It’s my birthday, so I’m taking the chance to spread my agenda! ^^
Do you remember what the scribe of Enkanomiya said? “The Primordial One may have been Phanes.” Wouldn’t that confusion be understandable if Phanes both was and wasn’t the Primordial One? Or rather, if was just one part of the Primordial One, aka his soul?
I will argue that Venti is Phanes, and also two things about Phanes (that are technically their own theory):
Phanes is the soul of the Primordial One, just like what Cocouik was to Ochkan
Phanes was created through the Chemical Marriage between the Primordial One and Istaroth
Yes, I am coming back with a refined version of my old “Venti is Phanes” theory, after studying and organizing my thoughts and what I knew about the lore. The old post was pretty messy.
(I actually spent weeks preparing posts about other aspects of the lore, but meanwhile we got the moons web event that kinda ruined my time to shine, along with some leaked artifacts that basically confirmed much of what I was theorizing about, so I missed my opportunity and the things I was about to bring up won’t feel as special anymore. To feel a bit better, I decided to go back to my true agenda - Venti brainrot, that is. But I will still incorporate important lore parts that I studied into this post, and expand on them properly over time.)
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Section 1: What is Phanes? 2 theories:
First, let me remind you of what the book Before Sun and Moon says:
“The Primordial One may have been Phanes. It had wings and a crown, and was birthed from an egg, androgynous in nature. But for the world to be created, the egg's shell had to be broken. However, Phanes, the Primordial One, used the eggshell to separate the "universe" and the "microcosm of the world."”
The next theories about Phanes, that I will present next followed by connecting it with Venti, may be true at the same time:
» Theory 1: Phanes was born from a Chemical Marriage between the Primordial One and Istaroth
Many ties between the PO and Istaroth are obvious, not just because she was very very likely a Shade, but also because she was probably the Moon-themed White Queen to the PO’s Sun-themed Red King, who joined in a Chemical Marriage. That produced the egg/pearl/wtv that birthed Phanes, necessary to the creation of the world.
Please notice that there is evidence that, at some point, Istaroth was the Ancient Seelie who married the Traveler from Afar, but that is not incompatible with the fact that she was bound to the PO first. In fact, I think that the fact that she was likely the Ancient Seelie is a crucial aspect, especially given the crown that she dropped, which in turn was probably the golden-ring artifact created by the Rhine Maidens / moons who confered power to the PO. I have posts about that on the way.
Let me explain. I will summarize what a chemical marriage is (I will eventually make a post fully dedicated to this concept, and to show in detail why all the pairs I mention from genshin fit this doomed narrative).
The chemical marriage / chemical wedding is a concept in alchemy that represents an union of opposites: male and female, sun and moon, gold and silver, sulphur and mercury, body and spirit, red King and white Queen. DON’T mistake this with actual marriages or ship stuff, btw.
It’s meant to produce a new and improved product, the Rebis (an androgynous being, sometimes called the Philosopher’s child), or according to some tales, the Philosopher's Stone. That stone is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold or silver.
(I can’t help but recall that Venus/the morning star, aka Istaroth, in Chinese, is called Jīn-xīng (金星), the golden planet of the metal element - and Istaroth and her rhine maidens/moons/fates are likely responsible for the golden ring/crown mentioned in the drama Der Ring des Nibelungen.)
According to Jakob, the Seal of Chymical Marriage can be used to seal off the source of life, aka the Primordial Sea, which sounds similar to creating a world/pearl/philosopher’s stone/egg/dream bubble that floats in the sea of quanta or wtv is the logic used across Hoyoverse’s worlds. Basically, a necessary process to create the world, or perhaps reshape it and change it to be inhospitable for dragons yet hospitable for humans, essentially what the Primordial One did at the very beginning. In other words, the eggsehll was used to separate the sea, a sea of elements and souls and such that granted shapeshifting and abilities to the dragons, like a sort of hivemind that is incompatible with the individualism of humans. For more info on that, check the Men of Lithin book.
The Chemical Marriage is hinted at by Albedo, through the stages of the Magnum Opus in his Ascension - although in the game, the 2 last stages are swapped, with Rubedo coming before Citrinitas (perhaps to reinforce the goal to obtain gold) in the game.
That process also sometimes involves a dove. It’s in consideration to the 3 parts of a person, body (the king), soul (the seelie) and spirit (the dove), and in Christianity, the dove often represents the Holy Spirit. The marriage is sometimes blessed by a descending dove from starry heaven. The dove sometimes is the one that brings the ring. There are other trinities that can be associated with this.
Last but not least, here are all the pairs I could think of from Genshin that execute this, that I will elaborate in detail on a different post. They are made of a Seelie or prophetic being who shared forbidden knowledge with a King, who tried to save humanity by creating a hivemind, bringing tragedy: Traveler from Afar and Seelie (who may still be Istaroth), Decarabian and Amos, Zhongli and Guizhong, Deshret and the Goddess of Flowers, Liloupar and Ormazd, Remus and Sybilla, Ochkan and Ixlel… and potentially in the future either the Traveler with the Abyss Twin, or the Traveler with Paimon.
We can also compare Istaroth and PO to Chronus and Anake, two serpentine beings who created the egg that birthed the world. But according to some mythologies, what came from the egg was Phanes instead.
It’s technically more complicated than that, here is a list of alternate possibilities I found for his origins:
Phanes hatched from the egg of Chronos and Ananke
Phanes hatched from the cosmic/orphic egg placed in Aether (who was the personification of the bright upper sky and another son of Chronos)
Phanes is a first-born deity who emerged from the abyss and gave birth to the universe, and is a god of creation, light and goodness. The Abyss part is extra intriguing because the world has an abyss half, and some in-game books even compare wine with the Abyss, and also with the idea that drinking the abyss/wine is a way to acquire Forbidden Knowledge - check this video for more on that.
Sometimes Nyx is also involved - she is Phanes counterpart. In some tales, she is Phane’s wife, sometimes his daughter, and in others she creates an egg from which Phanes is born, so wtv. I don’t know who Nyx is (besides being likely The Night Mother from the book of the Six Pygmies), but it’s pretty clear that the Abyss half is under her responsibility in some way.
Fun facts: Sometimes Phanes is created in the form of a black bird OR in the form of wind (thanks to @daydream1437 on tumblr for pointing this out)
If you refer back to the quote from the book Before Sun and Moon…:
It doesn’t clarify if Phanes and the PO are the same entity or not, the scribe just decides to treat them as the same. I have my own explanation for it, in the next section precisely, but my answer would be “more or less”
It says that Phanes was birthed from an egg, but then proceeds to give a different purpose to the egg, or at least to the eggshell
Here is my interpretation: The PO and Istaroth created an egg/pearl with a chemical marriage, and Phanes was born from an egg. Once he broke the eggshell to be born, the eggshell was used (unclear if by the PO or Phanes) to change Teyvat, to create the world as it is now: a bubble separated from the rest of the universe by a fake sky, less hospitable for dragons, where Abyssal matter and the Primordial Sea stuff are separated from humans, etc. So technically, yeah, Phanes was involved in at least one step for creating the world, and that guaranteed step was the breaking of the eggshell.
This is not in the book, but in the Gnostic Chorus custcene, there is a black serpent tied surrounding the gnostic/genesis pearl. The pearl and an egg are sort of interchangeable, and according to mythology, Phanes is a figure that has the serpent Ananke coiled around him. So that matches up well.
» Theory 2: Phanes is the Primordial One’s soul, just like what Cocouik was to Ochkan
Och-kan, a half-human half-dragon being who hated dragons, sabotaged the plans of his father (the Sage of the Stolen Flame) by following the human Pyro Sovereign Xbalanque - and, after Xbalanque’s death, forbid people from worshiping either the Night Kingdom or even other gods. In his quest to save humans, he became a Tyrant, whose erratic behavior only got worse after excavations that led him to meet Ixlel.
Ixlel was a prophetic figure that used to lead the dragon civilization of the area in the past, who at first was an ally of Och-kan but, upon sharing secret knowledge and prophecies with him, was betrayed. She got revenge by convincing him to use his draconic nature to power his city, by putting his Soul in the Core of Chu'ulel (who later became Cocuik, freed only much later by Bona, after the Cataclysm). Even after Och-kan was overthrown by rebels, he couldn’t die because of that split between body and soul, and his now fully dragon body was used by his father to be an Abyssal conduit, until the interference of the Traveler in the present.
This story has many more details, and once again matches the concept of Chemical Marriage and prophecies that doom Kings, so you can check my post on the topic for proper details.
There are several similarities between Venti and Cocouik:
Color scheme and overall shape is the same, that was literally what everyone first thought when seeing it
In wisp form, he had 3 wings, or rather, 3 separate parts that didnt even connect to his body, they just floated behind him, sort of like the wings of the twins at the start of the game, and exactly like the 3 wings of Cocouik. And in human form, his Vision has a single wing with 3 parts.
The power that Cocouik displays against the dragon resembles the power that Venti lends to the traveler to use against Dvalin in the flying sequences. That is the power to supress the corrosive power of the Abyss - it’s what Venti uses, and it’s in the description of Cocouik’s ability too
The description of Cocouik also mentions a halo, within which the Traveler is protected form the Abyss, and halos are often associated with angels
So… if all of those things are comparable with Venti, why would the fact that Cocouik is the soul of a dragon not be?
Oh, right, there was a sus leak that broke my mind months ago and seemed completely nonsensical, but since I started cooking this theory, I can’t help but look back at it. It claimed that Venti was the guide of the Primordial One. Humm… yeah, if Venti was the soul of the PO, I could see that. Maybe he is assuming Istaroth’s role now that she is gone in supporting the PO?
