#Yanqing theory

[drgnnova]

YANQING SIX PHASED ICE THEORY (part 1)

We know that Six Phased Ice is, "It was a unique type of ice known as Six-Phased Ice a substance that adheres to Imaginary Law, meaning that external forces cannot change its form." - Welt in The Voyage Continues (trailblaze quest)

And that March 7th was sealed inside of this Ice for some time "Did Himeko tell you about March 7th? She was trapped in ice, floating through space. We happened upon her and rescued her." And "Whoever sealed her inside the Six-Phased Ice... No matter who it is... did so either to protect or banish her. I believe she had been floating through space for some time." - Welt in The Voyage Continues (Trailblaze quest)

We also know that because of her being sealed in the six phased ice, March 7th doesn't remember anything before she was sealed in the six phased Ice. "How did you get frozen?" - Trailblazer in The Voyage Continues (Trailblaze quest) and "I don't remember a thing. Who I am, where I'm from, my name... it's like everything was erased from my mind. "March 7th" was the day they found me, so it stuck" - March 7th in The Voyage Continues (Trailblaze quest)

We also know that the Ice that March 7th uses to fight is indeed the Six Phased Ice, this is stated by March 7th herself. "I mean c'mon, (Trailblazer), you've got a Stellaron in your body, I have my special Six-Phased Ice powers, and Dan Heng... Uhh, he's got that mysterious past thing going for him..." - March 7th in A Grand Cool Adventure (Trailblaze quest)

Now we'll focus on Yanqing for now.

Yanqing possibly has memory loss, as it is mentioned in game that Yanqing doesn't remember anything about his parents. And this wouldn't be weird because he mentions that "I never my real parents, I was raised by the General since birth" - Yanqing in his 'Yanqing's relationship with General Jing Yuan (character introduction) and "I just thought how I never saw my birth parents. I don't even know if they didn't want me, or if they're already gone..." - Yanqing's message to Trailblazer ((Trailblazer), SOS!)

So it would make sense that he has no memories of his parents because he never meet him. But his earliest memory is of General Jing Yuan teaching him and he also claims that he doesn't have many memories anyway. "But then again, I don't have many memories anyway, so... I'm okay. My earliest memory is the general teaching me" - Yanqing message to Trailblazer ((Trailblazer), SOS!)

And there a possibility that General Jing Yuan is hiding something from Yanqing and that Yanqing might not even be a Xianzhou Native. "I often see other children with their parents and can't help but wonder if the general is hiding something from me..." - Yanqing in his 'Yanqing's relationship with General Jing Yuan (character introduction) and "However, in the family lineage column, Yanqing's lineage was relegated to the category of unknown." - Yanqing's character story: Part II

Back to March 7th.

Since we know that March 7th Ice Powers are Six Phased Ice, let's have a look at cutscenes and her Gameplay which include her Six Phased Ice.

March 7th's Six Phased Ice Is Blue and Pink.

This isn't just shown in her gameplay, It is also shown in cutscene animations. Meaning it wasn't just a random choice. (This statement will connect to something later in the theory).

Back to Yanqing.

None of the other Ice characters shared these Blue and Pink Ice in their gameplay, expect for Yanqing.

Before anyone says "But it might be a coincidence-", I would like to go back to the my eariler statement "This isn't just shown in her gameplay, It is also shown in cutscene animations. Meaning it wasn't just a random choice. (This statement will connect to something later in the theory)", this connects to the fact that Yanqing's gameplay including Blue and Pink Ice isn't a random choice, as he also has Blue and Pink Ice in cutscenes.

[katherina005]

talking about this....

I have a cracked theory that he is actually a fragment of memory of a Memokeeper or an organic puppet created by them but during their journey he got lost and and ended up in the Luofu.

I had a thought about a Puppet Yanqing where essentially hes a puppet that was discarded by his creater and who has been wandering from planet to planet to find a place he can call home, hes been to various planets and hes helped out but he doesnt consider them his home until the astral express takes him in and finally, when he feels his puppet joints rest against the soft material of the train's cushioned seats, he can say that this is where he truly belongs.

