 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| “ | When will death come for me? My patience is wearing thin. | „ |
| ~ Blade/Yingxing. |
| “ | Of five people, three must pay a price. You... are one of them. | „ |
| ~ Blade's Famous line in Dan Heng's Nightmare. |
Blade (formerly Yingxing) is a major antagonist and playable character in the 2023 science fantasy turn-based tactical role-playing video game, Honkai: Star Rail.
Blade is an enigmatic swordsman who served Destiny's Slave as a Stellaron Hunter. Possessing a potent self-healing ability, he sought to enact vengeance on figures from his past for their transgressions.
Blade is voiced by Yijia Liu in Chinese, by Daman Mills in English, Kwak Yoon-sang in Korean, and by Shin-ichiro Miki in Japanese. Mills has also voiced Frieza in Dragon Ball, Weiss in Final Fantasy VII Remake, Askin Nakk le Vaar in Bleach, Leonardo Lionheart in RWBY, Kaworu Nagisa in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Mustard and Moonfish in My Hero Academia, and Diablo in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Miki has also voiced James in Pokémon, Zamasu in Dragon Ball, and Mizuki in Naruto.
Appearance[]
Blade is a man with fair skin, long dark blue hair with red tips, and red eyes.
He wears an oriental-styled black tailcoat with red clothed insides and gray trousers. The tailcoat is embroidered with gold and dark blue colors, and he wears a black belt alongside a styled metal decoration on his left thigh. He also wears a black glove on his right hand, and bandages can be seen wrapped around his right arm, right thigh, and on his left hand.
Personality[]
Blade is a figure haunted by a dark and tragic presence, a swordsman whose very life is a reminder of an awful past and an endless pursuit of an ending that forever recedes from him. He is the contradiction of immortality as a curse, living in a continual cycle of pain and rebirth that has ripped away his former life and left him as not much more than a living sword. His face is typically stoic and closed off, marked by a repressed intensity that conceals the turmoil of agony within. He does not engage in frivolous conversation, preferring instead directness and a frugal use of words, which more often than not leads others to perceive him as distant or cold. Yet behind this hardened exterior lies a complex man with deeply rooted motivations and a fractured sense of self.
At the core of Blade's character is his terrifying regenerative ability, a product of a past sin that infused his body with the energy of Abundance. The energy renders him almost invulnerable; he can sustain awful, even lethal, injuries and recover from them rapidly, only to come back to life again. This perpetual cycle of wounding and healing is more curse than blessing, a reminder that he cannot experience the peace of death. He actually seeks out situations likely to lead to his death, embracing each wound as a step closer to the ultimate release he so urgently longs for. His very combat style is reflective of this suicidal tendency, trading his own life energy to utilize debilitating attacks, surviving only by his unnatural regenerative abilities.
His new identity as "Blade" is one he has assumed, actively rejecting his former life as Yingxing. His former life was as a renowned master craftsman, creator of exquisite weaponry on the Xianzhou, held in esteem for his unparalleled skill. He was also a member of the illustrious High-Cloud Quintet, a group of legendary heroes. This golden era was cut short by a cataclysmic event, commonly referred to as the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae. The catastrophe was an attempt to revive a dead friend, a foxian girl, which accidentally led to unforeseen and calamitous consequences. It is during this period that Yingxing becomes afflicted with the "mara", a disease that causes long-lived individuals to descend into madness when memories overwhelm them. Despite being touched by this disease, his unusual condition and the assistance of others allow him to preserve a degree of lucidity, even though memories of his past are fragmented and often painful.
One of the primary motivations for Blade is a deeply personal one of vengeance against some individuals in his past, particularly an old comrade who now uses another name and appearance, and another who once was his mentor. He has a sense that "of five people, three must pay a price", a refrain etched into his being and sending him headlong on his mission. This "price" has direct relevance to what led him to become what he is today and to the suffering he endures now. He wishes for them to suffer as much and go through the same desperation he goes through on a daily basis, and only with their punishment can he find closure, or better stated, the death he so desperately desires. His interactions with these individuals are suffused with a raw, almost primal intensity, saying much about the depth of his unresolved anger and pain.
Despite his cold and often dark demeanor, Blade is bound by a bizarre sense of loyalty to the Stellaron Hunters, the secretive group to which he now belongs. He offers allegiance to "Destiny's Slave", the enigmatic figure who controls the Hunters' actions. His relationships with his fellow Hunters, and Kafka in particular, are complex. Kafka, most of all, seems to have a peculiar grip on him, as though he has the ability to control his fragmented memories and secure him to their shared purposes. He withstands Silver Wolf's mocking jibes and SAM's threatening demeanor, viewing their shared cause as a means to an end, a journey that might ultimately lead him to his beloved oblivion. He operates with a cold effectiveness, completing missions with the one-track mind that is worthy of his existence as a living weapon.
