It's been too long since we got a good ol fashioned long winded Villain monologue, and Dottore delivered with flying colors.
SpenzOT2026-01-27 00:39
I like that he could afford to be long-winded, because there was nothing anyone could do about it. A literal god had to be born in order to compete with him.
TechnicallyHankHill2026-01-27 00:26
I think, in a world that's now saturated with media representations of tragic villains with sad backstories and legitimate reasons for why they do what they do, it's refreshing to have a good example of a villain who's just plain irredeemably evil. No special reasons. No known trauma. Just a sociopathic mad scientist with a clear, specific goal.
Especially after all the morally gray nonsense with even other fatui harbingers, Dottore is actually a breath of fresh air lmao
TotaFloofy2026-01-27 00:28
Thank you bruh
TechnicallyHankHill2026-01-27 00:32
As a big Arlecchino fan, and as someone who would be genuinely interested in a playable Dottore, if I had to choose between him being irredeemable [and thus being unlikely to be playable] and him getting some half assed morally gray nonsense subplot in order to be playable, I would gladly choose the former.
TotaFloofy2026-01-27 00:37
Same here dude, I really really do like his character. Although with being an iredeemable character, his death would probably be imminent. Whatever way they choose with his character, I hope they don’t change it all that much.
corecenite2026-01-27 00:58
i'd like to hear your thoughts then about my **headcanon** on how he becomes playable: the original making another segment goes awry; like how in MCU >!Ultron plans to create a better and badder version of himself until the Avengers intervened, creating Vision in the process.!<
The way I see it: since Dottore had been unsatisfied with his mortal shackles, and that the Dottore we faced in Nod Krai is unspecified Segment, I assume that Alpha (the original) and Omega (the one in we met in Sumeru) are still alive and decided to create a biomechanical Segment as a culmination of all of his research but Traveler and the gang (probably featuring Tsaritsa as well) intervenes and by using the power of friendship, the Gnoses or whatever Snezh has to offer, boom! 5 star playable character named:
***Zandik Zeta Zero***
Same personality, same powers and smarts but different outlook and with its/his help, we finally defeated the Alpha and the Omega Dottore
TechnicallyHankHill2026-01-27 01:12
I think it's possible, but it'd be hard to pull off in a way that doesn't feel like "somehow Palpatine returned" even if the new segment isn't evil in the end.
corecenite2026-01-27 01:21
ahh gotcha gotcha. but what i'm looking for an answer is if people like you (and me actually) who loves that Dottore is irredeemably evil; becomes playable - would like that kind of a storyline? no retcons, no redeeming backstory plotline, no drama beneath the mask or whatever. OG dottore is still batshit crazy and evil, it's just Hoyo decided to make another "character" to make him playable. "[Same same, but different... but still same](https://youtu.be/7tTfL-DtpXk?si=9-pRQO2g-so31qXR)" kind of stuff.
>!(personally, i think they're testing the waters on how the audience will react to Sandrone 2.0 reveal after she's "remodeled/fixed" back in fontaine)!<
TechnicallyHankHill2026-01-27 02:05
Probably not unless they're very very good with writing his "redemption arc"
corecenite2026-01-27 02:08
but it's not a redemption arc though since it's an entirely different individual based on a person?
SF-UberMan2026-01-27 04:10
[Edmund Heidler](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Edmund_Heidler_(Earth-616)) of mainline Marvel comics: First time?
what-the-helll2026-01-27 00:31
Fr, there’s truly just shitty people IRL who would run over your dog at the first chance. Not every bad person will become good given the opportunity and not every bad person has a tragic backstory
WillingBumblebee92132026-01-27 01:17
Umm he does have childhood trauma. Sadly people don't try to understand that childhood trauma's do shape people as they are but it doesn't justify their acts. Sad backstory is the mean to know why they are like this, people shouldn't think of it as a justification.
