Herrschers

"Real misanthropes are not found in solitude, but in the world; since it is experience of life, and not philosophy, which produces real hatred of mankind."

- Giacomo Leopardi

"The misanthrope, as an essentially solitary man, is not a man at all: he must be a beast or a god."

- Aristotle

Herrscher(s), roughly translated from German to Ruler, or also known as a "God", Will of the Houkai, Will of the God and Humanoid Houkai (a mortal or immortal entity who ascended to the world of the Gods) - is an entity that has merged with Houkai energy and has given into the will of the Houkai God to destroy the current era of their civilization that serves as the main antagonistic force of Honkai Impact franchise.

Most of them are humans but new side-stories showed that there are Houkai and Herrschers in many other populated worlds of the universe. They are considered to be extremely powerful in all aspects, in such that S-Rank Valkyries can't guarrantee winning alone without the help of dozens more. The Herrschers are the supreme form of the Houkai and its strongest manifestation in the physical world.

Since they need a human body to host their astral (or Thought-Form), they are not invincible and can be killed if their physical forms/hosts are destroyed or disabled if their core is extracted from their body. The true form of a Herrscher is a gem that can be inserted inside of a being's physical body, allowing them to possess their vessel and have a physical body. Most of the Herrscher are genderless but once they take control of a human body they gain the gender of their vessel, becoming one with them and officially becoming a part of their vessel, like a new persona or personality.

Birth of a Herrscher
The Houkai releases a kind of energy that has never been seen in the past technology, it's called "Houkai Energy", an energy that can be used in infinite methods, including in the creation of technology such as robots, ships, super-weapons and vehicles. The efficiency of Houkai can far exceed any energy available in the world, but if a living being is exposed to this kind of energy they will become zombies or Houkai monsters.

In rare cases, there are people who can endure the Houkai energy and become a Herrscher if it chooses them as humanity's Harbinger of Doom. If it the energy rejects them, they will become mindless and weak zombies with no persona and will. When Houkai energy in an area reaches 1000 HW (Houkai Watts) or higher, there is a small chance that someone may absorb sufficient Houkai energy to become a Herrscher. And when such thing happens, the Houkai Will will contact their vessel and use their bodies as their physical hosts to achieve a human body strong enough to become a humanoid Houkai.

Everytime there is a Houkai Eruption, a Herrscher will be born, some stronger than Herrschers who are born in moments of peace when Houkai beasts are not threatning a country or the region. When an Eruption happens, the level of Houkai energy becomes high and it allow more powerful Herrschers to be born. When a human becomes a Herrscher in times that there are no Houkai threats around, they will become Herrscher but weaker compared to Herrschers born in times of Eruptions.

In general, the adaptability of men with the Houkai energy is much less powerful than women. Most Herrschers are female but it was later revealed that at least four men became Herrschers, with the four being almost the same people. The Welt Young from the Old and New World, and Welt Joyce from the Old and New World. The four are the same Herrscher, the Herrscher of the Logic, as Welt Joyce passed his core to Welt Young after he passed away.

Capacity of a Herrscher
Those became Herrschers are called as "Gods" by most humans because they are supposed to be the highest level of all life. Herrschers are considered to be what humans never became and therefore are like the most evolved form of humankind and all other mortal races of the universe.

The ability of a Herrscher is actually to transform the phenomenon of impossible (or miracles) into reality, in other words, making the impossible possible in the physics of the real world. For example, the Herrscher of the Flames that can ignite fire without the use of fuels, the Herrscher of the Wind law can create ideal fluids and whole tornados without the assistance of Mother Nature. Each Herrscher has different skills and all of them exceeds of human beings.

While Valkyries were created to fight Herrschers, only S-Rank Valkyries (the strongest level that a Valkyrie can get) can fight Herrschers but are barely worth opponents as it takes dozens of other S-Valkyries to defeat a single Herrscher. Taking a Herrscher in a one-on-one fight is considered to be literally a suicidal act as Herrschers have abilities powerful enough to destroy entire planets.

Core of a Herrscher
The Core of a Herrscher is considered to be something like their very souls and hearts. While it's the source of their power it's also their source of life. Their cores are otherwordly gems that possess unknown powers beyong human's understanding. The Herrscher can focus their essence inside of the gem to create an imaginary world for themselves where they can manipulate their physics according to their own design.

