KaeLisa

KaeLisa is the het ship between Kaeya Alberich and Lisa Minci from the Genshin Impact fandom.

Prologue: Act I
After facing off with Stormterror (Dvalin) with the help of a mysterious voice, Traveler lands their glider, and is approached by cavalry captain Kaeya. He promptly brings Traveler to meet with the Acting Grandmaster, Jean. Lisa is also present, and it is established that they are all a part of the same order, known as the Knights of Favonius. Kaeya and Lisa are shown to interact in regards to the Stormterror crisis. Jean mentions that Lisa, having used her detection magic, discovered that a leyline disorder is enhancing Stormterror's powers. Kaeya, intrigued, questions "Is that so?" Lisa then turns to him and provides further information. She states that the leylines are located in the Four Winds Temples, as well as reaffirms that Stormterror is drawing power from said temples. Following this interaction, Kaeya, Lisa, and Amber work together to cut off the source of power, by tackling a temple each. Traveler meets up with each of them, and both Kaeya and Lisa officially join the party.

Midsummer Island Adventure: Part III
Prior to this part in the event, Jean had given the role of Acting Grand Master to Kaeya while she was away at the archipelago. In this part, however, he was discovered to be at the archipelago as well. When asked who was overseeing the Knights of Favonius, Kaeya stated that he had given the role to "the mighty Librarian, Lisa, of course." He then went on further to compliment her strictness when it came to keeping things in order. Kaeya is known for dedicating himself to "studying threats in and around Mondstadt," and therefore, Mondstadt's security is something of importance to him. Of all the knights, it was Lisa whom he entrusted the task of overseeing the Knights and keeping the city secure.

Of Drink A-Dreaming: Dandelion, Rose, and Windwheel Aster
Following a realization that the tavern is a pleasant atmosphere that can help one unwind and relax, Jean asks Lisa, "Is that why you and Kaeya like the tavern so much?" Lisa replies, "Yes, and no. It really depends on who's making the drinks." Asides from confirming a shared hobby between the two, this is the first spoken dialogue that suggests that Kaeya and Lisa interact beyond work.

Voice-Over
Kaeya warns the Traveler to not forget to return their books on time, continuing to state in a cheeky tone that he "made that mistake once and boy was she angry." He explains that his arm is still numb from the last time he made the mistake, likely from being zapped with Lisa's electro abilities.

While Lisa does not have a direct voiceline talking about Kaeya, her voiceline about Diluc involves her sounding amused when she states that she knows someone else the Traveler should talk to instead. That person (likely) being Kaeya, who had grown up with Diluc.

Work
With Lisa, "though her attitude to life may appear at first to be one of ruthless efficiency, it is in fact better understood as a product of her incorrigibly lazy nature." Kaeya, on the other hand, "is sometimes seen as overly laid-back and even lazy, but he takes his work seriously." To an observer, Kaeya and Lisa offer almost opposite first impressions, and upon further inspection, have different ways of approaching their work. Yet at the end of the day, they both end up being some of the most effective members of the Knights of Favonius, as noted by many of their fellow Knights. Though, the two do appear to have a knack for passing their work to other people when they get the chance. Kaeya gets a certain kick out of "convincing others to do his work." And Lisa, when she first joined the Knights, was tasked with much more than just the management of books and documents. She was even considered for a captaincy position (that she promptly declined). In her story, it is revealed that she negotiated with Kaeya to offload some of her work.

Eula: Character Story 1
In this part, Eula had just walked into Master Jean's office while carrying a sword. The occurrence was noticed by some recently-recruited guards, who decided to bring it up to Kaeya and Lisa as they were walking together. Soon after, Lisa rushed into the office, concerned about missing out on a tea break. Kaeya, on the other hand, stayed to take the opportunity and tease the guards. With some flourished explaining, he managed to convince them that 'tea break' was actually code for 'sparring'.

Official Art
HoYoverse had released some promotional artworks featuring Kaeya and Lisa as chibis, interacting with one another in a friendly fashion.

Fanon
KaeLisa, being a rare pair, doesn't have much traction within the fandom. It is more often seen as a platonic ship rather than a romantic one. On a platonic front, Kaeya and Lisa's dynamic is generally envisioned as best friends and co-workers that enjoy kicking back and gossiping together. Both are known to be intellectual, charming, secretive people, with a tendency to tease others. On top of that, they both have a desire to gather information, albeit using different methods. Overall, they are considered a casual, but engaging, back-and-forth duo. Romantic KaeLisa's dynamic tends to be seen as all the platonic aspects put together, plus a romantic layer. and Friends To Lovers are common tropes used in their romantic portrayals.

