Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 explained – Dr. Primitive, Mr. Reca, and ninjutsu

Galaxy Rangers feuding with a Genius Society member

HoYoverse

Version 2.6 of Honkai: Star Rail took the story into quite an unexpected direction – we suddenly became involved in the feud between the Galaxy Rangers and Dr. Primitive, #64 of the Genius Society, and got a pretty detailed backstory for Rappa, the update’s new character.

Table of Contents

1. Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 – Dr. Primitive explained
2. Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 – Rappa explained
3. Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 – Mr. Reca explained
4. Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 – Boothill, Robin, and the Astral Express

There is also the introduction of Mr. Reca, who may well become a playable character in the future – his elaborate design doesn’t exactly scream NPC.

Naturally, this article will contain spoilers for the story presented in update 2.6, so read on at your own discretion. This is Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 explained.

Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 – Dr. Primitive explained

Dr. Primitive, #64 of the Genius Society, thinks that civilization is doomed to fail, because it has no more room to evolve into different directions. His answer to that dilemma is regression – he transforms species back into a prior evolutionary stage, thus giving it the chance at a new start.
Naturally, he appears to be utterly unethical and immoral, using entire planets to test his theory.

Though currently in hiding, he seems to command a sizable organization of followers, including divisions of combat apes for battle. His academic followers appear to be divided into “Forests” – such as the Collection Forest, which abducts subjects for his experiments, the Picnic Forest, which produces drugs, and the Cultivation Forest, which specializes in gene-editing.

We don’t know if Dr. Primitive himself is human or something more monkey-like, but his entire organization is certainly themed that way, including an unhealthy focus on bananas.

During update 2.6, we also learned that the Galaxy Rangers are actively on the hunt for Primitive and his followers – and at the end of the update’s story arc, we saw Mr. Reca supply Rappa with a hint regarding the Doctor’s whereabouts.

Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 – Rappa explained

Rappa’s obsession with ninjutsu seems very peculiar at first, but there is quite a sad backstory behind that, as we learn in version 2.6.

Rappa is an “experimental super-hominid” created by the Cultivation Forest of Dr. Primitive’s organization, as we can learn in a document accessible during the story quest. The Research Apes used specific genes extracted from regressed species to create Rappa, who was initially known only as subject AK-A-3.

However, one of the researchers – the one Rappa would call Master Kucha – grew to see her as more than just an experiment and let her read his manga collection, eventually using terms from these stories to better communicate with her. That’s where all the ninjutsu stuff is coming from. For Rappa, a child created in a lab as a science experiment, thinking of herself as a ninja initiate that had to undergo severe trials was probably the only way to cope with her situation.

Kucha eventually betrayed the organization and helped the Galaxy Rangers find the lab where Rappa was imprisoned – and the girl promptly joined up with them after being freed, vowing to fight evil wherever she finds it in the cosmos as her expression of the ninja way.

Rappa is a "failed experiment" of Dr. Primitive's organization. / HoYoverse

Rappa is highly intelligent, has enhanced senses, and is stronger and quicker than humans are normally – and she’s driven by a thirst for revenge against Dr. Primitive and his followers. Now that Reca has provided her with a clue on where Primitive might be, she’ll probably pursue him.

Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 – Mr. Reca explained

Mr. Reca is certainly a colorful addition to the cast – and he’s more than just the star director he is first introduced as.

Like Black Swan, Mr. Reca appears to be a memetic lifeform and Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection, making him a follower of Fuli, The Remembrance.

He initially worked with Dr. Primitive’s organization, though he emphasized that he was forced to do so due to his status as a memetic entity, to whom a memetic virus like Slumbernana Monkey would be lethal. Given that he uses the first chance he gets to betray the organization and help out the crew, that’s probably true.

Similar to Black Swan, Mr. Reca has an obsession with recording memories, though for him this expresses itself in the creation of movies. A mechanical frog companion, the Assistant Director, follows him around wherever he goes.

Mr. Reca can be a little, uhm, intense. / HoYoverse

Reca greatly contributes to solving the Slumbernana Monkey crisis throughout the story, ending up sharing some crucial intel with Rappa at the end.

Honkai: Star Rail 2.6 – Boothill, Robin, and the Astral Express

Boothill snuck his way into yet another storyline, giving us a glimpse at how he was as a boy – seemingly quite sweet, but already with a heart beating for justice. He seemed to assist Rappa due to a favor he owed her and went back to pursuing his own goal again at the end of the story. We already know that his ultimate target is Oswaldo Schneider, a Nameless working for the IPC.

Robin has remained on Penacony since the end of that story arc, teaching kids how to sing and helping steer the planet into a new future – but she appears to have struggled not only with her own identity, but also with the meaning of Harmony. Update 2.6 seems to have helped her find a better definition of what Harmony is – and gave us a direct reference to her brother, Sunday, who is becoming playable in version 2.7.

The Astral Express crew really wasn’t in the spotlight a whole lot in this story, although we got lots of fun time with the OG trio of Trailblazer, March 7th, and Dan Heng. Annoyingly, Welt and Himeko didn’t tell us how their trip to Ruan Mei (who, as an aside, appears downright ethical compared to Dr. Primitive) went.

Summarizing things, update 2.6 had lots of backstory for Rappa in store and provided much Dr. Primitive lore, introducing the Genius Society member as a powerful antagonist the Astral Express crew will have to look out for. The whole Slumbernana Monkey business is also a pretty good take on the power of trends, whatever form they may take, to divide people and essentially replace their identities.