Asat Pramad, the first imagenae created with Leviathan paint by Graphia.
Alright, I've delved into 4.0's story. Talked to all the NPCs, did all the side quests and read all the books. I've ran the numbers and did the calculations. I'm going to list some of my conclusions as theories and give them a percentage on how sure I am about the idea.
Asat Pramad is an Imagenae- 99% Confidence.
This shouldn't be a surprise, right? The man has a hand for a head- or is the dice his head? Either way, It kind of speaks for itself. As for his species, well, I've found an interesting NPC that looks quite similar to the Ravager.
And even more curious, he doesn't seem to know anything about his own past nor what species of imagenae he is.
And where is he also primarily located? In Dovebrook, in the area that use to be all owned by the Graphia family. Is this a stretch? Maybe, but it's better to present all my thoughts than rather leave it unsaid.
Other evidence that Asat is an imagenae comes from his introduction in the Myriad Celestia. I mean, just look. When he made this step:
It's paint that is splashing out. Now, I don't mean that he's literally leaking paint with every step. I only mean that this is visual imagery and I'm pointing out how odd it is for this to be a visual imagery associated with him.
Although- imagery evidence rarely works out.
e.g: There were many sun and moon imagery on Amphoreus and so people thought it was The Sun Devourer and not Irontomb.
Evernight is Voracity.
Yao Guang is a wingweaver.
But anyways, moving onto another hurdle. Imagenae generally cannot exists outside of Planarcadia. However,
Kraken was able to break off a part of themselves and accompany us during a side quest. So, it is not IMPOSSIBLE. Additionally, Asat Pramad being a Lord Ravager could just break some rules.
Also, we already had an example:
I... don't even know how but Irontomb sprang out of the simulation. Unless Zandar got a physical body built?... *CoughThecommuncationbetweenIrontombandArchforgerCough* 4.8 Reveal maybe?
Graphia made Asat Pramad- 85% Confidence.
Okay, now that we we established that Asat is most likely an imagenae. The next question would be, was he a natural born imagenae or an imagenae made by someone? I opted to make the theory about the latter and the only person worthy of making a Lord Ravager has to be the one who cracked HOW to make an imagenae in the first place.
Graphia.
But this makes me wonder what was the original plan for this artwork that was later to be known as "Asat Pramad."
I as a fellow artist surmises that the thought process went something like this: "We're under attacked and I can make anything I want. So what should I make? Who to defend us? Aha!"
She drew Aha.
Asat Pramad is a portrait of Aha. The curio Asat Pramad's dice head mentions this: "However, due to some as-yet-unknown principle, this die always lands on the same number."
How I interpret this is that this dice is the conceptual substitute for Aha's many masks. Because when you actually imagine Aha, you usually only think of that one mask out of the many Aha masks. And indeed, when given the choice, the writers only chooses THIS mask.
So, in the same principal, the dice can only land on the same side over and over again is because that is the face of Asat.
There's also the thing regarding how in every single depiction of Aha in Planarcadia, the shadowy being standing behind the masks was never once shown. Also, in the trailer https://youtu.be/ZwnE5o7_gzA?t=134 Asat and Aha became interchanged.
So this is perhaps why Hoyo stopped depicting Aha with the shadowy person behind THEM. It is to separate the two and have it be a clue.
Additionally, under this framing, the trailer scene of Ashveil have a different context.
They want him to find a vanished Aeon painting.
But, I don't think that is exactly the only thing special about Asat. I believe that Graphia also used a very very unique method in painting him. That being the material itself, the paint.
There is a set of readable called "The Floating Grease Chronicles." And I would like to specifically quote a line from one of them. https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/The_Age_of_Drifting_Grease
"In an age when sun, moon, mountains, and rivers drifted like floating grease, even the dark sky had no name for it. A great whale older than the gods, stranded on the starry beach. There trees began to grow, and humans were the earth."
The whale here is obviously a metaphor for the leviathans and the trees maybe the Imaginary tree. And I believe that the tree in the Phantasmoon Courtyard to be one.
So, what am I getting at? Well, does anyone know some paint is made?
