Yunli

Design and voice acting

On July 25, 2024, miHoYo released the story trailer "Ichor of Two Dragons, A Furnace of Fire", which featured Yunli as the trailer's protagonist and introduced her identity as a sword huntress. Five days later, they released her character trailer "Serendipity", which shows her interacting with Jing Yuan, a powerful general, and fighting with a giant sword despite her small stature, creating a contrast with her everyday demeanor. She was released as a playable character in version 2.4 of the game on July 31.

Yunli comes from the starship known as the Xianzhou Zhuming, and is a straightforward sword huntress tasked with destroying cursed swords. She is also the granddaughter of Huaiyan, a great general, and the second-youngest genius swordfighter in the Flamewheel Octet, a military group. The Xianzhou Zhuming is led by Huaiyan and is known for its forging technology; around sixty to seventy percent of the weapons used by the Xianzhou Alliance come from the Zhuming's Artisanship Commission. Yunli wields a sword she calls "Old Mettle" as her weapon and enjoys collecting swords in daily life. As a huntress of cursed swords, she retrieves them and casts them into a furnace to be destroyed. Yunli is voiced in English by Brenna Larsen, in Chinese by Liu Wen, in Japanese by Shion Wakayama, and in Korean by Lee Ju-eun. Wakayama said in an interview that Yunli, as a swordswoman, was very strong since childhood and that in battle, she would swing a heavy greatsword and throw it at the enemy. Wakayama also thought that Yunli had a big appetite and that she was not picky about food, which she suggested might be the secret to her superior strength. She also characterized Yunli as a quiet and gentle girl.

Appearances

Story

Yunli's father, Hanguang, was an artisan from the Xianzhou Zhuming. Obsessed with forging powerful weapons, he fused energy lifeforms known as heliobi (sing.: heliobus) into swords, causing large numbers of cursed swords that eroded human nature to spread. Those seeking the swords and those wielding them later caused a riot in the Flamewheel Octet Hall. Both of Yunli's parents died one after the other, while Yunli herself was rescued by "Flamewheel General" Huaiyan and raised by him. Under his instruction, she became a sword huntress, traveling from place to place to hunt down and destroy cursed swords. Yunli accompanied Huaiyan to the Xianzhou Luofu (another starship) to take part in the Wardance, a martial arts competition. On the way, she first repelled borisin who had attacked a transport ship belonging to the Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC). After she arrived on the Luofu, an imprisoned borisin prisoner being escorted there suddenly broke loose. Yanqing of the Cloud Knights, the local security force, attacked the fleeing borisin with a flying sword but missed. Yunli used the misfired flying sword to knock the borisin down, then took the sword away, believing that Yanqing did not deserve to possess it after missing his attack. The two argued repeatedly as a result, and Yunli only returned the flying sword after mediation by Feixiao. To make Yunli and Yanqing cooperate before the Wardance, Huaiyan arranged for them to train March 7th together, requiring the latter to defeat at least one challenger during the competition. March 7th also accepted a duel proposed by Skott, an IPC envoy, after standing up for a teahouse employee. Yunli and Yanqing therefore intensified her training, allowing her to ultimately defeat him.

In the companion mission "Swords to Plowshares", a delegation from the faraway world of Kalevala returns a Xianzhou treasure sword to the Luofu. Huaiyan reveals that the sword's true name is Guyun, that it was made by Hanguang, and that he intends to repair it slightly before using it as a prize for the Wardance. Because of her father's past in forging cursed swords, Yunli judges Guyun to be dangerous and at one point tries to destroy it by force. After the protagonist Trailblazer stops her, she agrees to first discuss the matter with Huaiyan. The next day, Guyun is stolen, and Yunli and the Trailblazer catch up with Argenti, a Knight of Beauty who has taken it away. From Guyun's memories, Yunli learns that it once fought alongside a Cloud Knight soldier of the Xianzhou Alliance on Kalevala against the borisin, but later left because it no longer wished to be treated as a mere tool for battle. Yunli ultimately melts Guyun down, reforges it into other things, and builds graves for Guyun and the aforementioned soldier.

