Albedo/Storyline

Albedo is the Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius and Captain of the Investigation Team. He is a synthetic human created by the alchemist Rhinedottir.

Profile

Personality

Having gained fame for his alchemical talents, Albedo is a reclusive person, spending most of his time in Dragonspine. He isn't fond of most social interactions and thus rarely travels to the city of Mondstadt unless it is to meet up with his fellow alchemists or other acquaintances. Yet he's also shown to at least be fascinated or interested in them in some way, often willingly appearing in events that have some sort of social setting going on and helping out the people around him in any way he can. While he does seem to enjoy company and seeing how people interact in a social setting, he finds relationships stressful and tiresome because of the amount of effort needed to maintain them. This doesn't mean he dislikes the relationships he has with others, he simply struggles with them and can get tired out from trying to keep track of everything to keep the relationship from falling apart. He prefers being around children, especially Klee, seeing her as a younger sister. Klee in turn sees him as an older brother figure.^[12]

Fueled by the feeling of enlightenment, he researches about the things that pique his interest, and once the feeling is gone, either by uncovering its truth or otherwise, he loses all interest, left with a bittersweet sensation in his mind. Along with his alchemical genius, Albedo is also a respectable artist. Having initially learned the talent as a way to help with his experiments, it is now a form of relaxation for him. He is Xingqiu's illustrator and regards him as a good author.^[13]

As much of a positive demeanor he gives off, the people of Mondstadt do not know anything about his personal life and he is particularly secretive about it towards them. To the Traveler, he does not mind sharing most of his secrets with them due to feeling a kinship of sorts as they are both not of Teyvat, him being an artificial lifeform and the Traveler a visitor from afar. He considers himself to be dangerous due to his knowledge on the Art of Khemia, something which Venti and Dainsleif are well too aware of.

Appearance

See also: Newmoon Starlight

Albedo uses the medium male model. He has bright teal eyes with three dots in each iris, pale skin, and pale blond hair reaching below his shoulders. Due to being a synthetic human, a gold diamond marking can be found on his neck.

History

With Rhinedottir

Albedo is the final iteration of Rhinedottir's Primordial Human Project, which sought to create a human from alchemy. She classified him as "Cretaceus," and taught him everything she knew as they ventured in and out of domains. While performing experiments with Rhinedottir, Albedo was assisted by Sebas, helping him tidy up and model for his sketches.

One day, they stumbled upon an item known as the Heart of Naberius.^[14] Shortly afterwards, Rhinedottir devoured the heart and became one with Naberius, leaving Albedo with the task of discovering the "truth and meaning of this world" and directing him to seek out help from Alice in Mondstadt.^[15]

With the Knights of Favonius

In order to help Albedo fulfill his task, Alice sent him to the Knights of Favonius, where he was appointed as the Captain of the Investigation Team. He also showcased the advantages of alchemy to the people of Mondstadt, who originally shrugged it off as a way to put broken odds and ends together. This resulted in two people requesting to be his apprentices, Timaeus and Sucrose. Sucrose showed more promise than Timaeus, so Albedo focused on Sucrose's talent while Timaeus would be far behind her in progress. He additionally bonded with Klee.

Due to his work, Albedo would relocate to the cold mountain of Dragonspine, creating a small lab there to further his experiments despite having an office of his own in the Knights of Favonius Headquarters. He would occasionally return to Mondstadt to complete tasks that required his attention there. Albedo also began taking up drawing as a hobby, eventually coming upon Xingqiu's works and with collaboration from the Yae Publishing House, agreed to illustrate his drawings under the name "Calx."

Present

Albedo first appears in-game during the event The Chalk Prince and the Dragon, where he first meets the Traveler. Having acquired a sword called Festering Desire, Albedo tasks the Traveler with using the sword at maximum power, after which he purified its energy into a bottle and rewarded them with the sword for their efforts.^[16]

Albedo would later enlist the Traveler again to perform various tests on them, taking note of their constitution to wonder if it would affect their actions on Teyvat. The experiment appeared to be inconclusive, but Albedo thanked the Traveler for their time. At the end of the experiment, he noticed a strange sediment growing at the bottom of a vial and wondered if the Traveler could stop him if he ever lost control and threatened Mondstadt.^[17]

When Sucrose asked Albedo to help her with an alchemical recipe, Albedo tasked the Traveler to get the materials for him. Through alchemy, he created a Tetratanic Sweet Flower.^[18]

During the first in-game summer, Alice sent a letter to Albedo which technically constituted as blackmail, stating that she had Klee at the Golden Apple Archipelago. Albedo already knew Alice's motives from the start, but went along with it so she could enjoy the summer with her friends. He also knew that the Traveler would enjoy exploring the archipelago.^[19]

