Two days ago, Twitter users and fans of the free-to-play gacha game, Genshin Impact, got “#boycottgenshinimpact” trending on the site, as well as a follow up “#dobettermihoyo”. Being the internet, the hashtag initially started as well-thought-out criticism of developer miHoYo before devolving into trolls and meme accounts dominating the tag. Despite where the hashtag ended up, the conversation surrounding the concept of boycotting Genshin Impact is still worth mentioning and exploring further.
Genshin Impact’s developer, miHoYo, came under fire for how some characters and cultures are represented in-game. The main focus of #boycottgenshin stemmed from the inspiration behind creatures named Hilichurls. Players fight against these enemies fairly regularly in-game, but a video surfaced where the developer confirmed that Hilichurls were modeled after and based on indigenous culture. While that may not seem like a big deal initially, there are important layers to the conversation that must be acknowledged.
What Are Hilichurls?
According to Genshin Impact lore, Hilichurls are goblin monsters that always wear masks. There are different ranks and levels of Hilichurls that players must fight in-game. There are also three different tribes of Hilichurls; Sleeper, Meaty, and Eclipse. The most basic type of Hilichurl is described as “primitive” and having “lost both their intellect and spirituality.”
Hilichurl Fighters are “simple-minded” and put all their faith into their physical prowess. Samachurls, a higher level of Hilichurl, have 5 different types that players may encounter and fight. Mitachurls wield 4 different weapons that players must learn to take down. The most powerful Hilichurl is the Lawachurl, who either has a Stonehide or Frostarm appearance.
Beyond those Hilichurls, there are also:
- Hilichurl Grenadiers
- Hilichurl Guards
- Hilichurl Shooters
- Unusual Hilichurls
Why Hilichurls Are Culturally Insensitive
The existence of Hilichurls is explained within Genshin Impact’s lore, and the inclusion of an enemy that lives off the land with lower intelligence isn’t inherently bad. Many games take a similar approach and explain the creatures with in-game lore. The issue with miHoYo and Genshin Impact is that it has been made explicitly clear that these goblin monsters were based on real cultures and real people. At best, Hilichurls were an attempt at cultural inclusion gone awry. At worst, it can be something much more harmful.
Indigenous POC (People of Color) populations have a long history of having their culture stripped from them, as well as having harmful misrepresentations of their culture. Many history textbooks depict indigenous cultures as needing help from the colonizers who invaded their land, saying the local populations were “primitive” or “simple-minded.” Obviously, miHoYo deciding to model Hilichurls after indigenous culture and still using that kind of language proves to be an issue, as well as making them goblin creatures.
While this may not be inherently racist, as the intent from miHoYo may not have been to directly insult indigenous cultures or model Hilichurls after untrue stereotypes, it could still be considered a microaggression. A microaggression, in this instance, is an action that is indirectly or unintentionally racist. MiHoYo may not have meant to perpetuate the misrepresentation of indigenous cultures within the lore of Genshin Impact, but using the same language that historically racist documents also use had racially charged undertones that can’t be ignored.
As far as the actual call to boycott Genshin Impact, it seems the hashtag may not have changed a lot of minds. Other players thought different issues should have been called to attention, like the lack of two-factor authentication upon login, while others thought the call for a boycott was overdramatic. However, the most important part of the boycott conversation is actually listening to minority populations, especially indigenous people who are affected by the misrepresentation.
The future of Genshin Impact doesn’t seem to have been affected by the boycott hashtag, but it would still be beneficial for miHoYo to release a statement acknowledging its wrongdoings. Hilichurls are fully present in-game, so it’s probably too late to change their inspiration and lore now. However, miHoYo and players of Genshin Impact should be cognizant in future expansions of the game as to what qualifies as respectful inspiration versus stereotyped misrepresentation.
Genshin Impact is available now for Mobile, PC, and PS4.