Welt & Bronya

"Have you ever witnessed the stars shatter before you?"

- Bronya quoting Welt Joyce and Welt Yang's line

Welt & Bronya is the family ship between Welt Yang and Bronya Zaychik from the Honkai fandom.

Background
For some time, Welt was Bronya's history teacher at St. Freya so that he could spy on Schicksal, though the two never had any on-screen interactions.

One year before the events of Chapter 11, Welt Yang, the Herrscher of Reason, dove into the Sea of Quanta and encountered Kevin Kaslana, who defeated him. Welt created a labyrinth to prevent Kevin from leaving a Sea, and to test whoever enters if they're worthy of inheriting the Herrscher of Reason core. He leaves a shadow, Joachim, a young version of himself, to watch over the labyrinth.

Under the Deep
Bronya enters the Sea of Quanta to retrieve the Gem of Desire. Bronya meets Joachim, who transports her into different bubble universes as trials for whether she is worthy. Each bubble universe is a test of Bronya's will and faith, but also a reflection to parts of Welt's past and struggles. In the first world, young Joachim is experimented on due to being the 1st Herrscher, so Bronya solves it by having him enroll in St. Freya. The second bubble universe is a representation of Joachim’s own internal conflict with his past and responsibilities. Bronya empathizes with this Joachim and tells him not to run away from his fears, and to be honest with his family. The third world is one where Welt Yang became evil, trying to destroy Schicksal because the Anti-Entropy founders were murdered by them. He says that he and Bronya are one in the same, driven by hatred. Bronya defies this version of Welt because a certain Valkyrie taught her to fight for hope. The Star of Eden of that world responds to her, allowing Bronya to defeat Welt.

With the third world solved, Bronya has solved the maze and is granted access to the Herrscher of Reason core. However, Veliona wants the core because of a deal she made with Kevin Kaslana. They fight, and Veliona casts Bronya back into the maze. Joachim helps Bronya back into the Sea. After losing Seele to the Tlaloc monster, Bronya obtains the Herrscher core and transforms into the Herrscher of Reason, determined to save Seele.

Plain of Vigrid
While searching for Seele, Welt communicates with Bronya through the Herrscher core, congratulating her for integrating with the core. Welt warns that the barrier between reality is disintegrated, and they must stop Kevin before he obtains the Gem of Desire. He advises Bronya that their best shot is to gather his scattered power from across different bubble universes.

Bronya eventually finds Kevin, who is with Seele. They fight Kevin, who is able to disable Bronya’s Herrscher powers. Welt reconstructs his body with his Herrscher of Reason powers to protect Bronya. But Kevin obtains the Gem of Desire and escapes the Sea of Quanta, causing the space to collapse around them. Bronya and Seele escape together while Einstein sends someone to help Welt escape.

A few days later, Welt offers Bronya to be his successor to the Herrscher of Reason core, because it is more powerful in her hands, and because she proved herself in the Sea of Quanta. Bronya is hesitant, so Welt gives her some time. He says that if she accepts, he will train her how to use the Herrscher core.

The Solo Stage
Bronya has a training session with Welt. He commends her perfect performance on physical and combat training. Welt then hands her a Makarov 9mm, which Bronya comments was her favorite gun model from before the orphanage. He walks her through reconstructing the gun with her Herrscher of Reason power, which she does with ease. Welt then gives her a Heckler & Kosh gun to try constructing, which she is unfamiliar with. She uses her knowledge on guns to fill in the gaps, but soon finds out that her construction does not match the structure of the actual gun. Welt commends her for how she worked around it, but says that won't be enough on the battlefield. He teaches that's it's more important to identify an enemy's unknown weaknesses.

After the training, Welt and Bronya go to a viewing deck downtown so Bronya can get some rest. Welt tells her about Joyce, his hero and mentor. Bronya realizes that the dreams she has been having of the 1st Honkai Eruption are about Welt Joyce. Welt explains that this is a side effect of Bronya integrating with the core, experiencing her predecessor's echoes. Bronya notices Welt's sadness in his voice, asking if he had similar dreams. Welt answers that he expected to be able to reunite with Joyce in these dreams, but later realized that those weren't truly Joyce. This is why he comes to this viewing deck sometimes, to remember that Welt Joyce's sacrifice wasn't in vain and that he shouldn't dwell in the past. Bronya worries for Kiana, who must have experienced something similar due to possessing multiple Herrscher cores, yet never said anything about it. Welt replies that recent events point to a looming crisis, so he hopes that when the time comes, Kiana and Bronya will make the right decision. Welt hesitates over his words, unsure whether what he wants to convey is too cruel. Bronya assures him that she understands. She has accepted all of this, for her experiences in Siberia have taught her to move forward and never turn back. Welt reflects that Bronya is a strong girl, stronger than he was back then.

After their conservation, Welt and Bronya's attention goes to a crowd flocking an exhibit, so they go down to investigate. A staff member thinks the two are father and daughter. Welt tries to shut down the exhibit since the statues resemble Honkai beasts. Soon after, the statues come to life, but as puppets without any traces of Honkai energy. Bronya deals with them and Welt instructs her to bring back some evidence to analyze back at the base.

