Kinich/Storyline

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Kinich is a courier of the Scions of the Canopy. He is also the current owner of the Dragonlord Ajaw.

Profile

Personality

To the general public, Kinich appears pragmatic, cold, and to-the-point as a Saurian Hunter. Steady, direct, and efficient, he has a utilitarian approach to life, and his exterior coldness tends to discourage people around him from getting close. Appearing to understand more than he lets on, he prefers to keep a distance from others and let everyone else do the talking. He is often seen observing conversations from a distance, as shown when he was at the Pilgrimage alongside Kachina, Mualani, the Traveler, and Paimon.

As a core member of the Scions of the Canopy, Kinich is fond of extreme sports, and is said by his companion K'uhul Ajaw to have plunged headfirst off a cliff and lived to see it. Skilled in his abilities as a Huitztlan Saurian Hunter, he assesses commissions and confidently sets prices without a hint of chivalrous decorum, often causing others to look askance at the boy. However, he appears not to be fazed by the opinions of people around him. As long as the price is right, he will fulfill all commissions in a satisfactory manner. Despite his reserved nature, he has no problem making negotiations or talking back to others when the situation calls for it. Due to this, he tends to struggle with the idea of receiving something for free.^[5] He despises gamblers, seeing them as extremely irresponsible, mostly in part due to his abusive father.

In the common occurrence in which Ajaw is bickering with him, Kinich is seen proficiently putting a stop to it, while without succumbing to anger or violence. When Kachina was under pressure in the Pilgrimage, he assisted Mualani in comforting Kachina, despite his eccentric and logic-driven way of doing so. Despite his unfazed and realistic demeanor, he clearly exhibits good intentions and cares deeply about those who manage to get close to him.

Appearance

Kinich uses the medium male model. He has light tan skin, black hair with blue undertones, and lizard-like eyes split into two halves, the top being green and the bottom amber. One strand of his hair is curled upwards showing a yellow underside, and he is dressed mostly in green, blue, white, and black attire.

History

Past

Kinich was born to an unnamed mother and father who belonged to the Scions of the Canopy. He does not have much memories of his parents, only knowing that his mother was a farmer and his father a courier who gambled poorly on his days off, losing many wages. Eventually, his father's reckless gambling caused them to lose their home and forced them away from the tribe in a secluded mountain. There, Kinich followed in his mother's footsteps as being an apt survivalist, though the longer distance from the tribe meant that arguments became frequent without a mediator. Eventually, his mother left him to escape her overly abusive husband.

Kinich took over most of his mother's duties at home and subsequently became a target of his father's abuse, which he would often avoid by escaping home. When he was seven, he asked his father about his mother, causing him to snap and chase him out of the home. As they came upon a precipice, Kinich's father slipped into the chasm below and died from the fall. When he realized this, he held back his tears, took his grappling hook and carried his body back home and buried him.^[6]

Following his father's death, Kinich would continue to live a solitary life away from the tribe, only coming to the village in order to trade for necessities before leaving. His attitude impressed the elders and some of them offered him assistance, though he refused and kept himself away from the others. The tribal elders were impressed by his skills for his age, with one of them, Elder Leik, asking him to attend the tribe's Learning Lodge to get an education. His fees would be paid off through errands, though Kinich refused at first, believing that education was not important. Over the course of several months, Leik was able to convince Kinich to attend in return for serving as his messenger, though to his surprise, he would graduate from the lodge in a single day.^[7]

During one class, Leik spoke about Natlan's heroes and the sacrifices they made to cement their legacy. Kinich was confused and bullied by the other children for his disheveled appearance despite Leik's attempts to stop them. As such, Kinich told Leik that if he wanted to be a hero, he wanted to be rewarded Mora for his efforts. Though he was shunned out of the lodge by his students, Kinich did not stop them from doing so even though he could've overpowered them, as he knew they did not know the harsh truth of reality. Nonetheless, the lesson allowed Kinich to realize that he should become a hero to get Mora.^[8]

