Castorice

Story

Castorice was originally designed as an experimental entity called "EpieiKeia216".^[11] Amphoreus is a world caught in a cycle of recurrence; the Chrysos Heirs are an organization whose mission is to seize the authority of the Twelve Titans, become demigods, save Amphoreus, and complete its "re-creation".^[a] In a previous life, Castorice was the twin sister of Polyxia, the demigod of Death. In order for Polyxia to pass her trial, Castorice chose to sacrifice herself, leading Polyxia to revive her sister in the next life. At the beginning of the present cycle, Polyxia, who had reincarnated as Thanatos, the Titan of Death, used alchemy taught to her by Calypso, the former demigod of Reason, to resurrect Castorice at the cost of her own life. Because alchemy follows the principle of equivalent exchange, the authority of the Titan of Death was split in two: Thanatos's remains blocked the entrance to the River of Souls, preventing the souls of the dead from entering the nether realm for thousands of years, while Castorice gained the power to "grant death", causing any living being she touched to die.^[12] After her rebirth, Castorice, who had no memories of her previous life, eventually arrived in Aidonia, a city-state that worshiped the Titan of Death, where she was revered as a goddess.^[1][13] The curse caused her long-term suffering, but also made her a respected executioner and saint in Aidonia. Because she could not touch others without killing them, she lost many of the ordinary joys of life that most people take for granted, and this caused her personality to appear shy.^[1] Later, Castorice went to the holy city of Okhema and joined the Chrysos Heirs, who were tasked with saving Amphoreus, setting out on the Flame-Chase Journey.^[12][b]

In the main story, after the Trailblazer and Dan Heng arrive in Amphoreus, Aglaea, leader of the Chrysos Heirs, treats them as dangerous outsiders and orders Castorice to execute them if they lie during questioning. Castorice outwardly obeys, but Phainon, another Chrysos Heir, soon intervenes and argues that the two had helped defend the city, which was enough to prove they were not a threat. Castorice therefore argues that they should be spared; the story later reveals that she had sent someone to bring Phainon before the interrogation began, outwardly obeying Aglaea's order while actually trying to prevent the execution; she later apologized to the Trailblazer and Dan Heng for this. Castorice later travels to the nether realm at the urging of another Chrysos Heir, Anaxa. In the River of Souls, she encounters lingering souls and learns that the curse of death did not come from the "Dead Dragon" Pollux as she had originally thought, but from the split authority of Death. She later frees Thanatos's remains, meets Polyxia's soul, and learns the full truth of their past and present lives. Polyxia gives the Coreflame of Death to Castorice, making her the new demigod of death. To atone for the mistake Polyxia made earlier and watch over the River of Souls, Castorice decides to remain in the nether realm and ferry the souls that had been barred from entering it for thousands of years.^[12]

Gameplay

Castorice is a five-star rarity Quantum damage dealer who walks the Path of the Remembrance.^[14] Her Basic Attack deals Quantum damage to a single enemy. One of her Talents, "Sanctuary of Mooncocoon", takes effect immediately after obtaining Castorice regardless of whether she is on the team; once per battle, when a fatal blow is received by an ally, all allied characters who would otherwise be downed enter the "Mooncocoon" state and take actions normally, delaying becoming downed. Before the start of the next turn, if their current hit points increase or if they gain a shield, the "Mooncocoon" state is removed; they will otherwise be downed immediately. Her Skill consumes a percentage of all allies' current hit points and deals a significant amount of damage to an enemy proportional to Castorice's maximum hit points; If her memosprite is on the field, they jointly attack the target instead.^[c] Her ultimate summons her memosprite, Netherwing (a dragon), and advances its action.^[14]

Characterization and story

Writer Jisuroma of Denfaminico Gamer wrote that, despite Castorice receiving heavy promotion, they initially found it hard to understand what kind of character she was meant to be. Once Chiwa Saitō was revealed as her Japanese voice actress, however, they felt the intended character image immediately became clear. Jisuroma wrote that pairing Saitō's voice with Castorice's appearance made the character's direction instantly legible, calling HoYoverse's casting choice "just too otaku" and saying that Saitō's voice alone made Castorice feel charged with dramatic potential.^[21]

Cosplays of Castorice (left) and of Frieren (right), to whom Castorice was compared due to their similar appearance

Bruno Yonezawa of Screen Rant criticized Castorice's design as too similar to that of another character, Fu Xuan, because both characters have pink hair, head garments, and pink-and-white dresses with long white sleeves. He said it was as if Fu Xuan had an alternative outfit instead of a separate character.^[22] He also correctly speculated that Castorice's memosprite would be a dragon.^[23] Fu Xuan was not the only character to whom Castorice was compared, as according to INSIDE, when Castorice was implemented in version 3.2 of the game, she also appeared in issue 19 of Weekly Shonen Sunday, released on the same day. The magazine's official Twitter account therefore posted that she was similar to the titular protagonist from Frieren, while the official Honkai: Star Rail account replied that both characters are powerful women who have lived for over a thousand years and have distinctive long ears. The official account for Frieren later posted a Venn diagram listing similarities between the two, including longevity, strength, long ears, death-related titles, and a love of reading; the differences were that Frieren fights or runs away from dragons while Castorice summons them to fight.^[24] Dengeki Online reported that the interaction between the official accounts caused the term "Frieren collaboration" to trend on Twitter, and wrote that it would be amusing to see the characters from Frieren appear in Honkai: Star Rail's "beautiful graphics".^[25]

Castorice's story was received mostly positively. After her trailer was released, many players worried that her story would be too tragic for their expectations.^[4] Catherine Daro of GameSpace called her backstory "heartbreaking".^[26] Yonezawa praised Pollux's design as one of the game's best so far for an NPC, and for bringing representation to the game because the character uses a wheelchair. He theorized that it was possible that Pollux may be Castorice's memosprite in humanoid form.^[27]

Castorice's promotional trailers and other videos were generally well-received. Editor MrSun of Yahoo News Taiwan praised the animation quality of her trailer and stated that people were asking when miHoYo would release a feature-length animation based on it.^[4] The character's English name "Castorice" was originally supposed to be a female version of "Castor", but players broke it down into "castor" and "rice", resulting in memes which involve her cooking or eating rice. This can even be seen in collaborations and videos; one April Fools' Day video posted by miHoYo even had her in a chef's uniform. One Sohu author interpreted the fact that her name possibly referred to castor oil in English as Castorice preferring to use it to fry rice. Castor oil is generally used for medicinal or industrial purposes, so commentors pointed out that they were not surprised that rice fried thusly would taste strange.^[8]

Gameplay

Castorice's gameplay was received very well by reviewers and critics. Yonezawa called her "the most controversial character yet" because of a leaked mechanic that would boost Castorice's power the lower her hit points were.^[28] X.C. Enriquez of Esports wrote that Castorice was "broken" due to the Sanctuary of Mooncocoon, which he characterized as negating death for the entire team.^[29] Similarly, Daz Skubich of Pocket Tactics called Castorice an "incredibly valuable character to have" due to her ability to revive characters, which he classified as "ridiculously strong".^[1]