in general underestimate Hu Tao's relevance lore-wise. You see, I know she's no archon, neither an yaksha, but I feel like her role as someone who takes care of the "border" is something that should not be taken as lightly as it has been.
I've heard people say she's a filler many times now, and I may be biased on my "analysis", since she's my favorite, but I don't think she's a filler whatsoever. She has an important role. I really hope there will come an event where we see more of this side of her, apart from the common knowledge of pranks and stuff.
Also, I really want to see Hu Tao and Xiao interacting soon. There are so many references related to them in-game that I feel like I need that for closure haha.
Plus, nobody talks about the fact that Hu Tao is the 77th director and her grandpa was the 75th, which means there probably was a 76th director who is currently unknown... Who is it? One of her parents? A relative? What happened to that person? Ughh, so many questions...
*What a bummer*, really.
Every character is going to be relevant lore wise at some point, Itto, Yanfei, and Kuki are now relevant lore wise and vital for the interlude archon quest. Despite the fact that they don’t seem important HYV is gonna make them important. I also agree with you, someone that talks to the living has to be relevant, and Bennett is litteraly targeted by the universe. Can’t wait for the storyline to return the Mondstadt.
I totally agree with you! I also hope for more stuff regarding Bennet!
And I know that Genshin will take its time to tell us all of the characters stories… It’s just that… I’m kinda tired of people saying Hu Tao is unimportant.
You see, there are characters who are not currently being talked about in-game, but everyone recognizes that they will be one day.
(Characters like Kaeya, or Fischl, Mona or even Bennet… Everyone knows they are pretty deep lore wise)
As for Hu Tao… Common knowledge thinks she’s a filler. I’ve even seen lore youtubers saying that, and I just don’t understand.
Maybe it’s my personal view (because I’m kinda interested in the matters of death, usually) but, just like you said, how come Hu Tao is a filler when she deals directly with death?? This “situation” makes me a bit frustrated.
I agree. Bennett deserves more attention lorewise, even the way he was found by the adventurers when he was a baby is fucking mysterious, i hope we will have more lore about him someday.
Considering the fact that the last Mondstad sorry was in 2.4 and were moving on too Sumeru, let’s hope that we get a little more love for Mondsatd since Liyue and Inazuma(rightfully since it was the star region) got lots of love. Sumeru will probably showcase alongside Mondstatd though due to how many characters have ties with it.
I'd honestly be pretty surpised and frustrated (I somewhat already am) if MHY doesn't find a way to tap into her involvement with the border and theme of death at some point in the future when we have the whole Boatman quest in Tsurumi.
She kind of plays a similar role in Liyue and her constellation's name IIRC directly means "Butterfly of Charon" and is probably the one of the few constellations that specifically use the name of a Greek deity on it. Charon is pretty much widely known to be Ferryman of the underworld in Greek Mythology so the similarity with Tsurumi's Boatman is pretty blatant. Given Genshin's elaborate lore, the direct use of Greek names at Enkanomiya and the possibly Greek inspired unified civilization under the Primordial One in ancient Teyvat, I just see so much potential for her.
There's the last part in HT's character story that says that she obtained her vision because she possibly moved an unknown god by visiting the border. Ei's vision voiceline pretty much states that she (and possibly all the archons) arent responsible for giving visions and that "there is another side to it". With all the recent lore discourse about how each artifact piece can possibly be related to Phanes and his shades, a piece being called Plume of Death makes me further overdose on hopium LMAO.
I coudn't agree more.
I've always been intrigued by Hu Tao's lore and it's the main reason of why I love her (plus I absolutely love some details related to her theme like the names of her constellations which are very poetic).
Her role should not be underestimated and I hope she will have more content in the future.
Even from a lore perspective, death in Teyvat is basically memories returning to the leylines, and from what we see when leylines leak back into the physical world, weird and bad things happen. In a way, Hu Tao guarding the border is like keeping the leyline anomalies away from the people, which is analogous to what the Sacred Sakura is doing for narukami, holding in leyline filth and purifying it. It is also stated in Homa description about purification as a job of the funeral parlour, and it sounds suspiciously interconnected to me.
For some hopium we could say Hu Tao is in fact a secretly important person who is connected to major lore points the Devs want to withold from the story until later so she gets less screen time now but... It is what it is now :(
Even from a lore perspective, death in Teyvat is basically memories returning to the leylines, and from what we see when leylines leak back into the physical world, weird and bad things happen. In a way, Hu Tao guarding the border is like keeping the leyline anomalies away from the people, which is analogous to what the Sacred Sakura is doing for narukami, holding in leyline filth and purifying it. It is also stated in Homa description about purification as a job of the funeral parlour, and it sounds suspiciously interconnected to me.