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List of EVERYTHING sus and interesting about Venti
Some of the following things will correlate to the theories presented above, while others are just fun fancts that I didn’t know where to place.
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I already discussed the relevancy of Venti’s angel form and how that ties with being a Seelie, and potentially cursed at first. But the wings are also relevant for another reason: Phanes is described has having wings.
Both in his fake Vision and in wisp form, he only has wings on one side of his body. Just like Cocouik. Possibly hinting at an incomplete nature, or at a duality of natures (dragon and seelie, or the others I already considered)
The wisp wing is formed sort of by 3 wings/parts, and the same is sort of true for the wing in his Vision. The number 3 might just be a coincidence, but it would also fit well with the connections between a chemical marriage and the involvement of the dove, with that third presence representing how a person has 3 parts, body, soul, and spirit. And I already argued why I think Phanes is the PO’s soul.
It’s also possible that this connects with the idea that angels supposedly have 6 wings. So by just having 3 or 3 parts, that is **half of that, aka half angel/**seelie
Funnily enough, in Archon Form he has a wing at each side, and I can’t fully point why that contrast given the previous 2 cases. It’s similar to what happens to Arlecchino in boss form.
Contrary to what the statues portray, the wings in Archon form don’t connect to his back, instead seemingly fusing with his cloak. In Wisp form, and Cocouik’s case, the wings also didn’t connect. That resembles the wings of the twins at the start of the game, the mechanical wings of The Sage of the Stolen Flame, and the wings of the Seelies/envoys always depicted in murals.
In Archon form, the wings have a circular metallic part further hinting at how the wings might be mechanical/not a part of the body. Besides that, the shape has 3 tips, and strongly resembles the wings of the boss Lord of Eroded Primal Fire / Gosoythoth when imitating the form of the Pyro Sovereign. Once again connecting Venti with dragons, although dragons and seelies are really just variations of the same species.
Mondstadt's vision case also has wings - specifically 6 wings / 2 wings with 3 parts (thanks to tamare1307 on tumblr for pointing this out)
Phanes is also described as androgynous, which, yeah, Venti definitely is. Fun fact: His model literally uses parts of the medium female model. The androginity also matters in the context of a chemical marriage between a union of opposites, since Phanes is supposed to reunite the trates of both “parents”. The book Hymns of the Far North also reinforced the androgynous nature - although, just like with Before Sun and Moon, there is no clear distinction between if it refers to the PO or Phanes, which neither confirms nor denyes the theory that they are separate-but-connected, since scribes are not sure themselves if they are the same entity.
The gender-neutral appearance is not the only fusion relevant here. If he turns out to be part dragon part seelie, that is just as relevant.
One thing lacking in Venti, that Phanes has, is a crown. Not even his Archon form has one, at least, not so far. But some people point out that the base of his beret hat has a golden intricate line that could kinda be interpreted as a mini-crown. A recent leak also mentioned that he is going to be crowned (if the link goes down, I include a picture in the next section).
Another interesting point about his appearance is the fact that, in wisp form, the top of his head was shaped like an apple, with even a stem and leaf-shape on top. I will talk about the relevance of apples next.
His whole wisp form heavily resembles Cocouik, the soul of a dragon, and I already went over why that matters in one of my theories. The powers Venti lends to the traveler to shoot against Dvalin also resemble the powers of Cocouik used against Ochkan.
As a wisp, he was often refered to as an “elf”. Elf ears, in genshin and other Hoyoverse games, are often attributed to dragons, and sometimes seelies - with the male characters typically having the ears pointing upwards, and female characters point downwards. Yes, I am claiming that Klee, her mom, Nahida, Dahlia and others have connections with dragons - it’s not just based on Neuvillette.
And ofc, he has a Cecilia in his hat, and I will go over the relevance of that on a later section.
Mondstadt's vision has a crown. Specifically, a 5 tips crown, with the central tip being bigger, which would tie greatly with the PO and the 4 Shades (thanks to @tamara1307 on tumblr for pointing this out)
(Thanks to @daydream1437 on tumblr for sharing these images and reminding me): The Primordial One is often associated with Khaslana characters in the Honkai universe, and some of the draconic-modern elements associated with Venti strongly fit design elements especially from Phainon-variants, from Honkai Star Rail. Pahinon also displays often the dawnstar/Khaenriah star associated with Istaroth, and has one art where he literally is surrounded by 4 of those stars where one of them has different colors, just like the PO has 4 Shades and where one of them was a little special (as seen in the book Before Sun and Moon). Many people think Phainon is an equivalent of the Primordial One… and let’s be real, the similarities with the names of Phanes and Paimon and other important characters don’t help. Oh, he also gains elf ears in his alt form.
» Thematic parallels that invoke strong imagery:
Nibelung/Durin (a massive dark dragon that was corrupted) was defeated by the Primordial One/Venti (winged androgynous being)
The Primordial One has 4 Shades, and Venti established the 4 Winds
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Titles and names (official and leaked)
Fun fact: Voicelines from Archons say “About Venti” instead of “About Barbatos”, although all other gods are refered to with their god name. There are exceptions in the patterns of speaking about the topic from the archons: Furina is an obvious exception, Nahida never met the other archons, etc... Still, when mentioned, he is never called Barbatos. Even Neuvilette calls him Anemo Archon. I explore this more in the section about fake identities.
Venti: It means winds in Italian, but it’s also based on a Honkai character, Wendy, who looks a lot like our Venti. I believe in some languages is even pronounced the same way, although I might be wrong.
Barbatos: His Archon title is taken from real life mythos: He is the 8th spirit named among the list of 72 demons in The Lesser Key of Solomon, while in the Grand Grimoire, Barbatos is named as the sixth of the eighteen spirits who serve the seven superior spirits. He reveals hidden treasures (a very seelie/angel trait), can understand animals (also semi-implied in canon), and when summoned he appears with 4 noble kings (4 shades, anyone? Yeah this one is probably reaching… although Venti established the 4 Winds).
Carmen Dei: It means Song/Spell of God in Latin. Besides the obvious connections with him being a god and a bard, it ties very well with his search for the Source Song- that I elaborate on in the same section where I talk about him knowing songs of the past, present and future.
God of Song: No need for explanation, it’s the same thing as above.
God of Freedom: No need for explanation, he obviously values that a lot and makes sure to give it to Mondstadt.
God of Breeze and Hope: Now this one is interesting, at least the part about “Hope”, since in genshin, hope and light often represent the same things, and Phanes was a deity of Light. To quote Mavuika: “Many insects have a compulsion to follow the light, and humans are the same — except we call that light, 'hope.’” Hope is often associated with materials capable of influencing fate, like primogems and Genesis Crystals (”Formed from within nothingness out of pure potential and hope, it contains enough energy to create a newborn star”), and feather-shaped objects like the Obsidian feathers or the Dust of Enlightment (that… literally has a Cecilia, or so it seems).
Most popular bard in Mondstadt: Self-explanatory.
Windborne Bard: It means Bard born from the wind, which is self-explanatory considering that he is a thread of the Thousand Winds.
The sentinel that holds the key: That is a new title/description given to him in the Lunar Arcanum V: The Hierophant, that fits very well with other mentions to keys that can be connected with Venti, like in the section about Cecilias, or even potential methods to unlock the giant Venti Statue (Gateway to Celestia). This card also stated that Venti is “Powerless to speak of the mysteries of heaven”
Guide of the Primordial One: …I will never find the leak mentioning that again, will I? I swear there was one. I didn’t care about it in the slightest back then because I still hadn’t come up with this theory.
Vague mention of him being “Crowned”: At least I have the source for this leak xD It’s not a title, but certainly indicates (if true) that he will have titles related to that kind of role.
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(the cecilia got its own section, just like the apple)
Arguably the most important piece in chess, not counting the King and its limitations, and it’s also the piece that Venti had (maybe still has, depending if the theory that he gave away a false Gnosis to Signora is correct or not)
Funnily enough, some connect the chess queen's fluid movement to the moon’s shifting cycles, and queens were often linked to fertility and cosmic balance, just like moons were.
It might also be a hint to him currently representing Istaroth’s role in her absence.
Thanks to tamara1307 for this: Mondstadt's vision case literally has wings and a crown, matching the description of Phanes.
And not just any wings or any crown:
the wings have 6 parts, each side with 3, and I have already mentioned how recurring that is in genshin
the crown has 5 tips, the central one bigger than the others, with 2 different pairs of tips. That matches the PO and the 4 shades, and also the dualities of life/death, time/space.
» Rosa dei Venti / Dawnstar
Recently, people clocked that the icons always present in the UI represent the 4 shades:
Shade of Time is the "compass" of the events (I will explain)
Shade of Death is the homa symbol that is so important in genshin, and now we literally know that Ronova has wings like that
Shade of Space is the Sustainer, who shows up in the game by those sta/diamonds precisely, and screen takes us to space to wish for characters
Shade of Life is probably the character icon
Why is the Compass associated with Istaroth? It's not the compass, but rather the 8-point star. It's not just the symbol of Khaenri'ah, but the symbol of the morning/dawn star, and Istaroth is heavily, heavily inspired by goddesses in mythology that represent the morning star, like Ishtar (I will elaborate in my post about Istaroth). I actually have a whole post prepared about this, but believe me when I swear that it's the symbol of Istaroth.
Thing is that, when that symbol is in a compass, it can be called Rosa dei Venti.
... Idk who picked the name Venti, but it's kinda ridiculous in hindsight.
I also wouldn't be surprised if this all tied back to Phanes/Venti being the guide of the Primordial One, like in those sus leaks I mentioned. Thus, the compass.
