All Honkai Star Rail crossover characters from the Honkai series

HHonkai Star Rail crossover characters: If Honkai: Star Rail is your first contact with the Honkai series, you'll be interested to know that there are plenty of crossover characters. We've collected all of the crossover characters MiHoYo included in Honkai: Star Rail and included their backstory. Plus their similarities and differences with their alternate selves.

There are currently nine Honkai Star Rail crossover characters who have appeared in some form in previous Honkai titles. Some of them look very similar to their previous design such as Li Sushang, while others have seen a complete personality swap such as Natasha:

Himeko's first appeared in MiHoYo's Houkai Gakuen 2 and later returned in Honkai Impact 3rd. In both games, much like in Star Rail, Himeko is a strong female leader and a commander of troops.

In a rather cruel twist, Himeko passes away in both previous Honkai games, leaving fans to wonder what her destiny will be in Honkai: Star Rail. Himeko is probably the highest profile of the Honkai: Star Rail returning characters. However, so far up until version 1.3 she has remained fairly mysterious.

An antagonist in Honkai: Star Rail, Kafka has seen quite a transformation from her debut in Houkai Gakuen 2. In Houkai Gakuen 2, Kafka is described as a sickly teenage girl with a dark and gloomy mood. It is a very stark contrast to the confident and formidable Kafka we have seen so far in Honkai: Star Rail.

From aspiring writer to Stellaron Hunter, that's quite a jump. MiHoYo's changes to her design definitely line up well with her shift in character. She is by far one of the most searched characters and a key part of the appeal of Honkai Star Rail.

Perhaps surprisingly, Cocolia is also a returning character. Originally an arms dealer in Houkai Gakuen 2 and Bronya's adoptive mother, she was later a commander in Honkai Impact 3rd. In both of her previous Honkai appearances Cocolia was of Russian origin, and much like in Honkai: Star Rail not afraid to go to war for her cause.

Cocolia's relationship with her adopted daughter Bronya - which is a storyline in Honkai: Star Rail - has also played out in previous titles.

Bronya is considered one of MiHoYo's core characters, and she has appeared in three Honkai universe games; Houkai Gakuen 2 (Guns GirlZ), Honkai Impact 3rd and Honkai: Star Rail. She is also the adopted daughter of Cocolia in all three games.

The design for Bronya in Star Rail is clearly inspired by an alternate skin for her in Houkai Gakuen 2 called Herrscher of Reason.

In all iterations of Bronya in the Honkai series she is a Sniper, much like in Honkai: Star Rail. However, in previous games she was called Bronya Zaychik and was originally from Russia. Interestingly Bronya's alias in Houkai Gakuen 2 is Silver Wolf, a nickname MiHoYo have used to create a brand new character set for release in Honkai Star Rail version 1.1. Overall, Bronya is one of the most important Honkai Star Rail crossover characters.

Silver Wolf the hacker who is coming in version 1.1 may not have existed in the Honkai universe based on her backstory, but her appearance is a throwback to a previous Honkai game.

With the Honkai: Star Rail design for Bronya based around an alternate skin, this left her "classic" look from Honkai Impact 3rd unclaimed. So rather cleverly it seems MiHoYo used Bronya's alias "Silver Wolf" and her former character designs as the basis for a whole new playable character.

In terms of appearance Welt has seen quite a transition, from dark goth vibes in Houkai Gakuen 2 to wise scholar in Honkai: Star Rail. However, his look in Honkai Impact 3rd is very close to how we know him today.

In previous Honkai games Welt Yang as he was known, had the ability to manipulate gravity, and was the first in his line to do so. In Honkai Impact 3rd, Welt was the soverign of the Anti-Honkai organisation known as "Anti-Entropy" - which Cocolia and Bronya were also members of. Welt as a character has also appeared in the Honkai Impact 3rd manga. Similar to Himeko, Welt has played a secondary role in the story so far in Honkai Star Rail.

A secondary character in the previous Honkai title, Seele was a gentle and caring girl, very different to her brash and authoritative personality in Honkai: Star Rail.

Another adopted daughter of Cocolia alongside Bronya, Seele's character in Honkai Impact 3rd was very intriguing because she had an alter ego. The alter ego was a "shadow" living inside of her known as Veliona, a source of a raging power known as Stigmata who was both her guardian and her tormentor.

In Honkai : Star Rail, Seele is an unlockable Quantum element character who grew up in the perilous Underworld of Belobog. In version 1.0 we've seen glimpses of her relentlessness to achieve her goals as part of Wildfire, an unstoppable drive that is very similar to Veliona. Seele is regarded as an S+ tier character and one of the best damage dealers in the game.

Li Sushang was a very late addition to Honkai Impact 3rd, and arrived to the title as an S-rank character as part of update 6.1 in October 2022. Li Sushang was introduced as an Ice support character with a gauge that would fill up to activate Sword Array Mode. Sword Array Mode gave Li Sushang the ability to deal a flurry of strikes, very similar to her Sword Stance in Honkai Star Rail.

Li Sushang was one of the lead characters in MiHoYo's 7 Swords Visual Novel, after which she was made a playable character in the game. Her backstory was that she was cryogenically frozen after being injured, and after being thawed out got involved in current events.

In Honkai Impact 3rd her ultimate Blade Eminence summoned a massive sword that descended from the sky. In Honkai: Star Rail Sushang's ultimate initially looks like it will do the same thing, but instead summons a giant chicken. Very Final Fantasy 7 Fat Chobobo summon-esque and also a quality meme ability.

Natasha Cioara better known as Raven, was one of the main antagonists in Honkai Impact 3rd, and member of World Serpent. Although a ruthless mercenary in the game, Natasha showed mercy and a softer side - particularly towards taking care of children.

In Honkai: Star Rail, Natasha leans into her more softer side but is still trying to make a difference. She is the true leader of the peacekeeping faction Wildfire in the Belobog Underworld, and one of the few doctors in the area.

There are a few other nods to previous Honkai games in Honkai: Star Rail, and it's likely we will see more crossover characters from MiHoYo's two previous Honkai titles. It's refreshing to see that MiHoYo have not been afraid to reinvent certain characters such as Natasha and Kafka. We'll keep you updated on when we see more Honkai Star Rail crossover characters in the future.