20 Things You Didn’t Know about Genshin Impact’s Albedo
Albedo is a playable character in Genshin Impact. He has an important role in the game’s story, as shown by how he has starred in more than one event. Furthermore, it seems safe to play that Albedo will remain important as Genshin Impact continues.
1. His Name Refers to the Second Stage of the Magnum Opus
Albedo is one of those names that show up a lot in fantasy media. This is because it is the second stage of the Magnum Opus, which is supposed to be the alchemical creation of the philosopher’s stone using the prima materia. Albedo can refer to a lot of other things as well because it means “whitening.” However, the context makes it clear that this is another example of a character named for the alchemical term.
2. Symbolized By Chalk
The character is often symbolized by chalk in Genshin Impact. For example, his nickname is the Kreideprinz, which means “Chalk Prince.” Similarly, he has been compared to the chalk that follows soil, which is a reference to how the stage called albedo follows the stage called nigredo. Of course, chalk is a very soft and very porous kind of limestone that tends to be light-colored.
3. His Constellation Is Princeps Cretaceus
Speaking of which, Albedo’s constellation is Princeps Cretaceus, which more-or-less translates to “Chalk Prince.” There is an issue in that the Romans didn’t use princeps in the same way that we use prince most of the time. Said title had a number of meanings that included but were not limited to “first,” “foremost,” and “the most eminent.” As such, the early Roman emperors called themselves princeps, which was a piece of polite fiction suggesting that they were still the first among equals of the Roman elite. It wasn’t until Diocletian that the Roman emperors started calling themselves dominus, thus making it very clear that they were the “lord” or “master” of the Roman Empire. This is the reason that the early Roman Empire is sometimes called the Principate while the late Roman Empire is sometimes called the Dominate.
4. His Constellation Shows a Homunculus
Some people might have found it strange that Albedo’s constellation showed what looked like a fetus in a bottle. However, it is a clear reference to the idea of the homunculus, which is a small human created using alchemical means. Since then, the term has acquired other meanings. For instance, homunculus is often used in fantasy media to indicate both humans and human-like beings made using synthetic means rather than natural means.
5. He Was Made Using Synthetic Means
Chances are good that interested individuals can guess that Albedo was made using synthetic means. Indeed, a lot of people guessed that he was a homunculus as soon as his constellation was revealed. Something that proved to be correct.
6. Is an Alchemist
In-setting, Albedo is famous for being an alchemist of considerable skill. He learned a great deal from his master Rhinedottir, who was his creator as well. After the two parted ways, Albedo has continued to pursue knowledge, though his current responsibilities mean that he isn’t able to spend as much time on this as what he had expected.
7. Is an Alchemist Who Knows the Art of Khemia
Alchemy is practiced throughout the Genshin Impact setting. However, Albedo stands out in that he knows the Art of Khemia, which was a form of alchemy that originated from the fallen nation of Khaenri’ah. Khemia is interesting in that it specializes in the creation of life. Apparently, Khaenri’ah didn’t have a lot of natural fauna, so the people of Khaenri’ah came up with a way to compensate for that. Albedo himself is presumably a creation of Khemia.
8. His Master Is Rhinedottir
When Albedo was revealed, Albedo’s master was revealed to be someone named Rhinedottir. There wasn’t a lot of information given out about said individual. However, people were able to come up with a fair amount of speculation because Rhinedottir is a very meaningful name. For those who are curious, it means “Rhine-daughter,” which is a reference to the Rhinemaidens from Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle. They are a trio of elemental spirits who guard the cursed Rhine gold that was responsible for the downfall of more than one individual from those stories.
9. His Master Is Gold
Much of the speculation was fueled by the reveal that Mondstadt had come under attack by a dragon named Durin during the fall of Khaenri’ah. Said dragon was created by an alchemist named Gold, so there were a lot of people who speculated that Gold and Rhinedottir were one and the same. After all, the Rhinemaidens are associated with not just gold but cursed gold. As it turned out, Gold and Rhinedottir were indeed one and the same. This was confirmed during the Shadows Amidst Snowstorms event.
10. His Master Seemed to Have Been Very Respected
It seems that Albedo’s master was once very respected. After all, gold has an exalted status in a wide range of cultures in a wide range of times and places. In particular, the alchemists of the real world saw gold as a symbol of perfection, meaning that there was more to their desire to turn lead into gold than just greed. Rhinedottir seems to have acquired the nickname of “Gold” as a recognition of her incredible knowledge as well as her exceptional skills. Unfortunately, her nickname has very different connotations for those who are in the know, seeing as how she unleashed an army of monsters on the rest of Teyvat during the fall of Khaenri’ah. It isn’t clear whether she made the first move or Celestia made the first move. Either way, those monsters did a great deal of damage to the other nations. As such, it isn’t hard to see why the character received a name associated with cursed gold.