Its 1 am, i woke up with this idea, im sleepy 😭

Oh? As someone who favors both Yanqing and Scara, you have my attention. It sorta reminds me how Jing Yuan wanted to be a galaxy ranger when he was younger and travel the cosmos. I wonder, if he and Yanqing ever cross paths in this au, how their dynamic would work.

Do you have any ideas on who his creator may be? Maybe a genius society member?

[struggling-jpg]

Thoughts About the Potential Underlying Hidden Tragedy of Yanqing and Jing Yuan

that isn't just the "Yanqing will have to kill Jing Yuan eventually" red flags.

A relatively longer-ish post so thank you for bearing with me if you choose to do so!

I'd already been thinking about this whole mess of thoughts for a long while now, and so have other people, but the urge to write this came from a comment I saw on a post that mentioned how Yanqing had lost to "Jing Yuan's ghosts" and overall how it contributes to the dynamic of them being mentor/mentee + father/son. While the narrative seems to be leading to "Yanqing having to strike down a Mara-stricken Jing Yuan," there's just enough weird points that stick out to the point some alternative outcomes for Yanqing and Jing Yuan's fates to play out.

And while I anticipate HSR to follow that most expected point, I feel like there's enough there that could lead to a subversion or something more likely than that, an additional twist to the knife alongside the expected point.

Jing Yuan's Flaws as a Mentor and Father-Figure:

While most of us love the family fluff, I'm pretty sure we can all acknowledge the issues in Jing Yuan's approach and decisions in regards to Yanqing. Yeah, this is a fictional space game story where it's likely they aren't going to delve into the consequences of having someone as young as Yanqing be a soldier, there seems to be something there regardless. Like the brushes with death that he has and how we see him have to worry about the Xianzhou's security as a teen due to having a higher position in a military force. This is all set up for more of a coming-of-age type narrative for him, which HSR has done amazingly so far, but there are a lot of chances for this to explore something darker.

Among official media, the one time I could even remember the term "father" being used in relation to Jing Yuan is in Yanqing's official Character Introduction graphic:

Another notable thing that we see here is how we do have moments where Yanqing expresses thoughts and questions about his own origins and birth parents. The fact that even here, he wonders if the general is hiding something from him, sets off some alarm bells in my head. But he then brushes that off because he's always been with the General and Jing Yuan accepts him for who he is (which under the theory that Yanqing originates/is connected to the Abundace adds a whole heavy layer (this will be discussed in a later section)).

Yanqing does something similar in his texts:

As Huaiyan says to Jing Yuan:

"Yanqing can understand your concerns."

Alongside Yanqing generally being a considerate and polite boy, it can possibly be said that his eagerness to share Jing Yuan's burdens not only stems from his own gratitude towards him but possibly also Jing Yuan's distance.

As in, Jing Yuan doesn't really express his feelings so blatantly, and what we can clearly tell from when Yanqing first met "Jing Yuan's ghosts," neither does he speak much about his past too on a personal level. In Jingliu's quest, Yanqing says that Jing Yuan simply told him to forget everything he saw that day.

For Jing Yuan, the loss of the quintet is a grief that feels fresh in his heart, especially with echoes of them running around him. This is in the description for "Animated Short: A Flash":

(Will also talk about this in a different section)

While Yanqing learns about his General's past in a more direct manner (aka the people involved), it's sad how avoidant Jing Yuan is at times. While he's never been a upfront person, especially in the case of solving problems, I wonder if HSR would go as far as to show the negative side of that in terms of raising and teaching Yanqing.

History Repeats Itself (Sometimes It Don't Need A Reason):

+ the Jingliu parallels

Following up on that last image, Jing Yuan, especially in A Flash, has that whole "history repeating itself" thing going on for Jing Yuan. It points to Yanqing having to take down Jing Yuan but it also comes with a lot of its own possibilities and meanings.

