While Genshin Impact has brought significant quality-of-life improvements to Natlan, its treatment of male characters in 2024 has been disappointing. Kinich is the only 5-Star male character released this year, and with no additional male characters expected from Natlan after Ifa, it's likely that 2025 will follow the same trend.
From a gameplay perspective, male characters in Genshin Impact are typically built as hypercarries instead of support units. While Ororon was added in Version 5.2 as a 4-Star Electro Support, the most recent male support character before him was Baizhu, a 5-Star Dendro Support, introduced in Version 3.6. This lack of diversity in roles, along with a scarcity of 5-Star male characters, has sparked frustration among the Genshin Impact community.
With Kinich and Ororon being the only male characters introduced in Natlan so far, many Genshin Impact players were hopeful that Ifa would help change this. However, as shared by Full Stop Chan through hxg_diluc, Ifa will be a 4-Star character from the Flower-Feather Clan. His weapon and element remain a mystery, but given his background as a Saurian veterinarian, he is likely to serve as a Support character. Ifa's potential as a playable character was also hinted at through the voice lines of the upcoming weekly boss in Genshin Impact, which include unique lines for both Ifa and Varesa.
Upcoming Characters in Genshin Impact 5.4 & 5.5
- Ayano
- Citlali
- Iansan
- Ifa
- Lan Yan
- Mavuika
- Varesa
With Ayano set to debut in Version 5.4 as a new Genshin Impact character from Inazuma, there are several possibilities to consider for the other three units. Iansan and Varesa both belong to the Collective of Plenty, but unlike Ifa, their rarities have not been confirmed. While it's commonly assumed that Iansan will be a 5-Star character, the releases of Ororon and Citlali have shown that being one of the six Heroes of Natlan doesn’t necessarily determine a character’s rarity.
If the Collective of Plenty zone is introduced in Version 5.5, it’s expected that Genshin Impact will have to debut either Iansan or Varesa to introduce the new exploration ability. Since Ifa is a 4-Star character, it’s very likely that he will be released alongside whichever character is featured as the 5-Star in Version 5.5. Players will learn more in the upcoming months, with Version 5.5 set to launch on March 26, 2025.
>>> Read more: Genshin Impact Rewards Players with Free Primogems for Excellence Award