Honkai: Star Rail reveal Sparkle and Misha as two new characters coming in version 2.0

The stellar hype train for Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0 is now going full steam ahead as developer HoYoverse revealed on Thursday (14 December) that Sparkle and Misha are two all-new characters coming in the game's major content update in February 2024.

Hanabi will be the second 5-star character making their debut in version 2.0 alongside Black Swan, whose teaser dropped on Tuesday (12 December). Meanwhile, Misha will be the game's 20th 4-star character.

Based on how previous character reveals panned out, we can expect Black Swan to be the banner 5-star character in the first half of version 2.0 while Sparkle will take the spotlight in the second half. Misha is also expected to be one of the rate-up 4-star characters in Sparkle's banner.

Here's everything we know about Sparkle and Misha so far!

Sparkle

Sparkle is described as an "inscrutable and unscrupulous" member of the Masked Fools, a faction that worships Aha the Aeon of Elation.

The Masked Fools practice their devotion to Aha by basically having fun, whether it's by stirring chaos or more lighthearted shenanigans. They are also known to gather in bars and taverns across the cosmos, where they delight in sharing stories of their hijinks over drinks.

Sparkle will be the fourth member of the Masked Fools we will meet after the 4-star character Sampo Koski and the NPCs Giovanni and Zhongshan. Among the colourful cast of the Masked Fools, Sparkle stands out as a "dangerous master of theatrics" who wears "countless masks and many faces".

With Sparkle being introduced to the story as various intergalactic factions will be gathered in Penacony, we can expect her to cause some chaos there as she thinks little of wealth, status, or power and is only interested in her own "amusement".

In gameplay, Sparkle will wield the Quantum element and follow the Path of Harmony, the first character with that element-Path combo. Once she is released, Quantum mains will finally have the dream mono Quantum team with Seele or Qingque as the main damage-dealer, Sparkle as the Harmony support, Silver Wolf as the Nihility support, and Fu Xuan or Lynx as the sustain character.

Sparkle will be voiced by Lizzie Freeman in the game's English dub, Reina Ueda in the Japanese dub, Zhào Shuǎng in the Chinese dub, and Sung Yewon in the Korean dub. She notably shares the same English and Japanese voice actresses as Genshin Impact characters Yanfei and Ganyu, respectively.

Misha

Misha is a bellboy of Penacony's Reverie Hotel, described as a lovable and thoughtful young man with a fondness of sharing interstellar rumors with the hotel guests. Since Misha is working in the Reverie Hotel, he may also be a member of The Family, the faction devoted to Xipe the Aeon of Harmony that rules the planet.

Misha may also be the next new member of the Astral Express crew, as the teaser also mentions that he wants to become an intergalactic adventurer like his grandfather. The boy hopes he can grow up faster, save up money in his job as a bellboy, and embark on his own star-treading journey. What better way to do that than as a member of the Nameless aboard the Astral Express?

Because of this possibility that he will eventually join the Astral Express crew, we also think Misha will be an important character in the Penacony storyline.

As a playable character, Misha will wield the Ice element and follow the Path of Destruction, the first character to have that element-Path combo. With the 4-star Quantum Destruction character Xueyi also coming in version 1.6, players will have the chance to get easily available damage-dealers without spending much Stellar Jade to get a 5-star character.

Misha will be voiced by Cat Protano in the game's English dub, Eriko Matsui in the Japanese dub, Liǔ Zhīxiāo in the Chinese dub, and Bak Sin Hee in the Korean dub. If you're wondering why a male character like Misha will be voiced by voice actresses in all dubs, then you should know that young boy characters are very often voiced by voice actresses in both Japanese anime and Western animation.

Honkai: Star Rail is currently in the second half of version 1.5 with the Physical Erudition character Argenti as the banner 5-star character. The second half of this update also feature the debut of the 4-star Physical Harmony character Hanya.

Version 1.6 in December will also see the release of three new characters in Ruan Mei, Dr. Ratio, and Xueyi.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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