It's blatant that Yanqing parallels Jingliu to an unsettling degree. Anyone who personally knows Jingliu and meets Yanqing sees her in him. Jingliu probably sees herself in him as well. Beyond powers and passion for the sword, her Myriad Celestia trailer shows that her principles before getting struck with Mara were the same as his. But it took her losing her dear friends in such a cruel and brutal manner (alongside how long she'd been alive) for all of that to fall out and form the version of her we see today.

And while it seems that Yanqing is deviating from Jingliu's due to the teachings he's learning, especially with Jing Yuan's effort, I feel like there's still a chance for things to go so wrong and mess with that. Yukong's line about him strikes me as concerning:

"A sword will vibrate and beg to be unsheathed if it is unused for too long... Once unsheathed, it will either paint the battlefield in blood, or break itself in the process..."

Even though I don't think HSR will go down a route of tragedy with Yanqing, like say, he gets Mara struck somehow or killed because that's not how Hoyo's writing has fully gone for playable characters (Misha and Gallagher aside in terms of death). Even in the most despairing parts for Hoyo's games, they're usually outlined and tinged with hope in one way or another. It's just that with what's been presented, there's got to be more here than meets the eye.

Yanqing's Origins - The Breaking Point:

From what we've been given, I think the number one thing that would have the potential of shaking Yanqing's entire sense of his life and the reality he lives in is learning where he comes from. Where he actually comes from has been a strange mystery since the beginning, how Jing Yuan getting him being recorded in the military annals of all places.

As shown from the screenshots of Yanqing's texts, he doesn't know and tries to brush it off because he's happy with Jing Yuan now. The choice to have this aspect here leaves a lot to ruminate on. What is Jing Yuan hiding? And if he really is witholding information, does he ever intend to tell Yanqing? If he doesn't and Yanqing finds out, how will it play out? And even if he does mean to tell him, depending on the severity, how will Yanqing take it?

It's why the theory that Yanqing is connected to the Abundance, possibly even coming from it directly, is as harrowing as it is.

With his arc in mind, will his development be enough to sustain him when he does find out the truth? If he finds out sooner than he should, will he be able to rise above it? And what of Jing Yuan? If confronted with a situation that's outside of his control again, what will he do and how will he react?

The potential in that scenario is so fascinating to me, because we can all anticipate the absolute gut punch that Yanqing killing his master would be. It fits Hoyo's writing style of something so sad but having a hopeful end for the future type beat. But the idea of that being twisted, that expectation being flipped on its head, could be so agonizing. It's not a narrative we see too often explored, at least in my experience, so maybe that's why I'm brainrotting over it so much lol.

[waterfrontcomplex]

yanqing abundance + origin thoughts/theory

so, i was doing whatever and a thought came to me (story spoilers also there's a lot of text)

i took a look around the loufu and realized something; all of the people had essentially every hair color except blonde. the only exceptions are people not native to the loufu, such as luocha.

yk. the one who happens to be ON THE PATH OF ABUNDANCE

and who else has blonde hair?

YANQING.

yanqing's origins are relatively unknown, all we know is that jing yuan found him somewhere and decided to take him in for whatever reason. in yanqing's character story, it says that it's recorded in the military annals of the cloud knights how jing yuan discovered him, but not where.

yanqing mentions in his character introduction how he was RAISED BY THE GENERAL SINCE BIRTH which... like. what. ok thats actually crazy bc either

1) jing yuan took him from his parents when he was like a day old or something

2) he was given to jing yuan (although, this is unlikely considering it was mentioned jing yuan 'discovered' him)

3) jing yuan lied for whatever reason (to protect him)

4) jing yuan indeed found him when he was born, possibly from a fruit of the ambrosial arbor

in the pic above, yanqing says 'but as you know, children aren't grown on trees." is this foreshadowing? or just straight up dropping a hint that his 'birth' was not a natural one?