That's my 2 cents :)
nyxsiren72026-01-27 04:53
There's actually hints of tragedy in some of his lines but story focuses on his actions and goals instead. I wish other harbingers were also written like this. I'll forever miss 6.0 Sandrone, as much as I enjoyed her interactions with Columbina, they softened her character too much. She just feels like any other non harbinger character.
DottoresPet2026-01-27 04:56
Dottore isn't that, stop saying he is
burntpankeki2026-01-27 00:33
there were some parts where he felt a little too comical villain; but overall he's really good !!
QWERTYAF12412026-01-27 00:40
He's a PoS who should have been killed long ago and is just hanging around to be annoying.
poolman7822026-01-27 01:21
%1 commenter btw
AccordingSky78402026-01-27 00:46
He reminds me of some of my favorite villains like Shougo Makishima and Bondrewd, which is a huge compliment, because I usually consider Genshin's writing a solid tier below.
In a way, it’s tragic. In an anime fandom, I think he’d be appreciated so much more. But in Genshin, all I see is people harassing his fans and artists, going to truly unhinged lengths to do it.
Sad-Bowl-83742026-01-27 00:51
Not terrible, not amazing. He did the job. I preferred Rerir though.
Chemical-airport-uwu2026-01-27 19:27
Yeah, Rerir delivered what he promised, which was a confusingly powerful guy full of hatred and driven pretty much insane. Rerir was supposed to be scary because of how strong he was physically, and seeing as they literally had to seal him away because they were unable to fight him, i'd say he got the job done.
Weaponmaster4702026-01-27 01:44
Greasy, grooming overrated plot device scapegoat conducting the barest minimum expected of Genshin's first webcomic jackass. Baby's first mad scientist with a pitiful winrate.
You know how people say "compare waves"? This chopped wannabe side ho is 'compare villain' to other IP's much better villains, however because Genshin's antagonists run the gamut of "water" to "Reapers but gunky", this mediocre entity stands out.
TotaFloofy2026-01-27 01:55
Thats a pretty strong opinion man
Mysterious-Income6842026-01-27 11:35
Finally, Weaponmaster!!! I was afraid when I didn't see your comment under the post about Dottore at first, but now everything is fine. Since you are his #1 fan on this sub, are you going to pull c6r1-r5 when he releases?
ostrieto172026-01-27 01:48
I actually wanted him to escape in some way just to further the scaramouche plot line, ending him without having the showdown/confrontation between them seems off to me.
I got goosebumps when he made the face upon him waltzing in to take the MC only for nothing to come after it.
Chemical-airport-uwu2026-01-27 19:31
Yeah I wanted to see scara face him personally, especially since he came all this way. The weird glitching after the quest is "over" and his death not being as apparent as signora or capitano's might mean he comes back tho? Not that i really want him to lol.
Darkwolfinator2026-01-27 01:59
When you mean conflicting you mean the wierd people in this sub who want every character to be sunshine and rainbows? Its dotore being a evil and irredeemable that makes him a great villain and well written.
TotaFloofy2026-01-27 02:27
I seen too many dottore hate posts bruh cant take NO risks
Darkwolfinator2026-01-27 02:36
Yeah its wierd. Yeah hate him but dont say he's not well written. Why would anyone change anything about his character?
Fabulous_Scale47712026-01-27 02:02
I simp for the guy
ThiccHitoru2026-01-27 02:34
i adore him. Such an interesting character.
vermillion-orange2026-01-27 02:38
He's a great antagonist
He's very deep
He's not like your typical shallow, petty villains that you'd like to kill without batting an eye
I like listening to him tbh
cold-Hearted-jess2026-01-27 11:30
What's deep about him?
From my view he's extremely shallow because he hasn't got anything past 'I want to achieve my goal and become god'
He literally has nothing but hating gods
Tschmelz2026-01-27 02:44
He’s “mad scientist” the trope. Pretty mid writing, but it is nice to have a human villain who is just a pure bastard.
detainthisDI2026-01-27 03:12
I’m just glad to have a bad guy who’s just an irredeemable piece of shit. Like there’s no tragedy behind it. Jack Horner type backstory save for getting kicked out of college. It’s great.
