Dragon

Dragon
Type	Species Lore

Dragons, also known in their juvenile form as Vishaps, are enormous and powerful creatures that inhabit both land and sea of Teyvat.

They are creatures of the Light Realm and were the dominant race of the old world before the arrival of the Heavenly Principles. It defeated the Seven Sovereigns, the dragon-lords who ruled the old world, and created a new world for humanity.

Overview

Dragons are a naturally large species of reptilians with varying appearances. Some are quadrupedal, some are serpentine, and some either have wings or none at all. They typically have physical attributes reminiscent of their associated element; for example, the Earth Dragon Azhdaha has rough stone skin befitting of Geo, Dvalin has a much more sleek and svelte appearance befitting of Anemo. A dragon's size is proportional to its strength; the immensely powerful Azhdaha, at his full strength, was as large as a mountain range and his size when fought in Beneath the Dragon-Queller is his form after years of erosion; Dvalin is also stated to have suddenly grown in both size and power when he reemerged as Stormterror.

Vishaps and elemental dragons are born from the elements. The ancestors of all vishaps, and thus presumeably all dragons, are the Fontemer. All dragons can thus be said to descend from the Primordial Sea. As elemental beings, they have far longer lifespans than mortals and even gods. They typically grow more powerful with age, and several dragons are known for having enough strength to rival the likes of Archons and other similarly powerful beings; such dragons include Azhdaha, Dvalin, and Durin. However, other dragons like Ursa the Drake can be felled by powerful Vision or Delusion-bearers.

Dragons are not immune to erosion and are still subjected to the rules of the Heavenly Principles. Vishaps and elemental dragons in particular are also extremely susceptible to the darkness of the Void Realm.

Vishaps

Main articles: Vishaps and Dragonheir of the Depths

Vishaps (Chinese: 龙蜥 lit. "Dragon-Lizard") are reptilian creatures who have existed since primeval times. They are believed to develop into dragons after long periods of time, such as how Azhdaha is from the Geovishap species. Some vishap species such as the Geovishaps are able to absorb elemental energy from the ley lines and some vishap species, such as the Bathysmal Vishaps, are even capable of evolution, allowing them to inherit more and better combat-related characteristics than their predecessors. However, this evolution has severe consequences for their race — namely, the fact that they are no longer elementally "pure" and thus cannot have one of the Seven Sovereigns be born among them.

Saurians

Main article: Saurian

Saurians are the descendants of the ancient Pyro Dragons of Natlan which have diverged into six lineages after being acknowledged by the Wayob and the Night Kingdom: Tepetlisaurs , Yumkasaurs , Koholasaurs , Qucusaurs , Iktomisaurs , and Tatankasaurs. Unlike in other nations, they live alongside the humans of Natlan in peace, and are considered equal members of the community. Like Bathysmal Vishaps, they are now considered elementally impure, and the new Pyro Sovereign cannot be born among their ranks.

Melusines

Main article: Melusine

Melusines are the "daughters of Elynas" created during a Pneumousia explosion inside Elynas' corpse during a clash between the Marechaussee Phantom and the Narzissenkreuz Ordo over 400 years ago. They are considered to be a new form of Hydro vishap or "dragonheir" in multiple instances, taking the form of young girls with features resembling sea slugs. They may however be aligned more with the Void than the Vishap Realm due to the abyssal nature of their progenitor.

Elemental Dragons

Elemental dragons (Chinese: 元素之龙) have not been well-documented, although several examples exist; Dvalin and the Seven Sovereigns are explicitly called elemental dragons, while Azhdaha is an elemental dragon by deduction.

Elemental dragons and ley lines will affect each other. During the events of the Prologue Chapter, Dvalin's rampage sent Mondstadt's elemental flow and ley lines into disarray, which forced the Knights of Favonius to cut off his connection to the other three of the Four Winds' temples. Powerful Geovishaps are capable of drawing energy from ley lines; Azhdaha planned on absorbing the energy from the entire world's ley lines and using it to destroy everything after freeing himself from the Dragon-Queller, and at the start of his boss fight's second phase, he draws energy from the ley lines through his limbs. Conversely, when human mining at the Chasm damaged the ley lines, it brought Azhdaha physical agony.

