Honkai: Star Rail is a turn-based role-playing game set among the stars. You play the Trailblazer, who wakes with no memory and a Stellaron, a destructive cosmic anomaly, sealed in their chest. The crew of the Astral Express, a train that travels between worlds following the old path of a vanished god, takes you on board, and from then on the story moves from planet to planet. Each world has its own crisis and its own cast, and most of the people you meet become playable characters.
HoYoverse, the studio behind Genshin Impact, released Star Rail worldwide in April 2023. It adds new characters every few weeks. This guide goes through the cast world by world, Herta Space Station, Jarilo-VI, the Xianzhou Luofu, Penacony and Amphoreus, then lists every character's Path and element in one table. The game is still updating, so the newest arrivals may not be listed yet.
- Developer
- HoYoverse (miHoYo)
- Released
- April 2023
- Genre
- Turn-based space fantasy RPG
- Paths
- Destruction, Hunt, Erudition, Harmony, Nihility, Preservation, Abundance, Remembrance
- Elements
- Physical, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Quantum, Imaginary
The Trailblazer and the Astral Express crew
The Express crew are your companions across the whole game. They're a small, odd family of people who joined for very different reasons, and much of the story's warmth comes from watching them look out for each other.
The Trailblazer (Caelus or Stelle)
Protagonist · Path changes
A blank-slate hero with a Stellaron inside them and no idea where they came from. The game makes them more of a character than most silent protagonists: deadpan, nosy and famous for checking every bin they pass. They start on the Path of Destruction and pick up new Paths as the story goes on, so they grow with each world.
March 7th
Ice · Preservation · 4★
A pink-haired girl the crew found frozen in a block of ice, with no memory of her past. She named herself after the day she woke up. She's bubbly, takes photos of everything and is the first friend the Trailblazer makes. Her missing past is one of the long-running mysteries.
Dan Heng
Wind · The Hunt · 4★
The Express's quiet archivist, who joined to get away from something he won't talk about. On the Luofu that past catches up with him: he's the reincarnation of the Vidyadhara High Elder Imbibitor Lunae, and that version of him is a separate 5-star character. He's dry, protective and easy to underestimate.
Himeko
Navigator · Fire · Erudition · 5★
The woman who repaired the Astral Express after finding it stranded, and who now acts as the crew's navigator and calm big sister. She makes very strong coffee that nobody likes. Her steady presence keeps the crew pointed in the right direction.
Welt
Imaginary · Nihility · 5★
An older man with a cane who has already lived a full life saving a world. He's Welt Yang from Honkai Impact 3rd, now travelling with the Express. He's patient, wise and has a weakness for anime.
Pom-Pom
Conductor · Non-playable
The small, rabbit-like conductor who runs the train and keeps the passengers in line. Pom-Pom is fussy about cleanliness and timetables but cares about every passenger.
The Stellaron Hunters
The Hunters set the whole story in motion by planting a Stellaron in the Trailblazer. They follow a 'script' written by their leader, Elio, who can see the future. They're wanted criminals across the galaxy but never quite play as straightforward villains.
Kafka
Lightning · Nihility · 5★
An elegant, unhurried woman who manipulates people with a kind of mind control called Spirit Whisper. She was the one who placed the Stellaron in the Trailblazer, and she treats them with an odd, almost motherly fondness. What she actually wants is one of the game's biggest questions.
Blade
Wind · Destruction · 5★
A swordsman cursed with an immortal body that won't let him die, however much he might want to. His past is tangled up with the Luofu, Jingliu and Dan Heng's former life. He's grim, intense and almost entirely defined by old pain.
Silver Wolf
Quantum · Nihility · 5★
A hacker who treats reality as a game she can rewrite. She's bored easily and casual about danger. She was there with Kafka when the Trailblazer's story began.
Firefly
Fire · Destruction · 5★
A gentle girl the Trailblazer meets in Penacony's dreamscape, who is also Sam, the armoured Hunter you fight earlier. She was built as a soldier and lives with a condition that is slowly killing her. Her story is about wanting a life of her own choosing.
Herta Space Station
The tutorial area is a research station owned by the genius Herta, and it's where the Trailblazer wakes up. Several of its staff become early allies.
Herta
Ice · Erudition · 4★
A member of the Genius Society who runs the station through a puppet that looks like a small girl. She's dismissive, brilliant and uninterested in small talk. Her full-sized self arrives later as The Herta, a 5-star.
