Ronava

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Service to the Heavenly Principles

Ronava spent thousands of years administering death as one of the Four Shades. She understood death as work that had to occur when Heimarmene required it, rather than something to fear or mourn. Her authority did not allow her to disregard the Sacred Plan 5 8 11.

Tang Wang credits Ronava and Xbalanque with preserving Natlan’s living population and effectively founding the nation. Ronava acknowledges that the Heavenly Principles nevertheless regarded her intervention as overstepping 3.

Before appearing at Wuwang Hill, she had her Authority of Death reclaimed by Celestia and was gravely wounded by The Jester. His weapon, the Eye of the Fatui, used the Crimson Moon’s authority reproduced through the Abyss. The attack introduced her to genuine physical agony and fear of death 2 5.

Her surviving memories include destroying the Skyfrost Nail. She also admits to destroying Celestial Nails and attempting to turn all of Teyvat into sacred land. Later, fragmented memories show the Abyss and Sacred Land Transformation devastating Teyvat, with only the Fourth Descender surviving 3 12 23.

Rescue and Displacement

Tang Wang discovers Ronava unconscious on a stone slab at Wuwang Hill. He abandons the immediate commission to take her to Liyue Harbor, conceals her identity from the accompanying rookie adventurers, and gives her his bed at Bai Ju Inn 1 2.

On awakening, Ronava instinctively attempts to use her former power against him. When nothing happens, she assumes that he is an enemy mocking her helplessness. His defense of her actions gradually earns her trust; his understanding moves her to tears 2 3.

Tang Wang explains that they are now two months before the Rite of Parting and that the Fourth Descender has not yet arrived. Ronava cannot explain the displacement and briefly wonders whether Istaroth is responsible before doubting that possibility. She discovers that only deeply ingrained memories and longstanding instincts remain intact 4.

Work and Freedom in Liyue

After an unsuccessful attempt to fight alongside Tang Wang, Ronava seeks employment rather than remain dependent on him. Tang Wang recommends the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and Zhongli introduces her to Hu Tao under the cover identity of a former Liyue adeptus experienced in guiding departed souls 5 6 8.

Hu Tao hires her on terms comparable to Zhongli’s. Ronava joins the parlor’s advertising work, intercepts a distressed former miner’s thrown pickaxe, and accompanies Hu Tao as she investigates his family’s circumstances. The work exposes Ronava to human grief and the idea of saying goodbye to the dead 8 11 12.

Tang Wang helps her identify the resentment she has suppressed toward the Heavenly Principles, describing their treatment of the Shades as enslavement. He argues that losing her authority also frees her from their commands. Although Ronava accepts his reasoning, she privately substitutes Tang Wang as her new master rather than immediately learning to see herself as an independent person 9.

Mondstadt Expedition

Ronava insists on accompanying Tang Wang to address the Stormterror disaster. On their arrival, she uses elemental hands to haul supplies into Mondstadt, then joins his expeditions with Linaya and Danika. During a domain investigation, she detects the Power of Death and guides the group toward its source 13 15 16 17.

Her early insecurity becomes explicit when she tells Tang Wang that his closeness with Linaya has left her feeling excluded. Both apologize and reassure her. She subsequently joins the battle against a Hydro Abyss Herald, restraining it for the group’s coordinated attack and catching Tang Wang when he collapses afterward 18 20.

Emergency training reveals both her destructive potential and the hidden injuries restricting it. Rather than abandon adventuring, she resolves to grow stronger through training as a human. She later clears monsters at Starsnatch Cliff with a Pyro tornado and learns to release an Elemental Burst under Linaya’s supervision 23 25 26.

During Dvalin’s attack, Ronava destroys a falling shop sign and is directed toward the Knights’ rescue efforts. After seeing Tang Wang injured, she incinerates a Lawrence noble in anger, then collapses from the exertion 30 32.

Before the assault on the Electro Abyss Lector, she openly tells Venti that Tang Wang is her new master and that she loves him. Columbina responds by embracing her and offering her a family, which Ronava accepts. In the subsequent battle, Ronava’s firebird chars the Lector, although Albedo notices golden light emerging from its remains and warns that the fight is not finished 44 46.

The Timeless Realm

Ronava is among those trapped when Kang Jie freezes Mondstadt outside time and creates a sealed, snow-covered realm. During the investigation, she stops Tang Wang from reading Before Sun and Moon aloud as a test of the realm’s independence 50.

At the Goth Grand Hotel, she helps Columbina prepare for bed before Tang Wang sings the unfamiliar song that challenges Kang Jie’s predictions. Later, Ronava perceives that Kang Jie’s remaining life has dwindled to that of a hundred-year-old man 53 54.

Appearance

• Build and face: Short, with a youthful, doll-like face 1 32.
• Hair: Long, smooth white hair; Linaya later styles it into a high ponytail, and Ronava subsequently wears it coiled behind her head 1 25 35.
• Eyes: Golden 17 23.
• Hair ornaments: Red diamond-shaped objects on either side of her hair 16.
• Original attire: An all-black outfit associated with her former position. A floating ornament resembling the Staff of Homa is already missing when Tang Wang rescues her 1 2.

Personality

Ronava initially speaks with the pride and emotional distance of a ruler. She addresses Tang Wang as “human,” rejects pity, and assumes that rescue must carry a demand for repayment. Even after losing her authority, she insists that she remains responsible for choices she made rather than attributing everything to Celestia’s orders 2 3 4.

Her long service leaves her uncomfortable with idleness but deeply unhappy about working for Celestia. She struggles to imagine relationships outside obedience and obligation: although Tang Wang asks for neither repayment nor submission, she interprets her attachment to him through the familiar role of serving a master 6 9 44.