Sometime afterwards, when Paimon wished for a device that could keep food fresh indefinitely, Sucrose suggested they visit Albedo to see if they could help. Albedo was at the base camp and agreed to the request, only for Eula to arrive and accuse him of luring Joel to the wastelands. Albedo explained his actions to her, which were supported by the Traveler and Paimon, though Eula still remained suspicious. Believing that someone had taken on his identity, Albedo decided to figure out the suspect's motives. He asked the Traveler to accompany him to his camp and clean it up. During the process, Albedo revealed his true heritage to the Traveler.^[20]

After disappearing while saving Bennett from an avalanche, Albedo inexplicably returned and attempted to attack the group with Cryo, only for the real Albedo to appear and stab the imposter in the back, causing it to reveal its true form as a Fellflower. They killed the mutated Whopperflower and Albedo explained that the imposter also knew alchemy and created the Fellflower with Durin's blood. Returning to camp with the Traveler once more, Albedo explained the circumstances of his birth to them, and as they left, his imposter arrived to confront him.^[21] Albedo lured the imposter away and killed him before burying him in an unmarked grave on the mountain.^[15] He later returned to Mondstadt and briefly messed with the Traveler while apologizing to Paimon, telling her he could not make the device she wanted.^[22]

Following Inazuma's reopening to the rest of Teyvat, Albedo headed to Inazuma alongside Klee to participate in the Irodori Festival, primarily for painting. The Traveler also arrived and Albedo tasked them with making sure that Klee was happy and not cause any problems in the nation.^[23] During the festival's duration, he met his writer Xingqiu for the first time and also painted the Five Kaisen.

When the Traveler and Paimon set up a stall for Weinlesefest, Albedo dropped by to give them some potions he and Timeaus had made. He told them to give it as a complimentary gift to any drunk people, believing that free items would bring more customers. In return, the Traveler and Paimon gave some snacks for him, not wanting to take the items he had made for free without giving him something in return. Albedo accepted and returned to the workshop.^[24]

Tighnari, Cyno and Collei would take a trip to Mondstadt, where Albedo introduced himself to them. He also offered to help show them around Mondstadt, believing the experience would be better with a knowledgeable local. The two later revealed their true motives for coming to Mondstadt, and Albedo was understanding of their reason, believing that Sucrose could help improve Collei's mood. Additionally, Cyno asked Albedo to create a new card back for him after seeing Dvalin in-person, which Albedo achieved by creating the Lazurite Swirl design.^[25]

Albedo would later come upon a cat named Sir Pouncelot, who he helped nurse back to health with a restorative potion. The knights began taking care of the cat until it ran away from Ematol, knocking her out in the process. Albedo tracked Sir Pouncelot to the Furball Fortress, explaining about the cat's circumstances to the Traveler, Rosaria and Valerina. Knowing the knights couldn't take the cat with them to their missions, Albedo allowed the Traveler to take care of the cat in their Serenitea Pot and would promise to send any other strays they found in their missions to Valerina.^[26]

Albedo and Klee would later arrive at Simulanka, where he met the Wanderer and learned of a memory that he had seen regarding "B" and "R." In it, it was prophesized that R's child would return from the dead, which they immediately deduced as Durin. Albedo had proof to back up the discovery and told the Wanderer that he would need their help in the future. The Wanderer scoffed at the thought of helping him, but Albedo insisted that he give it some thought before he left to watch Klee.^[27]

In preparation for the prophecy, Albedo began to formulate a plan in order to handle Durin's monsters, who had exhumed his doppelganger's corpse and began using the knowledge and hatred stored in it to replace the people of Mondstadt. Albedo eliminated various monsters that had killed and taken on the form of some of the locals, burying whatever was left of them in order to give them peace. He also had his fellow captain Hertha go into hiding by claiming to be missing in action during an operation, of which the monsters assumed a copy of Hertha, who promptly accused him of murder. During the next iteration of the Windblume Festival, the Traveler was roped into the trial, though they did not know the full extent of the plan until Durin's spawn besieged Mondstadt. In order to handle Durin's energies once and for all, Albedo revealed that he intended to drain Durin's heart and with some alchemical reagents, create a new body for Mini Durin. These materials were held by the Hexenzirkel, and Alice only agreed to give the materials to him as long as they passed her trial, which he and the Traveler successfully did. When the invasion was repulsed, Albedo took advantage of the celebrations to begin his alchemical ritual, successfully giving Mini Durin a human body.^[28]