While inside of the gems, they are incapacitated as they need a physical body to possess so they can make them their hosts. However, it's said a Herrscher can invade the body of the person who touches the gem, making the crystal being absorbed by the crystal against their will. Sometimes, the person will accept the Herrscher depending on their current emotions.

The birth of a Herrscher happens in a very chronological order. They go by these steps:

Stages of Awakening
Sometimes, the host may embrace their Herrscher personality and they will become the Herrscher itself, gaining their powers but their psychological state will be the same.
 * Phase 1: The "Will of Houkai", or the Herrscher entity will communicate with the eligible person with the promises of giving power to deal with their emotional problems, giving birth to another personality called the "Herrscher consciousness" and will continue to inspire the negative emotions of the eligible person in their heart to bait them into hating humanity and giving into the will of Houkai.
 * Phase 2: The eligible person will start undergoing metamorphosis, early signs are flashes of exhaustion and illness, a signal they are losing control of their bodies. The candidate's phase 2 process depends on the "Herrscher consciousness" requirement of Houkai energy to form a core. Houkai power will attract the zombies and Houkai beasts in order to protect the eligible person before the "Herrscher consciousness" is fully dominant.
 * Phase 3: "The Herrscher consciousness" will try to surpress and eradicate the human conciousness. Upon full control it begins to absorb massive amounts of Houkai energy and summon Houkai beasts to spread radiation, As it gain more Houkai energy it will develop exclusive abilities. This is the sign that the Herrscher is completely almost born.
 * Phase 4: Tearing the human heart and completely abandoning the goodness as human beings, leaving endless hatred, revenge and become true Herrscher. At this time the Herrscher is completely born, then it will control Houkai beasts and hordes of human zombies. It can maximize the potential of it's Herrscher core and create custom or summon Houkai beasts.

Concept
The God Key(s) (or Grand Keys) are made from the core of a defeated Herrscher, designed initially and produced by the Professor MEI of the Fire Moth to use their energy to build weapon with the same Houkai energy capable of greatly injuring Houkai beasts and other Herrschers. Her research and weapons defeated 13 Herrschers byt they failed to defeat the 14th Herrscher, the last Herrscher who destroyed the Old World.

Moral Agency Theory
The Herrschers were always seen as devils in physical bodies, monsters and cold-blooded killers with no goals besides the total destruction of mankind; complete machines moved by their mission given by God. Organizations like Fire Moth, Shicksal and Anti-Entrophy sees the Herrschers as living Apocalypses and figures that should be wiped out thanks to their level of dangerousness and deemed them as mindless creatures with the same goal of the Houkai, the complete destruction of all life.

However, over the years, this psychological theory became more invalid as the Herrschers began to involved themselves with Valkyries and using them as hosts, mainly those from Shicksal such as Kiana Kaslana, Raiden Mei and even Welt Young and Welt Joyce. It was later discovered Herrschers are just as normal as humans and can think by themselves as well as feel all other kind of emotions such as love, hatred, anger and fear. Herrschers tend to show their emotions only to their hosts as some were timid and refuse to show their true emotions to other people. All Herrschers tend to show their true emotions, share the same thoughts and ideas with their vessels, whom are people they trust as much one could call them siblings or intimate people. However, some Herrschers can be attached to their vessel's friends and family and go as much to sacrifice themselves to save them.

Herrscher of the Thunder, for example, was one of the servants of Herrscher of the Void until she met Raiden Mei, who taught her the beauty of the world and became the two became close friends. The Herrscher of the Logic also doesn't seem to have any problems with their vessels as they could easily control their Herrscher's powers, proving the Herrscher of the Logic was in good terms with their vessels. Unlike them, Herrscher of the Void from Kiana Kaslana is a sadistic former human being who took pleasure in breaking the sanity of her vessel with nightmares from her past and Herrscher of the Wind who sought to hurt everyone Wendy, her vessel, wanted to protect.

Planet Earth's Eruptions (New World Timeline)
Eruptions are cataclysmatic events started by Herrscher, they are widely known as steps to the Apocalypse.

