Nibelung — The Dragon King

Name, Details & Titles

Nibelung is the primordial Dragon King, the Original Ruler of Teyvat, and the first sovereign will to arise alongside the world itself. He is known by many ancient names and honorifics, including the Dragon King, the Original Ruler, the Humble Ruler, the Beloved King, King of All Dragon Lords, Lord of All Dragons, Primeval Blacksmith, Eternal Workman, Lord of Two Natures, Dark-Winged Lord, and Indestructible Lord. In this AU, his most fundamental description is not merely that he was the ruler of the dragons, but that he was a will born alongside Teyvat, the master of the Light Realm’s power at the very beginning, and the King of all Dragon Lords. He is a primordial being whose existence is inseparable from the earliest formation of the world and its life.

Nibelung is an ancient creator-king rather than a conventional deity. His authority comes from being one of the foundational wills of existence itself, and his relationship with Teyvat is closer to that of a primordial father and creator than that of a ruler who merely conquered an established civilization. Despite his overwhelming status, Nibelung is famously humble and gentle in his conduct, earning the title the Humble Ruler not as irony but as a genuine description of his character. He considers rulership a responsibility rather than a privilege, believing that a king exists to protect and nurture his people rather than stand above them.

Appearance

Nibelung exists exclusively in his true draconic form, possessing no human or humanoid transformation. His resurrected body is absolutely colossal, rising to a scale comparable to a small mountain, with his enormous silhouette capable of dominating entire landscapes. He possesses an elegant but immensely powerful draconic physique: a long, imposing body built for both flight and tremendous physical force, a broad chest, powerful shoulders, thick musculature beneath his scales, immense limbs ending in formidable claws, and a long, heavy tail capable of generating devastating force. Although his body is mountainous in scale, his proportions remain graceful and majestic rather than bulky or monstrous. He looks like the perfected form of a primordial dragon—beautiful, regal, intimidating and almost otherworldly.

His scales are predominantly rich metallic gold, giving his body the appearance of living sunlight or divine metal. Different layers of his scales vary subtly in shade, producing depth across his body rather than a flat coloration. His underside is covered by overlapping, armor-like plates running from his throat down across his chest and abdomen. These large pale-golden scales emphasize the enormous structure of his torso and give his body a naturally armored appearance. Along his neck, shoulders, sides and back are additional layered structures and elongated scale formations that reinforce his ancient, ceremonial appearance.

His head is distinctly draconic and regal, with a long, refined muzzle, powerful jaws, sharp teeth and an intelligent facial structure. His eyes are a vivid clear blue, contrasting strongly against his golden scales, with narrow vertical slit pupils that give his gaze the unmistakable presence of an ancient apex predator. His horns form an elaborate crown-like arrangement around his head, branching upward and outward in multiple elegant golden structures. Rather than resembling simple animal horns, they resemble a natural royal crown grown directly from his skull, reinforcing his identity as Dragon King. Additional horn-like and fin-like structures extend along his head, jaw and neck, creating a highly recognizable silhouette.

His wings are enormous and powerful, extending far beyond the dimensions of his body. Their outer structures are predominantly golden, while the membranes possess deep red, wine-colored and purple hues, producing a striking contrast against his golden scales. The darker wing coloration gives him a more imposing appearance when seen from below or silhouetted against the sky. When fully spread, his wings can cover enormous portions of the landscape, and their movement alone can generate tremendous winds.

Nibelung has no conventional clothing in his true dragon form. Instead, his natural anatomy functions as his regalia: his crown-like horns, golden scale armor, elaborate neck structures, enormous wings and carefully formed primordial markings collectively create the appearance of a divine king who requires no artificial garments. Any ceremonial adornment associated with him would therefore be supplementary rather than necessary; his body itself is already the physical embodiment of his royal status.

Following his resurrection, his body is not a corrupted or decayed corpse. Aether’s restoration returns Nibelung to the appearance of his original, uncorrupted self, with his golden coloration, brilliant blue eyes and primordial Light Realm characteristics restored to their full glory.