"Whale oil, in addition to be used for lubrication and illumination, was also used to manufacture soaps, paint*, and varnish. Whale oil was also utilized in some processes used to manufacture textiles and rope." - Source* https://www.thoughtco.com/products-produced-from-whales-1774070
I believe that there is a deposit of leviathan fat rotting somewhere, leading to the growth of the tree in the Phantasmoon Courtyard. Graphia once used this substance to paint and that was how the first man-made imagenae were created. But of course, I'm not implying that they're STILL using leviathan oil to make imagenaes. Under this line of thought, the productions method changed and leviathan oil was no longer needed to make imagenaes. Perhaps this change was possible due to Graphia winning the Phantasmoon Games during her time or all the leviathan oil was spread out throughout Planarcadia and that's how it became a 2D world.
Next, I would like to discuss Graphia's final work. The Wave.
They've been drawing our attention to the Dovebrook river and the painting that was inspired by it. I've thought about why Graphia made this painting as her last painting and I've came up with a reasonable answer.
She needed a way to kill her first work/other works if or when there comes a day that it became uncontrollable. Thus her final work was the key to destroying Asat Pramad, her first work. This is why I made the theory why Asat might've manipulated Sparxie to try and get rid of the Wave. https://www.reddit.com/r/StarRailLore/comments/1r9rfj7/asat_pramads_first_move_influencing_sparxie_to/
If she had succeeded, great. If she didn't, well, then he didn't lose anything either.
And so, I've already envisioned a ending to this Elation arc. Asat manages to destroy Graphia's Wave at some point but Himeko inherits Graphia's legacy and finishes Pearl's replica of the wave.
Manifesting it to destroy Asat once and for all.
Now, to talk about how Asat could've ended up being a Ravager.
These defectors stole the original painting of Asat Pramad and Nanook eventually turned the painting into a Ravager.
- Asat is actually Absenti.
Absenti speaks like a grizzled veteran, so if he was a creation of Graphia and survived to this day- He would live to see the modern Planarcadia and become disillusioned. There are also some more evidence that Absenti is Asat.
This Ring of Misfortune might've lead him to Izumo. Additionally, the END had turn into a circular shape. So, he left and ended up becoming the enemy that he once defended against.
The name Absenti also brings to mind Aha who had never been spotted in the Tavern or accepted their invitation.
- Same as the 2 but Asat is his own individual and gained his own sentience and will and just left.
The traitors of Planarcadia made Asat Pramad- 10% Confidence.
I included this option in here to keep the possibilities open, but I don't see this be a good narrative to tell. It's rather... bland.
Ryosuke made a second Asat Pramad- 70% Confidence.
I've noticed a trend with HSR's villains. They're all characters fighting for regressive ideals.
Cocolia- Wants to usher in a new world by embracing the Stellaron and therefore
invalidating all the suffering, hardship and sacrifices of the Belobogian people.
Sanctus Medicus- Wants to push the Xianzhou people back towards their old roots of Abundance.
Sunday/Gopher Woods- Wanted to revive a dead Aeon, doesn't get much more regressive than that.
Zandar- C'mon. Do I need to say it? He wanted to go back to a time before Nous by destroying Nous.
With that set of pattern in mind, what could I have cooking with Ryosuke? What sort of past vision does he seek? Well, dialogue from Himeko could hint a possible motive.
Chasing down past glory, trying to revive the family fortune.
In the next portion, I'll craft a plausible narrative:
He tried to search for a way to do that out in the cosmos.
In his search, he would learn of Asat Pramad and recognize him as one of his ancestor's work. By looking into him some more, or even coming into contact with him, he was able to learn some of the lost technique that Graphia didn't past down.
Thusly 15 years ago, he returns to Planarcadia to participate in the games for the glory he seeks. But there's a problem, Asat is known to the IPC and they even had a picture of him.
So, he had to hide his identity- perhaps making his copy of Asat the participant of the games. But then another problem occurred, he couldn't control it. Due to a lack of skill:
His wish for reviving the Graphia family was inherited to the copy Asat which is why the copy Asat moved like an "artist."
And so, Himeko eventually confronted the copy Asat. But she did poorly and was about to die until the Astral Express suddenly fell from the sky and dragged/saved her.
Theory about that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/StarRailLore/comments/1r8rd8d/the_astral_express_once_rammed_into_the_herald_of/
This is why Ryosuke thought Himeko died, he was actually at the scene and got hit by the train too.
If you look carefully at Ryosuke, you'll see that he's actually wrapped up in bandages like he's injured.