Beyond Will
There is a flashback adding to their conversation in Chapter 23, after Welt tells Bronya about Welt Joyce. He explains the conviction of the Herrscher of Reason, the conviction for humanity to fight against the Honkai, something Joyce was able to do by taking on the 300,000 minds in the Core. Welt believes Bronya can do better than he has at working with these 300,000 minds. Not only because of her talent, but because he thinks Bronya is a lot like Welt Joyce.

Hailing From Nagazora
Now that the Honkai is no longer a threat, Welt steps down from his position as Sovereign of Anti-Entropy to become a full-time animator. Bronya excitedly joins him and works by his side as an R&D engineer intern.

A Post-Honkai Odyssey
At some point after the Great Eruption, Bronya gave the Herrscher core back to Welt.

Before the events of APHO 2, Bronya became the head of of Reason Studio and lead the development of the studio's first game, Arahato α. Welt helped with the original artwork, though at the cost of his own sleep. The game ultimately didn't get much sales. Bronya didn't know what direction to take the franchise, so she wanted to ask Welt for advice, only to learn about his disappearance from the beginning of APHO 1.

Honkai: Star Rail
Welt travels to an alternate world and joins the Astral Express, a space faring train. The first destination of the Astral Express in the game is Jarilo-VI, a planet where an alternate version of Bronya, Bronya Rand, resides as next in line for the Supreme Guardian of Belobog. Welt wants to go down to the planet, but Himeko decides to let Dan Heng, March 7th, and the Trailblazer go so that the three youngsters have a chance to bond on their own. So Welt never gets to meet Bronya Rand.

After the three help resolve the Stellaron in Jarilo-VI, Welt tells them that this won't immediately fix the Eternal Freeze on that planet. But as Trailblazers, the Express has already fulfilled their duty, so there's nothing left to do but believe the the perseverance of Jarilo-VI's people. The trio relays this to Bronya, who agrees with Mr. Yang's sentiment. The Trailblazer can tell Welt about this, mentioning Bronya by name. He's glad that she can move forward with this knowledge, and alludes to his own world that saved their planet with wisdom and courage. Welt hopes Jarilo-VI can be the same.

Honkai Impact 3rd
"Hey, mister, are you taking your daughter to see the cool monsters?"

- A staff member to Welt, who is with Bronya (Chapter 23)

"Not only because you have far more talent than me, but also because you have the same light in your eyes… as Welt Joyce once had. You’ve never met him… but I promise you, you both are very alike."

- Welt to Bronya, Chapter 28 flashback

"Welt Joyce, Joachim Yang, Bronya Zaychik... Each of us is not only one of the three hundred thousand, but also the three hundred thousand combined. The name of Herrscher of Reason has been passed down to this day because its power and will have long been integrated—"

- Bronya to Hare, Chapter 33.

"I've also been creating multiple accounts to gather feedback from Arahato fans and challenge Mr. Yang's decisions. Making games is tough, you know. But anyway, I've earned genuine recognition from Mr. Yang, and it's definitely a great way to kick off my career."

- Bronya mentioning Welt in her 2023 Birthday letter.

"Mr. Yang was right. Guess mecha is still popular among young people today."

- Bronya mentioning Welt in the beginning of APHO 2.

"I'll ask Timido to send you a file: How to Fight written by Mr. Yang. It guided me through many challenges."

- Bronya, APHO 2 side mission "Squad Leader's Research"

"But Mr. Yang's teaching to me was special. It enables me to return to the battlefield at any time."

- Bronya, APHO 2 dialogue (Bronya: Recovery Training)

"The catasrophe is over. Compared to real-life heroes, people need something else. Mr. Yang and I agreed on this. Arahato is a beacon of hope and conviction that we wish to spread out."

- Bronya, APHO 2 dialogue (Bronya: World Today)

"Besides, I promised Mr. Yang to do our part even after Honkai's disappearance."

- Bronya, APHO 2 dialogue (Mei: Reunion)

Honkai: Star Rail
"Besides, I agree with Mr. Yang. Ultimately, the fate of Belobog is in the hands of its own people."

- Bronya Rand, "No Time for Me, My Friend" quest, Star Rail

Fanon
Because of Welt being a mentor to Bronya, plus both being successors to the Herrscher of Reason core, Welt is commonly interpreted as a father figure to Bronya.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * Both had their original Chinese VAs in HI3 changed in Star Rail. Bronya's VA changed from Hanser to Xie Ying, and Welt's changed from Dai Chaohang to Peng Bo.
 * In gameplay, the signature stigmata set for Herrscher of Reason Bronya is the Welt Yang set (though this is no longer her best in slot stigmata set).
 * As for Herrscher of Truth, her signature stigmata is the Bronya Zaychik set, and the T piece has Welt in the artwork.
 * When Silver Wolf, an alternate version of Bronya/Bronie, visits the Astral Express, she can say, “The older gentleman with glasses was also giving me some very subtle looks. Has there been a misunderstanding of some kind?” This implies that Welt noticed her resemblance to Bronya.