New Genshin Impact characters have been revealed, and this includes some information about a new upcoming character: Kuki Shinobu. She will be released during the game's 2.7 update, likely on the second Banner of the patch. While information is currently limited, some things about her backstory, personality, and gameplay have been hinted at or disclosed already.
Kuki Shinobu is said to be a jack of all trades type of person who is talented at all kinds of activities, most notably legal consultation. Her career path has seen her change from shrine maiden to lawyer to ninja, and she wound up as the Deputy Leader of Arataki Itto's Arataki Gang. Some characters already in Genshin Impact, like Kujou Sara, describe her as knowledgeable, talented, and well-rounded. Arataki Itto talks about her in one of his voice lines, describing her as good-hearted, intellectual, confident, and skilled in battle.
Revealed officially on the Genshin Impact Twitter account earlier today, Kuki Shinobu sports a mainly purple and black color scheme. She has light green colored hair that contrasts with the dark purple of the rest of her outfit. She has tall, decorated boots that go halfway up her thighs, and wears a black mask that covers her mouth and nose, which makes her the first character in Genshin Impact to wear a mask (if you discount Xiao during his Elemental Burst). She wears a black top that leaves her stomach exposed, and a short purple jacket over that. Her character design is somewhat similar to Shenhe, as she has various ropes throughout her design that could possibly come into play.
Genshin Impact's Kuki Shinobu: What's Leaked & What's Confirmed
Kuki Shinobu has been confirmed as an Electro sword user. A previous leak has pinned her as an Electro healer, which is not confirmed, and the reveal of a sword user does leave this part up in the air. If true, Kuki Shinobu will be the first Electro healer of Genshin Impact, giving her a unique role and position among the game's roster.
Various aspects of Kuki Shinobu show her to be an advocate of justice. She has a background in the study of law, even going abroad and studying in Liyue (confirmed by Yae Miko in one of her voice lines), and as Deputy Leader of the Arataki Gang, she often finds herself fixing the damage that the rest of the gang causes, including Itto himself. Her character title is "Mender of Tribulations," and the name of her Constellation is "Tribulatio Demptio," which translates to "Trouble Remover." All of these things together prove that Kuki Shinobu in Genshin Impact will be a character with a kind heart, who moves swiftly and efficiently to fix any trouble she comes across.
There are other various small leaks about how Kuki Shinobu will play in Genshin Impact. One leak is that Kuki Shinobu will remove her mask when she uses one of her abilities, either her Elemental Skill or her Elemental Burst. Some Genshin Impact fans have speculated that the stat Elemental Mastery will be important to her kit, but this is also not confirmed and is just speculation.
What Role Might Kuki Shinobu Fill In Genshin Impact
If the leaks about Kuki Shinobu being an Electro healer are true, then she will have a very unique role to fill, and she should be welcome in a lot of team compositions in Genshin Impact. A lot of fans have speculated and believe that Kuki Shinobu will be a perfect support for Yae Miko, which is a character that would greatly benefit from having a dedicated Electro support (especially if a player does not own the Raiden Shogun). Kuki Shinobu will likely function as an Electro healer as well as an Electro battery, funneling Electro particles to another Electro main DPS (again, like Yae Miko, who has one of the highest Elemental Burst costs in the game).
Since Kuki Shinobu is a sword user, this opens a lot of possibilities for her weapon choice. She is holding a unique, never before seen sword in her character art, which could be hinting at a new 4-star sword being added in Genshin Impact alongside her, which is typical when a new character is introduced. It is a dark purple and black sword that appears to be segmented, which could be a part of her playstyle (some fans are speculating a whip-like attack). However, even if a new weapon is not released with Kuki Shinobu, she will have a lot of interesting options to use as her weapon, like the limited weapon Festering Desire if she also deals some damage (it would also match her really well aesthetically), or other various Energy Recharge focused swords like Favonius Sword or Sacrificial Sword. Yet, players will have to wait for leaks consisting of her abilities, Constellations, and stats to begin to theorize on what might be the best build for her.
Kuki Shinobu being an Electro healer would likely have her replacing various characters in other existing team compositions. For example, she could replace characters like the bow user Fischl in taser (Electro-charged focused) teams, or other teams that would benefit from having a healer, but not specifically from Bennett. She could be paired with an Electro main DPS for the Electro Resonance, and two other Hydro characters like Xingqiu and Mona to create a strong Electro-charged team composition.
A lot of characters in Genshin Impact have their personalities reflected in their gameplay, which greatly supports the leak that Kuki Shinobu will be an Electro healer since her character goes around and fixes up everyone else's messes. It would be interesting to see her kit have synergy with Arataki Itto since they work closely together in the lore, but this likely won't be true since Geo characters typically want other Geo characters on their team. Since Electro is such a niche element in Genshin Impact, only time will tell what kind of role that Kuki Shinobu will end up filling.
Source: Genshin Impact/Twitter