It is unknown whether non-elemental dragons exist, as all natural-born dragons named in the game have an elemental affiliation. Durin was created through alchemy and may not be subject to normal dragon physiology, while Ursa the Drake only appeared in the Manga and little detail went into its background or abilities.

History

According to legend, dragons were the dominant species of the old world and were led by the Seven Sovereigns and the Dragon King Nibelung. When the Heavenly Principles descended, it waged war against the Seven Sovereigns and after forty years of battle, emerged victorious with the help of its four shining shades. It began recreating the world to pave the way for humanity, while those who refused to capitulate, such as the Bathysmal Vishaps, fled into the oceans.

Since then, dragons have often come into conflict with denizens of the Human Realm, including humans and gods. Ancient gods and dragons have "never seen eye-to-eye," and on the rare occasion that gods, humans, and dragons have managed to coexist, later circumstances would drive rifts between dragons and those of the Human Realm.

However, according to Apep, the majority of dragons that had been reborn were now free from the hatred they once harbored against gods and humans, thus mostly ending the feud between them apart from a select few.

The Archon War

In Liyue, Azhdaha's awakening caused the earth to tremble with every movement he made. Morax approached him, seeking to stop the earth's shaking, and managed to befriend the dragon for some time, with the dragon even participating in the Archon War on Morax's behalf. However, later on, a combination of erosion and human mining at the Chasm caused Azhdaha to forget his friends and his love for humanity. Azhdaha lashed out and attacked the Chasm, destroying the settlement at Tianqiu Valley in the process. Morax chose his duty to protect humanity and personally went to the mines to subdue him. Even the Geo Archon's power alone was insufficient to overpower the eroding dragon; he needed the help of Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper, and an unnamed adeptus to create a domain that would be able to seal Azhdaha away, and even then, Azhdaha willingly allowed himself to be sealed.

In Inazuma, the god Orobashi fell into Enkanomiya and eventually became its people's god, subduing the Bathysmal Vishaps which had harassed the humans and further empowering the Dainichi Mikoshi. It personally led research into Bathysmal Vishaps and their evolution. In the process, Orobashi and the researchers eventually came to the conclusion that vishaps naturally rejected Orobashi's power because they came from different realms, although they eventually succeeded in grafting Orobashi's coral onto vishaps. These coral fragments are necessary for the Watatsumi Goryou Matsuri, a ritual that prevents Watatsumi Island from being absorbed by the Elemental Realm.

As a result of the Bathysmal Vishaps' "impure" evolutions into Cryo and Electro forms, this caused a prophecy to claim that the Hydro Dragon would be reborn in a human form.

In Sumeru, Apep, the Dendro Sovereign, was corrupted by King Deshret. Apep allowed Deshret to build a kingdom in its lands in return for it consuming his body for his knowledge when he died, but King Deshret died with forbidden knowledge, causing great anguish to Apep as it had to muster all of its strength to survive, unable to analyze the knowledge acquired.

In Fontaine, the Hydro Dragon was the "first heart" of the Primordial Sea and had absolute command over it. The first Sovereign gave Remus a goblet of primordial water. However, the Hydro Dragon presumably perished in the battle of the Seven Sovereigns against the Heavenly Principles. Later on, the Dragon Prince Scylla gathered barbarians, Vishaps, and Lochknights to wage war against Remuria. The Harmost Boethius sealed Scylla's power, but eventually both Remuria and the rebellion army got swept away by an inexorable storm, implying to be the Abyss.

After the Archon War

Sometime after Barbatos became the Anemo Archon and new sovereign god over Mondstadt, the newborn sky dragon Dvalin appeared before him, enamored by his music. Barbatos sang songs of Dvalin's beauty and befriended the dragon, later naming him the Dragon of the East of the Four Winds.