Albedo would oversee Durin's growth by having him interact with the people of Mondstadt before the two went to Nod-Krai, catching up with the Traveler and Varka. Learning of the situation regarding Rerir, Albedo caught several specimens of the Wild Hunt and dissected them, discovering that they were completely contaminated and could not be restored. Based on this finding, Varka concocted a plan to siphon Rerir of his power. Albedo prepared four different arrays set in positions he believed a fight would occur and studied Rerir's fighting capabilities to ensure the arrays would work. The plan was ultimately successful as Rerir's power was drained and converted by Durin so Columbina could use it. Albedo, Durin and Varka later made their way to The Flagship to celebrate their victory, thanking Durin for his contribution. Durin thought he did not do much, but Varka told him he did while Albedo taught him how to accept a compliment.^[29]

Shortly after Rerir's expulsion, Albedo remained with Durin and partook in the Moon-Prayer Festival. He later agreed to help the Traveler and their Nod-Krai allies in defeating Dottore, where he told Durin that they would have to do plenty of research regarding the moons before returning to Mondstadt.^[30] Later on, Teyvat began to reject Durin, prompting Jean to inform Albedo via letter. Albedo later met with them and the Wanderer at Dragonspine, where he believed that Durin's will was weakening to the point that if it collapsed, the abyssal energies in his body would take over. He believed the book Alice gave them provided answers, prompting them to go inside. To his surprise, he found himself turned into a clay man and learned that it was how Durin initially perceived him. Albedo and the others were able to push Durin to press onward and later assisted him in rejecting his original's fate. Following the success, Albedo left to record the experiment properly.^[31]

When the Traveler acquired The Little Witch's Dictionary, they decided to pay Albedo a visit in his lab on Dragonspine. Having nothing to do as he had finished his creator's final task and the Knights had not issued him new orders. At that point, Sebas came in, passing along a message from their creator. Rhinedottir hoped that when they next met, he would give her questions to answer, prompting him to wonder what he could offer her in their next meeting.^[32]

Albedo later returned to Nod-Krai with Durin, discovering that numerous energy fields had been set up in the region. He worked with Sandrone to help computate a world formula to bring back Columbina, as she believed she needed the help of alchemy to do so. While collaborating with her, he also took the time to examine the energy fields.^[33] Later, Albedo and Durin arrived outside one of these fields, where he hypothesized that they were comprised of pure Light Realm energy. He tested it by having Durin use both his elemental and abyssal powers on it before sensing the Wanderer's presence. He had the Wanderer create an opening while having Durin remain outside, entering the field and discovering a grisly sight within. He then informed Nefer of the news, who likewise pinpointed the Traveler's location and the three went to save them.^[34]

The Wanderer later gave his core to Sandrone so she could continue computing her formula, and as such, Albedo, Durin and the Traveler watched over his body until the process was complete. He and Durin then defended Nasha Town from Dottore's minions.^[35] Columbina was successfully brought back and Dottore was defeated in the ensuing battle. He later attended the first League meeting with Durin and Varka, the former wishing to learn how to publicly speak. Durin questioned Varka's remark on knighting him on the spot and wondered if he was joking or not, prompting Albedo to tell him to figure it out for himself.^[36]

