The HoYoverse multiverse has intrigued fans even further the moment Honkai: Star Rail came out. The video game developer previously confirmed that Star Rail's universe was connected to Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact through the Imaginary Tree, which was described as the origin of life and where universes and bubble worlds were born. Although fans weren't required to play through Honkai Impact to understand Star Rail, they still found it interesting that both games had different versions of the same characters.
One of these characters is Honkai: Star Rail's Bronya Rand, a playable five-star Wind character from Belobog. She is an alternate version of Honkai Impact 3rd's Bronya Zaychik, who also had various iterations as the game's story progressed. Apart from having similar appearances, both Bronyas also have the same backstories: they grew up in an orphanage and were adopted by Cocolia. What ultimately sets them apart was how their lives unfolded in their respective HoYoverse titles.
Bronya in Honkai: Star Rail and Honkai Impact 3rd Explained
In Honkai: Star Rail, Bronya Rand is the commander of the Silvermane Guards and the current Supreme Guardian. She originally came from an orphanage in Rivet Town, which is located in Belobog's Underworld, where she was adopted by the former Supreme Guardian Cocolia Rand.
As a playable character, Bronya is known for wielding a rifle, which she uses to shoot at enemies. She's a Wind-element character following the Path of Harmony, meaning that she's a support character that buffs her allies' damage (DMG) and critical damage (CRIT DMG). Players can pull for her in the standard banner using a Star Rail Pass. They could also face Bronya in a boss fight in the main story mission and the Simulated Universe.
Meanwhile, Bronya Zaychik in Honkai Impact 3rd is a bit complicated. She started out as a Russian orphan who was raised to be an assassin meant to kill Cocolia, a member of Anti-Entropy led by Welt Yang. When Bronya failed to assassinate her, Cocolia took pity and let her live in her orphanage, where she was experimented on. Bronya later gained the power to use Honkai Energy, which is the byproduct of a dangerous radiation that can turn people into Honkai beasts. Her default skin is the Valkyrie Chariot, which players use for long-distance attacks and support skills.
Honkai Impact 3rd Bronya has multiple skins, each showcasing elements from her past life in Siberia, her role in Anti-Entropy, and the upgrades made to her Valkyrie battlesuit as the story progressed. Some skins also gave Bronya different skill sets. For example, Black Nucleus allowed her to go into Stealth Mode, while the Herrscher of Reason and Herrscher of Truth battlesuits gave her DPS-focused abilities.
On the other hand, there's Bronie, who is Bronya wearing the Haxxor Bunny battlesuit. She exists in the Captainverse, which is the community-chosen name referring to the continuity of Honkai Impact 3rd's event stories. These are also separate from the game's mainline story, so all the characters involved are alternate versions of the original. Bronie would later show up in Honkai: Star Rail as Silver Wolf, who is the newest five-star banner character for Version 1.1.
Apart from Bronya, there are other HoYoverse characters who've crossed over its titles, and all have compelling storylines that differ from one another. These further strengthen the possibility of their universes converging in a future update or a completely new game. This could be a fun way to see just how the characters of Honkai: Star Rail, Genshin Impact, and Honkai Impact 3rd would interact with each other.
As of now, HoYoverse hasn't revealed any concrete plans for the multiverse it's creating. Still, many fans seem to be hopeful for the company's future developments, and hopefully it is able to achieve a satisfying payoff for all the characters that could be involved.
Honkai: Star Rail is now available on Mobile and PC. A PlayStation version is in development.