Later on, Kinich asked Leik to improve on his own strengths and brought everything he had in the hopes that he would accept. Leik declined his attempt to pay him, instead having him agree that if he was to become a hero, he would learn the journey behind it. In truth, Leik saw that Kinich showed great promise but could prove to be dangerous if guided down the wrong path. For many years, Kinich lived with Leik, who continued to educate him on Natlan's past and brought him to numerous tribespeople who taught their skills to Kinich, who eagerly learned all he could from them. As his skills grew, Leik began giving Kinich more challenging tasks such as courier work and taking down dangerous Saurians, all of which he handled without issue. He negotiated suitable payment for his works and charged accordingly if they tried to deceive him, which caused some controversy among the tribe elders, but Leik defended him.^[9]

Kinich soon became a renowned Saurian Hunter amongst the people of Natlan, and soon took interest in some ancient draconic ruins that were unearthed after an earthquake. The ruins were incredibly dangerous and many prospective teams backed off, but Kinich was able to join one of the few teams unfazed by its dangers. The ruins were more dangerous than suggested and his teammates either died, became gravely injured or retreated, leaving him the only one remaining. He eventually came upon the end of the ruins and discovered Ajaw. After speaking with him, Kinich realized that Ajaw could pose a threat to Natlan but his powers could be used for good. Over the course of several days, Kinich managed to have Ajaw agree to a contract; he would bring him out of the ruins and use his power as he saw fit in return for giving his body to him when he died. The Saurian Relics Association took interest in Ajaw and offered to purchase him, but Kinich refused them at every turn.^[10]

Kinich was eventually bestowed the Ancient Name of Malipo, though unlike the heroes of the past, Kinich did not care too much about it, throwing himself into the Night Warden Wars when the time arose. In one iteration of the wars, Kinich and his party were shocked to learn that the Abyss began to manifest as those closest to them, lowering their guard to fatally kill them off. Kinich came upon a manifestation of his mother; though he wished to ask her questions, he instinctively killed the monster knowing the threat it posed. Kinich's party eventually fell to the monsters and he was the only one standing, slaying many; despite his efforts, he too was eventually overwhelmed and seemingly died. Suddenly, a Dendro Vision appeared and animated his unconscious body into defeating the rest of the monsters, granting his party a victory. When he came to in reality, he was surprised to find himself still alive, only for Ajaw to begin yelling at him about his failure to die. As he observed it in his sleep, he realized that he had no longer become a hero for the Mora, but a hero to defend the people of Natlan and would pay any price to obtain what he wanted.^[11]

At some point, he became acquainted with Mualani and Kachina, serving as a "battle advisor" for the latter after the former hired him.^[12] When he learned that some of Kachina's tribespeople ordered a hit on her saurian companion Ayo after she acquired her own Ancient Name, Kinich proceeded to teach them a lesson.^[13]

Present

Kinich is first seen alongside Mualani at the Stadium of the Sacred Flame, where they were waiting for Kachina to arrive. She arrived later than expected due to talking with the Traveler, who meets them for the first time. Ajaw expresses his anger at the newcomers for wasting their time, causing Kinich to slap him into timeout. He explains the purpose of the Night Warden Wars to the Traveler before asking Kachina where her teammates were. When Kachina tells them that they ditched her, Mualani decides to join her team, asking Kinich to lead her original team in his place, which he reluctantly agrees to.^[14]

In the ensuing trials, Kinich's team is eliminated, in part due to an injury in the team round and losing two key matches against opponents he had fought, though he had no hard feelings over it. Following Kachina and Mualani's battle, Kinich originally wanted to introduce the Traveler to his tribe, but Mualani asked first, so he let her do so while telling the Traveler and Paimon that they were welcome to visit his tribe if they had the chance.^[15] He began to resume his courier work and threw Ajaw in another timeout when he began mocking him over his losses.^[16]