Last but not least, this symbol, the dawnstar, is associated with Lucifer, the Devil in Christianity, the most beautiful angel who fell after he started rebellion against God. Who shares a lot of similarities with… Phanes. Both are also strongly associated with snakes as well, or in the case of genshin, dragons.
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The only characters in the game connected with Cecilias are: Venti, Istaroth (we see that in Ei’s second story quest), and Albedo (a prototype primordial human, who uses Cecilias as his Ascencion material too)
Cecilias were confirmed in an event, and then at the start of Natlan, to represent “the true feelings of the prodigal son”. But that information actually is as old as his announcement, way back in 2019.
In his official dish, it’s said that the only difference with the traditional version is the inclusion of the Cecilia, and yet it adds: “But if you taste it carefully, you can taste the flavor of a wind that brings hope and tiny twists of fate.“
There seems to be a Cecilia in the Dust of Enlightment feather/material, that allows us to reroll artifacts or, in other words, rewrite fate.
An inactive user in this post found that the name Cecilia possibly came from a Latin word meaning "blind", and according to this source, “Cecilia is as much to say as the lily of heaven, or a way to blind men.” SexyPoro also commented that it’s a variant of the word caecus, that can mean other variations of blind, such as Devoid of light, Vague, Aimless, Invisible, Hidden, Secret, Obscure
Fun fact, Caerus, that sounds a lot like caecus, is an alternatively spelling of Kairos, another of Istaroth’s names. Kairos is a Greek god that resembles Hermes, and who needs wind to fly. Guess that might explain why she ruled Mondstadt alongside Venti for a while, like the Mondstadt saying goes, seeds of stories need to be brought by the wind before they can be cultivated by time.
The Saint Cecilia is a virgin martyr in christianity, and the patron of musicians, composers and poets.
The closest real life inspiration would be the flower trillium, which represent the Holy Trinity in Christianity, in turn correlated with the chemical marriage (remember when I mentioned the addition of the dove so that the number 3 represented body, soul and spirit? And how those 3 parts are important for parallels between Cocouik and Ochkan?)
Cecilias look a lot like triquetras, once again connected with the Holy Trinity in Christianism, while in Celtic culture it represents the triple goddesses (3 goddesses that function as a whole, like the Moirai or Norse Norns, who in turn are a bit like the Tribbies of HSR and the 3 moons/fates of genshin). Triquetras are a recurring symbol in Genshin.
Cecilias are also an important symbol in HI3:
They are the symbol of the House Schariac, known for Divine Maidens, warriors who have a chance of taking in the Holy Blood.
The Black Abyss White Flower in that game, a ‘Divine Key’ and weapon from the civilization’s Previous Era made specifically to kill herrschers, is also a Cecilia.
It’s very possible that Istaroth/Kairos turns out to be an expy of HI3’s Cecilia. She’s known for wielding the Abyss Flower.
As @daydream1437 on tumblr pointed out: They are also a key of creation, which is relevant when Phanes is a deity of Light and Creation
It ties very well with how the game recently confirmed that Venti is “The Sentinel who holds the Key”
Everything here hints at the importance of Venti’s birth and lineage. And while he might just be connected to Istaroth and things stop there, and it would be enough to justify that importance, it’s still possible that it means a little more.
The Natlan Summer Event in 2025 revealed that Venti has Time powers bestowed by Istaroth, and that opened up some possibilities regarding his involvement in past events. Namely, that many things previously attributed to Istaroth might have been done by Venti instead, especially after the revelations that 1) she is fairly indifferent and aloof, so why would she bother getting involved and helping? 2) The reveal of her appearance doesn’t include a single Cecilia.
So, now people look back at scenes where Cecilias showed up that involved messing up with time - like the cutscene in Ei’s 2nd story quest - and think that Venti was the one who allowed Makoto to enact her plan, letting Ei plant a seed in the future/present that sprouted in the past (in other words, a Loom of Fate). With how obcessed Venti is with seeds of stories, preserving the past and the truth, and considering how he probably was in Khaenri’ah at some point during the Cataclysm and consequently was with Makoto… that is at least possible.
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Venti and apples, the fruit of Fate
Here is a list of every connection between Venti and apples that I could find:
In his wisp form, the top of his head is shaped like an apple, including stem and leaf.
He is always asking for apples, even as payment. He also offers them sometimes. He also really enjoys apple cider.
While terraforming Mondstadt, he created the Golden Apple Archipelago
Speaking of golden apples, he literally offers one in one of his birthday arts, and the text that accompanies it is one of the most suspicious things ever: “It is written that there is a whole tiny world hidden inside an apple core. Here, this half is for you. Let's take a stroll in the tiny little world. But remember to keep it a secret because... you're the only one I want to bring there.” Please keep this in mind.
Mondstadt is a land full of apples. There are a few apple trees in Liyue too, and ofc thishas to do with the inspirations behind Mondstadt, so it’s a tenue connection, but still fitting.
More apple connections inside of Genshin:
Especially in anime, Apples are often depicted as the fruit of Fate (look no further than Mawaru Penguindrum), and in Inazuma, the girl giving Fortune Slips is called Gendou Ringo, with Ringo meaning ‘apple’ in Japanese.
(Thank you to u/HashtagLowElo on reddit for reminding me of this) In Lyney's teaser, when Lyney is sitting at the bard with the drunkard, Lyney took his drink and transformed it into an apple scented wine. As the man closed his eyes to drink it, Lyney transformed it into an apple before talking about the connection between miracles and magic tricks while also going on to hold the moon. So, the apple was somewhat compared to the moon.
And if you are not convinced, Amphoreus in literally just presented a golden apple as the Fruit of Time. That is obtained after playing a tune on wind chimes. Honkai Star Rail
Apples outside of Genshin/Hoyo:
In Sethian Gnosticism, in the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they succumb to the serpent’s temptation and eat the forbidden fruit (often imagined as an apple) from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That is depicted as a good thing, and as the first step towards freedom from Yaldabaoth (a demiurge, chaos entity and false god, who keeps the souls of people trapped in physical bodies).
The Golden Apple is specifically relevant in mythology. For example, in Greek Mythology, the Golden Apple of Discord was thrown by Eris at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, leading to the Judgement of Paris and the Trojan War. In the Garden of the Hesperides, golden apples were guarded by a dragon and were part of Hercules' labors. In Irish Mythology, golden apples are depicted on the Silver Branch of the Otherworld.
...I can’t help but wonder if the connection with apples means that he has secret knowledge and awareness of fates and the future, and is waiting for someone else to learn it too, to assume control of Fate or to break free.
If he derived from the PO, that would also make him sort of serpent/dragon-like, or at least part dragon part seelie/angel. He is probably holding fate in his hands - and if an apple contains a tiny world, according to what he said, holding it is not too different from holding the Genesis Pearl - once again tying him with the Gnostic Chorus.
The fact that Venti has only offered one half of the apple in his birthday art may connect with the fact that Phanes only rules half of the world, while the other half, potentially the Abyss, belongs to Nix, the Night Mother. It may alternatively connect to the idea of Chemical Marriage and union of opposites, since that seems to be a fundamental pattern in Teyvat, as I already mentioned.
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“When I first arrived here, I too was like Dvalin, cursed and left to waste”
During the Mondstadt Archon quest, Venti says that "When I first arrived here, I too was like Dvalin, cursed and left to waste".
Here are some guesses of mine that could explain that:
We know that his Archon form presents him as an angel (source: manga, official arts, and in-game arts and statues) and that angels are seelies (thanks to Natlan’s Archon quest). We also know that the Seelies and Moon kingdom fell, probably symbolizing the end of the Unified Civilization, as a consequence of the marriage between a Seelie and a Traveler from afar, who in turn was likely the Second Who Came, who waged war more a less at the same time as Nibelung and his War of Vengeance. Refer to my (future) other theories for more details. What matters here is that, after that event, the Seelies were cursed to lose their minds and original form, thus why they present as we currently see them in-game. And if angels were seelies, that was probably Venti’s fate too, thus why he showed up as a wisp to the bard.
Since he is comparing himself with Dvalin, maybe his curse was instead related with abyssal corruption. We don’t know what happened to the Primordial One who is currently afk, but if Venti was his soul, and considering that Nibelung used forbidden knowledge and maybe even abyssal energy (unsure of how much those two things overlap), perhaps Nibelung tainted the PO in the confrontation.
Alternatively, maybe he was cursed at existence, which could also explain how he somehow got involved with the bard and the rebellion in Mondstadt and possibly didn't have a strong identity before that? If he was derived from the primordial one, and the PO was the Usurper who took the power away from the original dragons, I don’t think it would be unheard of in stories for the off-spring of authority figures to be cursed by those who hated them.
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Knowledge of secret information, and songs of the past, present and future
» About General types of knowledge:
He is the one narrating the Gnostic Chorus cutscene, so he knows about the origins of Teyvat and other important stuff.
He ruled Mondstadt for a long time alongside Istaroth (the Thousand Winds temple was used to worship both of them), so she might have shared relevant knowledge with him from the period of the Unified Civilization, and even from before that.
He knows of others worlds, and titans: "In other, distant worlds…Pangu gave his blood to form the rivers and seas…the gods sacrificed Purusha and cut his body to pieces, and then fashioned all living beings with those parts…the brain of the giant Ymir became clouds. Their sacrifices seeded life in the unliving cosmos. These songs sing of the primeval ones."
In fact, he tells the Traveler about that in the manga prologue, and I don't think none of the things there were discarded - in fact, judging by the element of the traveler (Pyro) in this scene, I and some people speculated for a while that we would return to Mondstadt after Natlan.
» About music - I have a whole post on the importance of music for Teyvat incoming:
He claims to know all songs of the past, present and future, which even denotes knowledge that transcends time, fitting for the son of Istaroth, the Thousand Winds of Time - and also for a Seelie/Angel, which we know he is given his Archon form, who were always prophets.
