Honkai: Star Rail: What is Acheron's true identity and what role will she play in Penacony's story?

WARNING! This article contains spoilers for Honkai: Star Rail's Trailblaze and Adventure Missions in Penaconny released in version 2.0. If you haven't finished those missions yet, finish those first before reading this article to avoid spoilers. You have been warned.

With the release of Penacony in Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0, the Trailblazer and the Astral Express Crew's continued journey through the cosmos saw them come across a new colourful cast of characters in the Planet of Festivities.

Perhaps the most enigmatic new character we meet in Penacony is Acheron, the beautiful yet mysterious woman who claims to be a Galaxy Ranger and always carries around a long sword.

With all the mysteries surrounding Acheron, it's clear that she will be playing a big part in Penacony's story. So, let's break down everything we know about Acheron and try to figure out what role she will play in whatever's to come next for the Trailblazer.

The Woman in the Dream

When she was first introduced to players and teased to become a playable character in version 2.1, Acheron was described as a drifter claiming to be a Galaxy Ranger whose true name is unknown. If you don't know who the Galaxy Rangers are, they are a group who follow the Path of the Hunt and travel around the cosmos to uphold justice and protect innocents.

However, the first Penacony Trailblaze Mission revealed that there is much more to Acheron than meets the eye. So, let's briefly recap everything we saw and heard about Acheron in the Trailblaze Mission first.

When the Astral Express made its way to Penacony, the Trailblaze found themselves in a mysterious dreamscape that we later discover to be the Reverie Hotel. There, they meet Acheron, who guides them towards the exit of the dreamscape.

During that encounter, Acheron notably asked the Trailblazer if they met somewhere before with the dialogue text changing into an ominous red color, telling them that they "evoke memories of an old friend". Her recollection of the Trailblazer also changes based on which gender the player chose for the main character.

If the player chose the male Trailblazer, aka Caelus, Acheron says they once "crossed blades". But if the player chose the female Trailblazer, aka Stelle, Acheron says they once "stood shoulder to shoulder".

Since Acheron is an expy of Raiden Mei from Honkai Impact 3rd (HI3), her recollections likely reference Raiden Mei's encounter with fellow HI3 characters Kiana Kaslana for Stelle and Kevin Kaslana for Caelus. As much as I'd like to go into that connection, it's far too lengthy to include here so let's just skip ahead.

Acheron then continued asking the Trailblazer more questions about their journey before waking them up in the most dramatic way possible. With tears in her eyes, Acheron steps away from the Trailblazer and strikes them with her sword so fast you wouldn't see it, with the Trailblazer then blown away in a splash of colour. Upon awakening, the Trailblazer realizes they are also crying and that the Astral Express has already arrived at Penacony.

Our next encounter with Acheron is at the Reverie Hotel, where she saves the Trailblazer from whatever Aventurine was plotting by stumbling into the room claiming it was hers. She tells the Trailblazer she only acted like she thought it was her room in order to get them out of a sticky situation and leaves... before hilariously returning to ask for directions.

We stumble into Acheron again during the Trailblazer's "date" with Firefly and during their investigation of the closed-off Reverie Hotel dreamscape alongside Black Swan. Interestingly enough, should the player choose to refuse Acheron's help in the investigation, they will be forced to agree as the dialogue text changes to the same ominous red colour we saw in our previous encounters with her.

Later on, when the Memory Zone Meme "Something Unto Death" kills Firefly in front of the Trailblazer, Acheron expresses regret over not being able to do anything to prevent it before performing a sort of send-off ritual for the apparently deceased Firefly.

During the battle with the Stellaron Hunter Sam, Acheron assists the Trailblazer in the fight before they are whisked away by Black Swan and forced to get involved with Aventurine's schemes.

Aventurine then tells the Trailblazer that Acheron is actually an Emanator "who brings death and finality". If you don't know what Emanators are, they are powerful individuals who have attained the permission of an Aeon to draw power from their chosen Path. A couple of known Emanators include Herta (Erudition) and Phantylia (Destruction).

Aventurine says he is unsure which Aeon has blessed Acheron with power, speculating she may be of the Hunt, Destruction, or even Finality. Whatever the case, Acheron's power as an Emanator was proven when Aventurine revealed that she killed Duke Inferno, forced the rest of of the Ever-Flame Mansion to scatter, and stole the fallen duke's invite to Penacony — a fact that Black Swan also attests to.