Around 1,000 years ago, Ursa the Drake lurked around Mondstadt, occasionally threatening the City of Mondstadt. Ten years before her rebellion, Vennessa and her tribe, having wandered far from their homeland, were attacked by the dragon and fled to Mondstadt. Although they were taken in, they were promptly enslaved by the corrupt Mondstadt Aristocracy. When Vennessa stood up to Barca Lawrence on Venti — who unbeknownst to them, was Barbatos' mortal disguise — the Lawrence scion retaliated by purchasing Vennessa and her entire tribe, and forcing Vennessa to win successive gladiatorial battles for their freedom. The Lawrences, however, had no plans on letting Vennessa win; in exchange for peace, they negotiated with Ursa the Drake to sacrifice Vennessa and her tribe to it. In the middle of the battle, Venti revealed his true identity and drove Ursa away.

After Egeria had left from hibernation in the deep sea at an unknown specific time, the reborn Hydro Sovereign, Neuvillette, was born. The Enkanomiya prophecy that the new Hydro Sovereign would be born in human form ended up becoming true, as Neuvillette was a human. However, he has not regained his full power and memory from his predecessor, since the Ancient Dragon's Authority was still separated from him as an Archon's Divine Seat.

The Cataclysm

The Khaenri'ah alchemist "Gold" Rhinedottir created one of her masterpieces, the artificial dragon Durin. 500 years ago, around the time of the cataclysm, she sent Durin to the surface world; however, it ended up unleashing havoc and destruction upon Mondstadt on its arrival. Hearing the suffering of his people, Barbatos awoke from his slumber and summoned Dvalin to aid him in ending Durin's rampage. The two eventually emerged victorious, slaying Durin over Dragonspine; however, Dvalin ended up ingesting Durin's poisonous blood and fell into a deep slumber in the ruins of Old Mondstadt to recuperate.

Around 500 years ago, Focalors, the second Hydro Archon, managed to send Neuvillette a letter to invite him to the Court of Fontaine as the Iudex. Neuvillette agreed, hoping to find the answer to his existence and his lost memory.

Present Day

Four years before the events of the game, on Diluc's eighteenth birthday, Ursa the Drake was lured into attacking his and his father Crepus' caravan. Their entire retinue was slain and Diluc was defeated by the dragon when Crepus intervened, using a Delusion to repel the dragon. However, the Delusion's power backfired on him; he died shortly afterwards, either from the Delusion itself or by Diluc killing him to spare him the agony. Sometime afterwards, Il Dottore visited Mondstadt and personally slew Ursa, thus indebting Mondstadt to the Fatui.

During the events of the Prologue Chapter, the Abyss Order sought to weaponize Dvalin in their plans to destroy the nations of Teyvat and eventually, Celestia. However, their plot was eventually foiled by the combined efforts of Venti, the Traveler, Jean, and Diluc. Freed from the poisonous blood that put him in physical agony and freed from the Abyss Order's lies, Venti and Dvalin's friendship was rekindled and Dvalin became Mondstadt's ally once more.

Azhdaha, through the artificial vessel Jiu, attempted to break Morax's seal at the Dragon-Queller by having miners chip away at the seal from outside, while Azhdaha overpowered it from within. The plan was eventually thwarted when Zhongli (Morax's mortal vessel), the Traveler, and Kun Jun — who was unknowingly possessed by a fragment of Azhdaha's consciousness that retained his goodwill towards humanity — investigated the miners' disappearance and stumbled upon the plot. After a hard-fought battle, Azhdaha's body was resealed, while his spirit went dormant again.

Nahida, who was supposed to take care of Apep, had initially forgotten about her task due to her tampering of Irminsul to remove the forbidden knowledge. The removal of the forbidden knowledge ended up creating a large void in Apep's body, and by the time Nahida had remembered her task, Apep was on the verge of death, of which it would unintentionally destroy Sumeru with its abundance of energy. Apep was successfully saved by Nahida and two elemental beings taken the form of elemental fungi that had successfully escaped Apep's body during the cataclysm, with them and all the others conciousness of the same species that they've been carrying, sacrificing themselves to restore the Heart of Oasis in Apep's body. Although remaining distrustful of the gods and humans, Apep elected to instead watch them to see how far they could go under the Heavenly Principles.