Istaroth is heavily connected to the moons, who controlled the Fates - past, present, and future - and who were named after song and poetry: Aria, Sonnet, and Canon. The loading screen song, that is the theme of Genshin, is even called Dream Aria. Dream Aria might very well be the Sourcesong that I’m going to elaborate on soon.
Seelies/angels are in turn connected to the moons, and they are at least from the period of the Unified Civilization. They, just like possibly the dragons who originally inhabited Teyvat, know well the value of song. That once again matches with Venti, in part because of his angel archon form, and in part because of how he values song as a way to preserve the truth.
People theorize that Venti is trying to find the Sourcesong, or even knows it already, thus why he knows songs from past, present, and future. According to the Aranara, all songs in the world derive from the Sourcesong, that can diverge into different memories, just like a river diverges into creeks, yet just like creeks eventually flow into the sea, the songs converse.
In other words, that definition might hint at the creation of a hivemind and fusing the souls of the people into a collective conscience, similar to what some God-Kings ended up doing in their attempts at saving humanity and controlling Fate, with Remus being the most relevant since he used the Symphony of Fate to weave the threads, and fates, as if they were strings of an intrument. They only attempted those feats after meeting with Seelies. [Check my future post about Chemical Marriage to see an exhaustive list of all cases of that in genshin]
Venti also canonically states he can read the the rhythmic flow of energy dispersed by the Abyss Order and copy its magic with his lyre - that was how he took down the barriers during the Archon Quest.
His constellation is called Carmen Day, "God of Songs", although in practice that's the title he is less refered as. As 4clover31 on tumblr added: "Carmen also means God's Vineyard, plus, the term Carme or Carmen was used by Romans to reference a poem with a ritual and propitiatory tone."
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Funnily enough, I don’t find this point relevant for my theory, because even if he turns out to be the weakest Archon currently, there can be many explanations for that, and that is not indicative of his original strength. So it’s possible that he was extremelly powerful and still the soul/son of the PO, while being weak now.
But here is a list of what the fandom usually points out, and the different sides of the argument:
That’s what he claims, justifying it by saying that the strength of an Archon depends on how much faith the people of the Nation have in their Archon. Since he doesn’t actively rule Mondstadt, and people are free from his influence, he sort of implies that they don’t believe in his enough and that he his willing to let his powers pay the price for his ideals
He hasn’t showcased particularly strong powers even when Mondstadt was in crisis, or when trying to stop Signora from taking away the Gnosis.
We also know he has been gone for a long time, returning to Mondstadt during the Stormterror crisis, so it’s possible that he hasn’t regained his powers.
Maybe he was strong when returning to Mondstadt at present, but he delivered the Anemo Authority to Dvalin by the end of the Archon quest, so even if he lied initially, he is actually weaker now.
Venti is currently strong:
People who defend this argue by using Venti’s own definition of what grants power to an Archon, basically by pointing out how, in some ways, he is more worshipped than many other Archons, even if he doesn’t use that to rule the people. He has a Church, people in Mondstadt clearly pray to Barbatos and mention him often, and they completely adhere and live according to his ideals
As such, there is no reason for him to have lost the powers he once presented, like when he terraformed the land of Mondstadt and also completely changed its weather (after Old Mondstadt got rid of Decarabian, since at the time Mondatadt was covered in snow)
Consequently, Venti simply pretended to be weak out of respect for the autonomy and independence of the humans
Some people who believe this think he was just pretending until the Gnosis was taken, while others think he handed out a fake Gnosis and didn’t even try to resist Signora, and there is even people who think he lost the Gnosis but that hasn’t affected his powers
One thing that got confirmed in the 2025 summer event is that he has powers over time bestowed by Istaroth, in fact, a fragment of her authority, and that he used them to blow the Mare Jivari off the timeline. So it’s certain that he has lots of powers that he never shared, although they might come with caveats - like the sumbers I talk about in another section.
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Sacramental Wine, Dionysus and Phanes
Some myths say that Phanes was Dionysus (god of wine… amongst other things), or Eros (god of love, yes I’m simplifying), and oh boy isn’t Venti the god of all of that too? Although this is complicated since it has to do with gods being iterations of past gods and such.
Okay, this gets less obvious now. Phanes is a first-born deity who emerged from the abyss and gave birth to the universe, and is a god of creation, light and goodness. The Abyss part is extra intriguing because the world has an abyss half, and some in-game books even compare wine with the Abyss, and also with the idea that drinking the abyss/wine is a way to acquire Forbidden Knowledge.
Let’s keep talking about wine. I have to start by recommending this video by Ashikai that I used for a lot of the info that follows.
Sacramental Wine is consumed after sacramental bread, in celebration of the Eucharist. The Catholic Church maintains that by the consecration, the substances of the bread and wine actually become the substances of the body and blood of Christ, and in genshin, a similar process happens when a being consumes the body/blood of gods - sometimes even inheriting powers and an extended lifespan, although corruption as well.
The different types of liquids/elixirs in genshin can even be compared to real life ones: leyline liquid is nectar, primordial seawater is absinthe, and forbidden knowledge is wine. Refer to Ashikai’s video for explanations on the first two, but regarding wine, in the book A Drunkard’s Tale, a character says: “What you humans call wine, we wolves call the abyss”. I already shared how many things connected to Venti relate to the Abyss, from Cecilias to the origins of Phanes.
Fungi (more specifically, yeast) are required to make wine, for the processes of fermentation, and you can see in the list of game examples below how much fungi are relevant in the process of eucharistic rites and how often they are sacramental, as a way to grant powers or memories. Mushrooms in a circle also form the so-called fairy-rings, and besides the importance of rings in the context of genshin as objects that confer power to god-kings, they are also considered a portal. They are also called witch’s rings.
Mondstadt is heavily known for its wines, and not just for the production of it. During the distiling process, the portion of alcohol that evaporates is even callled Angel’s Share, the name of Diluc’s tavern. Angels, or seelies, in turn tend to have alcoholic beverages associated with them (really, watch Ashikai’s video for more evidence).
Wine breewing is also heavily connected to witches, who have strong connections with Mondstadt. The witches are also connected to Venti, as revealed in the second Windblume Festival.
Speaking of witches, I already mentioned how witches’ rings or fairy rings are made of mushrooms and considered portals.
Albedo is a famous alchemist created by the witch Rhinedottir. Alcohol is one of the possible solvents used in alchemy, known as alkahest. In Lulian alchemy, quintessence is a solvent distilled from wine, sometimes called aether. Alkahest is the ascension material used for the sword Cinnabar Spindle, and cinnabar in turn refers to the Rubedo stage of the Magnum Opus. That’s typically the final stage, although genshin swaps it, with citrinitas/gold, but usually the Magnum Opus ties with the Chemical Marriage - you know, the thing I said that created Phanes.
Oceanids are often associated with turning water into Wine. The weapon Dialogues of the Desert Sages supports that idea. The oceanid of Springvale, also sometimes called a fairy, blessed/cursed Diona to always make great alcoholic beverages. Oceanids also strongly resemble Hydro Idolons, and Idolons are the kind of ghost most associated with Istaroth, even being one of the names for the Sin Shades from Enkanomiya.
In the Alchemy Ascension event, conveniently said by Venti while standing with Diona, he says “If alchemy has the power to transform matter… I wonder if it could also be used to turn water into wine?”
Kaeya’s Skewers are soaked in Death after Noon, Kaeya’s favorite drink, and if you check the list of examples, you can see that the medicine for Caribert required drawing water in the early AfterNoon, and it was used to water the mushrooms growing on the body of Caribert’s dead mom. The drink is also made with absinthe. The drink, or Kaeya’s skewers, are also mentioned in many sus quests, like Canotila quest about dissolving people and their memories, and in a dialogue with Xamaran.
» Examples of sacramental food/wine in genshin
The desert is full of such examples, from Apep who got to eat King Deshret after his death to gain his knowledge, to the Consecrated Beasts (”consecreated” even means “blessed”.
Jacob in Fontaine also turned into a Iniquitous Baptist abyssal creature after consuming the flesh of a dragon, and it’s possible that other abyss creatures - not hillichurls - went through a similar process, especially considering how all of them have a type named after religious positions (even mages, since the word comes from “Magi” who was a Zoroastrian priest).
Rukkhashava mushrooms, in CN, are called Rukkhadevata Sacramental Mushrooms. Before the description change, it said that the Akademia Sages consumed them to honor the sacrifice of the goddess, and remember her wisdom, like in a Eucharistic ritual. This mushroom is based on the Reishi mushroom (believed to give immortality in Taoism). Wanderer, who tried to ascend to godhood, and Collei who contains remnants of a snake god, need this as an ascension material.
In the first Caribert quest, we see a red/cinnabar version of these mushrooms. They grew in the body of Clothar’s dead wife, and while mushrooms grow on wood, Norse mythology believes that humans were carved from trees. He also had to draw water in the early afternoon (Death After Noon is the name of Kaeya’s favorite drink) to tend to them, and for the medicine. The medicine for Caribert created from those mushrooms had to be blessed by a god, and it followed a similar recipe to the Memory Recipe taught by the Aranara: a Rukkhashava mushroom variation, a lotus (Kalpalata/Barsam), and a purple flower (Sumeru rose/Yajna grass). It’s a sacramental beverage.
