Fontaine contains various references to the Bioshock video game franchise. Atlas Fontaine is the name of the antagonist in Bioshock and is also a reference to 'The Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand (known for Objectivism). The Steambird magazine (that Mona writes for) could be a reference to the Steambird guarding Elizabeth's tower in Bioshock Infinite. Fontaine is also the nation of water, and Bioshock takes place in Rapture, an underwater city. Some say there are allusions to French culture, and indeed in Bioshock Infinite, we do see glimpses of Paris.
Besides France, Fontaine also contains various influences from American culture. Rock and Roll originated from Fontaine, just like how Rock originated from the USA in the 1940s and 1950s. Xinyan also specializes in rock and roll. But moreover, the Bioshock series itself is based on the USA in different periods of time. Bioshock Infinite focuses more on USA during the Gilded Age, the expansion west after the Civil War, African-Americans, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the genocide of the Native-Americans, even mentioning the Boxer rebellion during the late Qing dynasty. The first Bioshock by contrast focuses on the USA around and after WW2 and defeating the Nazis (recall Dr. Tenenbaum and Su Chong).
The French influence is not that surprising since historically USA has had close ties to France. The French helped the USA defeat the British and claim independence from the British empire. Even the founding fathers traveled to France to solicit war help and sympathy. Later, USA businessmen would also go to Europe to help bail out France when it got invaded by Prussia. In the Louisiana Purchase, USA bought territory from France. The Declaration of Independence and history of the early USA are heavily influenced by French politics, language, and culture too. This is similar to how the English language (a Germanic language) contains a huge lexicon of French vocabulary when the French invaded and conquered England 1000 years ago and ruled as the elites.
Lastly, the American legal system (when it was founded) was inspired by the French legal code as well. Fontaine is the nation of justice, and the archon of Fontaine seeks to judge all other gods. Does this sound like France? Or even other countries in Europe like the UK? To be honest, this really sounds like the USA hegemon, the global police that interferes in the affairs of every country around the world. The USA acts like the executive, judicial, and legislative branch trying to stick its head and lay its greasy fingers (that had one too many servings of McDonald's) and Standard Oily slimy tentacles to govern the affairs of the entire world.
When treating its own people, the USA likes to tout lofty principles such as balance of power, freedom of speech, democracy, and equality, but when facing the rest of the world, the USA wants no balance of power, acts like a dictator commanding the rest of the world, suppressing free speech to sell their own propaganda, jingoism, narrative, while exporting color revolution in the false name of 'demoncrazy' to make the world even more unequal, to widen the gap between the USA and the rest, to line the pockets of USA imperialists and capitalists. It is because of this characterization that Fontaine sounds like the USA, an arrogant empire that thinks it can judge the rest of the world, a biased media machine that uses double standards to promote their own interests while blaming everybody else.
And if Focalors is the archon of Fontaine, then one begins to think of various families that influenced the development of the USA and West Europe, including the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, the Roosevelts (罗斯福). Remember the correspondence between Luo (罗/洛) in Chinese and the sound Ro in the English language as the people behind Genshin are particularly fond about this particular sound: whether it is Rosaria, Chlothar, Charlotte, Rosalyn, Kujou Sara, Luocha, Svarog, Aisin Gioro, and of course who can forget Pierro, the leader of the Fatui. Speaking of Pierro, this brings to mind another influential family of the USA that went head to head with the Rockefellers and Roosevelts, a banking dynasty that shaped American finance during the Gilded Age, including a man who shares the same birthday with Xiao and whose name resembles the currency used universally throughout Teyvat. What can one expect from Focalors and the nation of justice?
Of course, much of this is speculation and what Fontaine represents will become clearer when it releases.
Fontaine is also the nation of water. Perhaps we can expect to swim a lot, including diving underwater. Hydro is connected to west European nations as many of them built ships and navies that sailed around the world, settling in the Americas and colonizing the lands.