Neuvillette recovers his authority as part of Focalors' plan to divert the prophecy and save the people of Fontaine during the event of Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act V - Masquerade of the Guilty. He uses the power to absolve Fontainians, granting them the true properties of human due to his absolute control of Hydro and the Primordial Sea, ensuring that they are not dissolved in the sea once more when the second diluvian comes.

In Natlan, dragons known as Saurians are common. These dragons have gone through long years of evolution and have since co-existed with humanity; Neuvillette speculates that he would not find himself welcome there.

Known Dragons

Name	Element	Region	Status
Apep		Sumeru	Alive
Azhdaha		Liyue	Alive (sealed by Morax)
Durin	?	Khaenri'ah	Deceased (slain by Dvalin, corpse lies in Dragonspine)
Dvalin		Mondstadt	Alive
Neuvillette		Fontaine	Alive
Nibelung	?	Unknown	Deceased (slain by the Heavenly Principles)
Mini Durin	?	Simulanka	Alive
Och-Kan		Natlan	Deceased as of Moment of Awakening
Previous Hydro Dragon		Unknown	Deceased (succeeded by Neuvillette)
Primo Geovishap		Liyue	Alive
Scylla		Fontaine	Alive
Ursa the Drake	?	Mondstadt	Deceased (slain by The Doctor)
Waxaklahun Ubah Kan		Natlan	Alive
Xiuhcoatl		Natlan	Deceased (slain by Xbalanque)
Ix Uxul Tz'ib Bolon Ch'ule-L	?	Natlan	Deceased as of Open Your Heart To Me

Trivia

• In the Chinese version of Rite of Descension, Ivanovich states that Morax's Exuvia is allegedly a cross between two of Liyue's divine creatures: an Eastern dragon and a qilin. The English version does not specify what two creatures it is based on.
  • In Liyue folklore and media, Morax is often depicted as a dragon, using a form nearly identical to his Exuvia's.
• Although Haishan is never explicitly called a dragon, Beidou's epithet in the Chinese version is Dragon Lord (Chinese: 龙王), which is translated in the English localization as the "Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean." The exact origin of this byname is unclear, but it is likely related to her slaying of the leviathan.
• In the Chinese text, powerful, antagonistic dragons have been dubbed 魔龙 "Demon/Evil/Magic Dragon"; this is usually translated as "evil dragon," reinterpreted, or left out of the English localization entirely. Dragons who have been called by this phrase currently include:
  • Azhdaha, in Linlang's Hidden in Nameless Treasures dialogue (Chinese only, used as part of a sentence rather than a title)
  • Durin, in Iris' dialogue
  • Dvalin, in his epithet Stormterror (Chinese: 风魔龙 "Wind Demon Dragon")
  • Ursa the Drake, whose Chinese name is 魔龙乌萨 "Demon Dragon Ursa"
• The following have been described as "dragon-like," but are never directly or explicitly linked to dragons:
  • Baqiu, a behemoth of a sea monster that Morax fought against in ages past. In Chinese mythology, a Qiu (Chinese: 虬) is a type of horned dragon; Baqiu (Chinese: 八虬) was thus likely an eight-horned dragon-like monster.
  • Chi, another sea creature in the Liyue region. Morax defeated one that took over Mt. Qingce, while the Skipper defeated another one and turned its spine into Serpent Spine.
  • Orobashi is, on one occasion, described as a "dragon-like serpent god."
  • Elynas, described as a "great beast" and whose remains in the Beryl Region somewhat resemble those of large draconic beasts. The children of Elynas, the Melusines, are referred to as "dragons" or "vishaps" on numerous occasions, and Elynas' flesh and blood is described by Rene as having the same properties as the abyssal dragon Durin.
  • Much like the Fontemer, Egeria and her resulting creations, the Oceanids, Fontainians, and (indirectly) Remurians were created using only the original materials of Teyvat (The Primordial Sea), and Fontainians are thus considered forms of life requiring the Hydro Sovereign Neuvillette's care, equally to dragons. Egeria in particular held not just the authority of the Hydro Dragon, but also its heart.