Childe is Genshin Impact’s main character – you can’t change my mind
Love him or hate him, Childe has the potential to be Genshin Impact’s main character. Well, at the very least he has big main character energy. Ever since he first appeared in version 1.1, Childe (otherwise known as Tartaglia or Ajax) has popped up multiple times, appearing across several nations via archon quests, story quests, events, and more. His consistent appearances across Teyvat even led to the community giving him the nickname of Mr Worldwide once upon a time.
Our sweet Childe has been through a lot, both before and during the events of the game, and has quite the reputation. On the official website, Hoyoverse describes him as a “cunning Snezhnayan whose unpredictable personality keeps people guessing at every move”, and that “behind that innocent, childlike exterior lies a finely honed instrument of war.”
He’s lived through hell, earned the title of the youngest Fatui Harbinger (and one of the most powerful people in Snezhnaya), raised an ancient beast of the sea, befriended the geo archon, escaped Teyvat’s most secure prison, fought a giant narwhal, and plenty of other shenanigans. And somehow he continues to do it all with a smile and a real zest for life, while still managing to be the best big brother in the world (though our sources may be biased on that one).
Sure, he may be a bloodthirsty battle addict who can switch from warm and friendly to a ruthless killer faster than you can say “sweet madame!”, but all the best anime protagonists are a little unhinged and traumatized, right?
With an extensive backstory, heaps of character development, incredible powers, a charming personality, and a deep love and loyalty for those closest to him, he has a lot more to offer than most players think. And, in my opinion, his consistent presence across Teyvat and impressive feats throughout make him the real main character of Genshin Impact.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit hyperbolic. Naturally, I know that he’s not the true protagonist of Genshin… but in a way, I wish he was. While I have a soft spot for Lumine and Aether and appreciate their more toned-down personalities and motivations, Childe just steals the show whenever he’s onscreen (and he’s not even my favorite Genshin Impact character).
He’s so vibrant and charming, and the little glimpses we see of him caring for and sending gifts to his siblings show there’s more to him than meets the eye. Plus, he has enough lore to go toe to toe with some of the most iconic anime characters of all time, and I don’t think he’s going away any time soon. So let’s take a brief tour through the world of the Eleventh Fatui Harbinger, shall we?
From his character stories, we know that Ajax grew up in the small seaside village of Morespok in Snezhnaya. He wasn’t born with those exceptional battle skills. In fact, he was actually quite a timid child, but he loved going ice fishing with his father and listening to his unending tales of adventure. These stories enchanted Ajax, and became a future that he secretly envisioned for himself.
It wouldn’t be long before those dreams became a reality – though perhaps not in the way he’d hoped. At the age of 14, Ajax fled his monotonous life in search of adventure, armed only with a shortsword and a bag of bread. Pursued by wolves and bears, he lost his footing and fell into a bottomless crack in the earth’s surface, tumbling down into the Abyss.
Now, we know that abyssal monsters aren’t the nicest of beings – we’ve fought plenty of them during our time in Teyvat – but the sights that Ajax saw in this ancient world were beyond imagination. Luckily, he bumped into Skirk, who sensed the “burning ambition in his heart” and took him under her wing. For three months, she taught him how to fight and survive in the Abyss, while also nurturing his innate ability to stir up endless havoc.
When he crawled out of the Abyss and his family found him in the forest, only three days on the surface had passed, but Ajax had changed forever. Now, instead of frightened and hesitant, he was frivolous and confident, constantly seeking out battles and wreaking havoc in the small seaside village. After a huge brawl with some near-fatal misses, his father saw no other option but to hand Ajax over for conscription into the Fatui, hoping that the strict military training could hone his son’s temper. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t – but Ajax thrived in this new environment.
Pulcinella soon recognized Ajax’s potential and inducted him into the Fatui, ordering him to start from the bottom and take up the duty of serving the Tsaritsa. He thrived here, too, slaying many mighty beasts, and was soon chosen to become the youngest of the Fatui Harbingers, donning the mantle of “Childe” Tartaglia. However, Childe still sees this mighty feat as just one step in his journey to conquer the world.
This backstory alone makes Childe a perfect protagonist in my opinion. I would absolutely devour a manga, anime, or standalone game based on the above events. His evolution from timid child to fierce warrior is a classic character trope with a lot of room for expansion, and helps us relate to and root for him as a character despite his flaws. But, of course, his journey doesn’t end there.
In the Liyue archon quest arc, we meet Childe as he acts as a Shneznayan diplomat visiting the nation, hiding a secret scheme to steal the Geo Archon’s gnosis. Along the way he befriends Zhongli, then later discovers that his new friend is in fact the very archon he’s been sent here to steal from (and potentially slay) and that he was unwittingly playing a part in a game put in place by that same archon and a fellow Harbinger.
Of course, he only discovers all of this after unleashing an ancient sea monster and nearly destroying Liyue Harbor, though. And, despite a bit of initial grumpiness at being played, he soon shrugs it off, and is seen prancing around the streets of Liyue with Zhongli like nothing happened (though his dialog lines suggest that he’s still waiting for that reconciliation battle).
