What does Kagemusha mean in Genshin Impact?

With Genshin Impact 2.1 on the way on September 1, leaks and teasers are all over the internet. One of them has tossed out a new word for many Genshin Impact players, Kagemusha. In this guide, we will break down what the word means in the real world and the context that people have seen it in Genshin Impact. Needless to say, spoilers abound, so read ahead at your own risk.

First up, Kagemusha is most commonly used for a body double in Japanese. It originates from the Sengoku period in Japan. Known as the Warring States period, political intrigue and attempts on the lives of important figures were common. Warlords would often use a body double, someone who looked just like them and dress them in their clothes and armor to confuse their enemies.

Over the years, the word has changed to mean the person who uses the proxy rather than the proxy themselves. Some people consider it to mean something similar to the concept of the “right-hand man,” but with the intention reversed to mean the powerful person who is acting through the other by issuing commands.

The context within Genshin Impact appears to be the latter version, where a character is sent to a meeting of the Gods to act as a proxy for a former Raiden Shogun of the Inazuma region.