Heavenly Principles

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The Heavenly Principles,^{[Note 1]} also known as Phanes,^{[1][Note 2]} and formerly as the great ruler of the firmament, are the First Descender and the current ruler of Teyvat. They^{[Note 3]} are the progenitor god who created humankind, enclosed the world beneath a False Sky, waged war against the Dragon Sovereigns, and reshaped the Light Realm into the Human Realm. They currently govern the world from Celestia through a set of "laws" enforced by the Four Great Rulers.

Resentment toward the Heavenly Principles' despotic rule drives many of the major conflicts in Teyvat's history, as various factions actively seek to defy or overthrow them.

Profile

The Heavenly Principles are considered to be the First Descender of Teyvat. Originally hailing from the sea of stars, they descended upon Teyvat an eon ago while in search of a suitable planet to establish humanity upon. After seizing control of Teyvat from the dragons and the Seven Sovereigns, they remade the world into the form it exists today. They were severely crippled by Nibelung following the War of Funerary Flame, and have lain dormant since the Cataclysm five hundred years ago.

They are a paranoid, absolutist deity who ruthlessly defends their authority against any perceived threat out of their "order" and harbors a deep aversion to the Abyss.^[3] Mortals are afraid of even taking their name lest they attract their attention and ire.^[4] At the command of the Heavenly Principles, Celestial Nails were cast to destroy disobedient or Abyss-contaminated civilizations in the past, viewing these unappealable actions as necessary for Teyvat's greater good.^[5]

The Heavenly Principles seek to dictate the fates of all living beings, preferring structured destiny over to the chaos of free will, and destroy civilizations that test their rules.^[6] It is generally impossible for any resident of Teyvat to act against their fate even if they possess active foreknowledge of what is to come.^[7] However, Descenders remain exempt as entities outside Teyvat's laws.^[8]

They also possess the ability to inflict irrevocable curses that affect people at the level of fate itself,^[9] such as devolving Angels into mindless beasts and powerless Seelie.^[10] According to Pierro, all divine rules, including a god's innate "love for humanity" are fundamentally curses.^[11] Similarly, the Four Great Rulers and other Celestial gods have been shown to wield such abilities. For instance, Ronova cursed the pureblood Khaenri'ahns with immortality.^[12]

The Heavenly Principles established current laws and wield the authority to create new ones—such as the Vision system to allow mankind to wield elemental energy,^[13]—or modify preexisting ones, such as altering Irminsul to anchor the fate of the world.^[14] After the War of Funerary Flame, they instituted the new system of Gnoses and Seven Archons to compensate for their weakened state.^[15][16]

Appearance

The Heavenly Principles has been described by numerous sources as a winged androgynous figure with a crown.^[1] They are commonly referred to as the Winged One,^[17][18] and Neuvillette claims that the world is presently being ruled under "a cluster of filthy feathers,"^[19] which may be in reference to the Heavenly Principles's wings. Hymns of the Far North titles the Heavenly Principles as the "Father of All and Mother of the Gods" and describes them as being "of gender unknowable."^[18] Alongside the Four Great Rulers, they are described as very beautiful and dazzling.^[20]

Story

Ancient History

The Heavenly Principles originated from the sea of stars,^[21] and traveled across the universe in search for a suitable home for humankind for an untold amount of time, bearing witness to numerous stars having been destroyed by the Abyss over the course of their journey.^[22] They eventually found the planet of Teyvat to be suitable for their purposes,^[21] which was at that time home to a native civilization of Dragons. They first landed upon the Frost Moon, destroying the Moongazers' laboratory, and coerced Lusalim into handing over the Blackbody technology which would later be used to create the False Sky.^[23] The Three Moon Goddesses, who had been entrusted by Nibelung with control over the laws of Teyvat,^[24][25] did not intervene; instead, they debated among themselves the merits of whether to cooperate with the great ruler of the firmament.^[3][21] Later, during the era known as "When the Doves Held Branches", they instigated a war against the dragons and their Seven Sovereigns to wrest control of Teyvat.^[1] It was at this time that they created the Four Great Rulers, "four shining shades of itself," who assisted them in battle.^[1]

