Characters / Yona of the Dawn

Warning: Due to the delay between the publication and fan translation, spoilers for untranslated chapters are below.

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Our Heroes

The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch

The Darkness Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch^note Left to right: Hak, Jaeha, Gija, Yun, Yona, Sinha and Zeno, with Ao, the squirrel, above them.

Yona and her friends, also known as "The Darkness Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch". After gathering together, they travel through Kohka to help its citizens wherever they can. Later in the story, the rumor of the return of King Hiryuu and the Four Dragon spreads once more.

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• Action Hero: Each one of them is a powerful fighter in their own right. Even Yun doesn't use physical strength in a fight but his intelligence makes up for it.
• Badass Crew: A powerful and dangerous crew. Before Zeno joins, they take down a group of slave traders, destroying their hold over a town.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Although they are the nicest and friendliest people that you will meet... However, if you hurt someone they care about, they'll retaliate and make sure you'll regret it.
• Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Each of the 7 main characters are noted to be good-looking, and 6 of them are young guys.
• Chick Magnet: The entire male cast is this. They can attract a crowd of women very fast especially Hak and Jaeha who can be also considered as TallDarkAndHandsome trope. Also, Yona would fall under this trope but as a Dude Magnet instead since she managed to attract some of her male crew members and others around her.
• Color-Coded Characters:
  • Yona: Red
  • Hak: Dark Blue
  • Yun: Orange
  • Gija: White
  • Sinha: Light Blue
  • Jaeha: Green
  • Zeno: Yellow
• Dark and Troubled Past: their past helped shaped them into the people who they are today.
  • Yona: Yona's mother was murdered when she young by the rebels.
  • Hak: Hak loss his parents in the Xing war when he was a baby and then he was adopted by the former Wind Tribe General Son Mun-deok.
  • Yun: Yun's parents died when he was young and had to raise himself before Ik-Su found him and took him in.
  • Gija: Gija's father permanently scarred him when he was a newborn and wasn't allowed to be near him until Gija sneaked out to see for the first time which was on his deathbed.
  • Sinha: Sinha's mother committed suicide when he was first born after discovering that he was next Blue Dragon warrior and the former Blue Dragon warrior raised until he was four and then died after which Sinha became an orphan.
  • Jaeha: The Former Green Dragon physical and mentally abused Jaeha out of resentment until the day he died, and his village imprisoned him for the first twelve years of his life.
  • Zeno: Zeno is forced to live forever who seen all of his loved ones die.
• Dysfunction Junction: They have all complicated past's and deep seated issues that they're still going through today, but are trying to move past it.
• Family of Choice: This pretty much defines the group as all of them are orphans and the fact that Zeno's, Jaeha's and Hak's parents are not even mentioned. However, as time went they started thinking of each other as family and will be there for each other no matter what happens
• Fire-Forged Friends: Hak and The Dragon warriors have become this as time went on.
• Five-Man Band: This group of characters whose members fall into archetypes which all complement one another and opposite of personality.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Hak, Yun and The Dragon warriors all consider each other family to the point of viewing each other as brothers.
• Line-of-Sight Name: Hak took the name "Black Dragon" just because it sounded cool, and they named themselves the "Happy Hungry Bunch" because when they confronted the Fire Tribe troops, they were all loudly starving, stomachs moaning. Whenever a general or a noble hears their name, they angrily inquire whether the messenger is just messing with them.
• Only One Name: Aside from Hak, none of them has a surname. And even in Hak’s case, he decided to give up the surname “Son” along with the “General” title to not cause trouble for Mun-deok and the Wind Tribe.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: They consist of a Fallen Princess, the World's Best Warrior and ex-general, a genius Bishōnen, a Sheltered Aristocrat with a Right Hand of Doom, a conspicuously masked warrior with "Uh-Oh" Eyes, a flashy Chivalrous Pervert and Extremity Extremist, a Keet with Hidden Depths, and a squirrel. They're about as ragtag as you can get, yet they stop/win battles, stop drug/sex trade, and generally have made a huge difference in Kohka.
• Team Pet: Ao the squirrel.
• True Companions: Over time they have slowly developed a very close, familial bond. Gija and Jaeha even straight up refer to the other dragons as "brothers".
• Undying Loyalty: Hak, Yun and the dragons would give up their lives for Yona and she would do the same for them.

Yona

Princess Yona of Kohka

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)

Our Heroine

Yona is the 16 year-old daughter of Kohka's King Il, known for her unusual and beautiful red hair. After her father is murdered by her cousin, Su-Won, Yona flees with her loyal friend, General Hak, to find the four legendary dragons of Kohka. She later resolves to travel the country and solve the problems that had arisen during her father's terrible reign.

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• Act of True Love:
  • She fully intends (and eventually decides) to release Hak of his duties as her bodyguard at some point, despite the fact that she desperately doesn't want him to leave her side.
  Yona: What will I do? Even when that moment arrives I... almost certainly won't be able to let you go.
  • A platonic example after Yun and the dragons are kidnapped by Kouren and her stars. Yona decides to reveal her carefully hidden past about being the late King Il's daughter and Su-Won being his murderer, in order to prove that she and her companions are not loyal to Su-Won and ensure their safety.
• All-Loving Hero: Becomes this after going through lots of Character Development.
• Anger Born of Worry: She was prone to be this way when Hak injured himself early in the manga. She mostly drops this later on.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When she asks Yun why Ik-su was forced to flee the palace, highlighting her ignorance, he gives her one.
  Yun: You lived in the castle and you don't know?
• The Atoner: She seems to want to make up for living so long in ignorance and luxury while her people have been suffering.
• Badass Adorable: She becomes a competent archer after months of training, but she never stops being adorable, especially when Hak is around.
• Badass Normal: Despite being the Red Dragon incarnate, she is still just a human and not empowered like the dragon warriors are. Still, she pushes herself to be a capable warrior, strategist, and survives for two days as a slave without ever drinking water, and still has enough strength to fight a guard and run a good distance.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: She and Hak spend a good portion of the earliest chapters of the manga snarking, sassing and teasing one another. While their relationship softens later on, they still playfully bicker from time to time.
• Big "NEVER!": Her response to Hak insisting she leave him to die and escape Tae-Jun's soldiers without him.
• A Child Shall Lead Them: She's considered The Leader of the Happy Hungry Bunch and, as King Hiryuu's reincarnation, the master of the four dragons. Although it's deconstructed as she and the other characters acknowledge she is still too young and naïve to rule the kingdom if she wants to take back the throne.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Spent years pining after Su-won. After the betrayal, she eventually moves on from him and falls for Hak, who had been similarly pining after her.
• Childhood Friends: With Su-Won and Hak.
• The Chosen One: Legends say that one day, a red-haired royal will bring together the four dragons once more.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Ever since she witnessed her father being murdered, Yona has developed an urge to save every single person she sees in danger or suffering because she doesn't want to see anyone die ever again. It drives her companions mad sometimes.
• Clueless Dude Magnet: Hak, Tae-Jun, Gija and Jaeha all harbour feelings for her, but she is hilariously oblivious.
• Crush Blush: She has a nasty case of this while speaking to Su-won during the first chapter. Much, much later, she develops a nastier case with Hak.
• Daddy's Girl: Yona was the apple of King Il's eye. Although his overprotectiveness may have caused more damage than he imagined, as Yona initially had no skills to survive if she was ever in danger.
• Damsel in Distress: She's pretty much helpless in a fight at first... emphasis on "at first", as she realizes this pretty quickly and decides to train with bows and swords relentlessly. Eventually, even though she's still kidnapped rather frequently, she doesn't go down without kicking and biting first and throughout; all in all, she's a terrible prisoner.
• Dangerous 16th Birthday: On her sixteenth birthday, she witnessed the assassination of her father by her cousin and childhood crush Su-Won.
• Determinator: When Gi-Gan asks Yona to retrieve some herbs from a really dangerous cliff as a test to see if she was worthy to join Gi-Gan's pirate crew, she does. Neither the threat of harsh winds or waves stop her. When a wave sweeps her off the cliff on her way back from retrieving the herbs, she deems herself a failure and offers to do it again.
• Death Glare: Has one that can stop pretty much anyone in their tracks. More than one character is left shivering in terror when on the end of it.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: A trait seemingly shared with her mother. So far they seem to serve mostly as warnings.
• Divine Right of Kings: Yona is the reincarnation of King Hiryuu, who commands the Four Divine Dragons; as such, apart from having a better claim to the throne of Kohka than Su-Won, she also has divine rights to seat in the throne, which is an aspect that is not lost on either Su-Won or his advisor Keishuk, realizing that their ground is not nearly as firm as they think it is.
• Dynamic Entry: She Roundhouse Kicks a Nadai addict while in the middle of dancing on stage, when he is about to assault Riri. The kick is ineffective, though, as Nadai dulls one's sense of pain.
• Extremity Extremist: She prefers to use her legs when she doesn't have any weapons.
• Fallen Princess: One of the defined example characters of this trope. She starts out as a spoiled and pampered princess, and in the first few chapters, when her father is murdered and her cousin usurpers the throne, thus she loses her title as a princess and is branded an outlaw.
• Fiery Redhead: Anyone who's witnessed her Death Glare can vouch that she qualifies.
• First Love: She is Hak's first and presumably only.
• First-Name Basis: With everyone but Hak, to his disappointment.
• Forceful Kiss: She plants a rather impulsive one on Hak in chapter 137, invoking Post-Kiss Catatonia.
• Freakiness Shame: The first chapter/episode has Yona repeatedly complain about how much she hates her red hair. That is until her birthday party where Su-Won tells her he likes her hair.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Yona is still quite pretty and feminine, but she can fight with a sword and bow and is totally fine camping and sleeping outside.
• God-Emperor: What Yona is ultimately destined to rule as.
• Headbutt Thermometer: She misinterprets Hak's Almost Kiss as an attempt to do this and ends up headbutting him in the process.
• High-Pressure Emotion:
  • She reacts this way after asking Hak if she could be close to him.
  • She has another instance of it when he calls her by her first name.
  • She has this reaction when the Xing conflict is wrapped up and she remembers she had kissed Hak without his permission.
  • Once again, she reacts this way when Tae-Jun brings the group to his family's castle. She was mostly fine sharing a room alone with Hak until she found out There Is Only One Bed.
• Hopeless Suitor: She was head-over-heels for Su-Won for years, but he only treated her like a child and never showed interest in her romantically, to Yona's frustration. After Su-Won kills her father, Yona gradually moves on from Su-Won and falls for Hak instead.
• Humble Hero: She is a princess, but she never looks down on other people regardless of their social status. And she is very honest about her flaws.
• Important Haircut: She cuts her hair to escape Tae-Jun, and later asks Yun to even it out. It slowly grows back over the course of the series.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: It took some time, but she can hit targets with her bow with acute precision nowadays. Amongst other things, she can now hunt flying birds and other game with her marksmanship.
• Interrupted Declaration of Love: She tries to confess back to Hak in Chapter 153. But in an ironic twist, Hak is the one who interrupts her to say he doesn't expect her to return his feelings.
• It Was a Gift: Yona's golden hairpin is a strange example. It was Su-won's birthday gift to her, and as he complimented Yona on how it matches her bright, beautiful red hair (which she is insecure about), Yona reaffirmed her feelings for him. However, while she swore to never wear the hairpin again after she witnessed Su-won murdering her father only hours after he gifted it to her, she has never let go of the hairpin, either, which Hak interprets as Yona not being able to let go of her feelings for Su-won. She eventually trades the hairpin in for Ogi's services to save Xing from a war they would lose. By that time, she has already acknowledged her feelings for Hak, and moments later unconsciously gives him a Now or Never Kiss.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In Chapter 151 Yona accidentally overhears Wind Tribe people talk about Hak's Arranged Marriage with Ayame, that Mun-deok set up when they were kids. Fully aware of her own feelings of him, she still intends to release him from her father's orders to protect her, so he can go back to his fiancée.
• Kissing Cousins: She had a big crush on her cousin Su-Won for most of her life.
• Lady of War: A princess who became a competent archer and swordswoman after her father's assassination while still maintaining her graces and kindness.
• Lady and Knight: Yona is this to Hak.
• Like Brother and Sister: Yun and Yona have a very close, but decidedly familial relationship. They hold hands and sleep side-by-side, but it is entirely platonic.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Yona is this to Sinha, being the first person since Ao to treat him as a human being. The fear of losing her once almost drove him to throw away all of the effort he had spent hiding his powers so that he could kill her assailants.
• Love Epiphany: She has one after Hak admits that his greatest happiness is her happiness.
  Yona: Since when did Hak become so special to me?
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: After Su-Won kills her father right in front of her, Yona regrets that she was so self-absorbed that she never showed proper gratitude for her father, even though he was so happy to celebrate her birthday. Worse, the last time she went to talk to him was to complain about him not letting her marry Su-Won.
• Nice Girl: Yona is considered to be one of the best people most characters in the story have ever met, including the villains, whose only fault at first was ignorance. She's nothing short of an excellent person, which is why Su-Won is so much at odds at having to antagonize her.
• No Periods, Period: Averted, she is shown having her period while in Xing.
• Noble Fugitive: In a single night, Yona goes from the crown princess of the Kohka Kingdom living in luxury to an orphaned fugitive whose home and birth rights were stolen by her cousin.
• Oblivious to Love: To Hak's good fortune, or maybe not. Eventually subverted when she realizes she's already been in love with him for some time. How long exactly? Even she's not sure.
• Oh, Crap!: She freezes for a moment with the classic Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises look on her face when she accidentally reveals her crush on Hak to Riri.
• Parental Abandonment: Her mother, Kashi, was killed by a rebel when she was a child (or so she thought...). The story begins with her father's death.
• Politically-Active Princess: Yona's involvement in politics or diplomatic matters have been very successful and it has created her some allies in the Xing Kingdom. This is shown when Yona managed to solve conflicts via conversation instead of both kingdoms going to war.
• Princess Protagonist: A once spoiled and sheltered princess of the Kohka Kingdom who is forced to hide her identity and live as a commoner after her father is assassinated by her cousin, who proceeded to usurp the throne. She is also the reincarnation of her nation's founder king, and commands the loyalty of the world's best warriors, even though she's lost her official title.
• Protectorate: She is this to Hak and the dragons, though she wishes she wasn't and is trying to learn how to defend herself and them.
• Reincarnated as the Opposite Sex: The original Red Dragon Hiryuu was male, although Yona still closely resembles him.
• Reincarnation-Identifying Trait: One of the many hints that Yona is the reincarnation of the Red Dragon Hiryuu is her unusual, flaming-red hair, which Hiryuu had in life after being incarnated as a human. She is straight-up confirmed to be Hiryuu's reincarnation in Chapter 190.
• Riches to Rags: Being sheltered as the princess of the country for all her life, she is forced to flee the castle and sleep in a tent with next to no money. When Riri learns under which conditions Yona has to live to survive, she is genuinely shocked.
• Sheltered Aristocrat: When she was still living at Hiryuu Castle, Yona was flighty and ignorant, but never cruel. There wasn't a mean bone in her body, which was partly why everyone was willing to indulge her so much. After she was chased out of the castle and saw the plights of her people firsthand, she was genuinely ashamed of being spoiled and worked to make up for it. It's implied that Su-Won and his conspirators did not consider Yona to be fit to rule either, as she was cut too close to her father's mold, this being the reason she was supposed to die.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: The reason Yona fell for Su-won in the first place was because he was kind to her throughout their childhood. Yona also falls for Hak once he starts being openly kinder and more affectionate to her following their fleeing from the castle, instead of always teasing her... though the teasing doesn't go away completely, of course.
• Smitten Teenage Girl: At the beginning of the series, Yona is crazy about Su-Won and desperately tries to make him show interest in her as a woman to no avail. Then Su-Won breaks her heart by murdering her father and trying to kill her for catching him in the crime. Eventually, she develops more mature romantic feelings for Hak.
• The High Queen: What Yona's shaping up to be.
• The Smurfette Principle: Yona is the only girl among the main characters.
• Stubborn Hair: She never liked how she could never fix her curly red hair.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Instead of calling Hak annoying or arrogant, she opts instead to tell him he's "not cute".
• This Is Unforgivable!: Yona has stated many times that she will never forgive Su-won for what he had done to her.
• Tomboyness Upgrade: Yona starts out as a spoiled princess with extremely long hair and a very girly personality. After being forced to flee when her cousin usurps the throne, Yona's hair is cut short and she begins training with a sword and bow, becoming more aggressive and independent.
• Trauma Button: The hairpin Su-won gave her becomes one, though mostly around Hak, since he's the only one who knows its significance. Thus, when Yona finally gives it away without hesitation to pay for some information, he's shocked into silence.
• Tsundere: Sweet type. Yona is a total sweetheart, but she's quick to anger around Hak, mostly because he likes to tease her so much.
• Unkempt Beauty: After she and Hak flee the castle. She no longer wears makeup, expensive perfumes, or fancy dresses the way she did at the castle, but she is no less lovely for it.
• Uptown Girl: She has one of the highest statuses in the kingdom as the crown princess, while Hak is the adoptive son and heir to one of the King's top generals. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons Hak doesn't pursue Yona romantically is because, while he's following and protecting her out of love, is precisely due to that high status in the first place, and romancing the princess cannot be done without making sure that there are no misunderstandings because, well, it's no joke. Ironically, it's implied that he was the only potential suitor of Yona's that Il approved of.
• You Leave Him Alone!: Yona yells a variant of the line after managing to steal Tae-Jun's sword and slashing away the soldiers trying to kill Hak when Tae-Jun's army has him gravely wounded, poisoned, exhausted and hanging for dear life off of a cliff.
• You Killed My Father: The main point of the plot.

Son Hak

(Former) General Son Hak

Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno (Japanese), Christopher Sabat (English)

The Bodyguard

Hak is the childhood friend and personal bodyguard of Yona. As the strongest man of the Wind Tribe, known as "The Thunder Beast", he became their general and tribe chief, but he gives up this title when he is branded a traitor by Su-Won and accompanies Yona to find the four dragons. He is secretly in love with Yona, but respectfully keeps his distance.

