Why Passionate Fans Are Drawn to the Yanfei and Hu Tao Pairing
Yanfei and Hu Tao are frequently portrayed as romantic partners by the Genshin Impact fandom for their complementary personalities, aesthetically pleasing designs, and representation of an LGBTQ+ relationship. As a content creator and enthusiast myself, I totally understand the strong appeal!
Complementary Personalities Create Balance
Both defined by energetic, passionate natures, Yanfei and Hu Tao have more in common than their different occupations suggest.
As evidenced across her story quests and idle voice lines, studious Yanfei has an almost single-minded devotion to her legal work. Though reserved in public, we catch glimpses of fierier aspects of her personality – like threatening an unruly client with pyrobombs!
By contrast, Hu Tao flits cheerfully from one activity to the next as Wangsheng‘s eccentric director. Bursting with creative ideas, she spends her spare time pulling pranks across Liyue despite Zhongli‘s weary protests.
| Yanfei | Hu Tao | |
|---|---|---|
| Occupation | Legal Expert | Funeral Director |
| Personality | Studious, orderly | Whimsical, chaotic |
| For Fun | Studies law | Pranks Zhongli |
With contradicting approaches to work, fans love the juxtaposition of chaotic Hu Tao disrupting regimented Yanfei! We can easily imagine Hu Tao convincing a reluctant Yanfei to skip studying just for one day to pull hijinks across Liyue Harbor.
"Look Yanfei, I made Zhongli‘s dango milk extra fizzy! Try some with me!"
While Yanfei brings more restraint and conscientiousness to balance Hu Tao‘s unrestrained energy, Hu Tao can prod Yanfei to loosen up and enjoy life‘s spontaneity outside textbooks. They cultivate a nurturing dynamic that allows both characters‘ passions to flourish.
Striking Complementary Designs
Beyond their personalities, Hu Tao and Yanfei‘s complementary designs also showcase why fans find them visually striking as a pair.
With long, straight black hair and dark purple eyes, death omen Hu Tao visually pops in red and pink accents. As a Pyro polearm user attuned to flowers, her aesthetic ties to the red spider lily symbolizing transient beauty in death.
Thematically, legally-minded Yanfei offers contrast leaning fully into fiery Pyro magic rather than Hu Tao‘s ghostly abilities. Between her fox-like amber eyes and antlers evoking fantasy elements, Yanfei‘s orange and brown tones connect her to autumn leaves rather than fleeting flowers.
Fan art depicts their contrasting yet complementary designs wonderfully! For example, this gorgeous piece dresses Hu Tao and Yanfei in traditional Chinese outfits in each other‘s colors:
Yanfei and Hu Tao Fan Art by Avogado6 on Twitter
The reddish-orange pops against purple, and their eye colors shine switching color schemes. Capturing iconic details from their original outfits down to Hu Tao‘s hat, the art creates striking and harmonious new silhouettes on each.
Pieces like this show why fans with an eye for aesthetics particularly delight in dressing up this pair!
Longing for LGBTQ+ Representation
The final core appeal? Yanfei and Hu Tao let fans explore lesbian romance scarcely represented across Genshin Impact so far.
While the massive game contains over 40 playable characters, only 1 canon LGBTQ+ relationship exists between NPCs so far by my count.
Fans dismayed by the lack of representation take shipping into their own hands. Yanfei and Hu Tao as canonical young women with little lore on past relationships provide idealTemplates for imagined wlw love!
Discussions across Reddit and Twitter indicate many enthusiasts profoundly appreciate this representation:
"There‘s just such a lack of wlw rep in Genshin so far. Yanfei and Hu Tao are both such affectionate and charming characters individually that putting them together makes my heart happy."
By crafting pieces centering underrepresented identities, fan content creators help provide the inclusive representation some players hope to see reflected in game worlds that feel like home to them.
A Passionate and Perfect Pairing
At the core of their appeal, eccentric prankster Hu Tao and studious Yanfei feel tailor-made to balance each other out while sharing joy in life‘s excitement. Backed by stunningly harmonious aesthetics between Pyro lilies and autumn leaves, they create a perfect storm of cute chemistry.
For enthusiasts like myself longing to see underrepresented relationships get spotlight and warmth, crafting Yanfei and Hu Tao tales feels like a small way to make the Genshin Impact world more welcoming for everyone out there playing!