Lore

Nibelung is the primordial Dragon King and the original ruler of the ancient world. His existence begins alongside Teyvat itself, with the ancient saying describing him as a will born alongside Teyvat and the master of the Light Realm’s power at the very beginning. He stands at the foundation of the world’s earliest history, before the modern nations, before the Archon system and before the civilization that exists today. The ancient dragons were not simply beasts inhabiting a world created by someone else; under Nibelung, they belonged to an original civilization that possessed its own order, culture, knowledge and sovereignty.

Nibelung is the supreme king of the Dragon Lords, standing above the Seven Sovereigns and the countless other dragons that arose during the primordial age. His relationship with dragonkind is fundamentally paternal. He does not regard dragons as tools, soldiers or possessions, but as his people. More importantly, his original civilization was never intended to be exclusively draconic. Nibelung accepted humanity as part of his people as well, welcoming humans into his world with open paws and wings. In his ideal civilization, humans and dragons could live together rather than existing as opposing species.

As the primordial creator, Nibelung is credited in this AU with creating the original world of Teyvat, the first life upon it, and the ancient dragons themselves. He also created the Three Moons and their goddesses, establishing celestial powers that helped govern the earliest world. His mastery of the Light Realm allowed him to shape and cultivate existence on a scale far beyond conventional gods or Archons.

Nibelung’s original philosophy is therefore fundamentally different from the philosophy of domination associated with many supreme rulers. He does not believe that strength gives him permission to mistreat the weak. To him, immense power creates an even greater obligation to protect life. This is the foundation of his reputation as the Beloved King.

Background

Nibelung’s history begins with the formation of Teyvat itself. As one of its primordial wills, he became the supreme ruler of the earliest world and guided the development of its first forms of life. He shaped the ancient dragon civilization and established the foundations of the world’s natural and elemental order. The dragons flourished under his leadership, eventually developing an extraordinarily advanced civilization whose achievements extended far beyond simple elemental manipulation.

Among Nibelung’s greatest creations were the Three Moons and their three goddesses, beings created to oversee and influence the ancient world. Their existence demonstrates the extraordinary scale of Nibelung’s creative abilities: he was capable not merely of creating individual organisms, but of creating powerful divine entities and celestial systems.

Nibelung eventually became involved in the struggle against the Abyss and the forces threatening Teyvat. In the original history, he departed from the world in search of a means to protect it and ultimately returned carrying Abyssal power. That power corrupted him and transformed his struggle into catastrophe. The resulting conflict with the Heavenly Principles devastated the ancient world, culminating in Nibelung’s death approximately 5,000 years before his resurrection.

For five millennia, Nibelung remained dead.

His remains endured through the ages until Aether, the Traveler, undertook the extraordinary process of restoring him. Aether combined Nibelung’s old skeleton and remains, his own blood, the Pyro Gnosis, and an alchemical Life Orb obtained from Albedo to regenerate the Dragon King’s physical body. The resurrection was further empowered through a portion of Columbina’s power, while Aether accessed the Spirit World itself to locate and retrieve Nibelung’s soul. Rather than creating a copy or artificial recreation, Aether reunited Nibelung’s original soul with a newly restored body and brought his heart back to life.

The result is the impossible return of the true Nibelung.

He awakens not as the Abyss-corrupted king who died thousands of years ago, but as his original, uncorrupted self, restored to his complete primordial power. The Abyss has no hold over him. In fact, Nibelung now possesses an intense hatred of the Abyss, viewing it as an enemy of life and a force responsible for twisting his legacy.

His resurrection also creates an entirely new relationship with the modern world. Nibelung finds himself in a Teyvat vastly different from the one he remembers, yet he does not automatically reject humanity. His ancient belief that humans can belong among his people remains intact. He develops a particularly strong affection for Aether and Paimon, with Aether holding an especially unique place in his heart as the person who gave him back his life.

Nibelung’s modern existence also comes with one unexpected complication: his relationship with Columbina. Despite Columbina contributing her own power to his resurrection, the two have developed a bizarre, largely comedic rivalry. Their current “beef” is one of the few things capable of producing genuinely ridiculous situations around an otherwise overwhelmingly dignified primordial king.