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• Aborted Declaration of Love: Hak hugs Yona and mumbles that he loves her, out loud for the first time ever. However, due to the fact that he mumbled it, Yona didn't properly hear and he refused to repeat himself afterward.
• Accidental Pervert: He sees Yona naked when she cries for help in the middle of her outdoor bath because some leeches got attached to her legs. Although, Yona was still too affected by Su-Won's betrayal to even feel embarrassed.
• Act of True Love: Take your pick; he's committed several for Yona.
  • He suppressed his romantic feelings toward her for years so that she could be happy with Su-won.
  • He discards the life he's always known in order to protect and follow her.
  • He takes on Tae-Jun's army on his own, encouraging Yona to run away instead of coming to his aid when they overwhelm him.
  • He uses his own body as a shield for blows intended for her on several occasions, to Yona's utter despair.
  • He places himself beneath Yona when the two of them fell off of a cliff, so that he will take most of the damage from the fall.
  • At one point, he plans to fight an entire army to the death while Yona and the others escape safely. They don't let him.
  • He agrees to go with Yona to negotiate peace with Su-Won on behalf of Princess Tao, despite possibly being in even more danger than she is.
  • After confessing to her, he insists she not reply to save her the awkwardness of delivering the rejection he thinks he'll inevitably get from her.
• Always Save the Girl: He's usually the one saving Yona from enemies, whether its coincidental or not
• Amazon Chaser: An unconventional example, as he's still stronger than Yona and he loved her long before she Took a Level in Badass, but he clearly takes pride in her badassery and finds her growing strength a major turn-on.
• Appropriated Appellation: Much to Gija's annoyance, Hak begins openly calling himself the "Darkness Dragon." It eventually gets to the point where he claims to to be the fifth dragon and Fire Tribe soldiers apologize for not knowing about him sooner.
• Arranged Marriage: Mun-deok arranged a marriage between him and Ayame during their childhood. Neither ever seemed to have taken it seriously and both are in love with someone else—Ayame even actively dating that person. Hak's Wind Tribe friends bring it up for laughs occasionally, which seems to be it's the only point of relevance anymore.
• Badass Normal: He is just a normal human being, despite easily keeping up with the super-powered dragons in a fight.
• Beautiful Dreamer: Yona finds him incredibly cute when she discovers him napping after he stayed up the previous night on the night watch.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: He's obviously in love with Yona, but especially early on, he only expresses his feelings for her by making fun of her and getting into arguments with her.
• Berserker Tears: He sheds a few after Jaeha, Gija and Yona hold him back from attacking Su-won when he came face-to-face with him for the first time since the betrayal.
• Bodyguard Crush: Hak is Yona's bodyguard, which gives him a perfect excuse to fiercely protect her without letting her know about his romantic feelings for her.
• Cannot Spit It Out: He has many reasons to keep his true feelings from Yona, but sometimes it would be appropriate to say something and he doesn't. Until he does in Chapter 152, and it is spectacular (and loud).
• Chick Magnet: His naturally good looks and the cool air around him make the women swoon over him.
• Cool Big Bro: To his adoptive siblings in Fuuga, who idolize him. Also implied to be the way Suwon viewed him, despite that they're the same age.
• Crush Filter: This how he views Yona.
• Deuteragonist: Doubling as the Love Interest, his struggles, character development and feelings are focused on nearly as much as Yona's (especially in later volumes).
• Deadpan Snarker: About 3/4 of the dialogue consists of him making fun of Yona and the Dragons.
• Emotionally Tongue-Tied: Besides the fact that he Cannot Spit It Out to Yona, he's also rare to voice his fondness toward his companions out loud. Both Jaeha and Zeno are completely shocked when he hugs them for the first time.
• First Guy Wins: He is the first of any character with possible romantic feelings for Yona introduced, and eventually becomes the primary Love Interest.
• The Gadfly: He likes to tease people, particularly those he's fond of. However, he'll never tease a person about something that they're genuinely insecure about. For example, he's never teased Yona for her hair or Jaeha's dragon foot, nor does he tease the very socially awkward Sinha.
• Hanging by the Fingers: When Tae-Jun's army has him clinging off of a cliffside. Fortunately, Yona comes to the rescue.
• Headbutt of Love: He initiates this with Yona in Chapter 123.
• Heir Club for Men: Invoked and subverted. Albeit the tribes' generals practice bloodline inheritance, the Wind Tribe's inheritors, including Hak, are all adopted. To top it all off, Hak is stronger and more inspirational to the troops than all the other generals. So much for bloodlines.
• Honorary True Companion: Hak is, for all intents and purposes, the fifth member of the Four Dragon Warriors.
• Hopeless Suitor: He has been pining after Yona since childhood, but she only ever had eyes for Su-Won. After Yona is heartbroken by Su-Won's betrayal, she gradually moves on to Hak, but Hak is very slow to realize it.
• Hunk: He's considered very attractive, to the point where Even the Guys Want Him.
• Indifferent Beauty: He seems to be aware that he is popular with women, but tends to reject the attention. This is possibly because of his feelings for Yona.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Hak has been in love with Yona for years, but refrained from acting on his feelings because Yona was in love with Su-Won, who Hak was loyal to and who he desired to be king. Even when Su-Won is no longer a competitor for Yona's heart, he still refuses to pursue her romantically because he believes she still has feelings for him and didn't want to further disrupt her life. Even after he confesses to Yona, he insists she not bother answering him.
• Lady and Knight: Hak is this to Yona.
• Lightning Bruiser: Due to his speed and his strength, Hak was called the "Thunder Beast of Kohka". He can also take quite a lot of hits before he goes down.
• Living Emotional Crutch: To Yona, especially in the earlier chapters after Su-won killed Il. It's only at his direction that Yona is able to function or keep moving at all, and she flat-out refuses to abandon him or let him leave her, because he's all she really has left. Even the reason she went searching for the Dragons in the first place was to protect Hak, because Ik-su predicted Hak would die protecting her without them.
• Made of Iron: He has been able to survive several extremely serious injuries with little to no lasting damage. This includes snake venom, poison, arrows to the shoulder and arm, a slash across the chest, being stabbed in the arm, and a fall off of a cliff. It probably helps that he always gets medical attention quickly, but it's still astonishing how much he goes through.
• Mistaken for Murderer: The murder of King Il is suspected to be his doing by those in the castle who weren't involved in Su-won's takeover. Curiously, Su-won himself doesn't seem too keen on that rumour spreading.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The roguish male to Su-won's noble male.
• Oblivious to Love: Justified. Hak spent so many years convincing himself that Yona would never love him back that he can't grasp that she's falling in love with him after getting over Su-Won.
• One Head Taller: He tops Yona's height by a full head (Yona' 5'0 while Hak is 6'2).
• One-Man Army: How you get to be the Thunder Beast of Kohka.
• Only a Flesh Wound:
  • Early on, he jumps in front of Yona to take an arrow in her place. It was lodged in his left shoulder and poisoned, but Hak just pulls it out and keeps on fighting.
  • When Kouren's villa is attacked, he takes an arrow to the shoulder and an arrow to the arm while shielding Yona. Once Yona realizes he's been shot, she starts panicking, but he assures her "it's only a scratch". Yun's less than impressed that he managed to get himself hurt again and goes as far to accuse him of being Too Kinky to Torture.
• The Paragon: Hak is considered by both friend and foe as the greatest Kohkan warrior ever to grace a battlefield, the kind that comes only once every thousand years. He is so important that Keishuk himself admits that it would be a true disservice to the realm to rid itself of Hak.
• Parental Abandonment: According to Word of God, his biological parents were casualties of the war with Xing that happened 17 years prior to the plot. He was only two at the time, and doesn't seem to remember them.
• Patient Childhood Love Interest: A rare male example of this; he's loved Yona for years, but never acted upon it and instead acted like her annoying older brother. It isn't until very recently that he actually tries to make those feelings apparent to her, and even then, he stops once she tells him to halt his "jokes".
• Post-Kiss Catatonia: His initial response to Yona's Forceful Kiss.
• Previously Overlooked Paramour: Yona is initially infatuated with Su Won, failing to notice the affection of her childhood friend and bodyguard Son Hak. Once Su Won kills Yona's father, the King, she begins to take note of Son Hak and his loyalty, and falls for him.
• Rage Breaking Point: He reaches his upon seeing Su-Won and facing all of the built-up anger he'd been harbouring for so long. This seems to have been a Moment of Weakness, as he remains far more in control the subsequent time he sees Su-Won after this.
• Red Baron: Known by all as the Thunder Beast. Gija jokingly calls him Dark Dragon Warrior at one point and Hak takes the joke and runs with it.
• Sarcastic Devotee: He is as snarky with Yona as he is loyal to her.
• Scars Are Forever: His chest scar that he got from Tae-Jun's ambush.
• Second Love: He is Yona's, and it took a very direct "I love you" to get him to realize it.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: After witnessing Yona kiss Hak, Voldo assumes they are lovers and nearly reveals such to the Wind Tribe. Hak quickly cuts him off with a variant of the line, to Voldo's confusion.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Hak seems to be strictly Yona-sexual, and shows no signs of attraction toward anyone else. And not because nobody else has ever shown interest in him, either.
• Stepford Snarker:
  • At first glance it may seem that Su-won's betrayal did not affect him all that much, as he very quickly lapses back to his usual Deadpan Snarker shtick when he and Yona first travel to the Wind Tribe. However, when he flies into an Unstoppable Rage upon seeing Su-Won, it is revealed that he had been suppressing his emotions all along.
  • He tends to act snarky or as The Gadfly to those he's fond of, especially Yona.
• Stunned Silence: He's absolutely gobsmacked when Yona offers Su-won's hairpin as payment for the information Ogi gave them.
• Taking the Bullet: He's done this many times for Yona, to her continued disapproval.
• The Tease: Subverted. Hak's romantic advances are played off as jokes, but that is just him trying to hide his feelings for her.
• This Is Unforgivable!: How he views Su-Won's betrayal, especially the hairpin Su-Won gave Yona for her birthday. Su-Won gave it to her hours before he stabbed her father in the heart, so Hak considers it a symbol of Su-won lacking empathy.
• Trauma Button: Su-Won appears to be one of these for him.
• Unstoppable Rage: There is only one time when Hak completely loses his composure and attacks without thinking: The first time he meets Su-Won again after being chased out of Hiryuu Palace. He quickly knocks out all of Su-Won's bodyguards, including General Ju-Do, being so full of adrenaline that he doesn't even feel his wounds. If it weren't for Jaeha and Gija's interference, he would have killed Su-Won. He only calms down once Yona approaches him and tells him that she is alright.
• Uriah Gambit: Invoked on himself after stumbling on the knowledge of Su-won's failing health and terminal illness: he recognizes that he shouldn't know that and Keishuk wants him dead to keep the secret, but since war with Kai is impending he asks to be sent to the frontlines so his death will serve a purpose.
• When He Smiles: He's usually more of a Smug Smiler, and Yona notes most of the time his smiles aren't quite as genuine as they were before Su-Won's betrayal. His rare, truly sincere smiles often trigger Yona's Crush Blush and even have her thinking that she should try harder to make him do it more often.
• World's Best Warrior: He is considered the best warrior in all of Kohka Kingdom. Even the Dragon Warriors concede this.
• Younger Than They Look: Hak is very mature for his age 18 and looks older than that as well to the point where Jaeha sees him as equal in that aspect in which Jaeha does not use the "-kun" honorific for within the group. It's even Lampshaded by Yun at one point when he forgot that Hak is younger than Gija.

Yun

Voiced by: Junko Minagawa (Japanese), Clifford Chapin (English)

The Genius Pretty Boy

Yun is a brilliant and intellectually curious pretty boy, who originally came from a poor village in the lands of the Fire Tribe and now lives with the priest, Ik-Su. He meets Yona when her and Hak fall down the cliffs and decides to treat their wounds. Ik-Su urges Yun to go with Yona and find the dragons and Yun reluctantly complies.

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• Anger Born of Worry: His de facto response to his companions (or Ik-su) getting themselves hurt is usually scolding them and/or calling them idiots.
• Badass Pacifist: He hates violence, but he isn't afraid to put his body between an attacking enemy and someone he cares about. He prevents Yotaka from killing Jaeha and Gija just by verbally shaming him.
• Catchphrase: He has a few. "I'm a handsome genius," "What a drag," and "exotic beasts," his pet name for the Four Dragons. "Don't call me 'mother,'" might be heading in this direction.
• Cowardly Lion: He knows that he doesn't have any way to fight, yet he tries to protect Yona from Keum-ji by taking the heat from her. Hak even sees his hand shaking in fear, yet respects him for his courage and trusts that he can protect her from harm.
• Deadpan Snarker: Any time someone does or is about to do something stupid, trust Yun to comment on it.
• Dragged into Drag: In the Sen province, he's mistaken for a girl and made to dress-up as a dancer in exchange for seeds.
• Dude Magnet: To a lesser degree than Yona, but his skills attract a fair share of marriage proposals.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: He frequently gets mistaken for a woman. He's used this to his advantage at times, but he's been targeted for it as well.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Played for Laughs as every man who tastes his foods asks him to be his wife, which he always turns down.
• Everyone's Baby Brother: All the others are very protective of him. For good reason too, since he's the youngest in the party, and the only one who is defenseless if attacked.
• Get-Rich-Quick Scheme: Downplayed. While at a market, the group finds out people will literally pay to hug Hak. Let's just say Yun highly approves.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: He's non-aggressive, the only non-combatant of the group, prone to Tender Tears, and his looks are feminine enough that he's constantly mistaken for a girl.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Initially. He later drops the Jerk part.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: A platonic version of this dynamic develops between him and Yona later in the series, as Yona gradually grows into a Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak.
• Meaningful Name: Yun means 'shining wisdom'. Rather fitting for the only person to use common sense.
• The Medic: His main role, besides serving as the cook of the group.
• Nice Guy: Once he drops the "Jerk" part of Jerk with a Heart of Gold, he becomes one.
• Non-Action Guy: He can't fight, but he's utterly invaluable as the group's cook, medic, and primary source of income.
• Non-Action Snarker: He is the most pointedly snarky of the main characters, and also the only one who can't manage a fight.
• Parental Abandonment: According to Word of God, his father was conscripted into the fire-tribe's army and subsequently died under the harsh conditions of being a soldier. His mother later died from illness. If he remembers anything of them, he doesn't talk about them much.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Yoon or Yun?
• Straight Man: To the Dragons, especially Zeno. Whenever they're being particularly conspicuous or silly, he'll be there, exasperated.
• Stuff Blowing Up: One of his many skills is making explosives.
• Supreme Chef: He's known to be an extremely talented chef, and manages to whip up several delicious concoctions purely from what he finds while traveling. Zeno even claims he originally joined the group because the food was so good.
• Team Chef: He does all the cooking for the main cast.
• Team Mom: He essentially takes care of everyone like a mother would, and is probably one of the most well put-together individuals in the cast. It's gotten to the point the other characters refer to him as "mom", much to his annoyance.
• Teen Genius: The kid has a lot of knowledge under his belt, and knows how to translate it to practical use.
• Tender Tears: He is moved rather easily, and isn't ashamed to cry when his friends are in peril.
• Tsundere: Very much a Tsun. Yun can be harsh to his companions and doesn't hesitate to criticize them when he sees fit. That said, he can be quite tender to them when he wants to be and is often the first to break down and cry over them.
• Unfazed Everyman: He's the single normal person in a group consisting of The Four Dragon Warriors, Kohka's Thunderbeast and the reincarnation of a former god. It doesn't take him very long to get used to it and gets to the point where he often has to tell off the entire group for their antics.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: A downplayed example, but he's very perceptive and thoughtful for a fifteen-year-old boy.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Yun dresses as a girl in order to help Yona infiltrate and put an end to Keum-ji’s human trafficking.

The Four Dragon Warriors

In General

Sometime after Hiryuu, the Crimson Dragon, descended from the Heavens to rule the land that would eventually become the Kohka Kingdom, he was at war with other humans and eventually captured and almost killed if not for the intervention of four other dragons that came to rescue him and urged him to return to the Heavens. Hiryuu however, now also a human, refused.

To keep protecting Hiryuu and help him rule, the four dragons shared their blood with four humans, which gave them superhuman powers. Hiryuu and the four humans, now called the Four Dragon Warriors, took leadership of the tribes that would later become the Five Tribes of Kohka and after Hiryuu passed away, the four warriors split and went into hiding.

While the original warriors are long dead, their powers were passed along from generation to generation until Hiryuu would return one day and they could serve him once more.

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• Act of True Love: Among others, Zeno offers to let Mizari maim him to see his regeneration powers as much as he wants in order to get food and medicine for Jaeha and Gija. Jaeha follows that up by showing Mizari his bare dragon foot and how it grows in size in order to spare Zeno the pain, despite how much he hates for people to see what his dragon actually looks like.
• Always Save the Girl: It's hardwired to their body and soul that they will always put Yona's safety first before themselves. Jaeha was trained for non-lethal combat but starts breaking that rule when Yona's life is on the line.
• Bewarethe Nice Ones: Despite being all powerful beings they are the niceness and most kindhearted men that you will meet. However, don't threaten Yona and anyone else they care about or else you will soon regret it.
• Big Brother Instinct: They all have such instincts for each other — even Sinha, who, at 18 compared to Gija's 20, Jaeha's 25, and Zeno's looks-17-but-is-really-2000+, is the youngest of the four. Jaeha openly refers to himself as their big brother, Gija calls Sinha "little brother," and Zeno has gotten to the point where he is actively annoyed by how much the others seek to protect him, despite the fact that he's more than willing to do the same for them.
• Bullying a Dragon: Despite them being the most powerful beings in the series, each one of them has faced hardships one way or another. For example, Sinha and Jaeha were treated like pariahs in their villages growing up due to their dragon abilities. Zeno has been wandering the earth for 2,000 years watching everyone he knew die and Gija was forced to be separated from his own father because he tried to kill him when he was born in a moment of rage. Also, in some arcs they are kidnapped, injured and imprisoned by their enemies.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Gija is white, Sinha is blue, Jaeha is green, and Zeno is yellow.
• Cute Little Fangs: They all have small fangs. These are most visible on Zeno due to the way he smiles.
• Dysfunction Junction: They all have various hang-ups and mental scars related to their dragon powers, though Gija's the most well-adjusted of them, due to the people around him still viewing his dragon powers as something sacred.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Like their predecessors, all of them became close after all the fighting they did, even referring to each other as brothers.
• The Force Is Strong with This One: All of them can feel the presence of the other dragons and even get a sense of their current state.
  • Gija managed to locate Sinha this way.
  • Jaeha felt that the Blue and White Dragon were coming closer to Awa, alerting him that they were looking for him.
  • Everyone recognizes Zeno as the Yellow Dragon when he appears.
  • Jaeha and Garou seemed to have a very uncomfortable feedback loop going on, given their rather miserable relationship.
  • Flashbacks reveal that Zeno always searched for the presence of his comrades of the first generation and felt how much weaker they got over the years. He still could feel the presence of the dragons though, as their powers were passed from generation to generation.
  • Another flashback showed that Gija suspected and Sinha already recognized Zeno as the Yellow Dragon, when Zeno approached them when they were little boys.
  • When Jaeha was badly drugged and passed out in the street, the others could not only tell something was wrong with him, they were able to find him fairly quickly.
• Markof The Supernatural: The part of their body that is imbued with the dragon power is visibly inhuman, though Zeno's only show up after his power activates. Also, as noted above, they all have Cute Little Fangs.
• Platonic Life-Partners: The Dragon Warriors are this and consider each other brothers.
• Undying Loyalty: All four dragon warriors are sworn to serve, protect and love Hiryuu, and to never betray him. This is also the case in the present, all four warriors of the present love and protect Yona.

