Mavuika/Storyline

Mavuika, also known by her divine name Haborym and bearing the Ancient Name Kiongozi, is the God of War and Pyro Archon of The Seven, presiding over Natlan. She was born to the Scions of the Canopy 500 years ago and eventually ascended to the seat of Pyro Archon as a young adult. After defending Teyvat against the threat of the Abyss during the Cataclysm, she chose to place her remaining life within the Sacred Flame for an opportunity to be revived 500 years in the future. Upon returning in the present day, she once more took on the position of Pyro Archon and lead her nation in a successful victory over the Abyss, having personally defeated Gosoythoth together with the Traveler, finally ending Natlan's war for good.

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"A pilgrimage for a wish; a battle to earn a name...
Burnt to cinders for a dream.
If the intention yet remains, achieved ▉▉'s truth he has."

—Haborym, Agnidus Agate Gemstone

As the current Pyro Archon of The Seven, Mavuika possesses a seat among the Divine Thrones of Celestia, granting her access to the Pyro Authority.^[5] She previously also possessed the Pyro Gnosis before lending it to the Traveler in order to assist Nahida in burning down Irminsul.^[6] Mavuika also possessed a Vision before becoming an Archon,^[7] though its current status is unknown.

Personality

As the current God of War, Mavuika embodies a profound sense of duty and responsibility towards her nation, Natlan. This unwavering devotion earned her a place in the hearts of the Natlanese, where she is revered and respected for her leadership and commitment to their well-being. Mavuika's background with the Scions of the Canopy has instilled in her a passion for competition and radical sports, reflecting her adventurous spirit. However, in a conversation with Capitano, she acknowledged that she no longer possesses the youthful vigor she once had, with no longer being in her prime like she had used to be.

Intelligent and calculating, Mavuika came up with a plan to eradicate the Abyss invasions threatening Natlan, driven by her desire to secure a peaceful future for her people. This ambitious plan came at a great personal cost; 500 years ago, she left her family behind in the past and sacrificed her life in the Sacred Flame to be reborn in the present day with the sole purpose of realizing her vision. Mavuika is known for her willingness to relinquish anything dear to her, including cherished possessions accumulated over the years, in her relentless pursuit to safeguard Natlan from any peril.

Mavuika's bravery is unmatched, evidenced by her decision to confront Capitano in combat when he attempted to take her Gnosis. She ventured into the Night Kingdom alongside the Traveler, displaying extraordinary resolve, and was prepared to face Capitano a second time to thwart his insidious plans to manipulate Natlan's Ley Lines with Ororon, a move that, while providing a resolution to the crisis Natlan faced, would have dire consequences in the long term for her homeland.

In critical moments, Mavuika often retreats into her memories, seeking clarity and reassurance to guide her actions. This contemplative practice was evident during critical events, such as the rescue of Kachina by the Traveler, Paimon, Iansan, Mualani, and Chasca; during the intense Abyss invasion in Natlan; and in the final confrontation against the Abyss in the Night Kingdom.

Beyond her role as an Archon, Mavuika is friendly and approachable, cultivating warm connections with those around her. Her welcoming nature was particularly evident when she met the Traveler, expressing genuine surprise upon learning that their experiences in other nations had not been as harmonious as those in Natlan. She is also understanding, not being prejudiced upon learning that the Traveler's Sibling is the current leader of the Abyss Order.

Appearance

See also: Undying Sun

Mavuika uses the tall female model. She has light skin and red eyes with yellow sun-shaped forms around her reddish-yellow pupils. She has red, knee-long, wavy hair with yellow undersides which resemble flames. It parts symmetrically.

When Mavuika channels her power of the divine throne, her hair glows a fiery yellow.

Prior to her ascension as the Pyro Archon during her time in Huitztlan, Mavuika wore a white dress with a red and orange accent alongside with a scarf. Her sun-shaped forms that are in her eyes were not present at the time.

