Years from now devout gamers and anime aficionados may look back on the story of Genshin Impact pleasantly surprised by the depth of the narrative spun by the gacha RPG — a genre not typically known for alluring plots. For now, the new kid on the block shows a lot of promise but still needs to iron out some kinks, mainly in the character development department.
Kaeya deserves his adoration. Fans feel equal parts glad to have him in the starter lineup, and sorry to inevitably bench him with Amber and Lisa. Kaeya is the MVP on every freshly formed party, before you can wish for other units, but this status didn't protect him from the wonky waving of writers' wands, nor will it keep him from the "makes no sense" hall of shame.
Updated July 31, 2021 by Joseph Burrell: On the heels of the version 2.0 official release, Genshin Impact continues to refine its combat and its plot. In both aspects, the game has improved in leaps and bounds since its launch. The power gap between pyro characters and everyone else has narrowed, and players have been acquainted with Dainsleif, the only known character with knowledge of Kaeya's homeland. With all of that said, there's still a lot about the frosty Favonius officer that doesn't make sense.
10 Style For Every Season
Developer miHoYo is hit or miss when it comes to crafting character backstories, but few can deny that their artistic direction is strong. Their visual character design is probably the most successful aspect of Genshin's promotional strategy. Kaeya's style contributes to this strategy as effectively as any other character, but there's one bizarre choice at the center of his design. A collar/choker floating about his neck, framing his chest window, detached from his frat bro-esque deep V-neck. An odd choice in a land of biting winds for a character as frigid as Kaeya.
9 Diluc's Overshadowed Brother
Without spoiling the inciting incident from which Mondstadt's most tragic sibling rivalry is born — check out the official manga for that explanation -- there are numerous sub-textual clues suggesting that Kaeya's power approaches, or even matches, that of adoptive brother Diluc.
Why doesn't this make sense? If you're new to Genshin then you've probably heard that Blizzard Strayer artifacts, Festering Desire, and even Rosaria, are all easily accessible must-haves for building an intimidating Kaeya, but these additions came months after launch. Kaeya was always the fan-favourite starter character, but his usefulness was nowhere near A-tier until recently, and he certainly never held a candle to the long-standing Pyro King.
8 He Does Not Like Grape Juice
In both the game and the manga, Genshin Impact frames the relationship between Kaeya and Diluc as being largely one-sided, mostly strained by Diluc. Kaeya helplessly grew to feel shunned by the only person who knew everything about him, but it still seems like he longs for Diluc's approval. One way in which Kaeya's frustration with Diluc does manifest, however, is in his disdain for grape juice — his brother's favourite drink... Who doesn't like grape juice?
7 Self-Described Anti-Hero
Major spoilers ahead. Defining "anti-hero" is tricky given that the definition of "hero" is itself dependent on cultural norms and narrative contexts. Perhaps this is why miHoYo has difficulty characterizing self-proclaimed anti-hero Kaeya. To offer an (admittedly) reductive definition, one might describe an anti-hero as a character doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. They aren't villains, they usually square off with the villain proper, in fact, but might do so reluctantly and to the detriment of their own selfish motivations.
Kaeya's double-agent backstory is the perfect foundation for his anti-heroism. He could infiltrate Mondstadt's high society as a spy for Khaenri'ah and slowly become sympathetic to the knights' cause while working with them, forcing him to confront his ulterior motives. miHoYo squandered this opportunity, however, because before the events of the game it's made clear that Kaeya has every reason to hate the man that gave him his mission, his father, and every reason to love those who adopted him into Mondstadt's aristocracy. From that point every action from Kaeya is either entirely heroic or outright villainous.
6 Enjoys Fighting Children
Though fans of Kaeya might protext that he only tried to kill Collei because she had murdered diplomats in Mondstadt's care a few chapters earlier, that is an inappropriate defense since it was established that Collei was an unwitting child soldier, cursed to carry out a false flag attack by the Fatui in order to sour relations between Mondstadt and Sneznaya. Not only is the reader armed with this knowledge, it's shown that Jean, Lisa, and Kaeya also came to this conclusion earlier on.
By the time Kaeya strikes Amber has already spent many days befriending Collei, Jean gives her a place to rest in the library, and Lisa has decided to take Collei under her wing while also single-handedly leading the investigation into the aforementioned attack. Kaeya should know what it's like to be neglected and used as a weapon against people you care about, nonetheless, he decides to attempt the extrajudicial execution. "At least this is a sign of his anti-heroism, right?" Wrong. A bad deed done for bad reasons does not an anti-hero make.
5 Mixed Feelings On Amber
Just like Genshin Impact fans, Kaeya's opinion on Amber is hot and cold all at once. In the manga we see him brush off her attempts at figuring out who was behind the terrorist attack. Amber proceeds to be more useful than Kaeya in responding to this mission, and he rewards her by trying to kill her friend. In his friendship lines he then calls Amber "clever and righteous." Thanks, pal.
4 Wears An Eyepatch Even Though His Eye Works
Why wear an eyepatch? "For the same reason one wears pants, it's not improper to obscure your body from view of the public," to paraphrase Kaeya. This is why he chooses to wear an eyepatch over his right eye, which is still very much in his head and functional.
It's clear that Fischl and Beidou have made patches stylish in Teyvat, but Kaeya isn't appealing to fashion sense here. He disregards the fact that pants and coats offer many other benefits, especially in a land reputed for brutal storms and winds, while also overlooking that an eyepatch is a detriment to a swordsman who should be putting his depth perception to use. Finally, it's pretty hard to believe that the bare-chested knight is concerned with modesty. His real reasoning likely has to do with Dainsleif, a mysterious character from Kaeya's homeland who dresses similarly.
3 He Is More Overpowered In Comics Than In The Game
Consider once more Kaeya's confrontation with Collei. Look at all of the inventive ways in which he wields cryo magic. Now consider that his in-game abilities at launch were only slightly more threatening than the nitrogen gun your dermatologist keeps for freezing off warts. No one expected a freebie character to be best-in-show, but nerfing him this hard is just embarrassing.
2 Attempts To Serve Alcohol To The Traveler
Aside from its intense wind, Mondstadt is known best for its legendary alcoholic beverages. Diluc and Diona are both renowned for the taverns they run and drinks they pour. Clearly this is a point of pride for all Mondstadt locals, but Kaeya takes it to another level by trying to ply you, the player, with alcohol. He also acknowledges that your character is underage, but he's waiting patiently to take you drinking when he can.
1 Obsession With The Local Vintage
It's said that Kaeya was once approached by a young, concerned knight who discovered a correlation between Death After Noon — a highly sought-after wine — running out of stock and a sharp decrease in crime across Mondstadt. This line was initially interpreted as suggesting that drunkenness is a huge driver of crime in the region. Other Genshin fans have pointed out that the more likely implication is that Kaeya is so obsessed with the local vintage that he's unable to perform his crime fighting duties. How did this knight ever become so highly respected?