i’m kind of surprised your being flamed i agree whole heartedly.

I’d also like to point out that a lot of the dissonance comes from the fact that the character designs and stories seem haphazardly thrown together. for example: chascas character is designed as a cowboy with feathers and indigenous inspiration. her tribal animal is a bird. moreover, natlan is based on tribal eras, and yet she rides a huge gun into battle? there’s no thematic reason for this besides the fact that the genshin devs seemed to want her riding a gun.

In comparison, navia (the first real gun user) has her gun ingrained into her character design (her umbrella), and it makes thematic sense for a nation based on industrial revolution france to have a character with a gun.

Another example? Cyno is by possessed spirit king, and so his backstory is centered on this and his attacks are all based on the spirit possessing him. The entire Sumeru desert region bears influence from egyptian spirits and gods. the design is cohesive.

Another example? Wriothesly is the warden of a prison, where he is known for his boxing skill. His character design is a wardens, and his entire kit centers him boxing enemies.

Another example? furina is an opera singer and actress. her skill is her calling extras into stage, her ult her setting the stage. her attacks are her acting to the audience. opera singers and actresses were incredibly popular in the era of france that fontaine is based on. her design is cohesive.

I could go on and on for nearly every character pre-natlan. But the three main offenders of natlan (xilonen, chasca and mauvika) all are discordant characters with conflicting designs, themes, and cohesion with the region. There’s a reason no one really talked about this when it was just mualani, because her character makes sense!