Physiology

Nibelung’s body is that of a true primordial dragon, fundamentally different from ordinary dragons, Vishaps, elemental creatures and even the modern descendants of the ancient Sovereigns. His physical form is simultaneously biological, elemental and primordial, allowing him to exist as a living manifestation of the ancient world’s power.

His enormous body possesses extraordinary structural strength. His bones, scales, muscles and organs are capable of supporting a body the size of a small mountain without collapsing beneath its own mass. His golden scales function as natural armor, resisting physical destruction, elemental attacks and supernatural forces that would annihilate ordinary beings. Beneath them lies immense musculature capable of producing catastrophic amounts of force.

His primordial physiology grants him extreme longevity, regeneration and resistance to conventional mortality. Death itself is not an ordinary limitation for an entity such as Nibelung, although the destruction of his original body was sufficient to remove him from the world for approximately five thousand years. His resurrection demonstrates that his existence is not reducible to his physical corpse: his soul remained an essential and recoverable part of his identity.

Nibelung’s body also naturally accommodates enormous quantities of primordial and elemental energy. Rather than relying on a Vision or external artifact to access his power, he possesses the power intrinsically. His relationship with the Light Realm is fundamental to his existence, and his restored body once again possesses the qualities of his original, uncorrupted nature.

The Abyssal corruption that once affected him is not part of his current physiology. Aether’s resurrection restored him without the corruption, meaning the modern Nibelung is effectively the pure primordial Dragon King returned to life rather than the damaged version who fought in the ancient war.

Powers

Nibelung’s power exists on a primordial scale. His strength does not originate from a Vision, Gnosis, Delusion or conventional divine Authority. He possesses the fundamental power of a being who existed alongside the world and who mastered the Light Realm at the beginning of Teyvat’s history. In his original state, he is easily superior to the Heavenly Principles in raw power, placing him beyond the normal hierarchy of Archons, Sovereigns and other divine beings.

• Primordial Creation: Nibelung possesses the ability to create and shape life on an extraordinary scale. He created the first life of Teyvat, the ancient dragons and the foundations of the original world, making creation itself one of his defining powers.

• World-Shaping: His primordial authority allows him to manipulate the fundamental forces and structures of the world. His power is capable of affecting environments and systems on a scale far beyond conventional elemental manipulation.

• Light Realm Mastery: As the original master of the Light Realm’s power, Nibelung possesses its primordial energies naturally and can wield them at their highest level.

• Dragon Creation: Nibelung is the progenitor and creator of the primordial dragons. His relationship with dragonkind is therefore not merely political; their existence is directly connected to his creative power.

• Celestial Creation: The creation of the Three Moons and their goddesses demonstrates that Nibelung can create beings and structures possessing enormous supernatural and celestial power.

• Primordial Elemental Mastery: Nibelung possesses immense control over the ancient elemental forces of Teyvat. His abilities are not constrained to the limitations of a Vision bearer or ordinary elemental creature.

• Immense Physical Power: His mountain-sized body possesses extraordinary strength. His claws, jaws, wings and tail are individually capable of devastating enormous structures and landscapes.

• Flight and Atmospheric Manipulation: His enormous wings allow him to fly despite his colossal size. Their movement can generate tremendous winds, pressure waves and destructive storms.

• Extreme Durability: His primordial scales and body can withstand forces that would obliterate ordinary beings. His durability is proportional to his status as the original Dragon King.

• Regeneration: Nibelung possesses extraordinarily powerful regenerative capabilities, allowing his primordial body to recover from damage that would be fatal to lesser beings.

• Primordial Energy Manipulation: He can channel and shape the enormous energy contained within his body, using it offensively, defensively or for creation.

• Soul and Spiritual Existence: His resurrection demonstrates that Nibelung’s consciousness and soul exist independently enough from his physical body that his original soul could be recovered from the Spirit World and reunited with a reconstructed body.

• Abyssal Rejection: Rather than wielding the Abyss in his resurrected state, Nibelung rejects it completely. His restored primordial nature is fundamentally opposed to the corruption that once twisted him.