With his commissions finished, Kinich returned to the stadium to watch Mavuika perform the Ode of Resurrection, though Kachina failed to return despite her team being victorious. As two other spectators began mocking Kachina as a failure, Mualani attempted to defend her, though Kinich told her that it wasn't worth the time arguing with cowards. Learning the situation from Mavuika, Kinich believed that they should continue hosting Abyssal incursions, though she overrode his decision, which he soon realized was the right choice. She then asked him and Iansan to accompany her to the Sacred Flame as Capitano confronted her in a heated, inconclusive battle. Realizing that someone from the Masters of the Night-Wind had helped Capitano escape, she told Kinich to head to the tribe and speak to Citlali to figure out who helped him.^[17] Fortunately, the party was able to rescue Kachina from the Abyss and they celebrated her return with a party at the Weary Inn. Kinich apologized for not being fully truthful as he felt it would cause more problems if they knew everything before wondering who the other two final heroes were.^[18]

Around the same time, Kinich learned that the situation involving Kongamato was becoming critical, though he did not agree with the elders' views in handling him. He soon discovered an abyssal entity named Enjou was following him and confronted him in a hidden cave. Enjou told him that he was tired of trailing him and offered to negotiate, which Kinich surprisingly agreed to, though he sensed ulterior motives from him and told him to disclose it before he would do so. Enjou complied and told him that he wanted uninterrupted "historical research," providing him with a Beastly Rift. Aware of the Traveler's relation with the Abyss Order, Kinich brought them to him only to learn that they were already acquainted and thus no new information could be acquired. They cleared the rift of its residents before the ritual started. During the ritual, Kinich revealed his plan to the elders, most of whom were shocked but agreed to, only for Trinidad to rouse Kongamato. The Traveler and Kinich managed to subdue and calm the saurian down, after which it recognized his Ancient Name and requested to be put out of its misery. Kinich refused, stating that he had to live with the shame and Kongamato agreed to use his ruined body to train Natlan's heroes. The Traveler later caught up with him and Kinich thanked them for their assistance, stating that he owed them one. They refused, stating that they were friends, but he found it hard to accept anything for free.^[19]

Since Citlali's Spiritspeaker stone was broken during the process to save Kachina, Kinich was filled in on the news by her and agreed to apologize to her on their behalf. He also revealed that the person that saved Capitano was Ororon. He attempted to talk to Citlali but was unable to get a reply from her, though Citlali had already agreed to help and felt that it was not necessary to inform them of doing so.^[20] Upon learning what Ororon and Capitano were planning to do, Mavuika had Kinich distract the Fatui forces outside while she, Xilonen and the Traveler snuck inside.^[21] Fortunately, the situation was resolved amicably and Kinich was surprised to learn that the two were now working together.^[22]

When the Abyss began invading Natlan, Kinich and his tribe were responsible for delivering messages regarding the status of the battle to various areas across Natlan. After finishing up the first wave, he caught up with the Traveler outside the stadium when a stronger wave emerged, including a strange entity that dropped seemingly indestructible Abyss Tumors across the nation.^[23] Most of these landed on the Flower-Feather Clan, and Kinich quickly organized a team to provide support. He later returned to the stadium when the final hero was discovered in Chasca, where he and the others loaned their power to help Mavuika repel the abyssal entity.^[24] Following the invasion, Kinich told Iansan that deliveries across the nation would be delayed but was optimistic that they would be gradually restored over time as people were volunteering to help.^[25]

The Traveler later arrived to the stadium after being informed about the progress of their Ancient Name. Kinich and his friends were there, and upon their arrival, Ajaw scolded them for their tardiness, prompting Kinich to slap him into timeout.^[26] Following this, Kinich made several deliveries to the People of the Springs.^[27] When Mavuika and the Traveler were finally ready to confront Gosoythoth in the depths of the Night Kingdom, Kinich, Ajaw and Kongamato met with them, wishing them luck on their mission. The Traveler and Mavuika destroyed Gosoythoth, ending the Abyss' threat to Natlan.^[28]

In the aftermath of the war, Mavuika decided to revise the Pilgrimage to be more friendly now that the Abyss no longer posed a threat to the nation. Kinich participated in the new tournament, easily wiping the competition and becoming the first champion.^[29] He later attended a feast alongside his friends when Mavuika returned after seeing Xbalanque off.^[30] Later, a young Tepetilsaur known as Milray became sick after using far more phlogiston than he could handle. At the same time, Mavuika decided to restart the Bloomflower Trials, with Kinich participating in the revived tradition. During some night celebrations, Kinich had to restrain Ajaw after he began causing havoc.^[31] When the group learned Antu's situation, Kinich and the others managed to reassure the spirit's worries with a well-planned argument and later saw him off as he returned to the Night Kingdom and reunited with his owner.^[32]

