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Genshin Impact's Paimon has been the subject of a lot of speculation and theories. Many believe that Paimon is the Unknown God from the intro cutscene, transformed into a diminutive form. She isn't the most subtle character, but is she really that suspicious?
There aren't a ton of details to pull from in the game about Paimon at the moment, although Mona has a voice line where she explains she can't read Paimon's fortune. Paimon herself claims to be a guide and companion for the Traveler, but it seems odd that they appeared in Teyvat around the same time as the Traveler was separated from their twin.
What Exactly Is Paimon?
The short answer is Emergency Food. Jokes aside, we don't really know. If we take what Paimon says at face value, she is simply a guide – she also happens to know everything about Teyvat – who is repaying the Traveler for saving her from drowning.
Paimon's true identity has not been addressed in the game. The official line from HoYoverse is that Paimon is the Traveler's companion, aiding them as they make their way through the world of Teyvat. Further than this, Paimon has become the mascot of the entire series, making her synonymous with Genshin.
How The Traveler And Paimon Meet
Paimon is found by the Traveler two months before the start of the game, when they accidentally fish her out of the water. She explains this during the intro cutscene, where we see the Traveler and Paimon hanging out on a beach.
The timeline of events is somewhat unclear.
The Traveler appears in Teyvat alone. They seem to have been there for two months before they meet Paimon while fishing in a lake in Mondstadt.
Now, either Paimon and the Traveler met immediately after getting to Teyvat, or Paimon and the Traveler just met and went to the beach to recount the story.
Somehow, Paimon is also a walking encyclopedia of Teyvat and promises to be a guide to the Traveler, repaying them for saving her from the water. Thus begins their adventure.
As far as we all know, there's no real reason to suspect Paimon of being anything other than a helpful guide, despite the fact she's the only thing that looks like she does in the whole of Teyvat that we've encountered.
As more updates are released for Genshin, more light is shed on the overall narrative, and it seems that the Traveler is withholding some details from Paimon at times. It also seems Paimon is becoming frequently more separated from the Traveler during story beats.
Whatever reason behind this is unknown, but it could simply be to switch things up.
So, until the game explains more or drops a bomb on us, Paimon will remain a helpful, opinionated, frustrating, yet somehow lovable, emergency food supply.
However you want to look at it, there are several theories swirling around about Paimon's true identity.
Is Paimon The Unknown God?
The most popular theory about Paimon is that she is the diminutive form of the Unknown God, who somehow got tangled up in her traps against the Travelers and seemingly banished herself to Teyvat.
If this is the case, Paimon is a small, more innocent version of the Unknown God we saw at the start. The two characters could be entirely unrelated, but there's enough cause for suspicion if you dig into the lore more.
One bit of information the community points at to support this claim is the origin of Paimon's name. In English, the name Paimon is taken from an old book on demonology called The Lesser Key of Solomon.
Within this book, the name Paimon is given to one of the nine demon kings of Hell.
Following the same point, the descriptions of Paimon in the book explain how they are effectively all-knowing, which could be interpreted as how Paimon is the all-knowing Teyvat guide to our Traveler.
The demon king Paimon is said to be much more terrible and powerful than the Paimon we know in the game. The Unknown God certainly seems to fit the bill as a terrifying, all-powerful, all-knowing entity, but; the Paimon we know is nothing like that.
She might be rude and brash, but she legitimately seems helpless and would die if the Traveler didn't take care of her. Another big point the community likes to draw on when discussing Paimon is that every other God in the world of Teyvat goes by different names, all of which are derived from the same book Paimon's name comes from.
In the Ars Goetia, the names Buer, Baal, Morax, and Barbatos also appear. You might recognise these names as the Geotic demonic names for the Archons in Teyvat.
- Buer is Nahida / Kusanali.
- Baal is The Raiden Shogun / Ei.
- Morax is Zhong Li / Rex Lappis.
- Barbatos is Venti.
- Focalor is rumoured to be the name of the Hyrdro Archon, who is also set to appear in Genshin.
- Paimon is, well, Paimon. Seemingly a lost nobody in the world of Teyvat.
All these Goetic names come from the Ars Goetia in the Lesser Key of Solomon.
When you view Paimon's name choice through the lens of these other hugely important characters in Genshin sharing a similar naming convention, seemingly reserved for Archons, it does seem suspicious that Paimon is included there.
At the moment, there are only passing references to the Unknown God. As their name suggests, we know next to little about them. It could be the case the Unknown God is not a big, evil entity. We don't know the nature of the Traveler and their sibling, only that the Unknown God – who introduces themselves as the 'sustainer of heavenly principles' – wants to stop them and their galavanting between worlds.
For all we know, the Traveler and their twin were breaking laws with all this world-hopping, maybe doing damage to the heavenly principles of the entire universe, and the Unknown God is just trying to stop some destruction from befalling them.
This theory is the most popular but doesn't hold up too well. Paimon has become the mascot of Genshin Impact, becoming so intrinsically linked to the gameplay, conversations, and story.
So much so, that if Paimon betrayed us or did something negative to the Traveler, HoYoverse would have to change up Genshin significantly. Paimon leaving the Traveler due to being evil or otherwise, seems like it would be too big of a change to the core experience.
Sure, there are ways HoYoverse could write itself out of any corners, but it wouldn't be satisfying in any capacity if Paimon turned out to be the Unknown God – or a part of her that was separated somehow and became the Paimon we know.
Is Paimon Actually A Lost Seelie?
Another burgeoning theory about Paimon is that she is actually one of the only, or perhaps the last living Seelie in Tevyat. According to the lore, Seelies are the leftovers of an ancient race of elevated beings. These Seelies were said to be technologically advanced, with extensive knowledge of the world they used to guide mankind.
As you know, you find Seelies throughout Teyvat that you must guide back to their respective Courts. These lost Seelies are the leftovers from that race, and they certainly don't look like Paimon, but they could simply be in a more ethereal form.
The main contributing factor that gives this theory some traction is that Paimon doesn't resemble anything in the entire world of Teyvat, to the point where she is unique in her appearance.
NPCs and other characters you meet comment on Paimon's appearance with shock, and you know through playing that there isn't anything else small, floating, and white in your travels.
The Traveler doesn't seem to recognise Paimon from their various world-hopping extravaganzas that took place with their sibling before the start of the game, which does lend this theory credence if she's a Seelie from Teyvat.
To top it all off, what is it that Paimon does best? She guides you. Seelies were said to have guided mankind through the world, imparting their vast knowledge to help them find their place in Teyvat.
Is Paimon From Celestia?
Celestia is an area in the world of Genshin that is floating above the land of Tevyat. It is said in the lore to be the homeplace of the Gods, and you can even catch a glimpse of it in-game.
While it currently isn't accessible, it is said that one who does great deeds will be allowed to ascend to Celestia and attain Godhood.
Since Celestia has only been teased, we know that Paimon doesn't look like she comes from any of the places we've visited. It's a stretch, but this could mean that Paimon was cast out from Celestia and is trying to make her way back there.
Why would Paimon want to do this? It's unknown. If she was cast out, she might be trying to use the Traveler as her pawn to help them grow stronger to eventually ascend to Celestia and use the Traveler against the Gods who threw Paimon out.
On the other hand, Paimon could be a spy from Celestia. This would tie into the Unknown God possibly being in Celestia, and she wants Paimon to keep an eye on the Traveler, keeping them in check.
However, as discussed already in this article, because of how much Paimon is integral to the overall game and their status as the mascot, we don't think Paimon will betray the Traveler.
With so much mystery surrounding Paimon, we can only wait until HoYoverse gives us more information through new updates.