_______ ___________ __________ _______________ _________________ ____________ ____________
This hypothesis would solve the issue of the same person cannot participate in the Phantasmoon game twice. We know that Asat is on/coming to Planarcadia right now and there are speculation that the octopus mask is him.
Also, this man is just straight up suspicious. He did nothing when Sparxie was running amok in the school and shows up in the end to confuse us all.
But you might ask, this is Himeko's dad, he couldn't possible hurt his daughter! Heh.
He absolutely have it in him to do that. People who knows him from Honkai Impact would know this better than I do. And they most certainly would cast him in a similiar role again.
The Herald of Death is Fulwish's doing- 10% Confidence
I'm spending time to speculate on this because the Herald of Death's murder spree started in the school. Of all the named characters that were confirmed to be on the scene of the crime from back then: Himeko, Belle and Fulwish, we know that Himeko cannot be guilty and Belle died, suspicion automatically falls on the one who is left.
This idea is generally the same with the Ryosuke one except I would speculate that Fulwish and her family came from the line of traitors who sided with the Destruction back then. Why would I add this trait to them? Drama. They could've thought to win the games to improve their family's standing or double down on trying to destroy Planarcadia for the Destruction.
Although, she herself being injured seems to imply that this idea is unlikely. BUT, it could be injuries sustained by fighting someone like Himeko. Or she straight up faked it, people can lie.
Belle is the Herald of Death- 5% Confidence
I'm not going to humor this.
Ryusuke is straight up the Herald of Death- 70% Confidence
I've discovered something odd as I'm writing this post. https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Clipping_of_the_Herald_of_Death_Incident
"An Execution Long Overdue
On July 22, Year 1994 of the Arcadian Calendar, the Department of Aberration Defense announced that the death sentence for the Herald of Death was carried out today. However, this decade-late execution has done little to quell public resentment toward the Interastral Peace Corporation. Protests of varying scales have broken out across Duomension City, Seafeld City, and several other regions. The IPC Resident Overseer has yet to issue a response regarding the unrest."
The Herald of Death was "killed in 1994."
Ryosuke's account is 1995. Naming himself right after the Herald's death date. Odd, isn't it? Going back to the above theory, perhaps he drew himself some kind of skinsuit and wore it to commit the murders? But that wouldn't answer how he got back to civilized society. Unless...
IPC Politics- 80% Confidence
We know that Planarcadia used to be under the management of Oswaldo.
It was until very very recently that it got transferred over to Diamond- peacefully, I might add.
And that is the issue, in this business, you don't do anything "peacefully." Especially with Oswaldo.
So therefore, it's a trap. Planarcadia under Oswaldo's management kept the Herald of Death alive for research value because he did have SOME skills inherited from Graphia. But office politics with Diamond began- possibly with Diamond daggering Oswaldo for letting the Herald of Death incident happen. So, Oswaldo offered Planarcadia to Diamond while faked the execution of the Herald to have a second incident blow up in Diamond's face.
The Octopus mask
This idea links back to Graphia making Asat. We know that at least one of her works was inspired by the real life artist named Katsushika Hokusai and the original painting is called "The Great Wave off Kanagawa."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa
So, since people speculate that the Octopus mask is for Asat, we know wonder, why octopus? Well... one of Hokusai's artwork depicts... a octopus... doing things... to a woman. Don't google it.
So there is a connection and this at least either indicates that either Ryosuke who is a direct descendant of Graphia or Asat who is Graphia's creation to be the octopus mask.
Ending Notes:
Well, my calculations end here. I'm tapped out. I'm curious how much will I get right in the upcoming patches.
I am aware that there are some sort of temporal pheromonal on Planarcadia. But I keep running the numbers and aren't satisfied with the results. But example, one of the answers I came up with is that Fulwish is using her hypnotic powers to... hypnotize people into thinking the moon is full and therefore the Wishpower made it so.
But I can't think of a reason why she would want that. There's also Yao Guang's medical report about her time warping everywhere for 30 years. But this actually implies that something happened in the last Phantasmoon Games to have made it such. Because 30 years is actually the average for when the Phantasmoon becomes full. Which is why I don't subscribe to the idea that there's a reverse side to Planarcadia as being something that is natural when it is the last 15 years that is the outlier.
Welp, this is where I'll end this theory. So, have fun thinking, reading and discussing.
Posted Feb 22, 2026, 5:03 PM UTC