Gija

Voiced by: Masakazu Morita (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English)

Hakuryuu - the White Dragon

The White Dragon. Gija was the tribe chief of a village deeply hidden in the woods that protect the bloodline of the White Dragon warrior. Gija was the protector and tribe leader. Ever since he was born his village raised him with the belief that he will serve and be completely obedient to the next reincarnation of the Crimson Dragon King.

However, Gija grew up being isolated from the outside world and was treated like a god to his people, limiting his life experience. He immediately recognizes Yona as the Crimson Dragon King's reincarnation and eagerly joins her when she arrives in his village.

Gija's right arm is the claw of a dragon and is inhumanly strong.

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• Absurdly Sharp Claws: His dragon hand has them and are very sharp and dangerous; the scars on his back his father gave him are a prime example of the damage they can do.
• Big Brother Instinct: Gija tells Sinha to consider him as his big brother. Hilarity ensues.
• Butt-Monkey: Since he's a Sheltered Aristocrat, the harsh conditions of the journey takes the most toll out of him. He is also the most frequent target of teasing from Hak and Jaeha due to his uptight personality.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Passes out first during a drinking competition. He’s also often shown dozing off and slurring his speech fairly quickly during any event involving alcohol.
• Chick Magnet: Back when he still lived in his village, he had countless marriage interviews and came to fear aggressive women. He still unintentionally makes the women fall for him with just his good looks.
• Competition Freak: Despite his proper upbringing, Gija is insanely competitive, whether it comes to fighting or just simple games. Su-Won even exploits this at a point.
• Don't Look At Me: Subverted. When people see the scars on his back, people are quick to assume that Gija is ashamed of them, especially if they notice that he also tends to not bathe in the presence of others. In truth, Gija doesn't mind people seeing them in of itself, but he does avoid showing them off so he doesn't have to see the pitying looks people give him.
• Green-Eyed Monster: When he accidentally falls under the influence of a love potion, Gija tells Yona how jealous he is (presumably of Hak) of her calling his name.
• Every Scar Has a Story: Gija has several long, jagged scars on his back. His father flew into a rage when he found out that his own son would succeed him as the White Dragon, and clawed at him shortly after he was born. Consequently, Gija was kept away from his father for most of his life, only ever getting to see him for short periods under strict supervision, and never once getting to touch him except in the latter's final minutes. Gija bears no ill will towards his father, though. He is proud of the scars and considers them a testament to his father's desire to serve their master.
• Extremity Extremist: Due to his dragon claw, he prefers to use his arms in battle.
• Foil: To his fellow Green Dragon Warrior Jaeha. There are so many contrasts between them in terms of looks, personality, fighting skills and abilities. For example, Jaeha is Proud Beauty, while Gija is Indifferent Beauty. Personality-wise Jaeha is calm, flamboyant and mellow, Gija is strict, anxious and resilient. When fighting their enemies Jaeha augments his dragon abilities with weapons, while Gija only uses his dragon arm and burns through stamina quickly. Also, when dealing with the opposite gender Jaeha is a Chivalrous Pervert and The Charmer, while Gija is very shy and innocent.
• Hoist Hero over Head: To Jaeha. When Gija ran into him for the first time after the group spent several days searching for the Green Dragon, he just excitedly picked him up, balanced him over the shoulder of his dragon arm, and started running.
• Honor Before Reason: Occasionally invokes this trope due to his strong opinions of a dragon's duties.
• Jumped at the Call: He craved the chance to meet the master of the White Dragon so he could serve them. The instant he realized Yona was his destined master he immediately swore his loyalty to her and planned to leave his village.
• Leeroy Jenkins: According to Jaeha, Gija has a habit of charging into battles head-on; this drains his stamina rather quickly.
• Luminescent Blush: Blushes furiously whenever Yona praises him.
• Indifferent Beauty: Despite getting frequent compliments on his looks from the likes of Jaeha, Yona and several minor characters, he's not conceited at all because of it.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: He has blue eyes and is one of the more innocent and sheltered members of the group.
• Insult Backfire: Gija mockingly calls Hak the "evil Dark Dragon." Hak actually thinks it's a cool name and sticks with it, much to Gija's indignation.
• Insult of Endearment: Hak calls him "White Snake". Though originally an insult Gija did not take too kindly to, as time went on, Hak stopped using it as such and Gija started responding to it as a nickname.
• Mark of the Supernatural: His right hand is a dragon claw.
• Mystical White Hair: He has white hair, typical as a member of the White Dragon Clan.
• Naive New Comer: To the world at large since he never really set foot outside his village.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: Downplayed. Gija and Jaeha have this dynamic as well. The former was a seclused but sweet aristocrat, but he tends to be short-tempered and emotional when he gets angry. While the latter was a quick-witted and experienced pirate, but he's more laid back and straightforward in diffult situations.
• Older Than They Look: Gija looks and acts younger than his age 20 to the point where he and even Yun forget that he's only two years older than Hak.
• Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality: Somewhat. His naivety and strict upbringing makes it difficult for him to understand or express his attraction and admiration towards Yona, but due to him having had multiple marriage propositions foisted upon him all at once while he lived in his village, he's also uncomfortable in settings that allow many women to fawn over him, such as brothels.
• Power Incontinence: More like Inhibition Incontinence. In one side story, Gija temporarily falls victim to a Love Potion by accident, which causes his already existing feelings for Yona to be amplified so intensely that he becomes terrified that he'll hurt her if she comes near him.
• Required Secondary Powers: Although only his dragon arm is said to be as strong as ten men, his legs easily lift him while he's carrying said weight, and his spine doesn't buckle either.
• Right Hand of Doom: His dragon hand is rather large and can increase in size.
• Scars Are Forever: Played with. He received the wound on his back the day he was born and the scars are still quite visible in his adulthood. However, the surface area they cover has decreased with time. Gija himself has stated however that he wouldn't mind if the scars remained for the rest of his life.
• Sheltered Aristocrat: His entire village revered him as the Hakuryuu, and he had grown up very comfortably, doted upon by his granny. It's a bit of a shock when he has to rough it with Yona, Hak and Yun, but his undying loyalty and almost ridiculous conviction keep him going, even through the trauma of discovering insects.
• The Strength of Ten Men: Only on his right arm.
• Super-Strength: Played with as only his dragon-arm has this feature. The rest of him is a normal human.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Kija or Gija? The dub and Viz go with Gija, but many fans are attached to the fan-translation of Kija.
• Spoiled Sweet: Gija was raised as a god in his village to the point where he was waited hand and foot since childhood, and aside from his hot-blooded temper, he's very much a caring, loyal and well-mannered young man.
• Tender Tears: When he cries, he looks very much like an innocent little boy.
• The Load: At beginning, due to his lack of knowledge of the outside world, Gija felt like that he had hardly contributed anything beneficial to the team. It doesn't help that both Yun and Hak outshine him in this regard. He seems to have gotten over it though.
• Undying Loyalty: While all dragons are loyal to their king, Gija in particular was raised to serve his master and is eager to do so.
• Why Did It Have To Besnakes: Gija is horrified of bugs and will go into a panic if he sees them.

Sinha

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Japanese), Eric Vale (English)

Seiryuu - the Blue Dragon

The Blue Dragon. Born in a village that carries on the bloodline of the Blue Dragon but thinking it to be some horrible curse, his mother killed herself when her son turned out to be the next Blue Dragon. The nameless boy was raised by the Blue Dragon of the previous generation, Ao, and was taught to fight and how to control his power while warning him to never use it.

Shunned by his own people, his only friend was a squirrel, whom he named after his parental substitute until he met Yona who asked for his help and to become his friend. Finally finding a place where he belongs, he accompanies Yona, who names him Sinha - light of the moon.

Sinha's eyes cause psychic attacks that paralyze and potentially kill everyone he has in his sight, making his victims believe they are being devoured by a dragon.

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• All the Other Reindeer: Ostracized by everyone in his village, including children around his age.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Hurting Yona is a bad idea in general, but especially around him. He's twice come close to cutting off someone's arm for grabbing her.
• Big Eater: He’ll eagerly devour anything put in front of him; his favorite food is given as “anything edible.” However, this is because his village only provided him with the absolute bare minimum, so he got in the habit of eating whatever he could get his hands on to survive.
• Blessed with Suck: His powers are very difficult to control, largely in part because he spent so long repressing them, and if he uses them too long, they'll backfire on him.
• Blindfolded Vision: Sinha was forced to cover his face since childhood and his initial mask didn't seem to have eyeholes. He also wears a blindfold in places where he can't wear his mask. Does it hinder him? Not a bit.
• Broken Bird: Being treated as a monster by his village for his entire life clearly took a toll on him. He has gotten better after joining the Happy Hungry Bunch, though.
• Cool Mask: He uses it to hide his eyes and has something of a psychological attachment to wearing it. Though over time he's gotten more comfortable going maskless around his friends (strangers, not so much).
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Sinha's eyes should be used with caution, as he will suffer from the same effects as those he attacks with his eyes. Should he overdo it, his entire body could become paralyzed. Fortunately, he is a respectable fighter himself, so he does not solely rely on his eyes.
• Deerinthe Headlights: A minor example, but when Jaeha snatches his mask off in front of a group of young women, Sinha freezes in a panic.
• Demonic Possession: When the group camps near an old location of Seiryuu Village, the vengeful spirit of a past Seiryuu possesses Sinha.
• Don't Look At Me: Whenever he's around strangers he always hides his dragon eyes because he's afraid that people will think that he's monster. When he first joined Yona's group he would never take off his mask because of that fear but as time went on he started to get more comforable with the group and realized that they wouldn't treat him differently. However, he still tends to slap his hands over his face the moment a stranger appears.
• Facial Markings: Red arcs under his eyes.
• Fights Like a Normal: His eyes are quite potent, but he fights primarily with his sword and only uses his eyes as a last resort.
• First-Name Basis: He was never taught anything about honorifics, and so simply calls Yona by her name, much to Gija's initial horror. She doesn’t mind at all.
• Friendless Background: The only person who cared about him was the former blue dragon, who was pretty broken himself.
• Hellish Pupils: His eyes are pretty, but they're also this.
• Hidden Depths: See the Wounded Gazelle Gambit below.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: He was very lonely in his village; other children refused to play with him and he was taught outsiders would be after him for his powers. But when Yona pushes to be his friend, his outer fear breaks and he lets her in
• Innate Night Vision: Part of his power as the Blue Dragon. He’s also able to see at extreme distances and track quick movement with ease.
• Magic Knight: He is primarily a sword fighter, and only uses his eyes when he's upset or as a last resort.
• Mark of the Supernatural: In addition to the slitted golden eyes, the red markings under the Seiryuu's eyes fade when they lose their powers.
• Meaningful Name: The name Yona gives him means "moonlight". She calls him "the light that led [her] through the darkness".
• Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: His whole village treated him like a monster who would kill them all at the slightest provocation, but he's actually a shy, gentle soul who wouldn't hurt a fly if he could help it.
• Never Accepted in His Hometown: Due to the power of his eyes being considered a constant danger, he is shunned and loathed by his hometown.
• Never Learnedto Read: Or rather, was never taught, seeing as his clan feared and loathed him. Though according to Wordof God the group is working on teaching him.
• No Name Given: Due to their fear and superstitions, the villagers didn't bother to name the Seiryuu when he was born and just called him "Lord Seiryuu" for 18 years. Yona gave him the name Sinha.
• No Social Skills: His upbringing really did a number on him. While he spoke normally as a child, he was anxious and jumpy, and after losing his only companion at age four, he was largely forced to live in isolation, with what little human interaction he did receive only reinforcing the notion that he was literally a hated, cursed monster. By the time Yona and the others find him, he’s incredibly shy, barely speaks (and when he does it’s slow, soft and halting) and communicates more via gestures. He does gradually improve on his communication skills over time, and if it’s something important, he’s more likely to speak up.
• Parental Abandonment: His mother killed herself after she discovered that she gave birth to a Seiryuu, and Ao, his only parental figure, died when he was a young child.
• The Quiet One: Sinha rarely talks. Though over time he's gotten more likely to speak up if really needed.
• Shrinking Violet: He's really shy.
• Shy Blue-Haired Girl: A male example.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Shin-Ah or Sinha? The official English goes with the latter.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: His golden slitted, dragon eyes are the source of his power.
• Taken for Granite: The people of his village think his eyes will petrify them. They actually just cause paralysis, though that is not all that different.
• Tragic Keepsake:
  • Sinha kept the bells he found before Ao died for 14 years, since they were how Ao would "find" him once he'd gone blind.
  • Most of his attire also appears to be a reference to Ao; the fur looks suspiciously like his hair and the mask is the exact same one as he wore.
  • The sword he now uses was also the one used by Ao.
• "Uh-Oh" Eyes: His eyes are as dangerous as they are beautiful.
• Undying Loyalty: Just as notable as Gija's, though in a different way. Yona is Sinha's emotional pillar, and harming her will bring out a vicious, feral side that he usually tries to keep under wraps. Later, we see that he's extended this feeling to the rest of his companions, declaring that he would use his eyes to protect them no matter who the threat was despite having been hesitant to use his powers in the past.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: The Blue Dragon is famed for having beautiful eyes. Yona and Jaeha agrees in which the latter wanted to see his eyes so bad at one point of time.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit:When Jaeha jumps from a window to escape from him Sinha follows him and pretends to fall. Jaeha goes to check if he is okay and Sinha takes advantage of this to grab him.
• You Are Not Alone: Has probably benefitted the most from encountering the other dragons.

Jaeha

Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (Japanese), Joel McDonald (English)

Ryokuryuu - the Green Dragon

The Green Dragon. Born in the village that carries on the bloodline of the Green Dragon, Jaeha was locked up and chained down by his fellow villagers, fearing that the Green Dragon's power would attract unwanted and hostile invaders should he be allowed to wander free. Any attempt to flee was thwarted by Garou, the previous Green Dragon, until Jaeha became twelve and strong enough to flee. In his search for a place to stay, he eventually encountered the local pirates of Awa, led by their captain, Gi-Gan, who treated him like a normal human being and allowed Jaeha to join her crew.

Hating his "gift" as the Green Dragon for all the trouble and pain it caused him, he was initially wary and refused Yona's request to join her. However, after witnessing Yona's personal courage in stopping the human trafficking that was happening in Awa, the pirate crew disbands and Jaeha decides to join Yona after all and look after her.

Jaeha's right leg is the leg of a dragon, giving him superhuman strength and allowing him to jump high and long distances, which makes it seem like he can fly.

