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PLAYER INFO

NAME: Julia
CONTACT: magisterium
OVER 18?: Yes
Also I am a returning player, I was here previously with Tyki Mikk (joyd)!

CHARACTER INFO

NAME: Childe (Tartaglia), formerly known as Ajax
SERIES: Genshin Impact
CANON POINT: End of 4.0 Archon Quest, after Act 2
AGE: Childe states that he was around 18 when he became the Eleventh Harbinger, and given the passage of time since then, this puts him in his early 20s. I'm going with 21, which appears to be the accepted age by fandom.

CHARACTER SUMMARY:
Tartaglia, or as he is also known, Childe, is the Eleventh Harbinger of the Fatui and loyal servant of Snezhnaya's god and Archon, the Tsaritsa. He grew up as Ajax in a small, seaside village with a large and beloved family in the cold and rural countryside. An ordinary boy by all accounts, Ajax's life changed when he fled his home at fourteen for greener pastures and consequently fell through a hole in the ground, into the Abyss, where he remained for three months. This traumatizing experience turned him into a bloodthirsty warrior; he met his teacher, Skirk, who helped forge him into a new person. He excelled at combat, and once he emerged back into the real world, Ajax became "Childe" Tartaglia of the Harbingers, an agent of chaos unleashed upon the Tsaritsa's enemies. He is the newest and youngest member of the Fatui, leading some to speculate how he achieved his position. The answer is an undying lust for battle—Childe pursues power like nothing else, wanting to get stronger at any cost, even if it means taking on a "Delusion" and draining his own life force. He will stop at nothing to realize this dream, and by extension the dream of the Tsaritsa to create a new world.

At odds with these lofty goals, Childe comes across as a fairly normal guy. It's difficult to know how unhinged he is just from one interaction. He's friendly, outgoing, talkative, and curious about the individuals he comes across, particularly the Traveler (which becomes borderline 'obsessive' once he realizes how powerful the Traveler is). When in Liyue, Childe announces who he is without trying to conceal his identity. He also claims to be not so scheming as his fellow Harbingers, preferring to remain upfront about his intentions and desires—and even when he does have motivations to sow chaos, as he did in Liyue, he openly admits that he is not a good person. He is unpredictable by nature, so trusting him isn't in anyone's best interest. Childe reappears later in the story once the Traveler reaches Fontaine, claiming to be on vacation and wanting to fight the famed Champion Duelist Clorinde, only to—as usual—end up twisted into trouble once again. It follows him; or he follows it, to be honest. Childe is eventually arrested after he is found guilty of a crime he did not commit, and he is sent to prison. This is the point at which he will be arriving in Kenos.

POWERS:
Childe is unique within the context of the Genshin Impact universe for the fact that he wields both a Vision (Hydro element) and a Delusion (Electro element). I have split these into two separate categories to outline their abilities.

Vision
Mechanically, Childe can do four things: Normal Attack, Charged Attack, Elemental Skill, and Elemental Burst.

Normal Attack: fires his bow normally at opponents with no elemental damage

Charged Attack: fires his bow at opponents with Hydro applied

Elemental Skill: allows him to Normal Attack with Hydro applied while dual-wielding swords

Elemental Burst: applies AOE Hydro damage to all opponents, triggering the riptide status effect to explode if they have been marked

Essentially, the Vision that Childe possesses grants him mastery over the Hydro element in the game. When using his bow, he can attack opponents and apply the riptide status effect — a mark that tags them and constantly applies AOE Hydro damage. He can cast this mark either by using a Charged Attack with his weapon, or through his Elemental Burst, which basically is another AOE Hydro damage attack on all nearby opponents. He is able to materialize Hydro swords in his melee stance from his Elemental Skill, using these to dual-wield in battle rather than rely on his bow. Additionally, he creates a large whale out of Hydro and can crash it down onto his opponent.

Limitations: First of all, as for all newcomers, Childe will not have his Vision. However, he will not be able to regain his Vision even after Harmonization, because at the current point in the story from where he's coming in, Childe has surrendered his Vision to the Traveler. A canon update will be required, depending on events, in order for him to get his Vision back. In the event he is able to regain his Vision, I don't think his Hydro power is too strong that it would need to be altered based on the power cap guidelines. His AOE (including the whale) only affects a limited area i.e. a group of people, and otherwise he is only applying a small amount of Hydro per one target.

Delusion
There is less mechanically outlined for this because the player cannot actually access his Delusion when using him in-game, but you can fight him as a boss. From what we have seen of this boss fight and also from story events, his Delusion has two phases. (The first phase of the boss fight is his normal Hydro Vision state, so the second and third are actually what I'm listing here for those game-familiar.)

Phase One: Childe will put on his mask (presumably this mask is the Delusion itself because he activates his Electro abilities by putting it on, but this is speculated and not canon-confirmed; for ease of writing I will say his Delusion is the mask). He gains access to the Electro element, which he uses to dual-wield two Electro swords. He also will fuse these swords together to create a longer Electro spear. He fights with these weapons similar to his Hydro state, but instead of water it is now electricity.