He can be a little comically evil at times, but i love him anyway. Also I could change him. I could make him even *worse.*
KailaniNeveah2026-01-27 03:16
I mean, I kinda super hate him so I guess he’s a good villain.
Shahadem2026-01-27 03:24
Very poorly written.
Empty generic sophistry.
Generic villain in every way.
Jaded-Philosophy37832026-01-27 03:43
probably best villain i've seen portrayed in media, provided I don't see that much media.
bobking01theIII2026-01-27 03:43
As a villain he's okay at best. As the type of villain who just does evil shit left and right I find him leagues better than the likes of Dio, Yuuki Terumi, the Joker, etc.
Right-Silver73542026-01-27 04:17
You can dislike a villain’s actions and still recognize that they’re well written. The two aren’t in conflict. Likewise, most people hate Dio in Jojo, but it’s common sense that Dio is a well-written and very successful character.
Fine-Resolution-30102026-01-27 04:34
Honestly I forgot he even was a character till he showed up in Nod Krai. Kinda sad that he's "Gone" but he was a descent enough villian. Still think Scaramouche was slightly better
DottoresPet2026-01-27 04:55
Genshin's most well written character along with Furina
Tough-Assistant29372026-01-27 04:58
Boring. 0 depth
80espiay2026-01-27 05:08
He’s the first time since Sumeru that we’ve had an actual human endboss/primary antagonist with motivations and such, in an archon quest.
But unlike Scara, we don’t get the gravitas of seeing his personality when his plans are unravelling (the cutscene where Nahida takes the Gnosis from Scara still gives me chills because of how poignant it is). Dottore kinda just *pop* gone.
That’s one thing I thought was missing from Dottore’s characterisation. He doesn’t have to be a sympathetic villain, but his personality did seem a bit one-note during the one moment when it shouldn’t have been.
cold-Hearted-jess2026-01-27 11:27
The problem is people confuse depth for sympathy, because usually it is easier to rationalise why when you know why
The refusal to give dottore anything past 'I want to achieve my goal' means there really isn't anything deeper, there's not an emotional reason or anything
DottoresPet2026-01-27 11:32
Except Dottore IS deeper than that
He has so much lore people don't read because they don't want to let go of their headcanon of him as irrdedeemably evil.
cold-Hearted-jess2026-01-27 11:36
I honestly don't know what to believe about his lore
Someone tried to tell me Dottore was a victim like 2 days ago when he's obviously not
Nobody seems to understand who he is, but I think he's definitely irrdedeemably evil. Torturing children kind of solidifies that
DottoresPet2026-01-27 11:38
🤦🏻♀️
I'm so tired of this
Dottore does not torture children. I'm so f-ing tired of this misconception.
Please, for your own sake, read his lore. Because it doesn't seem like you have.
cold-Hearted-jess2026-01-27 11:45
Oh yeah sorry
The guy wants to torture children, he just hasn't sourced the children to torture
DottoresPet2026-01-27 11:47
He doesn't want to torture children
This is exhausting
This misconception literally won't die. The definition of torture doesn't apply to what Dottore is doing. He experiments, he doesn't torture. The experiments just happen to sometimes be painful. But he never causes pain for pain's sake.
cold-Hearted-jess2026-01-27 11:53
So torturing kids for a good cause?
He wants to use children for experiments that will often cause death or permanent issues with no sense of care for what happens to them
Torture literally means inflicting pain and suffering, which he definitely does
DottoresPet2026-01-27 12:26
Torture means inflicting pain and suffering FOR THE SAKE of pain and suffering.
