Genshin Impact lore is pretty well-established at the moment, especially with the most recent story quests added to the game. However, there's still plenty more to know about it, and the game is far from finished. In fact, there's plenty of stuff happening in the background that doesn't involve the Traveler. Some of these events have happened either in the distant or recent past.
Most of these are sidelined in favor of the Traveler scrambling to look for their missing sibling who, based on the latest main story developments, doesn't look like they want to be found. That just means there's more time available for checking out the lesser-known Genshin Impact stories, and it just so happens that some of them are contained in the manga.
10 Celestia Becomes More Visible When Picking A Candidate
A quick look in the skies of Teyvat in-game, and players might spot a weird floating island with a tower if they squint long enough. That would be Celestia, which is the realm of the gods in Teyvat. All seven Archons answer to them, and they put themselves closer to the land below once it's time to choose more god candidates.
This notably happened long ago in Mondstadt, when Venti came down to his city to inadvertently help a slave hero named Vennessa. Even Vennessa herself noticed that Celestia was closer than usual. Little did she know, it was she who was going to ascend and face a challenge for godhood.
9 Slavery Persisted In Mondstadt, Even As Venti Became The Archon
That's right, Vennessa was a "slave." It might seem like that word and Venti shouldn't exist in the same paragraph, because he was instrumental in freeing Mondstadt from its previous tyrant Archon. However, it seems slavery still persisted in the wind nation of Teyvat.
It's all thanks tothe Lawrence Clan (Eula's clan) who became the most prominent people in Mondstadt. They abused Venti's absence to reinstate some of Mondstadt's old customs where they were in power, and were allowed to own people like property.
8 How Diluc's Father Died
It's well-known in the community that Diluc became the way he is after losing his father some years before the current in-game timeline. The game didn't further expound upon this, making Diluc seem like a dramatic, angsty teenager.
In the manga though, fans can see the manner his father died. Diluc's dad was slain with impunity by a drake named Ursa. Diluc was merely a Knight of Favonius during this time, and felt powerless and couldn't help his father in the fight. While his father managed to thwart away Ursa, it cost him his life.
7 Even The Knights Of Favonius Couldn't Deal With Some Problems
Speaking of Ursa the drake, he's one of Mondstadt's most persistent problems and has existed for far too long. Apparently, nobody could deal with Ursa. Even the fabled Vennessa could only make the drake retreat, with Venti's help nonetheless.
So it stands within reason that the Knights of Favonius couldn't deal with Ursa. That's also one of the reasons for Diluc's resentment towards the knights. In fact, the only person who slew Ursa was a Fatui Harbinger named Il Dotorre (one of the 11), and he was just passing by.
6 Diluc Nearly Fought With A Fatui Harbinger
Who better to tussle with that Fatui Harbinger than Diluc himself? This happened during a social visit, where Il Dotorre was invited to Diluc's dinner party. Diluc, being a paranoid vigilante, assumed the mantle of the Dark Knight Hero that evening and snooped around. He found Il Dotorre's servant planning to steal some precious Mondstadt wine, among other nefarious plans.
Diluc confronted the servant, but Il Dotorre killed the latter before he could spill some information. Diluc was poised to fight Il Dotorre then and there as the Dark Knight Hero, but lucky for him, the Fatui Harbinger wasn't feeling it and left after killing his own servant.
5 Diluc Uses A Chain Instead Of A Claymore
One might wonder in Genshin Impact how Diluc hides the fact that he's the Dark Knight Hero. After all, there's only one Claymore user in Mondstadt who can spew flames. Well, in the manga, Diluc in his Dark Knight Hero mode prefers to use a chain-like weapon. This was what he employed against Il Dotorre's servant.
In addition to the chain weapon, Diluc also has some throwing knives or shuriken that are sharp and can kill. That's quite a far cry from the Claymore-wielding fire dancer in the game, though it could prove Diluc's wide combat range.
4 Diluc Uses A Delusion
Delusions are counterfeit Visions that just about any Teyvat citizen can utilize to gain a fighting chance against Vision users and other more powerful beings. These weapons were portrayed well during the rebellion against Raiden Shogun, where they bolstered Kokomi's army but also drained her troops of strength.
Diluc apparently has one of these as well, and he uses it quite prominently whenever he's out and about as the Dark Knight Hero. Even Il Dotorre recognized the counterfeit Delusion in Diluc's hand. It's also notably different from the in-game Vision that Diluc has hanging on his belt. His father also used such a weapon when he tried to stave off Ursa's attacks.
3 Other Kinds Of Powers Exist Apart From Elemental
In the game, Genshin Impact's metahuman powers usually manifest in the form of the seven elements: fire, ice, water, earth, nature, lightning, wind, and no other. The manga gives more gray-area powers, as it also presents kind of weaponized occult energy.
This was apparent in the Delusion that Diluc used. When his father used the Delusion, some spectral glowing chains came out and restrained Ursa the drake. Meanwhile, a manga character named Collei was able to conjure some spectral snakes and black or purple flame that killed people. Clearly, there's more to the elements in Teyvat.
2 Some Characters Can Fight Without A Weapon
Those who have read the manga will know just how formidable Vision users can be, even without their weapons. The only Vision users in this medium that brought out their weapons during their fights were Jean and Kaeya.
Meanwhile, there are characters like Amber, who got by without her bow and was able to infuse someone else's weapon with fire. Other characters, like Venti (of course) and even Diluc, managed well without their signature in-game weapons.
1 Vision Powers Are More Flexible
One of the reasons that characters in the manga aren't too reliant on their weapons is that Vision powers are similar to bending abilities in the Avatar cartoons. Kaeya, for example, was able to create all kinds of ice attacks not possible in the game, such as ice walls and projectiles.
As stated before, Amber also infused someone else's sword and in some kind of coup de grâce, and was also able to shoot fire from her hands. This is a pretty big step up compared to the game, where characters only get two active elemental talents at most.
Genshin Impact is available on PS5, PS4, PC, Android, and iOS. A Nintendo Switch version is currently in development.