Genshin Impact: Scaramouche and his Anemo Vision as the Wanderer

The Wanderer will be the new playable 5-star character in Genshin Impact version 3.3.

The former Fatui Harbinger known as Scaramouche seems to have undergone a change of heart after being defeated in the climax of the Sumeru Archon Quest and now wields an Anemo Vision.

That last fact came as a surprise to many players, who expected Scaramouche to wield an Electro Vision should he become playable.

After all, he was created by the Electro Archon Raiden Ei to carry the Electro Gnosis. so, he should have an Electro Vision, right?

Well, there are a few good reasons why the Wanderer's Vision is Anemo instead of Electro, rooted in character development, known trends among vision users, and Japanese mythology. Let's go over each one:

The Wanderer is not Scaramouche

In the version 3.3 trailer, the Wanderer declared that, "From this day forth, 'Balladeer' and 'kabukimono' will cease to exist."

With that statement, he seemingly has renounced his past identities as a Fatui Harbinger and a puppet created by the Electro Archon.

The Wanderer can be said to be an entirely new person, perhaps facilitated by a 'reprogramming' from the Dendro Archon Lesser Lord Kusanali after his defeat in the Sumeru Archon Quest finale. The upcoming Archon Quest Interlude Chapter should shed more light on how this happened.

But the point remains, the Wanderer is not the Balladeer nor kabukimono.

Yes, he is still the same being, but he has changed. After all, who you are now is different from who you were when you were a child, for example.

The Wanderer is no longer tied down by his past, so why should he carry an Electro Vision if that was something his old self would have used? He is free to choose his own destiny now, and it's only fitting that one of the tenets of Anemo is 'freedom'.

If you have a dead friend, you get an Anemo vision

Now, we all know the ongoing trend of Anemo Vision users having tragic backstories and deceased friends.

All of the Anemo characters so far have lost beloved comrades in tragic or even gruesome ways, so it makes sense for Scaramouche to end up having it.

Because like Venti who lost his bard friend in the rebellion against Decarabian, Xiao who lost his Yaksha comrades to Karmic Debt, or Kazuha who lost his friend to the Raiden Shogun, Scaramouche also suffered similar heavy losses.

Before becoming the Balladeer, Scaramouche wandered Inazuma and befriended people that showed him kindness, with two noteworthy people being the blacksmith Katsuragi, and an unnamed child.

Katsuragi was cut down by Inspector Nagamasa while the human child died due to unknown causes.

But beyond that, it’s not only about keeping up with a pre-formed character formula; giving Scaramouche an Anemo vision is very much integral to his whole arc.

If there is a Raijin, there must be a Fujin

In Japanese mythology, there exists two gods known as Raijin and Fujin.

These two brothers, one holding dominion over Thunder, the other over Wind, were born from the corpse of Izanami-no-Mikoto, the goddess of creation, and later death.

Raijin would summon the terrifying sound of lightning through his drums, while Fujin would carry a large bag of winds on his shoulder, and both were considered the omen of storms and typhoons in Japan.

Seeing as how the nation of Inazuma is greatly inspired from Japan, it’s safe to assume that HoYoverse was greatly inspired by the god-brothers when creating the character of the Raiden Shogun (as in the Shogun Puppet) and Kunikuzushi (Scaramouche). In that same vein, we can think of Raiden Ei as Inazami.

Putting those two origin stories side by side, Raiden Ei's withdrawal from the world and into the Plane of Euthymia mirrors the death of Izanami. As such, both the Raiden Shogun Puppet and Scaramouche could be said to have been born from Raiden Ei leaving the world behind, much like how Raijin and Fujin were born from Izanami's corpse.

As we all know, Raiden Ei, sought to avoid erosion by removing herself completely from the mortal realm. She started to dabble in creating puppets that could house both her consciousness and Gnosis.

The first puppet she created, that being Scaramouche, was deemed a failure as she saw him shed tears. However, she couldn’t bear to destroy him, so left him to sleep in Shakkei Pavillion.

After the creation and subsequent abandonment of Scaramouche, Raiden Ei would later create an optimised version of him through the Raiden Shogun puppet.

This version was deemed a success, and was later installed in Tenshukaku as the new leader of Inazuma. Raiden Ei’s consciousness was transferred into her sword, the Mussou Isshin, and was kept within the body of the Raiden Shogun.

As such, the Raiden Shogun harnessed the power of Electro and thus represents Raijin.

Throughout Scaramouche’s story arc, he displayed no Vision or any elemental power, save for when he finally got the Electro Gnosis in Sumeru and briefly became a god.

And although his original purpose was finally attained when he got his hands on the Gnosis, his experimental godhood saw him control almost all of the elements.

When the Gnosis was taken away by Nahida, Scaramouche begged for her not to, as he knew full well that without the Gnosis, he would no longer wield any elemental power or purpose.

We’re not yet sure how Scaramouche will gain his Anemo Vision, though we can surmise that him finally finding his purpose and freedom is the reason why his Vision is Anemo and not Electro.

Scaramouche and Raiden Shogun both came from Raiden Ei. Like two sides of the same coin; you can’t have a storm without the wind.

How will HoYoverse choose to tell that story? Well, we won't have long to wait before we find out.

Genshin Impact is currently in version 3.2, which will run until 6 December. Genshin Impact version 3.3 will be released on 7 December and will feature the release of the new playable characters Wanderer and Faruzan, alongside tons of other new content.

For more information on what's to come in Genshin Impact version 3.3, check here.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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