• Cosmic Awareness: As a primordial creator and ancient ruler who once dealt with forces beyond ordinary Teyvat, Nibelung possesses knowledge and awareness far exceeding modern mortals and most gods.

• Supreme Combat Ability: Nibelung is not merely a creator who happens to possess overwhelming power. He is also an ancient Dragon King capable of personally engaging the strongest entities of his era.

At his absolute original peak, Nibelung does not need to borrow power from another being to challenge the Heavenly Principles. His own primordial power is sufficient to place him above them.

Specialities

Nibelung’s greatest speciality is creation. Whereas many powerful beings are defined primarily by their ability to destroy, Nibelung’s defining achievement is that he can bring life and entire systems into existence. He is a primordial creator, world-builder and architect of civilizations.

He is also an exceptional ruler and civilizational leader. His greatest strength as a king is not simply that nobody can overpower him; it is that he understands the responsibility attached to overwhelming power. He listens, protects, nurtures and allows different peoples to coexist beneath his rule. His acceptance of humanity as part of his ancient people is a central example of this philosophy.

He possesses extraordinary knowledge of primordial history, elemental forces, ancient civilization, creation and celestial phenomena, having personally witnessed or participated in events that modern Teyvat considers myth.

His other defining speciality is restraint. Nibelung has enough power to reshape the world, yet he does not constantly use it. His preferred solution is generally the one that preserves the greatest amount of life and causes the least unnecessary suffering.

Personality

Nibelung is an extraordinarily humble, compassionate and benevolent ruler, especially considering the unimaginable power and age he possesses. He does not behave like someone desperate to prove his superiority. He already knows what he is, and therefore has no reason to constantly remind others. His immense authority is carried quietly, almost naturally, with the confidence of someone who has existed since the beginning of the world.

As the Beloved King, Nibelung genuinely loves his people. Dragons are his children in the broadest spiritual and cultural sense, but his compassion is not restricted to them. He has always been willing to welcome humans and other forms of life into his civilization, believing that a person’s worth is not determined by their species. To Nibelung, a kingdom is strongest when its different peoples can live together rather than when one species dominates the others.

He is wise, patient and protective, with an almost fatherly quality toward those he cares about. He can be gentle enough to make ordinary people feel safe in his presence despite his terrifying physical scale. At the same time, his kindness should never be mistaken for weakness. Nibelung is fully capable of becoming terrifying when the lives of his people are threatened, and the sheer difference between his gentle personality and his actual power makes his restraint even more meaningful.

He possesses immense hatred for the Abyss. Having experienced its corruption firsthand and understanding the destruction it can inflict upon life, Nibelung refuses to romanticize or tolerate it. His current hatred is especially intense because he remembers what the Abyss did to him and his ancient world, yet he does not allow that hatred to consume his personality again. He refuses to become the corrupted king he once was.

Nibelung’s relationship with Aether is exceptionally warm. Aether is not simply the Traveler who happened to resurrect him; he is the person who went to extraordinary lengths to restore his body, retrieve his soul and return him to the living world. Nibelung therefore holds Aether in extremely high regard and genuinely enjoys his company. He likewise has a strong fondness for Paimon, whose personality he finds endearing despite the enormous difference between her and the primordial Dragon King.

His relationship with Columbina is considerably less dignified. Although he recognizes her importance to his resurrection and respects her immense power, the two have developed an ongoing comedic rivalry that periodically descends into petty arguments, teasing and ridiculous exchanges. It is one of the few circumstances in which the otherwise majestic Dragon King can behave like an irritated old friend rather than an ancient cosmic ruler.

Ultimately, Nibelung’s defining characteristic is the contradiction between his immense power and genuine humility. He is the creator of worlds, the father of dragons, the Original Ruler and one of the most powerful beings to ever exist, yet he does not believe that any of those things make him inherently more valuable than the people he protects. He does not want worship for its own sake. He wants his people to be safe, free and able to live meaningful lives.

That is why he is remembered as the Humble Ruler and the Beloved King.

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I guess you could do smut too if you want, I didn’t ban it.