Genshin Impact drops a massive update 5.0 teaser out of nowhere: 9 Natlan characters revealed for the RPG, including the apparent Pyro Archon

Genshin Impact Natlan
(Image credit: HoYoverse)

Days before the release of update 4.8, Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse dropped a massive preview trailer for Natlan, update 5.0, and the patches to come in the new region, revealing an initial cast of nine seemingly playable characters that also appears to include the Pyro Archon herself. 

The near 4-minute video "Ignition Teaser: A Name Forged in Flames" sets up the next big arc of Genshin Impact's story. The voice actors for all the new characters have helpfully been revealed in tweets which have given us official names to go on, so I'll list them off in the order they appear in the trailer: 

Ignition Teaser: A Name Forged in Flames | Genshin Impact #Ignition #Teaser #GenshinImpact - YouTube Ignition Teaser: A Name Forged in Flames | Genshin Impact #Ignition #Teaser #GenshinImpact - YouTube
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  • Mualani - The tan, blue-haired girl shown in a previous trailer. Voiced by Cassandra Lee Morris in English and Toyama Nao in Japanese. 
  • Kachina - The tiny, cat-eared girl, also previously revealed. Voiced by Kristen McGuire in English and Kubo Yurika in Japanese. 
  • Kinich - The dark-haired, green-eyed boy featured in Natlan's reveal, now seen swinging on a vine alongside a pixel art mascot dubbed Ajaw. Voiced by John Patneaude in English and Sugiyama Noriaki in Japanese. 
  • Citlali - The first never-before-seen character of this trailer. A pink-haired girl with blue eyes and markings. Voiced by Skyler Davenport in English and Tano Asami in Japanese.
  • Xilonen - Another all-new character, a Dehya-esque lion girl. Voiced by Beth Curry in English and Fairouz Ai in Japanese.
  • Iansan - The small girl with a skull headband briefly shown in a few snippets of the trailer. Once believed to be the Pyro Archon due to a lore teaser first released in 2020 seemingly calling her the god of war. 
  • Chasca - The new red-head with a purple gradient to her bangs. Voiced by Lauren Amante in English and Kaida Yuhko in Japanese.
  • Mavuika - The biker-style, sunglasses-wearing red-head. Believed to be the Pyro Archon given her lavish design, unique eyes, her center-stage role in the trailer, and the way she challenges the Fatui. Voiced in English by Katiana Sarkissian and in Japanese by Komatsu Mikako.
  • Ororon - The dark-haired wolf boy shown alongside Capitano, one of the Fatui Harbingers. Voiced by Nathan Nokes in English and Kondo Takashi in Japanese. 

Obviously, we'll only get to play a few of these nine characters in Update 5.0 – likely a mix of one or two premier five-stars, rate-up four-stars, and at least one free four-star, judging from previous updates. We can safely expect the Pyro Archon to debut in update 5.2, as Genshin has taken to releasing Archons in the third patch of each new region. 

Genshin Impact update 5.0 is expected to launch on August 27, six weeks after the start of update 4.8. A full showcase of Natlan should come in the next version preview livestream. We also got a one-minute look at the tropical region at the end of the 4.8 preview

New Genshin Impact character Emilie was previously revealed for update 4.8 – the first Dendro character to come to the RPG in over a year.

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.