Collei/Storyline

Collei is a young woman who is currently a Forest Ranger, helping people navigate Sumeru's rainforests.

Profile

Personality

A trainee ranger active in Avidya Forest. Behind her enthusiastic words and actions hides a slightly introverted personality.

—In-game character attributes and profile page text

When Collei first arrives in Mondstadt, she is extremely wary and suspicious of people because of her past experiences, preferring to be left alone and making her seem cold. Her pessimistic view of the world comes from the mistreatment and abuse she endured everywhere. She also has a rather low opinion of herself, pushing people away because she is "unclean" and says she is unworthy of their time.

She was initially annoyed by Amber because of her cheerful and optimistic personality, but Amber shows her kindness by offering to help her find that something she lost, even insisting they are friends and protecting her from Kaeya's intimidation multiple times. The two continue to grow closer during the course of the manga and Collei begins to trust Amber, becoming less wary of people as her view of the world becomes brighter. Overall, Collei looks up to Amber, even making a puppet similar to Baron Bunny with the name "Cuilein-Anbar," a nod to both of their names.

When Amber protected Collei from Barnabas, Collei was touched by Amber's resolve and realizes that she too wishes to be able to protect others.^[4] After having her powers sealed by Cyno, she decides to leave with him to Sumeru in hopes of learning more about the world.

By the time she meets the Traveler, Collei is shown to have matured whilst training under Tighnari and is now considerably more positive. She expresses great admiration for Amber, whose compassion deeply moved Collei to the degree that it influenced her behavior and hobbies. Inspired by Amber's benevolence, Collei tries to be very helpful and proactive in her Forest Ranger duties and strives to be as friendly as possible to everyone. Although she still has struggles with her literacy and Eleazar, she attempts to discard her past pessimism in favor of pushing forward and doing the best she can regardless.

She also developed a deep sense of empathy, extending even to the gods, whom she used to deem forsaken by, she now wonders if they too can feel just as helpless. She states that looking back, her extended hatred towards the world outside the Fatui was "childish." She also expresses guilt over her time in Mondstadt and is interested in apologizing.^[5]

Despite her improved outlook, it is clear that Collei has yet to fully put her trauma behind her. Whilst no longer being bitter about it, Collei still finds it very difficult to open up to others about her past and avoids the subject when possible, as it brings back painful memories. Her introverted nature also leads her to occasionally spend time alone in a tree hollow, where she writes about any troubles or frustrations she may feel.^[6]

Collei is somewhat of a bad liar, only being able to convince Amber on why she wanted to know about the Fatui's research. She is also prone to panic attacks and breakdowns, and especially hates being pushed or shoved around. Even just trying to touch her might cause extreme fear and discomfort, as shown when Paimon tried to playfully touch her the day they met for the first time in Sumeru. This shock apparently triggered a flare-up of her disease, causing her to be bedridden the next day.

Appearance

Collei uses the medium female model. She has short, wavy light green hair that reaches her shoulders and purple, almost magenta eyes.

Manga

Collei's hair in the manga was chin-length.

When she first appeared, much of her body and face were covered in bandages. She wore baggy trousers, one that resembles a sirwal, and a tapper hat made from bandages. Tied around her hips is a green-orange cloth. Later, Amber loaned one of her old outfits to Collei to attend Ludi Harpastum in. Collei also wore a beige satchel, in which she store the collected Fatui devices.

In Chapter 16, she appeared with a plain black shirt and a simple pair of shorts under a hooded cloak. She also wore an ushanka hat, a pair of gloves, and boots that reach up to below her knees. Lastly, she uses the same green-orange cloth and beige satchel from earlier.

History

Past

Collei was born sickly, so her worried parents brought her to a seer and begged him to save her. He explained the illness as being "touched by the deev" — supernatural creatures with negative properties — and claimed that had to give their daughter to him in order to save her. In reality, this illness was Eleazar, and Collei was subjected to experimentation by the Fatui Harbinger known as Dottore, who infused Collei with Nabu Malikata's remains. These god remains allowed Collei to stave off Eleazar, but also gave her severe side effects.