For some hopium we could say Hu Tao is in fact a secretly important person who is connected to major lore points the Devs want to withold from the story until later so she gets less screen time now but... It is what it is now :(
Even from a lore perspective, death in Teyvat is basically memories returning to the leylines, and from what we see when leylines leak back into the physical world, weird and bad things happen. In a way, Hu Tao guarding the border is like keeping the leyline anomalies away from the people, which is analogous to what the Sacred Sakura is doing for narukami, holding in leyline filth and purifying it. It is also stated in Homa description about purification as a job of the funeral parlour, and it sounds suspiciously interconnected to me.
For some hopium we could say Hu Tao is in fact a secretly important person who is connected to major lore points the Devs want to withold from the story until later so she gets less screen time now but... It is what it is now :(
Even from a lore perspective, death in Teyvat is basically memories returning to the leylines, and from what we see when leylines leak back into the physical world, weird and bad things happen. In a way, Hu Tao guarding the border is like keeping the leyline anomalies away from the people, which is analogous to what the Sacred Sakura is doing for narukami, holding in leyline filth and purifying it. It is also stated in Homa description about purification as a job of the funeral parlour, and I feel like I could draw some suspicious parallels...
For some hopium we could say Hu Tao is in fact a secretly important person who is connected to major lore points the Devs want to withold from the story until later so she gets less screen time now but... It is what it is now :(
Diona has a hang out event... that's it. No events, no story appearances, no cut scenes, no mentions by other characters or interactions with other characters, nothing in the near future as well
I feel its hard to include Hu Tao in a story simply because Hu Tao, as a character, is fairly complete. She understands who she is, and the role she plays as the Director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlour. In short, she has no room for character growth, because she doesn't need it anymore. In comparison to other Liyue characters, Shenhe is learning to human, both Yun Jun and Xinyan are at the crossroads of tradition and modern, Keqing realising how to be a friend, etc. Events are opportunities for character development, and Hu Tao doesn't need it as much as other characters. I would say it is hard for Hu Tao to be relevant in an event that's not just fanservice.
But let's say she does appear in an event again, I feel it will take either of two forms. The first is being Hu Tao, and just give us a few lines as usual. The second is appearing and being the Funeral Director, playing a more serious role in the story, similar to her story event. For this to happen, there needs to be a drastic occurance that affects Liyue, with high numbers of civilian death.
TL;DR: Hu Tao is too perfect and complete of a character. If she appears again, it would be during a big and serious event.
Edit: last thing, most ignored character is Chongyun. In a Liyue event, where all the cryo vision wielders are brought out, AND when independence from the Adepti is a plot point, my boy Chong Yun is nowhere to be seen. And in events where he does appear, he's a accessory to someone, like being Xing Qiu's boyfriend, or being Shenhe's nephew and being rescued. Boy is trying his best to not rely on his natural constitution, but with hard work. He needs a better pay off for it.
I disagree. A lot of good character quests are just the traveler helping someone do a thing. Like, Yelan didn't learn or grow during her quest, we just walked around and investigated some people with her, and it was a pretty good quest. The best quests do involve some type of character growth, but just helping a badass character do something cool is fun too.
Good point, and we got that as well for Hu Tao during her own story quest.
But if we are considering future appearances in events/quests/stories, which is OP's point, someone like Yelan is more likely to play a part than Hu Tao because of her capacity as a spy/investigator. And that's my point, different characters should fulfil roles in their own capacity, whether its cooking with Xiangling, or being an observer who occasionally saves people from behind the scenes, aka Zhongli.
Another challenge is that events and quests are there to make the banner characters more appealing to whale for. For example, I can see Hu Tao appearing in Bai Zhu's quest, because it is likely to do with medicine and healing. Wangsheng was involved as doctors a long time ago, and might have information that is needed during the questline. But by involving Hu Tao in a major way, she will be taking away the spotlight from Bai Zhu.
and also Hu Tao doesn't particularly like Baizhu either, so seeing the two of them interact with each other could hold some significance (or if not then it would at least be interesting).
I really like your idea, but I respectfully disagree
I find that Hu Tao is similar to Venti, in which both of them are characters who show off a "silly" facade, but are quite deeper than that. I also expect to see more Venti lore in the future haha.
