The final "Generals are Emanators" post
Hey all, just wanted to compile all the proof, and "denial" of the Generals of the Xianzhou being Emanators. Because this is, for some reason, the source of a lot of confusion in the fandom, when the lore has been extremely consistent.
First, let's start with the obvious: The Emanator Special. It explicitly dedicates a section to the Generals. The image is, unfortunately, the Lightning Lord, leading people to the false "Well the Lightning Lord is the real Emanator theory". But this is debunked as of the Wardance, when Feixiao's boss material confirms: The Spiritus are "Manifestations of Lan". Meaning: They're not separate entities, and not "people who became Emanators". Conclusion: The Generals are Emanators.
Second, we have Black Swan during 2.3, explicitly stating that the hypothetical of Jing Yuan fighting Dominicus Sunday, was a "Clash of Emanators". Now this was a dream sequence, but there is no "gotcha, this part was wrong so you should have known!" moment for this statement. For all intents and purposes, this was meant to be a plausible dream in a "what if" scenario that could have happened. And if it did, it would be a "clash of Emanators". Therefore: More proof.
Third: We got Yao guang in recent patches explaining several parts of being a General. Mainly that it requires the three ceremonies: the "Rainbow Ordainment," the "Reignbow's Gaze," and the "Bestowal of Spiritus". This confirms that Generals are, in fact, picked by Lan in some way, and that a mere gaze is not enough.
Fourth: This patch we have "Mister Meanie" AKA Asat Pramad explicitly stating that the Emanators in Planarcadia are "a tenth of a pebble" referring to Pearl, a "piece of wood" referring to Evanescia, and after a pause: "a Warlord" referring to Yao Guang. Yao Guang being the only one whose Emanator status is neither mocked nor simplified.
Now... I've gone 4 reasons without mentioning the Ratings Pistol. Even if its "regular ratings" are puns, the Emanator Ratings are consistent. In fact, it's so consistent that when The Hera launched in 3.0, her rating read "it cannot be rated!" but in 3.1 it was changed to "Rating Invalid". Meaning they're consistent about their Rating Pistol rankings when it comes to Invalid ratings. And so far, it's been: Confirmed Emanators, Generals of the Xianzhou (who were confirmed since the Emanator Special but people didn't quite get it), confirmed Emanators after the fact (March) and some speculative Emanators (Luocha, Sampo, each have their own separate proof).
So I challenge anyone to combat this stuff, and I'll use lore to debunk it. I'll respect "Well Jing Yuan didn't look at the camera and say 'I'm emanating so much hunt right now' posts", but I will be harsh on anyone still denying that they're Emanators when both in-game and outside the game Mihoyo has told us repeatedly that they're Emanators.