History

Past

Mavuika was born over 500 years ago to the Scions of the Canopy tribe, decades prior to the cataclysm. She was raised alongside her younger sister Hine and had a Yumkasaur companion named Hitata, who was very clingy of her. Mavuika was close to her parents and took after both of them.^[8]

Through her martial prowess, Mavuika would ascend to become one of many Pyro Archons, as unlike the other nations, the archon of Natlan was a mortal rather than a divine being. Realizing the threat posed by the Abyss, Mavuika concieved of a plan to sacrifice herself to the Sacred Flame in order to preserve her life force until the time came when the Abyss could be driven out from Natlan for good. Her family accepted her sacrifice, while the tribes at the time were initially divided, but they were eventually all convinced to support her plan, either by herself or through their tribal chiefs. The people brought numerous keepsakes for her to be preserved as "fuel" for the mission.^[9]

When Teyvat was struck by Abyssal corruption during the Cataclysm, Mavuika along with the other Archons received orders from Celestia to combat the calamity at its source in Khaenri'ah.^[10][11] Mavuika subsequently returned to fight against the Abyssal presence in Natlan with the remaining members of the Six Heroes. After prevailing in the battle, she placed her life within the Sacred Flame with the intent of returning 500 years later.^[12]

Present

Several years prior to the Traveler's arrival in Natlan, Mavuika reawakened from the Sacred Flame, ready to put her plan in full motion. After winning the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame for a second time, she once more ascended to become the Pyro Archon.^[13] She became acquainted with the new generation of Natlanese, such as Citlali and Xilonen. Bringing blueprints and wishing to use some of the dragons' blueprints in her quest against the Abyss, the two worked together and eventually created an acceptable Flamestrider which she would take great pride in using.^[14]

The Traveler first encounters Mavuika as she oversaw an iteration of the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame, in which a new batch of chosen warriors would be sent to fight the Abyss. While the competition continued, Mualani brought the Traveler to her tribe, where they met Atea. Atea gave the Traveler a talisman, asking her to bring it to Mavuika.^[15] When she received the talisman, she realized that Atea was nearing the end of the life, and she managed to visit her before she died.^[16]

Following the tribal visit, the Traveler and Mualani returned to the competition where the declared party had returned after successfully defeating the monsters within, albeit Kachina had failed to return. As the Ode of Resurrection was sung, Kachina still failed to return, with Mavuika noting that she could not find a trace of her Ancient Name nor presence in the Night Kingdom. Realizing that something was terribly wrong, she immediately called off all future events. She asked the Traveler and Mualani to help in the effort to rescue Kachina, and as the two left, Kinich sensed that she had other reasons for cancelling the event. Mavuika confirmed as much, stating that the events were a lost cause and she needed to have her people ready for the imminent threat before them. As she brought him and Iansan to the Sacred Flame so she could power it, Capitano appeared and challenged her for her Gnosis. She was able to hold him off and injure him in the process, but felt that she had been fighting the pinnacle of human strength, unaware of his own deteriorating body at the time. Before she could finish him off, a sudden surge of mist engulfed the arena, which she recognized as that from the Masters of the Night-Wind, telling Kinich to inform Citlali so she could find the traitor.^[17]

When the Spiritspeaker Stone was prepared, Mavuika warned the group of their mission before sending them to the Night Kingdom. They were able to locate Kachina, but the Abyss trapped them inside before they could escape. Seeing this, Mavuika burned all of her "fuel" in order to directly rescue them from the Night Kingdom. She then told the group that Natlan had less than a year before the Abyss would destroy their nation, but remained confident they could locate the final two heroes needed for her plan.^[18]