Dottore does experiments, where suffering sometimes is a side effect. Not the end goal.
cold-Hearted-jess2026-01-27 12:29
Torture has multiple definitions
One is simply to inflict severe pain and suffering, which dottore definitely does
80espiay2026-01-27 12:34
he IS deep, but moreso in terms of his history and lore rather than his characterisation and personality.
DottoresPet2026-01-27 12:36
They are tied together
While he was always unhinged, >!he's only evil because his fate is to be hated and at one point he gave up trying to be good because people would hate him anyways!<
80espiay2026-01-27 13:27
his lore is tied to his character, but his lore being deep doesn't mean his characterisation and personality are deep
DottoresPet2026-01-27 13:45
His characterisation is only one dimensional if your source is what other characters tell you rather than what actually happened
80espiay2026-01-27 13:56
nah if we're being honest, the stuff that other characters tell us/the stuff we read about, was a more interesting picture of Dottore's personality than how he behaved in Nod Krai. he seemed like a more driven and resourceful person, and somewhat less hinged (in a good way).
DottoresPet2026-01-27 13:58
No, it is more one dimensional because everybody hates him because fate wants it to be that way
The best source is himself and the notes written when he was Zandik. Free of bias, unless it comes from Thoth who is a serial liar
80espiay2026-01-27 14:01
i'm sorry? he did do some pretty nasty stuff.
80espiay2026-01-27 12:47
but there are ways you can bend and twist "I want to achieve my goal" that expose more of someone's personality. Because people change when their back is against the wall, but even right up to the point where he got kamehameha'd, the only emotion we got from Dottore was moderate frustration. There was no resourcefulness, no pettiness, no desperation, no cope, even very little in the way of "outrage". Not to say that he needed ALL of that (characters rarely do), but ANY of them would have immediately added a dimension to his personality.
Even if all he cares about was achieving his goal, there wasn't enough gravitas in the way he showed how much he cared about said goal imo.
cold-Hearted-jess2026-01-27 12:49
Fair enough
I feel like he should have been more like Lygus, he's a much more enjoyable mad scientist because of the fact he doesn't just need to do it he needs to show he's better
80espiay2026-01-27 14:16
I don't really know much about HSR lore, but that would definitely be one way to do it.
Also considering Dottore's reputation as a mad scientist, but he was awfully "hinged" and predictable during his interactions with us.
Kreddak2026-01-27 05:12
Worse Lygus.
MarioBalotellli2026-01-27 05:47
Favo urite villain but went down too easily. Guy had all the power in the world and took his sweet time doing nothing.
AmuuboHunt2026-01-27 08:32
Am I the *only* one that could see merit behind what he was saying?! He said something like "the world used to not be bound by life and death, so what right do they have to force us to abide by their laws?"
Human experiments aside....I didn't disagree with what he said to Traveler 🤔 extreme take for sure but kinda valid
cold-Hearted-jess2026-01-27 11:25
I mean he refuses to mention that the laws of life and death created humanity. Like that seems like a pretty big thing to mention
chocolate-corn2026-01-27 08:42
He’s a villain through and through. There’s no sob story, there’s no needless empathy. Just an evil scientist obsessed with his ideals and who is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it. His evil is one that seeps into your soul and he’s not afraid to capitalise on it
Stormer23452026-01-27 09:32
Love it.
E17Omm2026-01-27 10:26
He had a lot of potential and I really liked him in act 7, but then kinda felt like he just became "I will remake the world and rule over it as its god" generic Hoyo villain number 3.
cold-Hearted-jess2026-01-27 11:24
Kind of boring, hope he doesn't come back again
Soloking_Itachi2026-01-27 12:03
Better written that most of nod krai btw.
