Boreas

Boreas, also known by his divine name Andrius, is the Wolf of the North of Mondstadt's Four Winds. He was a wolf originating from Snezhnaya who became a powerful god after being unknowingly blessed by Koitar in Nod-Krai. During the Archon War, he travelled south and participated in the war against Decarabian, the God of Storms, but chose to return to Nod-Krai after deciding himself unworthy of becoming the Anemo Archon.

A thousand years later, Boreas split his own soul and allowed a part of him accompanying the Wandering Knight to go to Mondstadt. Seeing how Mondstadt had changed for the better after a thousand years, Boreas chose to let his physical body die, pouring his power to the Ley Lines to bless the land, and leaving behind his spirit to watch over the land of Mondstadt.

Boreas later became one of the Four Winds tasked with protecting the nation under the request of the Anemo Archon Barbatos. The area surrounding his grave become known as Wolvendom, where he can manifest a temporary form made of ice and wind to do battle against those who take up his challenge, and take in wolf packs and orphans at the leader of the pack.

Profile

Appearance

Boreas' true appearance remains unknown. As the Dominator of Wolves, Boreas takes the form of a large bluish-colored Wolf.

Quests and Events

Archon Quests

• Chapter I
  • Act IV: We Will Be Reunited
    • Dishonorable Trial

Story Quests

• Lupus Majoris Chapter (Varka)
  • Act I: To Those Who Embark on the Expedition
    • Triumphant Warrior
    • Fated Warrior
    • Lonely Warrior
• Lupus Minor Chapter (Razor)
  • Act I: The Meaning of Lupical
    • Fate's Chosen Lupical

Story

Background

Boreas was originally an ordinary wolf who lead a pack of wolves from Snezhnaya. One day, Boreas and his pack traveled to Amsvartnir, where he met Koitar. His name was given by her, after they had spent many days together, in which she started to appreciate Boreas. By unknown causes, Koitar's continued contact with Boreas unintentionally blessed him, giving him the ability and intelligence to speak—this blessing also gave Boreas powers that made him into a god.^[4] Due to this blessing, Boreas addressed Koitar as his "Mother." He eventually told her of his decision to head to the south with his kin, after which they bade farwell.^[5][6]

Boreas and his pack would eventually arrive at Mondstadt, which was ruled by Decarabian at the time. Boreas declared war on Decarabian while Decarabian enclosed his capital city — the area now known as Stormterror's Lair — within a storm wall,^[7] thus starting the era known as the Age of Kings.^[8] They were collectively known as Kings of Ice and Frost^[9] and reached a stalemate: Boreas failed to land even a scratch on the Lord of the Tower,^[10] while Decarabian was either incapable of — or uninterested in — defeating Boreas. However, Decarabian's people grew discontent with his rule. 2600 years ago, they rose up against him with the help of Barbatos, culminating in Decarabian's death.^[11][12]

After the tower fell, Boreas decided that he was unworthy of becoming the Anemo Archon due to his perceived lack of love for humanity that an Archon ought to have.^[13] He decided to return to Nod-Krai and the Royal Court of the Seelie, and went into slumber.^[14]

Boreas continued to sleep for a thousand years, until an unnamed man stumbled into his chamber searching for relief from the cold weather, similarly to how the wolf originally encountered Koitar. Boreas took a liking to the man, and not wanting to refuse him, accepted his request to travel to Mondstadt again, to see how it had changed over time. He split his soul and traveled with him in a inherently volatile form, which unknowingly split into numerous spirit fragments in Nod-Krai and other nations on the way to Mondstadt.^[15] After reaching Mondstadt, he saw how it changed for the better under Barbatos's favor. With his unstable form finally reaching its limit, Boreas realized that his blizzards could only take lives and not nourish them. Therefore, he chose to pass on, letting his power flow into the Ley Line to nurture it and its people.^[14][16]