Blade is, in many ways, a profoundly tragic character, a man who has lost his original identity and is cursed to exist in an endless cycle of existence that he despises. His personality is tempered in this ongoing torment, assuming the shape of a gloomy determination, a profound indifference to his own well-being, and a monomaniacal obsession with achieving a goal that is forever just out of his reach. He is testimony to the horrific price of knowledge that is forbidden and the enduring weight of a past that will not be remembered. Blade is a character steeped in melancholy and surrounded by an enigmatic, haunted presence.
He exudes an air of resignation and seriousness, as if every action is weighed down by centuries of pain and disillusionment. His personality is broodingly introverted, reticent, and taciturn—he speaks little, with actions doing the talking more than words, and rarely reveals his inner thoughts or motivations. This silence is not a result of arrogance, but of a profound weariness and a sense of isolation from the world and its people. At the center of his being is an endless cycle of violence, immortality, and suffering. Blade possesses a supernatural self-healing ability, which has rendered him nearly indestructible and denied him the comfort of death.
Far from viewing it as a blessing, he regards his immortal existence as a curse, tying him to the wounds of a forgotten history and the eternal pursuit of vengeance. Blade's life is defined by his struggles with "Mara" — a madness induced by his compounded traumas, past guilt, and agonizing memories. These overwhelming emotions have dissolved his capacity for happiness or comfort, reducing him to nothing but stark memories of hatred, loss, and regret. In this perpetual twilight, he longs not for heroic triumph but final extinction, an end to his suffering that always stays just beyond his grasp. Behind his impassive façade, Blade is tortured by inner conflict. Much of his existence is motivated by revenge—both against his enemies and, pointedly, against himself.
He is consumed by profound bitterness, especially for those he blames for his fate, and his need for vengeance sometimes borders on an obsession. This uncompromising obsession does not, nevertheless, anaesthetize his pain but instead transforms him into a tragic figure who is unable to escape his own past despite the fact that he desperately seeks oblivion. Blade has all but abandoned nostalgia and hope and lives only to settle old scores and to achieve meaning—or maybe release—at the point of a sword. His one-track mind and intimidating aura don't completely mask his complex personality. He is capable of violence, but not motivated by bloodlust. There are fleeting moments of compassion and sympathy, expressed in those few instances when his scarred humanity surfaces. He is a capable man of loyalty, particularly to the handful who look past his reputation to the man beneath, and abides by his own unwritten code of honor, even when he goes out of his way to separate himself from the living. His life is a paradox: born of pain, Blade has shed all semblance of belonging or permanence, yet yearns unknowingly for redemption and comprehension. His relationship with life is not one of belonging, but of begrudging survival.
Self-hatred, isolation, and unresolved anger comprise the basis of his existence, yet are infused with occasional bursts of dignity and longing for a cessation of his pain. Overall, Blade is a study in contrasts—a vampire plagued by the desire for mortality, a swordsman whose every blow is haunted by memory, and a spirit who, even as he wades through blood and carnage, is haunted both by what he has lost and by the hope of peace that is eternally denied him. He is neither villain nor hero, but a perpetual wanderer; forever seeking, forever suffering, and, in his gloomy silence, carrying the mute tragedy of a life that cannot end.
History[]
Yingxing was born on a planet that was attacked by the borisin, an intelligent warrior race that worshipped the Aeon of Abundance Yaoshi. The borisin waged war across the cosmos in the name of their Aeon, and used the bodies of their victims to construct biomechanical engines of war. Though his family were unable to escape, the young Yingxing managed to flee his homeworld. The planet was transformed by the borisin into a weapon nursery, dedicated solely to the production of borisin bioweapons. Yingxing swore vengeance on the borisin and all other Denizens of Abundance who revered the Aeon Yaoshi.
Knowing he needed to become more capable, Yingxing decided to make the Xianzhou Alliance his destination. The Xianzhou Alliance was a faction that revered the Aeon of The Hunt Lan and travelled the universe aboard six planet-sized starships. The people of the Xianzhou consisted of three humanoid races: humans, the fox-like foxians, and the dragon-like vidyadhara. The humans and foxians of the Alliance were immortal and long-lived respectively due to blessings from Yaoshi, and the vidyadhara possessed immortality in the form of reincarnation thanks to the blessing of the fallen Aeon of Permanence Long.
The blessings of Abundance caused genetic defects to occur in humans. Xianzhou humans inevitably became afflicted with "mara," an irreversible condition that turned them into frenzied abominations. As such, the people of the Xianzhou had turned their back on Yaoshi millennia ago and dedicated themselves to combating the influence of the Aeon and THEIR followers. After travelling aboard a Xianzhou merchant vessel, Yingxing reached one of the six Xianzhou capital ships: the Xianzhou Zhuming. The Zhuming was famed for its master craftsmen, and was responsible for crafting a majority of the entire fleet's arsenal.