Hydro is connected to the USA in a number of symbolic ways: the USA is a country with two coasts, surrounded by oceans (Atlantic and Pacific). The USA was founded by people who crossed the ocean on boats searching for a new land. For a period of time, the USA built the strongest navy in the world, surpassing the British empire. In 1890, the American Alfred Thayer Mahan published "The Influence of Sea Power upon History", a classic in naval warfare. The steamboat was invented in the USA in 1807 by Robert Fulton and features in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The USA is a rich country with many rivers flowing through it and an abundance of farmland and vegetation for growing crops. The USA is slippery like water when it comes to geopolitics, engaging in color revolutions around the world. As Rhodeia of Loch says, the form of water is to 'take any shape', and indeed the USA CIA likes to take various forms when acting as covert agents, spies, hackers, and fake water army accounts to overthrow their political enemies. In fact, if there is any term to describe the USA hegemon on the Internet, 'water army' is one of them, suiting the description of a nation of water.
France or the USA? UK or France? As it stands, the source of inspiration for Fontaine is like a Tale of Two Cities, and there are Great Expectations (and maybe not so great ones) going forward on how the nation of justice will turn out. It is the best of times but also the worst of times. Like Schrodinger's cat, the state of Fontaine is in a kind of superposition. We do not know the exact state of it. One dares not open the box until 4.0 actually comes out.
Many modern political philosophies originated in the west (Britain, France, Fontaine region, etc.) and have had an impact on the rest of the world, including China. These include the various -isms. The introduction of Lyney gives evidence that the history of these political philosophies does have some role in the design of Fontaine characters.
During the 1700s and 1800s, Britain, USA, etc. underwent an Industrial Revolution. With this saw the rise of capitalism as well as imperialism. It is said that imperialism is an extreme form of capitalism. It is said that modern capitalism originated in the British Empire.
Meanwhile, socialism has its origins in the 1789 French Revolution. It is said that communism is an extreme form of socialism.
These philosophies concern who owns capital and the means of production such as factories, labor, etc. In capitalism, the means of production are privately owned by individuals. This tends to favor free markets and less government intervention. By contrast, in socialism, the means of production tend to be publicly owned, by the state. Here, the state or centralized authority plays a guiding role in the market, ruling with an iron hand.
The class struggle: Marx discussed the distinction between two social classes, proletariat (labor, wage-earners) and bourgeoisie (owners of capital). Marx argued that the oppression of capitalists would compel the proletariats to unite and overthrow the bourgeoisie, leading to a communist society free of class distinction (as well as a 'dictatorship of the proletariat').
Fontaine does show some evidence of class segregation in society. It is a highly industrialized and technologically advanced nation-state, but there are still those who live in the sewers underground, while those above live fanciful, comfortable lives.
Many of these -isms originate from the countries that appear to correspond to the Fontaine region. And there is evidence that these political philosophies play a certain role in Fontaine, including the character design. How big a role it plays remains to be seen, but this provides another lens to analyze Fontaine.
In the context of these -isms and China, one may sometimes hear the phrase 'Socialism with Chinese Characteristics'. The modern China, as a successor of the Qing dynasty, has incorporated influences from these political philosophies (socialism). However, China has synthesized these with its own philosophical and political traditions into something distinctly Chinese. So rather than say the Chinese socialism is a carbon copy of western socialism, it may be more accurate to say that it is something uniquely Chinese with certain influences from socialism. Martin Jacques has proposed that China is more akin to a civilization-state (rather than a nation-state, as defined by western, European standards). It is natural for such a civilization to integrate modern philosophies into its own cultural sphere, to take certain elements that resonate with its own traditional and historical practices.
A rough analogy would be the relationship between Xiao and Fontaine. Xiao does have the hp sacrifice of certain Fontaine characters (following the path of destruction). It makes one believe that Xiao traveled to Paris to receive his western education. However, does this make Xiao a 'Fontaine character'? Similarly, while the modern China may have taken some influences from western political philosophies, does that make China 'westernized'?
The French philosopher Debord wrote The Society of the Spectacle in 1967.
