Genshin Impact is a free-to-play open-world Gacha game that came out at the end of September, and there's quite a lot in it. It has an insanely long story that's nowhere near done yet, there is so much to do mechanically in the game, and it has a ton of lore about the setting and characters (even ones that aren't playable yet) both in-game and out.
But, one character that surprisingly has very little known about them is Paimon, the floating humanoid that joins the Traveler on their journey. Fans know the age, height, and birthday of everyone, yet know almost nothing about this tiny creature. So, let's look into Paimon a bit, and figure out what fans know about them, and what makes absolutely no sense.
Updated April 10th, 2021 by Jacob Buchalter: Genshin Impact is still an insanely popular game. And, a lot of that has to do with Mihoyo’s dedication to constantly introducing new characters in fantastic banners, such as Albedo or Hu Tao. We’ve also learned a lot more about certain characters thanks to the new story and regions such as Snezhnaya or even the Dragonspine, but Paimon is still a very mysterious character overall. So, we wanted to go through this again, add a couple more questions that the community has asked about Paimon, and update the info a bit to match the current state of the game. So, without further ado, here we go.
Disclaimer: There will be story spoilers that reveal Archon identities, be careful.
14 What Exactly Is Paimon?
First and foremost, what even are they? There's nothing else in Teyvat that even looks remotely like Paimon, and they seem to be the only human-looking creature that can float at will. Paimon wears a crown, generates these odd particles, and has all these design connections to Celestia. Yet, for an all-around unknown race, they sure know a lot about Teyvat, even some of its most closely guarded secrets. Maybe they're actually one of GI's most overpowered characters?
13 Are They The Last Living Seelie?
If you’ve played Genshin Impact at all, you're probably very familiar with the Seelie and their Gardens. The Seelie, in-game at least, are these little spirits that you can guide back to their "Garden" in order to get a treasure chest reward. But, the name "Seelie" didn't always apply to just spirits, as they used to be these all-powerful and wise guides for humanity, and somehow they were reduced to spirits. Still, what does that have to do with Paimon? Well, though it's hard to look at these little things up close, their design actually has a lot in common with Paimon's, as some Reddit detectives have pointed out. It would explain, at least, why Paimon is so obsessed with finding treasure, a fact about them that previously made little sense.
12 Maybe Their Origins Date Back To Honkai Impact?
For those of you who don’t know, Genshin Impact isn’t the first game made by Mihoyo. No, before Genshin, there was Honkai Impact 3rd (and still is, the game continues to be pretty popular), a universe with a completely different plot, full of interesting concepts like the E.L.Fs. The term ELF, in Honkai, stands for Equipment: Living Form, and they’re basically weapons that have adapted tiny human forms. One common theory among the fanbase is that Paimon is actually an ELF, or something similar to one. And, while this would explain some things about Paimon, it doesn’t really make sense. Sure, Paimon being the ELF of the Unknown God's weapon would explain why they look so similar, but it brings up so many other questions with it.
11 How'd They End Up In The Water?
The Traveler first meets Paimon in Genshin Impact by fishing them out of the water by accident. But how'd they even get there? Paimon can fly, right? And did they mention they were in the water for a while? Does Paimon even need to breathe air? One might even think they fell into the lake from somewhere high above, but there's only one landmass in Teyvat that dwells in the sky (the keyword being "landmass"), and it's Celestia, so what could that be implying?
10 Why Aren't More People In Teyvat Freaked Out By Paimon?
Okay, so it would be one thing if every character that met Paimon got freaked out by them and asked about their origin. But, only a few characters actually ask (such as Amber or Xiangling), so why is that? How can these characters not wonder what type of lifeform/race Paimon is? It's not like Paimon looks animalistic or alien, they just look like a tiny floating human. Why is everyone in Genshin Impact so okay with an unknown creature of mysterious origins playing such a big part in the overall story?
9 Why Can't Mona Read Their Past Or Future?
So, after meeting the adorable Hydromancer that is Mona, she quickly tells the Travler she can't read their future. This is because the Traveler is from a different world entirely, apparently. Sure, that makes just enough sense that we can believe it, but what about Paimon? After getting to Friendship Level 4 with Mona, you unlock a certain voice line in which she asks the Traveler about Paimon. She asks us if we know where Paimon came from, as she cannot discern even a single detail about the fairy. Maybe that’s implying that Paimon is celestial in nature, like Venti? But, there's another voice line where Mona attempts to discern details about Venti, and when she tries Anemo energy automatically stops her, but how come nothing happens when she tries with Paimon?
8 How Is Paimon Connected To The Archons & Demonology?
Fans have already noticed a lot of lore details in Genshin Impact that we're sure the developers at Mihoyo were trying to keep hidden. But, a discovery that has gigantic lore implications is that all the Archons in the game discovered so far (Venti/Barbatos and Rex Lapis/Morax/Zhong Li) have ties to Demonology. In particular, they're connected to the 72 Demons named in the Ars Goetia (a mysterious Grimoire on Demonology found in the 17th century). Now two is odd but three makes a pattern and there's only one other name in the game that relates back to this scripture, and it's Paimon.
