Astra is the 16th Agent to join the VALORANT Protocol. The Astral Guardian manipulates space itself using her Radiant powers.
Ghanaian Agent Astra harnesses the energies of the cosmos to reshape battlefields to her whim. With full command of her astral form and a talent for deep strategic foresight, she's always eons ahead of her enemy's next move.
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Lore[]
Coming from Accra, Ghana[1], West-African Agent Astra is a powerhouse of control. Astra is the 16th Agent to join the VALORANT Protocol and she is a radiant with ties to the Astral Guardians.
Astra shows her care for her fellow Agents through her jokes and serious concerns while still focusing on the battle field. Astra's personality is bubbly and humorous, while still being unique to herself. Her attitude sometimes wanders towards mildly obsessive, even bordering on perfectionism. According to a tweet from @valorantde, this perfectionism is her primary character flaw.
Astra's abilities work in a very different manner from all the other Agents. Unlike them, to use her abilities, Astra must first move into a 'higher plane' with her Astral Form. From there on, she can place down her stars. Her abilities can only be used through these stars. Her Nebula cloud provides coverage with style while her Nova Pulse and Gravity Well gives the enemy a concussion or keeps them in place respectively. The Cosmic Divide is a giant wall panning across the entire map which blocks sound and absorbs damage.
In City of Flowers, the trailer for Lotus, Astra's Astral Form was shown to allow her to project herself through the space of the map without physically moving, allowing her to get a clearer view of the battlefield without putting herself in danger. It's unclear if her projected self can be detected during this time, however, her conversation with Brimstone suggests she can at least still speak with her 'grounded' body while in her Astral Form.
Astra's left arm is encased in gold, which has been inlaid in multiple separate pieces, each of which can float and move on its own. Contrary to some theories, her arm is NOT the source of her power[2] (that comes from her natural radiance). Her arm merely exists to help her contain and properly use her powers[3].
Astra alludes to knowing the VALORANT Protocol is the morally correct side to fight on. Astra often calls Agents by their country of origin, such as calling Cypher 'Morocco', or Phoenix 'Babylon' (slang for England).
The Astral Guardians[]
Astra is a member of a group of people known as the Astral Guardians. The Guardians appear to be some kind of cosmic race, or at least have association with cosmic powers and origins. With Astra as one of their members, it's clear that humanity can be part of the Guardians, but in Astra's conversation with Harbor regarding his bracelet, the language of the Guardians is "not of Earth", and thus has some degree of extraterrestrial origin[4].
Astra hints to a set of knowledge being left to her by prior Guardians. In the same conversation noted above, she describes the knowledge left for her as being "vague" and "incomplete". It's unclear why this is the case. It's possible the information is very old and has deteriorated, or that there wasn't much concrete left for her in the first place. The way Astra talks about it and her ancestors suggest that she is the first person to access this knowledge in a very long time, possibly even in several centuries.
Even with incomplete information, Astra has managed to understand part of the written language of the Guardians, and has some idea of their role and place in the world. For Astra, part of this role includes maintaining balance and control in the universe, especially as it pertains to the act of crossing dimensions. Astra admits she still has a lot to learn in relation to the Guardians, but is always seeking to advance her knowledge.
The golden casing of Astra's left arm is an artifact from the Astral Guardians. In the REVELATION Cinematic, it's shown that her arm is necessary to unlocking the entrance to the City of Flowers in which the map Lotus is set.
Dossier[]
The blackmailer released a dossier about Astra in Patch 4.07:
Astra's Dossier, found in Bind
Astra's dossier starts off with a reference to her backstory. It talks of a lake, situated at a meteor impact crater over a million years old. This statement supports a long held theory about Astra's powers, believing that their origin had something to do with Lake Bosumtwi in Ghana.
This lake, like the one specified in the dossier, has formed in the hole left behind by a meteoric crater that is just over one million years old (the closest estimates date it to around 1.07 mya).
