The final piece of Fontaine’s overarching Archon quest in Genshin Impact unveiled the true identity of the Hydro Archon—but this reveal brought about way more questions than answers.
Fontaine’s lore regarding the Hydro Archon is purposefully confusing and misleading since this nation is all about putting on a masquerade. So if you’re a bit confused about who the Hydro Archon is, then here’s what you need to know about this important Teyvat lore.
Who is the Hydro Archon in Genshin Impact?
The official Hydro Archon as we previously knew them was Focalors. She was the God of Justice and the successor of Egeria.
Focalors made her first official appearance in the final chapter of Fontaine’s Archon quest, where she talked with Neuvillette. She looks a lot like Furina because she was once united with her before she separated herself into two beings.
Furina is the humanity-based being while Focalors is the godly divinity-based being and hence the official Hydro Archon. But Focalors is no longer the Hydro Archon as of the finale of Chapter IV, Act V of the Archon quest.
Is Neuvillette the new Hydro Archon in Genshin Impact?
Neuvillette is not the new Hydro Archon, but he is a very powerful Hydro Dragon.
Since Focalors gave Neuvillette her full elemental authority at the end of the Fontaine Archon quest, many players have been confusing this with her making him the official Hydro Archon, but he certainly is not. He only became a full Hydro Dragon because Focalors returned the powers previously stolen from him by the Heavenly Principles at this point.
We don’t know much about Teyvat’s dragons so far, but it is believed they are even more powerful than the Archons, which would make Neuvillette’s power superior to that of the Archons. Regardless, he cannot be the Hydro Archon since he is already the Hydro Dragon.
Is Furina the Hydro Archon in Genshin Impact?
In terms of storyline lore and being the god of Hydro, Furina is not the Hydro Archon, but in terms of playable characters, you can still think of her as the Hydro Archon. It may seem quite confusing, but Furina is essentially just a human who masqueraded herself as the Hydro Archon for 500 years to help protect the people of Fontaine.
She is part of Focalors, but Furina is only the humanity part of her, which means she technically has no Archon abilities nor an official status as a god. For the sake of the storyline, Furina is just an ordinary human now, but in terms of gameplay, she’s still kind of an Archon.
Furina’s skillset is OP and around the same level as the other playable Archons, so she is certainly the unofficial playable version of the Hydro Archon even though she isn’t actually her. She can do things no one but the playable Hydro Archon would be able to do like fully harness the ability to walk on water and freely switch between Pneuma and Ousia.
We won’t be getting any other playable Hydro Archon, so Furina fulfills this role when we’re talking about all of the playable Archons in Genshin.
Did Furina die in Genshin Impact?
Furina did not die in Genshin, she is alive and well after stepping down from her role pretending to be the Hydro Archon for 500 years.
What happened to the Hydro Archon in Genshin Impact?
The Hydro Archon Focalors willingly executed herself using the Oratrice to save all of Fontaine by deceiving the Heavenly Principles. This was the only way to stop Fontaine from meeting its previously prophesized doom, so she did this willingly.
Because of this, the Hydro Archon Focalors officially no longer exists in terms of Teyvat’s storyline. But the Hydro Archon does somewhat live on through Neuvillette, who has authority over the Hydro element, and Furina, who was previously part of Focalors and is the playable version of the Archon.