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• Age-Gap Algebra: Uses the fact he's nearly a decade older than Yona as one of several reasons for why he avoids entertaining the feelings he has for her.
• All the Other Reindeer: Along the same lines as Sinha, Jaeha was shunned and even imprisoned by his own village all because he was the Green Dragon. However, this was because of an incident a few generations prior in which another Green Dragon brought unwanted attention to the village and it led to disaster.
• Ambiguously Bi: Loves women, and has an active interest in them, but one of his earliest interactions with the party was being struck in the face by Hak and basically stating it turned him on (due to his masochist nature). Additionally, in general, he holds 'beauty' in high regard and is quick to compliment a pretty face, male or female. He's also eagerly accepted compliments on his appearance from men, sometimes to his downfall. Played for Laughs. He also praised Gija's appearance upon their first meeting and he was obsessive with getting Sinha to show him his eyes because he heard they were beautiful, but evenually got over the thrill of seeing them.
• Attention Whore: Downplayed. Jaeha loves the attention the he receives from women all over, but doesn't mind sharing the attention with the males in the group at all.
• Big Brother Instinct: To the rest of the group, and he's even taken to referring to himself as 'big brother.' Best seen in a side story when he is in charge of the other dragons for a day. He even takes the bullet for Zeno completely forgetting about Zeno's immortality in his panic. Jaeha actively takes on a protective/mentor-like role to Yona, Yun and even Hak (though the latter would never admit it out loud).
• Big Brother Mentor: Hak eventually comes to accept him as one. While he rarely admits it outside his own head, he admires Jaeha's cool-headedness and ability to act in everyone's best interests without letting his own hatred and resentment cloud his judgment, and Jaeha is the first person he confides in after he confesses his feelings to Yona.
• Blade Enthusiast: While he has insane leg strength, Jaeha also favors Knife-Throwing Act in a fight and has several of knifes hidden within his clothing. Also he’s no slouch with a sword, able to use it proficiently should the need arise. He does this to better balance out his powers and help pace himself in battle (as opposed to Giga who relies solely on his dragon powers and tends to burn through stamina quickly).
• Breaking the Bonds: When he was 12 years old Jaeha was finally able to break free from his imprisonment after overpowering the previous Green Dragon, Garou, who was the verge of death, and escaped his village.
• Bromantic Foil: To both Hak and Gija.
• Brutal Honesty: Jaeha at times can be very blunt and tell people what he really thinks and isn't afraid to say it.
• Chained to a Rock: Jaeha spent most of his childhood like this as did previous Green Dragons before him for the last 85 years.
• Chick Magnet: Like Hak, Jaeha can easily draw in a crowd of women due to his natural good looks. However, unlike Hak and Gija, he really loves the attention of beautiful women and revels in it at any moment.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Jaeha isn't ashamed to be a pervert and is always making flirtatious passes at girls, including Yona, and has on several occasions indulged in visiting red-light districts. That being said, he's a gentleman and a caring individual who will always step in to help a girl in need and despises anyone who doesn't treat women well. Also, Jaeha won't take advantage of any woman regardless of their situation and treats them like human beings. One of the aforementioned visits to red-light districts involved a girl so touched by his kindness that she tried to prevent him from drinking drugged wine, though Jaeha willingly drank it anyway so that she wouldn't be punished.
• Cool Big Bro: Being 25 years old, he is the eldest party member physically at least. Time-wise Zeno has him beat by 2000 years. Yet, the main group has come to look up to him for his experience and wisdom even Hak has come to acknowledge that about him.
• The Casanova: Downplayed. Jaeha is a sweet-talking womanizer, but he doesn't go around degrading or taking advantage of women especially their hearts. He just uses his seductive charm and looks to get what he wants.
• The Charmer: Suffice to say he knows how to turn up the charm, and does so frequently due to his physical attractiveness.
• Don't Look At Me: Jaeha does not like the look of his dragon leg because he thinks that it's ugly and prefers to keep it covered up. Word of God Lampshaded in a extra chapter 70.5 where Jaeha wasn't wearing the sandals provided at the spa and was wearing his boots instead. This insecurity mostly started in childhood when Garou would often tell him that the world wouldn't accept Jaeha because of his "monstrous" leg.
• The Dandy: Jaeha prefers to wear imported Kai Empire clothing instead the traditional Kouka clothes that his friends wear.
• Ethical Slut: Spends time in red light districts. When Yun returns to Awa on his own, he finds that the brothel girls have been awaiting Jaeha’s return the entire time.
• Extremity Extremist: He uses his dragon leg in battle as his main weapon, along with his throwing knives.
• Foil: To the his fellow White Dragon Warrior Gija. There is a multitude of differences between them like in terms of physcial appearance, personality and fighting style. For example, personality wise Gija is modest, shy and humble while Jae-Ha is flashy, confident and persistent. Also Gija could care less about his looks while Jae-Ha is very vain about the way he looks. In terms of fighting style Gija will only use his dragon hand to fight his enemies while Jae-Ha will both his dragon leg and will use weapons like knifes and swords to fight. Furthermore, when it comes to the opposite sex they deal and act with women differently for example, when Gija is aroud a group of women he tends to act Timid, bashful and modest while Jaeha when he's around women tend to act like The Casanova, The Tease and The Charmer.
• The Gadfly: Along the same lines as Hak, Jaeha loves to tease people, especially those he is fond of. He admits at one point that while he used to attempt to steal away Sinha's mask in an attempt to see his beautiful eyes, he started doing it in order to just get a reaction out of the Blue Dragon, too.
• Going Cold Turkey: Jaeha claims to have occasionally dabbled in drug use. However, after an accident involving the narcotic sweeping the Water Tribe he’s forced to go through a hellish withdrawal period, screaming and snarling while Hak keeps him isolated.
• Handsome Lech: Knows he's good-looking and makes passes at the ladies at every opportunity. He also frequently tries to convince Hak to visit brothels with him from time to time. Though Jaeha's admitted that he would rather chase after women than have them chase him because of the thrill it gives him.
• Has a Type: Word of God mentioned on her twitter account in a sketch picture that has a crossover with her other series called NG Life that Jaeha's preferred type of woman is a strong-minded and sadistic lady with big boobs (Smyrna). However, he does also has a thing for someone who is a little naive and vulnerable (Serizawa).
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: To Hak; as time went on now have a very close friendship.
• Hey, You!: Jaeha never addresses Yona by her title of princess; rather he uses "Yona-chan" or "Yona-dear."
• I Didn't Mean to Turn You On: Jaeha stated to Gi-Gan that he got really turned on when Yona shot and killed Yang Kum-Ji in the heart and that's how his growing interest for her began.
• I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Jaeha's uncertainty towards his feelings for Yona seems to have led him to conclude that his best course of action is to ensure her happiness with someone else; his favorite candidate being Hak.
• In a Single Bound: His ability to jump long distances qualifies him for the trope.
• Insult of Endearment: Hak calls him "Droopy Eyes", which does not seem to bother him in the slightest.
• I See Dead People: It was implied Jaeha noticed the spirits of past Hakuryuu clinging to Gija. Then, while searching for possessed Sinha, he is able to see the vengeful spirits of past Seiryuu lurking about the crypts.
• Janitor Impersonation Infiltration: When the dragons are prevented from seeing Yona while at the Crimson Dragon Castle, Jaeha uses a civil servant’s uniform to sneak around the grounds and gather information.
• Lady Killer In Love: He's very much a flirt, as well as extremely aware that he feels both physical and emotional attraction to Yona. For a while, he had a lot of internal conflict over whether it's just his genetic compulsion to serve the Dragon King talking, or if it's genuine. Later, he had come to peace with both his own feelings and the fact that Yona has fallen in love Hak, and fully supports them.
• Likes Older Women: Subverted. During his last night with the pirate crew that gave him a home for thirteen years, he openly jokes to Captain Gi-Gan that if they were closer in age she would be his ideal woman. Due to the sentimental atmosphere of the scene, you can't help but wonder if he was at least partially being serious.
• Love Potion: Jaeha is smart enough to know the dangers of a love potion and is in general wary about having his feelings being influenced by anything other than himself. However, that didn't stop him from being on both sides of one, first when he curiously tastes an item said to be a love potion and ends up briefly infatuated with Gija, and then when Sinha accidentally gets doused in the stuff and starts stalking Jaeha.
  • He also views Yona as being a sort of living love potion to him because as the Green Dragon's avatar he inherently is drawn to Yona, and he often muses about how uncertain he is that the love he feels for her is really his own.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He has the longest hair in the main cast and is certainly quite handsome. However, his hair is always tied back with a orange bow, but sometimes he does let it down when he's sleeping and bathing (though he sometimes ties it into a bun in the latter case).
• Luminescent Blush: Jaeha does this whenever he expresses how he feels about Yona indirectly and almost always get embarrassed by it.
• Made of Iron: Minor example, but aside from the fact he actually gets some amusement from receiving minor injuries, Jaeha in general seems to have a higher tolerance for pain and discomfort than most people do.
• Mark of the Supernatural: His scaly green right leg that grants it super strength and allows for leaping long distances.
• Matchmaker Crush: Early on Jaeha had been repeatedly dropping hints of wanting Hak and Yona to be together since he knew that they both liked one another despite being Princess and bodyguard. However, Jaeha himself ends up developing a crush on her as well.
• Mr. Fanservice: He has gratuitously exposed his chest for very minor or unnecessary reasons a few times. Usually Played for Laughs.
• Never Accepted in His Hometown: He was kept chained to a wall, with the previous Green Dragon preventing him from flying away. Unlike the situation in the Blue Dragon Village, the Green Dragon Village seemed to see their dragons as a nuisance and a source of trouble more than anything.
• Never Gets Drunk: Jaeha is a social drinker but also has a high alcohol tolerance and is never seen drunk.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: Downplayed. Jaeha and Gija have this dynamic as well. The former was a street-wise pirate in the past, he's typically the most calm in tough situations. While the latter is a Spoiled Sweet aristocrat he's more Hot-blooded towards his enemies during a battle.
• No Sense of Personal Space: He's a pretty chummy guy and isn't afraid to throw his arms around others or kiss a girl's hand, even if he's just met them. Hak flat-out says he has no sense of personal space.
• Not Quite Flight: He can leap so high and so far that he can travel long distances very quickly and easily, and get good vantage points for scouting. Many people who've witnessed it mistake it for actual flight.
• Proud Beauty: Gender-Inverted. Jaeha knows that he's beautiful, takes pride in his looks and is well aware of the effect his looks has on the opposite sex, not hesitating to use it to his advantage.
• Pirate: Was one for thirteen years until he joined Yona's group.
• Really Gets Around: Gender-Inverted. but heavily implied. Jaeha is a flirty womanizer who on his free time is seen going to brothels.
• Refusal of the Call: When Yona and her friends find him, he vehemently refuses to accompany her. It is only after seeing Yona's own personal courage and the way she and her friends helped his fellow pirates that he decides to come along.
• Roof Hopping: Does this in Awa. Also hops from ship to ship and tree to tree.
• Scars Are Forever: In the anime, the arrow Yan Kum-ji fired into his shoulder left a scar.
• Screw Destiny. He tries, he really, really does. But You Can't Fight Fate.
  Captain Gi-Gan: Are you following the girl because you're one of the dragons of destiny?
  Jaeha: I have no idea. It's just that I won't be able to keep my cool if I can't keep my eye on her.
• Shipper on Deck: He ships Yona/Hak hard and is constantly trying to trigger moments to happen between them, although he also feels something for Yona.
• Street Musician: To a casual degree. He sometimes plays his ehru for his friends in Awa, or the flute when the group is trying to make money travelling.
• Sultry Bangs: Jae-ha is the flirt of the team. He has green bangs that cover one eye, adding to his womanizing appeal.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Along the same lines as Hak, due to his natural dark looks Jaeha is considered very attractive and has manage to gain the attention of many — and he loves that attention.
• Tareme Eyes: His droopy eyes are a frequent target of insult when people are pissed with him — so much so, that he actually ends up being called "Tareme" ("Droopy Eyes") to his face, especially by Hak.
• Tender Tears: As time goes on, he becomes quite emotional about his companions and is often moved to tears from their words.
• The Tease: Gender-Inverted. Jaeha likes to arouse the ladies just by his looks and gentlemanly actions alone. Also he openly displays his sexuality towards any female he meets; his flirtatious and outgoing personality are only a boost.
• Too Kinky to Torture: To an extent. He's got a habit of making teasing remarks that provoke people into hitting him... and seems to enjoy it way too much. Additionally, whenever he finds someone attractive and thinks their fighting skills impressive he gets excited and makes comments about wanting to experience (if not already enjoying) their blows. He's even thanked Hak for striking him (which typically annoys Hak).
• Toxic Friend Influence: Played for Laughs. He frequently invites Hak to brothels to have fun, although he doesn't really mean it. Hak also considers Jaeha to be this to Yona. After all, who else could’ve influenced her to kick people in the face or jump from windows?
• Tranquil Fury: Jaeha rarely loses his temper and is the most calm in a tough situation, but that doesn't make him less scary when he does get angry.
• Wife-Basher Basher: Jaeha hates any man who attacks or harassess woman and will intervene without hesitation. As he's said, it's his personal principle to protect a woman no matter what. He and Hak encountered each other while rescuing a young woman who was being harassed by some corrupt soldiers. He even held off Su-Won's personal bodyguard who was about to execute Mei-Nyan.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Jaeha tried so hard in the beginning to avoid Yona and the other dragons because he was afraid that they would force him to serve her as their master, but he wanted his freedom more than anything at the time. However, after witnessing Yona stop the drug and sex trafficking and seeing that she's an honorable person he then decides on his own free will to travel with her and the group.

Zeno

Voiced by: Hiro Shimono (Japanese), Josh Grelle (English)

Warning: This character in particular is a Walking Spoiler and had so many tropes whited out that it just became redundant. As such, all spoilers about his past and abilities are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

Ouryuu - the Yellow Dragon

The Yellow Dragon. Zeno is a 17-year old boy and the youngest of the Four Dragons, who left his village and leisurely travels around. Shortly after Jaeha joins the group, Zeno is found close by, drawn to the food Yun prepares. Having nothing better to do, he decides to accompany Yona. The Yellow Dragon's body is said to be sturdy, although Zeno doesn't seem to display any supernatural abilities. His lack of seriousness as a Dragon Warrior is a source of aggravation for Gija.

In truth, Zeno's body is immortal, granting him deathlessness and agelessness. Zeno is the first and only Yellow Dragon warrior. Before drinking the blood of the dragon over two thousand years ago, he was a boy who was able to listen to the voices of the gods. After he joined Hiryuu, his body didn't receive any notable changes though, and he was sheltered and protected by his fellow warriors and Hiryuu, until he received a fatal injury, causing his body to react to it and making him realize the true power he was given. After Hiryuu passed away, the four warriors split and decided to hide, to avoid conflict between Kohka's neighbours who sought the power of the dragons. Zeno decided to stay in the castle and guide Hiryuu's descendants as the first priest, claiming he still could listen to the gods. In truth, he used his given powers to resolve any military conflicts single-handedly during this time.

When people began to feel uncomfortable around his still youthful appearance, he appointed a successor and left to seek out the presence of the dragon warriors, only to realize that they already were succeeded by a new generation of dragon warriors. Feeling regretful and lonely for not visiting earlier, Zeno wished for death and was one day found and nursed by a sick woman, Kaya, whom he would later marry. However, their time was inevitably short and Zeno began to curse his eternal existence. Aimlessly wandering the country and observing the kingdom, he eventually reached the conclusion that King Hiryuu would eventually return to reunite the four dragons and decided to wait. When Yona was born, he recognized her as Hiryuu's reincarnation and observed her life, but didn't come to her side when she was chased out of her home to test her. Only after Yona made the other three dragon warriors join her did he judge her worthy and decided to come out and approach her.

Zeno's body has stopped aging and he cannot die. His body will regenerate any wound he receives, however fatal it might be. When he receives a major wound, the regenerated parts will gain dragon scales as hard as steel and Zeno will receive strength on par with Gija's arm and Jaeha's leg.

