As many eagerly awaited a possible drip marketing for Sunday, hoping to see a new addition to their roster, HoYoverse had a surprise in store. Without any prior leaks, the social networks of Honkai Star Rail dropped a bombshell with a new drip marketing character reveal-Yunli. This unexpected introduction sparked immediate discussions about her design, history, and potential connections to General Jing Yuan’s apprentice. Could a rivalry be brewing between these young swordmasters, both part of the Hexafleet of the Xianzhou Alliance?
Yunli is a character of the Xianzhou Zhuming, another of the ships of the Xianzhou Alliance, and the granddaughter of General Huaiyan. For this reason, she has dedicated her life from a very young age to the Huaiyan art of swordsmanship and forging. This could explain the drip marketing elements with fire, swords, and forging behind Yunli, even though in Honkai Star Rail, she will be a Physical Destruction character. Also, from the type of clothing and details, fans believe that her fighting style could be a sword dance. Indeed, Yunli has a remarkable ability, which positions her as the second-youngest prodigy swordmaster in her home-ship and the one in charge of hunting down and wiping out all cursed swords. So she may face the swords of Blade or, more likely, Jingliu.
Honkai Star Rail also shared that Brenna Larsen will bring Yunli to life for the English voice. If the name is unfamiliar, this actress is the same voice actress as Navia in Genshin Impact. With the end of the story in Penacony, we expect a better development in the story of the Xianzhou Luofu and the appearance of the Xianzhou Zhuming. We will see if Yunli can have her epic moment of combat with the youngest lieutenant, Yanqing… or if both fail epically against more experienced sworders.