By Eden Michelle Sinclair
Avid Genshin players like myself would know that there is a running gag inside of the fandom about the Wanderer, formerly known as Scaramouche, having mommy issues that lead to his unpleasant personality that even the Fatui Harbingers (the quote-unquote 'antagonists' in the game) do not have a liking for him. Let me in on a little secret; he is more than just that. Believe me when I say I hated his guts at first, I do not understand how can such a gruesome villain be loved by so many before his redemption arc, but now in his recent appearances I am growing more and more fond of this central antagonist-turned-playable character, and I am gonna explain why. Heavy spoiler alert for those who just started playing Genshin but if you are here for the fun read, proceed.
But before that, I would like to point out that the namesake behind one of his titles, ‘Scaramouche’, is based on a character in Commedia dell’arte, just like his other 10 Fatui Harbinger comrades who are each named after the characters in the theater.
Okay, back to his backstory.
Before he was called the Wanderer, He went by three names. His first one was Kabukimono, the namesake came from the 17th century Edo, to address people who dressed differently and odd-looking. Then after Kabukimono was Scaramouche and Kunikuzushi. He lived on an island named Tatarasuna after being found by Katsuragi as he was left in Shakkei Pavilion by Ei (The Electro archon, or... God, in this context. Also she is his creator and mother). Due to being left alone to fend for himself, he buried a sense of resentment towards Ei for abandoning him, hence his first betrayal. Oh, I forgot to mention that he is a puppet created by her as a prototype of the current Raiden Shogun, which is another puppet that serves the purpose to rule her nation in her stead. Basically, he was the first draft that did not make it.
“The first to betray me was a God. My creator.. My mother..”
He lived peacefully amongst humans, despite being different and eccentric, as described by the people living at that time. He learned the ways of being human, and he eventually made friends along the way, among them Niwa Hisahide, Kaedehara Kazuha’s ancestor and an armory officer in the village. According to Wanderer’s character story 2 in-game, a calamity struck Tatarasuna due to a furnace placed by a Fontaine mechanic, Escher, and Niwa was the top authority at Tatarasuna, and he was compelled to implement an information blackout while sending representatives to Inazuma City to ask Tenshukaku for assistance.
The concerning part is that when Niwa sent people to seek aid, these people never came back. So then The Kabukimono went alone in a little boat, and he was declined several times. Eventually, he got to Yae Miko, the head Shrine Maiden to tell her of the incident, and went back to Tatarasuna in agony. Back in Tatarasuna, the Kabukimono was given a device by the Escher, a box of some sort, and went into the furnace’s core and shut it down for good in Niwa’s place. He was distraught when he learned that Niwa killed an innocent person and used its’ heart in the device to neutralise the furnace and was told that Niwa fled with his family out of fear of punishment for malfeasance.
What the Kabukimono did not know was, the heart inside of the device belonged to his dear friend, Niwa. He was murdered by Escher, who was actually a Fatui Harbinger, The Doctor or Il Dottore in disguise, and he put all the blame on Niwa after murdering him. Soon after, the Kabukimono disappeared from Tatarasuna, believing that his friend had lied to him, hence his second betrayal.
“The second was a human, my family… my friend.”
According to Wanderer’s character story 3 in-game, he met a sickly boy and decided that this boy would be his friend, and family even. He would take care of the boy, wiping the dirt off his face, finding food for them to eat, inside a ransacked house which belonged to the child’s parents whom both died of disease. It was not long until the child succumbed to his sickness too and to the Kabukimono's dismay, he found his friend on the floor, lifeless. Since he is a puppet and does not comprehend the concept of death, he does not know how to process his grief. Hence, this is his third betrayal, thinking that the child had abandoned him. He burned their house with the child afterward.
“The third was one exactly like me, a hope for the future, a fledgling barely out of the nest.”
Afterward, he joined the Fatui, and this is when most players know him, as Scaramouche, 6th of the Fatui Harbingers. According to Viktor, a Fatui NPC in Mondstadt, he was much disliked by the Fatui due to his arrogant, prideful, and haughty attitude. Not to mention, he also had a few scruffles with the main character, Traveler.
In the main story quest (Archon quest), Traveler confronted him in Inazuma because he deliberately handed out delusions to the resistance, resulting in the death of one of their close friends. He mocked the traveler’s friend by saying,
“Take your friend in the resistance for example, there’s nothing you can do now, he’s a lost cause” and then he said “The more it takes from them, the more tightly they hold onto it. And the more incompetent they are, the more determined they are to fight! Hahaha, it’s just a farce, you have to see the funny side”
Boy, talk about igniting someone’s anger. I was livid. No, that is an understatement. Players would understand that the friend was a kind person and did not deserve such horrid words.
In another part of the main story quest (Archon quest), the players learned that Il Dottore wreaked havoc in Sumeru by collaborating in engineering a false God, and Scaramouche was literally a part of it. With the help of Nahida (the Dendro Archon), players got to defeat him and he fell into comatose. Then, Nahida took him under her wing in handling the world’s database called Irminsul. One day, The Traveler went inside the Irminsul with him to find out about their lost twin. Scaramouche learned about the truth behind the betrayals and found out that Il Dottore was behind everything. He made a brash decision to delete himself from existence, as he thought by doing so grants a second chance for his friends to live but surprise, surprise- They still died.
Traveler found The Wanderer the next day in the Grand Bazaar and to their shock, nobody remembered him. Traveler brought him to Nahida, who had forgotten him as well. It turned out that Nahida made an allegorical story akin to his backstory as she predicted the Wanderer would delete his existence. Players find it adorable that Nahida sees him as a cat in the cutscene where she retells his story.
After showing the Wanderer his past life, he thought about how he had the urge to atone for his sins, so he requested Nahida to return his memories back. As he got it back, suddenly the false God that he was a part of, emerged to fight him. Players get to play as him to defeat it as a boss fight. After defeating his boss he would let us, the players, name him with whatever name we desired. Because I see him in a new light as a calm ocean breeze, I decided to call him "Bayu".
Overall, I admit that The Wanderer has the most depth in characterization. With a compelling backstory and a worthy redemption arc, these are the reasons why he grew on me the more I read up about him. Beyond mommy issues, players get to explore the theme of grief, loss, and regret through him. Ad Astra Abyssosque, travelers!
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