Trivia

• Albedo is a synthetic human created from alchemy by his master, Rhinedottir (also known as "Gold"). While he debates whether he considers her his "mother" in Character Story 5, by the events of Shadows Amidst Snowstorms, he openly calls her his mother to the Traveler. On Rhinedottir's part, the description for Concealed Talon implies that she considers him her greatest creation. Later in the cinematic sequence in the quest Joy Above the Clouds, she describes him as her child and muses that this makes her a mother.
• Albedo is the illustrator for Xingqiu's novel, A Legend of Sword.^[37] He enjoys reading the novels himself and rejected the Yae Publishing House's offers to have him change series for greater royalties.^[13]
• The fact that Albedo was an artificial human who came from Khaenri'ah was heavily suggested before it was directly confirmed in the Version 2.3 event Shadows Amidst Snowstorms:^[38]
  • In his Character Stories, Albedo deduced the circumstances surrounding his creation through Rhinedottir's notes. Albedo's Constellation takes the shape of a fetus in a bottle, further hinting at the artificial nature of his creation.
  • One of Albedo's Talents is named Homuncular Nature. In some branches of alchemy, the creation of homunculi is seen as an alchemist's end goal.^[39] During Shadows Amidst Snowstorms, Albedo is revealed to be the successful product of Rhinedottir's Primordial Human Project.^[38]
  • Albedo practices the Art of Khemia, a form of alchemy that was developed and practiced Khaenri'ah, and also played a major role in causing Khaenri'ah's downfall during the cataclysm 500 years ago. The Art of Khemia was unheard of in Teyvat before his arrival, while Venti — the Archon Barbatos who was present for the cataclysm — states it has "unmistakable properties."^[40] It could thus be deduced that Rhinedottir was from Khaenri'ah and created Albedo there.
  • The Khaenri'ah Chapter's featured character, Dainsleif, has the following line from a "self-proclaimed prophet" in his Official Introduction: "Chalk pursues gold, in this time inopportune, the eclipse is swallowed by the crimson moon."^[41] "Chalk pursues gold" is a reference to the four stages in creating the Opus Magnum, and may also be an allusion to Albedo's pursuit of Rhinedottir.
    • Albedo's name is derived from the second step in creating the Opus Magnum and he is known as the Kreideprinz (Chalk Prince). Rhinedottir is better known by her infamous alias "Gold," the alchemist from Khaenri'ah attributed with creating the monsters that wreaked havoc on Teyvat during the cataclysm.
    • Rhinedottir's final assignment for Albedo, to discover the "truth and meaning of this world," is similar to the Traveler's Sibling's remark to the Traveler that they will discover the "true nature of this world" after they finish their journey.^[42] Albedo seeks to reunite with Rhinedottir by completing his assignment, much like how the Traveler hopes to reunite with their sibling at the end of their journey.
  • Albedo has a four-pointed star on his neck. Having a four-pointed star as a birthmark is currently a trait only shared by other people from Khaenri'ah: Kaeya and Dainsleif's pupils take that shape. It was later revealed that Albedo's star is a "birthmark" left where Rhinedottir infused him with his life force.^[38]
• Albedo is one of the few currently playable characters who acknowledges (or even seems aware) that the Traveler is from another world. He deduced this based on the Traveler's ability to control multiple elements without a Vision.
• In Version 1.2, players noticed that Albedo didn't breathe like all the other characters did in Dragonspine. This turned out to be an error and was fixed in Version 1.3.
• The Version 1.4 event Invitation of Windblume reveals that Albedo plays the lyre by ear and is apparently very good at it despite a lack of formal education in playing instruments.^[43]
• Albedo refers to Alice as "Aunt Alice," and considers her daughter Klee to be his younger sister. Additionally, he refers to Barbeloth as "Aunt Barbie."
• Throughout the course of the game, multiple characters have been made aware of Albedo's nature as a synthetic human:
  • Albedo told the Traveler and Paimon in Shadows Amidst Snowstorms regardless of whether the player completed the quest or not.^[38]
  • Albedo told Sucrose a few days before the events of Paralogism.^[44]
  • Venti knew from the moment Rhinedottir and Alice brought Albedo to Mondstadt. Respectively, he is aware of Venti's status as Barbatos.^[45]
  • Dahlia and likely Varka and Jean were made aware of his origins sometime before the events of Paralogism.^[46]
  • Most, if not all members of the Hexenzirkel are aware of Albedo's status as a synthetic human.^[47]
• In his original character introduction illustration, Albedo is seen armed with a Sacrificial Sword. In-game, as of Shadows Amidst Snowstorms, he is seen wielding his signature Cinnabar Spindle in all cutscenes.
• As a Trial Character:
  • Albedo is one of three playable characters who wields a Flagship Event weapon in at least one of his Character Trial iterations (Festering Desire prior to Version 2.3, Cinnabar Spindle from 2.3 onwards), with the other characters with this distinction being Xianyun and Chiori.
  • Excluding Aloy (who is a crossover character lacking Character Trials) and the Traveler, he is also one of the only two 5-star characters who has never wielded a 5-star weapon in any of his Character Trial iterations to date. The other 5-star character with this distinction is Qiqi.

Aliases and Titles

• Albedo is known by these aliases or titles:
  • Kreideprinz
  • Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius
  • Captain of the Knights of Favonius Investigation Team
  • Cretaceus^[48]
  • Subject One
  • Calx (pen name in Inazuma)

Etymology

• The word albēdō means "whiteness" in Latin. The term is used in alchemy to refer to the second phase in the creation of a Philosopher's Stone (the Opus Magnum) from prima materia.
• His title, Kreideprinz, means "Chalk Prince" in German.
• His constellation, Princeps Cretaceus, is Latin for "Chalk Prince."
• Albedo at times mentions the Hadean (Chinese: 冥古 Mínggǔ, lit. "Dark Ancient") and the Phanerozoic (Chinese: 显生 Xiǎnshēng, lit. "Visible Life"). The terms are used in Tide of Hadean and Opening of Phanerozoic, as well as the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean voice-overs of his Elemental Burst.
  • They are a reference to the geologic time scale of the real world. The Hadean refers to the eon from 4.6 billion years ago to 4 billion years ago, while the Phanerozoic spans from 541 million years ago to the present time. The latter eon includes the period of the Cretaceous (from Latin creta, "chalk"), which lasted from around 145 to 66 million years ago.
  • They may be used here as their literal senses. Namely, Albedo is perhaps saying "the primordial dark ancient era was followed by the era in which life has emerged, including me, the Chalk Prince, an artificial life created by alchemy."

References