Citlali discovered that the person who helped Capitano was none other than her "grandson" Ororon and learned of Capitano's plan to activate the Source Mechanism to rewrite Natlan's Ley Lines, which would be just as disastrous as using the Gnosis. Learning this, Mavuika assembled her forces to attack the Fatui while she, Xilonen and the Traveler would infiltrate the ruins. Although they failed to stop the mechanism from activating, it instead awakened Yohualtecuhtin, Lord of the Night, while Ororon was also acknowledged as one of the remaining heroes. Seeing this, Capitano agreed to have his forces work with her, which she greatly appreciated.^[19] In response to this, the Abyss began a large-scale invasion of Natlan to prevent the final hero from being discovered. Instead, this caused the final hero to be discovered in Chasca. She brought Chuychu's body to the stadium, and Mavuika gave her condolences to her. With all six heroes assembled, Mavuika channeled all of her powers — the six heroes, her Authority and Ronova's gift to stop the invasion, landing a massive blow that revealed the false sky. Aware that the Heavenly Principles wished to keep the matter a secret, Mavuika claimed that the false sky was an astrological anomaly. She also told the Traveler that once their Ancient Name was ready, they would drive the Abyss out once and for all.^[20] After the battle, she visited Chuychu's parents to give her condolences to them.^[21]

Once the Traveler's Ancient Name was prepared, Mavuika and the Traveler, blessed by all of the Natlanese, descended into the depths of the Night Kingdom to purge the abyssal influence for good. To ensure a smooth battle, she tasked the Traveler with eliminating abyssal nests in the surrounding area while she directly clashed with Gosoythoth. The Traveler arrived to reinforce her after completing their task, and the two were able to destroy the abyssal entity, purging the Night Kingdom of abyssal influence. With the war truly over, she then went to Ochkanatlan to honor her deal with Ronova, but was surprised when Capitano offered his own life force instead, sparing her from death. In the aftermath, she realized that her nation still needed a leader and agreed with his logic. She also learned that Capitano had given up on the Gnosis after he had lost to her, though worried that the Tsaritsa might send another Harbinger to finish the job. Learning that they were going to Snezhnaya, she also warned the Traveler to prepare themselves accordingly due to their conflicts with the Fatui.^[22]

Following the victory, Mavuika was informed by Citlali from the Wayob that Xbalanque was returning to see the results of his efforts to safeguard the nation. However, they did not know how he would be returning, and she decided on reworking the now obsolete Pilgrimage of the Sacred Flame into a friendly competition. This ended up drawing him to the stadium, though he was revealed to have occupied a sickly young boy named Mausau. She told him how his plan had proceeded through the years and had a friendly spar with him at the Temple of Souls to avoid harming Mausau's body. She declined his request to take the life force Ronova gave him, believing that the dead should remain as such to avoid conflict. To conclude his trip, she took him on her Flamestrider across the nation and caught up with the others in a victory feast.^[23]

Mavuika also decided to restart the Bloomflower Trials, an ancient competition which had been put on hold due to its original founders warping the intention behind the event. She and the others learned of Milray's situation and agreed to help him recover from his bout of illness. They soon learned that Milray had a fear of the crystals due to being told by a qucusaur spirit named Antu that they would beguile human hearts. Though everyone knew that wasn't the case, they agreed that the only way they could reassure both was to pretend as if they did but were stopped by a force of good. To cement the act, Mavuika pretended as if she could not control the crystals, allowing Ifa and Antu to resolve the situation.^[24]

To her surprise, no Harbingers arrived to seize the Gnosis from her. Instead, she was contacted by Nicole shortly after the events in Nod-Krai, where she learned of the situation befalling Sumeru. Mavuika met with the Traveler and Nahida at the border between the nations, the latter appearing as a memory in order to conceal her tracks from Dottore, who had infiltrated Irminsul. Nahida asked Mavuika for the Pyro Gnosis, and she agreed to give it to them, feeling that she didn't need the Gnosis in the first place. To facilitate the transfer of the Gnosis through the Irminsul barrier, the Traveler used their mastery of Pyro to absorb it into themselves.^[6] Ultimately, Nahida is forced to use the Pyro Gnosis to burn down the corrupted Irminsul, but is unable to find a trace of it in the aftermath and sadly reports this to her. Mavuika had also sensed its disappearance and reassured her that it wasn't her fault, knowing of the outcome.^[25]

