So Honkai Impact 3rd just revealed us information about the new villains that are going to be in Part 2 known as the Seven Arts and I just thought I give my thoughts out and what my predictions and expectations and my theories on them so without further ado let's get started.
Alright so right off the bat when looking at these designs they look absolutely amazing like from what we are seeing so far. Especially the female characters.
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But anyways that's enough of the designs lets take a look at the info we have so far on them. So the names of the villains are Litost, Ajieta, Light, Baiji, Songque, Selim, and Seraphim. Now Songque is an interesting case because much earlier on we were told that she was going to be one of the main characters alongside Senadina, Helia, Coralie, and Dreamseeker, but from what it looks like it seems that Songque might actually be one of the main villains. If that's the case then I don't know how I would feel about this because if you are revealing Songque as a villain in one of your trailers that's actually a huge problem because you've just essentially spoiled what would be one of the biggest plot points in Part 2 this was a twist that would've definitely payed off if done right but flat out revealing it in a trailer pretty much destroys any potential engagement you could've have because now we're not going to care because we know what happens. It's kinda like how Zack Snyder revealed Doomsday in one of the trailers for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and as a result people have lost any ability to care because the amount of build up to the reveal would've payed off perfectly and it would've kept fans engaged is all thrown in the garbage can. This is one of the things you cannot do when trying to use trailers to show fans a glimpse on what you're doing because if you reveal crucial plot points in trailers you're going to have a hard time trying to get fans to care. Now I could be wrong maybe this isn't the reveal that Songque is a villain or she's not a villain at all either way you shouldn't reveal crucial plot points that could potentially cause your audience to walk away especially in trailers.
Now moving on to what their motives and goals are. I've gone through a few translations even using google to translate but from what I can gather apparently the Seven Arts did something terrible in the past and they should face death. Now this already got me curious because it makes me as to what they did that makes them feel suicidal like maybe they felt guilty about what they did and the only way for them to be free of said guilt is if they just die, maybe they can't die because their immortal and immortality is a curse much like we saw how immortality affected characters like Fu Hua and Kevin and they're just trying to find a way to die, I don't know. Regardless though is that my hope for the Seven Arts is that they are formidable and understandable because what made the main antagonists of Part 1 Kevin, Otto, and Sirin so great is because not only were the understandable but also formidable. Sirin lived a happy life until she lost her mother and was taken to a lab by Schicksal where they experimented on her and her friends and so she became a Herrscher killed the scientists and in retaliation threatened to destroy the world to make humanity pay for her suffering. Otto was a nobody until Kallen Kaslana acknowledged snd from that point he had a major crush on her and had feelings for her even though Kallen didn't return said feelings nevertheless he still loved her, after Kallen died as a result of Otto's actions in an attempt to save her from execution, Otto used his powers to basically not age for 500 years to find a way to revive Kallen. Kevin was a normal kid until the Honkai arrived on Earth so he became an immortal soldier to stop the Honkai, unfortunately throughout 50,000 years he continued to suffer he lost the love of his life Dr. MEI and he lost several comrades he suffered guilt, shame, loneliness, and failure from being unable to defeat the Honkai especially after the Final Herrscher appeared, this changed him into a cold and bitter person which gave birth to his Project Stigna which sacrifices 99% of the human population so that 1% can thrive in Honkai environments. And in all 3 of their cases we see them show a display of that let's us know they're not to be messed with. It's these motivations and formidably are what made the 3 biggest villains so great and I also love the way they went out, Sirin accepting defeat at Kiana's hands and encourages her to follow her own path and later is proud of Kiana's efforts to make the world a happier place and finally dying peacefully, Otto using the power of the False God to create several alternate timelines and scenarios where Kallen never died and passed away knowing that at least there are real scenarios where Kallen lives, and Kevin entrusts Kiana with the full power of Herrscher of Finality and finally reunited with his friends and his lover Dr. MEI in Heaven. My hope is that the Seven Arts are just as formidable and understandable as Kevin, Otto, and Sirin because the problem I had with Genshin Impact and Star Rail is that many of their villains are either cliche, are understandable but not enough formidable like with Traveler's Sibling or formidable and not enough understandable like with the Stelleron Hunters and while all of these guys aren't bad especially Kafka the problem is that they either have understandable motives but don't back it up with formidably or they are quite formidable but they lack so much understanding that it makes me careless about them. And I know what you guys are gonna say: "But Genshin and Star Rail are just recently new games!" I don't care because that's not an excuse to not make your characters formidable and understandable. Lastly I wanna go over is are these guys the true main villains of this entire game this is something to think about because when Sirin was introduced in Chapter 2 we all thought she was the main villain because of her being inside Kiana's body but then Otto was introduced and it turned out he was responsible for why 80% of the series events are the way they are but ultimately it was Kevin who was the true main villain due to him being around much longer than Otto and Sirin and had much bigger plans than those 2 and was the final boss at the end of the first part. So the Seven Arts may not be the actual main villains maybe there is someone else out there who is a much bigger threat maybe the biggest threat is the Sky People which would definitely make sense because Part 2 takes places 2 years before A Post Honkai Odyssey or APHO for short so maybe this is how the Sky People starts coming to Earth and for reference the Sky People are an alien species that completely no diffed the Honkai invading their world and now they're going around and invading other worlds so maybe the Sky People being introduced in Part 2 will show us a direct tie into APHO. I think this makes perfect sense and it would definitely connect everything together together but I could very be wrong.
But anyways guys that's good to be it for today let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below and I will see you all next time. Peace.
