Honkai: Star Rail fans debate whether Dr. Ratio is part of the Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC) or not.
Honkai: Star Rail is a turn-based strategy role-playing game (RPG) developed by miHoYo and published worldwide by HoYoverse. In the game, players are the Trailblazers who end up traversing space with the Astral Express Crew consisting of March 7th, Himeko, Dan Heng, Welt, and Pom-Pom.
Trailblazers meet various characters while exploring the different planets in Honkai: Star Rail. One of these characters is Dr. Ratio, a member of the Intelligentsia Guild. Players would first meet him during the first part of the Trailblaze Continuance chapter Crown of the Mundane and Divine
There have been players who have been debating whether Dr. Ratio is part of the Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC), with some believing that he is not while others believe that he is.
A Reddit user shared their points on why Dr. Ratio isn’t part of the IPC: Dr. Ratio has high-level IPC clearance like all Intelligentsia Guild members, heavily sponsored and subsidized doesn’t mean they’re part of IPC, and highlighted that Dr. Ratio’s faction is Intelligentsia Guild only in the wiki.
However, another Reddit post countered the argument. In the post, they stated that the guild is an extension of the IPC due to the corporation funding them and subsidizing their products. SU logs about Preservation show that both factions have the same Aeon, but the guild doesn’t respect it as much as IPC, being an external branch and not having the same limitations IPC does about knowledge on Preservation.
During the Penacony quest with Aventurine, Dr. Ratio said, “Bring it. The box containing Cornerstone is unique, and only IPC senior staff and related members can access it — but I happen to be among them.” As the Penacony mission was secretive and crucial for the IPC, it wouldn’t make sense for Dr. Ratio to be randomly be given senior access
In conclusion, they believe that Ratio is either a senior-ranking person or an employee of IPC and has relation to higher staff. He had been abiding by the plans of the IPC without any other input, confirming that he takes executive commands and plans from the IPC. The IG is heavily implied as an extension of the IPC with many of its members working for the IPC, and IG members being ‘seniors’ who are involved in important event cases like Penacony.
The user also shared a screenshot showing Dr. Ratio being introduced: “This is Dr. Ratio of the Intelligentsia Guild—a delegate from the IPC.” Another showed an official Honkai: Star Rail video which states: “Join us and team up with the Intelligentsia Guild.”
This debate about whether Dr. Ratio or the IG is part of the IPC can be quite confusing, but it is clear that the guild has affiliations with the corporation. Perhaps the IG members are contracted by the IPC for different tasks, such as working with the Technology Department. Maybe some IG members are considered part of the IPC, as I don’t think they’d provide access to something important, such as the Cornerstone box, to just anyone.