Genshin Impact: Is Kunikuzushi actually Scaramouche?

Part 4 of the Hues Of The Violet Garden in Genshin Impact 2.6 showed us a flashback that revealed Kunikuzushi and Scaramouche to be the same person. 

It was also shown that Kunikuzushi was the one who tampered with the forging diagrams a long time ago, causing the Isshin craftsmen to fail in creating a Goushinto Blade for The Shogun and made them decide to flee when the deadline approached. These events led to the downfall of The Raiden Gokaden, the five schools in Inazuma’s weapon smithing scene. 

But why did Kunikuzushi do this? Before we talk about that, let’s recap what we know so far about the character we knew as Scaramouche for a very long time. 

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Where we met Scaramouche in our travels so far 

Despite being described as a man with a slender figure, a handsome face, and a youthful appearance, Scaramouche isn’t as innocent as he seems and is actually the Sixth of the Eleven Fatui Harbringers. 

As we know, The Eleven Harbingers are the executive officers of the Fatui (the main antagonistic faction in Genshin Impact) and the most powerful and highest-ranking members of the organization. This places Scaramouche in the same rank as Childe (Tartaglia) and La Signora. 

Version 1.1 

We first met Scaramouche in Version 1.1 in an event called The Unreconciled Stars where he introduced himself as a “vagrant from Inazuma.” While he was friendly at first, he tried to strike The Traveler down after learning about the latter’s identity as the Honorary Knight. But Mona stopped him and helped The Traveler escape. 

Version 2.1 

We didn’t see anything about Scaramouche until months later in Version 2.1 as the antagonist in Inazuma’s Archon Quest.  

As a Fatui Harbinger, he was overseeing the creation of Delusions at a secret facility.  

At some point, he recognized The Traveler and confronted them. Here, The Traveler fainted but was saved by Yae Miko. She negotiated for The Traveler’s safety in exchange for Ei’s Gnosis. 

Scaramouche did take the Gnosis, and as The Fatui had been trying to collect the Archons’ Gnoses from all over Teyvat, we expected him to report back to the organization. But he didn’t. Instead, he cut off contact with The Fatui, causing Childe (Tartaglia) to try tracking him down but to no avail. 

Version 2.3 

We didn’t see Scaramouche in Version 2.3, but we learned some details about his early life through the artifact set called The Husk Of Opulent Dreams. 

For instance, the Song of Life artifact says that Scaramouche was a puppet created by the Electro Archon Ei and was intended to serve as a vessel for Ei’s Gnosis. 

He was originally born to be a vessel for a “heart.” 

But he shed tears in his dreams. 

His creator observed thus: 

He was too fragile, whether it be as a human or as a tool. 

Excerpt from Song of Life

Scaramouche’s Early Life 

Scaramouche was originally created by the Electro Archon Ei as a test in making puppet bodies that would serve as a vessel for Ei’s Gnosis. Although not meant to be perfect, the creation of Scaramouche was successful, and he was considered the prototype of the current Raiden Shogun. But Scaramouche “shed tears in his dreams” as stated in The Song of Life artifact. This led the Electro Archon to deem Scaramouche too fragile and gentle for such a task. 

Since Ei didn’t want to kill Scaramouche, the Electro Archon allowed him to take control of his own life. 

As a free being, Scaramouche was called the “wandering eccentric” and spent his early days in the Shakkei Pavilion. This was where Katsuragi, the yoriki of Inspector Mikoshi Nagamasa, met him. And Scaramouche and Kasuragi would later become very close friends. 

Since Inspector Mikoshi Nagamasa took bladesmithing at Tatarasuna, Scaramouche also settled there for a time.  

At one point, after the Inspector forged a nagamaki called Daitatara Nagamasa, Scaramouche and Katsuragi performed a sword dance. 

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Scaramouche becomes Kunikuzushi 

Now, this part of Scaramouche’s life is a bit unclear. 

One day, for reasons unknown, Inspector Nagamasa’s group pursued Scaramouche but was unable to find him. 

Not only that, after learning of Katsuragi’s “misconduct,” which was likely related to the reason why they were searching for Scaramouche and/or why they weren’t able to find him, Nagamasa threw a fit and slayed Katsuragi with the Daitatara Nagamasa. 

From that day on, the nagamaki Daitatara Nagamasa was notoriously called Katsuragikiri Nagamasa which means Katsuragi-Slashing Nagamasa. 

Moreover, Scaramouche left and took on the name Kunikuzushi which means “Country Destroyer.” 

Why did Kunikuzushi sabotage the forging diagrams of the Goshintou blade? 

Now, this leads us back to the question we had in the beginning. 

After some time, three of the five famous bladesmithing practices in Inazuma, collectively known as the Raiden Gokaden, fell from grace because of Scaramouche’s actions. 

During his time, Kazuha’s great-grandfather Kaedehara Yoshinori and the Yashiro head were tasked to to track down bladesmiths who had fled after failing to create a Goushinto Blade for the Shogun, the artificial body made by Ei to act as her current vessel. As they tracked the criminals and reached the beach on Narukami Island, they were met instead by an eccentric man who confessed that he was behind the failed forgings. Then, he took Yoshinori’s men down in one fell swoop! 

Yoshinori‘s hat took most of the blow and was spared from death while the Yashiro head was severely wounded. Then, the eccentric man asked if Yoshinori had any connection to Niwa, which Yoshinori confirmed. Upon hearing this, the eccentric man told him to tell Niwa of his name “Kunikuzushi” before leaving. 

Yoshinori and the Yashiro head decided to keep the incident a secret to save the Kaedehara Clan from being accused of working with the perpetrator, the Raiden Gokaden from being completely wiped out, and to ensure the safety of his future family. 

Near the end of his life, Yoshinori wrote about the truth behind the failed forgings which would later be discovered and read by Kazuha in Part 4 of the Hues Of The Violet Garden story. 

With the events leading to Katsuragi’s death, we can say that what Scaramouche did was an act of revenge against the bladesmiths. 

But as to what made Inspector Nagamasa pursue him and what Katsuragi’s “misconduct” remained a mystery. 

We sure hope to learn more about him in future updates.