Hello! What are your guesses for his best in slot (or alternative) teammates? Should we expect a brand-new sub-dps alongside him, or will a Lupa-Mortefi style composition really be the best?
Bold and unrestrained, he appears careless on the outside, yet deep within lies resolve and audacity. He recites no incantations, believes in neither gods nor Buddhas, and follows a path entirely his own. He lives by gratitude and grudges alike, sharp-tongued yet warm-hearted, skilled at wisecracking and playing the fool to dodge trouble. But once trapped in a life-or-death predicament, a bloodthirsty exhilaration stirs in his bones—the greater the danger, the calmer he becomes. Loyal and devoted, he is especially protective of those he recognizes as "family," and refuses to submit to either death or fate.
His Resonance Ability, "Nether Qi Art," grants him the power to move freely through the rifts between yin and yang—his golden left eye can perceive the pivotal workings of yin and yang, while his幽绿 right eye can glimpse shadows and eerie auras; the soul lamp he carries can initiate a reversal of yin and yang, summoning ghosts of karmic debt obtained through trades of lifespan. He dares to walk the underworld road and challenge the very limits of life and death, carving out a path to survival from certain doom.
To him, traversing the wastes and seeking out hidden tales are not merely ways to make a living, but his means of overturning injustice with his own strength and protecting those he holds dear. He lives free and audacious, like a feral cat that crawled out from a mass grave—weathered by wind and frost, yet blazing with joy, with no one able to make him bow his head.
景燃
意气纵横，外表漫不经心，骨子里蕴含着坚定与张狂，不念口诀、不信神佛，行事自成一派。性格快意恩仇，嘴贱心热，擅长插科打诨装傻避祸，可一旦陷入生死绝境，骨子里便激起嗜血般的亢奋，越是险境越显从容。重情守义，对认定为“家人”之人尤为护短，对生死与命运皆持不服态度。
共鸣能力“幽炁诀”赋予他在阴阳缝隙中自由穿行的权能——左眼金色可透视阴阳契机，右眼幽绿能窥见阴影与诡谲气息；随身魂灯可开启阴阳逆转，召唤以寿元交易得来的阴债之鬼。他敢行冥路，也敢挑战生死极限，在必死局中辟出一条生路。
对他而言，行走荒墟、探听秘闻，不只是谋生手段，更是他以自身之力逆转不公、守护珍视之人的方式。他活得自由而张狂，仿佛从乱葬岗中爬出的野猫，满身风霜，却快活如火，无人能使他低头。
Stop sign? What stop sign?
Before Jingran arrives, I'd like to discuss the sales potential of male characters and analyze why they've flopped so far. In my opinion, for a character to sell really well, there are five criteria:
Design
Gameplay/animations
Meta relevance
Banner placement
Story relevance
From what I've observed, all of Wuthering Waves' popular characters check these boxes. Let's take a recent example: Hiyuki.
Hiyuki had a 10/10 design, she was a main DPS with incredible gameplay and insane animations. Meta-wise, she wasn't at the top initially, but everyone knew she would get future teammates. In the story, she played a major role in the plot, which made her one of the best-selling characters in Wuthering Waves.
We can also look at Aemeath. She checked all of these criteria and was clearly treated as a main push. Just like Hiyuki, she benefited from Kuro's marketing, with her animations being showcased very early.
Now let's look at female characters that didn't check every box: Galbrena and Sigrika.
Galbrena had almost everything compared to Sigrika, but her gameplay and the lack of hype worked against her. The wave of disappointment after her gameplay reveal was massive, which resulted in terrible sales.
As for Sigrika, just like Galbrena, both the hype and gameplay were disappointing, but on top of that, her design didn't appeal to many people. Right after her patch came Hiyuki and Denia, two highly anticipated characters. Despite having some relevance in the story, she ended up performing horribly in terms of sales.
Now that we've established the successes and failures of female characters, let's talk about the male ones.
At launch, Jiyan had some buzz, but much less than Calcharo. Jiyan had a good design, was meta, and had story relevance, but Yinlin was much more hyped thanks to her synergy with Calcharo. In the end, he sold less than Yinlin.
I won't include Xiangli Yao since he was free.
Brant struggled because he came after Phoebe, a character that could both buff and deal damage. Meta-wise, Brant wasn't an important pick, his design wasn't particularly well received, his story was forgettable, and right after him came Cantarella. Another failure.
Qiuyuan was probably the most popular male character in China. People liked his design and gameplay, but due to his niche role, he had no real value in the meta upon release. He wasn't a major upgrade over the Lupa mono-Fusion team, he was a sub-DPS that didn't deal much damage, and right after him came another highly anticipated character: Chisa. He was also placed in Phase 2, and his story felt more like a recap than anything else. All of that contributed to his flop.
Based on all this, I think Kuro should realize that everyone wants characters with cool designs, fun gameplay, strong competitiveness, and proper banner placement. Not male characters created to appeal to a very specific audience while being treated as secondary in the story.
Just look at how cool Hiyuki's gameplay is. Very few male characters can boast that level of spectacle.
The worst part is that Kuro sabotages them not only through resistance issues, but also by placing them right before or after highly anticipated banners.
For Jingran to succeed, he needs all five factors, but banner placement is especially important. If you put Jingran after Qingxiao—a character that will obviously be treated with great care by the developers—and then follow him with Hsin, it becomes much more tempting to skip him.
Being in Phase 2 doesn't help either, since that's generally the part of a patch that gets the least amount of hype in gacha games.
