Today, Hoyoverse released an extended animated teaser trailer for Genshin Impact’s next major region, Fontaine. This new trailer came alongside a batch of new drip marketing which revealed more about some select Fontaine characters likely to join the game in the next upcoming Version update.
The Land of Hydro is only a few short updates away (landing in update 4.0) meaning that marketing and updates regarding the region are going to ramp up significantly from here on out. In the new animated trailer “Overture Teaser: The Final Feast” we get a better look at the main cast of characters for Fontaine. This includes their names, what Visions some of them have, who the main Fatui Harbinger villain we’ll be facing is and what the Hydro Archon looks like. There are a lot of new characters and designs to break down, alongside some significant story teasers.
Diver of the Fontaine Court
The starting sections of the trailer correlate nicely with the latest batch of drip marketing. The first three characters we see are all siblings, with the first being the character Freminet, voiced by Paul Castro Jr (Rindo Kanade in NEO: The World Ends With You). After he awakens, we see his siblings, magician twins Lynne and Lynette, played by Daman Mills (Blade in Honkai: Star Rail) and Anairis Quiñones (Kimerbly in Street Fighter 6), respectively. Long-time fans of Genshin Impact will recognise the twins as the faces of Fontaine during early game roadmaps, similar to how Cyno represented Sumeru.
The drip marketing revealed more about each character, including their Visions and backstories. Freminet wields both a Claymore and a Cryo Vision (similar to Eula and Chongyun) and he is one of the best Divers in the Fontaine Court. Meanwhile, his brother Lyney is a celebrated court magician who uses a Pyro Vision. He seems incredibly boastful, especially when compared to the more docile Lynette who can use the element of Anemo. Considering that these three are receiving drip marketing now, expect them to be the first 4-Star or 5-Star characters available in Fontaine.
The Magician Twins
Following them in the trailer is a strange, mischievous woman by the name of Navia. Voiced by Brenna Larsen, Navia seems like a very mischievous individual: despite sporting a very traditional and very fancy yellow dress, she’s seen climbing on top of one of Fontaine’s many architectural marvels before flying away on her parasol. From her design, we can likely suspect that she wields a Hydro Vision.
Accompanying Navia is a familiar face, one we only met recently. This is Charlotte, a Fontaine photographer who we met during 3.7’s flagship event. Voiced by Maya Aoki Tuttle (Eido in Destiny 2), Charlotte wields a Cryo Vision. It’s been speculated since her appearance in Version 3.7 that she may become our first Cryo Catalyst user.
Navia the Mischievous
The next two characters are an interesting mix. The first is a character who shares the child model with the likes of Nahida, Klee and Qiqi by the name of Sigewinne, voiced by Sarah Williams (Marni in Fire Emblem: Engage) Her design is really interesting, especially the two antenna-like protrusions sticking out from her head. Next to Sigewinne is Wriothesley. Played by Joe Zieja (Claude in Fire Emblem: Three Houses) he is an intimidating-looking man who dresses more like a Fatui than anyone from Fontaine. From this brief snippet, we haven’t been able to get a close look at either Sigewinne or Wriothesley’s Vision types, but we would guess that they may be Hydro and Pyro, respectively.
After Sigewinne and Wriothesley arrives a character who is sure to steal the hearts of many. Named Clorinde, this character has an extremely unique design featuring a design reminiscent of a classic hunter. Voiced by Crystal Lee, Clorinde wields an Electro Vision, one she puts to use by pulling out a pistol and shooting an electrified bullet straight at the camera: while it is very unlikely that we’ll get a new class of weapon, Clorinde will very likely use these same firearms in her Elemental Skill and Burst. Between her wicked design and the immense potential of her kit, Clorinde is sure to shoot to the top of a lot of people’s most wanted lists.
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- Sigewinne and Wriothesley
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- Clorinde the Hunter
Before closing the Archon, there’s one more character for people to take note of. Voiced by Ray Chase (Noctis in Final Fantasy XV), Neuvillette is a character of great importance and prestige. He’s first introduced being followed by Clorinde, likely as his bodyguard or protection, before appearing again later on as the voice of reason in some sort of trial. His design massively hints at him having a Hydro Vision and between his cold demeanour and elegant design, there’s a lot to like about Neuvillette already.
Lastly, we have the very likely Archon of Fontaine, Furina. Played by Amber Lee Connors (I-No in Guilty Gear: Strive), Furina seems like a really interesting Archon with a very posh and upper-class European design, fitting considering that Fontaine is primarily based in France. Her nonchalant and somewhat bored attitude contrasts heavily with her position as the Archon of Justice, bringing up a lot of questions as to her role in the story. We see her in the teaser sitting in on some sort of criminal trial alongside Neuvillette, making her childlike contempt even more intriguing.
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- Neuvillette the Judge
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- The Hydro Archon
As for who the main villain of the 4.0 storyline will be, it appears that the Fatui has infiltrated Fontaine’s borders as The Knave takes her place on stage. Arlecchino, played by Erin Yvette (Snow White in The Wolf Among Us) is one of the most highly anticipated members of the Fatui in the Genshin Impact fandom. It seems like she’ll be our main antagonist for the Fontaine storyline, similar to how Dottore and Scaramouche were in Sumeru. Whether she’ll be playable is completely up in the air right now.
With regards to what kind of story hints this trailer gives, it seems that Fontaine is going to be, at least partly, about acting and appearances. Both Lyney and Arlecchino’s speeches talk about deceiving the audience, about captivating and distracting them. Considering that Fontaine is the land of justice – just like how Mondstadt is the land of freedom and Liyue is the land of contracts – there’s a lot of room for interesting commentary on performative justice. A story of how justice in Fontaine has become a punishment for satisfaction’s sake rather than for a righteous cause is very compelling, especially when you consider that in these lands God essentially serves as a judge for the guilty.
The Fatui Lurking in the Shadows
We are currently about to enter Version 3.8 of Genshin Impact. Sumeru, the last major map expansion, arrived in Version 3.0 after the final Inazuma patch in 2.8. As such, we’ll likely be exploring Fontaine very soon.
