In the latest trailer of Genshin Impact, “Endless Suffering,” MiHoYo hyped up fans for the upcoming Patch 3.4, promoting the return of Xiao in the banners, alongside Alhaitham and Yaoyao as new characters.
Xiao was overshadowed once again, however, by Qiqi this time. In the trailer, the zombie child tells him: “I carried you here on my back. I’ll go get you some medicine now.”
Surprised fans started theorizing how Qiqi, who’s half the size of Xiao, could possibly have carried him on her back. And the hype can’t be stopped any longer.
Artists created hilarious drawings depicting the unusual situation, while others speculated she could change form to make herself taller and stronger like a Chinese god.
Another fan produced a drawing showing Xiao’s symbolic form, which is a Vermillion Bird, and how it could have allowed Qiqi to carry him easily.
In Chinese, his name refers to a mythological bird called Peng, and he was created based on a “golden-winged bird deity was a fearsome predator who ate only evil dragons,” the developer revealed in 2021—which corresponds to Xiao’s background.
The bird drawn here refers to MiHoYo’s official merchandising, where Xiao was sold in the form of a teddy bird, referring to his story background explained above.
Other fans based their theories on Qiqi’s background, rather than Xiao’s. The character is a zombie resurrected by the adepti Baizhu, which refers to jiāngshī in Asian mythology. They’re zombie vampires that are immortal yet cursed with dark powers.
Qiqi is known to wield immense powers. In her story, it’s revealed she wreaked havoc in Liyue when she was first awoken, which forced an adeptus to seal her to end the destruction she brought upon the land. It wouldn’t be a surprise to discover she has a kind of super force as well.
More theories and art surface every day as more Genshin players are inspired by the trailer. MiHoYo might have unexpectedly increased Qiqi’s popularity to the detriment of Xiao’s hour of glory, who’s going to be one of the main focuses of Patch 3.4.