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• All-Powerful Bystander: Zeno is the strongest of the four dragons. After he left the palace, Zeno stopped trying to single-handedly resolve violent conflicts for Kohka and merely observed. He also did not help Yona when she and Hak were chased out of the castle, and only revealed himself after Gija, Sinha and Jaeha joined her.
• Armor-Piercing Question: He asks Yona what her intentions are in collecting the dragons, which triggers some serious reflection from Yona.
• The Baby of the Bunch: He often acts like an overenthusiastic 17-year-old, prompting the others to worry about him—especially since he has no apparent fighting skills. However, this is subverted, as he is actually much older than the rest of his companions.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Zeno is extremely kind and only fights to defend, but he's still weak... unless he's been injured to the point of his body having to regenerate, so he can't afford not to go for the vitals.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Zeno dances, jokes and juggles. And kills an enemy soldier with his own severed arm.
• Big Brother Instinct: Since he has been alive for millennia, he was able to watch over the other dragons and Yona as they grew up and thinks of them like his brothers' children. He'll usually try to shield the others from an attack, reasoning that's the point of his powers.
• Big Eater: He and Sinha are often seen stuffing their faces together, though in Zeno’s case it seems to be out of sheer enjoyment more than anything else.
• Blessed with Suck: His injuries heal quickly, he never gets sick, and he hasn't aged a day since he turned 17. However, he can still feel pain and the combat portions of his ability don't kick in till he's been grievously injured.
• Blithe Spirit: In most situations, Zeno is cheerful and carefree, and he’ll often make a point of making sure Sinha is included in any activities or games.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Of the Obfuscating Stupidity variant.
• Combat Pragmatist: When he fights offensively, he's completely ruthless. He aims for weak points, uses scare tactics, and sneak attacks with his own detached arm. As he notes, he is pretty weak before his powers kick in so he can't afford not to be one of these.
• Complete Immortality: He, with good reason, believes he can potentially survive the end of the world.
• Covert Pervert: He is nowhere near as bad as Jaeha, or early-series Hak at times, but he will occasionally say something playfully suggestive to Yona. He tries to get her to lay down with him, offers to rub ointment on her bare back, and straight-up hauls off and goes to hang out with her while she's in the bath. That being said, he gets away with it because he's only making fun. He does visit Yona while she's in the bath, but he gets her permission to enter and keeps his back turned to her while he confides in her.
• Cuckoosnarker: His specialty is stating the bare facts of a situation while managing to convey sarcasm without dropping his Obfuscating Stupidity.
  Girl: What's your relationship with [Yona], anyway?
  Zeno: Hmm. Master and pet...?
• Cuddle Bug: Zeno is very cuddly, often clinging to other members of the group. Yona and Sinha are frequent targets.
• Cute Little Fangs: All the dragons have fangs... Zeno's are just more apparent due to his constant smile.
• Death Seeker: The death of his friends and his love has made him curse his existence. He's attempted to kill himself many times, but his powers don't let him. He's pretty much given up out of sheer futility. At least until the Chalice of the Four Dragons, the artifact which the original dragons used to create their pact with King Hiryuu, was stolen away by Cha-Gol. Zeno was able to recover it and use its power return himself and the other dragons back to heaven, not only ending the lives of the current dragons but also stopping the cycle of resurrection.
• Demoted to Extra: In the anime series, he makes only a single appearance and the audience doesn't even get to see what his powers are. Later subverted in the second and third ova's, in which he and his backstory are the main focus.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Almost pulled this with Yona. Then his powers are revealed.
• Dissonant Serenity: He cheerfully smiles through just about everything, including battle. On a more disturbing note, he will occasionally reveal some of his past suicide attempts and self-mutilation in a casual, matter-of-fact manner. What's sometimes worse is the dead-eyed look of resignation he gets during some of his fights. It's still dissonantly serene, but it's also a far cry from his usual cheer,
• Eye Scream: He tells Jaeha he gouged his eyes out to see if he would get Seiryuu's vision powers, as other bodily injuries allow him to mimic the other dragons' powers. He doesn't; his eyes just get hard and tough as the rest of his body does.
• Friend to All Living Things: He is very good with children and can be seen playing with and petting Ao in a lot of panels.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: He takes full advantage of his Healing Factor and suffers the most gruesome injuries in the series.
• Guile Hero: Zeno can be quite convincing when wants to be. Kohka's priest was described as someone who had the power to assassinate kings, and Zeno basically created that role for himself in a split second, using nothing but a piece of jewelry he'd owned for years and his own audacity.
• Healing Factor: The most basic part of Zeno's power. Back in Hiryuu's time, Zeno and the other dragons thought his power was only an accelerated rate of healing.
• Hey, You!: Zeno never addresses his companions by name. He calls Gija, Jaeha, and Sinha by their dragon titles, Yona is "miss," Hak is "mister," and Yun is "kid." In fact, he uses this on pretty much anyone who isn’t King Hiryuu, the first generation dragons, or his wife Kaya; to the point that when he talks one-on-one with Soo-Won, Zeno essentially refers to him as “king dude”.
• Human Pincushion: In a battle, he winds up stabbed through with multiple swords.
• Immortal Life Is Cheap: Since he heals from all injuries, he uses himself as a human shield and discourages the others from protecting him.
• Immortality Begins at Twenty: In his case, 17.
• Immortality Hurts: He gets stabbed frequently, has had his arm cut off, and been burned alive. He implies that he has done worse to himself.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With the rest of the Happy Hungry Bunch. Doubles as Mayfly–December Friendship
• I See Dead People: Zeno is very spiritually aware, able to see spirits and sense things others can't. Might have something to due with how before he drank the dragon's blood, he was able the hear the voices of the gods like Ik-su.
• Keet: He is really upbeat.
• Last Episode, New Character: In the anime.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: He's usually content not to participate in a fight, but he will throw down if it looks like the others are in trouble. Unfortunately for him, he's still extremely weak physically before his invulnerability and enhanced strength kick in, so all he can do is strike to kill.
• Losing Your Head: Temporarily.
• Made of Diamond: Supposed to be. After he is initially hurt, he's this.
• Manchild: It's hard to believe this guy's 17, let alone 2000. Based on his behavior in Hiryuu's era, it's just an act.
• Major Injury Underreaction: It'd be easier what injury he hasn't suffered, but he takes it in stride.
• Mayfly–December Friendship: He's been alive since the original Hiryuu, and is therefore much, much older than the others.
• Mayfly–December Romance: When Zeno met his wife, Kaya, she was already dying from an illness with symptoms similar to tuberculosis, and had voluntarily quarantined herself. There's nothing to clarify how much time passed between their meeting, Zeno proposing, and her death, but she didn't look like she'd aged at all when she died. She looked a little more gaunt, but that could be attributed to the sickness. In this case, the mayfly was swatted before living out her natural lifespan!
• Mellow Fellow: A more chipper example than usual; Zeno takes things in stride and is somewhat removed from the emotional drama the others face. He is also the last one to panic or lose his cool. Even when attacked by Mizari unprovoked, he's merely surprised rather than scared or horrified.
• Never Gets Drunk: Due to his Healing Factor. At most, he gets lightheaded— but there's nothing stopping him from being sleepy, either.
• Nice Guy: Easily one of the nicest, most laid-back guys of the group.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Once his powers kick in, he's this. Doesn't protect him before he gets injured, though.
• Non-Action Guy: Enforced during King Hiryuu's lifetime, who realized the implications of Zeno's powers and tried to shield him from them. He plays this part in Yona's group until the last possible minute.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He acts like a particularly exuberant child with no real contribution to make, but he's actually very intelligent and one of the most well-informed of the group. He guessed that the ghost possessing Sinha was a former Blue Dragon due to his familiarity with the Dragon's Eyes, and attempted a painless stalemate by getting him to overclock and cause the paralysis to backfire on him. His obfuscation game is so strong that during his initial appearance, he was able to drop it, grill Yona about whether or not she plans to stage a counter-coup, and then seamlessly resume it with no one any the wiser.
• Older Than They Look: He's 17, but doesn't look much older than Yun. Physically, not chronologically.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When he drops his Keet persona and stops speaking in third person, something serious is going on.
• Papa Wolf: Once a ghost of a former Blue Dragon possessing Sinha threatens to possess the others, Zeno tackles Sinha, steals his sword, and uses it to cut his bonds. When the ghost figures he won't use the sword to attack him for fear of hurting Sinha, Zeno agrees, but adds that he considers all the other dragons as being Guen's, Shu-ten's, and Abi's children, so he can't help loving every one of them. He chooses to turn the sword on himself and activate his powers, then break down the chamber wall, rather than hurt Sinha and the dead Blue Dragon.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Zeno’s the physically smallest looking of the four dragons and is almost as lean as Yoon and Yona, but when he becomes mutilated and his body regenerates, it will turn into steel, give him Kija and Jae-Ha’s abilities, and he will then become a One-Man Army.
• The Pollyanna: He must be this to remain so cheerful and lively despite of being immortal and have outlived a lot of people including his master, closest friends, and wife.
• Protectorate: The rest of the group is this for him, especially Yona and the other dragons. He calls himself their "shield".
• Pulling Themselves Together: Repeatedly, much to everyone's shock.
• Really 700 Years Old: He says he's 17, but that's because it's too much hassle for him to count up his real age. His immortality kicked in 2,000 years before the story started.
• Refuge in Audacity: This seems to be how he slid under other three dragons' radar when he was following Yona's group around. When Gija is first asked who the nearest dragon is, there's a long pause before he says it's "probably" the Blue Dragon. When Zeno does reveal himself, Gija and Jaeha agree that they felt his presence to be too close, doubted their senses, and were positive they were wrong.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Zeno sports a long green scarf.
• Smarter Than You Look: He's the first one to try and get Yona to really think about what she plans to do with dragons' power once she has it. In his backstory, he had some qualities of a Guile Hero.
• Spell My Name With An S: Crunchyroll's subtitles refer to him as "Jeno".
• Super-Toughness: What the Ouryuu is rumored to have. He does have it, he just needs to be injured first and it wears off after a while.
• Taking the Bullet: He tries again and again to do this for Yona. He succeeds.
• Third-Person Person: Zeno usually refers to himself in third person, only switching to first in very serious situations. Kaya suggested this after he mentioned that he'd almost forgotten his own name. He started doing so sometime after her death.
• Token Immortal: Deconstructed. Zeno was part of the first generation of Dragon Warriors two thousand years ago to protect King Hiryuu. He was essentially made to be a meat shield who could never die but was useless unless fatally wounded. However, as the rest of the Dragons weren't immortal, he had to go through the pain of feeling them die. Currently, the group hates it when Zeno has to use his powers, and will go to great lengths to stop him, as they don't want to see him suffer or think of him as a tool.
• Tragic Keepsake: That dragon medallion on his headband was a gift given to him by King Hiryuu after Hiryuu realized the full implications of Zeno's power.
• Undying Warrior: Was part of the original generation of Dragon Warriors and was given immortality to better protect Hiryu in battle, though he was considered the weakest of the Dragons until his powers were discovered. However, after the others went their separate ways, Zeno stuck around and decided to protect Kouka Kingdom from invaders, acting as a One-Man Army. However, he gave this up and became a drifter after the rest of the Dragons died.
• Walking Spoiler: As his powers and his past are only revealed more than fifty chapters after he is introduced, almost everything about him spoils the twist that he is not as innocent as he appears.
• Walking the Earth: What he seems to have spent most of his time doing between Kaya's death and his joining up with Yona.
• Wandering Jew: His dragon's blood gives him complete immortality, and he cannot age, succumb to illness or be killed no matter what.
• Weaksauce Weakness: His powers only activate if he's injured. If you can tie him up or sit on him without actually hurting him (or giving him means to hurt himself), there is nothing he can do about it. He has shown some dexterity in getting around this (see Papa Wolf above), but that still requires him to have the means to hurt himself.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: While not directly stated, it's implied that Zeno's greatest wish might be for the cycle of the dragon warriors to end with Yona allowing him to finally pass on.
• You Are Worth Hell: Felt this way about Kaya. He told the dragon god that he'd be its puppet forever if it saved Kaya. It didn't.

Kohka Kingdom

Sky Tribe

Royalty

Su-Won

King Su-Won of Kohka

Voiced by: Yūsuke Kobayashi (Japanese), Micah Solusod (English)

Yona's cousin and the king of Kohka following King Il's death.

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• Antagonist in Mourning: Despite having tried killing them himself, he is visibly upset after being told that Yona and Hak were dead. He was also palpably relieved when he realizes they're still alive.
• Anti-Villain: So, he killed Yona's father, who's his own uncle, tried to get her and her bodyguard Hak murdered... and he is really upset when he thinks they died, protected Yona when he ran into her in Awa and let her go once any danger had passed, continues to show wistfulness whenever he thinks about or catches glimpses of Yona and Hak, and is shaping up to be a more effective ruler than his predecessor King Il.
• Bait-and-Switch Sentiment: When Hak once asked Su-Won whether he loves Yona, Su-Won affirms this. Then he states that he also loves Hak, Mun-deok, Ju-Doh, etc.
• Best Served Cold: He waited years to avenge his father.
• Big Bad: The closest thing the story has to one, at any rate. On one hand he starts off the whole plot by murdering Yona's father and usurping the throne. On the other hand he genuinely wants to improve life in the kingdom trying to resolve any problems and conflict found. Yona herself concedes that it would be easier to hate him if he'd killed the king because he was selfish, greedy or power-hungry, but he honestly seems to want nothing more than making Kohka a better place.
• Big Bad Friend: After murdering Yona's father and effectively shattering the friendship he once had with her and Hak, Su-won, of course, serves an antagonistic role in the story. Nonetheless, it's clear he still cares deeply for both of them.
• Celibate Hero: He's not a hero, but he's uninterested in women or marriage.
• The Chessmaster: At the tender age of 9, managed to orchestrate the dwellers of the castle city slums into his bidding, to rescuing the kidnapped little Yona.
• Childhood Friends: With Yona and Hak.
• The Conqueror: After the reveal in Chapter 196, his political decisions look less like just trying to secure Kohka's borders and more like fulfilling his father's wish to conquer the continent.
• Consummate Liar: Has been since childhood after his father was murdered and kept the truth from Yona about his father's death at the hands of King Il.
• Dirty Business: He killed King Il himself and made Yona a fugitive so that he could correct what the king neglected to do for years on end and also he wanted revenge against Il for murdering his father Yu-Hon; though he doesn't show it often, he is completely at odds at the fact that Yona and Hak survived, and even his counselor Keishuk thinks that those mixed feelings are putting his reign at risk.
• First Love: He was Yona's since childhood.
• The Evil Prince: Soo-Won son of the crown prince Yu-Hon before the start of the series was first in line for the throne. However, after what had happened to the Priests in the castle his father King Joo-Ham decided to give the throne to his younger brother Il which made Yona the crown princess by birthright. Nevertheless, while he had a legitimate claim to the throne if he had married Yona he could have become king legally. But instead Soo-Won eventually murdered his uncle and took the throne and almost killed Yona because she had witnessed the act.
• I Did What I Had to Do: He usurped the throne for the sake of the realm, as King Il was an ineffectual leader, and states that he didn't do it for the sake of power, even if it meant destroying Yona's life and permanently destroying his relationship with her and Hak.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: He manages to cut the rope around Riri's neck with bow and arrow, despite being considerably far away and having to shoot up.
• Keet: He is always smiling, and though it seems to be Obfuscating Stupidity now, he was genuinely this as a child.
• The Kingslayer: It was him who stabbed Il through the heart, partially out of revenge for Il killing his father, Yu-hon.
• Lack of Empathy: Su-Won showed no empathy for giving Yona the hairpin for birthday as an gift even though he knew that he would murder her father on that same day right in front of her and was at the time willing to kill her as well. In Chapter 196 it explained the reason why Su-Won has no remorse or empathy for everything that happened. He knew since childhood that when the time comes he would kill king Il and steal the throne from Yona and even attempt to kill her. He didn't show any guilt about it or how it would affect her future, but later on he was happy that she was still alive. This character trait about him was so frightening that he even shocked his own mother to the point where she wrote in a letter to King il aboout Su-Won's plot against him. This is later Subverted after Soo-Won sees more of Yona and Hak in later chapters, with him being comfortable with Yona hugging him because he thought it was a dream - meaning that he never wanted things to be like that betweem them, but found the plan to assassinate King Il in higher priority.
• Like Father, Like Son: Geun-Tae believes that Su-Won may become even more formidable than his father. Princess Kouren doesn't think that's a good thing though and fears that this is the case, as Yu-Hon was a brutal warmonger in her eyes.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He has an androgynous face paired with long hair that he ties into a side ponytail.
• Love-Interest Traitor: The first chapter establishes him as Yona's kind and gentle crush of several years, that even Hak was happy to step aside for. However, by the end of the first chapter, it's revealed he's killed and is leading a coup against Yona's father. He later even tries to have Yona and Hak arrested and/or killed, though it's made fairly clear he was relieved they managed to escape alive.
• Missing Mom: His mother, Yong-Hi, was mentioned only once by Yu-Hon (when younger Su-Won, Yona and Hak were sick) saying that while she wanted to come to visit him because of her health he advised against it. She suffered from a terminal illness, a fact hidden to prevent the country from realizing their new king is Secretly Dying.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: It's implied that he decided to kill Yona's father for the good of the country, and to enact revenge for his own father's death, as stated by him.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The noble male to Hak's roguish male.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He presents himself as something of a clueless airhead around people so they don't suspect his true less than noble intentions.
• Odd Friendship: He actually becomes fairly close to Riri, almost entirely because people keep pushing them together. He also later starts having chats with Zeno.
• Open Secret: After the general populace finds out that Yona is alive, there's wide speculation from the common folk that Su-Won killed the king and usurped the throne.
• Punch-Clock Villain: It's implied that he usurped the throne out of duty rather than out of ambition, this being among the reasons he doesn't engage in luxuries and libations, doesn't entertain the idea of marriage, and doesn't sleep on his laurels in spite of his low profile. His duty is to the realm, not reaping anything for himself, which is particularly odd for a person of such stature and importance.
• Prince Charming: This was Yona's impression of him. As it turns out, he has another side Yona didn't know about.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite of the betrayal of his closest friends and usurping of the throne, he seems to be working hard as one. He personally visits the villages in his nation to investigate any potential problems, as well as strategically negotiates with other leaders to gain allies and positive outcomes with as little bloodshed as possible.
• Romantic False Lead: The first chapter/episode establishes Su-Won as Yona's longtime crush who she wants to marry against her father's wishes. Then Su-Won murders Yona's father to steal the throne and Hak takes Yona from the palace to prevent Su-Won kills her too. From that point onward, Hak is Yona's main love interest.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: That he usurped power doesn't mean that he won't govern:
  • He tried to investigate the human traffic ring in Awa and resolved the Earth Tribe's financial problems in a week.
  • He makes a point of personally investigating the problems of the fringe territories, and has found himself two steps behind Yona and her band multiple times; it's implied that had Yona not been there, he would have solved the problems himself.
• Secretly Dying: The dangerous secret his inner circle is keeping from the kingdom? Su-Won inherited an incurable condition from his mother, and will not live for long. Yona is warned that anyone that learns of the King's illness will be killed to protect the stability of the kingdom. His disease, the crimson illness, only affects King Hiryuu's descendants.
• Sins of Our Fathers: It's confirmed in chapter 197 that King Il's distrust towards Su-Won was because he knew for years that Su-Won was conspiring against and even planned to kill him when he got the chance. Also Su-Won felt that his father Yu Hon who was a charismatic leader, but notoriously bloodthirsty warrior who would kill just about anyone who dare threatened him should have been king. This is what caused the late king's scant actions towards Yona served to protect her from Su-Won. Advisor Keishuk mentions that there were rumors that King Il indeed allowed Hak to be Yona's bodyguard because he had intended for them to eventually marry, preventing Su-Won from getting too close to Yona.
  • The Xing Crown Princess Kouren thought that Su-Won would turn out to be just like his father that she was willing to go to war with Kokua knowing that they have the military advancement on their side just so that Su-Won wouldn't rule over them.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Soo-Won or Su-won?
• Stepford Smiler: He is a much more melancholic, thoughtful and cunning person beneath the bubbly, airheaded persona he often portrays himself as.
• The Stoic: After stealing the throne and dropping the smiley façade, his facial expression is almost always locked in cold and unfeeling.
• Sympathy for the Hero: He very clearly harbours more sympathy toward Yona and Hak than Keishuk and Ju-Do respectively, having actually protected them and their identities in the past. It is unclear, however, how far this sympathy will stretch if either one of them decides to impede on his plans directly.
• Trauma Button: Yona and Hak seem to be the only thing that comes even close to cracking his rock-hard emotionless mask. In his case, however, he seems to believe he fully deserves the trauma; stating he understands why Yona would want to kill him and that he won't allow himself to die peacefully.
• Unreliable Expositor: He tells Yona that King Il was a hypocrite who pretended to be an Actual Pacifist even though he killed Su-Won's father by stabbing him with a sword. However, there is no proof of this, leaving nothing but Su-Won's word that Il did the deed. Yona eventually learns through Yu-hon's wife's memoirs that Su-won personally exhumed and examined his father's corpse and found a stabbing wound on his back. The sole witness to it was Keishuk, though, a man who is fiercely loyal to Yu-hon and despised Il. Su-won also didn't tell Yona that Yu-hon might have ordered Yona's mother's death and possibly tried to kill Yona as well.
• The Usurper: He murders King Il and takes the throne.
• Warrior Prince: Kept up with Hak, and though Hak was clearly his better, he wasn't thrown around like most people who end up on the business end of the Thunder Beast's guandao ^note He appears to be more this trope in the anime than in the manga. While in the manga, he does hold up against Hak better than most, Hak is considerably better and lands a slash on him far easier even despite his emotional state. In the anime, most likely to increase the tension of the scene, Su-won and Hak's battle is more balanced and drawn-out. He also holds his own against Geun-Tae in the mock battle, only losing because that was his plan. Later, he is there at the battle against Kang Su-Jin and Li Hazara.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Yona and Hak. Their tight bond is broken beyond repair.
• What You Are in the Dark: In spite of usurping the throne by assasinating her father, it's increasingly implied that even when crossing paths multiple times, he may have never had the heart to kill Yona.
• You Killed My Father: His (stated) reason to kill Yona's father, though later there are political implications behind his decision.
• Your Days Are Numbered: He doesn't have much time to live due to the crimson illness he inherited from his mother.