After 40 years, the Heavenly Principles emerged victorious over the Seven Sovereigns and seized their elemental Authorities.^[26] Accordingly, the Moon Goddesses ultimately chose to cooperate with Heavenly Principles;^[3] they made this decision partially based on the realization that they were too powerful for them to fight against,^[25] though also based on their mutual opposition against the threat of the Abyss.^[22] The Heavenly Principles, for their part, allowed the Moon Goddesses a place in the new world order.^[25] They then set about terraforming the planet and rewriting the laws of Teyvat, all in preparation for turning the world into a suitable habitat for humanity.^[1]

This took the form of creating the Human Realm, fashioned by repurposing the pre-existing Light Realm of Teyvat and diluting its primordial energy into the modern system of seven distinct Elements.^{[27][28][29][30]} In order to isolate the planet from the rest of the universe, they surrounded Teyvat under a false sky.^[22][31] Together with the assistance of Naberius, they also created many new lifeforms. Among these new lifeforms were the Angels, who were tasked with a mandate to love and guide humanity as the great ruler of the firmament's divine envoys, as well as Egeria, a significant goddess entrusted with control over the powers of the Primordial Sea.^[2] Furthermore, they modified Irminsul into a great tree connected to the Ley Lines meant to record and preserve all information in Teyvat while simultaneously anchoring the world's fate.^[32]

400 years after their appearance, the Heavenly Principles finally created human beings, and bound them under a sacred covenant wherein the heavens would provide all the guidance and sustenance humanity could ever need as long as they did not "succumb to temptation".^[1] However, the Heavenly Principles also created a secret rule of "cyclical eternity" which meant all human civilizations would undergo a period of flourishing before being eventually destroyed and remade anew.^[33] This knowledge was deliberately kept hidden from humanity, and humans who inquired about these matters from the Angels received only silence in return.^[34]

War of Funerary Flame

Thousands of years after the creation of humanity,^[35] a voyager from the sea of stars known as Anacharsis revisited Teyvat.^[28] Anacharsis fell in mutual love with Koitar, the first angel, and the two eventually conspired to lead the city of Hyperborea in open rebellion against the Heavenly Principles.^[36] Around the same time, during the Funerary Year, the Dragon King Nibelung returned to Teyvat tainted by the otherworldly power of the Abyss, imprisoned the Moon Sisters, and started a devastating war to reconquer Teyvat.^[37][38][25] The heavens and earth were torn apart, and during this period of strife, Enkanomiya dropped into the watery abyss. Despite the people's laments, the great ruler of the firmament and three of their Shades did not respond; only Istaroth did not forsake Enkanomiya.^[1]

During the war, the Heavenly Principles destroyed two of Teyvat's Three Moons while flinging the Frost Moon beyond the False Sky, condemning all three Moon Goddesses to eventual death. They did this to deny Nibelung the opportunity to convert them into weapons of mass destruction, and also to punish the Moon Sisters for apparently violating their peace treaty; although it is implied their imprisonment was unbeknownst to them.^[39][3]

Around 6,000 years ago,^[3] the Heavenly Principles slew Nibelung and emerged victorious in the war, but were severely crippled in the process.^[31][38] They sent down the Celestial Nails to purify the land from Abyssal corruption, but this also wreaked havoc on the mortal world and decimated multiple human civilizations such as Sal Vindagnyr, Hyperborea, and Lang-Gan.^[38][40][41] As punishment for Koitar's participation in the rebellion, the Angels were cursed to lose their minds or their powers, devolving into beasts or Seelies as a result.^[40][42] Subsequently, the Heavenly Principles also banned knowledge of the history that predated this war.^[1]

Archon War

Despite winning the war of funerary flame, the Heavenly Principles had many of their functions ruined and could no longer suppress the original order of Teyvat.^[37] To continue subduing the resentments of the world in their weakened state, the Heavenly Principles killed the Third Descender Saarelainen in Pohjola,^[18] and then collaborated with "one who came after" to fashion the seven Gnoses from his corpse,^[37] which were items that symbolized the Heavenly Principles' dominion over Teyvat as part of a "new order." The gods of Teyvat were then driven to war with each other to obtain a Gnosis and with it the right to claim one of the seven divine thrones in Celestia, which bestowed upon them the status of 'Archon' and a Sovereign's Authority over their respective element. ^{[Note 4][43]}

The Archon Wars marked a period of widespread devastation and bloody conflict which ravaged human civilizations and godly domains alike, and left lingering curses borne from the spite of slain gods that plague the world till present day, such as the Tatarigami. The Archon War came to an end around 2000 years ago, when the last remaining Gnosis was finally claimed.