Afterwards, Aventurine shows the Trailblazer the body of Robin, who was lying unconscious in a bathtub with a nasty wound in her chest before it then disappeared. Later on, Sunday tells the Masked Fool Sparkle (who was masquerading as Robin) that "Death" had descended upon Penacony, likely referencing Acheron.

So, there we have it. Acheron is an Emanator of an unknown Aeon that is confirmed to have killed Duke Inferno and is believed to have also killed Robin for some unknown reason. Now, that begs the question: which Aeon blessed Acheron with the power to become an Emanator?

The Mystery Emanator

With how little we got to see of Acheron in action, our only leads when it comes to which Aeon granted her the powers of an Emanator is Aventurine's own speculations that she is either aligned with the Hunt, Destruction, or Finality.

I think we can safely rule out Acheron being an Emanator of the Hunt or Destruction as she doesn't seem to be aligned at all with the Xianzhou Alliance or the Antimatter Legion, the factions most devoted to the Paths of the Hunt and Destruction, respectively.

Now, Acheron being an Emanator of Finality is a very interesting prospect. While we know very little about Terminus the Aeon of Finality, we do know that they move backwards in time and whisper of a prophecy that is destined to be fulfilled.

If Acheron is indeed an Emanator of Finality, it does explain some of the mysteries surrounding her character, especially the Trailblazer's first dreamscape encounter with her before arriving to Penacony.

If, like Terminus, Acheron is also traveling backward in time and knows how certain events unfold, this explains why she seems to have met the Trailblazer before, is able to guide them through the dreamscape before their actual first meeting in Penacony, and did not act to prevent Firefly's death.

Interestingly enough, Raiden Mei from HI3 is not only the Herrscher of Thunder but also becomes the Herrscher of Finality.

With that said, Acheron is most likely an Emanator of Nihility.

And no, it's not just because her Path as a playable character is Nihility (we all know that a character's in-game Path is not always the same as their in-lore Path) but because there's actually in-game lore that points towards such a fact.

The lore for the Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters relic set tells the story of a Nameless named Frebass and her companion as they journeyed to the depths of IX, the sentient black hole that is the Aeon of Nihility. While Frebass' companion is not named, they are described as a "girl with the sword", which suggests that her companion was Acheron.

While Frebass' ultimate fate is unknown, upon approaching the black hole's singularity she recalls seeing "a dash of crimson blinking briefly into existence in the center of the pitch-black world".

If you look at Acheron's splash art, there is a notable absence of colour in the background except for vivid dashes of crimson in her paper umbrella, the flowers surrounding her, her name's text, and the Nihility sigil. Those crimson flowers also appear very similar to those on the art for the Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters.

With that, I believe that "dash of crimson" that Frebass saw within the black hole was Acheron being blessed by IX and becoming an Emanator of Nihility.

Further evidence can also be found in the "White Night" trailer, where we can briefly see Acheron unleash red-colored lightning from her unsheathed sword in a battle with Sam and float in front of a black hole with tears in her eyes.

Acheron being an Emanator of Nihility also explains some of the mysteries surrounding her. Her foggy background, lack of a sense of direction, and other personality quirks may be caused by her coming so close to IX, whose mere gaze is described to make mortals lose all reason and thought.

Acheron's apparent ability to travel backwards in time can also be related to a phenomenon often seen in black holes called 'time dilation'. I'll spare you the science lesson but the important thing is that scientists believe that a person falling into a black hole who looks back will see the entire history of the universe unfold in mere moments.

It is also interesting how Acheron came to be an Emanator of Nihility in the first place, as IX is known to be an apathetic Aeon that never interacts with the other Aeons or even the rest of the universe — caused by its belief the ultimate fate of the multiverse is nothingness, and therefore, doing anything is worthless.

That core tenet of Nihility also supports Acheron acting as a sort of harbinger of Death and Finality. Death and Finality are just different ways to describe Nihility... or nothingness.

But while we now know Acheron's true identity as an Emanator of Nihility, there is still much we don't know about her. Why did she kill Duke Inferno? Did she also kill Robin? What is she doing in Penacony? How did she become an Emanator of Nihility? Why does she seem to know the Trailblazer?

I guess the only way we can get an answer for those questions is when version 2.1 releases. I, for one, absolutely can't wait to see more of Acheron.

With Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0 being released back in 6 February and lasting for seven weeks instead of the usual version duration of six weeks, we can expect Acheron and version 2.1 to arrive on 28 March.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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