Fun fact, the taxonomic name for the Reishi mushroom is ganoderma, and there are mushroom-like aquatic ascension materials called Sea Ganoderma in genshin. Their description says “In the folktales told in a certain land, these mouthless, noseless creatures are the transformed souls of children who died young.” They are used by Yae Miko (guards a Irminsul tree) and Kazuha (ganoderma really like mapple trees)
Xamaran, the giant mushroom in the Chasm, is often taken as the irminsul tree of the area (it even looks like a dragon tree), or instead as a mushroom growing in the body of the main Irminsul (like how mushrooms grow on trees). The name sounds like Shahmaran, a mythological being from Persian mythology who was half human half snake, and the name can be broken into "queen/king of serpents" - and serpents in genshin are somewhat interchangeable with dragons. There are tales both about the queen and the king. What matters is that in the Queen's tale, her flesh leads to recovery, her broth leads to knowledge, and her extract leads to death.
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Illusions, fake identities and lots of pretending
Voicelines from Archons say “About Venti” instead of “About Barbatos”, although all other gods are refered to with their god name. There are exceptions in the patterns of speaking about the topic from the archons, for example Furina is an obvious exception, Nahida never met the other archons, etc... Still, when mentioned, he is never called Barbatos. Even Neuvilette calls him Anemo Archon.
Even in the Archon quest, in the same conversation where he tells us about allogenes and Gnosis after the confrontation with Signora, Paimon says that the “Tone-Deaf Bard is just one of the many Barbatos incarnations” - I wonder if the CN text says this as well...
He doesn't currently use Barbatos' Lyre. Now, that might just be because he is pretending to not be Barbatos, and consequently he couldn't just demand it from the church, as we have seen to an extent in the Prologue. But there might be more to it, since he could have just opted to take that lyre with him or hid it somewhere else before going into slumber, instead of delivering it to the church. So what if that is not his lyre (it could be from the Nameless Bard, or from Istaroth), or what if it is the Lyre of Barbatos but he is just a fragment of Barbatos?
Celestia also doesn't seem to like him (Voiceline Mora about Venti - IV). Could it be because he refuses to take the throne? Because it just doesn't approve of his behavior and attitude? Or maybe because he isn't fully Barbatos? And yet, his bigger statue in Mondstadt has incribed at the base "Gateway to Celestia"...
He has shown his illusion abilities by faking the repair of the Lyre right before Signora showed up to steal his Gnosis, which makes some people believe that the Gnosis he gave away was fake.
Winking. He is always winking. In most official arts, and very often in-game too. Why would that be relevant? Because eyes, especially having eyes covered/closed, are very significant in genshin and hint at the ability to perceive the truth instead of the illusion/dream created by the Irminsul. Check my future post about patterns in the Hoyoverse for more info - I will try to list every example there, from Kaeya’s legacy, to fictional Fischl, God-Kings and their artifact sets, and ofc Irmin. He might not be immune to the Irminsul changes, but he certainly tries to combat that with stories.
Adressing the elephant in the room, people don’t seem to notice that he looks exactly like the giant statue. Or maybe they do, and they attribute it a genius marketing idea to grow popularity as a bard >.< But considering how Ineffa matched Columbina’s appearance to her statues at a first glance, if she ever goes to Mondstadt, i very much expected her to clock Venti just as easily - otherwise, there is something weird going on. You knows, besides the fact that the statue has at the bottom a “Gateway to Celestia” inscription.
(both mods are made by me/Anilyan, [here] and [here])
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Confused timelines, slumbers and dreams
I don’t think there are many instances of this, but there are a few examples that fans point of Venti possibly confusing timelines - either because the wind is free from the confines of time, or because of Venti’s connections with Istaroth and even poential prophetic abilities.
One is during Mondstadt’s AQ, when he tells the Traveler to meet at the “usual place” when we have never met him there before.
Another is a voiceover hidden in a menu, where he greets the Traveler with “Ah, Traveler, we meet again! What? You don't remember me? Ahaha, well, allow me to join you on your quest once again.”
He had to dissapear and go into slumber multiple times, usually after seemingly using a lot of his power: some time after establishing new Mondstadt and making sure that the humans got it (we see him waking up in the manga and realizing how corrupt the aristocracy had become), some time after helping Vennessa win and form the Knights and still taking some time to raise Dvalin, and after the fight against Durin. People theorize it’s only after moments where he spends lots of power, but since we don’t know the exact circumstances that made him go to slumber for the first 2 examples, it’s hard to say.
That theory gains grounds when we recently - in 2025 summer event - got a glimpse of the kinds of powers that he used before one of his slumbers. During the Cataclysm, to prevent the corruption of the Mare Jivari to spread towards other places, Venti used the authority over time that Istaroth shared with him to cut that location off the timeline.
This was around the same time when he also dealt with Durin, and it’s possible that he was in Khaenri’ah around that period too, since it’s implied most gods were called there - and even that he might have been the one who helped Makoto enact her plan before dying, since a certain cutscene in Ei’s 2nd story quest shows Cecilias, and we know now after the reveal of the Shades that Istaroth herself doesn’t have many clear associations with those flowers. So he somehow managed to be in all of those places around the same time, and probably used too much of his power, falling into slumber after that.
The Natlan summer event also got him to confirm that using some of his powers can drain him a lot. After collaborating with Mavuika to free the souls that got detained in the Mare Jivari, he said: “Well, it really took it out of me for a few days... In fact, I still feel pretty dead on my feet even now.”
There was an old reddit post by u/ahellbornlady (thank you to Jolita_Bonita on ao3 for finding it for me) that even theorized that Venti met the Traveler not in some kind of past life/time that was reset - I have seen people theorize that too but it's not really what I believe - but rather in dreams, since they were both in slumber after the Cataclysm. It's even possible that the poem that Venti shares during the first Windblume event - that changes in CN depending on the gender of the Traveler, proving it's about them - was about how they met. It has some interesting verses like "Who was it that stroked your bloodied, determined visage. By stream flowing small, by boulder standing large." and "Who was it that embraced your weary yet noble soul, in dreams deep, in skies soaring." I have an upcoming post about dreams too.
He also wakes up in this location in the manga, that strongly resembles a location shown in the trailer of the anime, so people guess it will be important. The location even shares one of the symbols of Venti and Istaroth (edited pics from https://x.com/Yivvee/status/1899111907627516062/photo/2). This also looks a lot like a portal, which is interesting considering that the base of his big statue has inscribed at the base "Gateway to Celestia" (thak you to 4clover31 on tumblr for the reminder)
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Dissapearances for long periods, Death and Leylines
In the Orphic tradition, Phanes is said to be a dying and resurrecting god, killed by the Titans who devoured his flesh but rescued by Athena and resurrected by Zheus. Maybe, to which extent, we could correlate the Titans (Athena and Zeus) to the dragons, Istaroth and the Primordial One.
Venti dissapears for long periods of time, and dying and resurrecting could be a way to explain that. Especially after the recent Natlan summer event, some people have theorized that Venti is “running out of time”, potentially because using powers from Shades comes at a cost even to other Archons, like Mavuika stated when she had to use Ronova's powers to thwart Gosoythoth's abyssal invasion.
Dionysus, the god of wine - who, like I mentioned before, is often equated with Phanes - dies at the hands of the Titans, and that has been considered the central myth of Orphism. I elaborate more about Orphism, and specifically Orpheus, in a following section.
Dionysus was the patron god of the Orphics, who they connected to death and immortality, and he symbolized the one who guides the process of reincarnation. That strongly resembles Venti’s ability to help souls pass… to wtv is the place of the souls, Irminsul or something, like he did in his story quest or during Natlan’s summer event, and that is likely what allows souls to reincarnate in Teyvat as well.
Unsure how that works exactly, but Istaroth and Venti definitely have some strange connections with leylines. And since this post is about Venti and not his mom, let’s also not forget that he shines in the leyline color multiple times too. In fact, his Archon outfit has more blue than exactly green, and same for his wisp form, although that might be an extension of angels being seelies.
It’s fairly known that the artifact categories correspond to the Primordial One and the 4 Shades, and one of them is the Plume of Death. It’s usually associated with Ronova, the Shade of Death, but even so Venti is heavily associated with feathers. Even in Natlan, those who carry an ancient name have it engraved in a feather-shaped obsidian toten, in turn having connections to the Night Kingdom.
Venti is mostly associated with Cecilias, but he also has some light connections with dandelions - more specifically, Venti is the only anemo character that dandelions are drawn towards after being blown, and the parts that fly are basically seeds of dead flowers. That ties in well with their quote about “seeds of stories” (in other words, the memories of people), and their connections with leylines and souls of people who passed on. In Teyvat, souls are often refered to as flowers in metaphors (I will expand on that in a future post about symbols in the game).
Venti also has a few connections with Windwheel Asters, basically stars (and Aster is also the beginning of Astaroth, one of the inspirations behind Istaroth). And stars and constellations are in turn heavily connected to the fates of people in Teyvat.
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Time loops and creator gods:
Bear with me, we are taking a trip into the Hoyoverse:
I’ve seen some people interpret that Phainon from HSR is a parallel to Phanes, not just because of the obvious name similarity but because of his major role in the story… that also involves resetting time, cycles, and similar concepts.
In fact, many people theorize that Amphoreus shares a kind of existence similar to Teyvat, from the implications that it’s a computer simulation, to the disconnection from the rest of the universe and the fake sky, the corruptive abyss-like powers, how the trailer for the tribbies showed her in basically the login screen of genshin… and more.
Some people theorize that Phainon is the Golden Scapegoat, a symbolic representation of a figure who bears consequences, possibly for failures or mistakes in past cycles.
Some people also compare Phainon with Pangu, a figure who, like Phanes, emerged from a cosmic egg to create the universe by separating the chaotic forces of Yin and Yang. Venti mentions that figure in the manga, saying that in other worlds, Pangu gave his blood to form the rivers and the seas. That lines up well with Chinese mythology, that says that his breath turned into the wind, his blood into rivers, his left eye the sun, and his right eye the moon. He is therefore considered a creator god.
