Character from The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
The Dragon Emperor — the Trifecta's warrior, the strongest of the three heroes, who liberated Nikan and then ordered the genocide of the Speerly people because their shamanic power threatened his rule.
Riga was the Trifecta's first hero — the strongest, the most decisive, the one who proclaimed himself Dragon Emperor after the three orphans poisoned the twelve warlords and reunified Nikan. He channeled the Dragon (Blue Serpent of the East) and wielded its power with the confidence of someone who believed he was born to rule. His defining act of horror was ordering the genocide of the Speerly people. The Speerlies' connection to the Phoenix represented an uncontrollable threat to his authority — a nation of potential fire shamans answering to a god that opposed his own. So he sold Speerly children to Mugenese laboratories for experimentation and allowed the destruction of Speer. Daji sealed him into a coma for this, but the damage was done: an entire people destroyed to protect one man's throne. He is Vaisra's cousin, which means the Dragon Warlord's political ambitions are a family inheritance — the Yin bloodline has been reaching for imperial power for generations.
Described through legend as the mightiest of the three heroes — a warrior-king with the bearing of someone summoned by the Dragon itself and gifted a divine sword. The Yin family beauty presumably originated with him. Now sealed in a coma by Daji, preserved but powerless.
Also known as: Riga, Yin Riga, The Dragon Emperor, The Warrior