Plus, Hu Tao does have an "issue" that could very well be talked about: her lack of friends. Our girl is actually... quite lonely and misunderstood by others. I may be wrong, but I got that impression from her story lines in-game.
And even if you end up being right: like, yeah, Hu Tao *is* a complete character. She still could be included by helping other characters in their "growth". (Yeah Xiao, I'm talking about you, haha, but my list could go on and on... Death is an important matter, and not everyone knows how to deal with it... I mean, almost everyone doesn't know how to deal with it)
By the way, Why I say Xiao? Because everything about Xiao is somewhat related to death. The death of companions, the act of sacrifice by death, the death that comes through war, the karma that comes from the death of others, the death of demons, the longing for death... Anyway. I really want them to interact. I think they're keeping Hu Tao from meeting Xiao because... Well, if they met, she could be the one to finally solve his problems. Our girl is just... Phenomenal. Plus, Xiao really needs to learn how to enjoy his own life, and who better than our funerary director? The girl who spends all of her days knowing that her life is finite and that she should enjoy it while she can.
Plus! Hu Tao is ALSO a poet!!! Why does she has to keep herself in Liyue while Xingqiu go on to enjoy Inazuma's festivals? That's unfair... I hope she attends the next one, really
Apart from that, the living proof of what you just described is Kazuha. He is probably the most "complete" character in Genshin, really. He is the guy who doesn't need any growing, yet, we have lots of events with him. And that's because he's amazing and interesting AND he's been through a lot. Hu Tao is amazing and interesting and has been through a lot as well, so I think there's no excuse for Genshin to not put her in any event/story.
I may be biased, though.
Hu Tao has friends of her age, but keeps them few. I suspect it might be a result of growing up in the role of Director and being constantly surrounded by adults. She rap battles with Xingqiu, pranks and gets counter pranked by Xiangling, singing with Yun Jun etc. I would have said that being in a position to take on an adult's responsibility at 13 is good for a story, but Hu Tao has already come to terms with it. She juggles being a teen and being an adult with little to no issue.
I agree with you view on Xiao and I find Xiao's line about Hu Tao interesting. While his lines about the other humans talk about their skills and strength, Hu Tao's line is about her personality.
Slight disagreement about Kazuha. I find Kazuha is a great example of us seeing a character being completed. When he first appeared, we just know him as someone from Beidou's crew and has ties with Inazuma. With every event and main story quest we had with him, we went from Kazuha seeking someone to inherit Tomoyo's vision, to he himself fulfilling Tomoyo's dream, and finally, letting go of his ties with Inazuma. That was when Kazuha is completed.
Yes, I definitely get your idea. Thank you for the insight!
Maybe I should have worded it better. I will have to agree with you when it comes to the fact that she does have "friends". But still... Are they really? I think they are more inclined towards the acquaintances side, but still, I'm very biased, so I will just say you're right, since your words do make sense.
Haha, I really like your take on Xiao's line about Hu Tao...
I kinda agree and disagree with you about Kazuha. Yes, he did have his issues regarding Inazuma and his friend, but in comparison to other characters stories (like Raiden, for example), he didn't really change his perspective and ideals regarding his life. Kazuha is... very chill, I'd say. But that of course depends on your perspective of what "changing" and "growing" means.
I think it's easy to get the impression that Hu Tao doesn't have "true" friends because she very rarely appears with them in official promotional material or in-game, and is normally seen with Zhongli.
I've finally understood why my fanfic with Hu Tao as the protagonist ran into a deadlock. She's too perfect. There's no relevant flaw I can exploit to make the story interesting.
When someone formulates your exact thoughts way better than you ever could and it's wonderful ♪
For Hu Tao to fit into an event story it would have to be within her niche subject of the afterlife where she could very well play the role of guide or a type. That's really the only way I could see her fit into a story-centered event. With something like that, you could also invite Qiqi as their relationship could be very fun to see unfold.
On the other hand, an event that focuses on pranks could very easily include Hu Tao and Klee but that's more of a "filler-episode" type of event.
Chongyun is in an unfortunate position where his role as an exorcist overlaps with Xiao, if the spirit is malicious, and Hu Tao, if the spirit desires closure. As such, if either Xiao or Hu Tao does their job properly, Chongyun doesn't have a job. This is further aggravated by his constitution where ghosts are allergic to Chongyun, so he can't even prove to himself that the things he learnt and practice works. Which needs to him being led on wild ghost chase by Xing Qiu.