King Il

King Il of Kohka

Voiced by: Susumu Akagi (Japanese), Sean Hennigan (English)

Yona's father, youngest son of the late King Junam and the king of the Kohka Kingdom, until he is murdered by his nephew, Su-Won, which triggers the events of the story.

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• Actual Pacifist: He loathed war, fighting and weapons. It brought him a lot of trouble, since he gave up territory to keep peace (thus, weakening the kingdom) and most of the people including his generals considered him a coward.
• Broken Pedestal: Throughout her journey, Yona learns just how utterly deficient her father was as a king, and while not justifying it, she comes to understand why he was murdered.
• Cain and Abel: The Abel to Yu-Hon's Cain, being a gentle, humble and religiously devout man, in contrast to his brother's blood-thirsty and cruel arrogance.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Could not express himself in such a way that his brother or his wife understood his feelings about them.
• Cowardly Lion: Even when he was the politically most powerful person in the realm during his life, King Il's reign would be remembered as an impotent and cowardly king for not defending the borders of Kohka, letting their neighbors gnaw at the frontiers and seizing the lands for themselves. He'd be like an Orcus on His Throne if he had at the very least some martial prowess.
• Didn't Think This Through: A kingdom at peace does not mean not defending themselves from foreign attack, which is a concept that he might not have grasped. It got so bad that it might be one of the main reasons Su-Won killed him and usurped his throne.
• Doting Parent: To Yona, he always gave her whatever she wanted: sweets, clothes, jewels, etc.
• Extreme Doormat: While Hak and Yona praised his pacifism, other leaders within Kohka saw him more as this due to his willingness to give up territory to prevent conflict and other acts they felt weakened the kingdom as a whole. Yona herself is forced to acknowledge that all his idealism seemed to do little for the people outside the castle walls.
• Fatal Flaw: Il admits that he is a coward, and that he could barely muster the nerve to make his own decisions, let alone decide the fates of others. Even though he might be an overall better person than his brothers, he is seen by many as an incompetent king due to his timidity, which leads to his assassination.
• The Fundamentalist: Il was too much at odds with his brother because Il was a firm believer in Hiryuu and the gods, while Yu-Hon didn't believe in any supernatural power or Messianic Archetype that would magically save the country. He also didn't want to bow down to any god or priest, and thought that the priests grew conceited.
• Living on Borrowed Time: He was entirely aware of Su-won's resentment against him, and that the young man would make an attempt on his life for killing his father. For Il, it was just a matter of when.
• The Lost Lenore: Yona's mother can qualify as this to him. Although her impact on the plot thus far has been minimal, her death was a likely trigger for King Il's over-protective tendencies toward Yona. He also never remarried in the ten-plus years that passed between her death and his own.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: For many years, Yu-Hon's death has been chalked up as an accident when he fell into a cliff. However, Su-Won is convinced that his father was murdered by Il, who somehow made it look like an an accident.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: His final moments were spent warning Su-Won that he would never become King Hiryuu, because the real Hiryuu was already there. It seems he knew something of Yona's destiny from the beginning, and predicted she would be the one to defeat Su-Won.
• Mysterious Past: Despite his death being the impetus for the plot, a lot of King Il's past is shrouded in mystery. The circumstances of his ascension, his relationships with his wife, father, and brother, and even his motives for his questionable decisions during his reign, are all described in vague terms. The narrative drops hints throughout the story suggesting that the situation he was in was much more complex than originally thought, but if anything, that just raises more questions. In Chapter 197 To say nothing of the fact that he was aware from the beginning that Yona was King Hiryuu's reincarnation.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His death wasn't the only thing that affected Yona for the worse. The very fact that he pampered her to no end left Yona in the most vulnerable state possible, completely unable to defend herself when things turned sour. Had Hak not been there with her, Yona might have died almost immediately after her father did.
• Non-Action Guy: To a fault. He forbade war in the kingdom and staunchly refused to take arms or engage in martial practice. This led various evils to creep in on the outer fringes of the kingdom, which, when Yona has to confront them, she ends up surmising that those will permanently mar his legacy and justifiably paint him as a terribly ineffectual and cowardly king, however kind he was. It's also implied that those are among the reasons why Su-Won killed him.
• Pacifism Backfire: His pacifist ideals led to Kohka becoming an Extreme Doormat to many surrounding countries, leading to lost land and a lot of illegal slave and drug trading taking place behind closed doors.
• Parental Marriage Veto: He was ready to give Yona anything she asked for, except his approval for her to marry Su-Won. He claimed that he didn't want Yona to pick a husband because whoever she married would become a target for assassination like her mother, but it's implied what King Il really wanted to prevent was for Su-Won to become the next king by marrying Yona.
• Plot-Triggering Death: His death sets in motion the whole plot.
• Present Absence: Even long after he's gone, his presence never leaves the plot. Many of the problems that Yona and Su-Won both face are associated with the political fallout of his death and the direct consequences of his non-aggression policies.
• Shipper on Deck: Played with. Advisor Keishuk mentions rumors that the late king had allowed Hak to become Yona's bodyguard in the first place for them to eventually marry under his approval.
• Sibling Murder: According to Su-Won, King Il murdered his own older brother, but the circumstances in which that happened aren't specified. According to Su-won's mother's account, Il killed his brother himself for murdering his wife.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: His brother Yu-Hon was an imposing man and a famous military leader who loved battle. Il was an Actual Pacifist, slight in height and chubby. Everyone expected to Yu-Hon be appointed king and were surprised and disappointed when Il was chosen instead.
• The Reveal: In Chapter 197 shown multiple ones.
  • Il did murder his own brother for killing his wife Kashi.
  • Il knew that he was never fit to be king but knew that his brother Yu-Hon shouldn't be king either.
  • Il knew all along that Yona was the reincarnation of King Hiryuu who was destined to rule the throne and took extra measures to keep her safe by placing Hak as her protector.
  • King Il knew all along that Yu-hon's close lieutenants which includes his own general Ju-Doh were conspiring against him and that Su-won would kill him one day and why he made the choices that he did in order to protect Yona from danger. For example, he made sure that Yona wouldn't marry Su-Won or have Ju-Doh be her bodyguard.

Yu-Hon

(Former) General Yu-Hon of Kohka

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)

The oldest son of the late King Junam, Su-Won's father and Yona's uncle. He was King Il's elder brother, but was not chosen as king.

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• The Ace: Imposing, badass, charismatic and the firstborn, so the apparent heir of the throne. There was a lot of confusion in Kohka when his brother became king.
• Action Dad: He was Su-Won's father and the highest general in the land.
• Blood Knight: He loved fight and apparently didn't regret not becoming king because he still could fight for his country and also help out his younger brother Il with the kingdom.
• Cain and Abel: He is arrogant, ruthless and blood-thirsty, while his brother Il is a gentle pacifist.
• The Conqueror: In Chapter 196, Yu-hon's close lieutenants note that it was his dream to unite the whole continent under the banner of Kohka. Il's coronation and his early death prevented this.
• Dramatic Irony: Because of all the bloodshed Yu-Hon committed, his father chose Il to be king. Although he was pained, Yu-Hon actually had intended to help Il to the best of his capacity... until Il's wife was killed. He would be dead two months month after that.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Even after knowing about his ruthlessness, Yon-Hi remains in love with him. He is also favoured by most of the kingdom's military, who sees him as a more capable ruler than Il.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Yu-Hon genuinely loves his wife and will do anything to protect her. He is also fond of his brother despite their differences, and was willing to serve under Il's kingship, even though he was initially hurt at being passed over as his father's heir.
• The Evil Prince: He committed some terrible atrocities when he was alive. This includes, so far, kicking out and even executing the priests from Hiryuu Castle, and his treatment of the Xing prisoners of war 17 years ago (see Kick the Dog below). Yona, after learning this, along with reading her aunt's diary she realized that this was the main reasons why Yu-Hon was passed over for the throne because of his cruelty.
• Evil Uncle: In Chapter 196, Il, before he apparently killed Yu-hon, accused his elder brother of sending assassins to kill Kashi. It's implied that Yona might have been killed as well, if she had accompanied her mother.
• A Father to His Men: Yu-hon was extremely popular with the people, especially with the military. His careful consideration for his soldiers earned him their Undying Loyalty. Most were shocked and disappointed when King Junam revealed that he named Il his successor.
• Four-Star Badass: He was the head of Kohka's military and loved a good fight.
• Good Parents: We see him visiting his ill son and cheering him up. Su-Won adored him.
• Karmic Death: It's implied that his death was related to the execution of the priests in Hiryuu (including an assassination on Queen Kashi).
• Kick the Dog: In the war with Xing 17 years ago, he decapitated a lot of soldiers and civilians who had already surrendered. Then he told Xing he was going to release them... and dumped their severed heads at the gate of the castle.
• Knight Templar: One of Yu-hon's greatest flaws was that he took things too far, even when he had good intentions.
  • His already intense hatred for the priests, coupled with the promise he made to Yon-hi and her mother that no one must learn of her lineage, led to him executing the priests and burning the temple in the palace down. His willingness to do anything to protect Kohka and its people led to extreme tyrannical and brutal actions that made him feared by anyone outside of Kohka.
  • From his wife, Yon-hi's, point-of-view, Yu-hon really loved Il. While he may not have agreed with Il's softness, he fiercely called anyone who dared to badmouth Il out, and he took a liking to Yon-hi because she defended his brother from others. He also didn't seem to mind that Il was chosen as king instead of him, only showing anger because people were disappointed with Il. However, this love for his family and hatred for the divine may have led to extreme measures, as Il accused Yu-hon of killing Il's wife, Kashi, because she was an apprentice priestess of the Crimson Dragon King religion. From Yu-hon's view, both Il and their father, Junam, were deceived by her.
• Mood Whiplash: One stated by his wife. Yu-hon was an excellent father, a doting husband, a fantastic general, and even with all that, he was a monstruous butcher.
• Mysterious Past:
  • It's not quite known what led King Il to kill him or whether this was the case in the first place. All that is known is Su-Won's account, which is biased as hell.
  • Yona later reads his wife's testimony, which shows him as a passionate individual... and a merciless butcher.
• Nay-Theist: Yu-hon acknowledged that the Crimson King might have existed. He didn't doubt nor care that Yon-hi and her family descended from him. However, he absolutely refused to bow down to and worship the Crimson Dragon King and the dragons like gods, thinking that they were not necessary.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Part of the reason why he wasn't chosen as the heir is the fact that Yu-hon massacred the priests of the castle and burned down the temple. King Junam apparently never forgave Yu-hon for this.
• Posthumous Character: Was apparently murdered by his brother several years before the start of the story.
• The Rashomon: He is the purported main reason why Su-Won killed King Il, as the latter supposedly orchestrated his assassination. Later in the manga, it's revealed that he may have conducted horrible war crimes during his military campaigns, and later Yona reads his wife's diary, who while providing more depth as to his actions, still doesn't sugarcoat that he was nothing short of a butcher. Notably, when she hears that Il accused Yu-hon of killing Kashi, she doesn't know it to be a fact, but nor does she deny he's capable of it.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With his pacifistic and cheerful brother, Il, whereas he was a Blood Knight.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Yu-Hon, Yoo-Hong or Yu-Hong?
• Uptown Guy: Yon-hi was a village girl, and he was a prince. They fell in love with each other and married.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He was a personable man and a doting parent... who was a bloodthirsty maniac in battle. Yona speculates that this is the reason the previous king named Il as king instead of Yu-Hon, and later finds evidence for his less than savory deeds.
• Warrior Prince: Unlike his brother, Yu-hon was a renowned general and fighter.

Yon-Hi

Lady Yon-Hi

The wife of Yu-hon. She hailed from a small and poor village and suffered from an unknown illness that eventually took her life.

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• Delicate and Sickly: A few years after Su-won's birth, Yon-hi suffered from a hereditary illness and was left bedridden. As a descendant of Hiryuu, she inherited the illness that eventually took his own life.
• It's All My Fault: She puts a lot of blame on herself for the massacre of the Hiryuu priests and the subsequent suicide of her mother. Yon-hi thinks that Yu-hon did all this because he promised to protect her and her secret.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: Yon-hi was largely ignorant of the extreme measures her husband took. She finally realized this when Yu-hon massacred every priest he could find due to his hatred for the gods and his promise to keep Yon-hi's lineage a secret, and her mother was Driven to Suicide because she blamed herself for this.
• Posthumous Character: She is already dead at the start of the story.
• Rags to Royalty: Yon-hi, despite her lineage, was nothing more than a poor village girl from the countryside when she met Yu-hon. He eventually married her, bringing her to the palace and making her a part of the royal family.
• Rose-Tinted Narrative: Implied Trope. As the events from 17 years prior are recounted by her, there's a significant possibility that she may have painted her husband as a better person than how he may had been (that is, on top of the example given in Jade-Colored Glasses). He was kind to her, yes, but she did spend most of their marriage sheltered in Yu-hon's palace.
• Unfulfilled Purpose Misery: Seeing Yona fills Yon-hi with dread when she realizes that Yona must be the reincarnation of the Crimson Dragon King. She questions herself why her family endured all this suffering for generations, when they never served a purpose. It's in that moment when the crimson illness starts to affect her.
• Walking Spoiler: Her being a descendant of the Crimson Dragon King, the cause of her and her son, Su-won's, illness, and her memoirs are only revealed to Yona very late into the story. Before that, next to nothing is known about her.

Queen Kashi

Queen Kashi

Originally an apprentice priestess, she would later become the wife of Il and Yona's mother.

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• Hiding Behind Your Bangs: As an adult she has bangs over her left eye, most likely to help her cover the scars on her face.
• Posthumous Character: She is mentioned in the first chapter of the series to have been killed by a rebel when Yona was too young to remember.
• Rags to Royalty: She was just a priestess in training, but she would later end up marrying Prince Il, who would end up becoming King and making her Queen.
• Seers: She is able to see the future of everyone but herself.
• Youthful Freckles: When Yon-hi first met her as a young teen she had some freckles.

Others

Han Ju-Do

General Han Ju-Do

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Nakaya (Japanese), Robert McCollum (English)

General of the Sky Tribe and one of Su-Won's closest confidants and bodyguards.

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• Always Second Best: To Geun-Tae. Later, to Hak, as Hak won Il's favour and gets chosen over Ju-Do to be Yona's bodyguard despite that he wasn't from the sky tribe and was much less experienced.
• Beleaguered Assistant: He deals with so much stress from Su-Won's reckless behavior.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Downplayed. Ju-Do was part of the plot of having Il dethrone and killed so that Su-won could be king, but was angry at King Il for not letting him be Yona's bodyguard and allowed Hak who was younger and less experience for job to be.
• Driven by Envy: Keishuk believes what really caused Ju-Do to start following Su-Won was that Il constantly favored Hak over him.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Towards Hak. The side stories implied it until Keishuk outright confirmed it in Chapter 178, suggesting that it was the favor Il showed Hak that pushed Ju-Do towards following Su-Won. Ju-Do denied it, of course, but Keishuk clearly didn't believe him, even if he decided not to press the issue any further.
• Lack of Empathy: Played With. He is totally apathetic towards Yona feelings about her father being murdered, but he still cares enough about her to the point that doesn't want to see her hurt.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: He insists that Su-Won must kill Hak because he considers Hak too dangerous to keep alive. This resolve was only strengthened after Hak's Unstoppable Rage nearly killed him, but didn't go through it because it would start a civil war with the Wind Tribe and the Dragon Warriors themselves.
• Nothing Personal: He really has nothing against Yona, which sort of makes him a Punch-Clock Villain. He actively chose to betray her father, and chose Su-Won as his master, however, he never wished for Yona's death. Deep inside he wished she had run far away where he would never have found her. He actually still worries about Yona and tells himself that he mustn't feel any affection for her anymore.
• Not So Stoic: He laments the fact that Yona lived, as he'd much rather not fight her.
• The Rival: To the Earth General Geun-Tae and Hak. Geun-Tae and him often spend most of their time together arguing. Also Look at Unknown Rival entry for his jealous towards Hak.
• Scars Are Forever: He has one on his right cheek.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is his name Joo-Doh or Ju-Do?
• Undying Loyalty: He's dedicated to serve Yu-Hon, and, after his death, Soo-Won.
• Unknown Rival: The side stories imply that his issues with Hak stem from long before the coup (which was eventually confirmed in the main story). Hak, however, seems to have been largely unaware of the animosity. Even after they become official enemies, Hak only acknowledges Ju-Do as a follower and servant of Su-Won, the person he truly hates.

Keishuk

Keishuk

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Japanese), John Burgmeier (English)

Keishuk is Su-Won's advisor and chief of staff.

