Beyond pranks, whimsy, & order, Hu Tao is one of the most complex characters in Genshin Impact.

She doesn't only respect death, she *rejects* it. In a world ruled by the gods, is it time for mortals to go beyond the cycles?

Here's a (long-ish) analysis, thread incoming below ↓

We have a longer pre-release Hu Tao analysis on our site if you end up liking this: https://www.notion.so/khaenriah/Humanity-Divinity-A-Hu-Tao-Character-Analysis-3722e4440dbf4fe19ea98bdda05f8f44

You can read this full write-up on Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Impact/comments/mwde7s/hu_taos_true_character_an_analysis_beyond_pranks/ or take a look at this condensed thread!

Eccentric yet reverent, the 77th Director stands at the border between life and death –– and it is precisely because of this does she understand that in a cyclic world, we must draw wonder.

Underneath her whimsy, Hu Tao is a reverent funeral director, influential poet, and spirit soother carrying rituals that cleanse the evils from Liyue's fallen gods.

Contrary to her popular characterization, have you considered how she *contradicts* what she stands for?

She's carefree because she understands the value of life, sure,

who leads a Parlor that deals with Liyue's underworld, knows adepti's secrets...

and is a contradiction: scared of death, yet guards the border...

in a world where enlightenment means the gods take you as threat.

1st, let's talk about her appearance:

Her hat was her late grandfather's, the 75th Director. She's incredibly attached to it & customized it to fit her – the flowers from a tree she planted herself!

Red plum blossoms symbolize life's impermanence & revolutionary struggle.

On her coat is an equinox flower... (render by @lumie_lumie)
⁕ They're 'flowers of hell', rumored to hail from the underworld–guiding mortals across the cycle.
⁕ IRL, they're incredibly toxic & used to be planted in graveyards to deter wild animals from feasting on corpses.

The butterfly is a near-universal metaphor for reincarnation––a carrier of the human's self and soul. When associated with plum blossoms, it means longevity.

They're epitomic of eternal, cyclic life. Other cultures even perceive butterflies as the spirits of passed loved ones.

Her constellation, Papilio Charontis, references an extinct butterfly and Greek mythos' Charon: ferrymen that carried souls of the newly-deceased across the river Styx, which runs through the border of the living and the dead.

The Ferrylady Parlor Worker cements this further.

In Taoism, Zhuangzi's 'Butterfly's Dream' grapples w/ self & ego: immortality vs enlightenment.

A man dreams he's a butterfly. When he wakes, is he now a butterfly dreaming as a man? Dreams & truth are constant themes in Genshin. (Hi Unreconciled Stars!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi_(book)#%22The_Butterfly_Dream%22

"Whenever someone mentions Hu Tao, their neighbors find it extremely hard to navigate the conversation."

On the surface, Hu Tao is a prankster. Qiqi hates her even if HT now pampers her, all of Liyue kinda does too, and even Zhongli didn't seem to like her.

She's aware of how jarring her personality is, with her duty to guard the border and knowledge of life and death. "Live in life, die in death," she lives by.

While her close proximity to this cycle has brought her this wisdom, it also hasn't erased her own human fears.

In truth, Hu Tao is far more conscious of her image than she lets on. After all, she's a young woman with the burden of knowledge.

Her Voicelines and skill description hints at her anxieties: disdain at Liyue's image of Wangsheng, and fear of death.

Understanding Hu Tao means knowing the Staff of Homa story: an unknown doctor eradicates disease that had come from the corpses of evil, slain gods. Pioneering cremation, the doctor becomes the founder of Wangsheng.

Her true motto: "only an unbound flame can purify this world."

Hu Tao earned her Vision due to reverence & *skepticism* of the cycle of death and rebirth.

At 13, she ran her gfather's funeral & went to the border, in hopes of seeing his spirit. She heads home with a Vision after realizing he's not there: why would Directors have regrets?

Wangsheng's ultimate responsibility is to guard the border between life and death. Hu Tao is stricter than those before her, yet discerns between *order & fate* carefully.

After all, why do many ghosts still linger? Is mortal will enough to latch on, defiant of Teyvat's laws?

Hu Tao is even more known for her work as a poet than Director (Hilitune!). Have you ever noticed 'Someone's Poetry' across Liyue?

If it's Hu Tao's (it's strongly implied to be), she knows about the Creator (companion to some Unknown God..) and cyclical Teyvat (the Prayers).

"There's nothing special about the border between life and death. It's just that nobody knows about it."

THEORY: Hu Tao's C6 lets her cheat death. Her Demo lines also seem to question life's duality ("order of duality, impermanence of fate…") as her Vision story does.

Similarly, she questions the unity between yin and yang present in Chongyun ("Positive energies and unity between yin and yang... Who knew such people existed in this world."), another sign of confusion at what is supposed to be set order.

For someone fearful of the end yet forceful in guarding the border, what could it mean when her skills let her reject the cycle?

Zhongli believes the time of gods is over. Wangsheng's founders were mortals who cleansed evil gods.

Will Hu Tao be the Director to question fate?