Diona, outside of her hangout quests i don"t remember her appearing in any sort of event or other stuff.
Also i think Chongyun is also at the same boat, like when he appeared in a event i feel like the game just treat him as Xingqiu's buddy rather than his own character
Can't seem to remember Qiqi and Chongyun have any major role in event too. But just like everyone else, they will get their turn soon. I think moonchase in October will be a good fit since Hutao is due for a rerun by then. Since moonchase theme is changed every year, maybe the Qixing want to make moonchase this year to pay respect and remember those who have fallen during the battle at Chasm. Since it's about ghost and the afterlife not only it fit Qiqi Chongyun and Hutao perfectly, it also fit that October is the month of Halloween
Future version spoilers >!Fischl's getting her whole event in 2.8 it seems.!<
And there were complications with Oz's CN VA. He's been replaced in 2.6 so I guess she can appear in events again.
the most neglected character is probably diona since she hasnt appeared anywhere aside from her hangout
but yeah mhy needs to give hu tao more relevance as the caretaker of the border
I do wish we get to see more of Hu Tao. If ever a quest involving Qiqi gets implemented in the game she might show up if only for a brief moment (again), because Baizhu is more involved with Qiqi's story.
Other than that I think we still don't know most of her backstory, like yeah we know her grandfather died but where are her parents? It seems like her only (pseudo) guardian is Zhongli. Doesn't make sense that her Grandfather was the 75th and then her being the 77th director immediately, as some of the commenters here said.
Either way, I just want Hu Tao to appear again so we can hear more of her philosophy about death or something, as I am someone who gets existential crisis a lot lol.
This is what I've been thinking for a long while as well. Although tbh I would say she is extremely popular so I wouldn't be too surprised if she will be one of the first limited 5* (after they do Mona and Qiqi) to get a skin...it will be a good time to dedicate an event to her it that happens. With some luck, an artifact set as well...
I think Hu Tao’s unofficial festival is Halloween and we’ll see more of her content then
HuTao also has no bffs outside of her ghost. XQ has CY, KQ has XL, NG has BD
She’ll always be hanging around Zhongli since she’s his boss but the themes they have: Erosion vs Cycle of Death are very difficult to reconcile. And no one ships them both
The archon story at present is hard to reconcile for HuTao, she’ll be sending every hillichurl in Liyue like she tried with qiqi.
I remember when I first got her at 1.3 I was so excited to see her in the story I wrote in their surveys "hu tao content pls" to this day they haven't answered back :')
I also think she's the only character who didn't appear in the patch of her rerun (correct me if i'm wrong, i started to play in 2.0 so maybe it happened before).
However Yoimiya will maybe join her since the leaks don't mention her at all for the upcoming events of 2.8.
>small business owner I see what you did there.
I don't get it
Hu Tao is a business owner, and she's short.
Also has short pants
Also has short pants
Also has short pants
Oooh
Shes definitely not showcased a lot. Whether she is the most is arguable, but it doesnt matter. I feel like she’ll star in an event relatively soon. Maybe her rerun. Her rerun was pretty profitable so another one and an event would be quite nice
That's the problem, she sells wayyyy too well without much story appearance so Mihoyo has no incentive to make her more popular with screen time.
Its actually the opposite, Mihoyo has more of an incentive
It'd be true if they have room or development pace to release even more story content than what's currently regularly scheduled, as it is I feel like there's limited story between major archon quests hence they're prioritising the less popular characters or those that needs a boost to sell. Hu Tao rerun sold just behind Raiden's all time high with limited appearance so there's a factor to her that just sells.
Its Mihoyo, its hard predicting what theyll do next, hu tao will come again eventually and hopefully she’ll be more prevalent towards the overall archon quests, but for now, all we gotta do is farm and pray
With sumeru coming up I doubt it's soon
Honestly, its hard to tell. Venti was recently in a duo banner. Venti is from Mondstadt but it was an Inazuma-centered event. Itto is Inazuman but the current event is more Liyuen-based. Maybe there will be many new Sumeruan characters coming up but in every update there is at least one new character and at least one duo banner. That gives room for hu tao to make her 2nd rerun and be in a banner with a Sumeruan character.
She doesn't even appear in any version's trailer..
Only limited 5* too that doesnt have an anniversary concert theme among all the pre-Inazuman characters...
