Analysis on Columbina as a female character in the story
On tiktok but also [r/DottoreMains](/r/DottoreMains/) or r/FatuiHQ I see so many people despise Columbina as a character. They portray her as a blatant waifubait with 0 plot and lore relevance that is in love with the traveler and hypersexualized. The amount of misogynistic remakes I have seen about her - some even indicating a wish to violently harm a fictional character - is absolutely ridiculous.
On the other hand, they portray Dottore as the messiah of Genshin. I like Dottore and the purpose he serves but so far he has been the one dimensional plot device Columbina haters portray her as. He definitely moves the story forward and poses a threat to out main character, but such a role in the narrative does not equate to depth.
I find the point in which Columbina is said to lack depth incredibly misconstrued. She was born alone, without a clear identity and place to call home. The frost moon scions took advantage of her kindness which causes great suffering to her. Shouldn’t they be the space in which she finds comfort and belonging? This relationship was purely transactionall Yet even then, it did nit account for her needs.
After years of exploitation, Columbina left her birthplace, seeking to find new “family”. The Tsaritsa promised her a family and place of protection. However, even this arrangement was transactional in nature. Columbina had to use up a significant amount of her power - which was on the wane mind you - to fulfill her promise to the Tsaritsa. She then left, since that place did not feel like a place in which she can find a sense of belonging as well.
Then we meet her in the game. She is very wary of outsiders and reluctant to share any thoughts and feelings she experiences. Given the time we soend with her, that veil of mystery slowly fades and we realize what truly motivates Columbina: The wish for a clear identity and place to belong in. This idea has never been tackled in Genshin’s main story to the degree it is explored in Columbinas story. We spent many moments with her, especially in light of the selenic chronicles. Consequently, it makes sense why she would hold the traveler in such high regard. Furthermore, in any instance in which she shows affection to the traveler, she immediately mentioned all other of her friends as well. She gradually realized that some individuals from the demographics that showed little affection to her now see her as friends (Lauma, Marionette, The Knave). So naturally, she warmed up in the Archon Quest and shows a degree of character development.
A commonly shared scene was the one in which Columbina ate a lollipop. But if one were to actually read the story, it is clear that Columbina saw 2 Frost moon scions share a piece of food. Something that she describes as a heartfelt which of hers. I do agree that the delivery of the VA was blown out of proportion, but that is an issue of the localization and not the actual writing of the game.
To me, it has always been captivating how Columbina has always wound up used in some way. All of her relationships were limited by her willingness to provide everything she could offer. This seems analogous to the way in which women are exploited. A myriad of men harbor unrealistic expectations towards the women in their life, both in terms of their physical appearance and the acts of labor they are expected to perform. As such, it is not that far-fetched to argue that Columbina reflects this issue. That is why I believe the claim of “misogynistic Columbina” to be indescribably unrealistic. It feels like an argument deliberately based on bad faith in order to cope with one’s headcanons not aligning with the way in which a character is portayed in the story.
From my perspective, it is unbelievable to see her described as a one sided character with a gooner-bait like infatuation with the traveler. In truth, all of Columbinas actions align with the character presented in the game. The lack of depth is also a claim which I find unfair, she has deep ties to the three moons and fatui. In the story, we literally watch her development and process of slowly opening up to establish her own identity (Columbina Hyposelenia). This is the literal opposite of flat and one dimensional.
My feelings of frustrations are compounded by the fact that many Columbina haters glaze Dottore to a ridiculous degree. So far, he has been a cartoonish, narcissistic villain with a god complex. A character of that nature definitely has a place in the game’s broader narrative. But that does not mean that other characters are fundamentally worse, just because they do not abide by your expectation of what a fatui harbinger ought to look like.
So in the end, maybe its rather Columbina haters that uphold misogynistic behavior and show a lack of media lieracy instead of the fans that appreciate Columbina for what she is.
On the other hand, they portray Dottore as the messiah of Genshin. I like Dottore and the purpose he serves but so far he has been the one dimensional plot device Columbina haters portray her as. He definitely moves the story forward and poses a threat to out main character, but such a role in the narrative does not equate to depth.
I find the point in which Columbina is said to lack depth incredibly misconstrued. She was born alone, without a clear identity and place to call home. The frost moon scions took advantage of her kindness which causes great suffering to her. Shouldn’t they be the space in which she finds comfort and belonging? This relationship was purely transactionall Yet even then, it did nit account for her needs.
After years of exploitation, Columbina left her birthplace, seeking to find new “family”. The Tsaritsa promised her a family and place of protection. However, even this arrangement was transactional in nature. Columbina had to use up a significant amount of her power - which was on the wane mind you - to fulfill her promise to the Tsaritsa. She then left, since that place did not feel like a place in which she can find a sense of belonging as well.
Then we meet her in the game. She is very wary of outsiders and reluctant to share any thoughts and feelings she experiences. Given the time we soend with her, that veil of mystery slowly fades and we realize what truly motivates Columbina: The wish for a clear identity and place to belong in. This idea has never been tackled in Genshin’s main story to the degree it is explored in Columbinas story. We spent many moments with her, especially in light of the selenic chronicles. Consequently, it makes sense why she would hold the traveler in such high regard. Furthermore, in any instance in which she shows affection to the traveler, she immediately mentioned all other of her friends as well. She gradually realized that some individuals from the demographics that showed little affection to her now see her as friends (Lauma, Marionette, The Knave). So naturally, she warmed up in the Archon Quest and shows a degree of character development.
A commonly shared scene was the one in which Columbina ate a lollipop. But if one were to actually read the story, it is clear that Columbina saw 2 Frost moon scions share a piece of food. Something that she describes as a heartfelt which of hers. I do agree that the delivery of the VA was blown out of proportion, but that is an issue of the localization and not the actual writing of the game.