the ambrosial arbor was inactive for approx. 2579 years before the sedition of imbibitor lunae. after that, the seals on the arbor were weakened. i haven't exactly worked out the specifics yet, but since bailu was created around 700~ years before canon and is still a little kid, and dan heng was presumably an adult/teen when exiled, my guess is that if yanqing has the lifespan/growth rate of a xianzhou native, he would've been born sometime in between den heng's hatching and bailu's hatching, a little closer towards bailu's. but what could've happened during that time? please hear me out the next part is kinda crazy

my guess is that during the tampering of the transmutation arcanum to revive baiheng (and presumably to allow other species to become vidyadhara, although the wiki gave no source... i'll trust it for now), dan feng and yingxing fucked up and created yanqing in a fruit of the arbor, while during the transmutation arcanum ritual, bc dan feng previously fucked with it, it failed and created bailu (and separated his powers between dan heng and bailu)

now, this seems... really out there. how the fuck would yanqing and bailu, a presumably xianzhou native/humanoid and a vidyadhara, be created from the remains of a foxian? i'll start with yanqing. it was stated that after baiheng's death, only a few drops of blood and a tuft of her hair remained. dan feng and yingxing created yanqing in a fruit of the arbor (like some sort of hatching rebirth... but a fruit) using either the blood or hair (most likely blood) of baiheng. it was a somewhat failed attempt at reviving baiheng. yes, it created life from her remains, but it was not her (think how dan heng ≠ dan feng, and also how vidyadhara can be different genders than their previous incarnation). during the time he was in the fruit, it dyed his hair and eyes blonde/gold, and also created the ring around yanqing's eyes (his is unique, the other characters' eye rings if they have them are a lighter color while his is dark, yes ik silver wolf has it too but her's is different).

before bailu's hatching and after subduing jingliu, jing yuan eventually came across the fruit yanqing was being held in, or found him wandering about, probably recognized the blonde/gold as the effects of the abundance, and took him in because dude he's not going to kill a literal baby (even if he could). he knew it would be dangerous to give him to a regular family, so he took him in and trained him himself

for more info abt yanqing's connection to the vidyadhara, i suggest checking out this post by astralexpressarchives.

although he is not baiheng, he did take on aspects of baiheng's personality, such as her free will and even laughing/giggling while in battle. he also enjoys flying (although with his swords and not starskiffs) and even has eyelashes similar to her's. and, just like her, yanqing's missions would often be dangerous, but he would come out relatively unscathed.

now, about bailu. dan heng says she was created after dan feng's ritual failed. if you take a look at bailu, she strongly resembles baiheng, and even starts with the same 'bai'.

same hair, same eyes, similar eyelashes, she even has a similar eye ring to yanqing. there's not too much to say here. while yanqing got baiheng's personality and fighting spirit, bailu got her appearance. now, why did this happen? im thinking its because of dan feng's meddling with the transmutation arcanum. because of that, yanqing was born, but it was 'incomplete'. so while yanqing got one part of baiheng, bailu got the other. yanqing was made on purpose, while bailu was somewhat of an accident. maybe some of baiheng's 'life' from yanqing's creation was still there when bailu was created? idk

the funny thing is, their paths are like... the complete opposite. yanqing follows the hunt (although he was born of the abundance) and bailu follows the abundance (although she was presumably supposed to follow the destruction or hunt).

theory tldr; dan feng and yingxing fucked up and created yanqing and bailu out of baiheng's remains

this is a yanqing post, time to get back to yanqing. hooray! i took a closer look at yanqing's outfit, and noticed numerous leaf/plant symbols.

...which are closely associated with the abundance. especially the gold leaves.

this further solidifies my belief that yanqing has something to do with the abundance.

jesus christ that is. a wall of text. pls tell me ur thoughts on this whole thing, i took like 2 1/2 hours to write it and its 2:40 am so sorry if it doesn't make sense i just need to put these thoughts somewhere

[venti-death-watch]

i remember when i first saw the march 7th = idrila theory, leading to my yanqing = yaoshi theory. thought process goes that the aeons looked differently as humans, so maybe they’re pieces of the aeons/what the aeons were before they became aeons, kept on ice by the remembrance, who just so happened to wake up without memory of who they were prior

[katherina005]

I'm still sad the ice Yanqing used to defeat Hoolay doesn't have pink shade in it

it was just pure blue

[flevflev]