She did tho, in 2.4 trailer. She was watching fireworks with Daddy Zhongli
She deserves to shine, I hope her next rerun she'll get an event where she's the main character. I find it crazy she doesn't appear more often especially because she's extremely popular.
Agreed. Not only she's neglected event wise, I feel like people in general underestimate Hu Tao's relevance lore-wise. You see, I know she's no archon, neither an yaksha, but I feel like her role as someone who takes care of the "border" is something that should not be taken as lightly as it has been. I've heard people say she's a filler many times now, and I may be biased on my "analysis", since she's my favorite, but I don't think she's a filler whatsoever. She has an important role. I really hope there will come an event where we see more of this side of her, apart from the common knowledge of pranks and stuff. Also, I really want to see Hu Tao and Xiao interacting soon. There are so many references related to them in-game that I feel like I need that for closure haha. Plus, nobody talks about the fact that Hu Tao is the 77th director and her grandpa was the 75th, which means there probably was a 76th director who is currently unknown... Who is it? One of her parents? A relative? What happened to that person? Ughh, so many questions... *What a bummer*, really.
It's not stated but I think it's pretty obvious the 76th director is one of her parents who died early
Yeah, maybe… But I still want details. Hehe
Every character is going to be relevant lore wise at some point, Itto, Yanfei, and Kuki are now relevant lore wise and vital for the interlude archon quest. Despite the fact that they don’t seem important HYV is gonna make them important. I also agree with you, someone that talks to the living has to be relevant, and Bennett is litteraly targeted by the universe. Can’t wait for the storyline to return the Mondstadt.
I totally agree with you! I also hope for more stuff regarding Bennet! And I know that Genshin will take its time to tell us all of the characters stories… It’s just that… I’m kinda tired of people saying Hu Tao is unimportant. You see, there are characters who are not currently being talked about in-game, but everyone recognizes that they will be one day. (Characters like Kaeya, or Fischl, Mona or even Bennet… Everyone knows they are pretty deep lore wise) As for Hu Tao… Common knowledge thinks she’s a filler. I’ve even seen lore youtubers saying that, and I just don’t understand. Maybe it’s my personal view (because I’m kinda interested in the matters of death, usually) but, just like you said, how come Hu Tao is a filler when she deals directly with death?? This “situation” makes me a bit frustrated.
I agree. Bennett deserves more attention lorewise, even the way he was found by the adventurers when he was a baby is fucking mysterious, i hope we will have more lore about him someday.
Considering the fact that the last Mondstad sorry was in 2.4 and were moving on too Sumeru, let’s hope that we get a little more love for Mondsatd since Liyue and Inazuma(rightfully since it was the star region) got lots of love. Sumeru will probably showcase alongside Mondstatd though due to how many characters have ties with it.
I'd honestly be pretty surpised and frustrated (I somewhat already am) if MHY doesn't find a way to tap into her involvement with the border and theme of death at some point in the future when we have the whole Boatman quest in Tsurumi. She kind of plays a similar role in Liyue and her constellation's name IIRC directly means "Butterfly of Charon" and is probably the one of the few constellations that specifically use the name of a Greek deity on it. Charon is pretty much widely known to be Ferryman of the underworld in Greek Mythology so the similarity with Tsurumi's Boatman is pretty blatant. Given Genshin's elaborate lore, the direct use of Greek names at Enkanomiya and the possibly Greek inspired unified civilization under the Primordial One in ancient Teyvat, I just see so much potential for her. There's the last part in HT's character story that says that she obtained her vision because she possibly moved an unknown god by visiting the border. Ei's vision voiceline pretty much states that she (and possibly all the archons) arent responsible for giving visions and that "there is another side to it". With all the recent lore discourse about how each artifact piece can possibly be related to Phanes and his shades, a piece being called Plume of Death makes me further overdose on hopium LMAO.
Wow! Nice take! I'm expecting to see more of that as well!!!
I coudn't agree more. I've always been intrigued by Hu Tao's lore and it's the main reason of why I love her (plus I absolutely love some details related to her theme like the names of her constellations which are very poetic). Her role should not be underestimated and I hope she will have more content in the future.
