There's a lot of mystery behind Pyrois, the newest S-rank agent.
HoYoverse has dripped the most exciting and simultaneously ominous agent reveal for Zenless Zone Zero Version 3.0. The announcement was made in the game’s official social media accounts:
Who is Pyrois?
Pyrois is an Ether Attack S-rank agent from the newest faction, which is Phaethon’s faction. Based on the video and images, Pyrois looks like an intelligent construct, but standing behind them is the shadow of either playable Phaethon sibling: Belle or Wise.
Pyrois was first teased during ZZZ’s Season 3 Dev Talk released last Monday (20 Apriil). Pyrois was said to be tied Helios Academy legacy, and instead of an entity, was described as the moment where: “The power that's been hidden inside Phaethon… will officially make their appearance… in the form of the Etheric Other.”
Why is Pyrois from the “Phaethon” faction?
From what we’ve gathered in the lore so far, Pyrois has something to do with Phaethon’s eyes, which were affected during their encounter with the creator during Ye Shungguang’s story last December 2025 in Version 2.5. The affected Phaethon sibling has been experiencing weakness, headaches and more since then, and seems to be framed as so, in the most recent trailer for Version 2.8: New: Eridan Sunset.
The caption of the Agent Record reads: “Grip tight the reins tempered by the light of dawn. What's scorched never fades beneath the skin — Until they step onto the promised golden chariot once more.”
The singular quote from the Agent Record is very telling, as it references Greek mythology: the sun chariot that Phaethon uses before he was struck down by Zeus. Based on the lore, and this quote alone, it now seems plausible that ZZZ’s Phaethon already “greatly failed”, and is now looking to “step onto the promised golden chariot once more.”
It’s good to remind ourselves that the name of the city the Phaethon siblings are living in is New Eridu, a name which can be derived from Eridanos, the river that Phaethon fell into in Greek mythology. Although the Phaethon from Greek mythology died, it looks like the Phaethon siblings are given a second chance of sorts, especially with Pyrois about to become active once more.
Much is left to be learned about Pyrois and how he works in the coming days, but for now, it seems that there are going to be many more shocking reveals for Zenless Zone Zero in the coming months!