Airships feature prominently in Fontaine, such as the Antoine Roger aircraft. Airships began to develop in the 1800s and saw its use in war in the 1900s. Henri Giffard (France) invented the first steam-powered airship. Solomon Andrews (USA) invented the Aereon. Zeppelins were invented in Germany and the USA at the end of the 19th century. Aerial warfare became an important part of WW1 and WW2.
Arthur Conan Doyle is known for creating Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, some of the most iconic characters in detective novels in the west. The way the story of the courtroom cases of Fontaine is written appears similar to whodunit novels and detective fiction, with their various narrative devices such as double narrative.
The American Edgar Allan Poe was known for gothic literature. The Brontë sisters of England, Charlotte, Anne, Emily were famous for stories such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
Charles Dickens, considered the greatest writer of the Victorian era, is also one of the greatest writers of the English language. He wrote many English classical books, and several characters such as Pip, Fagin, are from his novels.
Then there are older writers such as Shakespeare, Chaucer, and the anonymous author of Beowulf. Most of these writers are usually studied in any serious class on English literature.
As for French literature, it appears Genshin does reference Charles Perrault, known for Cinderella and other fairy tales.
Legend has it that Britain is named after Aeneas' descendant Brutus of Troy. It is said that Britain was initially settled by expats from Troy.
Long ago, Britain was settled by Celtic people, related to the Aryans / Saka. The Roman empire then conquered part of Britain as a province. Rome then collapsed to Hunnic/Germanic invasions. The Anglo-Saxons (Germanic people) then conquered Britain. It is around the period in the 400s to 500s that the legend of King Arthur rises. Arthur was supposedly based on a legendary king who defended the indigenous Briton people from the Anglo-Saxon invasions. The legend of Arthur (Matter of Britain) involves his knights of the round table (marchogian y frod gron) and the chivalric code.
But eventually, Britain was overran by the Anglo-Saxons, and English became the main language. The classic Beowulf is written in old English from around this period.
In the 11th century, the Norman French conquered England. The French ruled as the elites while the English people lived as peasants. Eventually, English gained an influx of French vocabulary. Middle English started to form, and later on writers such as Chaucer and Shakespeare began entering the English canon.
A few centuries later, the British empire started rising, colonizing the Americas. The British lost the Americas, but then began colonizing other parts of the world. This culminated in the Victorian era, the apex of the British empire. This golden age also came with some strife such as the Jacobite uprising, Irish famine, Opium wars, and wars in India and Africa.
After that saw the decline of the British empire in WW1 and WW2. Its former colonies declared independence, and the USA became the successor of the British empire as the carrier of the Anglo-Saxon tradition. The Anglo-Saxons play a role in the identity of early American settlers with WASPs and the Manifest Destiny.
During the Cold War, Britain was part of the USA-led NATO. In many former colonies such as those in the Middle East, Singapore, etc., Britain has acted like the USA's 'father', handing over the keys to its son and successor the USA. It is also part of the so-called 'Five-Eyes' of WASP countries: USA, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada.
In the modern era, Britain has initiated the so-called Brexit. Britain has left a complicated colonial legacy in many parts of the world such as Africa, India, and Hong Kong. It is also known for making English the lingua franca of the world. The modern legacy and image of Britain and the British empire is tied with how the world views the ruler of that former era, Alexandrina Victoria.
Camelot, Morgan, Lancelot, Merlin, and many other characters originate from the tale of King Arthur. The names of certain phantasm bosses in Fontaine such as Ninianne and Viviane are also taken from this legend. Sir Arthur is also the mascot of the Steambird in Fontaine.
The United Kingdom is composed of a few parts: England, Scotland, Wales (Welsh), Northern Ireland. Ireland seceeded from the British empire a while ago.
All waters lead to Fontaine. All roads lead to Rome.
In Greco-Roman culture, Aeneas was the father of the Roman people. Aeneas' descendants Romulus and Remus were the founders of the Roman Empire. In Genshin, Remus is a character who founded the Remuria empire, which sounds like something in a parallel universe if Remus was not killed by Romulus. Moreover, the historian Edward Gibbon wrote a series on the history of the Roman Empire, 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'. And in Genshin, the history of the Remuria empire is written in a book that parodies Edward Gibbon's series.
