Aventurine: Decoding the Gambler from Honkai Star Rail

Oh, speak of the devil! Aventurine of the IPC remains one of the most beloved, controversial, but still popular characters from the colorful roster of characters in HOYOverse’s interplanetary turn-based RPG, Honkai Star Rail.

With his blond hair, beautiful eyes, and gait so similar to that of a peacock, Aventurine turns a lot of heads and has a lot of fans from all over the world. He is introduced first as a reckless gambler from Sigonia IV and a member of the IPC, a powerful economic entity in the game.

In this short blog, we’ll talk about the nuances behind the character!

Mischaracterization

Sadly, this reckless gambler is often prone to being mischaracterized by the fandom. It’s worth noting that while he is perceived as ambiguously bi for noticing how attractive his female and male companions are, he’s also perceived as quite queer.

However, what remains lost often is how the character’s trauma often colors the way they act and the way that they are characterized within the narrative. A lot of the fan art of the character can get quite horny, but there are details from the narrative that still stay.

Unfortunately, with his character, there are a lot of things that need unpacking.

Trauma

A lot of people tend to overlook the amount of trauma that has embedded itself in the character of the reckless gambler.

Before he became known as the reckless Aventurine, the gambler from the IPC, Aventurine was part of the natives of Sigonia IV.

His original name was Kakavasha, from the Avgins, and his name meant that he was blessed by the Goddess; in his native planet, his tribe worshipped the Goddess and not the Aeons. His family, especially his sister, noted this.

However, he survived because his sister protected him from a massacre. His luck had come, sadly, at the cost of the sacrifice of his family and his fellow tribe members, and this loss resulted in even more tragedy for him.

A lot of the cutscenes have dialog that you can interpret in many ways. He was enslaved, and one of the dialog lines implies that Aventurine may have been sexually assaulted as a slave. This can be inferred by the comments that pertain to his body and looks.

In the visuals of his flashbacks cutscenes, he is shown with shackles, and it’s also possible that Aventurine had to fight in a gladiator/death game. And true enough to his Avgin name, he survived.

Suicidal Tendencies

He initially appears as a wildcard in the Penacony Trailblazer Quest of the game. Although he appears as someone a little suspicious in the Dreamscape, especially when news breaks out that Robin, the sister of the Head of the Family, is missing/dead, it turns out that he has a plan up his sleeve to prove that “Death” exists in the Dreamscape. This principle goes against what the Land of Dreams is for – which incenses Sunday in the process.

His little stunt puts him in hot water with Sunday and has Dr. Ratio, his companion, “betraying” him; in this stunt, Aventurine puts himself at great risk by betting on his Cornerstones, which are the source of his power as a Stratagem in the IPC.

The consequence of his stunt with Sunday has Sunday putting on him an order to find out if Robin is dead within a certain number of hours; if not found, he will be tied to the faction Sunday is leader of or even killed. To get rid of the spell put on him, Aventurine invites death by having Acheron fake his death.

Risk and a chance for death – these traits define Aventurine as a man.

High Risk, High Reward

His actions in Penacony, and as we learn through his Character Stories and lore, are high-risk, but yield high-reward and especially with what he has displayed in Penacony, a lot of these tend to put him closer to death. If anything, this man would be so handy with a sports book.

But when his stunts put him almost dying? He’s both nervous and calm about it, especially because he knows death will have him reunite with the ones who died to protect him.

Luck

Ever since young, his luck has always been attributed to him. However, despite his great luck, he resents it as it came at the cost of losing his loved ones.

Wrapping Up

Aventurine is a tragic character, at best, and it’s important to note this, as well as his desire for death. His trauma colors and defines much of the way he acts, especially his recklessness.