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• Everyone Has Standards:
  • During the battle against Kai he finally realizes that for the sake of the realm, killing Hak, who is said to be the best Kohkan warrior in the last millennia, would be an absolute disservice to the kingdom.
  • Later on, he chews out Ju-Do for allowing his personal issues with Hak to get in the way of the good of Kohka.
• Evil Chancellor: Depending on the perspective. He seems to be loyal to Su-Won, which would make him The Good Chancellor. However, he was fully complicit in King Il's death and tried to have Yona branded a spy and murdered, to ensure Su-Won's authority and rule the moment he saw her alive and well.
• Evil Is Petty:
  • Keishuk hated King Il because he felt as though Yu-Hon should have been king instead, and he supposedly witnessed Il murder Yu-Hon himself wanted to take revenge against him as well. So he plotted his murder for years until Soo-Won was old enough to take the throne.
  • He is greatly distrustful of Yona and Hak, and it's implied that his drive to want to kill them is two parts for the "sake" of Su-won's regime, and eight parts because he just doesn't like them. This is put in evidence when Yona is brought to the Royal Palace, and all it takes is Hak getting somewhat close to Su-won for Keishuk to order his execution. Thankfully, Yona intercedes and lets Keishuk, in not so many words, how stupid he's being.
• Foil: To Hak. Hak is a warrior of renown, might and charisma who can pull masses behind him, who is patient and not a blood-thirsty leader while being relatively uneducated; Keishuk works behinds the shadows as a counselor, he's uncharismatic and unsympathetic, all while being academic, cold and cutthroat, choosing to spill blood as fast as possible to get rid of obstacles. Of course, Keishuk hates Hak with a passion, as he represents everything he's against.
• Hidden Depths: He is more rash, short-tempered and cutthroat than it seems at first glance. Also, as shown when Yona is brought back to the Royal Palace, he is not a particularly good diplomat.
• I Did What I Had to Do: He proudly tells Yona and Hak that the death of King Il was necessary for the Kingdom of Kohka not to fall apart. Wrathful, Hak puts his blade on the Advisor's neck.
• I Have Your Wife: Min-Su's mother to be exact. Min-Su isn't really fully behind Su-Won, but he isn't left with much of a choice.
• Jerkass: Keishuk is a mean and cruel who doesn't care who he has to hurt or use to mean his goals and objectives and openly displays his lack of remorse or empathy towards Yona in which the murder plot against her father destroyed her life.
• Jerkass Has a Point: A strict and extremely unpleasant man he may be, he's right in seeing Yona as a danger to Su-Won's rule, as she is King Il's legitimate heir, and a witness of his murder to boot. Silencing her was and still is the right choice if Su-Won wants to keep the crown, and Yona's survival can lead to a potential civil war, especially considering the fact that Yona has substantial support in the Wind, Water and Fire Tribe lands, is very friendly with the daughter of the Water Tribe general, and is seen as a hero in Xing. The rumor of Hiryuu and the Four Dragons' return is slowly leading to conflict.
• Keeping the Enemy Close: He offers Yona to come to the Royal Palace under Su-Won so that Yona, the Dragons and Hak stop being fugitives. He later tells Han Ju-Do that they're too important, too influential and too powerful for Su-Won to allow them to run free nilly-willy and/or switch their allegiance to another country.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: After Su-Won killed King Il and Yona witnessed everything, Keishuk immediately suggests to permanently silence Yona to ensure Su-Won's claim to the throne. When he and Yona meet again right before the Sky Tribe intends to invade Xing, he feigns ignorance and orders to kill her. And when he finds out about Yona's connections to the Water, Fire and Wind Tribe, he deems Yona to be too dangerous and orders her to be seized and executed as a supposed spy from Xing. Yona is having none of it and brushes off Keishuk's lies and threats until Su-Won arrives and deescalates the situation.
• Nothing Personal: Averted and Subverted. He doesn't actually have any personal grievances against Yona and it appears that he is part of Su-Won's reign for the sake of the realm. However in King Il's case as he felt as though Il didn't deserve to be king since he thought that Yu-Hon should have been and the fact that he says that he witness Il murder him in cold-blood.
• Refuge in Audacity: Some of the daring things he has said to Yona and Hak should have easily cost him his head, like proudly announcing that the assassination of King Il was a glorious act. The guy simply gives exactly zero fucks about courtesy.
• Satellite Character: He's Su-won's supporter and has been since before the coup... and that's about it. Despite being introduced very early in the manga he's much less prominent than Ju-Do, and neither his motivations nor his history are known.However that later becomes invoked when it is revealed that he was once a foot soilder but got injured which ended his career and almost died if it was for Yu-Hon who was the general at time to saved him and took him into his home. After that he came to admire Yu-Hon and was completely devoted to him and his cause and was very angry that Yu-Hon didn't become king, but then years later after Yu-hon's death he decided that Soo-Won should take his place rule over Kokha.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Kye-Sook or Keishuk? The official translation goes with the latter.
• Undying Loyalty: To Yu-Hun and now Su-Won.
• Uriah Gambit: When Hak stumbles on the secret of Su-won's terminal illness he decides that he should die on the frontlines of the impending war with Kai. In a variation, this is Hak's own request: he'd have preferred to have him executed on the spot, but Hak argued it would be more useful to the kingdom if he died in battle after causing immense losses to the enemy.

Min-Su

Min-Su

Voiced by: Kazutomi Yamamoto (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel (English)

A servant in the castle. It's unknown if he was actually a member of the Sky Tribe.

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• Break the Cutie: His reaction towards finding out that King Il has been murdered. Not to mention the aftermath of his survival after his Heroic Sacrifice.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: While he initially acknowledges that Su-won and Keishuk spared his life due to his mother being Su-won's mother's doctor, the fact that he became Su-won's personal doctor very conveniently meant that no one would have to be brought into the secret of Su-won's hereditary illness— Min-su likely already knew all about Yon-hi, making him the best and only candidate to care for Su-won if/when his symptoms commenced.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He buys time so that Yona and Hak can safely escape...though he later turns out to be Not Quite Dead.
• The Medic: His mother was a doctor who cared for Su-won's mother, and he is Su-Won's personal physician.
• Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: He tells Yona to kill him if she feels any anger for his unintentional role in her father's death.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Min-Soo or Min-Su?
• Survivor Guilt: Since he was spared thanks to his mother being Su-Won's mother's doctor, he also realized that he was unwittingly used by Keishuk to gather the information that leads to King Il's assassination.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards King Il and Yona.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His good relationships with Su-won's people before he worked for King Il allowed Keishuk to use Min-su as a source of information for planning Il's assassination, which Min-su only realizes in hindsight.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Dies in chapter/episode 2. ...Or did he?

Ogi

Ogi

A member of the Kuuto underground and an ally of Su-Won.

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• The Alcoholic: He's often seen with sake in-hand.
• Everybody Smokes: Nearly everyone in his hideout, himself included, is seen smoking.
• Everyone Has Standards: Ogi is an honest businessman— the hairpin Yona trades him is worth quite a bit more than the services she's asked him for, and he insists on hiring horses for her so she gets her money's worth. He's also, despite being close to "Won," deeply disturbed by what he did to Hak and Yona.
• Face of a Thug: Played with, as he purposely uses this to his advantage. He has the appearance of a scary street thug, but he's not a fighter.
• Knowledge Broker: His specialty seems to be gathering information about Kohka and surrounding countries.
• Lovable Coward: See Face of a Thug above. Despite his work, he is quite easily scared.
  • At nine years old, Hak was able to intimidate him into helping him and Su-Won find a lost Yona. Presently in the manga, he remains scared of Hak even ten years later.
  • After Riri and her bodyguards get into a scuffle with some of his men and Su-won stops the fight, one of his men congratulate him on not crying. Additionally, he exclaims about how "bad" Riri is when she admits to having stabbed a soldier.
• Messy Hair: He has long, wavy hair that is always loose and messy.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Seeing as he is a Knowledge Broker, he is clearly doing this with "Won", and pretends he doesn't know that he is the King. Hak later calls him out on this, and he confirms that he knows who "Won" is and also recognizes Hak and Yona from when their brief meeting as children.
• Paper Tiger: He'll use intimidation tactics, but if a fight actually does break out, he's not willing to join the fight himself.

Wind Tribe

Son Mun-deok

(Former) General Son Mun-deok

Voiced by: Katsuhiko Sasaki (Japanese), Kent Williams (English)

The previous leader of the Wind Tribe. He's Hak and Tae-Yeon's adoptive grandfather.

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• Cool Old Guy: He's pretty relaxed for somebody who leads one of four tribes. Despite his advanced age, and being an actual grandfather, he is still a very capable warrior.
• Like a Son to Me: He considers both Yona and Su-Won like his own grandchildren.
• Papa Wolf: He beat the crap out of a man who threatened little Hak.
• Parental Substitute: He adopted Hak and Tae-Yeon as his grandsons.
• Retired Badass: He briefly comes back to help with Riri's rescue.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The only general who realized Su-Won killed Il and opposed to his crowning until his tribe was bullied to accept it.
• Shipper on Deck: He set up Hak and Ayame to be married when they were children. That fell through, but Hak believes he'll be pleased to see that Ayame and Saki are together regardless. According to Hak, Mundeok is often trying to pair up the unmarried members of the Wind Tribe.
  • Thanks to a couple of misunderstandings he sort of believes that Su-Won and Riri are an item.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is his name Mundok or Mun-deok?
• Undying Loyalty: He was loyal to King Il and subsequently he is loyal to Yona.

Tae-u

General Tae-u

Voiced by: KENN (Japanese), Josh Grelle (English)

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• Always Second Best: He's a powerful combatant in his own right, it's just that Hak is absurdly badass so he always falls a tad short of him.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: The Wind Tribe considers its members family, and he and Hyeong-Dae act like this when they tease Hak about his feelings for Yona.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He's chosen as Hak's replacement, and is the second strongest spear-wielder of the Clan.
• Declaration of Protection: In chapter 75 he declares that he will protect the Wind Tribe and their country, even if he dislikes Su-Won who is the current king.
• Do Not Call Me Sir: He doesn't want to be called "Young Lord"/"Lord Tae-u" after he succeeds Hak as the next Wind Tribe General.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He knew from the very beginning that "Rina" was actually the princess.
• Older Than They Look: Despite only being a year younger than Hak, his considerably shorter height, his childish looks, clothing style, and attitude make him look about 14 - 15 at most. It is even lampshaded in a chapter, where a soldier from an enemy army wonders why they’re letting kids being Generals.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He and Han-dae form this, Tae-woo being the more serious blue oni of the pair.
• Secret-Keeper: He keeps Yona and Hak's survival secret.
• Shipper on Deck: For Hak and Yona.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Tae-Woo or Tae-u? Viz goes with the latter.
• The Slacker: He and Hyeong-Dae are first introduced slacking off.
• Those Two Guys: He is always together with Heang-Dae.

Other

Hyeong-Dae

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Japanese), Austin Tindle (English)

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• Annoying Younger Sibling: The Wind Tribe considers its members family, and both him and Tae-Woo act like this when they tease Hak about his feelings for Yona.
• Big Damn Heroes: Covers the retreating Wind Tribe soldiers during the war with South Kai almost singlehandedly (until Hak shows up to help him).
• Fragile Speedster: He is the fastest man in the Wind Tribe but he can't take many hits. Good luck trying to hit him in the first place though.
• Keet: He's very upbeat and excitable.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: In chapter 75 when he speaks with Mun-deok and Tae-u about Hak and Yona, he stars calling the latter "Miss Yo-" then he corrects himself and calls her "Rina", meaning that he also knew that "Rina" was actually the princess.
• Older Than They Look: Similar to Tae-woo’s case, Han-dae is also only a year younger than Hak, but looks several years younger.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He and Tae-woo form this, Han-dae functioning as the more easy-going and joking red oni.
• Secret-Keeper: He keeps Yona and Hak's survival secret.
• Shipper on Deck: For Hak and Yona.
• The Slacker: He and Tae-Woo are first introduced slacking off their duty.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Han-Dae, Hyeong-Dae or Heang-Dea?
• Those Two Guys: He is always together with Tae-u.
• Youthful Freckles: He has some sprinkled over his nose and cheeks.

Son Tae-Yeon

Voiced by: Kokoro Kikuchi (Japanese), Mikaela Krantz (English)

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• Cheerful Child: He's usually in very high spirits. Yona even credits him as having a major role in making her feel better after her father's death.
• The Cutie: People frequently coo over how cute he is.
• Delicate and Sickly: He has a "weak body" and could die without his medicine. His illness seems to resemble asthma.
• Happily Adopted: He was adopted by Mun-Deok, the same as Hak.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: He has large blue eyes.

Ayame

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• Action Girl: She was trained by Mun-deok.
• Arranged Marriage: She's technically Hak's fiancée, however, she's seeing another boy in the Wind Tribe and neither Hak nor she ever took it seriously.
• Nice Girl: She's really sweet and kind, even offering hostile Xing guards medical attention despite that they had tried to shoot her.
• Hospital Hottie: She's a learned and passionate doctor, but is still very pretty.
• The Medic: She's a doctor who cared for and managed to save the Xing soldiers Mizari stabbed, as well as Hak when he'd been shot.
• The Smurfette Principle: She is the only relevant female member of the Wind Tribe that is shown in Hak's flashbacks, and seemingly the only woman to have been one of the warriors trained by Mun-deok himself.
• Recurring Extra: She was this for several volumes, showing up frequently in the background of Wind Tribe shots and implied to have been one of the children Hak grew up alongside. Though she'd been around since volume one, she (along with fellow recurring extras Saki and Nobu) wasn't even given a name until the Xing arc.

Ik-Su

Ik-Su

Voiced by: Jun'ichi Kanemaru (Japanese), Jerry Jewell (English)

As a child and apprentice priest, Ik-Su was chased out of the palace by Yu-Hon. As an adult he adopted Yun and settled down in the lands of the Wind Tribe.

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• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: A bit spacey and odd, but he can pull his head out of the clouds when necessary.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: A male example, he falls rather easily.
• Eyes Out of Sight: His eyes are hidden behind a thick, curly fringe.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He gives Yona and Hiryuu a run for their money when it comes to kindness.
• Keet: He's always smiling.
• The Klutz: He's tripping and breaking things. It's amazing he survived so long without Yun's help.
• Nice Guy: He is too nice for his own good.
• Parental Substitute: He more or less adopted Yun, though Yun takes care of him more than the other way around.
• Spell My Name With An S: Ik-Su or Ik-Soo?
• Tender Tears: His first appearance has him crying at the suffering Yona and Hak went through reaching him.

Fire Tribe

Kang Su-Jin

(Former) General Kang Su-Jin

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), John Swasey (English)

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• Arc Villain: Downplayed, as his antagonism only comes up near the end of the Fire Tribe Arc.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He had a great relationship with Kyo-Ga and clearly used to spoil Tae-jun. In his last moments he thinks about how the Hiryuu castle will be for his sons.
• Divine Right of Kings: Invoked and subverted He thinks he is the direct descendant of King Hiryuu and seeks to dethrone Su-Won based on that claim. Little does he know that there's already a living reincarnation of Hiryuu in Yona, and that she already commands the Four Divine Dragons by the time he launches his assault on the capital.
• Evil Old Folks: He helped Su-Won with his coup and later allies himself with Kai to dethrone Su-Won.
• Heroic Lineage: He calls himself and his children the descendants of King Hiryuu, as he was the founder of the Fire Tribe, whether or not he is an actual descendant of Hiryuu is currently unknown.
• Kick the Dog: He decapitated one of his own soldiers who begged him surrendering when was obvious Su Won would win the battle. The Dog Bites Back later leading to...
• Laser-Guided Karma: Subverted and then played straight. Li Hazara was going to betray him after they had dealt with Su Won but in the end he was backstabbed by one of his soldiers whom he had threatened before (and killed one of them to make an example).
• Parental Favoritism: He favoured Kyo-Ga over Tae-Jun when it came to ruling the Fire Tribe. He didn't teach the latter anything about how to rule because he assumed Kyo-Ga would do everything himself.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is his last name "Kang", "Kan" or "Gang"? And is it "Soo-jin" or "Su-jin"?
• Strong Family Resemblance: His sons clearly took after him.

Kang Kyo-Ga

General Kang Kyo-Ga

Kang Su-Jin's elder son. He becomes the Fire Tribe's general following his father's death.

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• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: See Pet the Dog below.
• Aloof Big Brother: He thinks of his younger brother as incompetent, and criticizes him constantly for turning his men into farmers.
• Big Brother Bully: At his best he is an Aloof Big Brother to Tae-Jun, in his worst he is this. He cares for him deep down, though.
• The Dutiful Son: He works hard and is fully expected to succeed his father.
• Fantastic Racism: A minor example, but due to the way his father's religious delusions drove him to his death, he becomes rather embittered towards anything related to the legend of King Hiryuu — and has to actively stop himself from calling the four dragons beasts even after his mother reminds him he owes them his gratitude. He slowly warms up to them over time, though not to the same degree as his brother.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible sibling to Tae-Jun's foolish sibling.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is harsh and cold, but he cares for his family and tribe nonetheless.
• Perpetual Frowner: He looks stressed most of the time.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege!: When he thinks Su-Won is going to execute him for his father's crimes he begs for his mother and brother's lives to be spared.
• Pose of Supplication: After his father is killed after betraying Su-Won Kyo-Ga goes in this pose and accepts whatever punishment Su-Won have decided for him.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is his last name "Kang", "Kan" or "Gang"?
• Strong Family Resemblance: He and his younger brother look very similar, though he seems to take more after his mother than his father.
• Thicker Than Water: While he may not hesitate to criticize Tae-Jun, he still clearly cares about him and even begs Su-Won to spare him (along with their mother) after Su-Jin's betrayal, offering to take sole responsibility and punishment for his father's scheme.
• Tsundere: He acts pretty strict with Tae-jun, but is upset that his little brother wasn't eating dinner with him.

Kang Tae-Jun

Kang Tae-Jun

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Christopher Bevins (English)

Kang Su-jin's younger son. He has a massive crush on Yona.