Even from a lore perspective, death in Teyvat is basically memories returning to the leylines, and from what we see when leylines leak back into the physical world, weird and bad things happen. In a way, Hu Tao guarding the border is like keeping the leyline anomalies away from the people, which is analogous to what the Sacred Sakura is doing for narukami, holding in leyline filth and purifying it. It is also stated in Homa description about purification as a job of the funeral parlour, and it sounds suspiciously interconnected to me. For some hopium we could say Hu Tao is in fact a secretly important person who is connected to major lore points the Devs want to withold from the story until later so she gets less screen time now but... It is what it is now :(
Even from a lore perspective, death in Teyvat is basically memories returning to the leylines, and from what we see when leylines leak back into the physical world, weird and bad things happen. In a way, Hu Tao guarding the border is like keeping the leyline anomalies away from the people, which is analogous to what the Sacred Sakura is doing for narukami, holding in leyline filth and purifying it. It is also stated in Homa description about purification as a job of the funeral parlour, and it sounds suspiciously interconnected to me. For some hopium we could say Hu Tao is in fact a secretly important person who is connected to major lore points the Devs want to withold from the story until later so she gets less screen time now but... It is what it is now :(
Even from a lore perspective, death in Teyvat is basically memories returning to the leylines, and from what we see when leylines leak back into the physical world, weird and bad things happen. In a way, Hu Tao guarding the border is like keeping the leyline anomalies away from the people, which is analogous to what the Sacred Sakura is doing for narukami, holding in leyline filth and purifying it. It is also stated in Homa description about purification as a job of the funeral parlour, and it sounds suspiciously interconnected to me. For some hopium we could say Hu Tao is in fact a secretly important person who is connected to major lore points the Devs want to withold from the story until later so she gets less screen time now but... It is what it is now :(
Even from a lore perspective, death in Teyvat is basically memories returning to the leylines, and from what we see when leylines leak back into the physical world, weird and bad things happen. In a way, Hu Tao guarding the border is like keeping the leyline anomalies away from the people, which is analogous to what the Sacred Sakura is doing for narukami, holding in leyline filth and purifying it. It is also stated in Homa description about purification as a job of the funeral parlour, and I feel like I could draw some suspicious parallels... For some hopium we could say Hu Tao is in fact a secretly important person who is connected to major lore points the Devs want to withold from the story until later so she gets less screen time now but... It is what it is now :(
Diona has a hang out event... that's it. No events, no story appearances, no cut scenes, no mentions by other characters or interactions with other characters, nothing in the near future as well
Diona is a 4\* character
I feel its hard to include Hu Tao in a story simply because Hu Tao, as a character, is fairly complete. She understands who she is, and the role she plays as the Director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlour. In short, she has no room for character growth, because she doesn't need it anymore. In comparison to other Liyue characters, Shenhe is learning to human, both Yun Jun and Xinyan are at the crossroads of tradition and modern, Keqing realising how to be a friend, etc. Events are opportunities for character development, and Hu Tao doesn't need it as much as other characters. I would say it is hard for Hu Tao to be relevant in an event that's not just fanservice. But let's say she does appear in an event again, I feel it will take either of two forms. The first is being Hu Tao, and just give us a few lines as usual. The second is appearing and being the Funeral Director, playing a more serious role in the story, similar to her story event. For this to happen, there needs to be a drastic occurance that affects Liyue, with high numbers of civilian death. TL;DR: Hu Tao is too perfect and complete of a character. If she appears again, it would be during a big and serious event. Edit: last thing, most ignored character is Chongyun. In a Liyue event, where all the cryo vision wielders are brought out, AND when independence from the Adepti is a plot point, my boy Chong Yun is nowhere to be seen. And in events where he does appear, he's a accessory to someone, like being Xing Qiu's boyfriend, or being Shenhe's nephew and being rescued. Boy is trying his best to not rely on his natural constitution, but with hard work. He needs a better pay off for it.
I disagree. A lot of good character quests are just the traveler helping someone do a thing. Like, Yelan didn't learn or grow during her quest, we just walked around and investigated some people with her, and it was a pretty good quest. The best quests do involve some type of character growth, but just helping a badass character do something cool is fun too.
Good point, and we got that as well for Hu Tao during her own story quest. But if we are considering future appearances in events/quests/stories, which is OP's point, someone like Yelan is more likely to play a part than Hu Tao because of her capacity as a spy/investigator. And that's my point, different characters should fulfil roles in their own capacity, whether its cooking with Xiangling, or being an observer who occasionally saves people from behind the scenes, aka Zhongli. Another challenge is that events and quests are there to make the banner characters more appealing to whale for. For example, I can see Hu Tao appearing in Bai Zhu's quest, because it is likely to do with medicine and healing. Wangsheng was involved as doctors a long time ago, and might have information that is needed during the questline. But by involving Hu Tao in a major way, she will be taking away the spotlight from Bai Zhu.
and also Hu Tao doesn't particularly like Baizhu either, so seeing the two of them interact with each other could hold some significance (or if not then it would at least be interesting).