In other words, it seems that each world in the hoyoverse has its own creator god (with Venti mentioning others and Phainon and Phanes as potential candidates), and those figures often tend:
To be born from a cosmic egg
To get caught up in cycles of birth and destruction, that can be considered time loops
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Similarities to Orpheus the Bard
For the Greeks, Orpheus was a legendary bard, and the founder and prophet of the so-called "Orphic" mysteries.
He perfected the lyre invented by Hermes. Venti also probably perfected the lyre of the bard, and (noticed by 4clover31 on tumblr) in the Chasm there is a letter that mentions his lyre: "Not if my destructive self were made to be the lyre of Barbatos".
The suffering and death of the god Dionysus at the hands of the Titans has been considered the central myth of Orphism - and I already mentioned before how Dionysus and wine and all of that have their own connections to Venti. There is also the fact that Phanes belongs to the Orphic myth as well, although as a different entity: Dionysus at most, but not Orpheus.
Besides the bard and lyre aspects that clearly match Venti, the fact that Orpheus was a prophet is also very fitting since, as I mentioned before, Venti knows the songs of the past/present/future, and is probably a prophet given how Seelies/Angels always are.
So I propose that Orpheus corresponds to Venti’s bard identity, that he takes to avoid assuming the role of an Archon, while Dionysus/Phanes correspond to his Barbatos aspect.
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Compiling potential time-related feats (some attributed to Istaroth)
(Most of these things were mentioned before, but I wanted to make them clearer. These are events involving Time-stuff, that necessarily involved the use of Istaroth’s powers, but not necessarily her presence)
The Natlan Summer Event in 2025 revealed that Venti has Time powers bestowed by Istaroth, and that opened up some possibilities regarding his involvement in past events. Namely, that many things previously attributed to Istaroth might have been done by Venti instead, especially after the revelations that 1) she is fairly indifferent and aloof, so why would she bother getting involved and helping? 2) The reveal of her appearance doesn’t include a single Cecilia.
So, people are now looking at things we previously attributed to Istaroth, and wondering if Venti was the one involved instead:
Cutting the Mare Jivari off the timeline: In the aforementioned summer event, he straight out tells us that: “Five hundred years ago, to prevent the corruption of the Mare Jivari from spreading beyond Tenochtzitoc, I blew it off the timeline, turning it into the "Windless Land.” This resulted in 1) some souls getting trapped there, an issue he only managed to fix now with the help of Mavuika who opened a rift to that region 2) People reaching the physical location and getting wrapped in time shenanigans that seemed to contradict the timeline of the area, until we got a proper explanation, like what happened to the Wanderer Troupe. There seems to be more than one version of the Mare Jivari - at least 2 were confirmed.
Helping Makoto with the seed that Ei plants: The cutscene in Ei’s 2nd story quest shows a Cecilia, for starters, which in the past made us all think about Istaroth, especially after the game translates “higher powers” as “Istaroth”. And her powers were definitely involved! Just, maybe wielded by Venti. In other words, maybe Venti was the one who allowed Makoto to enact her plan, letting Ei plant a seed in the future/present that sprouted in the past (in other words, a Loom of Fate), turning into the tree that protect Inazuma during the Cataclysm. With how obcessed Venti is with seeds of stories, preserving the past and the truth, and considering how he probably was in Khaenri’ah at some point during the Cataclysm and consequently was with Makoto… that is at least possible.
Helping the people of Enkanomiya: When Enkanomiya fell into the sea, the people were despairing, endangered by the vishaps and the darkness, until Aberaku was bestwed the wisdom to create the Helios. The first time we learned about the name of Istaroth, the PO, and much more, was in Enkanomiya. That, coupled with other hints, gave the impression that the Goddess of Time was the one who helped. However, now that Venti claimed that she is very indifferent, and after we’ve seen her be so aloof (although that might just be a pretense), it wouldn’t make sense for her to want to help. That made some people wonder if Venti was the one who helped instead. The OST Realm of Tokoyo also resembles the ost Hope or Nostalgia, and we know Venti is a God of Hope.
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Compiling Abyss Connections
Look, most of this section are things mentioned in others, I just wanted to point out that there is a not insignificant number of connections between Venti and the Abyss... And I also didn't know where else to include the Inverted Statue.
The Abyss Order uses an inverted Venti Statue, for their ritual in one of the Archon Quests. Could just be coincidence, but with the ritual in Liyue, it would make more sense to use a statue of Morax
One of the potential origins of mythology Phanes says he emerged from the Abyss
Venti gives us one half of the apple in that birthday art I mentioned - the other half possibly represents the Abyss
He is always drinking wine, and wine is called Abyss by the wolves
He can understand the music of Abyss creatures, even using it to dispel barriers in the prologue
The Abyss Flower and Divine Key in Honkai 3rd is a Cecilia
It's possible that he hasn't even been to Celestia, or at least seems to indicate he isn't wanted there, although that voiceline can be interpreted in many ways
I will just mention how in the recent 5.6 stream art he is mostly in the shadow - tenue connection, but still
You know the "purifying abilities" of the Traveler, that have the great side effects of healing the beings they target, that are now understood as the Traveler just absorbing the abyss taint for themselves? Venti has multiple times displayed similar purifying abilities, like when lending powers to the Traveler to fight Dvalin (again, like Cocouik), healing Xiao with his music, and maybe more that I forgot.
Check the proof/pictures for these things in sections above
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His real age, birth and timeline
Look, I want to start by addressing the elephants in the room:
Venti and Istaroth have the same voices and VAs, in all languages. So I do not believe that, when he says in the Natlan summer event, that he had a chance encounter with Istaroth, he was telling the full story. Maybe the meeting in that moment was by chance, sure, but that doesn’t undermine previous connections between them.
Thanks to Venti’s powers over time, it’s really difficult to state that “Venti did this during X period”, because… maybe he can go back in time, maybe time is not linear since Mavuika basically confirmed that time is a cube and that changing something at one point taints the rest of the truth, etc. So even if Venti interfered in some ancient event, that might already be a rewrite and not how that event originally went. I will just state facts instead of addressing that kind of thing.
There are strong implications that Barbatos - with that title - existed even before he became a wind wisp, or that he went back into the past to other timelines. For example, in the Chasm, we can find a letter that mentions “Barbatos” [check the translation here], dating from the time of the “Nameless Ruins” city that shares architecure with Enkanomiya (and according to Dainsleif, some similarities with Khaenri’ah too, but this city is older). We know that Enkanomiya fell as a result of the war between the Primordial One and the Second Who Came, so it’s from the time of Hyperborea. Assumming that the Nameless Ruins are just as old, that means Barbatos has existed at least since before the fall of Hyperborea.
As a Wind Wisp, Venti heard the cries of the Gunnhildr Clan who managed to flee Decarabian’s city, and were suffering under the blizzards. He gained more powers thanks to their faith, managing to help them, and later joining the rebellion against Decarabian along the Nameless Bard, the red-haired warrior, Amos, and others. I am assuming this happened before the next point, because it’s implied this is the first time he got significant powers and a wish to change the world.
As a Wind Wisp, he got powers from Istaroth, and the Thousand Winds Temple already existed: “Back then, as an Anemo spirit, I had a chance encounter with "Time" at the Thousand Winds Temple. Hearing my wishes, she entrusted me with fragments of her power and authority.”
Around ~2600 years ago, with the fall of Decarabian’s Mondstadt and his divine throne, Venti ascended to become the Anemo Archon Barbatos. Thanks to Boreas abdicating from his influence, and becoming a ghost upon realizing how his powers were harming humans, Venti took the chance to terraform the land to make it hospitable for humanity. Musk Reef (formerly Pilos Peak)[19] and the Golden Apple Archipelago[20] are examples of mountains that he terraformed. He used the four winds - at the time, literally 4 of the Thousand Winds of Time - to achieve some of those feats, using the Skyward Atlas.
Mondstadt established a new cityand customs: Venti lived amongst the Mondstadters for a while, and helped them establish a new home and traditions, like the Ludi Harpastum,Weinlesefest, and the Windblume Festival. He also helped the gliders - designed by Leonard from Musk Reef - work, and the powers of Barbatos are still required. The Lawrence Clan led the building of the giant Barbatos’ statue, and the clans swore to forever protect freedom.
After the Archon War ended, around 2000 years ago, Venti wandered and interacted with other Archons, in particular Rex Lapis and the Adepti. He contributed by establishing meetings between the Archons, and helped even people who weren’t from Mondstadt, like relieving Xiao from his karmic debt at certain points. He tried to use music to heal the world’s wounds, and raised a baby Dvalin.
It’s unclear for how long Venti lived amongst the people, or how early did he felt the need to fall into slumber after using those powers. It’s also unclear how many slumbers he was in between this period and the time he woke up during the aristocratic period - but it has been long enough for him to be surprised, meaning that, in the previous time he left Mondstadt, there were no indications of Mondstadt abndoning freedom.
Venessas tribe flees the Mare Jivari: She belonged to the Anemo Clan of Natlan, and at some point, the whole tribe was exhiled (for unknown reasons, although theories point that maybe they were followers of the Tyrant Och-kan, who lived in his Kingdom). Some found a home in the barren land of Tenochtzitoc (currently a summer resort), and became great warriorr; while Vennessa’s side of the Clan went towards the true land of Anemo, Mondstadt, becoming known as Muratans, and losing some of their memories due to the leyline problems in Natlan, that always stopped people from leaving.
