Honkai: Star Rail has a colorful and compelling cast of characters so far. Many players had lengthy discussions about how the Trailblazer stacks up against Genshin Impact's Traveler, which shows just how invested they've been in the game since it came out in April. If the several character leaks were to be believed, players might be in for an exciting time.
What's interesting about Honkai: Star Rail's rumored characters is that they could provide a hint—or spoiler, depending on how people look at it—on what to expect in the game's future storyline. One character that players have been excited about was Jingliu.
Who Is Honkai: Star Rail's Jingliu?
Jingliu was a sword master from the Xianzhou Luofu and mentor to five-star banner character Jing Yuan. It was said that she succumbed to Mara, which is the negative effect of gaining immortality from eating the fruit of Yaoshi, and went insane. This was also hinted at in the Honkai: Star Rail animated short titled "A Flash," where Jingliu faced off against Jing Yuan and was defeated.
Based on the short, Jingliu seemed to have died at the hands of her pupil. However, character leaks have revealed that she might be an upcoming five-star Ice-element character following the Path of Destruction. She also made an appearance in Honkai: Star Rail's Version 1.1 trailer, where she's engaged in a sword fight with Yanqing, which basically confirmed that she was coming to the game in the future. Only this time, Jingliu looked different as she had a blindfold over her eyes.
How Jingliu Can Return to Honkai: Star Rail
Assuming that Jingliu did die before the events of Honkai: Star Rail, it would mean that she could be resurrected in some way. One theory among players was that Luocha, who is the second five-star character in Version 1.1, might be carrying Jingliu's body in the coffin that he carries around. He hinted in the game that it contained something (or someone) important, but it's still a mystery overall.
Since Luocha follows the Path of Abundance and can heal allies, it's quite possible that he managed to cure Jingliu of her Mara affliction. However, it's unknown if he's able to resurrect someone. The only character right now who has the ability to revive people is Bailu, who could play a role in Jingliu's return as well.
It's also been established in Honkai: Star Rail that Fu Xuan could help bring back the dead to the mortal realm temporarily using the Matrix of Prescience. This was seen in the side quest "A Teacher and A Friend: Continued," where the Trailblazers assisted a grieving student to talk to their late teacher. Perhaps Fu Xuan could do the same with Jingliu, especially since she works closely with Jing Yuan as the head of Xianzhou Luofu's Divination Commission.
On the other hand, it's also possible that Jingliu never died in the first place since she had Mara. When players reach the Xianzhou Luofu, which is the second world the Trailblazers visit in the game, they will encounter Mara-Struck Soldiers. These enemies usually come back to life after dying once. Maybe Jingliu did the same and simply went into hiding after the fight against Jing Yuan.
The only question now is whether Jingliu will return as a good or evil character. Honkai: Star Rail has made it clear that players could, in fact, pull for characters who are presumably bad guys in canon, namely Kafka and Blade. So, this new version of Jingliu could go either way, and it will be interesting to see how her presence will shake up the Xianzhou Luofu storyline. Honkai: Star Rail so far is still in its early stages. It has a lot of space and time to build an exciting story in future updates, and some players are hoping that it delivers on Jingliu's return.
Honkai: Star Rail is available now for PC and mobile devices. PS4 and PS5 versions are in development.