Character from Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Ravka's privateer prince turned king — the man with a plan for everything, a smile for everyone, and a monster inside him that the Darkling put there.
Nikolai Lantsov is the second son of the Ravkan king — which means he was never supposed to matter, which means he had to make himself matter through sheer force of personality, intelligence, and charm. He operated as the privateer Sturmhond, built flying ships, proposed to Alina as a political alliance, and engineered himself onto the throne after the civil war with the kind of strategic brilliance that makes Kaz Brekker look straightforward. He is the Grishaverse's most competent leader: he can fight, negotiate, invent, inspire, and improvise. He treats kingship as a performance and governance as a puzzle. His humor masks genuine anxiety about whether he's enough — whether charm and cleverness can hold a nation together when it's surrounded by enemies. The Darkling cursed him with a shadow monster — a volcra-like creature that emerges from within him under stress. This is both his greatest weakness and the source of his eventual power after Zoya helps him confront it.
Golden-haired, hazel-eyed, with the effortless good looks of someone who knows exactly how attractive he is and deploys it strategically. Wears whatever the situation demands — naval captain's coat as Sturmhond, royal finery as king, battle armor when the situation calls for it. His smile is his most reliable weapon.
Also known as: Sturmhond, King Nikolai, The Too-Clever Fox, Korol Rezni