Paimon is the name of one of the demons/spirits in these texts and describes their abilities as such, they know of all the affairs in the world, can fly and breathe underwater, are able to summon other spirits, and can force visions upon others. All of this describes Paimon (the Genshin character) pretty perfectly, even down to the odd amount of knowledge and how other spirits/Archons keep showing up around her. Though they haven't ever shown this vision-misdirection ability before...or have they?
7 How Can They Eat So Much With Such A Tiny Body?
Hopping right off that overly dark & demonic topic onto something lighter, Paimon likes to eat a lot. Xianling comments on it, Venti comments on it, even Jean comments on it. Paimon is as tiny as can be, yet they're constantly talking about the next meal and can down more food than seemingly possible. How can one lifeform eat so much food yet not explode, change in shape, or fall to the ground? Maybe, as their cape implies, Paimon has some galactic properties and the food they eat just enters a black hole, never to be seen again.
6 Why Only One Stocking/Sock?
This is purely a design thing, but why does Paimon only wear a stocking on one leg? Everything else about the character (other than them hair clip) is almost perfectly symmetrical, but they only wear one stocking? Why draw attention to those freakishly long legs anyway? None of this has anything to do with the lore of the character, of course, it's just a very stereotypical anime-esque design decision up there with heterochromia or 15+ belts on one design.
5 Haven’t They Noticed Their Archon Similarities?
It’s one thing for NPCs to just ignore Paimon’s obvious supernatural powers and appearance, but how has no one associated Paimon's outfit with the Archons? Obviously, the characters in-game wouldn’t understand the Ars Goetia connection, where each Archon shares a name with a Demon King of Hell, but can’t they see that Paimon’s sleeves and “pant legs” both have symbols that exactly match those seen at the base of the Statues of the Seven? It’s just so nonsensical that no one in-game brings this up, or at least questions it.
4 Paimon Knows Everything, Even The Best-Kept Secrets
Let's look a bit deeper into Paimon's seemingly infinite knowledge. This little sprite seems to know about everything in Teyvat, all the nations, all the Fatui Harbingers, even how some countries were founded. But, if they're not an Archon or another ageless entity, how do they know so much? The best proof of this by far is when they call Childe/Tartaglia (an equally mysterious character) out for being one of the eleven Fatui Harbingers, even though nothing he's done so far even hinted at that.
3 Isn't The Emergency Food Meme A Joke About Cannibalism?
Is it odd to anyone else that the Traveler and other characters constantly joke about eating Paimon? Sure they're tiny, but Paimon basically human, at least in appearance, right? People don't normally joke about eating their shorter friends.
How did this Emergency Food meme even come about considering it's a not-at-all subtle joke about what essentially amounts to cannibalism? It makes no sense! Frankly, the only character that this joke would work with is Oz, the Electro Arcthem Fischl's companion, as he's animalistic in design. Though to be fair, old people love to say that they could just "eat up" adorable children, but that's weird in a totally different way.
2 Paimon Might Be The Long Forgotten Archon Of Time?
Outside of Paimon's connection to the Demon Paimon, this cute little heap of Emergency Food also has some serious connections to the Chrono Archon/diety from Kaeya's homeland. All this upcoming info is found deep within codex entries and books inside Genshin, so it's easy to miss. In any case, Kaeya is from Kaenirah, a land that worshipped the Archon/God of Time and was just across the sea from Mondstadt. Paimon is found in the water near Monstadt and bears a symbol on their chest that looks like an upside-down Celtic Knot, which has ties to the cycle of time as well. Plus, right next to where the Traveler and Paimon meet, there's that unmarked island that can be found as part of a secret side-quest relating to the God of Time now forgotten.
And, to add even more to this, Paimon freezes time whenever the player pauses, which would be fine except when time is frozen they still move. And, when time advances they seem to be the one doing it. So much layering of lore here! This intricate design throughout all of Genshin Impact, even the companion character, is likely part of the reason why this mobile title is getting nominated for awards like Google Play's Best of 2020.
1 What Does Paimon Have To Do With The Unknown God?
And lastly, Paimon has a ton of connections to the Unknown God seen in the intro cutscene as well. To list a few similarities, both characters have the same hairstyle, Paimon's hairclip shares the same symbol as the portal the Unknown God comes through, both have a galaxy pattern in their capes, both are dressed in white and gold, both seem to interact with time in some way, and both have that Celtic symbol on them (Paimon's chest and The Unknown God's cape). And, this character even connects to lore from Mihoyo's previous game, Honkai Impact 3rd, since Paimon looks so close in design to the ELF's from that game, which are sentient weapons. Maybe fans will finally get more clues on this teensy heap of mystery in the upcoming 1.2 Update.