A Genshin Impact leak revealed the new English voice actor for Tighnari. This comes after Tighnari's previous voice actor Elliot Gindi was accused of sexual misconduct, blackmail, and making transphobic remarks, prompting miHoYo to recast him and re-record the Forest Watcher's lines.Released in August 2022, Tighnari is a Dendro user from Sumeru. Genshin Impact lore describes him as a solitary Forest Watcher who spends most of his time in rainforests to study various plant and animal species, particularly musrooms. His character demo video titled "Tighnari: Plant Patrol," which showcased his skills with the bow and arrow, also shows him hallucinating from mushrooms. Over a month after Gindi was removed as Tighnari's English voice actor, miHoYo has gradually removed his lines from Genshin Impact to make way for the new actor's lines in the upcoming version 3.6 update. While the developer hasn't revealed who replaced Gindi, a leaked 20-second video posted by genshinmains_ on Twitter and some files seemed to point that Zachary Gordon was cast as Tighnari. He is well-known for playing Greg Heffley in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie series. He's also done voice acting work for animated projects like The Super Hero Squad Show and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and also played Hayner in Kingdom Hearts 3.
Upon seeing the leaked clip, many Genshin Impact fans expressed their surprise that the voice of Greg Heffley was voicing Tighnari. They also noted that Gordon's voice seemed to fit Tighnari's personality more, but were also looking for "more sass." Meanwhile, a few said that they preferred Tighnari's old voice acting, but also understood why miHoYo had to replace him.
The short Twitter video might have given Genshin Impact fans a taste of what Tighnari's new English voice lines will sound like, but they'll have to wait until version 3.6 goes live on April 12 to get the full experience. While there are already some saying that Gordon doesn't fit the role, they might change their minds in the future.
Tighnari is also one of the most popular Genshin Impact characters, with his and Zhongli's banners reportedly raking in over $19 million worth of revenue despite their limited status. So, it's quite understandable why there many players would make a big deal about his new voice actor. However, it likely won't change their minds about recruiting Tighnari, especially with his flexible playstyle, strong damage and crit rate.
Genshin Impact is now available on Mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5. A Switch version is in development.