Connections to the Honkai series

Position in the Honkai series

Honkai: Nexus Anima is the fifth game in the Honkai series, following Honkai Impact 3rd (2016), its PC version (2019), Honkai: Star Rail (2023), and earlier entries. It represents HoYoverse's most explicit attempt to connect the Honkai games through shared characters and lore rather than keeping them as separate experiences that merely share a brand name.

Shared characters

Kiana Kaslana (from Honkai Impact 3rd)

Kiana appears in Nexus Anima as a Planestrider: a dimensional traveler who addresses collapsed Aspects across the Planes. The Chinese-language description suggests this is the same Kiana from Honkai Impact 3rd, not a variant. She has crossed into the dimension where Nexus Anima takes place, possibly as a continuation of the interdimensional direction her character took in HI3's later chapters. She works on behalf of the Committee for a Joyful Iia, dealing with an Aspect Fracture near the town.

Blade (from Honkai: Star Rail)

Blade appears in his original Star Rail form as the 22nd Novarch of Strength, ruling over The Peak. His immortality in Star Rail lines up with his long-lived status here. He's actively searching for the 11th Sovereign revealed to be Kafka because he was her sworn guardian before the Sundering. He is a Phoenixbreaker Novarch.

Kafka (as the 11th Sovereign)

Perhaps the most striking crossover revelation: Kafka from Honkai: Star Rail (a Stellaron Hunter) is the 11th Sovereign in Nexus Anima's lore. She controlled the paired Aspects of Strength and Weakness in the Old World and commanded dark power rivaling the 5th Sovereign, Amstradath. Kafka vanished during the Sundering, and her disappearance caused Blade's entire faction to collapse. Blade's search for his missing Sovereign is the driving force behind his character arc.

The implication is that the Kafka players know from Star Rail isn't just a clever agent. She's an ancient Sovereign who predates the destruction of the Old World. This adds layers to her character in both games.

Sir Champion / Argenti connection

Sir Champion is a Novarch whose identity has generated community speculation. During the beta, players noted visual and thematic similarities between Sir Champion and Argenti from Honkai: Star Rail (a knight devoted to beauty). Argenti was reportedly visible in beta content. The connection hasn't been officially confirmed, but the pattern of Star Rail characters appearing in Nexus Anima as Novarchs makes it plausible.

Other speculated connections

Community discussion has also linked certain Nexus Anima characters to Firefly from Honkai: Star Rail, though evidence for this is thinner than the Argenti/Sir Champion connection. As more characters are revealed, additional crossover identifications are expected.

Shared lore concepts

The multiverse structure in Nexus Anima shares DNA with both Honkai Impact 3rd and Honkai: Star Rail. HI3 explored alternate timelines and dimensional travel extensively. Star Rail is built around universe-hopping via the Astral Express. Nexus Anima's 81 Planes are another expression of the same multiversal framework.

The word "Honkai" itself appears in Nexus Anima as an alternate name for the Sundering. In HI3, Honkai is a destructive force threatening civilization. In Star Rail, Stellaron (related to Honkai energy) causes chaos across worlds. In Nexus Anima, "the Honkai" is the event that shattered the Nexus and created the current world.

The nexus point

The game's title (Nexus Anima) has a double meaning. The Nexus refers to the energy network that was destroyed in the Sundering, but it also suggests the game itself functions as a nexus connecting the different Honkai properties. Kiana from HI3 and Blade from Star Rail both appearing in their original forms (not variants or alternates) implies these games share a connected multiverse. Kafka being an ancient Sovereign predating the Sundering suggests the connections run deeper than dimensional tourism.

Both Kiana and Blade were shown together in the first teaser at the Honkai: Star Rail LIVE Concert in May 2025, signaling from the start that linking the Honkai games was a core design intent.