Asta
Fire · Harmony · 4★
The cheerful lead researcher who actually runs day-to-day life on the station. She's from a wealthy family and loves astronomy.
Arlan
Lightning · Destruction · 4★
The station's head of security, a quiet young man who fights better the more injured he is. He's very fond of his dog, Peppy.
Ruan Mei
Ice · Harmony · 5★
A Genius Society biologist with a soft voice and a cold curiosity about life itself. Her experiments with life drive a later story on the station.
Jarilo-VI: the frozen planet
The first world is Jarilo-VI, a planet buried in snow where the last city, Belobog, survives under its own government while the poor live in the Underworld beneath. The chapter is about a city learning the truth about the leader who kept it alive.
Bronya Rand
Wind · Harmony · 5★
The heir to Belobog's Supreme Guardian, raised to follow orders and serve the city. Meeting the Trailblazer and seeing the Underworld forces her to question what she's been told. She becomes the city's new leader.
Seele
Quantum · The Hunt · 5★
A sharp-tongued fighter from the Underworld and a member of Wildfire, the resistance. She's suspicious of outsiders but loyal once won over.
Gepard
Ice · Preservation · 5★
Captain of the Silvermane Guards, honourable and by-the-book. He starts out hunting the Trailblazer and ends up on their side once he sees what's really happening.
Serval
Lightning · Erudition · 4★
Gepard's older sister, a rock musician who runs a mechanic's workshop. She's breezy and kind, and helps the Trailblazer early on.
Clara
Physical · Destruction · 5★
A shy girl who lives with Svarog, a huge robot who protects her. The two fight as a pair, and their bond is one of Jarilo's sweetest stories.
Natasha
Physical · Abundance · 4★
The Underworld's doctor, calm and practical, who treats anyone who comes to her. She looks after a lot of the Underworld's children.
Hook
Fire · Destruction · 4★
The self-proclaimed boss of the Moles, a gang of Underworld kids. She's tiny and very serious about her role.
Pela
Ice · Nihility · 4★
A young intelligence officer in the Silvermane Guards who is organised and observant. She works closely with Gepard.
Sampo
Wind · Nihility · 4★
A fast-talking merchant who sells anything to anyone. He's clearly hiding something, and later story hints that he's a Masked Fool.
Lynx
Quantum · Abundance · 4★
The youngest Landau sibling, alongside Gepard and Serval. She's an explorer and survival expert who spends more time in the wild than in the city.
The Xianzhou Luofu
The Luofu is one of the Xianzhou, huge ships carrying long-lived people who have fought for millennia against the forces of Abundance. Its story mixes court politics, old wars and immortality, and it has the game's largest cast.
Jing Yuan
General · Lightning · Erudition · 5★
The Luofu's general, who looks relaxed and sleepy and is always several moves ahead. He uses the Trailblazer's arrival to draw out a threat he's been tracking.
Dan Heng · Imbibitor Lunae
Imaginary · Destruction · 5★
Dan Heng's true form as the reincarnated Vidyadhara High Elder. He carries the weight of a crime his previous life committed and would rather not be judged for it. Playing as him shows a fiercer side of the quiet archivist.
Fu Xuan
Quantum · Preservation · 5★
The Luofu's Master Diviner, who predicts the ship's fate with a vast divination system. She's proud, impatient with the general and very capable.
Bailu
Lightning · Abundance · 5★
A young Vidyadhara healer who is the Luofu's most sought-after doctor despite her age. She treats patients with rather unusual methods.
Yanqing
Ice · The Hunt · 5★
Jing Yuan's teenage bodyguard and a sword prodigy. He wants to prove himself, which sometimes gets ahead of good judgement.
Jingliu
Ice · Destruction · 5★
The Luofu's former Sword Champion and Jing Yuan's teacher, now an exile. Her history with Blade and Dan Heng's past life is tragic.
Huohuo
Wind · Abundance · 5★
A timid Ten-Lords Commission judge-in-training who's scared of ghosts and stuck with a demon sealed in her tail.
Tingyun
Lightning · Harmony · 4★
A Foxian diplomat for the Sky-Faring Commission. Her story turns darker in a later chapter, and she returns as Fugue.
Qingque
Quantum · Erudition · 4★
A librarian who'd rather be playing mahjong than working, and fights with tiles to match.