Phase Two: This involves a magical girl transformation into the Foul Legacy form, where he puts on additional armor, a new mask, and basically alters his entire appearance. This form is significantly larger than his normal human size. In this state, he alternates between large Electro swords and a spear to fight like before, but he's stronger, more durable, and gains the ability to teleport around the battlefield. The Electro itself is also heightened in energy and power, allowing him to destroy buildings with lightning bolts, levitate off the ground, and apply an Electro version of riptide (as described above). It's also worth mentioning that he can still use his Hydro Vision while in this Delusion form.

Limitations: The Delusion, fortunately, comes with its own drawbacks that I believe serve effectively to limit and water down the ability overall. It is said that use of a Delusion drains life force, which in Childe's case we've seen demonstrated, as he becomes extremely worn down after he activates it, especially including the Foul Legacy form. Whenever he uses his Delusion, he will suffer this loss of strength and stamina and will be forced to undergo recovery before he is healthy again. He also will not have access to his Delusion when first coming into the game.

Martial Prowess
This is mainly a blanket category for all of his non-Vision and non-Delusion skills. Childe has mastery over all weapon types, although he states that he is least proficient with a bow (which is why he uses it most often, so that he can improve). He is a talented warrior named Eleventh of the Harbingers at only 18, which implies that his strength is far above average. I wouldn't put it at a supernatural level, however, just greater than a normal human. He has good stamina and agility overall and has been trained as a Fatui operative. He cares more for straight combat than machinations behind the scenes.

GAME INFO

ASPECTS:
Harbinger. This one fits Childe extremely well, ironically, given that he also carries the title of Harbinger of the Fatui. Perseverance and determination are both strong characteristics of his personality. He does not give up easily, even when his dreams are as lofty as the desire to "conquer the world." His sense of personal motivation fuels him to go forward at any cost, striving to achieve greater power, willing to carry a Delusion despite the toll on his body. He has several voicelines to support this, including: "If it makes me stronger, I'll take it. Vision? Great. Delusion? Don't mind if I do. Heretical teachings from the Abyss? Sign me up." and "One day, you will see how I conquer the world and crush the thrones of gods beneath my heel." The Harbingers themselves are ranked by strength, and when Childe discusses them he often considers how they fight or whether he could compete with them in battle. Arrogance is an easy trap for Childe to fall into, but he isn't ashamed of it, because he genuinely believes in himself. Additionally, we see his potential for manipulation at his very introduction in the game, when he leads Traveler along with his scheme to cause havoc in Liyue. The interesting fact is that he tends to be rather open about his motivations, even when they do involve deceit.

Stargazer. This one captures more of Childe's personality as a consequence of his core goals or motivations. Childe is curious and free-spirited in how he interacts with the world, going from place to place, seemingly not always with ulterior motives related to the Fatui. He says he is in Fontaine on vacation; whether this is true is another matter, but Childe also claims he's not that interested in the complicated machinations of his peers and tends to be somewhat more transparent. He does seek personal enrichment, considering that he tries to fight everyone he learns is strong as a way to improve himself. New and enjoyable experiences are certainly a goal, too, if they'll make him more powerful. Childe almost literally lives in the moment—he does not know if he will die tomorrow, and chasing that thrill is what drives him. Detesting conformity/rigidity without personal gain describes his relationship with the Harbingers, because he puts up with them while having no desire to be seen as similar or alike. It is all for his own goals. Last, he doesn't handle stagnancy well when he can be improving himself instead; he'll push himself harder to overcome it.

ANTICIPATED FACTION:
This one is tricky, as I could see him easily leaning either way. On the one hand, Meridian is a chance to go back and restore the world in order for the Tsaritsa to fulfill her promise to them. It would reunite him with his family, whom he cares for, and also the Traveler—someone who has become rather important to Childe and whom he has vowed to fight again before he dies. There are many personal attachments that Meridian could use to coax him to their side. On the other hand, Zenith would be the realization of the Tsaritsa's dream itself, as she has said she will burn away the old world and create a new one in its place. So by choosing this side, he could achieve that. The decision may be a competition between Childe's ultimate goal, aka his loyalty to the Tsaritsa's dream, versus his own connections that he has forged in the existing world.

Also, OOC, I might take a look at how many are currently within each faction and make my decision that way, but right now I'm playing it pretty loose. Ultimately I don't think Childe would take a lot of time to pick a faction because it will allow him to gain power, but he could easily jump sides later.

SUITABILITY:
The setting of the game is perfect for someone like Childe who is motivated to achieve his goals but is also fairly selfish about that fact. As I previously mentioned, he'll Harmonize either with Zenith or Meridian very quickly—but his complete loyalty will be another matter. He won't necessarily see the lines between the two factions the same way as others, and he may be willing to jump to the other side if he's convinced to do so. This could change as plot/CR progresses, but ultimately Childe is not there out of fealty for anyone but the Tsaritsa. He will also take into account that (if I'm recalling correctly) a previous version of himself was in the game before; he'll be curious about that, and interested in picking up where he left off with people. Additionally, he'll greatly enjoy meeting and being around powerful individuals, so it won't be difficult to forge new connections that way. The Aspect mechanic will intrigue him and he'll be pretty open to exploring Communion with others as well.