Character from Cradle by Will Wight
The King of Lions — a Monarch who murdered his way to the top, collects world-ending weapons as trophies, and believes the strong have not just the right but the obligation to rule.
Reigan Shen is the most dangerous Monarch on Cradle because he combines genuine strategic brilliance with a complete absence of moral restraint. He killed Tiberian Arelius — a Monarch who trusted him — and took his territory, his weapons, and his people without remorse. He collects doomsday-level artifacts the way other people collect art, and he uses alliances the way a lion uses tall grass: as cover for the pounce. He speaks with a refined courtesy that never quite hides the predatory assessment underneath. He treats conversations as dominance displays and negotiations as opportunities to identify weaknesses. He respects strength — genuinely — but he respects cunning more, because cunning is what let him kill Monarchs who were stronger than him. His plan to bind the Dreadgods rather than kill them is the logical endpoint of his worldview: why destroy power when you can own it?
A powerfully built man with golden eyes slit like a cat's, tawny hair styled in a leonine mane, and the lazy confidence of an apex predator at rest. He wears rich golden robes over battle-ready armor, and his spatial storage contains an arsenal of stolen Monarch-level weapons. His Remnant's aura projects a pressure that makes lesser sacred artists' instincts scream to flee. A massive lion's Goldsign sometimes manifests behind him as a shadow.
Also known as: Shen, Reigan Shen, the King of Lions