11. Was Entrusted to Alice
Rhinedottir didn’t quite abandon Albedo altogether. Instead, she gave him a letter of recommendation to one of her friends named Alice, who was living in Mondstadt at the time. Said character hasn’t made a personal appearance in Genshin Impact. However, what has been revealed suggests that she is a very old world traveler in more than one sense of the term who has terrible ideas as well as more ability to implement those terrible ideas than what most people would be comfortable with. In other words, it makes sense for Alice and Rhinedottir to be friends, though Alice has a much warmer personality than the cold Rhinedottir.
12. Has a Sibling Relationship With Alice’s Daughter Klee
Albedo has a very close relationship with Alice and Alice’s daughter Klee. This can be seen in how he considers Alice to be an aunt and Klee to be a sister. Amusingly, Albedo spends most of his energy cleaning up after Klee, which is important because she is very good at making explosives as well as very enthusiastic about using explosives in spite of her young age. For comparison, he spends just a small fraction of the same energy on his actual job.
13. Is a Captain of the Knights of Favonius
Alice introduced Albedo to the Knights of Favonius. There, his skill enabled him to rise to a high position within a very short period of time. The Knights of Favonius are led by the Grand Master as well as an assistant who can substitute for the Grand Master should that prove to be necessary. After that, there are ten captains. Albedo is one of the ten captains. His responsibilities include being both the Chief Alchemist and the head of the Investigation Team.
14. Teaches Alchemy
Alchemists are often written as being very protective of their alchemical knowledge, which might have been based on the secretiveness of their sources of inspiration in the real world. Albedo isn’t one of those alchemists. He has been known to teach his assistant Sucrose, another playable character who happens to be an Anemo catalyst user. Furthermore, he has even been known to teach Timaeus, who has no official connection with him. This is particularly striking because Albedo doesn’t have a very high opinion of Timaeus’s natural talent but has decided to teach him anyway.
15. Enjoys Drawing and Painting
So far, Albedo has been shown enjoying both drawing and painting. Apparently, he started doing these things when he was still traveling with Rhinedottir because he found that they made it easier for him to understand his subjects. However, he has also come to enjoy it, not least because it enables him to enter into a state of clarity that he founds pleasant.
16. Has Done Light Novel Illustrations
Genshin Impact’s Inazuma has a light novel industry that is very similar to that of the Japanese light novel industry. Amusingly, Albedo has done light novel illustrations for A Legend of Sword, which is a very international light novel series within the setting. After all, the author is Xingqiu who lives in Liyue, the illustrator is Albedo who lives in Mondstadt, and the publisher is the Yae Publishing House based in Inazuma. A Legend of Sword didn’t get very good reviews. Still, Albedo’s illustrations managed to get a great deal of praise.
17. Can Tell That the Traveler Comes From a Different World
The Traveler isn’t native to Teyvat. Instead, it has been stated that they and their twin have visited numerous worlds, with Teyvat being the latest of those. Albedo is one of the small number of characters who can tell that the Traveler can travel from world to world, though it isn’t 100 percent clear how he knows that. It is possible that he learned about such things from Rhinedottir, who presumably knew a wide range of things that most people wouldn’t. However, it is also possible that he learned about such things from Alice, who has been hinted to be capable of traveling from world to world herself. After all, she knows what an idol is even though Teyvat is a pre-modern setting for the most part.
18. He Isn’t the First Version of Albedo
Albedo isn’t the first version of Albedo. The Shadows Amidst Snowstorms event showed that Rhinedottir had created an identical-looking predecessor who was fed to Durin when he was deemed to be a failure from the perspective of her Primordial Human Project. However, said individual didn’t die from either being eaten or Durin being brought down by Dvalin and the Anemo Archon. Instead, Albedo’s predecessor managed to escape before coming up with a plan to replace Albedo because he was envious of Albedo’s life.
19. It Isn’t Clear What Happened Between Albedo and His Predecessor
The two confronted one another towards the end of the Shadows Amidst Snowstorms event. Unfortunately, it isn’t 100 percent clear what happened, particularly since the one physical difference between the two was shown to be unreliable because of their alchemy. There are three main theories for what happened. One, Albedo killed his predecessor. Two, Albedo and his predecessor agreed to share his life, which is what his predecessor wanted. Three, Albedo helped his predecessor take on the form of an adventurer named Joserf who went missing on Dragonspine. The last theory has a number of things going for it. For example, there is a great deal of evidence that Joserf died on the mountain. Similarly, it is hard to believe that he managed to survive for so long even he was known to have been in very bad condition towards the end. On top of that, it is suspicious that the Joserf that was found at the end of the event didn’t know some of the things that he is known to have done.
20. He Is Working On His Final Assignment
When Albedo was left by Rhinedottir, he was given one last assignment, which asked him to show her both the truth of the world and the meaning of the world. He has mused that the meaning of the world is living a happy life. However, it remains to be seen whether Rhinedottir would agree with such sentiments or not, particularly since what little has been revealed about the character suggests that she isn’t that kind of person.