Egeria/Aegeria and Furina are also the names of Roman water spirits. The -ria and -rina sounds also happen to appear in the name Alexandrina Victoria, queen of the British Empire.
Perhaps the Roman empire, being centered around the Mediterranean sea region, could be seen as an ancient hydro nation, providing the roots for the modern culture of Fontaine.
The Greek Hellenistic culture of Alexander's empire and the Roman empire are usually taken as the foundation of western culture, being two of the most ancient empires of Europe.
The Romans inherited the Greek culture, but there is evidence that it was also influenced by an indigenous civilization around Italy called the Etruscans. The Etruscan language is now extinct, replaced by modern European languages. While most of the European continent speaks these 'Aryan' languages (that originated from the eastern steppe), isolates such as Basque in the Iberian peninsula do remain.
Some theorize the speakers of Basque and Etruscan were the original inhabitants of Europe before Europe was invaded by steppe nomads thousands of years ago. Perhaps an early example of such nomadic invasions are the Scythians and Alans, who also played a role in the history of the Sumeru region.
Trajan is usually considered the greatest Roman emperor in terms of territories conquered. One military campaign usually discussed in Roman history is the Roman conquest of Carthage.
The Roman empire fell due to invasions from the Huns and Germanic people. The remnants established the Byzantine empire, which was eventually conquered by the Ottoman Turks. The Romans never fully conquered Germany and the surrounding areas east. For this reason these lands have sometimes been seen as something 'outside' the Roman civilizational sphere, sometimes associated with the Huns, nomadic steppe people, Turks, and even the Mongols. And maybe that is why Mondstadt and Fontaine are separate regions.
Several modern western nations have attempted to claim the title of being the 'new Rome' or some reincarnation of the Roman Empire. Some say that Napoleon Bonaparte attempted to recreate the Roman Empire. Others say that the British Empire was the new Roman Empire (Britannia was a Roman province). And then there are those that say that the USA is the new Rome.
The nations corresponding to Fontaine appear to carry the torch and inherit the cultural legacy of the Romans as the modern successors of the Roman tradition. The Roman empire was quite big, perhaps comparable to Cyrus' Persian Empire. However, any objective historian would probably have to admit that the British empire and USA empire far surpass the Romans in territorial extent and global influence.
The Roman empire was known for its aquaduct system, and the aquabus lines and architecture of Fontaine are reminiscent of this.
The Romans were also known for the Coliseum and the gladiator games that took place within. These spectacles were meant as a form of public entertainment, perhaps similar to how the Opera Epiclese (where people are put on trial) provides entertainment to the Fontaine denizens.
The Latin alphabet, now used around the entire world (not just the Americas and west Europe), originated in Italy and was used and spread by the Romans.
The Roman Empire is also the birthplace of Christianity, and Jesus was crucified in Roman provinces in West Asia.
It is mentioned in the Fontaine quest that there is a prophecy that everybody in the nation will drown. This is a bit reminiscent of the great flood mentioned in Abrahamic religions and the Bible. The original sin is also alluded to.
If Islam played a big role in the culture of Sumeru, then Christianity (and Judaism) has played a similar role in the history and culture of Fontaine. Many major historical events in west Europe (England, France) have been tied to religion, including Protestantism, Catholicism, etc.
Christianity has also been an important aspect in the history of the USA, with the Manifest Destiny being seen as a civilizing mission to tame the wild west and convert the barbarians. So the expansion of the British, French, and USA empires has often coincided with the spread of the Christian faith to other parts of the world.
While seen as ordained by God, this spread of Christianity has historically had political ramifications as well, such as when drugs were smuggled into the Qing dynasty, prompting the Opium Wars, Taiping rebellion, etc.
The Bioshock games just so happen to incorporate heavy amounts of Christian themes in the gameplay and design. Bioshock is also famous for incorporating Ayn Rand's Objectivism, which can prioritize the concept of people over even gods. There is some philosophical conversation on whether Christianity and Objectivism are compatible, whether they can be integrated or not.
