Genshin Impact Under Fire for Natlan Character Lack of Representation
HoYoverse's popular action RPG Genshin Impact is under strong criticism from the community about the way that characters from the future Natlan are portrayed. Over 40,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org advocating better game representation, so highlighting the mounting player unhappiness.
The Natland Controversy: Charges of Cultural Appropriation and Whitewashing
Once the teaser trailer for Genshin Impact Version 4.8 revealed the first three Natlan characters—Kachina, Kinich, and Mualani—the debate started. Given Natlan's inspiration from African and South American cultures, fans were fast to note the lack of diversity in the mostly white cast of the game. Calling for a more inclusive and varied character roster, the petition questions Hoyoverse for what it sees as whitewashing and cultural appropriation.
Community Notes Speak Out Against Representation Problems for Genshin Impact
With players, voice actors, and content creators joining the demand for better representation, the petition has spurred a larger conversation inside the Genshin Impact community. English voice actor Valeria Rodríguez for Sucrose voiced her worries on HoYoverse's disrespect of the cultures they borrow inspiration from. The English voice actor for Albedo, Khoi Dao, also expressed his dismay, stressing that it's a reasonable cause for players to demand better representation when characters inspired by real-world cultures are portrayed falsely.
Issues About the Ọlọrun Representation
The way the supreme Yoruba deity, Ọlọrun, is portrayed as a black man raises one particular instance of claimed cultural appropriation mentioned in the petition. This deity appears misspelled as Ororon in Genshin Impact and assigned to a white character with dark blue hair and fox ears. This disparity has strengthened the criticism directed on the game's portrayal problems.
Natlan Characters Disappointingly Lack Diversity
Out of the nine recently revealed Natlan characters, only one—Iansan—have darker complexion. Many players, meanwhile, feel that even this one inclusion isn't sufficient to solve more general issues about representation. Since the release of Genshin Impact, the lack of variation in the character roster has been a consistent problem; black and darker-skinned characters are conspicuously lacking.
A Background on Representation Problems in Genshin Impact
Inspired by Germany, China, and Japan, respectively, the first areas of Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma did not draw as much criticism; but, the publication of Sumeru in 2022 brought the representation concerns front and foremost. Inspired by Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, Sumeru mostly writes from people of color. Sumeru had few characters with darker skin tones, though, and some of the existing ones—Dehya and Cyno—were accused of being whitewashed.
Calls for Change and Boycott
Calls for a boycott against HoYoverse have resulted from the growing petition as well as vocal criticism from well-known community leaders. With Natlan set for late August, HoYoverse has a pivotal opportunity to answer community questions and show its dedication to diversity. The company has a chance to show that they respect the voices of their worldwide player base and atone.