Sometime just before the Archon War ended, the Heavenly Principles became indirectly involved in the execution of the serpent god Orobashi after it made contact with the people of Enkanomiya and obtained prohibited knowledge regarding the history of the world from the book "Before Sun and Moon"^[44] A ban attributed to the Heavenly Principles had previously prevented the people of Enkanomiya from finding their way to the surface.^[45][1] By the time of the Archon War, these powers of prohibition had weakened, allowing Orobashi to fall into Enkanomiya as it attempted to flee into the Dark Sea after failing to defeat two different gods.^[46] The Heavenly Principles forced Orobashi to sacrifice itself by leading a doomed war against the territories of Raiden Ei in exchange for allowing the people of Enkanomiya to return to the surface.^[47] The truth behind the sacrifice remained unknown to all except a few close aides, and Before Sun and Moon was subsequently banned.^[48]

At some point, the Hydro Archon Egeria transformed some of her Oceanid followers into humans by pouring water from the Primordial Sea into their blood vessels, to fulfill their desires of enjoying human lives. This act did not go unnoticed by the Heavenly Principles, who then punished Egeria and her creations for the "original sin" of creating human life without permission. They set in motion the Prophecy of Fontaine, which foretold a catatostrophic flood would one day wash away all Fontainians, leaving the Hydro Archon weeping alone on her throne.^[49]

Cataclysm

500 years ago, a surge of forbidden knowledge^[50] emerged from Khaenri'ah, wreaking havoc on both Khaenri'ah and Teyvat. Though the Heavenly Principles's personal involvement is unclear, both The Seven (except Greater Lord Rukkhadevata) as well as the Four Great Rulers appeared in Khaenri'ah.^[43] At some point after the Traveler and their sibling were captured by Asmoday, the Heavenly Principles moved their spaceship to the Frost Moon in order to hide it beyond the false sky.^[51]

Present

They have lain dormant ever since the end of the Cataclysm, and several factions, such as the Fatui^[52] and the Abyss Order, have emerged to take advantage of their current state in an attempt to overthrow them.^[53] The inactivity concerned three of the Four Shades, with Ronova wondering if they should deal with the Tsaritsa and her Fatui as allowed by the "rules."

In spite of various events that have occurred in recent years, such as the destruction of the Hydro Throne and the return of its Authority to its rightful owner and the Dendro Archon destroying Irminsul due to its corruption by a malevolent entity, the Heavenly Principles has yet to be roused from their slumber. According to the Traveler's Sibling, the Heavenly Principles will not lie asleep forever and will definitely awaken one day. In order to stand as equals before them, the sibling seeks "the will to rival an entire world,"^[54] referring to the attribute possessed by all Descenders.

Character Mentions

Character Stories

Character	Stories
Neuvillette	Character Story 5 A Fontainian Nursery Rhyme Vision
Nicole	Character Story 1 Character Story 4 Vision
Zibai	Character Story 1 Moon Wheel