In Genshin, the civilization of Khaenriah refused to look up to the gods. There are even those in Teyvat that seek to overthrow the gods. This may not necessarily mean such people are objectivist, but there are certain philosophical themes on defiance to gods going on in the Genshin lore.
There is no requirement for the Fontaine arc to deal with such deep philosophical and religious topics. But since Genshin did introduce Fontaine, there is an opportunity to contribute to some of the philosophical conversations set up in Bioshock. Genshin seems to be a game that prioritizes the people first, especially the relationships and interactions between the different characters, as opposed to dealing with very abstract philosophical concepts. And honestly this is fine: the people are forthmost important and bring life into the different regions and to the game. But to bring in the abstract and philosophical juxtaposition between Christianity, Objectivism, etc. into the Fontaine characters can add a whole new dimension to the character development, making them much deeper and even more interesting. At least, this is something Bioshock was able to accomplish with some of its memorable cast of characters.
But again, many of these philosophies are very rooted in western culture, so there is no requirement for Genshin to discuss these that deeply. It is only left to the ambition of the writers.
Dreams (梦) are a recurring topic in Genshin (perhaps for cultural reasons), appearing in the Inazuma and Sumeru storylines (with Raiden and Nahida). So how does the nation and culture of Fontaine tie to dreams?
America was founded by immigrants. To this day, every year, immigrants from all around the world move to the USA to pursue the so-called American Dream, to find a new life and to become a new person in a new land.
There is no requirement for dreams to feature in the Fontaine arc, which seems more focused on the spectacle of the courtroom. Nor do dreams feature much in the Mondstadt or Liyue arcs. It is just something to be mentioned in connection with how the USA sells its image to the rest of the world (via the so-called 'soft power').
The modern car was invented in the USA. Two names Ford (福特) and Chevrolet (General Motors) appear in the early history of the USA.
On the topics of capitalism and socialism, according to a recent publication, compared to the state and SOEs, the private sector accounts for 60% of China's national output, 70% of wealth, and 80% of employment, whereas 30 years ago it was the reverse.
So let's imagine what percent of wealth the private sector accounts for in the USA. The truth is the skies in the USA are fake. All the HR departments of most of the major corporations are secretly run by the FBI, its affiliates, and other USA intelligence agencies and apparatus. So the USA government secretly controls the in and out flow of the private sector. It would be interesting if China can achieve a similar level of control over the private sector.
The second point is that within the private sector (allegedly not under government control) there are public corporations (with shareholders, publicly traded stocks) and private corporations. At least in the USA, public corporations are usually held to greater public accountability and are quite restricted by laws, regulations, auditors, having to serve the stakeholders and board. Most public corporations are quite controlled or monitored by the USA government and intelligence apparatus (FBI etc.). And this is a fact many people just don't seem to talk about.
What about private companies, including startups, PE, unicorns? Are they also controlled by the FBI? Actually it seems some are. Part of being a spy is being able to blend in and disguise oneself. So it is not hard to imagine an FBI spy pretending to be a worker at a corporation just to monitor the internal politics and even manipulate succession planning. The FBI does this not just with private companies, but also most online websites, including the fandom, reddit, youtube, etc. The USA government cladestinely attempts to control all aspects of industry. And it even attempts to control foreign companies, including certain private companies that produce certain video games.
So the free market economy of the USA is a complete hoax. In reality, all the market players in the USA are effective puppets of the USA government, FBI, and other intelligence agencies.
Does China have a similar level control over its private companies? It is probably fair to say that public companies in China are well-tamed and quite subservient to central authority. But what about the private companies?
Private companies (including certain video game companies) must not have complete freedom to do whatever they want or else they can abuse their monopoly over media to make morally questionable decisions and cause negative effects on society. Especially if they have access to private, confidential information, private companies must be subject to even greater scrutiny. Given the situation in the USA, private companies in China need to be completely submissive to central authority as well, to prevent foreign interference, 5th column collusion, and color revolution. Otherwise you have a national security threat powder keg that is waiting to explode.
