IttoZhong

IttoZhong is the slash ship between Arataki Itto and Zhongli from the Genshin Impact fandom

Canon
One strong point connecting the two characters is the immense pride Itto feels in the Geo Vision he received when he was younger. In his lore part "Vision", Itto was described as being so proud that he showed everyone he met the Vision and retold the story of how he acquired it until people became sick of the story. During the Vision Hunt Decree, when his was seized and placed near the bottom of the Statue of the Ominpresent God, Itto expressed dismay and disgust at how it was placed near the bottom and said it should've appeared closer to the top due to how powerful he believes it to be. He also wrote to the advice columnist, Miss Hina, asking how he should best care for his Vision so it would be the shiniest, and often carries a small spectacle cloth to polish it. In addition, Itto was interestingly the only person during the Vision Hunt Decree who didn't lose his ambition after having his Vision forcefully seized during the hunts, which could suggest a strong connection to the Geo element and possibly to Morax/Zhongli himself.

During the Perilous Trail quest, it was noticed that the "Chasm Crew" bore parallels to the 5 Yakshas. Itto, in particular, bears similarities with the Geo Yaksha, Menogias, with some others likening him to the Electro Yaksha, Bosacius, on top of that. Because of how close Morax was with these five, it's another connection to be made between Itto and Zhongli.

Personality-wise, Itto has much in common with the late Geo Archon and his reputation in the past. Venti described Morax as a "brutish blundering buffoon" and an "old block-head" while Itto has similarly been described as "the noisiest Oni" and "an entertaining character" by Kujou Sara and Yae Miko, respectively, while also considered to be "mean and overbearing" and extremely competitive, as shown with his one-sided rivalry with Sara and to the observation of others like Yoimiya. Morax and Itto have also been noted to be fairly warlike, as Morax was considered to be the Warrior God in the past who defended Liyue and the Guili Assembly by shedding the blood of countless gods while Itto shows extreme enthusiasm towards battling and takes to them with great aplomb. In the past, Morax was known for his brawn while Itto similarly has strongarm tendencies. Morax was also called the Groundbreaker while Itto frequently is shown decimating enormous boulders, punching cavern walls, and even punching through a domain wall as seen in his story quest and Perilous Trail questline, respectively.

Additionally, both Itto and Zhongli share a close connection to humanity and how their lives were shaped by this dynamic. Zhongli, as Morax, was once cold and indifferent to humanity before being shown how to connect to them through his best friend and Guili Assembly co-ruler, Guizhong, that shaped him into someone who not only has great faith in humanity—enough to step down as the Geo Archon—but also who chose to live among them as Zhongli, posing as a mortal consultant who works out of the Wangshang Funeral Parlor. By contrast, Itto was commonly abused and ostracized by humans for being part-Oni, and like Morax, the Oni had a frightening, bad reputation before adopting the Oni's Oath that inspired Itto to work tirelessly to be accepted by humans without compromising his identity and pride as an Oni, though swearing never to raise a hand or weapon against them with the intention to harm them. And, like Morax's dedication to the peoples of the Guili Assembly and later Liyue, during Itto's story quest did he come to swear to help the downtrodden Blue Oni tribe however he could.

Both are Geo users capable of Geo Resonance and of performing the Geo combo move, Enduring Rock, and also bear many physical similarities. In some depictions, Morax is shown with the antlers he bears in his dragon Exuvia while his arms are charcoal-dark and have geometric, gold veins running through them. He has dark hair that tapers into amber, while Itto has silver hair with red ends. He also has red horns and red markings over his body that are more circular by comparison. In addition, they both have similarly-shaped trapezoidal pupils with an outline, where Itto's black pupils contrast with Zhongli's of white; their eyes are also complementary, with Itto's being orange-red and Zhongli's of dull gold and amber.

A running gag both characters have in common is their inability to manage Mora, being broke, and unthinkingly purchasing items at exorbitant prices.

Fanon
People first began shipping Zhongitto after news of Itto's release in November/December of 2021, as one of two Geo characters to be released in Inazuma. As the ship gained traction, it was popular to depict the pair with Itto as Zhongli's high-energy counterpart with the two also commonly being broke and bad with Mora as a running gag between them. They also liked the idea of Itto being the one to show Zhongli the ropes of modern things like jargon, festivals, and even Onikabuto battles.

On a more sentimental level, many Zhongitto shippers sometimes tend to be ReZhong shippers, as well, who like the notion that Itto reminds Zhongli of Azhdaha, whether or not they depict the past pair as lovers, unrequited, or just friends. Because of this, reincarnation stories where Itto is Azhdaha's reincarnation or someone who reminds Zhongli of his old friend are common, with a select few seeing parallels with Guili wherein Itto is to Zhongli what Morax was to Guizhong due to the common belief that she influenced his present-day, calmer demeanor and high regard of humanity, with Itto being the brawn to Zhongli's brains.

Others also simply like the idea of Zhongli finding a high amount of amusement in how similar Itto was to his past self, and how they share some common interests like how Zhongli is sometimes shown with a secret love of battle that Itto could find similar ground in while Itto could find acceptance from Zhongli's steady and patient demeanor that would find Itto's high energy and boisterousness amusing instead of annoying.

Currently, the ship has roughly 55 works on Ao3 and is Itto's fifth most popular ship while it's still a small rarepair on Zhongli's end. While it often sees aggressive contention with some ChiLi shippers, Zhongitto shippers tend to greatly enjoy ReZhong with some ReZhong shippers similarly liking Zhongitto.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TWITTER
 * ZhongIttoZhong Week
 * ZhongIttoZhong Week
 * ZhongIttoZhong Week

Trivia

 * Both share Slime Condensate, Slime Secretions, Slime Concentrate, and Prithiva Topaz Slivers as ascension materials and talent upgrades.
 * Both use the Crown of Insight as Talent Upgrades.
 * Recently, both Itto and Zhongli's Japanese VA's hosted a show together.