Character Voice-Overs

Character	Voice-Overs
Neuvillette	About Us: Witness  Media:VO_Neuvillette About Us - Witness.ogg Media:VO ZH_Neuvillette About Us - Witness.ogg Media:VO JA_Neuvillette About Us - Witness.ogg Media:VO KO_Neuvillette About Us - Witness.ogg Since you hail from beyond the stars, I invite you to be my witness as I judge this upended world. "This realm dismantled was of the Formidable Father himself, but what now reigns here is a cluster of filthy feathers. Though we live in a world of disarray, I shall undertake to restore all that has been broken." Feelings About Ascension: Conclusion  Media:VO_Neuvillette Feelings About Ascension - 04.ogg Media:VO ZH_Neuvillette Feelings About Ascension - 04.ogg Media:VO JA_Neuvillette Feelings About Ascension - 04.ogg Media:VO KO_Neuvillette Feelings About Ascension - 04.ogg Now that I have reclaimed one of the Seven Authorities from the hands of the usurpers, I have regained my true form. I am now a fully fledged dragon, powerful enough to judge the rest of the gods. My final destiny is to judge the Usurper-King in the heavens above. But until that time comes, I will lend my power to you.
Skirk	More About Skirk: IV  Media:VO_Skirk More About Skirk - 04.ogg Media:VO ZH_Skirk More About Skirk - 04.ogg Media:VO JA_Skirk More About Skirk - 04.ogg Media:VO KO_Skirk More About Skirk - 04.ogg Once in a while, I find myself gazing up at the stars. I know it's just a false sky, but I can sense that the creator had a romantic vision of the cosmos. Faced with the unfathomable vastness of time and space, humanity looks to history books to preserve a piece of themselves for the ages, and I think the creator of this sky shared the same desire. To capture a fleeting moment of the universe and make it last forever.

Trivia

• In the Manga's Prologue chapter, Venti envisions three enigmatic, shadowy figures when Vennessa asks him to tell her about Celestia. He visibly grows uncomfortable and immediately deflects the question, leaving their identities unknown. Given that the Heavenly Principles was already in control of Celestia before Venti ascended to godhood and became a member of The Seven 2,600 years ago,^[55] these three figures are likely connected to the Heavenly Principles in some way.
• The description of Staff of the Scarlet Sands begins with a creation story, which may be about the world's reconstruction after the Celestial Nails were cast down. King Deshret narrates that "the seven sage monks were established again, and they ruled the trajectories drawn by the earth, water, and stars," which may refer to the seven divine thrones now occupied by The Seven and the association of constellations with Vision-bearers.^[56] His comment immediately after, "Even if the celestial sphere was just an illusion [...]" alludes to the False Sky.
• During Amidst Chaos, the Rock Is Unmoved in Zhongli's Story Quest, Historia Antiqua Chapter: Act II - No Mere Stone, Zhongli says "People abandon and surrender the things they love to pursue the right path. Perhaps this is the erosion imposed on me by the Heavenly Principles." The term "Heavenly Principles" was revised from its initial translation as "natural order" since the original text specifically marked it as a proper noun, but this ends up losing the tie-in to an earlier remark by Kun Jun (possessed by Azhdaha) about how "Everything returns to dust. It is the natural order, an unstoppable force." This instance of "natural order" uses the same characters as the Heavenly Principles, but did not specifically mark the term as a proper noun. If the phrase is read as a proper noun, the original Chinese version can be translated as "Erosion is the Heavenly Principles' dominion, an unreachable power." (Chinese: 「磨损」是天理之所在，力不能及。)
• The Heavenly Principles may be the creator who has not yet returned, mentioned in the Traveler's Character Details.
• In Hilichurlian, the word "unu" means "one" and is also a holy word that is used for the hilichurls' concept of gods and the origin of life.^[57] While no direct connection has been made between hilichurls, the single unified civilization that once existed across the world and the Heavenly Principles, the hilichurls' gravitation to ancient ruins has been observed^[58] and their link between the concepts of "one" and "god" has not been perpetuated in human cultures on Teyvat.
• The original Chinese version, as well as the Japanese and Korean versions, uses a polite expression for the Primordial One, probably indicating Enkanomiya historians' (and/or their society's) reverence toward this deity.
• Zhongli seems to reference the Heavenly Principles in one of his original Chinese Elemental Burst voice-lines. This has been translated as "order" in English.
• Both Jakob^[59] and Neuvillette^[19] have refered to the Heavenly Principles as a pheasant.