Upon the death of his physical body, part of Boreas' spirit and power took on its current icy form. However, this form is incapable of harnessing his full abilities.^[17] Coinciding with the newly formed Knights of Favonius a thousand year ago, Boreas became the North Wind of the Four Winds established by Barbatos. The Knights of Favonius acknowledged the unnamed man as the Knight of Boreas and tried to recruit him, but he refused. After his leaving, Boreas approved Ravenwood as the next Knight of Boreas, and Ravenwood went to correct the Knights from the old aristocracy's deranged way, and solidified the role of the Knight of Boreas within the Knights of Favonius.^[14][18]

The Temple of the Wolf located near the Thousand Winds Temple was used to worship him, but it has long been abandoned, while Boreas' spirit dwells on the other side of Mondstadt. Boreas would eventually become the leader of a group of Pale-Furred Wolves in Wolvendom, while continuing to accept abandoned infants into his pack. Sometime before the start of the game, he found and took in Razor.^[19]

The title of Knight of Boreas continued to be passed down from generation to generation within the Knights of Favonius, although it has been noted that only a few Knights of Boreas were actually acknowledged by Boreas himself.^[14] During the Cataclysm, Rostam held the title of Knight of Boreas and was recognized by Boreas himself. He also mentored a number of knights, and the brightest among them was The White Knight Roland. Roland had the potential to be the mightiest Knight of Boreas, even earning the respect of Boreas himself. However, Rostam died during an expedition, and Roland left the Knights to pursue his bloodstained chivalry, leading to a temporary halt to the lineage.

The current Knight of Boreas is Varka, who is also the Knights of Favonius' current Grand Master. He gained the favor of Boreas by challenging him numerous times.^[20] Varka also took Razor under his wing, and taught him how to communicate with humans and how to swing a sword.

When Varka triumphed over the mage's trials, he foresaw a terrible calamity in the north. Calculating every possibility, including a threat regarding the part of Boreas residing in Nod-Krai, Varka consulted Boreas about it. The Dominator of Wolves agreed to split his soul and message through Varka's sword, so that the other part of him needed to know and chose the same outcome of returning to the Ley Lines, to prevent further calamity regarding a god's death. Though Varka would absorb it into his claymore, he actually directed it to his body; because the energies were incompatible, it left him weakened.^[21][22]

Present

Sometime after the Stormterror Crisis was resolved, Springvale was attacked by riftwolves, which the residents of the village blamed Boreas' wolf pack and Razor for despite Razor's insistence that they were not responsible. After hearing the arguing, Boreas emerged and challenged both Razor and the Traveler to prove their conviction. Upon being satisfied, he informed the group that Razor was telling the truth and told Razor not to get involved in the upcoming battle between the packs, for he is a human and not a wolf.^[23]

When the Traveler went to Wolvendom to investigate the Abyss Order, Boreas is once again briefly seen being restrained by the Abyss Herald, attempting to corrupt him like how they did with Dvalin. After a short fight, the Abyss Herald is defeated and the wolf spirit freed. Paimon asks Boreas about the "Field Tiller" (the codename of the first Ruin Guards), Boreas then explains that it had previously stumbled upon his territory, and he mistook the machine to be a challenger.^[24] During the fight, Boreas dealt a damaging blow on the Field Tiller, who then fled the area. Furthermore, Dainsleif mentions that Boreas's body died long ago and that his spirit is what resides over Wolvendom.

Boreas would continue to watch over Wolvendom. After acquiring The Little Witch's Dictionary, the Traveler and Paimon found Boreas in his arena speaking with Razor. The "dark wolf" pack had grown stronger while they were gone; while Boreas had believed the dark wolves were a local problem, Razor, having been told by Lisa about the dangers of the riftwolves, explained to Boreas that the threat the dark wolves posed concerned the entire world. Boreas accepted Razor's reasoning, though Razor believed that his pack would not help him since it was no longer a wolf issue. The Traveler agreed to help him fight the dark wolves, but to their surprise, they found Boreas' pack fighting them too, which the Traveler surmised was Boreas acknowledging Razor's heart.^[25]

