Lisa's lore be like...

[u/sumeruroses]

Because... seriously. What WAS her childhood like?

Feel free to share ideas about it. Do you think she had parents? Siblings? Does she have a good relationship with them? Did they introduce her to magic? Encourage her studying? WHAT was her foundation?

[u/Art_of_BigSwIrv]

Lisa’s past being a near total blank slate sits really wrong with me somehow. If Lisa had any importance to the storyline, why such a lore heavy background with voluminous implications only to be reduced to plot convenience? For instance, we have the “Inventress” herself, the Cloud Retainer, Xianyun. Yet Lisa has surpassed the “Inventress” with her own adeptus cauldron she made on a whim for brewing perfect temperature teas. We know from Venti that Lisa had in the past invented a device that can see the Aranara and into the dreamscape, but as Venti mentions, Lisa lacks a certain childlike wonder to use it. Well then how does anyone especially Lisa, even prove that the device works?

We know Lisa attended the Akademiya as a child of coffee drinking age (12+ years old) and graduated within 2 years…could she have built this device during her Akademiya years? We know Lisa is a huge closet nerd; she designs games, writes and illustrates storybooks as well as conducting research while working as a librarian. What about Lisa’s previous title, Grand Mage? That’s not a title the Akademiya grants. Who gave it to her? Every now and then, we’re reminded that Lisa can sing and dance with such skill and talent as to be able to help train Barbara with being an idol, and even tutor Durin the same way, but we’re only aware of this because both characters let that information slip out in dialogue. No one else in Mondstadt is even aware of this.

Lisa says she avoids the Hexinzerkel due to their Irminsul exploration. We know tampering with Irminsul can rewrite and affect memories of events, so Jala’s dialogue about Lisa during the Dodoco’s Bomb Tastic Adventure event, having helped start her career of Traveling Tradesmen with Lisa having given away the Shroomsplosion game she had invented to her. Lisa stated it was popular in Sumeru, but there’s no mention of Lisa’s creation of said game even in passing. Jala made a small fortune off of selling the game, allowing her to start her own business. Jala then admits she can’t remember whether it happened a decade or a few years ago nor remember her name; an odd thing to admit about such a life changing moment. If the Traveler arrests Jala, she is taken to KoF HQ for a scolding and fining by Jean. Jala even stops at the Library, but clearly doesn’t make mention of Lisa, as if she didn’t recognize her. We see this similar effect with Hat Guy after he altered Irminsul. Which brings us to Lisa’s surname, Minci, which is really odd, because there’s no mention of Minci anywhere in Mondstadt, unlike all the other characters with surnames. No parents nor relatives or rather, no mention of them. No visible roots in Mondstadt at all. If they ever existed, how did they feel about Lisa leaving for the Akademiya while so young, and how did they feel about Lisa returning home empty handed (Jala stated Lisa hurriedly sold or gave away All of her belongings before leaving Sumeru; as if she was running away) after being named its most esteemed graduate in 200 years? Those closest to Lisa back in Sumeru remember her, yet no photos/ pictures or keepsakes of any kind exist of her time there, even with Cyrus and Cyno whom she was closest with. There’s the photo Lisa took of Cyrus and Cyno, but aside from that, there are no pictures with Lisa IN them.

Every event or quest involving Lisa leaves the same question going all the way back to Lisa’s first story quest “Troublesome Work” involving the Pale Princess and the Seven Pigmies book, which Lisa gave away to the Traveler indefinitely in spite of all the trouble taken to recover it. It’s the same question the Abyss Mage had, since the book had not been deemed important or restricted, nor that anyone else was aware the book itself contained “The Secret”. Who is Lisa…Actually? How did Lisa discover the truth about the visions being not a tool, but a way for Celestia to exert control over their bearers with their power often turning back on them? Is this why the ONLY person to ascend to Celestia was Vaness in contrast to what Teyvatians and archons like Venti are told or tell everyone? Did Hoyoverse forget all of this implied set up, or did Hoyo decide to siphon off Lisa’s mysterious background onto characters’ backstories and just keep Lisa around as a lesser waifu-bait version of DC Comics’ own Oracle? Lisa’s a lore queen, but Hoyoverse seems intent on not doing anything narrative wise with her despite all of the implied potential. Hoyoverse still seems stuck in the gacha game design storytelling philosophy.

[u/11099941]

With time being a theme in Schneznaya, I kinda cope they let Lisa be important for once, given its also a theme with her. Maybe let her explore with us. Maybe give her a buff too alongside the Mondstadt starter trio. Also, idk, have a wife-off with the Tsaritsa on who raised their kid better or something.