When considered superficially, the rest of the dossier doesn't really provide much, mostly just a few obscure references at the vastness of space. To try and pry more information here, we must move into speculation and analysis of symbolism. Of course, this does mean that what follows is exactly that - speculation, not canon.
As is expected, several prominent theories have emerged as to the meaning behind this dossier. Among the most fascinating was proposed by lore enthusiast Cynprel. The theory goes with Astra's own symbolism of being a 'star' herself, a giver of light and hope; looking up at the night sky, she hopes to find others like her. However, her gaze is met with only darkness, a mark that she is alone in her position.
This could also tie into her role as an Astral Guardian. Given that we never hear of another Guardian, is it possible that Astra is alone in this role, solely carrying the burden of their duties? In this sense, it's natural for her to wish to seek out more 'stars' among the night sky, more Astral Guardians like her, more comrades for her to be with. And it is natural for even a passing comment about the vast emptiness of space to really bring pain.
Appearance[]
Astra's outfit comprises of bright blues, purples and gold incorporating native designs from her culture. Her hair is adorned with multiple gold beads that match with more golden jewelry as a nose ring, multiple earrings on her left ear and a pair of big hoops.
Astra's cultural inspired gold bracelet on her right arm contrasts with her entire left arm being encased on gold. The arm is meant to 'contain her powers', and between the gaps in the metal one can see her arm is a pink-purple, with more cultural designs.
Her arm can be seen when she activates her abilities, looking similar to her Astral Form. Astra's shoes have a silver version of the emblem on the Bridge Between Worlds card on the outer sides on both shoes. A similar version of this motif is seen on her pouch strapped to her hip and thigh.
Meaning of the name[]
Codename Astra comes from the word Astral. From Latin “astrum” it means "star".
The name Efia is an Akhan female given among Akhan people in Ghana. It means "born on Friday". The Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and their sex.
The surname Danso is also of Ashanti origin and means “Reliable, one that can be trusted”
Relationships[]
Astra jokes about Brimstone's old age, often calling him a boomer. However, she does certainly show him respect as the commander of the VALORANT PROTOCOL, as evidenced by her email to him (visible in Brimstone's office)
Astra is slightly skeptical about Omen, and his unnatural, ghost-like behavior.
Astra and Phoenix are on good terms, often going out to eat Jollof together. Astra calls Phoenix Babylon, which is slang for England. She believes he will become more humble eventually.
Astra and Raze have similarly cheerful and positive personalities, and share a friendly relationship.
Chamber used to have several voicelines revealing considerable interest in Astra's arm. Since the arm is known to be Astral Guardian technology, these likely also denote some knowledge and curiosity about the Guardians themselves. These voicelines were later removed due to an unintended racial implication[5], however, it is implied that the fascination with Guardian technology has not been retconned.
Ever since the PROTOCOL first heard news of Harbor, Astra had been a strong advocate for his recruitment. A large part of this was because of Harbor's Bracelet (which itself is an artifact connected to the Astral Guardians), and Astra's amazement that he could wield it. Astra was the one who first discovered that it could serve as a key to the City of Flowers, while analyzing the relic in the VPHQ (for more information, see the Audio Log which played at Cypher's Office in Patch 5.08).
Cards[]
The VALORANT Astra card is a generic portrait of Astra.
The Cosmic Origin card shows a mysterious object crashing down near a lake.
The Astra ID card is Astra's VALORANT PROTOCOL identification card.
The Bridge Between Worlds card shows Astra's symbol encompassing a nebula above an equatorial plain.
The Taking Note card shows Astra making some notes on her doodle-filled Notebook. This is a small section of the second teaser from her Social Media Campaign (see Teasers below)
The World Divided card shows the left half of Astra in her Astral form and her right half normally.
The Unearthed: The Gauntlet card shows Astra's gauntlet lying at the bottom of a lake, where it presumably lay until Astra found it.
Voicelines[]
Find all of Astra's voicelines here
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Astra's first tease took place on the 17th of December of 2020, shortly after Yoru's teasers. It took place in David Nottingham's End of Year story posted on @playvalorantofficial, and consisted of some books on his desk written by Ghanaian authors he was reading at the time.