Feixiao
Wind · The Hunt · 5★
A general of the Xianzhou Yaoqing, a Foxian warrior fighting a curse that threatens to turn her into a beast. She leads the alliance's campaign against invaders.
Penacony: the land of dreams
Penacony is a planet of dreams where guests sleep in a hotel and wake inside a glittering party world. It's run by the Family, and its arc is a mystery about death, faith and who controls the dream.
Acheron
Lightning · Nihility · 5★
A wandering swordswoman with large gaps in her memory. She hides power on a scale nobody in Penacony expects. Her connection to Nihility is central to her story.
Aventurine
Imaginary · Preservation · 5★
A senior manager for the Interastral Peace Corporation who gambles with his own life. His backstory, revealed in Penacony, is one of the game's most affecting.
Robin
Physical · Harmony · 5★
A galaxy-famous singer who returns to Penacony for the Charmony Festival. She's gentle and hopeful, and her songs carry real power.
Sunday
Imaginary · Harmony · 5★
Robin's brother and the head of the Oak Family, who believes people need to be protected from pain, even against their will. He becomes the main antagonist of the arc.
Black Swan
Wind · Nihility · 5★
A Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection who collects memories. She speaks in riddles and shadows the Trailblazer.
Sparkle
Quantum · Harmony · 5★
A Masked Fool who serves Aha, the Aeon of Elation, and treats everything as theatre. She's playful and impossible to trust.
Boothill
Physical · The Hunt · 5★
A cyborg cowboy from the Galaxy Rangers chasing revenge against the IPC. His speech is censored with comic beeps.
Gallagher
Fire · Abundance · 4★
A laid-back bartender and Family security officer. He's not quite who he appears to be.
Misha
Ice · Destruction · 4★
A young bellboy at the Reverie Hotel who befriends the Trailblazer. His secret is central to the chapter's ending.
Amphoreus
Version 3.0 in early 2025 took the Express to Amphoreus, a world built on Greek myth where demigods called Chrysos Heirs fight to reclaim the Titans' power. The chapter introduced the Path of Remembrance and a large new cast.
Aglaea
Lightning · Remembrance · 5★
A Chrysos Heir and one of the leaders of Okhema, the last safe city. She senses others through golden threads.
Phainon
Physical · Destruction · 5★
A cheerful young Chrysos Heir who becomes the chapter's central figure. His story carries the weight of the whole arc.
Tribbie
Quantum · Harmony · 5★
A small demigod oracle who exists as three sisters at once. She's energetic, kind and carries a lot of hidden knowledge.
Mydei
Imaginary · Destruction · 5★
A warrior prince who refuses to die and fights through pain. He leads with stubborn strength.
Castorice
Quantum · Remembrance · 5★
A Chrysos Heir whose touch is deadly, which keeps her apart from everyone she cares about. She's soft-spoken and kind, and her loneliness gives her one of the chapter's gentlest storylines.
Anaxa
Wind · Erudition · 5★
A blunt scholar who openly questions the Titans and is a little too willing to experiment. He teaches at Okhema's academy and has little patience for anyone who stops asking questions.
Hyacine
Wind · Remembrance · 5★
A warm-hearted healer in Okhema who works with a small sky-creature companion. She's the person everyone in the city goes to when they're hurt, and she gives her care freely.
Cipher
Quantum · Nihility · 5★
A charming thief with a talent for vanishing and a heart set on survival. She's quick with a lie and quicker on her feet, but loyal to the few people she trusts.
Characters by world, Path and element
This table covers the main playable characters from launch through the Amphoreus chapter. Rarity is shown as 4★ or 5★. Free and limited-time characters are included.