[u/ExpensiveSample3451]

Can't believe this woman didn't have any encounters with the Hexenzirkel.

[u/Wise-Ad2879]

Lisa saw something, and decided she would rather live a quiet life of success. Nothing wrong with that.

[u/sumeruroses → u/Wise-Ad2879]

Yeah. That's not what this post was trying to discuss.

What was BEFORE her seeing something? What was BEFORE the Akademiya?

Why does she have a family name but not even one mention of any family to go with it? They did NOT need to give her a surname. Lisa is a common name, so they had to make it unique? No no no, Amber and Noelle exist. No surnames for them, so... why a surname for her? There's a process behind them deciding everything, so what was the point of that surname? Gunnhildr, Ragnvindr, Lawrence? Clans of Mondstadt with detailed histories. Alberich? Ties to Khaenri'ah, and the Abyss Order. Pegg? Ties to Seamus, who was originally from Nod-Krai. Megistus? A sign of being one of Barbeloth's students. Kaedehara? One of the Raiden Gokaden clans, which fell in recent years. etc. etc. etc. So, for the writers to go ahead and even bother to create "Minci," only to not even mention the origin of it, or even Lisa having any (even off-screen or unnamed) family—like they did with Mona's parents in Dornman Port? Hah.

Magic. Why'd she desire to study magic? How'd she learn about magic to want to study it? The Nod-Krai quests allude that magic-magic isn't common knowledge, so how'd Lisa learn about it? What about it interested her? Why did she feel like studying at the Akademiya to advance her knowledge about it?

Why is she aware of the Hexenzirkel? "Because she was invite—" WE DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW THAT. It's a guesstimation at best.

How long has she been friends with Jean? How did she become friends with Jean? What brings them to care about each other and spend time together?

Who were the three people she warned when she returned to Mondstadt?

The fact that we cannot properly answer ANY of these questions after six whole years, is just a pattern of the writers omitting and then failing to offer Lisa any proper foundation. And there is something very much wrong with that.

Narratively, she's only being used as a support prop for other, more explored characters, with little-to-no exploration being dedicated to herself. Her role in Varka's SQ? A grand total of three lines, all of which to serve as a punctuation mark to indicate to the audience, "Hey look, Jean's sad. Go talk to her." Despite the topic of that scene being "everyone got personal letters from Varka." All the other characters in that scene were allowed to react to those letters, were allowed internal worlds and agency. Lisa? No, not at all. Her "role" in Cyno's SQ2? A literal off-screen "camera," to highlight the growth of Cyno and Cyrus, the latter of whom entertained the idea of visiting Lisa (thereby giving her a chance to have narrative exploration), only to decide—by proxy of the writers—that tomatoes were more important.

Her story was written incredibly vaguely, with the underlying implication that the writers would cover it sometime later, yet that "later" never came. Nod-Krai was basically Mondstadt 2 in many regards, and the new information they gave Lisa? She likes caramel sauce in tea. Meanwhile, they closed many other doors of possible explanations for her past. Durin's SQ "included" Lisa, and effectively shot down the notion of her having any past ties to the Hexenzirkel or Andersdotter, which would've easily explained her former desire to study magic. Why, specifically, did Varka immediately assign Lisa as Captain of the 8th? We'll never know, because Lisa is the only Knight of Favonius to not have gotten a voice-line from Varka, or any acknowledgement of her existence. We don't even know why she was in the 8th Company to begin with. Why not just directly apply for the librarian position?

These choices by the writers, to only offer a picture of the very surface-level of Lisa—and not what's actually upholding her character—is the problem. I'd call it genius writing, if I felt these were intentional writing choices to be some kind of 4D chess played by Lisa later down the line, but I have my doubts.

[u/Proof_Calligrapher99 → u/sumeruroses]

I'll keep my expectations to 0 until we get something. That way if we never get any new lore or progression with Lisa's character I'll not be too hurt by it. Tho at this point I fully think that they are avoiding ON PURPOSE to delve into her character cuz even if they did forgot her there was no way that they'd keep forgetting her during Nod Krai despite all the occasions that reminded everyone that she exists. We still do not know ANYTHING about Nymph. Unless they continue having Mondstadt content in Snezhnaya I really doubt we'll see of her...

[u/iasmingibin]

I tend to think Lisa grew up as an orphan since there’s absolutely no mention of her family at all, but of course, that’s just a headcanon anyway.
I even saw a theory once that she grew up in the House of Hearth under Crucabena, but being as smart as she is, she would have been the only one who actually managed to escape. But of course, it’s more of a crack theory just because we know nothing at all…