The next teaser was the playercard 'Bridge Between Worlds' (see Cards above), in Episode 2: Act 1's battlepass at Tier 38. It came alongside the return of the Night.Market on February 11th 2021, which took place in Astra's country of origin, Ghana.
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On February 17th 2021 began an in-game teaser similar to Yoru's. Astra's Stars began appearing in every map except The Range. They spawned with a low probability but higher than that of Yoru's Fakeout.
State of the Agents[]
A new State of the Agents article was published on the 21st of February 2021. It offered some insight into what Astra was going to play like, confirming the space theme that was already suspected.
Our next Controller is a cosmic shift from the play patterns you’ve grown accustomed to.
This one is for all you “galaxy brain” players out there. | ||
Social media campaign[]
A week after the in-game teasers, @valorantde tweeted a video with no sound that showcased Astra's colors[6]. The tweet rose expectations for that day with the following message:
German
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English
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Die Sterne stehen gut für einen VALORANT Grind. 🌟
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The stars are well aligned for a VALORANT Grind. 🌟
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Later that day @PlayVALORANT tweeted an image of Astra's notebook[7] (a higher quality version was later uploaded by @esvalorant on Instagram in two[8][9] separate posts). The tweet read:
A lot to think about…
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In the notebook are drawings of some of the Agents in the PROTOCOL, alongside a small to do list, several small notes, and other sketches. It is in this teaser that the name of Astra's ultimate, Cosmic Divide, was revealed.
The last teaser of the day was a 3D image posted on @PlayVALORANT[10]. The image, set in Ascent, shows Astra setting up a Star while in her Astral Form.
The stars are starting to align...
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The next day, February 26th 2021, @valorantru shared an animated revision of the icon for the Spotify playlist[11]. The plates on Astra's armored arm can be seen floating before she touches a glowing surface. The caption reads:
Russian
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English
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Это космический танец 💫
Почувствуйте звездный ритм с новым плейлистом (ссылка в сторис)✨ |
This is a cosmic dance 💫
Feel the stellar beat with a new playlist (link in story)✨ | |
On February 27th 2021 @valorantde tweeted the final teaser[12] in the social media campaign, a video that appeared to be glitchy that showed the Ghanaian flags for a few frames. This confirmed the suspicion of Astra being from Ghana.
German
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English
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Wir bemerken einige Glitches im System.
Einige unserer Scouts erkunden gerade den Grund... Am Sonntagabend sollten wir mehr wissen, halte dort Ausschau für Live-Updates. |
We've noticed some glitches in the system.
Some of our scouts are investigating further... We should know more on Sunday evening, keep an eye out for live updates then. | |
Reveal trailer leak[]
Although as hinted by @valorantde Astra's reveal was supposed to happen on the 28th of February of 2021, the Russian reveal trailer[13] was unlisted rather than privated, allowing for it to be found a day earlier than intended.
Notes[]
- Astra's working name in the files is Rift.
- One of Astra's greatest fears is snakes[14].
- Astra has a sketchbook, on which she doodles from time to time.
- Astra's favorite food is jollof rice[15].
- Astra fought on the Radiant side in the Radiant War.
- Two of the books David Nottingham read for Astra's creation were:
The Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. - As with every other Agent, Astra has a playlist on Spotify:
Sources[]
References[]
- ↑ Astra's hometown - Instagram Story Go
- ↑ Astra's powers - Instagram Story Go
- ↑ Astra's arm - Instagram Story Go
- ↑ Astra's conversation with Harbor found in Patch 5.08 from Kingdom Archives
- ↑ A note on the context - the public outcry for the removal of these voicelines originated from the African playerbase, who were aware that the line was not meant to have any racial or offensive connotation, but still felt discomforted by it nonetheless. This is in large part due to Africa's long and painful history as a colony for France (and more specifically, under King Leopold II).
- ↑ Some specifics on Astra's character - Twitter Go, Translated Go
- ↑ Astra's favorite food - Instagram Story Go