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| “ | Liyue Harbor has been a haven for treasures from all corners of the world since ancient times. It is a place where merchants and the wealth flourish. It is also where Mora, the coins accepted as a currency throughout Teyvat, are minted. The word "Mora" is derived from "Morax," which is another name for the Lord of the Rock. Many people therefore worship the Lord of Geo as the God of Wealth and Commerce. | „ |
| ~ Legend of the Geo Archon: God of Wealth |
| “ | Osmanthus wine tastes the same as I remember... But where are those who share the memory? | „ |
| ~ Morax reminiscing. |
| “ | I will have order! | „ |
| ~ Morax using his Planet Befall. |
Morax, also known as the Geo Archon, Rex Lapis, the Exuvia, the God of Contracts, Deus Auri, and currently Zhongli, is a playable major character in the 2020 action role-playing fantasy video game Genshin Impact.
Morax was a member of The Seven Archons who each governed a nation in the continent Teyvat for 6000 years. He was the founder and cultivator of Liyue, and was known to his people as "Rex Lapis." As the God of Contracts and Commerce, Morax helped improve upon humanity across the continent by inventing currency and teaching them about trade. During the Archon War, he threw stone spears, which would form what would now be known as Guyun Stone Forest, to seal the Overlord of the Vortex, Osial.
After guiding his people for thousands of years after the fall of the Guili Assembly due to the death of its leader Guizhong, the Geo Archon believed that humanity had evolved enough to stand on their own. Taking the human alias "Zhongli," Morax began acting as an enigmatic and knowledgeable consultant for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and plotted a crisis to test whether Liyue's citizens could act independently of him. There also was a myth that Morax was the one to kill Havria, the God of Salt, which eventually turned out to be false as her people killed her out of her own cowardice from giving up on her own people during the Archon War.
He's voiced by Peng Bo in Chinese, Pyo Yeong-jae in Korean, Keith Silverstein in English, and Tomoaki Maeno in Japanese. Keith also voiced Robert E. O. Speedwagon in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Vector the Crocodile in Sonic, Torbjörn in Overwatch, Aldebaran in Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, Reaper in Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Nazeem in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Maeno also voiced U-1146 in Cells at Work!, Jet Link in Cyborg 009, and Reiji Kizaki in World Trigger, Dietfried Bougainvillea in Violet Evergarden Franchise.
Biography
Zhongli struck a deal with the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya and her servants the Fatui to awaken an ancient enemy of his named Osial, the Overlord of the Vortex, with Tartaglia helping him do most of the unsavoury operations. As he had hoped, Morax's faithful were able to defeat and imprison the ancient god once again. Believing that his work was done, Morax passed over his Gnosis to the Fatui and, having faked his death during the crisis, fully settled into a mortal life as Zhongli. He retired as one of the Seven with a final contract a contract ends all contracts. Eventually, he met Kun Jun, not being aware that he was being possessed by the already-savage Azhdaha's original, benevolent personality, who eventually led him to putting the vicious dragon to rest, only to realize that he also had to do it because of Erosion on his side.
Zhongli appeared one more time near the end of Perilous Trail to save Xiao, who sacrificed himself to bring the Traveler, Kuki Shinobu, Arataki Itto, Yanfei and Yelan out of the Chasm's underground mines through activating the Fantastic Compass. Aftewards, the Traveler can have a stroll with Zhongli who will sell the Archaic Stone to Iron-Tongued Tian, correcting the non-factual sections of his stories.
Appearance
Morax was a deity capable of changing his physical shape at will. The one feature that remained unchanging across all his forms was the color of his eyes, which always glowed a bright amber. In ancient times, Morax was often depicted as a tall and slender young handsome humanoid male with pale skin and long black hair that was tied into a long ponytail at the back of his head with orange gradients. The power of the Geo element stained his hands, leaving orange-colored vein-like markings across his body and wears a single earring with a white tassel on his left ear. His current identity wears a tailored suit with dress shoes and wears black gloves.
Personality
Morax is a benevolent god towards his people of Liyue. However, if someone breaks a contract, he once said “Ones who break their contracts shall suffer the wrath of the rock”. He is shown to have great sense of fairness and contracts and if fairness is lost, the contract will be one's proof of deception. Over the past years, Morax defended Liyue from the evil gods and Osial. When feeling weary as his duty as the Geo Archon, he decides to test if Liyue can handle their protection on their own such as fighting Osial with the Jade Chamber. As Zhongli, he is shown to be a polite and calm gentleman who usually reminisces about his favorite drink called Osmanthus wine, which he used to drink with his friends from the past years. He is shown to be knowledgeable about everything in Liyue and it’s history. He tends to forget about Mora and falls into scams and relies of Tartaglia or Hu Tao to buy the things for him when he runs low on Mora.
Powers and Abilities
- Geo Gnosis - Zhongli is a utility Geo Polearm user. He can rapidly attack foes with physical damage using his Polearm. His Elemental Skill allows him to summon Geo constructs that can block enemy attacks, attack foes, and create shields for your party. His Elemental Burst is the only one so far which can apply the Petrified status on the enemies.
- Body splitting - Zhongli and the Exuvia existed in the same timepoint during Chapter I, Act II.
Theme
Rex Incognito by Yu-Peng Chen
Through the Eyes of a Dragon by Yu-Peng Chen
Trivia
- Like the other gods of Teyvat, Morax was named after a demon detailed in the Ars Goetia, one of the five books that comprised the demonology grimoire The Lesser Key of Solomon. Morax was ranked twenty-first among the seventy-two demons described in the book and was one of the twelve Presidents of Hell. Commanding between thirty and thirty-six demonic legions, Morax was a teacher of astronomy and liberal sciences who provided wise familiars capable of telling the value of precious stones.
- Zhongli is the only character in game that get buff for underwhemin due to his status as Archon and being "Chinese God".
- His signature weapon Vortex Vanquisher is so bad he uses Staff of Homa in story quests instead.
- The name used in Zhongli's sixth constellation, Chrysos, was known as the spirit of gold in Greek mythology.
- Zhongli has number 4 in "Top 10 Most Popular Genshin Impact Characters" and "Top 10 Strongest Characters in Genshin Impact" in Watch Mojo.
- According to one of his voicelines, he dislikes seafood because it reminds him of the parasites he fought during ancient times.
- Despite being called the "God of Wealth" and Teyvat's currency being named after him, Zhongli ironically tends to forget bringing Mora with him and even falls on obvious scams.
- He's the most mysterious Archon due to have different pattern from other archons. For example, he's not Honkai Expy, has square oculi, has no twins or doppelganger, his constellation name doesn't match his quest name, use rock instead of flower as ascension material, etcs. More in detail in this video.
External Links
- Zhongli on the Genshin Impact Wiki
- Morax on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
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