The part of Boreas that remained in Nod-Krai would become warped by the Abyss, who manifested a form of Roland. After handling Dottore's threats, Varka resumed his search for the remaining Wolf Spirits, only to run into a corrupted Boreas; the remains left behind in Nod-Krai had been corrupted by Roland. At the same time, the Wild Hunt manifested in Wolvendom, attacking Boreas, but he managed to fend his attackers off with Razor's help. As the situation became dire, Boreas asked Razor for his claymore and imbued it with his power, asking the Traveler to bring it to Varka. The Traveler did so and gave the claymore to Varka, who took the remaining thoughts. Aware that killing the corrupted Boreas would bring a great disaster to Nod-Krai, Varka allowed Roland to "kill" him, sending him to the heart of the wolf to meet the corrupted half. Showing the other form's thoughts to him, the corrupted form also chose to let his power flow into the Ley Lines to protect its people.^[26]

Character Mentions

Character Stories

Character	Stories
Razor	Character Story 1
Varka	Character Story 5 Wolf's Homecoming Song Vision
Venti	Character Story 5

Character Voice-Overs

Character	Voice-Overs
Varka	Something to Share: The Four Winds  Media:VO_Varka Something to Share - The Four Winds.ogg Media:VO ZH_Varka Something to Share - The Four Winds.ogg Media:VO JA_Varka Something to Share - The Four Winds.ogg Media:VO KO_Varka Something to Share - The Four Winds.ogg You know, I've never really understood the logic behind "The Four Winds." I mean, the Dragon of the East, Falcon of the West, Lion of the South — they're pretty clear cut, right? But "Wolf of the North" could refer to either Boreas or me. And the "Knights of Favonius" includes both the Lionfang Knight and the Knight of Boreas, which means the Favonian "West Wind" actually includes both the "South" and the "North." How does that make any sense? Hmm? You think some bard picked the number four to make it sound cool? ...Yeah, actually, that tracks... More About Varka: V  Media:VO_Varka More About Varka - 05.ogg Media:VO ZH_Varka More About Varka - 05.ogg Media:VO JA_Varka More About Varka - 05.ogg Media:VO KO_Varka More About Varka - 05.ogg Drink up! Another round! Hahaha... Oh, where was I? Oh, yeah — this scar here is from scrapping with Boreas. That old wolf clawed me good! I almost howled louder than him... And this one's from when I solo'd the Hexenzirkel trials... If a mortal wants to protect everything, they have to be prepared to sacrifice everything. That's how I became the "Mightiest Knight of Boreas"... Yeah... That's how it happened...

Trivia

Aliases and Titles

• Boreas is known by these aliases or titles:
  • Andrius^[23]
  • Wolf of the North^[27]
  • Lupus Boreas^[24]
  • Great Wolf King of the North^[24]
  • Kingwolf of Boreas^[8]
  • King of the North Wind^[7]
  • Tyrant of the North Wind^[28]
  • Dominator of Wolves^[27]
  • Lord of Wolvendom^[29]
  • God of the North Wind^[15]
  • Mr. Wolf God (by Paimon)^[24]

Etymology

• Boreas is the God of the North Wind, Storms and Winter in Greek mythology, directly relating to Boreas being the representative of the North amongst the Four Winds.
• His English title, Lupus Boreas, roughly means "Wolf of the North Wind."
• Following the theme of gods in Genshin Impact being named after demons in the Ars Goetia, 安德留斯 Āndéliúsī, "Andrius" is likely derived from 安德雷斐斯 Āndéléifěisī, "Andrealphus," the 65th demon. In Johann Weyers' Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, Andrealphus is instead the 54th demon.
  • It has also been theorized that Andrius is based on Andras, the 63rd demon who is said to be highly dangerous and rode on a black wolf. However, Andras' Chinese name, 安托士 Āntuōshì, has much less in common with Andrius' Chinese name than Andrealphus' does. For this same reason, 安杜馬利烏士 Āndùmǎlìwūshì, "Andromalius" is also a less likely name basis.

Other Languages

Change History

References