Sometime afterwards, the facility was shuttered, leaving Collei and the other patients alone to fend for themselves. These patients eventually succumbed to the god remains or the desert, resulting in Collei and one other companion remaining. They ran upon a beast that chased after them, arriving at a narrow passage. Collei's companion bumped into her in the chaos, resulting in her tumbling off a cliff. She managed to latch onto a branch at the last moment and looked at her companion for help, but they abandoned her to her fate. This act of selfishness ended up saving Collei, as the beast eventually caught up to her companion and killed them. As she scaled back up, Collei swore to never trust anyone again.^[7]

Collei's travels eventually brought her to Mondstadt, where she snuck into the nation by starting the Black Fire incident. She runs into Amber, who befriends her, but is later targeted by Kaeya after he deduces that she was responsible for the incident. However, he relents at the last moment when he sees her accept her death and Amber's arrival. Collei's god remains are sealed away by Cyno and she is absolved of the incident after Kaeya "arrests" the true mastermind, departing with Cyno.

Cyno would bring Collei to Gandharva Ville in Sumeru, where she would be given to Tighnari for further treatment. He also gave her the position of Trainee Forest Ranger, and Collei would learn much from Tighnari's sessions, calling him "Master." In one incident, Collei found and saved a lost girl, resulting in her obtaining a Dendro Vision.^[8]

Present

The Traveler first encounters Collei during their arrival into Sumeru, after having fallen unconscious when reacting to some incense that Haypasia lit. Not believing Tighnari's reasoning behind their hallucination, they decide to ask Collei, accompanying her on a routine patrol around the forest. Collei informs them that she knew of them through Amber and they share a meal, but when Paimon touches her, she becomes paranoid and flees back to Gandharva Ville, becoming sick in the process.^[9] Tighnari then explains about Collei's symptoms to the Traveler and Paimon, and they acquire some materials to help create medicine for her.^[10]

Due to the sudden flareup of her Eleazar symptoms, Tighnari relegated Collei to coordination tasks. Looking for Tighnari, the Traveler asked Collei where he went, and she told them that she went to Pardis Dhyai.^[11]

After Nahida removed Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's presence from Irminsul, Eleazar was wiped out from Teyvat, though The Withering still existed. Collei was delighted to find her illness gone, now being capable of performing more tasks without issue. Before they left, she told the Traveler to speak with Tighnari.^[12]

Collei later assisted the Traveler and Paimon in resolving a situation at Acara Crafts. She was seen consoling a child named Razi and suggested that he vent his worries in a tree hollow, as the Aranara would certainly come and hear him. The Traveler and Paimon discovered that Collei also did the same but kept her secret.^[13] When the situation was resolved, Collei realized they knew her secret, but after seeing Razi and Tanger do the same, asked the Traveler if they could be her tree hollow, which they agreed to.^[14]

During a Windblume Festival, Collei travelled with Cyno and Tighnari, returning to Mondstadt. There, she ran into the Traveler and Sucrose, with her initial conversations with the alchemist ending poorly due to their shyness. Amber then arrived and after exchanging some pleasantries, took her away to see more of the city she hadn't seen in her previous visit. She bonded with Sucrose during her stay, resulting in the two becoming friends by the time she returned to Sumeru. Tighnari was pleased to see that Collei had made a new friend, and Collei gave the Traveler, Tighnari, Cyno and Amber a Windblume Gift, whereas everyone else received Padisarah seeds.^[15]

Following the events in Nod-Krai, Collei planned to go shopping with Tighnari. When the day came, she instead discovered that Sethos was now her master. Initially waving it off as a prank, Collei realized it was a nightmare as all of her friends had their roles swapped, including Tighnari, who failed to recognize her. When she woke up, she was greeted by Tighnari, who reminded her of their shopping trip. Unsure whether or not she just had a bad dream, Nicole then spoke to Collei through her mind, telling her to inform both Nahida and the Traveler of her vision. The vision she had was later attributed to the god remains inside her, warning her of the danger posed by a sudden threat to Irminsul due to Dottore's meddling.

