Hump Day Husbandos: Tartaglia (Genshin Impact)

Genshin Impact may very well be serving up a healthy amount of waifu material, but the same can also be said for those splendid bishounens.

From the adorably rugged Razor to the near irresistible charm of Kaeya and the calm and cool Zhongli, arguably the most eye catching of the lot is the baby blue-eyed, morally questionable 11th Harbinger, Tartaglia.

Better known by his alias Childe, and lesser known by his true name, the two sides of him make him a surprisingly intriguing character in the Genshin Impact universe — and eminently deserving of Husbando status.

I could easily sum up his reasons for being so in a mere sentence: he’s stupidly fun to play as, irresistibly charming, and is far too much eye-candy. But did you also know how deep his character is? Because if there’s one thing more alluring than attractive character design or stunning voice work, it’s an intriguing and complex personality to boot. Let’s get into it.

A hot walking contradiction

We’ve already seen that Tartaglia is a surprisingly multi-faceted character and not just a pretty face and highly capable fighter. While his alias Childe strikes fear in his opponents, it’s also telling of his more vulnerable and immature side as he can be surprisingly childish. In fact the theme of childhood and innocence runs rampant in his storyline, as he was forced to grow up and become as strong as he is today due to the sudden loss of his own innocence during his time in the Abyss. He wishes to protect other children’s innocence due to his own rough past.

Despite these seemingly noble goals, he has a very questionable moral compass; for instance, his summoning of the Geo Archon puts the lives of thousands in jeopardy — including many innocent and young lives.

This ties in with the importance he places on being loyal and prideful, which happens to contradict his own values as a Harbinger. The missions he carries out as part of the Fatui often go against his own wishes and ideals, but unlike his companions he prefers to fight fairly and not be deceitful to others nor even his enemies.

While he’s a Harbinger member, his thirst for battles is sated because of his position — but it has in turn made him into a seeker of bloodshed. On the other hand, it is also a stepping stone in making the Tsaritsa’s ideals realised, as he supports them and believes them to be for the greater good.

A bad boy, good boy mentality is just our type

He’s a walking contradiction who has many positive and admirable traits despite his role and position, such as his undeniable love for his family and siblings. He provides for his family by sending letters and money. His sister regards him to be the best brother ever, and he sends presents to all of his siblings. He spoils and dotes on his younger brother Teucer especially, and even goes as far as to keep his relevance to the Fatui a secret from him in order to protect him.

And as part of the Fatui, he shares the same motivation of wanting peace, but distrusts them for their underhanded ways in achieving their common goal — and is disliked in return for not fitting into their antagonistic ways. He has an obvious craving to explore the world and seek adventures, and he does so even if the Fatui despise him for doing so.

Tartaglia has a strong sense of self and confidence despite how he comes across at times. This arrogance is especially noticeable in certain dubs, with the characterisation of the English dub of Tartaglia coming across quite differently compared to the Chinese and Japanese dubs, for example.

From expressing verbal disdain towards his own comrades in the Fatui to making his own decisions in who to see as an ally, Tartaglia is his own person no matter his situation. He doesn’t just regard the Traveler as a strong opponent to keep alive for future sparring, but even remarks that we wouldn’t kill him when he’s too weak to fight back as his brother is besides him, touching upon our own moral compass.

Conclusion

Not only is Tartaglia a joy to play as and a blessing to look at, but the duality of Tartaglia is astonishingly detailed for a character in a gacha game, making him all the more three-dimensional and appealing.

Seemingly cunning and threatening, he can be childish and brash when he takes action. He protects his family, wants to secure children’s innocence and dislikes killing, yet loves the thrill of battle and follows through in his missions without fault, no matter the consequences.

He has a questionably grey moral compass, where he is emotionally unaffected by his work and instead has his own sense of values. He is passionate about becoming stronger for all the right reasons, yet his role in the Fatui hides these good-natured attributes, and has shaped a dangerous side of him. How deliciously complex.

After this short analysis on Tartaglia’s character, I should also give props to his voice work as well. His iconic lines of “hey girlie” and “ojou-chan” made an uproar on the Internet as flocks of simps immediately united as soon as he was introduced. You can’t blame us all for looping his ridiculously adorable laugh either.

No amount of him lying to the Traveler will make us stop gushing about him one way or another. It must be such a blessing to be this damn charming. (You learn to live with it after a while – Ed.)

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