Once again, Childe’s POV in this chapter could be its very own anime arc, as we follow him trying to serve his queen in his own way, learning Liyue’s local customs, attempting not to blow his cover, then battling with the sense of betrayal that he feels when the twist comes. Plus, Osial rising from the ocean was so cool that Hoyoverse did it twice (of course, the second time wasn’t Childe’s fault, so don’t blame him). And don’t even get me started on how this could make an amazing forbidden romance tale – the secret ZhongChi fangirl inside me will never die, so don’t come for me ChiLumi fans.
Following the Liyue archon quests (and his adorable story quests where we get to see him interacting with his little brother Teucer), we didn’t hear from Childe in the main story for a while. However, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t around. During the Inazuma arc, Childe was canonically in Inazuma, too – hot on Scaramouche’s trail by order of the Tsaritsa. We’ve even seen him in Inazuma during a few Genshin Impact events, including version 2.2’s Labyrinth Warriors event and 3.2’s Outside the Canvas, Inside the Lens: Greenery Chapter. Our boy was really living up to the nickname of Mr Worldwide, wasn’t he?
Well, not quite, as he wasn’t around in Sumeru as far as we know. Though, really, do we want poor, sweet Nahida to see what’s inside his head? I thought not. I also don’t really blame him for wanting to steer clear of Dottore around that time. But, of course, we often revisit previous nations for lore-heavy events, so you never know whether he’s got plans for a Sumeru summer home in the future – after all, I’m sure Teucer, Tonia, and Anthon would love to hear tales of the Aranara from their favorite big brother.
The next stop on our speedy tour of Teyvat is Fontaine, and, of course, Childe showed up here for a solid guest spot in the archon quests, too. Pulled to the nation of hydro due to a “bad mood” and a sense of “something stirring inside him”, he’s up to trouble as always, and soon finds himself imprisoned in the legendary Fortress of Meropide, though he doesn’t stick around for long.
Managing to escape what was previously seen as an ‘inescapable’ prison, Childe sneaks off to fight a giant, abyssal narwhal in the Primordial Sea, and manages to get himself stuck there for quite some time. His efforts actually delay the beast’s destructive path, preventing it from consuming the people of Fontaine, but unfortunately he doesn’t quite manage to finish the job – perhaps due to his lack of a vision at the time.
Luckily, Skirk comes to the rescue again, transforming the beast into an orb and yeeting both it and Childe into a rift. And if that isn’t the perfect cliffhanger to end a season of an anime on, I don’t know what is. Anyway, that’s the last we’ve seen of Childe for now, with Arlecchino telling us that he’s returned to Snezhnaya to recover from his injuries. You can’t really blame him, either – after all, he did get hurled into another dimension by his old babysitter after fighting a giant beast over and over without the use of his hydro vision. I’d probably want to lay down for a patch or two myself.
However, I’d love to see him rock up to Natlan at some point. The fiery Nation of War seems like the perfect place for our equally fiery redheaded warrior, and I imagine he’d have a lot of fun surfing around the hot springs with Mualani and chasing down saurians with Kinich.
Regardless, one thing’s for sure – Childe’s story still isn’t over yet. After all, he’s still got a world to dominate, and he’s bound to show up when we visit his homeland at the very least. In fact, I’d wager that he’d be first in line to act as our personal tour guide. In his Serenitea Pot dialog, he tells us he’d love to take us to see the scenery of his homeland and meet his siblings, and we know he’s still very much dedicated to his dear Tsaritsa, so he’ll surely be there if Snezhnaya were to face the same level of strife as the previous nations we’ve visited.
So, while Childe may not canonically be the real “main character” of Genshin, he’s clearly a writers’ favorite considering his extensive backstory and ever-looming presence, and with his motherland on the horizon, I can’t wait to see what the next major Genshin Impact update holds for him.
I’m desperately hoping that our time in Snezhnaya will introduce us to the rest of his family and further showcase that softer side we’ve seen in his story quest and letters to home – though I’m concerned that Wanderer is right in his voiceline about the Rooster, and that Pulcinella may use Childe’s family against him down the line. He’s already lost the shine in his eyes, he seriously doesn’t need to lose anyone else.
Either way, I hope that our time in Snezhnaya will give him even more room to grow while in the spotlight. Perhaps he’ll even stop being labeled as a maniacal frickboy by the wider fandom, and will finally be seen for the amazingly well-developed (though slightly deranged) antihero that he is.
If not, I’ll just have to keep dreaming of that Childe-focused Genshin Impact anime spin-off. Our staff writer Daz suggested ‘Tartaglia Tales’ as the title, and I think that has a nice ring to it – at least it’s a little less unhinged than my suggestion of “Bbgirl Battles” but what can I say? He’s so babygirl, and I just know he’d look manly as hell wearing a pastel pink crop top with that written on it.
For more of my Genshin-related ramblings, check out my full breakdown of the Winter Night’s Lazzo trailer, or ponder the titillating tale of Genshin Impact’s Ms Hina and her connection to Itto and Gorou. Or, if you’d prefer to grab a couple of freebies for the next Genshin Impact banner, keep an eye on our list of all the new Genshin Impact codes.
