KaeLuc

(NOTE: This ship can be viewed as slash or family depending on the player's region)

Kaeluc is the slash ship between Kaeya Alberich and Diluc Ragnvindr from the Genshin Impact fandom.

Canon
Kaeya and Diluc first met as children, when Kaeya was abandoned outside of Dawn Winery by his birth father and taken in by Diluc’s father Crepus. We don’t know how old they were when Kaeya was abandoned, but he must have been at least 11 or 12 to understand the importance of his mission. The two became friends and saw each other as (possibly sworn) brothers, and were extremely close in their teens. They were well known throughout Mondstadt and were so in sync that many thought they were like twins.

On the night of Diluc’s 18th birthday, he and his father were attacked while traveling home to the Winery. Diluc’s father was critically injured while defending Diluc, and it seems that Diluc had to kill Crepus himself to end his father’s suffering. Kaeya arrived too late to save Crepus. That night, Kaeya revealed his true identity to Diluc— he was a Karenri’ahn secreat agent planted in Mondstadt. This led the two to a life or death confrontation which ended with Kaeya receiving his Vision.

Soon after this, Diluc abandoned his Vision and left Mondstadt for three years.

The events of Diluc’s return to Mond are unclear, but Diluc and Kaeya began working together again soon after, trapping a Fatui diplomat in the Winery’s cellar to interrogate him and sharing intel throughout the events of the webcomic. The two work together to resolve the Black Fire Incident, staging fights against each other and and purposefully getting Diluc captured.

At the end of the webcomic, Kaeya returns Diluc’s vision to him inside of a large ornamental vase. After this, Diluc takes up his vision once again. Despite telling Kaeya that he has no recollection of the vase, Diluc keeps it on display in the winery.

In-game, Diluc and Kaeya seem to have a confrontational relationship but are seen interacting often. Kaeya often attempts to provoke Diluc into sharing his true feelings or giving him a reaction, and Diluc in turn usually gives Kaeya a blank or emotionless reply. Diluc is highly critical of the Knights of Favonius, including Kaeya. The two both have extensive information networks within the city,

During The Darknight Hero’s Alibi, Kaeya purposefully sets up a situation involving Diluc and another Knight, Huffman, seemingly just to see how Diluc will react. Kaeya watches the show unfold and then tells Diluc that he’s happy that the latter now has an assistant when Diluc relies on the Traveler during the ensuing confrontation.

Kaeya and Diluc are also seen together during various other quests in the game, during which they typically exchange jabs at each other. During the Windblume event, despite snipping at each other, they also seem to have a short but normal conversation about how to improve business at Diluc’s tavern.

It’s unclear as to whether Diluc and Kaeya view each other as brothers, sworn brothers, or neither. In the Chinese version, it's said that Kaeya used to call Diluc "sworn older brother" ( 義兄弟 yì xiōng in Chinese), meanwhile Diluc refers Kaeya as "sworn younger brother" (义弟 yì dì in Chinese)  ''. Crepus refers to Kaeya as a sworn son in Kaeya's character story. Note that 義兄弟 yì xiōng / 义弟 yì dì can mean both adopted or sworn depending on the context. The Chinese text is so vague that both is possible. In Crepus’ case, the text can also mean both, but if Diluc and Kaeya are sworn brothers, then Kaeya would be a sworn son, similar to a godchild.

Quotes
"Kaeya? You can only trust half of what he says... at best."

- Diluc's voice line about Kaeya

"You want to know what's in my glass? It's... grape juice. My drink of choice."

- Diluc's voice line about favorite food

"Diluc? He was cute as a young lad. But nowadays he just seems to be in a world of his own... Overall, not much fun to hang out with."

- Kaeya's voiceline about Diluc

"I can't believe that some people actually drink grape juice... if they had a little more patience, they would find that it ferments into the most exquisite wine. Hmph. So unromantic."

- Kaeya's voice line about least favorite food, mocking Diluc

Character Story Profile
"The other was the eccentric Kaeya. He was Diluc's friend, supporter, and sounding board, ensuring he got through every challenge he faced smoothly. They were almost like twins, knowing each other's thoughts and intentions without a word, protecting Mondstadt in both light and dark."

- Kaeya's Character Profile in Story 5

"Kaeya was Diluc's brother by adoption and was always by his side, but on this occasion, Kaeya did not partake in the final moments shared between father and son."

- Kaeya's Character Story Profile in Vision

"Since that day, Kaeya and Diluc have gone their separate ways. But he never discusses it, just as he never discusses the origin of his Vision."

- Kaeya's Character Story Profile in Vision

Story Quests
"Of course, we also have Master Diluc to thank the venue. Otherwise, we would be looking at quite an alarming bill right about now."

- Leo Minor, Jean's Story Quest

Manga
"May the Wind be with you, sir Kaeya."

- Diluc to Kaeya in both, Flame Born: Part 1 and Part 2

"You seem pretty cool despite all that crazy stuff happening out there, Diluc. You know what I am talking about."

- Kaeya to Diluc in Flame Born: Part 2

"Sir Kaeya... Saving Mond is your job. Try to do it properly next time."

- Diluc to Kaeya in Flame Born: Part 2

Fanon
This ship is the second most popular slash ship after ChiLi. Depending where the player is from, the ship gains hate because the English translation, which many people refer to, described them as adopted brothers.
 * As said above, Kaeluc is a ship that viewed in a western environment could be considered incest, but in an eastern environment (for example China, where MiHoYo’s headquarters are located), it's considered as M/M ship.

In the original Chinese text, Kaeya and Diluc are referred to as Sworn Brothers, which often tends to describe men who are not related by birth, but who swore loyalty to each other. The term "sworn brothers" is used to label mlm couples in Chinese media in order to prevent strict LGBTQ+ censorship. Meanwhile in other versions like English, they're described as Adoptive Brothers. Because to this, it often causes confusion among fans and leads to discussions about whether the ship is incestous or not. It might likely be due to a mistranslation in the English version and maybe Kaeya and Diluc are sworn brothers after all. The English text has several differences than the Korean, Chinese, and Japanese versions, as fans living in the above mentioned countries described. Most might see this as a platonic family ship, while others see it as a romantic ship.

Many fanworks have been created for the ship and it is much likely that those contributors keep the ship alive. Kaeluc currently rivals Jeanluc.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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TWITTER

PIXIV

Trivia

 * MiHoYo has retweeted Kaeluc fan art before on their Genshin Impact Twitter.
 * The manga artist behind Genshin's official manga, ships the two as well.
 * Emojis like '❄️🔥' are used to reference the ship. With Kaeya being a Cryo user and Diluc a Pryo. Another form fans use to reference the ship is using '🦚🦉' emojis as it refers to their constellation.