My Most insane Yanqing Theory Yet

I just had the random idea of what if he’s related to Ruan Mei, hear me out- I have to make this brief since the mobile app is very slow for me so my apologies 🙏

Luocha’s voiceline about him is suspicious enough (Very unnecessary at first glance) Jingliu said that they were “fated to meet” after she fought with him, maybe she realized he wasn’t a normal child soldier. Both of them work with Ruan Mei

His origins are unknown , in one of his chats he was protecting a litter of kittens until their mother comes back, and he suddenly thought it was similar to his and his bio parent’s relationship except they never came back.

(See the full chat on the wiki!: https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Messages/Yanqing )

and then 1.6 happens and we see how the Critters (cat cakes) were waiting for Ruan Mei to pay attention to them despite she sort of abandoned them. (Before someone attacks me, I know this isn’t tied to Yanqing at all nor I think all of that was just a parallel to my theory, but I find this a interesting coincidence, this is just a theory post XD)

Ruan Mei has a historial on the Luofu before, maybe in one of those visits she left Yanqing so Jing Yuan could find him and take him as his own

And then there are the funny meaningless coincidences that are potentially just design choices but I’m delusional-

Yanqing and Ruan Mei aren’t musicians yet they’re one of the few characters that have a traditional Chinese instrument as a core part of their design

Also this is 99% most likely a coincidence but hey this is a theory post so I can try to be as delusional as possible LOL. Yanqing has Blue-Aqua-Pink undertones like Ruan Mei has, with pink being somewhat of highlighted, unlike Jingliu who doesn’t have a highlighted pink detail on her design. Is a different kind of pink from March’s and is more similar to Ruan Mei and Tingyun’s

This is just for fun since idk… seems too good to be true for me

[theellipelli]

Hello, how are you doing?? Quick question, do you have anything in mind of why/how Yanqing's hair and eyes(?) glow? And how he can literally float?

unfortunately having glowing eyes and being able to float are kinda common traits among the xianzhou playables so i do not think they say much about yanqing alone. s' just spiritual energy, innit

[rittai00]

Abundance Yanqing theory explained!

Who is Yanqing? Why might he be connected with Yaoshi The Abundance? We introduce you to the Abundance Yanqing Honkai: Star Rail theory!

[pinkypastal]

OK, but if the abundance!yanqing theory turns out to be true it means the entire high cloud quintet have funky little abundance guys

Like, Dan feng/heng and blade, jing yuan and yanqing, jingliu and luocha, and baiheng and bailu (since she was born due to renheng fucking with the abundance). Love that for them

[artheresy]

I can't stop thinking about it bc I only just got it yesterday, why does boss fight Yanqing have a very specific and special little achievement for when you have Luocha deal the final blow to him, called Wardance: Épée Trial

Is it a Honkai reference? Esp since Sushang has a similar achievement or?

Why am I only finding out this exists now, I'm slow goddamn

[drgnnova]

YANQING HAS SIX PHASED ICE THEORY!!!

March 7th has a special type of ice called "Six phased Ice." (This is confirmed by Welt and the other crew members).

It's shown throughout the game, that her ice (six phased ice) is blue and pink in her gameplay and and ingame cutscenes.

While rewatching the Yanqing vs Jinglu custscene, i noticed Yanqing's ice powers are also Blue and Pink. You might think this is a coincidence but it's not.

Both March 7th and Yanqing have the same blue and pink sparkles when/after using their ice powers.

It's less obvious when Yanqing does it though. But you can see it in some of Yanqing's gameplay and after he deflects Jinglu's attack in the cutscene, their are blue and Pink sparkles around him.

March 7th and Yanqing are the only characters to have the blue and pink Ice.

So it's very likely that Yanqing's ice powers are also six phased ice like March 7th. It's not just a one off thing in Yanqing's companion quest, both Yanqing's and March 7th's whole gameplay has blue and Pink Ice, even having the same Blue and Pink sparkles.

Yanqing's lineage (origin) is labelled as "unknown", which could imply he's not a xianzhou native.