Trivia

• Mavuika is the first character‍^{[ver­i­fi­ca­tion need­ed]} whose Weapon menu pose is not completely identical to that of other characters with both the same model and weapon type.
• Mavuika can be seen wielding the claymore Earth Shaker, borrowed from Kinich, in the Version 5.0 "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn" Trailer and the cutscene during A Decision in Chapter V: Act II - Black Stone Under a White Stone.
• As the Pyro Archon at the time, Mavuika worked with the six heroes during the cataclysm, but she had personal connections with some of them before that.^[26]
  • She grew up alongside Burkina within the Scions of the Canopy; when he received his Ancient Name while they were still children, she hinted to him her aspirations of becoming Pyro Archon.
  • A child prodigy, she visited the home of renowned warrior trainer Sundjatta and apparently convinced him to take her on as a student.
  • As an adult, she was friends with Wanjiru and had wrestling matches with her. She always won, but did lose at least once a few days before being invested with the Archon's power.
• Her Saurian companion was a baby male Yumkasaur named Hitata.
• Mavuika is one of the few currently playable characters who acknowledges that the Traveler is from another world, presumably because of her status as an Archon.
• Silhouettes of Chasca, Iansan, Mualani, Kinich, Ororon, and Xilonen are present in her splash art, representing the nation's six heroes in the present-day.
• Mavuika can use a few abilities or mechanics normally limited to one tribe, some on her own, and others through the use of Flamestrider.
  • Detect and uncover buried items and use Molten Fissures.
  • Takes no damage from Gaseous Phlogiston or Phlogiston Currents and will instead have her Phlogiston meter refilled, as will Scorchwind Confluxes.
  • Can utilize a special Elemental Sight exclusive to characters from the Masters of the Night-Wind and Iktomisauri, but cannot scan nearby Nightspirit Graffiti nor utilize the following effects.
  • While riding Flamestrider, she can rapidly climb, briefly glide to bridge gaps, surf & jump across water and Liquid Phlogiston without taking Pyro damage, and use Spiritways.
• Mavuika cannot use Phlogiston Wind Tunnels, Jet-Set Eddies, or Spiritspeaking abilities. Despite being from the Scions of the Canopy, she cannot utilize Coilgrass Sigils or other entities relating to Yumkasauri.
• Mavuika is the first character in the game to not rely on energy to charge up her Elemental Burst. Instead, she depends on Fighting Spirit which is generated whenever allies consume Nightsoul Points during their Nightsoul's Blessing state or they perform Normal Attacks against enemies.
• Mavuika's idle animations will cause nearby NPCs to clap when she initiates them.
• Mavuika being born in the Huitztlan tribe, which is located on Coatepec Mountain, may be a nod to the myth of the birth of the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli who, according to the myths, was born in Coatepec Mountain. This was also the place where he fought his sister Coyolxauhqui and his 400 Centzonuitznaua.
• Japanese voice actress Komatsu Mikako (小松未可子) is the wife of Zhongli's Japanese voice actor, Maeno Tomoaki (前野智昭).

Aliases and Titles

• Mavuika is known by these aliases or titles:
  • Haborym (divine name)^[27]
  • Kiongozi (Ancient Name)^[28]
  • Pyro Archon^[27]
  • God of War^[29]

Etymology

• Mavuika may be named after the Māori fire deity Mahuika, who is typically depicted as female, especially given her Chinese name "玛薇卡" can be translated to "Mahuika." She is the wife of Auahitūroa, the god of comets and origin of fire. She is the figure from which the hero Māui obtained the secret of making fire.
  • This is further supported by the name of her sister Hine, likely named after the goddess Mahuika's sister, Hine-nui-te-pō.
• Haborym (also called Aim or Aym in The Lesser Key of Solomon) is a Great Duke of Hell. In human form he appears as a handsome man with three heads, of which belong to a serpent, a man and a cat, whilst also riding along a viper. He carries a firebrand with him, in which it is said he uses to set cities, forests, and castles ablaze.

Notes

Other Languages

References