xiastrr2026-01-27 13:01
i like how unsettling,intimidating and mysterious he is!! there’s so little lore about him scattered around sumeru which makes him all the more interesting, like the mystery of where zandik is now, and how dedicated he is in his pursuit of knowledge to even make segments of himself, for one ultimatum goal of defying fate. ALSO ESPECIALLY the mystery of whether or not he killed Sohreh. And even more recently with him researching the moon marrows and even affecting the hyperboreans somehow is even more interesting 🙏 The fact he likely isn’t even done yet is just so peak, love the stakes he brings to the story and lets also not ignore the fact he’s good looking too HAHAHA
Plus-Theme-32832026-01-27 18:40
Really great villain, i love to hate him
Chemical-airport-uwu2026-01-27 19:22
Honestly, I was pretty disappointed in him as a villain. In sumeru, he seemed brilliant. Having clones of himself? Multiple, when even the electro archon has only one? Knowing secrets even the goddess of wisdom didn't? And in scarmouche's backstory, the way he killed Niwa was absolutely bone chilling. He'd been lurking in the shadows all along, hiding where you least expected him.
But in Nod Krai, I was unimpressed. Sure, he made a false moon marrow, but was his goal seriously just to become all powerful and rewrite the rules of fate like *checks notes* every other villain in this game? What happened to the pursuit of knowledge? What happened to doing unheard-of shit instead of trying to become teyvat's next moon goddess? It was refreshing to hear someone talk about how burdened the traveler was, but the way he talked about human nature just made him seem naive. Even if teaming with him was the "objectively" better choice for the traveler, what kind of idiot would live for hundreds of years only to still not understand that there are situations where people will abide by their principles even when it's actively dumb?
I expected him to be past human nature in that he understood it incredibly well to the point where he knew how to manipulate others, but he acted more like a dog following the traveler around, begging them to join up with him instead of, I don't know, just forcing them with his new moon powers? He seemed like an ex trying to get the traveler to come back, and besides those horrifying zones, spent most of the archon quest doing jack shit and letting everyone defeat him. And I know, I know, his arrogance made him blind, what columbina did should've been impossible, blah blah blah, but i was underwhelmed. He didn't outsmart anyone at any point in a way that surprised me, as a viewer, and made no creative use of his powers besides mildly fucking with the traveler. At no point in this archon quest did I think of him as a smart villain, which was disappointing. Him slowing time and replacing people with animals scared me, but that was overshadowed by his meaningless monologues. The idea of him being "a bad character but a good villain" is funny to me because he's a bad character AND a bad villain. All he's got going is that he's hot and so pathetic it's almost endearing.
Commentaires
Especially after all the morally gray nonsense with even other fatui harbingers, Dottore is actually a breath of fresh air lmao
The way I see it: since Dottore had been unsatisfied with his mortal shackles, and that the Dottore we faced in Nod Krai is unspecified Segment, I assume that Alpha (the original) and Omega (the one in we met in Sumeru) are still alive and decided to create a biomechanical Segment as a culmination of all of his research but Traveler and the gang (probably featuring Tsaritsa as well) intervenes and by using the power of friendship, the Gnoses or whatever Snezh has to offer, boom! 5 star playable character named:
***Zandik Zeta Zero***
Same personality, same powers and smarts but different outlook and with its/his help, we finally defeated the Alpha and the Omega Dottore
>!(personally, i think they're testing the waters on how the audience will react to Sandrone 2.0 reveal after she's "remodeled/fixed" back in fontaine)!<
That's my 2 cents :)
In a way, it’s tragic. In an anime fandom, I think he’d be appreciated so much more. But in Genshin, all I see is people harassing his fans and artists, going to truly unhinged lengths to do it.
You know how people say "compare waves"? This chopped wannabe side ho is 'compare villain' to other IP's much better villains, however because Genshin's antagonists run the gamut of "water" to "Reapers but gunky", this mediocre entity stands out.
I got goosebumps when he made the face upon him waltzing in to take the MC only for nothing to come after it.
He's very deep
He's not like your typical shallow, petty villains that you'd like to kill without batting an eye
I like listening to him tbh
From my view he's extremely shallow because he hasn't got anything past 'I want to achieve my goal and become god'
He literally has nothing but hating gods
He can be a little comically evil at times, but i love him anyway. Also I could change him. I could make him even *worse.*
Empty generic sophistry.
