As part of the growing HoYoverse multiverse,Honkai: Star Railfeatures alternate versions of characters fromHonkai Impact 3rd. Since it came out last year,Honkai: Star Railfeatured popular characters like Bronya and Seele, and the list is expected to grow in the future.
Starting Version 3.0 next year,Honkai: Star Railfans will get to experience Amphoreusand meet new people. This will include the Chrysos Heirs, who are believed to be based onHonkai Impact 3rd’s Flame-Chasers. The next update and beyond will likely have more crossovers between the two games, and many longtime fans are excited to see howHonkai: Star Railwill put its own spin onHonkai Impact 3rd’s characters.
The Similarities and Differences Between Honkai: Star Rail and Honkai Impact 3rd Characters
HoYoverse has explained that characters in its games are essentially the same people, but different versions of them as they live in different worlds.BothHonkai: Star RailandHonkai Impact 3rdare connected through the Imaginary Tree, which has millions of branches that form civilizations that inhabit a host of characters that avid fans know and love.
Bronya Zaychik
InHonkai Impact 3rd, Bronya Zaychik is one of the main protagonists of the St. Freya team, along with Kiana Kaslana and Raiden Mei. Before joining the trio, she was a Russian orphan raised for the sole purpose of assassinating Cocolia, a member of Anti-Entropy. But when Bronya fails to accomplish her mission, Cocolia adopts her and lets her live in the orphanage she runs, where the young girl was experimented on.
Meanwhile,Honkai: Star Rail’s Bronya Randhas a similar story in the fact that she’s also an orphan adopted by Cocolia Rand, the former Supreme Guardian of Belobog in Jarilo-VI. The difference is that this Bronya is raised to become the next Supreme Guardian, which she later takes up after defeating a Stellaron-infected Cocolia. She is now leading Jarilo-VI and helping with efforts to revive the world from its thousand-year Eternal Freeze.
Murata Himeko
Murata Himeko is a teacher and the squad leader ofHonkai Impact 3rd’s main trio. She is described as strong and resilient, but also reckless because of her alcoholic tendencies. Although she is a playable unit in the game, she nobly sacrifices her life in the main story to save Kiana from danger. This is why many fans were elated to see Himeko back inHonkai: Star Rail.
Compared to herHonkai Impact 3rdcounterpart, Himeko is a calm and collected character, who fixed up the Astral Express when it was stranded on her home planet before the events ofHonkai: Star Rail. She sometimes joins the Trailblazer and the rest of the Astral Express Crew on adventures, but often enjoys a cup of coffee on the cosmic train.
Welt Yang
Also known by his real name, Joachim Nokianvirtanen, Welt Yang is the former 1st Herrscher and the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy inHonkai Impact 3rd. He passed on the Herrscher of Reason title to Bronya Zaychik before he gets stranded in outer space while trying to save different worlds from alien invasions.
The Herrscher of Reason has authority over object creation and the absorption of soul fragments from nearby casualties.
Interestingly, Welt is the same person in bothHonkai Impact 3rdandHonkai: Star Rail. It’s said that he found himself on the Astral Express while he was stranded in space. There are a number of signs that back this up, like Welt’s splash art featuringHonkai Impact 3rdcharactersand how he recognizesHonkai: Star Rail’s Luocha as Otto Apocalypse in flashbacks.
Seele Vollerei
Seele Vollerei is best known as Bronya Zaychik’s best friend inHonkai Impact 3rd, who has a mysterious past and also used to reside in Cocolia’s orphanage. She is known for her caring personality, but she also has a sinister alter ego known as Veliona, who is the Stigma of the 6th Herrscher. Seele also receives the titles of Herrscher of Death and Herrscher of Rebirth later in the game’s story.
Similarly, Seele inHonkai: Star Railalso becomes Bronya Rand’s close confidant, and was raised in an orphanage as well. This version of Seele is more outspoken and brave since she’s part of Wildfire, the peacekeeping faction of Belohog’s Underworld.
Raiden Mei
As mentioned, Raiden Mei is one of the main protagonists ofHonkai Impact 3rd, who is also known as the Herrscher of Thunder. She is often described as someone who is often lonely because of her past. When Mei’s Herrscher personality awakens, her alter ego is more malicious and violent.