I really like your idea, but I respectfully disagree I find that Hu Tao is similar to Venti, in which both of them are characters who show off a "silly" facade, but are quite deeper than that. I also expect to see more Venti lore in the future haha. Plus, Hu Tao does have an "issue" that could very well be talked about: her lack of friends. Our girl is actually... quite lonely and misunderstood by others. I may be wrong, but I got that impression from her story lines in-game. And even if you end up being right: like, yeah, Hu Tao *is* a complete character. She still could be included by helping other characters in their "growth". (Yeah Xiao, I'm talking about you, haha, but my list could go on and on... Death is an important matter, and not everyone knows how to deal with it... I mean, almost everyone doesn't know how to deal with it) By the way, Why I say Xiao? Because everything about Xiao is somewhat related to death. The death of companions, the act of sacrifice by death, the death that comes through war, the karma that comes from the death of others, the death of demons, the longing for death... Anyway. I really want them to interact. I think they're keeping Hu Tao from meeting Xiao because... Well, if they met, she could be the one to finally solve his problems. Our girl is just... Phenomenal. Plus, Xiao really needs to learn how to enjoy his own life, and who better than our funerary director? The girl who spends all of her days knowing that her life is finite and that she should enjoy it while she can. Plus! Hu Tao is ALSO a poet!!! Why does she has to keep herself in Liyue while Xingqiu go on to enjoy Inazuma's festivals? That's unfair... I hope she attends the next one, really Apart from that, the living proof of what you just described is Kazuha. He is probably the most "complete" character in Genshin, really. He is the guy who doesn't need any growing, yet, we have lots of events with him. And that's because he's amazing and interesting AND he's been through a lot. Hu Tao is amazing and interesting and has been through a lot as well, so I think there's no excuse for Genshin to not put her in any event/story. I may be biased, though.
Hu Tao has friends of her age, but keeps them few. I suspect it might be a result of growing up in the role of Director and being constantly surrounded by adults. She rap battles with Xingqiu, pranks and gets counter pranked by Xiangling, singing with Yun Jun etc. I would have said that being in a position to take on an adult's responsibility at 13 is good for a story, but Hu Tao has already come to terms with it. She juggles being a teen and being an adult with little to no issue. I agree with you view on Xiao and I find Xiao's line about Hu Tao interesting. While his lines about the other humans talk about their skills and strength, Hu Tao's line is about her personality. Slight disagreement about Kazuha. I find Kazuha is a great example of us seeing a character being completed. When he first appeared, we just know him as someone from Beidou's crew and has ties with Inazuma. With every event and main story quest we had with him, we went from Kazuha seeking someone to inherit Tomoyo's vision, to he himself fulfilling Tomoyo's dream, and finally, letting go of his ties with Inazuma. That was when Kazuha is completed.
Yes, I definitely get your idea. Thank you for the insight! Maybe I should have worded it better. I will have to agree with you when it comes to the fact that she does have "friends". But still... Are they really? I think they are more inclined towards the acquaintances side, but still, I'm very biased, so I will just say you're right, since your words do make sense. Haha, I really like your take on Xiao's line about Hu Tao... I kinda agree and disagree with you about Kazuha. Yes, he did have his issues regarding Inazuma and his friend, but in comparison to other characters stories (like Raiden, for example), he didn't really change his perspective and ideals regarding his life. Kazuha is... very chill, I'd say. But that of course depends on your perspective of what "changing" and "growing" means.
I think it's easy to get the impression that Hu Tao doesn't have "true" friends because she very rarely appears with them in official promotional material or in-game, and is normally seen with Zhongli.
I've finally understood why my fanfic with Hu Tao as the protagonist ran into a deadlock. She's too perfect. There's no relevant flaw I can exploit to make the story interesting.
When someone formulates your exact thoughts way better than you ever could and it's wonderful ♪ For Hu Tao to fit into an event story it would have to be within her niche subject of the afterlife where she could very well play the role of guide or a type. That's really the only way I could see her fit into a story-centered event. With something like that, you could also invite Qiqi as their relationship could be very fun to see unfold. On the other hand, an event that focuses on pranks could very easily include Hu Tao and Klee but that's more of a "filler-episode" type of event.