Aliases and Titles

• The Heavenly Principles is known by these aliases or titles:
  • Phanes (personal name)^[1][60]
  • First Descender^[3]
  • Primordial One^[1]
  • Reason (by The Doctor)^[61]
  • Pitkamoonen (by the Frostmoon Scions)^{[18][Note 5]}
  • All-Plunderer^[62]
  • First Usurper^[26]
  • Usurper-King^[63]
  • Master of Fortuna^[64]
  • Master of the Four Shades^[40]
  • Lord of the Seven Calamities (by the Frostmoon Scions)^[18]
  • Father of All and Mother of the Gods (by the Frostmoon Scions)^[18]
  • Lord of the Sky (by the Frostmoon Scions)^[18]
  • Fierce King (by the Frostmoon Scions)
  • God of the Unyielding Heart (by the Frostmoon Scions)
  • God of Gender Unknowable (by the Frostmoon Scions)
  • The God of Retribution (by the Frostmoon Scions)
  • Vengeful Deity (by the Frostmoon Scions)
  • Lord of the Eternal Heavens^[65]
  • Lord of the Heavenly City
  • Lord of Hosts^[21]
  • Lord of the World^[65]
  • Sovereign of the Firmament^[66]
  • Winged One^[67][68]
  • Great ruler of the firmament^[3]
  • Ruler who must not be named^[69]
  • King of Light^[70]

Etymology

• The Chinese name for the Primordial One uses the character 原 "original, primordial," which is used in two other notable terms:
  • Allogenes (Chinese: 原神 "Primordial God, Original God"), which is the game's namesake (Genshin is a romanization of the Japanese reading of the same word)
  • Primogem (Chinese: 原石 "Primordial Stone"), an item which is described as something "beyond the mundane world," and which "shines with the condensed hopes and dreams of universes that once were."
• "Pitkämöönen" is a Finnish epithet approximately meaning "the tall one." It is attested in South Ostrobothnian sources as an epithet for the thunder god Ukko, whose personal name is traditionally not uttered during thunderstorms for fear of invoking his wrath.
  • In Genshin Impact, Ukko is the name of a historical scribe of Sal Vindagnyr, as well as the title of a Frostarm Lawachurl fought by the Traveler, who may in fact be the same person.
• In the Orphic tradition of Greek mythology, Phanes is the primeval god of creation and new life. According to legend, Phanes was an androgynous god who emerged from a cosmic egg created by Chronos, intertwined with a serpent. As a god of light, he was the creator of daytime and linked with Nyx, the goddess of night who created nighttime. Phanes was also said to be a dying and resurrecting god, killed by the Titans who devoured his flesh but rescued by Athena and resurrected by Zeus.
• In Sethian Gnosticism, Protophanes, also known as the "First Appearing One" is one of the three emanations of Barbelo, the first thought of God, alongside Kalyptos "The Hidden One" and Autogenes "The Self-Born One".

Cultural Inspiration

• Because of the Gnostic inspiration behind Genshin Impact, comparisons have been made between the Heavenly Principles and the Gnostic figure Demiurge (or Yaldabaoth), a false god mistakenly created by Sophia (Wisdom) who went on to create the mortal world. The Demiurge's role and motivations vary between different Gnostic traditions, but the usual goal of Gnostics is to embrace their inner divinity through gnosis and ascend from the mortal world to reunite with the true god Monad in the Pleroma.
  • In Sethian Gnosticism, the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden — in which the two succumb to the serpent's temptation and eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil — is positively depicted as the first step towards freedom from Yaldabaoth. In Nabu Malikata's account, the Heavenly Principles sent down the Celestial Nails out of fear towards the "rising tide of delusion and breakthroughs" caused by forbidden knowledge, and technology made using forbidden knowledge is capable of surpassing the world's "laws."
  • Most Gnostic traditions believe that there are seven archons for the seven planets (or celestial spheres) which prevent the soul from leaving the material realm, and one must ascend each of the seven planets before they can escape the mortal realm and return to the Pleroma. This concept was likely inspiration for the Traveler's journey through the Seven Nations, with the suggestion that they will ascend^[71] at the end of the story. However, the Demiurge is usually one of the seven archons in Gnostic belief, whereas the Heavenly Principles is separate from, and above, the Seven Archons of Teyvat.
  • The most key point of the comparison, is that generally the Demiurge is viewed as an authoritarian and tyrannical figure who seeks perfect order and control, aspects evident in the Heavenly Principles' dominion of Teyvat; punishing attempts by mortals and gods to rise above their appointed station, dictating 'fate' upon the world, transforming Irminsul into a computer-like form, and many of its other actions.

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References

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