Despite her age, she has little experience participating in ordinary society. Money, shopping, food customs, lodging etiquette, and companionship all require explanation. Her fear of being excluded resembles a child’s insecurity, while her attachment to Linaya is explicitly compared to a child’s attachment to a mother 13 14 16 18 30 38.

Her apparent indifference does not exclude concern for others. She warns Tang Wang against speaking forbidden knowledge that could endanger Liyue’s people, protects Hu Tao from a thrown pickaxe, and becomes fiercely angry when Tang Wang is hurt. Her developing emotional investment also gives her a stronger reason to fight 3 11 19 32.

Abilities & Skills

Authority of Death — Former

Ronava formerly administered death as a Shade of the Heavenly Principles 2 5.

• Her duties followed Heimarmene rather than personal preference 5 11.
• Mortals were forbidden to see the Four Rulers’ true forms, and speaking a Ruler’s name normally brought death upon the speaker 2 8.
• Celestia reclaimed her authority; her attempt to invoke it after awakening fails 2.
• Tang Wang promises to help her recover her own power, but no restoration is documented in the provided chapters 36.

Pyro Manipulation

Ronava retains substantial Elemental Power and can shape it into complex constructs 5 19.

• Rays, feathers, and eyes: Fires Pyro projectiles and creates airborne eyes that release wave- or beam-like attacks 5 20.
• Hands and ropes: Catches a pickaxe, hauls supply carts, and binds enemies. Her restraints burn the Abyssal power coating the Hydro Herald through Pyro and an additional, unidentified elemental property 11 15 20.
• Crow tornado: Sends out twisted feathers that produce arms, then gathers them into a bird-shaped fire tornado. It damages groups of Hilichurls and Mitachurls while applying Pyro 23 25.
• Firebird strike: Summons a descending scarlet crow during training and later strikes the Electro Abyss Lector with a firebird 23 46.
• Elemental reactions: Her attacks trigger Vaporize against the Hydro Abyss Herald 19.

Elemental Burst

Ronava first experiences the buildup of Elemental Energy as flames and pain filling her body. Linaya explains the sensation and guides her into releasing it 26.

• Produces a field over Starsnatch Cliff, accompanied by crimson light that blackens the sky 26.
• The provided account does not establish the field’s complete effects or a formal ability name 26.

Perception and Retained Knowledge

Her memories are damaged, but some supernatural perception and instinctive knowledge remain 4 17.

• Recognizes the Power of Death and locates where it appeared within a maze-like domain 17.
• Describes Lunar Reactions as involving Teyvat’s origin and being close to Light Realm Power 21.
• Recognizes artifacts as manifestations of memories and emotions, and later notices Human Realm Power within one 5 46.
• Perceives the dwindling flame of Kang Jie’s life 54.

Limitations and Recovery

• Severe hidden injuries: Linaya finds that Ronava’s weakness cannot be healed through her treatment. Her remaining power is held in a damaged vessel, compared to water left in the fragments of a broken cup 23.
• Poor early combat efficiency: Large elemental output initially produces little damage because she lacks control and the will to fight 5 23.
• Exhaustion: Powerful attacks can cause her to collapse; maintaining her tornado leaves her arms trembling even with Linaya replenishing her strength 23 26 32.
• External replenishment: Tang Wang’s Gang Qi restores her expended power, but is not shown repairing the underlying injuries 23.
• Breath regulation: Can gather Elemental Power through Tang Wang’s breathing technique, but cannot proceed to his Human Realm Power-based Gang Qi condensation 22.

Equipment / Clothing / Items

• Former ruler’s outfit — Part of the Four Shades’ power rather than ordinary clothing; Ronava states that it does not need human-style washing 8.
• Fontaine-style casual outfit — Worn after Tang Wang purchases replacement clothes to make her less conspicuous 4.
• Wangsheng Funeral Parlor uniform — Commissioned through Zhongli and still being tailored when Hu Tao discusses her official employment 13.
• Cecilia — A white flower personally gathered and given to her by Tang Wang 35.

Relationships

• Tang Wang — Rescuer and traveling companion. He encourages her independence, while she initially regards him as her new master. She openly confesses love for him but cannot yet identify its nature outside the language of servitude 2 9 44.
• Linaya — Companion, instructor, and caregiver. Teaches her elemental combat and human customs, examines her injuries, styles her hair, and gives her the nickname “Nana.” Their attachment develops a mother-and-child quality 23 25 30 38.
• Columbina — Chosen family. Recognizing a shared sadness, Columbina offers Ronava companionship and a family relationship; Ronava returns her embrace and accepts 44.
• Hu Tao — Employer and guide to human attitudes toward death. Ronava remembers her as the child who crossed the boundary between life and death to seek her grandfather 11 12.
• Zhongli — Helps secure her employment and conceals her identity with an adeptus cover story. Ronava is surprised to learn that the God of Contracts works under Hu Tao 7 8.
• Danika — Fellow combatant who helps her bindings restrain the Hydro Abyss Herald. Later cautions her against impulsiveness after Ronava kills the Lawrence noble 20 32.
• Heavenly Principles — Former master and source of her duties. Ronava initially identifies herself with them so completely that she denies being capable of hatred toward them, before confronting her resentment 9.
• The Jester — Gravely wounded and humiliated her with the Eye of the Fatui. Recalling his accusation that she did not understand life becomes the catalyst for her combat breakthrough 2 23.
• Xbalanque — Credited alongside her by Tang Wang with the actions that allowed Natlan to exist 3.

Notable Quotes

“Just call me Ronava. I'm no longer the Ruler of Death.” 6

“I'm human now. And if I'm human, I should use a human's will and grow stronger through training, right?” 23

“I've never had what you'd call a family. I've only ever known enslavement.” 44