First Eruption
The First Eruption of the Houkai on Earth happened approximately 66 million years ago during the era of the dinosaurs. It was the first contact of a Herrscher with the human world but the Herrscher responsible for such mass extinction is unknown to this day. With the exception of some ectothermic species such as the leatherback sea turtle and crocodiles, no tetrapods weighing more than 25 kilograms (55 lb) survived. The First Eruption marked the end of the Cretaceous period and with it, the entire Mesozoic Era, opening the Cenozoic Era that continues until the Third Eruption in 2016 A.D.
 * Orchestrator: ???
 * Date: 66,000,000 years ago

The Herrscher's extinction event was severe, global, rapid, and selective, eliminating a vast number of species. Based on marine fossils, it is estimated that 75% or more of all species were made extinct.

Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe from 1470 to 147X.
 * Orchestrator: Herrscher of the Erosion
 * Date: 1470 AD

The Herrscher extinction was started by the 12th Herrscher of the Old World, the Herrscher of the Erosion. The Black Death was the first major European outbreak of plague, and the second plague pandemic. The plague created a number of religious, social and economic upheavals which had profound effects on the course of European history. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population. In total, the plague may have reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million to 350–375 million in the 14th century.

Second Eruption
Also known as the Second Houkai War, was the first declared war of mankind as a whole against a Herrscher in the new world. It was started in February, 2000 AD after Sirin, a guinea pig of Shicksal Babylon Tower awakened her powers as a Herrscher and began a genocidal quest to wipe out all human race from the planet. It was considered the most destructive war and cataclysmatic even mankind ever faced, with billions of casualities besides the destruction of hundreds of countries.
 * Orchestrator: Sirin
 * Date: February, 2000 AD

Years after Sirin's defeat, the world changed completely. With most of the countries destroyed, the world fell into an economic crisis that starved millions, a global epidemic caused by Sirin's Houkai monsters killed tens of millions more (stated to have killed even more than the Black Plage during the 14th century, as showns in Otto's background), erradicating entire races and species of animals. Aside from the aftermatch of Houkai War, half of all states of the world were completely obliterated by the Houkai creatures summoned by Sirin during her fight with the Valkyries of Shicksal, causing rail damage to all nations, including America and China.

Many people remembered the Second Houkai War as the cause of billions of deaths, dozens of other small countries were still underwater after numerous tsunamis, all the continents of the globe ravaged by meteors and monsters, and hundreds of ruined countries clawing back from the brink of total destruction. In crisis, the infant mortality rate increased by the thousands, the crime rate jumped to the skies, terrorist attacks became frequent, the number of civil wars increased even more in Africa, several diseases have arisen, the number of raped women had grown insanely and thousands of immigrants were targeted by organ traffickers and slave traders.

Fourth Eruption
The Fourth Eruption, also known as the Third Houkai War, was another mass-extinction even similar to the First Eruption that could be considered a planetcide where trillions of sentient beings, humans and all animal life were wiped from the face of the planet. It was started 16 years after the ending of the Second Houkai War, August, 2016 by the same orchestrator of the previous war, Sirin, now better known as the Herrscher of the Void after she controlled K-423's body.
 * Orchestrator: Herrscher of the Void
 * Date: August, 2016 AD

With the Gem of Conquest (Herrscher of the Thunder's core) in her hands, Herrscher proceeded to use her Houkai energy and triggered a cataclysmatic global eruption events, causing the core of Earth to superheat and awakening all volcanos of the world, creating earthquakes that shook the entire planet and shifted entire continents with brutality, killing 90% of all humanity she once destroyed. The planet is now to pitched into complete dark, and that is devastating photosynthesis, destroying crop yields and cause temperatures to plunge, acid rains and many other natural disaster around the globe.

This cataclysmatic event pushed mankind to the brink of extinction, only a few large cities remained standing, such as Arc City, as the last bastions of human civilization.

Trivia

 * Herrscher is a term for "Ruler" in German. Herrscher was only used after the launch of the third game of the franchise, Honkai Impact 3, while in the previous games they were called Rulers.
 * Most of the Herrschers were all female but it was confirmed that at least four male Herrschers existed, the four being the same people. The Welt Joyce and Welt Young from the Old World and the two Welts from the New World, who are basically the same people.