Gameplay

Yunli is a five-star Physical-damage character who walks the Path of Destruction in combat, although she walks the Path of The Hunt in the game's lore. Her combat mechanics center on counterattacks. When she is hit, she automatically counterattacks. Her Skill can restore her own hit points and area of effect damage, while her ultimate can make enemies attack Yunli and cause her to enter into a parry state, during which she launches a stronger counterattack when hit. If she is not hit during the aforementioned state, she instead launches a weaker counterattack.

Reception

Yunli received positive responses from players and commentators. Fans expressed their fondness for her through activities such as cosplay. Regarding Yunli's character design, commentator Wu Yan from Game Teahouse argued that Yunli combines moe traits such as bare feet, twintails, and gluttony with a sense of divinity created by her red, blue-green, yellow, white and black color scheme, apsara-style clothing, and flame-patterned pibo sash. This juxtaposition of moe and sacredness, they argued, contrasts with her setting as Huaiyan's granddaughter, a member of the Flamewheel Octet and a combat-oriented character. They also said that the contrast between Yunli's petite frame, her heavy sword, and the weapon's name "Old Mettle" makes her image more distinctive. Her name, meanwhile, can evoke Buddhist imagery of clouds and lapis lazuli which, together with the Chinese cultural adaptations embodied by the Xianzhou Zhuming, forms the character's cultural background. Gamersky also identified her clothing reminiscent of that found in Dunhuang, Gansu; barefoot design; weapon name and the combination of her small build with a large sword as elements that generated discussion when the character first appeared. Siliconera editor Stephanie Liu argued that Yunli's design can call to mind Dunhuang apsaras and dance, but also criticized her character trailer and combat animations for emphasizing shots of her bare feet, saying that this presentation felt abrupt when paired with Yunli's young appearance. She also wrote that Yunli's action choreography did not fully continue the dance imagery, leaving that aspect of the design insufficiently developed on screen.

Regarding her characterization, one Gamersky commentator said that scenes such as Yunli taking Yanqing's flying sword when she first appeared and attempting to melt down the treasure sword that had been returned to the Xianzhou had initially sparked controversy among players. However, as her past was revealed, her blunt actions gained clearer motivation. She is initially portrayed as a lively and straightforward girl who directly expresses her opinions to Yanqing, Jing Yuan, the Trailblazer and Huaiyan alike. After her background is revealed, this straightforwardness takes on a sense of clarity, showing that she has retained her true nature despite trauma, while also giving her earlier childishness a clearer emotional source. The commentator also said that Huaiyan's upbringing prevented her childhood tragedy from pushing her to extremes, and allowed her to retain discernment despite her impulsivity. For example, her refusal to return Yanqing's sword stems from her judgment of a sword wielder's character, while after learning Guyun's history, she is able to set aside her bias and help fulfill the sword's wish. Wu Yan likewise argued that the companion mission "Swords to Plowshares" is what truly fleshes out her character; her obsession with swords and respect for their wills runs through both her taking Yanqing's flying sword and her handling of Guyun. Wu Yan argued that Yunli does not hunt swords merely to atone for her father's sins; she also loves them, cares about how they are used, and views humans and swords as equals. Thus when the sword's will exceeds that of a human, it becomes cursed, while when a human's will is unworthy of the sword, that is considered a desecration of the sword. Discussing Yunli's obsession with swords, the Gamersky commentator argued that this fervor is a microcosm of the Zhuming artisans' dedication, connecting her mission to hunt cursed swords with the local forging culture and pursuit of craftsmanship. Wu Yan, meanwhile, argued that the Zhuming concept of swords being a kind of will is expressed through Yunli's love of swords, her respect for a sword's will, and her judgment of a sword user's character. She takes Yanqing's flying sword because she judges him to be unstable and thinks he is unworthy to use the sword in his hand.