| Character | World / faction | Path | Element | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 7th | Astral Express | Preservation | Ice | 4★ |
| Dan Heng | Astral Express | The Hunt | Wind | 4★ |
| Himeko | Astral Express | Erudition | Fire | 5★ |
| Welt | Astral Express | Nihility | Imaginary | 5★ |
| Herta | Herta Space Station | Erudition | Ice | 4★ |
| Asta | Herta Space Station | Harmony | Fire | 4★ |
| Arlan | Herta Space Station | Destruction | Lightning | 4★ |
| Ruan Mei | Genius Society | Harmony | Ice | 5★ |
| Kafka | Stellaron Hunters | Nihility | Lightning | 5★ |
| Blade | Stellaron Hunters | Destruction | Wind | 5★ |
| Silver Wolf | Stellaron Hunters | Nihility | Quantum | 5★ |
| Firefly | Stellaron Hunters | Destruction | Fire | 5★ |
| Bronya | Jarilo-VI | Harmony | Wind | 5★ |
| Seele | Jarilo-VI | The Hunt | Quantum | 5★ |
| Gepard | Jarilo-VI | Preservation | Ice | 5★ |
| Clara | Jarilo-VI | Destruction | Physical | 5★ |
| Serval | Jarilo-VI | Erudition | Lightning | 4★ |
| Natasha | Jarilo-VI | Abundance | Physical | 4★ |
| Pela | Jarilo-VI | Nihility | Ice | 4★ |
| Sampo | Jarilo-VI | Nihility | Wind | 4★ |
| Hook | Jarilo-VI | Destruction | Fire | 4★ |
| Lynx | Jarilo-VI | Abundance | Quantum | 4★ |
| Jing Yuan | Xianzhou Luofu | Erudition | Lightning | 5★ |
| Dan Heng · Imbibitor Lunae | Xianzhou Luofu | Destruction | Imaginary | 5★ |
| Fu Xuan | Xianzhou Luofu | Preservation | Quantum | 5★ |
| Jingliu | Xianzhou Luofu | Destruction | Ice | 5★ |
| Yanqing | Xianzhou Luofu | The Hunt | Ice | 5★ |
| Huohuo | Xianzhou Luofu | Abundance | Wind | 5★ |
| Bailu | Xianzhou Luofu | Abundance | Lightning | 5★ |
| Feixiao | Xianzhou Yaoqing | The Hunt | Wind | 5★ |
| Tingyun | Xianzhou Luofu | Harmony | Lightning | 4★ |
| Qingque | Xianzhou Luofu | Erudition | Quantum | 4★ |
| Sushang | Xianzhou Luofu | The Hunt | Physical | 4★ |
| Yukong | Xianzhou Luofu | Harmony | Imaginary | 4★ |
| Guinaifen | Xianzhou Luofu | Nihility | Fire | 4★ |
| Hanya | Xianzhou Luofu | Harmony | Physical | 4★ |
| Topaz | IPC | The Hunt | Fire | 5★ |
| Aventurine | IPC / Penacony | Preservation | Imaginary | 5★ |
| Acheron | Penacony | Nihility | Lightning | 5★ |
| Black Swan | Penacony | Nihility | Wind | 5★ |
| Sparkle | Penacony | Harmony | Quantum | 5★ |
| Robin | Penacony | Harmony | Physical | 5★ |
| Sunday | Penacony | Harmony | Imaginary | 5★ |
| Boothill | Penacony | The Hunt | Physical | 5★ |
| Gallagher | Penacony | Abundance | Fire | 4★ |
| Misha | Penacony | Destruction | Ice | 4★ |
| Aglaea | Amphoreus | Remembrance | Lightning | 5★ |
| The Herta | Genius Society | Erudition | Ice | 5★ |
| Tribbie | Amphoreus | Harmony | Quantum | 5★ |
| Mydei | Amphoreus | Destruction | Imaginary | 5★ |
| Castorice | Amphoreus | Remembrance | Quantum | 5★ |
| Anaxa | Amphoreus | Erudition | Wind | 5★ |
| Hyacine | Amphoreus | Remembrance | Wind | 5★ |
| Cipher | Amphoreus | Nihility | Quantum | 5★ |
| Phainon | Amphoreus | Destruction | Physical | 5★ |
Factions you'll keep hearing about
- The Aeons — Godlike beings who each embody a Path. Akivili, the Aeon of Trailblaze, built the original Express route and vanished; the crew follow in that path. Nanook (Destruction), Lan (The Hunt) and Nous (Erudition) shape much of the background.
- The Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC) — A galaxy-spanning company that follows Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation. Topaz, Aventurine and Jade work for it.
- The Genius Society — An exclusive club of geniuses chosen by Nous. Herta and Ruan Mei are members, and they rarely agree on anything.
- The Masked Fools — Followers of Aha who chase laughter at any cost. Sparkle is the clearest example.
- The Xianzhou Alliance — Six ship-cities, including the Luofu and the Yaoqing, dedicated to fighting the followers of Abundance.
Where to start
Star Rail is a story game first, so the best guide to its cast is the Trailblaze Mission, the main storyline. Each world builds on the last, and later characters make more sense if you've met the earlier ones.