Powers & Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Immortality: During the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae, Yingxing attempted to use the flesh of the Emanator of Abundance Shuhu to revive his companion Baiheng. In the course of the event, Yingxing's body became infused with the power of the Abundance. He lost most of his memories in the process and became afflicted with "mara," a curse suffered by those who received the blessing of the Aeon of Abundance. As a result of the power of Abundance flowing through him, Blade could not die. He did not age physically or mentally and his body quickly healed from any wounds. In the event that he sustained lethal damage, he fell unconscious for a short time before resurrecting.
Abilities[]
- Master Artisanship: Yingxing was taught how to craft weapons by Huaiyan, the legendary Furnace Master of the Artisanship Commission of the Xianzhou Zhuming. Possessing immense talent, he quickly became a master artisan capable of forging truly sophisticated and exquisite weapons. He was awarded numerous accolades for his work and was even eventually made the Furnace Master of the Xianzhou Luofu despite his young age and short lifespan. However, after being reborn for the first time, the man who would become Blade completely lost the talent he had once possessed.
- Master Swordsmanship: Yingxing, being the apprentice of Jingliu, was also taught the Xianzhou swordsmanship into what he became today.
Equipment[]
- Shard Sword: The finest of Yingxing's creations were without a doubt a set of four weapons which he crafted as gifts for the other members of the High-Cloud Quintet. Among those four weapons was a flawless one-handed jian that he gifted to the Sword Champion Jingliu. The sword was five feet long, had an ebony-colored blade with a sanguine sheen, and was painstakingly forged out of the cores of alien metals. Even though the sword was among the greatest weapons ever forged, it was unable to properly withstand being wielded by the legendary Sword Champion. As a result, the blade was eventually covered in cracks from the wear and tear it suffered. Henceforth, it was referred to as the "Shard Sword." Sometime after the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae, Jingliu returned the Shard Sword to its creator.
Theme[]
Death Approaches by Wen Chi[]
Quotes[]
| “ | You're here. It's time to pay the price! It's time!!! You think changing form will help you escape!? Escape... Dan Heng... You think another name and face can blot out the sin of your past? You... You didn't even experience death... I will force this suffering upon you, "Dan Heng." You will know the pain of death! | „ |
| ~ Blade upon his reunion with Dan Heng. |
| “ | A familiar feeling... almost as if... we've returned to my first sword lesson. You used the sword Yingxing crafted... and pierced, sliced, and impaled me time and time again... The swordplay used to slay our enemies of old is still engraved on this despicable shell. All I can do is watch my flesh become severed, healed, and restored... It's as if they're saying... "Why... why did you and Imbibitor Lunae commit such an unforgiveable sin?" I know that you have no interest in my answer. Which is why I asked the question as you looked me straight in the eye. I've asked myself that same question infinite times... but was never able to find the answer... Why... why is it that only the abominations can return time and time again...? Why does someone like her have to be buried, burned to ash, and eventually forgotten...? Why!? In the end, you unleashed the final piercing blow, and left both me and the sword in the withered grave. The miraculous thing is that in my brief moment of death... all the pain went away... like when we drank to drown our sorrows... | „ |
| ~ Blade recalling memories of the past after duelling Jingliu. |
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The name "Yingxing" may've been derived from Song Yingxing, a Chinese scientist and encyclopaedist active during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Song Yingxing most famously compiled the 1637 encyclopaedia The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, which detailed an array of technical concepts such as gunpowder weaponry.
- The curse of Shuhu that Blade suffered from was visually represented in both his clothing and abilities by "lycoris radiata," otherwise known as the "red spider lily." The red spider lily was a type of flower endemic to East Asia, in which it was considered symbolic of the cycle of death and rebirth. It was customary in some Asian cultures to bring red spider lilies for a funeral, as the flowers were believed to help spirits in their journey toward reincarnation through the afterlife.
External Links[]
- Blade on the Honkai: Star Rail Wiki
- Blade on the Heroes Wiki
[]
| v t e |  Villains |
|
 Houkai Honkai Beasts Anti-Entropy Schicksal World Serpent Sky People Quantum Shadows Imaginary Creatures Others | ||
 Heavenly Principles Seven Sovereigns Mondstadt Liyue Inazuma Fontaine Kingdom of Remuria Natlan Snezhnaya Khaenri'ah The Abyss Light Realm Others | ||
 Aeons Antimatter Legion Annihilation Gang Jarilo-VI Denizens of Abundance Interastral Peace Corporation The Swarm Republic of Glamoth Penacony Masked Fools Stellaron Hunters Genius Society Amphoreus Garden of Recollection Memetic Entities Other Characters Other Organizations Crossover | ||
 Top Members Janus Quarter Branch Ravenlock Family Waifei Peninsula Branch Drowned Ideals Proxies Other Vision Corporation Red Fang Gang Ethereals Sacrifice Mountain Lion Gang The Vanquishers Defense Force Obsidian Division Others Astra-nomical Moment (Special Episode) Defense Force Obsidian Division | ||