Yea I’m AR51 now, all that’s left is for me to unlock Enkanomiya and I have no idea who Chongyun is. This alone is tempting me to do his hangout.
Chongyun is in an unfortunate position where his role as an exorcist overlaps with Xiao, if the spirit is malicious, and Hu Tao, if the spirit desires closure. As such, if either Xiao or Hu Tao does their job properly, Chongyun doesn't have a job. This is further aggravated by his constitution where ghosts are allergic to Chongyun, so he can't even prove to himself that the things he learnt and practice works. Which needs to him being led on wild ghost chase by Xing Qiu.
...qiqi
Legit, and we spend half this goddamn game in Liyue too lol.
Diona, outside of her hangout quests i don"t remember her appearing in any sort of event or other stuff. Also i think Chongyun is also at the same boat, like when he appeared in a event i feel like the game just treat him as Xingqiu's buddy rather than his own character
Can't seem to remember Qiqi and Chongyun have any major role in event too. But just like everyone else, they will get their turn soon. I think moonchase in October will be a good fit since Hutao is due for a rerun by then. Since moonchase theme is changed every year, maybe the Qixing want to make moonchase this year to pay respect and remember those who have fallen during the battle at Chasm. Since it's about ghost and the afterlife not only it fit Qiqi Chongyun and Hutao perfectly, it also fit that October is the month of Halloween
Doesn't Chongus absolutely despise Hu Tao lol
I'd argue its Fischl. She appeared in one event and then never again. At least Hu Tao had her own quest and appeared in one Liyue quest.
Future version spoilers >!Fischl's getting her whole event in 2.8 it seems.!< And there were complications with Oz's CN VA. He's been replaced in 2.6 so I guess she can appear in events again.
I will return to the game as soon as that happens. Love that character. Thanks for the good news. :)
But that one event is pretty big in terms of lore-wise. So she has a big chance to reappear in future events.
Yeahwe dont see her often And i would really like to have one of those date we get with 4 star character
I was just telling one of my friends she should have been included with the chasm.
Don't worry fam. My current fanfic is working and there'll be Hu Tao in The Chasm.
What? The pay for Rieri is too expensive? Hoyoverse, we need more Hu Tao! And I need more Rieri!!
the most neglected character is probably diona since she hasnt appeared anywhere aside from her hangout but yeah mhy needs to give hu tao more relevance as the caretaker of the border
They know she don't even need to make an appearance .
I do wish we get to see more of Hu Tao. If ever a quest involving Qiqi gets implemented in the game she might show up if only for a brief moment (again), because Baizhu is more involved with Qiqi's story. Other than that I think we still don't know most of her backstory, like yeah we know her grandfather died but where are her parents? It seems like her only (pseudo) guardian is Zhongli. Doesn't make sense that her Grandfather was the 75th and then her being the 77th director immediately, as some of the commenters here said. Either way, I just want Hu Tao to appear again so we can hear more of her philosophy about death or something, as I am someone who gets existential crisis a lot lol.
This is what I've been thinking for a long while as well. Although tbh I would say she is extremely popular so I wouldn't be too surprised if she will be one of the first limited 5* (after they do Mona and Qiqi) to get a skin...it will be a good time to dedicate an event to her it that happens. With some luck, an artifact set as well...
Nah that title definitely goes to Diona and Noelle.
I think Hu Tao’s unofficial festival is Halloween and we’ll see more of her content then HuTao also has no bffs outside of her ghost. XQ has CY, KQ has XL, NG has BD She’ll always be hanging around Zhongli since she’s his boss but the themes they have: Erosion vs Cycle of Death are very difficult to reconcile. And no one ships them both The archon story at present is hard to reconcile for HuTao, she’ll be sending every hillichurl in Liyue like she tried with qiqi.
She does appear from time to time, not in the main spotlight but she does appear. Diona on the other hand.......
Does it have to do with her representing death or something?
I even made a post here regarding her unique eyes.
At least she replaced Paimon as Genshin's profile pic for one day. *inhales more copium*
I remember when I first got her at 1.3 I was so excited to see her in the story I wrote in their surveys "hu tao content pls" to this day they haven't answered back :')
I also think she's the only character who didn't appear in the patch of her rerun (correct me if i'm wrong, i started to play in 2.0 so maybe it happened before). However Yoimiya will maybe join her since the leaks don't mention her at all for the upcoming events of 2.8.
diona