Kinich would later come upon a smuggling case involving Natlan and Fontaine, testifying in a trial; his testimony was key in convicting the smugglers. He later met Charlotte and the two began looking for the most outrageous tabloids they could find when the Traveler came upon both of them. Learning of an amusement park setting up in the area, Kinich brought them to the grounds. He met Lepine-Pauline and learned from her of a Natlanese gun she had discovered, which caused him to become suspicious and he decided to verify the discovery with the authorities at the Palais Mermonia. He agreed to help Neuvillette and Wriothesley solve the new case.^[33] In the ensuing investigation, they discovered that the smuggler was a Fontainian gambler called Angoulvant, who attempted to escape justice when confronted. Kinich apprehended him and was angered at his attempts to deflect accountability, seeing similar traits in him like his father once did. He had Ajaw beat him up before he was taken away, and told the Traveler about his youth. He then assisted Neuvillette in closing the case before returning to Natlan.^[34]

After returning to Natlan, Kinich was given a commission by a few people escaping Nod-Krai to look for an automaton that had gone missing when they arrived. He found the automaton along with the Traveler and Xilonen in the Children of Echoes, though the former initially believed he was there to destroy it. He clarified that he was simply there to return the automaton, Ineffa, to her companions and met up with them at the outskirts of the tribe grounds. During the conversation, Ajaw began to act suspicious, which caught Kinich's attention.^[35] When asked about Ineffa, Ajaw refused to answer, prompting Kinich to put him in timeout for three days, at the end of which he angrily mentioned about the Thirteen Sovereign Lords, allowing them to conclude that Ineffa was one of these Sovereigns.^[36]

Before the Traveler left for Nod-Krai, they paid a final visit to the stadium, where Kinich, Mualani and Kachina told the Traveler that their Natlanese friends were ready to see them off.^[37]

Trivia

• In Ignition Teaser: A Name Forged in Flames, Kachina, Kinich (as KNICH), and Mualani's names are graffitied on the tournament ball in the Teyvat Script.
• Kinich shares the same Chinese voice actor, Banma, with Kaedehara Kazuha.
• Kinich is the second Claymore-wielding character to use a unique Charged Attack animation after Arataki Itto (when he has no stacks of Superlative Superstrength); rather than performing a spinning or combo sequence, he throws his claymore in front of him.
• Kinich is the first character to be able to perform a Normal Attack mid-air.
• Kinich is mentioned in the description of the following Furnishing:
  • "Courier's System of Sort and Dispatch"
• Kinich's and Ajaw's Japanese voice actors, Sugiyama Noriaki and Takeuchi Junko, are arguably better known for working together on the Naruto franchise anime series and spinoffs as Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki respectively.

Etymology

• Kinich is likely named after Kinich Ahau, the Yucatec name of the Mayan sun god.
  • Several notable connections can be found between Kinich's design and that of the Mayan sun god's:
    • Kinich Ahau is likewise known as "God G" in the Mayan codices. Meanwhile Kinich has multiple stylized G's on his clothing, notably on his right glove, on his chest, and on the chain hanging off the back of his jumpsuit.
    • Kinich Ahau is commonly depicted with three dots located under his eye. While in his Nightsoul state, Kinich has three green dots under each of his eyes.
    • The glyph for k'in generally resembles a four-leafed plant of sorts inside of a rounded square. The multiple X's used in Kinich's clothing and attacks could be a reference to this.^[38]
    • Some depictions of Kinich Ahau depict him wearing the Sak Huun, a white headband reserved for rulers.^[39]
• Kinich's gameplay also makes reference to Alebrijes, brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures. This can also be seen by his constellation name.

Other Languages

Character Title: Turnfire Hunt

References

Navigation

Characters (Lore) Player Characters Mondstadt Liyue Inazuma Sumeru Fontaine Natlan Nod-Krai Snezhnaya (excluding Nod-Krai) Other Upcoming Characters announced by HoYoverse.