To me, it has always been captivating how Columbina has always wound up used in some way. All of her relationships were limited by her willingness to provide everything she could offer. This seems analogous to the way in which women are exploited. A myriad of men harbor unrealistic expectations towards the women in their life, both in terms of their physical appearance and the acts of labor they are expected to perform. As such, it is not that far-fetched to argue that Columbina reflects this issue. That is why I believe the claim of “misogynistic Columbina” to be indescribably unrealistic. It feels like an argument deliberately based on bad faith in order to cope with one’s headcanons not aligning with the way in which a character is portayed in the story.
From my perspective, it is unbelievable to see her described as a one sided character with a gooner-bait like infatuation with the traveler. In truth, all of Columbinas actions align with the character presented in the game. The lack of depth is also a claim which I find unfair, she has deep ties to the three moons and fatui. In the story, we literally watch her development and process of slowly opening up to establish her own identity (Columbina Hyposelenia). This is the literal opposite of flat and one dimensional.
My feelings of frustrations are compounded by the fact that many Columbina haters glaze Dottore to a ridiculous degree. So far, he has been a cartoonish, narcissistic villain with a god complex. A character of that nature definitely has a place in the game’s broader narrative. But that does not mean that other characters are fundamentally worse, just because they do not abide by your expectation of what a fatui harbinger ought to look like.
So in the end, maybe its rather Columbina haters that uphold misogynistic behavior and show a lack of media lieracy instead of the fans that appreciate Columbina for what she is.
Commentaires
One word one word was the only thing that a “leaker” said and they run with it
“I like this leak so it must be true”
“Capitano is the strongest” Thats was enough for them , lol , lmao even
A strong female character who is confident in herself threatens their own egos
“I killed dottore with every character in the game”
Cant wait to jump his ass
Say what you want about Eldritch horror Columbina, but she was a lot more unique than what we got
But holy shit is it a breath of fresh air seeing a (at least seemingly) playable character being purely antagonistic for once since all the way back in fucking Inazuma
Sandrone's probably the worst of it, poorly written AND disappointing
A large part of it is the sheer lack of antagonistic Fatui, and Sandy would've been perfect for that. Right now it's just Dottore, and a schemer with a mechanical army would've been the perfect dynamic alongside dottore's "only himself" philosophy.
But instead, her entire character is reduced to Columbina auxiliary, Worfed punching bag, or Narzissenkreuz lore dump, only the second of which actually does anything towards the story.
Probably the worst example of it is everything pre 6.0 showing her in a purely antagonistic sense (trying to steal Talochard, ripping out a guys tongue and driving him psychologicaly insane, and trying to steal Ineffa). And then 6.1 comes along and she's completely whitewashed by Paimon going "she's actually not a bad person)
It's disappointing to see interesting character archetypes be thrown out so they're more palatable as a product time and time again
They were already giving her the Arlecchino-style whitewashing by that point.
I'm not sure I'd call her a "Columbina auxiliary", but she does seem oddly detached and insular. She and her operation pretty much ignore everything going on in Nod-Krai unless it comes to her doorstep. She's focused on her mission or research or whatever, rather than being any kind of driving force in the plot.
a cartoonish villain is commonly defined as a villain who's evil for the sake of being evil. he fits the mad scientist troupe.
as far as i'm aware, nothing about dottore's character contradicts that. sure you could argue that his evil stems from him wanting to show that humanity could rise above the gods, but what was the cause of his upbringing? we don't know that, so as far as we're concerned for now, he's evil for the sake of being evil until his backstory is further revealed.
he does everything for a reason and not just bc haha evildoing
tbf i blame such misunderstandings of his character on hoyo but we’ll see in later versions anyway
2. Genshin is massive with an outrageously large range in the player demographic. I can tell you for sure that there are plenty of players with no media literacy. Don't let it get to you too much!
3. I will say that it seems as if they intentionally made the interactions with Columbina as parasocial as possible. This was an attempt to make players care about Columbina in a way so that: A) Anything bad that happens to her will hurt more. B.) It would further villainize anyone who does such things to her.
\- I believe it's reasonable for people to acknowledge the parasocial parts of the character. Every gacha game does it, and they explicitly do it more directly with Columbina for story/emotional impact reasons. However, it's wrong to say that's all she is. They've put a lot of reasonable character connection and development into her, and not acknowledging that would also be wrong. Not being able to discern these qualities and their purposes is the lack of media literacy. Unfortunately, a simple discussion will not be able to fix this.
I understand that not finding her attractive is a weird thing to bring up out of nowhere, but I think it's important to mention because I am really bothered by and uncomfortable with the fact that people *do* find her so attractive. It feels like they are fetishizing her, well, vulnerability. They seem to like all the features that make her come across as weak and helpless and that's, you know, icky.
So, yeah, I dislike her creepy fans more than her?
Yes, Columbina is a waifu bait, whoever denies that is blind or delusional, it's like saying Citlali wasn't one. At the end of the day we are playing a gatcha.
No, this doesn't make her bad character. She's a depiction of God we didn't have yet and it works for how it's structured. We don't even have to make theories to understand her because of her dialogue with Dainslif, which is one the best in the game.
Personally I find her one of the most fascinating depiction of God in the game.
And btw, this is just personal opinion that I haven't seen anywhere, but to me the whole "waifu bait" fells weird this time not because of Columbina but because of the traveler. The traveler is showing an interest towards her that was never there for any other character before.
I'll have another look later to give my thoughts on the analysis itself, but overall, seems like a solid take. Might change my mind after another look.
And?