HoYoverse fans coined the term “Mei-verse” to pertain to thevarious versions of Raiden Meiacross the multiverse, includingHonkai: Star Rail’s Acheron, who’s revealed to be Raiden Bosenmori Mei. The character wields Lightning abilities like Raiden Mei, and she is also an Emanator of Nihility who often watches over a dark, endless-looking river.
Kafka (Stigmata)
Kafka isn’t playable inHonkai Impact 3rdand only appears as a Stigmata, which is an item that can be equipped, similar toHonkai: Star Rail’s Relics. While Kafka the Stigmata is a mystery to many,Honkai: Star Railintroduces her as a cunning Stellaron Hunter, alongside Blade, Silver Wolf, and Firefly, with mind-control abilities.
Haxxor Bunny
Honkai Impact 3rdintroduces Bronie, aka Haxxor Bunny, as analternate version of Bronyaduring an event series colloquially referred to as the “Captainverse.” Haxxor Bunny is a hacker who often wears a suit with bunny ears, and has the unique ability to materialize weapons and drones in thin air.
InHonkai: Star Rail,Silver Wolf is confirmed to be a Haxxor Bunny variant– even showing the character playing Bronie inHonkai Impact 3rdin one of her cinematics. Silver Wolf is also a hacker who’s part of the infamous Stellaron Hunters faction, and uses advanced tech to fight enemies.
Ma Yanqing
Also known as Ma Feima, this man is one of the Seven Disciples of Fu Hua, who trained in the martial arts school of Mount Taixuan to wield the Keys of Domination and protect their region from Honkai. Ma Yanqing is described as having a crazy personality, but he’s also popular for his swordsmanship.
Meanwhile, Yanqing inHonkai: Star Railis a young swordsman from the Xianzhou Luofu, who is training under Arbiter-General Jing Yuan. He is also the youngest lieutenant of the Xianzhou Alliance’s Cloud Knights, which usually puts him on the frontlines of battle.
Li Sushang
Known as the daughter of one of Fu Hua’s Seven Disciples, Li Sushang is a talented swordswoman who wields her mother’s Xuanyuan Sword. Although dedicated to learning how to fight better, it took a while for Sushang to perfect the craft.
In some ways,Honkai: Star Rail’s Sushanghas a slightly similar backstory as she’s also a young swordswoman who’s working hard to become a Cloud Knight. When she’s not training, she accompanies the Trailblazer on fun adventures, like ghost hunting.
Otto Apocalypse
Otto Apoclypse is one of the main antagonists ofHonkai Impact 3rdbecause of his obsession with bringing back his greatest love, Kallen Kaslana. It’s come to the point where he’s rewriting the makeup of the universe to hopefully change Kallen’s fate, but at the expense of his own life and the risk of destroying parts of the universe.
As mentioned, Welt recognizes Luocha as having a striking resemblance to Otto inHonkai: Star Rail. Although Luocha’s past is still a mystery, he’s mostly described as a traveling merchant that’s carrying a suspicious coffin on his back.
Natasha Cioara
Also known as Raven, Natasha Cioara is a merciless mercenary of the World Serpent inHonkai Impact 3rddue to her strong Honkai resistance. But following the Third Honkai Eruption, she turned a new leaf after rescuing a group of kids from the ruins of Nagazora, who she continued to help with medical supplies and food to survive.
Just like Raven, Natasha inHonkai: Star Railalso has a soft spot for kids, as she provides assistance to Underworld children. She is also the complete opposite of a mercenary because she works as a doctor. Another similarity they have is they were both separated from their brothers due to a number of factors.
Kevin Kaslana
Another main antagonist inHonkai Impact 3rdis Kevin Kaslana, the leader of World Serpent andone of the 13 Flame-Chasers. He believes in destroying Honkai through any means necessary, even if it means endangering everyone around him.
Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, many fans believe that the upcomingHonkai: Star Railcharacter Phainon could be an alternate version of Kevinbecause of their striking resemblance to each other. Phainon is also part of the Chrysos Heirs, whose purpose is to revive Amphoreus and pluck the gods' Coreflame, also known as the “Flame-Chase,” so it’s really possible that he’s connected to Kevin.
Honkai: Star Rail
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