In the Aristocratic period, around 1600 years ago, the Lawrence Clan had taken too much power, distorted the values of Mondstadt, privatized or destroyed resources and information along with symbols of Barbatos, and sacrificed people to Ursa the Drake, possibly in exchange for more power. They enslaved Venessa’s clan upon arrival, and made her into a Gladiator. When Venti wakes up from slumber and realizes how wrong things are, he tests Venessa’s determination to fight for everyone, and teams with her to help her overthrow the Aristocracy.
Having learned his lessons about leaving people unchecked, Venti establishes the Knights of Favonius to protect Mondstadt and its ideals, led by Venessa. He also establishes the 4 Winds, this time actual beings instead of literal winds: The Dragon of the East (Dvalin), the Wolf of the North (Boreas/Andrius), the Falcon of the West (implied to be Venessa, even after her death), and the Lion of the South/Lionfang Knight/Dandelion Knight (always the leader of the Knights, meaning that for a time Venessa held two of these titles). Until the Cataclysm, those figures were worshiped and had temples built for them.
During the Cataclysm of Khaenri’ah, 500 ago, Barbatos was involved in dealing with several crisis across Teyvat: He threw the Mare Jivari off the timeline, he fought the dragon Durin alongside Dvalin to defend Mondstadt, and he potentially helped Makoto realize her plan to protect Inazuma before she died.
At some point in the past (there is no clue at all of the period of this), the Hexenzirkel witches once challenged the authority of Barbatos, but he solved things peacefully, and now the wishes have their own reserved places in Mondstadt, and are frequent visitors and allies.
Recently, at the behest of Grand Master Varka, Barbatos set up the Tripartite Conference between himself, the Hexenzirkel and the joint forces of the Knights and Church of Favonius. The full details of the agreement are unknown, but we know that the witches have agreed to help Mondstadt in times of need.
It’s implied that he fell into slumber somewhere between helping Varka and the events of the manga, and woke up shortly before the beginning of the game, because:
He isn’t at all involved in the events of the manga, that happened around 1 year before the Traveler arrives in Mondstadt
Varka had to be the Grandmaster to make a deal with the witches, but we know he left Mondstadt for Nod-Krai before the start of the manga, since Jean was already acting as a Grandmaster
Venti was alarmed at the realization that Dvalin had gotten corrupted, and was trying to fix the issue (this in turn implies that Dvalin only woke up in that state after the events in the manga).
Venti was fairly unknown by certain figures like Diluc at the start of the game, perhaps because Diluc was too young when Venti fell into slumber in the last time, and yet Venti had already gotten popular as a bard when the game started - either because some people recognized him from his appearance years ago (around Varka’s time), or he immediately introduced himself as a bard, growing his popularity quickly.
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Mondstadt, the fairytale land with connections to every part of Teyvat (the Prologue was literally used to introduce everything, and every character there is representative of future content). I couldn’t leave out the Nation that Venti is an Archon of.
First, let’s talk about the period before Venti’s Archonhood, while he was just a wisp caught up in Old Mondstadt:
Decarabian was a participant of the Archon War - but what exactly motivated him?
The Archon War: It took place right after the fall of the Unified Civilization when Archons were the solution necessary to help stabilize Teyvat after the disasters brought by the War of Vengeance. Decarabian’s opponent was Andrius/Boreas, who likely came from Snezhnaya, and brought snow and blizzards to all of Teyvat. Mondstadt was completely covered in snow.
The safety of humans: To keep the humans in Mondstadt safe, especially from the cold, Decarabian enclosed them in a wind barrier (some, like the Lawrence Clan and possibly the Gunnhildr Clan not yet named that at the time, managed to leave the city). He micromanaged the city, forbid rebellious songs (although the CN version of Venti’s retelling implies that he only accepted hymns), and his winds were so strong that they forced people to bend their backs. He mistook that as respect, unaware that the humans resented him, which later led to their revolution to take down their god.
All for a Dream: Becoming a Tyrant in an attempt to protect humanity is not the only similarity he shares with other God-Kings. He was trying to attain a Dream, possibly another hivemind project - according to Fragment of Decarabian’s Epic, "If it were not for the song of freedom that shattered the city in an instant, Decarabian's dream would have gone on forever.” He might even have something akin to Deshret’s mausuleum or projects from other god-kings under his tower, the only location in the whole game that, if we try to access it, makes Paimon say something different than the usual: “Watch out! Don't go near there!”. In the cutscene of his death, he looks like a Sun when exploding, further connecting him to sun-kings or red-kings. Something something eternal dream and hiveminds.
Besides his goals, his appearance might also connect him to God-Kings.
We never see his appearance - possibly because Hoyo intends to show he was a dragon or had draconic features, which would make sense given that his tower has arches big enough for a dragon, a floating platform above, and was chosen by Dvalin as a nest. More likely than not, he even had the Authority of Anemo and was a Dragon Sovereign - not just because he was the God of Storms, but because he was associated with a divine throne that was destroyed during the rebellion. That has been officially confirmed now in this post (check pics below), but that was actually never hidden. The og ENG translations were simply bad, and replaced throne with crown for the purpose of rhyming, but you can see that this fan translation by dkniade pointed that it said throne in CN, along with mentions to a god’s seat.
ENG translations also still call Decarabian of Anemo Archon, which is simply incorrect because the Archon War wasn’t over yet, but maybe that was because they mistook it as Anemo Sovereign?
Amos was also far more important than people realize:
It’s unclear how Decarabian met Amos - maybe under his tower, closer to Leyline stuff? - but she was almost certainly a Seelie.
Amos became Decarabian’s lover who later joined the rebellion against him.
Her appearance, white white hair and blue clothes, already gives some slight seelie and moon themes.
She was the only member of the rebellion with a name (Either because the name of other members was forgotten to history, or maybe something more significant, like them rejecting their names and the roles they represented, or maybe names in Old Mondstadt were just the things people did, like being a Bard. I’m not counting last names, since we have those).
She had prophetic dreams, as you can see in her quotes in Amos’ Bow, and the biblical figure of Amos was a prophet - and Seelies were prophets too.
Seelies also often sided and protected humanity, which is what she did by joining the rebellion. Players often assume that she was human because of the dreams she had for humanity, but nothing actually states that.
Last but not least, she might have been the one who killed Decarabian (again implied in her bow), and it probably takes a non-human powerful being to do so.
She looks exactly like Istaroth, and I don’t think that is a coincidence in the slightest, especially when it’s implied across the game how Istaroth had several fragments of hers across civilizations. But I will expand on that in my Istaroth’s theory.
What about the other characters involved?
Like I said before, the others had no names, only last names at most. Possible exlanations: 1) the name of other members was forgotten to history 2) they rejected their names and the roles they represented (since we know how names are tied to a person's fate in Teyvat) 3) maybe names in Old Mondstadt were just the things people did, like being a Bard 4) names were possibly hidden to hide their identities from the Irminsul
The rebels came up with the Windblume tradition, although it had a different meaning back then
Nameless Bard: We don’t know much about the Nameless Bard… but he was the rebel who led the rebellion, and whose form Venti took after once he died, due to being a dear friend of Venti. He had a Cecilia pinned to his chest, which is relevant. His lyre was different from the typically large lyres of the time, as mentioned in the description of the teapot lyre. I can’t help but wonder if he is a reincarnation of other rebels from history: The young man (probably an Alberich, but that’s another theory) from the period of the Unified Civilization, that was possessed by the Traveler From Afar and went to the Ancient Seelie to free her. It’s possible that he later reincarnated into story Ajax (the one who ended in Hyperborea) drawn by vague memories of the seelie he once loved. My other guesses, besides the Nameless Bard, are the Crimson-Eyed Youth who rebelled against Och-kan. I am undecided if currently he is represented by Alice or Childe, to be honest - in part because Idk to which extenct we should separate the identities of the female Traveler from Afar and the male figures she possesses.
Red-haired warrior: He was a traveler who wasn't from Mondstadt (no idea how he managed to enter), and he was with the bard when he died in the cutscene. He is potentially an antecedent of the Ragnvindr family, but it's not certain, since he left Mondstadt after the death of his friend.
Gunnhildr: The Gunnhildr clan wasn't called that at the time - it changed name in her honor after she was a hero in the rebellion. But before all of that, she and her clan managed to leave the city and, when suffering in the cold outside, she prayed, somehow manifesting or attracting Venti. It's unclear when did she return to the city or how, but we see her in the final battle in the TCG card.
There are mentions of figures from other clans that were involved, like Lawrence members and the Imulaukr Clan.
Andrius: After Decarabian was taken down, Andrius realized he wasn’t fit to rule humans and became a ghost, the rebellion leader was dead, so was Amos, and the red-haired warrior felt hurt and left. So the Archon position went to Venti, who took the form of his friend and terraformed Mondstadt, but didn’t take the Divine Throne. That might be the actual reason why he is the “weakest of the archons” if that really is true. He also tried to not exert authority over humans.
Official translation vs Literal fan translation vs Recent official post
Alright, and what about present Mondstadt?
Aristocracy period: Venti ruled Mondstadt alongside Istaroth for a while, with the Temple of the Thousand Winds dedicated to the worship of both. It’s unclear when Istaroth was forgotten by time, and why Venti had to get into slumber, but he was gone for a long period and, when he woke up, the Aristocracy of Mondstadt (especially the Lawrence Clan) had become arrogant, betrayed its principles, and abused their power to crush the freedom of people. The temple was converted into a fighting Arena, much was destroyed (including the original library), and Natlan’s refuggees (Vennessa’s tribe) was turned into slaves and gladiators. Venti helped fix that and, after realizing that full freedom could backfire, established the Knights of Favonius and the Four Winds, with Venessa as part of both groups.