Generic villain in every way.
But unlike Scara, we don’t get the gravitas of seeing his personality when his plans are unravelling (the cutscene where Nahida takes the Gnosis from Scara still gives me chills because of how poignant it is). Dottore kinda just *pop* gone.
That’s one thing I thought was missing from Dottore’s characterisation. He doesn’t have to be a sympathetic villain, but his personality did seem a bit one-note during the one moment when it shouldn’t have been.
The refusal to give dottore anything past 'I want to achieve my goal' means there really isn't anything deeper, there's not an emotional reason or anything
He has so much lore people don't read because they don't want to let go of their headcanon of him as irrdedeemably evil.
Someone tried to tell me Dottore was a victim like 2 days ago when he's obviously not
Nobody seems to understand who he is, but I think he's definitely irrdedeemably evil. Torturing children kind of solidifies that
I'm so tired of this
Dottore does not torture children. I'm so f-ing tired of this misconception.
Please, for your own sake, read his lore. Because it doesn't seem like you have.
The guy wants to torture children, he just hasn't sourced the children to torture
This is exhausting
This misconception literally won't die. The definition of torture doesn't apply to what Dottore is doing. He experiments, he doesn't torture. The experiments just happen to sometimes be painful. But he never causes pain for pain's sake.
He wants to use children for experiments that will often cause death or permanent issues with no sense of care for what happens to them
Torture literally means inflicting pain and suffering, which he definitely does
Dottore does experiments, where suffering sometimes is a side effect. Not the end goal.
One is simply to inflict severe pain and suffering, which dottore definitely does
While he was always unhinged, >!he's only evil because his fate is to be hated and at one point he gave up trying to be good because people would hate him anyways!<
The best source is himself and the notes written when he was Zandik. Free of bias, unless it comes from Thoth who is a serial liar
Even if all he cares about was achieving his goal, there wasn't enough gravitas in the way he showed how much he cared about said goal imo.
I feel like he should have been more like Lygus, he's a much more enjoyable mad scientist because of the fact he doesn't just need to do it he needs to show he's better
Also considering Dottore's reputation as a mad scientist, but he was awfully "hinged" and predictable during his interactions with us.
Human experiments aside....I didn't disagree with what he said to Traveler 🤔 extreme take for sure but kinda valid
But in Nod Krai, I was unimpressed. Sure, he made a false moon marrow, but was his goal seriously just to become all powerful and rewrite the rules of fate like *checks notes* every other villain in this game? What happened to the pursuit of knowledge? What happened to doing unheard-of shit instead of trying to become teyvat's next moon goddess? It was refreshing to hear someone talk about how burdened the traveler was, but the way he talked about human nature just made him seem naive. Even if teaming with him was the "objectively" better choice for the traveler, what kind of idiot would live for hundreds of years only to still not understand that there are situations where people will abide by their principles even when it's actively dumb?
I expected him to be past human nature in that he understood it incredibly well to the point where he knew how to manipulate others, but he acted more like a dog following the traveler around, begging them to join up with him instead of, I don't know, just forcing them with his new moon powers? He seemed like an ex trying to get the traveler to come back, and besides those horrifying zones, spent most of the archon quest doing jack shit and letting everyone defeat him. And I know, I know, his arrogance made him blind, what columbina did should've been impossible, blah blah blah, but i was underwhelmed. He didn't outsmart anyone at any point in a way that surprised me, as a viewer, and made no creative use of his powers besides mildly fucking with the traveler. At no point in this archon quest did I think of him as a smart villain, which was disappointing. Him slowing time and replacing people with animals scared me, but that was overshadowed by his meaningless monologues. The idea of him being "a bad character but a good villain" is funny to me because he's a bad character AND a bad villain. All he's got going is that he's hot and so pathetic it's almost endearing.