Collei met up with the Traveler when they received her letter from them, telling them of her vision. When Nahida failed to return from her delve, the Sumeran authorities began evacuating Sumeru City and relocated to Caravan Ribat.^[16] However, the strange Irminsul plague caught up to them, forcing them to relocate once more to Aaru Village, where they were attacked by numerous jinn that were disturbed by the Fatui. She held off an initial wave with Tighnari and Dori, but when more arrived and began overwhelming defenses in another area, Collei began lamenting the hopelessness of the situation until the voice returned and instructed her to recite her words. Due to the remains inside her, Collei was able to force the jinn to stand down.^[17] She later met with Nicole in-person, realizing she was the one who guided her, and learned more about the remains inside her. This initially worried her, but Cyno reassured her that regardless of what was inside her, she was still herself.^[18]

Along with the rest of Sumeru's populace, Collei assisted Nahida in overloading Irminsul and later provided technical support for Dori.^[19] The day before the operation, Collei made some juice with a juicer that Sucrose had sent her, giving the freshly pressed juice to Cyno and Tighnari.^[20] Dottore's schemes were halted by the people of Sumeru, and in the aftermath, Collei graduated to become a fully-fledged Forest Ranger. She then traveled with Cyno and Tighnari to Mondstadt, meeting up with their friends and planned their usual routing until running into Nicole, who asked them to meet a friend at Windrise. This "friend" was actually Liloupar, who was informed by Nicole of the god remains inside her. Liloupar offered to absorb the remains, and after some consideration, Collei allowed the jinn to siphon them off her. Liloupar died in peace upon doing so, while Collei felt the same as before. Sucrose then revealed Amber, the Outrider surprised that Collei hadn't invited her to her event. Collei claimed that they were saying goodbye to an "old friend," which then she clarified as her old self.^[21]

Status

Trivia

• Collei ate Fried Radish Balls offered by Amber during Ludi Harpastum in Chapter 9 of the manga, Ludi Harpastum. She ended up liking them a lot, as seen in her "Favorite Food" voice-over.
• Barnabas tells Collei's parents that she's been touched by the deev. A deev (دیو dêv), meaning "satanic giant" in Persian, is a particular sort of supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics.
• The constellation of Collei is the Serval, a wild cat that lives only in sub-Saharan countries and Morocco. In the manga, Collei is depicted with cat features when she is startled or surprised, most notably in Chapter 9.
• There are hints she is claustrophobic.
• Due to the Archon Residue feeding on Collei's negative emotions, when she encounters such a negative emotion, the Archon Residue lets Collei have a vision of what would happen if she had control over the Archon Residue and was filled with hate.
• Collei's jewelry appears to be inspired by Moroccan jewelry, and the short cape she wears has hanging shoushas, ​​which are traditional Moroccan tassels that are sometimes hung from clothing (especially belts, veils, scarves and cloaks). The geometric designs present in Collei's Clothes appear to be inspired by Maghrebian geometric designs.
• On the Cat's Tail Message Board, one message left by a customer talks about a "strange girl" that was "wrapped in bandages," referring to Collei.
• In the Japanese version of the manga, Collei's name was previously translated as "Kona" (コナ), though this has since been changed to reflect her current name, "Korei" (コレイ).
• It is strongly implied in A Winter Night's Lazzo that she was able to see the burning of Irminsul by Il Dottore via a vision in a dream.
• Collei is known by this alias or title:
  • Revived Serval (in Zero Hour Invokation)
• Collei is mentioned in the description of the following Furnishing:
  • Wood-Carved Cape: Forest Guardian

Etymology

• Collei's name translates to 'lost' in Welsh.
• Collei's constellation, Leptailurus Cervarius, is in reference to servals; Leptailurus refers to the serval's genus, while cervarius is a Latin term meaning 'of, pertaining to, or connected with deer' from which the word serval is derived.
• Cuilein-Anbar's name may be translated as 'Darling Amber.' Cuilein (directly translating to 'pup/cub') is a Gaelic term of endearment commonly used for young animals, equivalent to 'darling,' while anbar is an Arabic word meaning 'amber.'

References