Kaeya and Lisa both have different ways of conducting themselves. Lisa finds herself reserving her energy and keeping things laid back. As Albedo sees it, she appears to be intentionally limiting herself for a hidden reason. Kaeya, on the other hand, finds himself expending his energy, and seeks to push the limits of himself and others. While opposite, they both act in the name of enjoying the present moment. Shippers feel Kaeya and Lisa would appreciate that aspect in each other, and would strive to have fun and enjoy time together. Even in high-stress situations, such as combat, they would still find the amusement in it (and also manage to fit in some banter).

One particular headcanon involved in KaeLisa scenarios is that Kaeya is a bookworm. This is due to his love of stories, and the fact that he keeps his intel list in a copy of The Adventures of Angelos. Additionally, in one of his official birthday artworks, Kaeya was depicted to be reading on a couch while surrounded by multiple books. With all this in consideration, the Mondstadt Library (where Lisa works) is likely a spot that Kaeya would visit in his spare time, asides from bars. This leads to imagined scenarios of the two hanging out, bonding over the shared hobby of literature/stories/information.

While both characters are outwardly charming and have no troubles discussing a variety of topics, they are incredibly avoidant when it comes to discussing themselves. Kaeya's story reveals that, to him, his only path is to "live the rest of his life under the heavy burden of lies." Lisa's story mentions that she "sensed the deep secret hidden in the shadows" of the knowledge she sought, and the price it seemed to demand, which led to her growing fearful of the truth. Shippers feel that Kaeya and Lisa would be able to a provide a solid support system for each other, one that allows them to open up to a "bird of a feather" who would understand and relate. On a romantic level, their shared inclination towards secrecy also leads to an interpretation that they would likely prefer to keep their relationship and affection in private.

In Klee's Character Tale, right after the comments about Kaeya being the one telling Klee the (imaginative) stories, Lisa states "perhaps we've made the child's studies a little too imaginative lately?" This moment has brought forward headcanons that Kaeya and Lisa tutor Klee together.

Their canon dynamic involving them relieving each other's workload has led some to interpret Kaeya's voiceline about Lisa as yet another way of making her job easier. By spooking the Traveler with the story of his arm still being numb from when he returned his book late, Kaeya convinces one more person to return their books on time. It is likely he told that story to many others in Mondstadt as well, helping build up a fearsome reputation for the resident librarian, and in turn, easing her workload. How true the story is in the end is a matter for debate. Klee's Character Tale and Eula's Character Story 1 both serve as a few of many examples suggesting that Kaeya has a knack for convincing people of things that might not be entirely true. Yes, Lisa is a truly formidable individual, and Kaeya does recognize that by what he had said about her in Midsummer Island Adventure: III. However, when it comes to collecting overdue library books, Lisa's own Story Quest has shown she doesn't zap people who are running late. The only moment she had electrocuted someone over one of the library books was with the Abyss Mage, who had refused to return the book and threatened to reveal its secrets. The more people perceive Lisa as someone who easily summons thunderstorms and becomes terrifying when collecting overdue books, the less she has to go chasing after people. What quicker way for that perception to become the norm than to spread a story? This interpretation falls in line with Kaeya's relation to storytelling and strategic thinking, as well as Lisa's actual actions, and their calm and friendly dynamic outside that story.

Another take on KaeLisa is that they are friends/lovers, but are both cursed and rapidly running out of time. As such, Kaeya and Lisa - being aware of the other's curse - make the most of the days they have left together by doing activities they always wanted to do. The headcanon is inspired from the game's introduction of the Khaenri'ah curse - something that is potentially affecting Kaeya - as well as Lisa's limited lifespan curse (an early concept described by a product manager at HoYoverse).

Razor and Fischl are seen by some shippers as KaeLisa's unofficially adopted kids, specifically in the sense that Kaeya and Lisa would act as a duo of mentors for the two often isolated Electro characters. The dynamic is imagined to involve:


 * Inside jokes that Fischl "inherited" Kaeya's eyepatch and investigative talent, and Lisa's love of the library and Electro capabilities.
 * Razor and Fischl training their Electro powers with Lisa, and combat proficiency with Kaeya.
 * Them having cozy storytelling nights and afternoon strolls outdoors.
 * Kaeya and Razor hunting together, as well as finding potion ingredients to surprise Lisa with.
 * Oz not needing to translate whenever Kaeya and Lisa are around. Both have read enough books to amass the amount of vocabulary required to understand her. Though, they do help Razor when he seems lost after one of Fischl's sentences.
 * Kaeya and Lisa working with Razor and Fischl on Knights of Favonius missions that require on-field searching. Two Favonius thinkers paired with Fischl (the Adventurer Guild's investigator) and Razor (skilled in hunting/tracking) would make for a quickly completed mission.
 * Kaeya and Lisa fervently supporting and hyping up both Razor and Fischl as the lovely Wolf Boy and Prinzessin they are, "quirks" and all.
 * Amusingly imbalanced conversations between the Electro siblings when it comes to word count.
 * Bennett being seen by the adults as the close friend of their kids, with Kaeya training all three of them at some points. Bennett had even managed to pick up Kaeya's fighting style quite well.

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Trivia

 * Both Kaeya and Lisa have "afternoon" beverages they enjoy drinking. For Kaeya, it's his favorite drink, known as Death After Noon . For Lisa, it's her Afternoon Tea.
 * On Lisa's 2021 birthday, she had gifted the Traveler calla lilies, Kaeya's ascension material.
 * Their arms make similar motions during their elemental bursts, with them first reaching up, and then moving quickly out to the sides as the element unleashes.
 * Kaeya and Lisa are offered together in the event Fate Foretold. The event's screen displays them side-by-side.
 * 🦚⏳ / 💙💜 / ❄️⚡ are emojis often paired with each other in reference to KaeLisa. The first symbolizes their constellations, the second is based on their color schemes, and the third represents their elements.
 * Both use Ballad talent books.
 * They are the only two characters to have their constellation name as their namecard title.
 * When color-inverted, Kaeya and Lisa appear to swap hair colors, revealing that their hair colors are complimentary opposites according to color theory.
 * Paimon's Paintings: Set 13 introduced new Kaeya and Lisa chibi emojis, and the two were presented next to each other in the set's showcase.
 * During the Eight Locales Over Mountains and Seas event, Kaeya and Lisa were both referenced - by name - twice. This was considerably unique when compared to the other character references during the event, which weren't as apparent.
 * During the Of Drink A-Dreaming event, Lisa asks the Traveler (who was participating in a bartending class) to make a drink called Love Poem. A year prior, the Invitation of Windblume event had shown Kaeya enrolling in Venti's love poem class, as well as convincing the bard to assign 'make a love poem' as the homework.
 * Following the world quest series Through the Mists, Kama and Sumida can be found in two locations for post-quest dialogues: Liyue and Mondstadt. These dialogues have small references to both Kaeya and Lisa, which could also be seen as hints for their individual character directions.
 * In Mondstadt, they discuss Lisa while at the Favonius Library. Kama mentions that the "librarian has an immense aura around her," while Sumida replies that she "thought [Lisa] was a rather typical, slightly-lazy witch" and later retracts her initial impression by saying "these characters do tend to be the strongest ... best not to get on her bad side."
 * In Liyue, Kama and Sumida are shown to be browsing trinkets at a shop. Among these, Sumida notices a vase in particular, and brings up how it'd make for good writing material. She proceeds to give an example of how it could be used for her work by saying, "The key to the turnaround was a Vision concealed within the vase!" Later, she elaborates that "any descriptions of this vase should be well-controlled. If you spend too much time on it, the foreshadowing will become quite apparent. But at the same time, mentioning it too little will make that development seem abrupt." The writing concept that Sumida presented, of a Vision being concealed in a vase, is a subtle reference to Diluc finding his own Vision in the vase that Kaeya had gifted (with the vase itself generally being associated with Kaeya). As this post-quest dialogue focuses on the vase's description rather than the concept of a Vision being concealed in it, it could be seen as a reference to Kaeya specifically.
 * The two share some similarities in appearance:
 * They both have tied hair, which rests over their left shoulders.
 * They both wear only one earring, on their left ears.
 * Both of their outfits sport Khaenri'ah star symbols. With Kaeya's outfit, they are on his sleeve, waist, and gloves, while Lisa's outfit has them hidden on the inner side of her skirt.
 * The fanon KaeLisa family have all been canonically related to the concept of fate in some way.
 * Kaeya and Lisa (are offered in the event Fate Foretold.)
 * Razor (introduces and is related to the concept of lupical, which means a fated family.)
 * Fischl ("observes and weaves the threads of fate.").
 * In Chapter 16 of the Genshin Impact Manga, Kaeya wears a white suit. The lapel pin (a blue rose with 'wings' emerging from it) is very similar to Lisa's hat decoration.