New Genshin Impact character Shikanoin Heizou has been announced, confirming that a new Anemo unit is coming to Inazuma relatively soon.
Heizou, as he's quickly been dubbed by Genshin's Western community, is a detective at Inazuma's Tenryou Commission. He's never been directly shown or referenced in-game, but he seems to be a fairly well-known figure in Inazuma; a line from the newly released character Kamisato Ayato describes Heizou as a capable detective that "the Tenryou Commission is incredibly fortunate to have."
A more in-depth Genshin Impact Facebook post also includes a line from Heizou: "People are impressed by his razor-sharp intuition, thinking that his reasoning ability and efficiency are godlike. Here, Heizou would simply reply with his signature smile: 'I don't know, maybe this is something that even the gods can't do!'"
Shikanoin Heizou ‧ Analytical HarmonyDetective of the Tenryou CommissionA young detective from the Tenryou Commission. Free-spirited and unruly, but cheerful and lively.#GenshinImpact pic.twitter.com/rmHuQ6egKtMay 16, 2022
We know Heizou is an Anemo user, but his fighting abilities are a bit of a question mark otherwise. The short sword strapped to his waist could suggest that he's a sword user, but it's possible this is purely decorative and he wields another weapon type. We also can't assume his rarity just yet. Purely anecdotally, Heizou looks like a four-star character to me, and if he is a sword user, it seems likely that he'd be a four-star to avoid redundancy with Kazuha, a five-star Anemo sword user also from Inazuma, but that's just speculation.
It's equally unclear when Heizou will be playable. Developer Hoyoverse traditionally teases characters one update ahead of their release, and with how long it's been since the reveals for Yelan and Kuki, this would normally suggest that Heizou will come in update 2.8. However, with Genshin Impact update 2.7 delayed for an indeterminate amount of time – potentially launching June 7 – we don't know when update 2.8 will arrive or if Hoyoverse is sticking to the same character release cycle.
It's possible that update 2.8 will not see a new five-star character and instead feature several rerun banners with Heizou added as a new four-star – much like Thoma's release on the November Hu Tao rerun – but we'll have to wait for official news there.
Hoyoverse revealed a new action-RPG called Zenless Zone Zero last week, and it looks super stylish.