Dvalin: It is unclear when exactly Dvalin and Barbatos met, but the poet in Breeze Amidst the Forest (implied to be Venti himself) says it occurred in "ancient times, when the gods walked among us in their prime." This puts their meeting somewhere between Barbatos' ascension 2600 years ago, and his departure from Mondstadt between 2000 and 1000 years ago. Venti helped people realize that the dragon didn’t pose any danger, and raised Dvalin, teaching him to speak the human tongue. It’s very possible that Dvalin is a reincarnated Anemo Dragon Sovereign, and that Venti entrusted the Anemo Authority to him. 500 ago, during the cataclysm, Venti and Dvalin fought against Durin’s attack, Venti had to go into slumber and Dvalin got poisoned. Mondstadt’s Prologue was all about about helping save Dvalin from Abyssal corruption and show to the people of the present that he is still a good dragon.
Mondstadt and witches: The witches deserve their own post, but it’s really interesting how they have such strong ties to Mondstadt, with two witches even taking residence there temporarily (Rhinedottir somewhat, and Alice). The second Windblume Event took us to the floating island where the witches used to reunite over tea, and for the first time told us about the members of the Hezenxirkel. It also told us of how they at some point challenged the Anemo Archon, for unknown reasons, but he befriended them instead. Interesting detail: In the cutscene about the witches, there is a moment that display’s Istaroth’s star, the same that is the symbol of Khaenri’ah - I have a post about Istaroth and that symbol almost ready too, so I won’t elaborate here, so points for another connection between witches-khaenri’ah-istaroth-venti. The Imaginarium Theater, a domain from the witches outside of space and time, also has a portal in Mondstadt. Oh, and the summer events are always connected to Mondstadt AND the witches.
Mondstadt and Wine: I already have a whole section about that, but it’s definitely no coincidence. It connects to witches, it connects to the Abyss, it connects to seelies (Angel’s Share), it connects to so many things… please go read my section if you haven’t.
Abyss: The portal is located in Musk Reef - one of the areas terraformed by Venti after he ascended, that was previously he tip of the tallest snowy mountain, known as Pilos Peak. Currently, the island looks suspiciously like multiple moons overlapping (that symbol that everyone went crazy over after the recent web event, despite being present in the game for a while). Its structure is divided into the "Abyss Corridor," which connects worlds (Teyvat was disconnected from other worlds, or at least that’s what the Legend of the Shattered Halberd book implies), and the "Abyssal Moon Spire," which leads to the unknown (possibly the same spire created by the Seelie Ancestor). In each level, we collect stars.
Flowers: Some of the flowers prominent or exclusive to Mondstadt have very interesting meanings. I already went over Cecilias, so go read that section because it’s huge; Dandelions represent wishes that are carried over to the Anemo Archon when blown, but their seeds can also represent the souls and stories of people, which in a way is almost intercheangeable given how the wishing screen kinda grants us the souls of campanions; Windwheel Asters represent stars, also very relevant for Genshin given the constellation system; Lampgrass only glow at night, so they are part of the series of flowers that change with the moon; Roses don’t seemingly exist in Mondstadt, yet two characters (Lisa and Noelle, and Rosaria has thorns in her attacks) wear them, and associated with secrets in Monds (see Noelle Hangout), and are in the cover of a big chunk of fairytales.
Gateway to Celestia (thanks to 4clover31 on tumblr for the reminder): The base of Venti's massive statue in Mondstadt has inscribed at the base "Gateway to Celestia" - people have translated and figured that out from the very beginning of the game.
Eyes of Storm, Istaroth and the Nameless Island: Idk where I'm going with this but it's interesting how, although Eyes of Storm are primarily featured in Mondstadt, the Statue of the Omnipresent God in Inazuma that many people theorize to be a depiction of Istaroth has a necklace shaped like an Eye of Storm. See this image edited by CatWithBlueHat. The quests where we first learned about Istaroth/The Thousand Winds of Time also included Eyes of Storm. (thank you to 4clover31 on tumblr for reminding me of this)
Windmills with 6 wings: This is barely important, but it's also mentioned in Kaeya's quest so I can't just ignore xD Straight out pointed explicitly. Windmills irl tend to have 4 wings (not always), but in Mondstadt, they have 6, matching the number of wings that special beings in Teyvat typically have.
The important citizens of Mondstadt: There’s just so many that I have to break this in parts, but I really don’t like it when people dismiss Mondstadt, because everything there was a well-done setup to future content:
Kaeya is one of the few Khaenri’ah survivors, and from the Alberich dynasty no less, who not only took control of Khaenri’ah after King Irmin felt “indisposed”, but also was important far before that, being possibly one of the oldest lineages of Khaenri’ah;
Diluc is strongly connected with the Fatui, that he opposes, and with a secret organization that is probably the Hexenzirkel, judging by the cups in his mansion, Angel’s share and several other hints;
Jean is a descendant of Old Mondstadt, more specifically, of the original Gunnhildr who through her wishes attracted wisp Venti, and she is alsoboth the Dandelion Knight and the Lionfang Knight;
Rosaria has lived with bandits since childhood, was found by Varka and put in the church, and she isn’t a very faithful nun. More importantly, some people suspect she is originally from Nod-Krai - she is canonically from a mountain village and the bandit gang has endured freezing cold.
Albedo is an homunculus created by Rhinedottir, a witch, through Khemia, that he also practices, and he is technically Durin’s brother and adopted into Klee’s family;
Klee is Alice’s daughter and might very well become a super strong witch herself, and she also inherited Alice’s book;
Mona is Barbeloth’s apprentice and therefore can read fates, and another powerful witch;
Lisa is another powerful witch who was invited to be part of the Hexenzirkel (she declined), who also knows many truths and secrets;
Eula is a member of the aristocracy who goes against her family, and was taught by Amber’s grandfather;
Amber has a grandfather from Liyue, who dissapeared;
Fischl/Amy cosplays book Princess Fischl, who likely represents Istaroth and is from books written by the suspicious Mr.Nine, the author whose codename is A., so probably by Alice;
Razor has ties to Sumeru family, and his story introduced us to Boreas/Andrius;
Bennet was likely found in the Mare Jivari, a destroyed region in Natlan where wind doesn’t blow, and his bad luck is probably an extension of the curse that people from Natlan had before the Archon Quest, that prevented them from leaving the region because of Leyline issues;
Diona was one of the first characters we saw that displayed atavism (regressive animal traits), along with her whole family, and she also introduced us to the concept of fairy oceanids, and their connections with wine.
Sucrose is another character with atavism, likely a fox, and foxes are important on their own even with fairytale connections like the tale of the dandelion sea. She is another alchemist.
Noelle is very unsuspicious, but it’s interesting that she wears roses, and the fact that those flowers mean secrets in Mondstadt was even highlighted in her Hangout quest;
Mika and Barbara don’t seem to have anything weird going on.
Varka is out in an expedition with most of the Knights of Mondstadt, and will definitely be an important character too;
Dahlia got his own post: between dragon connections, and the potential to be the nameless bard reincarnated (or even have parts of Decarabian!)... yeah. [Here]
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That's it. My goal was to write the most extensive and in-dept post about Venti possible - you guys tell me if I succeeded and if this makes sense xD
I think I did, because reddit told me this
I have more lore posts on the way, so follow me for those if you want ^^ Meanwhile, I also made an aggregator post on reddit and posted this on AO3 (yes, in the middle of my venti-centric fic xD).
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Log of changes and when they happen - so you can catch up to what you lost after each of my updates:
I added some notes thanks to the reminders of several people:
a new section called "Compiling abyss connections" (go read that one above)
2 mondstadt bullet points
2 paragraphs to the illusions section
a paragraph and a new note in the timelines and slumbers section
a new paragraph in the apple section
In case you already read the post before, you can just check the new parts in the following pics (first full pic and highlighted parts in the others)
No new sections, but the previous section about the Gnosis was repurposed to have more stuff. Here is a list of what I changed:
The section about Gnosis is now called Symbols, and talks about the Queen Gnosis, Mondstadt's vision case, and the UI icon for events with the compass/morning star/rosa dei venti
An analysis of the shape of the vision was added to the relevant parts discussing Venti's appearance
In the section about Mondstadt, I added a minor note about how windmills have 6 wings
In the section about apples, I reinforce why golden apples are important by showing how we got one in the Amphoreus arc from HSR
Dahlia is not even described in this post anymore, I instead link to a post entirely about him since I've been able to study him more since his release xD
Here are the changes in screenshots:
I added a section about titles, and reordered the themes to start with the simpler stuff (appearance, titles and symbols), as long as reordering more stuff so that closely related sections were next to each other
I added more about some visual characteristics
Added at the end of the section talking about his strength: “One thing that got confirmed in the 2025 summer event is that he has powers over time bestowed by Istaroth, in fact, a fragment of her authority, and that he used them to blow the Mare Jivari off the timeline. So it’s certain that he has lots of powers that he never shared, although they might come with caveats - like the sumbers I talk about in another section.”
I expanded on the significance of Cecilias, how what they represent in HI3 tie so well with the recently revealed title of “sentinel who holds the key”, and how their appearance on certain cutscenes might indicate that the one connected with that event was venti instead of Istaroth
Added 2 paragraphs in the section about Slumbers, showing how the Natlan summer event confirmed that using his powers can exhaust him.
On multiple sections, I included a mention of how his special dish connects cecilias with twists of fate, and possibly related to the exploration of sacramental food. More specifically, I say: “In his official dish, it’s said that the only difference with the traditional version is the inclusion of the Cecilia, and yet it adds: “But if you taste it carefully, you can taste the flavor of a wind that brings hope and tiny twists of fate.“”
I added some points in the sections about death and leylines, and venti potentially running out of time
Added the sections “Time loops and creator gods”, “compiling potential time-related feats”, and “His real age, birth and timeline” (not adding screenshot for those, just scroll up to read)