- Play the main story in order — Jarilo-VI, then the Luofu, Penacony and Amphoreus. Side missions fill in the background.
- Use the free characters — March 7th, Dan Heng and the other free 4-star characters are perfectly good through the early chapters.
- Pull for characters you like — Team needs shift every patch, so favourites are a better guide than any tier list.
If you came from Genshin Impact, you'll recognise the gacha structure and some of the design language, but Star Rail is funnier and more willing to break the fourth wall. Like Genshin, it names its characters by culture: the Luofu cast have Chinese-inspired names and Amphoreus draws on Greek, which we look at in our guide to character naming conventions. The Express crew is also a textbook example of the found family trope. For more big casts in games, see League of Legends or Pokémon.
All Honkai: Star Rail character names A–Z
A
- Acheron — Penacony
- Aglaea — Amphoreus
- Anaxa — Amphoreus
- Arlan — Space Station
- Asta — Space Station
- Aventurine — IPC
B–C
- Bailu — Luofu
- Black Swan — Penacony
- Blade — Stellaron Hunters
- Boothill — Galaxy Rangers
- Bronya Rand — Jarilo-VI
- Castorice — Amphoreus
- Cipher — Amphoreus
- Clara — Jarilo-VI
D–F
- Dan Heng — Astral Express
- Elio — Stellaron Hunters
- Feixiao — Yaoqing
- Firefly — Stellaron Hunters
- Fu Xuan — Luofu
G–H
- Gallagher — Penacony
- Gepard — Jarilo-VI
- Guinaifen — Luofu
- Hanya — Luofu
- Herta — Genius Society
- Himeko — Astral Express
- Hook — Jarilo-VI
- Huohuo — Luofu
- Hyacine — Amphoreus
I–L
- Imbibitor Lunae — Luofu
- Jing Yuan — Luofu
- Jingliu — Luofu
- Kafka — Stellaron Hunters
- Lynx — Jarilo-VI
M–P
- March 7th — Astral Express
- Misha — Penacony
- Mydei — Amphoreus
- Natasha — Jarilo-VI
- Pela — Jarilo-VI
- Phainon — Amphoreus
- Pom-Pom — Astral Express
Q–R
- Qingque — Luofu
- Robin — Penacony
- Ruan Mei — Genius Society
S
- Sampo — Jarilo-VI
- Seele — Jarilo-VI
- Serval — Jarilo-VI
- Silver Wolf — Stellaron Hunters
- Sparkle — Masked Fools
- Sunday — Penacony
- Sushang — Luofu
T–Z
- The Herta — Genius Society
- Tingyun — Luofu
- Topaz — IPC
- Trailblazer — Astral Express
- Tribbie — Amphoreus
- Welt — Astral Express
- Yanqing — Luofu
- Yukong — Luofu
Frequently asked questions
Who is the main character of Honkai: Star Rail?
The Trailblazer, whom you name and play as either Caelus (male) or Stelle (female). They wake up on the Herta Space Station with no memories and a Stellaron, a dangerous cosmic seed, sealed inside their body. The Astral Express takes them in, and the story follows them from world to world.
What are Paths in Honkai: Star Rail?
Paths are philosophies tied to godlike beings called Aeons, and in gameplay they work as character classes. The playable Paths are Destruction, The Hunt, Erudition, Harmony, Nihility, Preservation, Abundance and Remembrance, the last of which arrived with the Amphoreus chapter in 2025.
What are the elements in Honkai: Star Rail?
There are seven: Physical, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Quantum and Imaginary. Enemies have elemental weaknesses, and hitting the right one breaks their toughness bar, so a team usually needs a spread of elements.
Is Honkai: Star Rail connected to Genshin Impact?
Not directly. Both are made by HoYoverse and share some voice actors and design ideas, but they're set in separate universes. Star Rail is connected to Honkai Impact 3rd: Welt Yang and a few other characters are versions of people from that game, and the Honkai name links the series.
Who are the Stellaron Hunters?
A small group of fugitives led by Elio, who can see the future and writes a 'script' for the others to follow. Kafka, Blade, Silver Wolf and Firefly (as Sam) are the members you meet. They planted the Stellaron in the Trailblazer, but their goals are far from simple villainy.
Is March 7th a 4-star or 5-star character?
March 7th is a 4-star character and one of the first you get for free. She has two playable forms: the original Ice Preservation version and a later Imaginary Hunt version she takes on during the Xianzhou Luofu story.