The iron hand must extend its surveillance to all aspects of the economy and industry, guiding all with an iron hand. Even if there is 'economic decentralization' there must be a strong centralization of state authority that can guide the markets, the companies, the industries, to prevent the sheep from being led astray by the wolf in sheep's clothing called USA imperialism.
Certain authors have mentioned that there is a certain level of cooperation between local officials and private corporations. With certain private corporations, it seems they are also colluding with foreign agents as well.
Some authors also remark that innovation and entrpreneurship can exist in more socialist systems, not just capitalist ones. Again, certain private corporations sometimes seem more concerned about screwing over their political enemies than introducing new things to the game and innovating. Or rather, they are only interested in innovating for characters they like and then want to screw over others they do not like. This form of selective and biased innovation is harmful in its own way to society.
But how much does a video game actually contribute to an economy? It should not be much. Video games provide little real value to the economy or society besides entertainment and leisure. In fact the consensus is that video games tend to have harmful effects on people and society. So when you have a private corporation abusing its media monopoly to create cancerous video game content that is fed to the rest of the world, this is something that needs to be controlled and regulated by a centralized authority. And this should be the easiest thing to control as manipulating and fixing a video game should not have much monetary impact on the economy (so there is not much financial risk in controlling a video game company). The risks of not controlling such media platforms are far greater though as abuse over media can lead to societal problems, spiritual tumors that can tear apart society.
Of course, the nuclear option is to revoke a company's license to create video games, thereby smuthering the problem in its crib before it explodes and festers. And it would be wise for a centralized authority to reserve the right to use this nuclear option on rebellious private corporations. This kind of approval system needs to extend further into the decisions a media platform makes, such as on the story content it writes, the fictional characters it creates, etc.
Anyways, compared to the USA government's monopoly of control over its entire economy and market, it is not that China has too much power over the economy, but it does not have enough power over its economy and needs more power. Some writers comment that the rise of China since Deng Xiaoping is not just due to a strong state or free market, but a combination or interplay of both. We can be more general though and propose a different thesis. Forget free markets or the state. The success and rise of any major power or empire in history can be attributed to the increased centralization, unification, and concentration of power. The more that authority and power is centralized, the more powerful the empire can be become and harness and mobilize the vast resources of society to achieve prosperity. Empires fall when there is fragmentation, decentralization, resulting in a society, economy, nation being torn apart by internal strife, squabbling, and inefficiencies. Only when a centralized authority truly controls all aspects of a nation or empire can it then truly mobilize the resources of a society to ascend and advance.
The USA's objective is to cause fragmentation and decentralization in all other parts of the world. This is to maintain its hegemony and contain the rise of other powers. There is some literature on the Thucydides trap and other political analogies for more on this topic of geopolitics. China's goal (if it wants to rise) needs to be the continued centralization and concentration of power.
Even the Genshin storywriters caught on to this. In the end, Focalors transferred all her divinity to Noctis, and then Noctis had a complete monopoly on all the decisions made in court cases.
Similarly, if China wants to rise, it is quite harmful to have certain private corporations make their own decisions on whim and collude with the USA. A centralized authority needs to monopolize all the major decision making and make all private corporations submit (like obedient cats) and align with national objectives. Otherwise you can kiss goodbye to any dream of ascension.
Oh, I'm fine not interfering in my own market and letting private companies be puppets of the USA. If private companies do not bend to your will, they are going to bend to the will of the USA. And congratulations you're on track to becoming a USA colony. Sometimes you need to show people who's really in charge.
Meropide, called coupon town by Focalors, operates on a coupon system where prisoners exchange coupons for victuals such as food, amenities, jobs, etc. This coupon rationing system has been used in real life in certain areas of the world prior to the Deng Xiaoping era.
The kamera was invented in Fontaine, similar to how the real life camera was invented in France in 1825.
Some say that Fontaine is also a reference to Fontainebleau (1500s), known for its art and Mannerism. Definitely looks like it could be, but they also added the Steambird reference, which makes one inclined to believe that Bioshock is also part of it.