Both March 7th and Yanqing have a lack of memory, March 7th mentions how she doesn't remember anything before she was sealed in 'a huge block of ice drifting through space" which we learn to be Six phased Ice.

Yanqing mentions how he doesn't have many memories In a text chat with the Trailblazer, "but then again, I don't have many memories anyway, so... I'm okay" and "my earliest memory is the general teaching me".

Also Yanqing mentions that he thinks the general is hiding something. "but wonder if the general is hiding something from me..." It has to be something important if the general feels a need to hide it, right?)

I dont think it's a coincidence that two characters with almost the exact same Ice powers also have a lack of memories.

[hawkinasock]

This theory has me in a chokehold

[struggling-jpg]

Okay so Yanqing-Abundance Connection theorizers, I'm pretty sure other people have already brought this up and discussed it (I feel like I also had this thought over a year ago) but while going through a post about HSR characters' phone cases, Yanqing's made me think

The way the leaves (or at least if it's birds, they suspiciously look like leaves) seemingly transition into birds???? Or you could look at this process backwards as well but like still. But looking at it left to right, it almost looks like leaves turning into a bird and matching the symbol on yanqing's shoulder. Like HSR do you want to say something to the class?

[kasuna-kotonoha]

Have some thoughts about the 1.4 quests, spoilers past the cut

So the IPC. They can get out of here with their capitalist bullshit. At least Topaz managed to make me sort of like her by the end. Leave Jarilo VI alone you mfs, come on!

I felt really bad for Bronya, honestly. She didn't have an easy decision to make.

Also, really wanted to shake Topaz by the shoulder when they were walking through the Museum and she was only looking at the monetary value of the exhibits. Ma'am, you do realize that this museum contains 700 years of history, right? ...right?

Also really liked March's new outfit! Very pretty. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but was that outfit supposed to be remenicient of Elysia? Or no?

Himeko showing up out of nowhere was a surprise, but a welcome one.

Also, are all of Topaz's colleages named after gemstones? Are they aliases? Wouldn't surprise me if they were.

Also, Also, Penacony and Pier Point. Topaz it seemed will be having business there, and Pier Point is where Silver Wolf is headed, in case anyone forgot about that. And something is absolutely up with Xipes followers "The family"

As for the Jingliu companion mission, omg.

Jing Yuan was totally about to say Luochas name was Otto Apocalypse. Also very curious about how Luocha came to be involved with Yaoshi. (and we still don't know whats in that damn coffin, Hoyo. care to share?)

Was wondering whether they were going to say anything about the Baiheng/Bailu theory. While they didn't say anything directly, the fact they had Jingliu visit her seems to suggest as much. They didn't have to have her visit a doctor on her tour.

High Cloud Quintet lore!! Also, it seems Jinglius idea of "Paying the price' is different from Blades. For her, its Dan Heng never being able to escape the shadow of Dan Feng, and for Blade its the curse of immortality and what that comes with.

Jingliu somehow manages to match, maybe even surpass, Blade in edginess. My god. She pretty cool though (pun intended)

Also not Jing Yuan being the only one who gave Dan Heng a choice in whether he wants to be involved or not. As cool as Blade and Jingliu are, they are pretty much actively choosing to not accept that Dan Heng is not Dan Feng. I think it was implied for Blade, but Jingliu was fully aware of the rebirth and still didn't, or couldn't give him that autonomy.

It's not that it doesn't concern Dan Heng at all, but whether he chooses to take responsibility for Dan Feng should be up to him and him alone. (Also f*ck the preceptors for denying a proper rebirth) He has autonomy, but is constantly being denied it by what feels like basically everyone on the Luofu except the Astral Express and Jing Yuan.

The fight scene was cool though. Wonder if Kafka was nearby at all.

Blade, honey, could you maybe chill for two minutes? I get you want to die, but I don't think going after Dan Heng is going to fix anything.

And thats about it. Overall a solid couple of quests.

[luke-life]

What's up with me liking the ice related character in a hoyoverse game that has so many lore implications.