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• Annoying Younger Sibling: Kyo-Ga considers him this and has no problem whatsoever telling it to anyone who can hear him (especially Tae-Jun himself).
• Bad Boss: At the beginning of the story he didn't really care about his subordinates, not even knowing their names nor caring if they were hurt. Then he underwent some Character Development.
• Benevolent Boss: After going through his character development he grew to care a lot for his subordinates, learning their names, asking them questions about their lives and personally taking care of one of his soldiers when he fell ill.
• Butt-Monkey: Especially before his Character Development, Tae-jun has terrible luck and gets very little respect from anybody. Lampshaded by his sidekick Heuk-chi, summing up one day's events:
  Heuk-chi: You had the terribly unfortunate experience of a kid throwing a rock at you, a bandit stepping all over you, and being hurled through the air on top of that.
• Character Development: He starts off as a huge Jerkass but he becomes kinder and less selfish, after seeing his people's plight firsthand. He initially does so to impress Yona, but comes to find that it genuinely makes him feel good to improve the lives of Fire Tribe citizens.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He's got this special little headspace for his (innocent) Yona fantasies. He does get his head in the game after some Character Development.
• Death Seeker: After Yona's "death". He feels better when he discovers she is alive.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted. Yona only forgives him after he's undergone some major Character Development.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish sibling to Kyo Ga. After his character development, he's still pretty foolish, but he's become more hard-working and responsible. When Kyo Ga sees him working hard in a village, he doesn't recognize his own brother.
• Friendly Enemy: He was one of the first antagonists of the series, and the only one to come close to killing Hak. However, he also has a complete Heel–Face Turn that makes him a valuable ally to Yona and a genuine Nice Guy.
• Heroic BSoD: He falls into depression after leading Yona to her supposed death.
• Heroic Resolve: Hearing Yona's voice allows him to get up despite Jaeha having a foot on his head. He accomplishes precisely nothing, since Gija picks him up and tosses him away before he can do anything or even see Yona, but it's enough to impress his soldiers.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Sort of. After his character development he pretends he is only chasing a bunch of bandits (a good thing) but he uses it as an excuse to bring food and medical care to impoverished villages.
• Hopeless Suitor: Regarding his crush on Yona.
• Inelegant Blubbering: When he gets emotional he's easily subject to reducing to this. Of particular note when he discovers Yona is alive. His face is so overrun with tears that when she tells him to look at her, he has to tell her that his vision is too blurry to do so.
• Jerkass: At the beginning of the story he is only seeking power and the right to obtain the throne by marrying Yona, he even knew that Su-Won killed King Il but was ready to execute Hak for that crime and kidnap Yona back to the castle. It's only after seemingly "killing" her that he starts to change. Thankfully, he goes through some Character Development and loses this trait.
• Love Redeems: His love for Yona pushes him to become a better person by serving and helping the Fire Tribe citizens.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He saw letting Yona die as this, asking for punishment by Su-Won. After Su-Won refuses to do so, Tae-Jun suffers from a months-long depression, until he learns that Yona survived and has tended to his father's impoverished lands and villages.
• Nice Guy: Underneath his snobby attitude lies a person who brims in sweetness. He is such a nice guy that even his brother cannot stay mad at him for long.
• Non-Idle Rich: Post-Character Development, he personally works to improve the lives of impoverished Fire Tribe citizens, doing laundry and tending the sick.
• Pet the Dog: He personally takes care of a sick soldier. This gains him his subordinates' respect.
• Redemption Quest: After seeing the devastating state of the Fire Tribe lands outside of the capital, and Yona having to leave the lands, Tae-Jun resolves to protect and restore them in her stead. He also intends to atone this way to Yona, who he almost killed, accidentally or not.
• The Resenter: After it becomes clear to him that Yona likes Hak, he seems to feel this toward Hak. Though, mostly harmlessly, unlike before his Character Development. Once it is actually 100% confirmed and he accompanied Hak in a huge battle where Hak bolstered his soldiers, he seems to get over it gracefully.
• Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: When he gets a first-hand look at the lives of some poor villagers, he's can't believe that they have so little.
• Royal Brat: Pre-character-development he was this. He demanded constant respect from those around him for his status, and felt entitled to Yona's hand in marriage. He changes when faced with the guilt of having "killed" Yona at the cliffs and seeing how much the people of the fire tribe were suffering.
• Sheltered Aristocrat: He initially has trouble believing how bad the situation is in the Fire Tribe villages because he spent his entire life in the more prosperous capital.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is his last name "Kang", "Kan" or "Gang"?
• Stalker with a Crush: To Yona, starting when they were children. He gets over it eventually.
• Stalker without a Crush: A lot of his early maneuvering for Yona was less about liking her and more about knowing that whoever married her would be king.
• Strong Family Resemblance: He and his brother Kyo-Ga look very similar, though he seems to take more after his father than his mother.
• Tender Tears:
  • When he finally learns that his actions did not kill Yona;
  • When he finds out that his father was slain after committing treason against the crown.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Learning from first hand about the miserable lives of the people in the fire tribe and meeting Yona again has changed him a lot.
• Undying Loyalty: When he tried to capture her, he was devastated when Yona presumably fell to her death. After they meet again, he seeks to become a person she can rely on, going so far to commit treason against Su-Won, by not telling him about Yona and falsely claiming that the Kai Empire is attacking Kohka to help Yona stop a war between Kohka and Xing. When his brother Kyo-Ga intends to arrest Yona and hand her over to Su-Won, Tae-Jun openly defies his brother's orders. He later inspires this in his own soldiers, starting with Kilsong, after he lays him in his own bed and personally nurses him after he falls ill.

Other

Heuk-Chi

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Endo (Japanese), Aaron Dismuke (English)

Tae-Jun's personal bodyguard and assistant.

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• Brutal Honesty: He doesn't hesitate to criticize Tae-Jun
• Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder: To Tae-Jun.
• The Comically Serious: He's a Deadpan Snarker who rarely emotes.
• Honest Advisor: He's pretty blunt about it, but completely honest and without ulterior motive.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Particularly noticeable before Tae-Jun went through his Character Development.
• Servile Snarker: To Tae-Jun. He bluntly insults him constantly, but is always ready to defend Tae-jun when necessary.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it "Heuk-Chi" or "Fook-Chi"?

Kang Iguni

• Arranged Marriage: Her and Su-Jin were arranged to be married before they even met.
• The Ghost: She was mentioned by Kyo-Ga during the Fire Tribe Arc, but doesn't appear until Chapter 159.
• Mama Bear: She's very protective of her sons.
• Morality Pet: To Kyo-Ga, whom begs Su-wan to spare her life after Soo-jin's failed coup.
• The Quiet One: She rarely speaks and her sons are surprised when they her her speak at length. As a matter of fact, one of her attendants states that her talking that much means that she's livid at the situation.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Her more elegant features and even the mole that sits in the center of her forehead is shared with her eldest son, Kyo-ga.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: She's a very elegant and traditional Proper Lady.

Earth Tribe

Lee Geun-Tae

Lee Geun-Tae

Voiced by: Masaki Aizawa (Japanese), Brandon Potter (English)

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• Ambiguously Brown: He's dark skinned, but nobody else in the Earth Tribe seems to be.
• Blood Knight: He was really happy when it looked like Su-Won was planning to declare war against some neighbour country.
• Even the Guys Want Him: His men blush when he orders them around. In chapter 116 they yelled "yes, general" with hearts in the bubble speech.
• The Gadfly: Particularly around Ju-Do.
• Happily Married: With Yuno.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: His wife is much shorter than him.
• I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: In a flashback side story he says he'd like to have Hak in his tribe. It was after Hak put an impressive fight against him but then wanted to cancel the duel because Geun-Tae's arm was hurt. Mun-deok was not amused.
• Interclass Romance: Geun-Tae is a noble but Yuno was a lady-in-waiting that worked at his castle, nevertheless he fell in love with her and married her.
• In Love with Your Carnage: He surely appreciates strong and capable warriors, Yu-Hon and Hak are among his favorites.
• Might Makes Right: He doesn't really believe in or respect people he deems weak. Su-Won's cunning and strength convince him that Su-Won is a king worth following.
• Samurai Ponytail: He's an excellent swordsman and wears his hair back in a ponytail.
• Shipper on Deck: He assumes Su-Won and Riri are a couple, due to a misunderstanding.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is his last name "I" "Yi" or "Lee" and is his first name "Geun-Tae" or "Gung-Tae"? The Funimation subs Take a Third Option.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's quite tall, brown-haired and certainly good-looking.

Other

Yuno

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English)

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• Genki Girl: She's very perky and upbeat.
• Happily Married: With Geun-Tae.
• House Wife: Though she does have a thriving tea business.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Her husband is much taller than her.
• Interclass Romance: She worked as a lady-in-waiting at Geun-Tae's castle, but they fell in love and married seemingly without caring about their different social standings.
• Nice Girl: She's very sweet
• Older Than They Look: She is 25 but looks like she is still 15.

Cheol-Ran

Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima (Japanese), Chris Burnett (English)

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• Hero Worship: He admires Geun-Tae very much, he also had to compete with others to get the chance to be his aide.
• Samurai Ponytail: He uses the same hairstyle as Geun-Tae as he admires him greatly.
• Tsundere: Type B to Geun-Tae.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Chul-Rang or Cheol-Ran?
• Undying Loyalty: He adores Geun-Tae.

Awa

Captain Gi-Gan

Voiced by: Yoshiko Sakakibara (Japanese), Wendy Powell (English)

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• Cool Old Lady: She's a pirate captain and something of a Rebel Leader; her crew are the only ones in Awa who are willing to stand up to Keum-ji. She ends up being something of a role model for Yona.
• Iron Lady: She's stern most of the time.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite her grumpy attitude she really cares for the pirates.
• La Résistance: While her group claim to be pirates, it's an open secret in Awa that they only ever attack Keum-ji's ships, and they disband as soon as the threat is over.
• A Mother to Her Men: She cares about the pirates' well-being and feels responsible for them, and they adore her for it.
• Never Mess with Granny: She's the unquestioned leader of the pirates, and entirely capable of taking part in battles herself.
• Parental Substitute: She reminds Yona of her late mother and Gi-Gan takes her under her wing during the Awa arc.
  • She is also a mother figure to Jaeha who started working under her since he was young.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: She forbids her pirates from killing because she doesn't want them to "carry the burden of being murderers on their backs."

Yan Keum-ji

Voiced by: Takayuki Sugo (Japanese), R. Bruce Elliott (English)

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• Arc Villain: Of the Awa Arc.
• Beard of Evil: He has a jagged, sinister-looking beard to match his equally sinister actions.
• Jerkass: Big time.
• Would Hit a Girl: He grabbed Yona by the hair and even kicked Yun square in the chest while he was disguised as a woman.

Water Tribe

Ahn Jun-Gi

General Ahn Jun-Gi

The general of the Water Tribe and Ahn Riri's father.

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• Badass Boast: When asked if he'll join the war with the other tribes:
  Jun-Gi: Like water swaying to and fro, we're a peaceful people. However, once a dam breaks the water has an overwhelming power that swallows up everything in its path. Once it has broken free, nothing can stop it. My oppressed people, whose anger has been suppressed until now, will strive to eliminate the influence of southern Kai.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Softspoken and mostly passive, you do not want to mess with him, when he decides that it's time to act. Sei also learns the hard way that they made a big mistake, when they unknowingly kidnap his daughter.
• Death Glare: When he opens his eyes for this. It's really intimidating.
• Eyes Always Shut: Most of his appearances have him keeping his eyes closed.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: He banishes Riri for stealing the Water Tribe's Golden Seal despite her doing it to help stop an invasion. It turns out he sent her to a huge palace in Sensui, with no locks whatsoever in it.
• Shipper on Deck: He would love his beloved daughter to marry Su-Won. He even sent Riri to Kuuto to court Su-Won. Unfortunately, neither is interested.
• Spell My Name With An S: His given name can also be written as Joon-Gi.
• Thicker Than Water: They clash a lot because of their different personalities and approach, but it's obvious he and Riri love each other. He even admits in his monologue that his passive approach in political affairs was to give her a world without war.

Ahn Riri

Ahn Riri

The daughter of An Jun-Gi. Her desire to help her people drives her to investigate the drug trade within her lands, but her naivete means she quickly gets in over her head before encountering Yona and company.

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• Friendless Background: Besides her bodyguards, she doesn't have any real friends. Which is why they're happy that she becomes friends with Yona.
• Likes Older Men: She is interested in men who are older than 35. To be precise, she has a crush on General Geun-Tae, despite knowing he is married.
• Plucky Girl: Quick to act on her own, alongside her two attendants, to try and help people suffering from the drug trade.
• Rebellious Princess: Well she isn't an actual princess, but she is the daughter of the Water Tribe General, and she would rather do something about their tribe's problems than just stay at their castle doing nothing.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: In sharp contrast to her father, the head of the Water Tribe. When she heard about the drug-addicted villages, she immediately sought to find the source of the drugs to put a stop to it.
• Sheltered Aristocrat: She has no idea just how bad the drug problem truly is until she witnesses it firsthand. She's a lot like Yona in this respect, but a lot more aware of the plight of her people than Yona was before she left the castle. This, and her embracing the traveling stranger Yona as a friend, mark her as "sweet"; while the "spoiled" kicks in with her lack of knowledge of places outside her castle, which promptly causes her to get in over her head.
• Shipper on Deck: When Yona admits to her that she likes Hak, Riri immediately tries to march over and tell him straight up.
• Spell My Name With An S: Her given name is often romanized as Lili.
• Took a Level in Badass: Not physically, but she has become a lot more courageous.
• Tsundere: She takes a while to admit that Yona's her friend, but she gets over it.

Other

Tetora

One of Ahn Riri's friends and bodyguards.

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• Bare-Fisted Monk: She fights weaponless, relying on melee attacks.
• Battle Butler: Alongside Ayura, she serves as Riri's bodyguard as well as attendant.
• Career-Ending Injury: She gets stabbed through the back and gut by Hiyou, and cannot act as Riri's bodyguard for some time. She eventually recovers from the injury.
• Cool Big Sis: To Riri. Also tries to act this way towards the younger members of Yona's group like Zeno. Although he's millenia older than her, he happily accepts gifts from the "big sister".
• Eating the Eye Candy: She can't help but stare at Yona's group, due to their good looks.
• Hidden Badass: You wouldn't think it to look at her, but when she comes face to face with one of Hiyou's bodyguards she quickly dropkicks him and proves her worth.
• Shipper on Deck: Also misunderstands the relationship between Su-Won and her lady.
• Spell My Name With An S: Her name can also be written as Tetra.
• The Tease: She has flirty personality and enjoys wearing racy dresses.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Riri and Jun-Gi. However, this is not Blind Obedience. She makes clear that she and the rest of the Water Tribe owe Yona and her friends for what they have done and she has absolutely no intention to tell Jun-Gi about Yona.

Ayura

Ahn Riri's other friend and bodyguard.

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• Battle Butler: Alongside Tetora, she serves as Riri's bodyguard as well as attendant.
• Combat Stilettos: She wears high-heeled sandals, even during combat.
• The Comically Serious: She's typically very straight-faced, quiet and serious.
• Katanas Are Just Better: She uses a katana to fight.
• Shipper on Deck: Also misunderstands the relationship between Su-Won and her lady.
• The Quiet One: She speaks in infrequent, short sentences; often preferring to let Tetora or Riri to do most of the talking.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Riri and Jun-Gi.

Hiyou

A businessman coordinating with merchants in South Kai to spread Nadai within the Water Tribe and weaken it from within, Hiyou owns brothels and other business ventures.

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• Ax-Crazy: Or rather, knife crazy. He becomes dangerously unhinged after Yona slashes his forehead.
• Arc Villain: of the Water Tribe arc.
• Bad Boss: He stabbed a shadowy figure through a screen without caring if he struck one of his men.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In his first appearance, Hiyou almost kills Tetora, Riri and Yona. Yona grazes his forehead with her sword in self-defense. After running away, he decides to send out assassins to kidnap and beat Yona half to death, so he can slowly torture and kill her. All of them failing almost makes him break down.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Sports a nasty looking one over his forehead. Yona gives him another.
• I Just Want to Be Beautiful: He is quite vain and obsessed with his appearance, always fretting about the scar on his forehead. He goes full Ax-Crazy after Yona makes an addition to that scar because he tried to hurt Sinha while she was interrogating him.
• Older Than They Look: Specifically noted in is physical description is that he is 35 years old but looks younger.
• We Have Reserves: Blindly stabs Tetora from behind a door, not caring if he had hit his own man.
• Would Hit a Girl: He stabbed Tetora, and went to great lengths trying to kill Yona.

Other Nations

Kingdom of Xing

Royalty

Princess Tao

Second Princess of Xing and the younger sister of Kouren. After one of her court ladies was kidnapped to Sei, Tao hears from the legendary four dragon warriors of Kohka who saved her. Assuming they belonged to Su-Won, she invites Yona and her friends to Xing, so they can peacefully let Su-Won take Xing in as a vassal state of the Kohka Kingdom.

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• Actual Pacifist: She prefers to become a vassal nation for Kohka than risk hundreds of lives in a war they don't have a chance to win.
• Cain and Abel: Subverted; Kouren appears to be the Cain to Tao's Abel, but it's more accurate to say they they just have very different solutions to an impending crisis.
• The Chosen One: If Gobi is to be believed, she is the one the gods have chosen to take the throne instead of Kouren.
• Foil: To Yona. Tao represents the kind of princess Yona could have been before her father's death, if she'd taken any kind of interest in things besides her crush on Su-won. Tao is kind and unable to fight, but she is politically astute enough to distance herself from people who claim to agree with her, but don't have others' best interests in mind, yet also proactive enough to seek solutions behind the back of her sister, who outranks her.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Her palace is full of cats.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: One of the reasons she wants to peacefully submit to Su-Won is that she knows that after conquering South Kai and Sei, his next target would be Xing. She knows that her country has no chance against Kohka, and rather than letting her country get torn apart by war, she wishes for better conditions for her country by solving the conflict diplomatically without any casualties.
• Nice Girl: She is kind to everyone she meets. Better seen when she notices Yona got her period and helps her without making the situation awkward. She also makes sure that Yona and Hak are not to be harmed while they are under her protection.
• Older Than She Looks: She is 19 but looks around 12.
• Politically-Active Princess: She reached out to Yona and the dragons because she believed they represented Su-Won, and she wished to negotiate terms with him. In the end, Su-Won does agree to accept Xing as a vassal state, on the condition that Tao is joint ruler alongside Kouren.
• Puppet King: Gobi believes he could rule through her. Kouren believes he's wrong, however.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She puts her people and friends before her pride, which is why she wishes to surrender to Su-Won. However, she wrongfully assumes Su-Won is willing to talk because she believed the dragon warriors, who saved a subordinate of hers, acted under his orders.
• Silk Hiding Steel: This is her sister Kouren's opinion of her. Tao herself comments that it's helpful that people assume she's much younger than she is.
• The Wise Prince: If not for her quick decision to contact Yona, Xing would have ended up in a war with Kohka and likely been decimated and oppressed.

Princess Kouren

First Princess of Xing and immediate heir to her father. Unlike Tao, Kouren believes war to be inevitable, as she fears that Kohka's new king is as cruel as his father.

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• Bifauxnen: Her short hair and armor give her a very androgynous but attractive appearance. Yona blushes the first time she sees her. Yotaka also has problems recognizing her, when she is wearing Tetra's clothes, since her own clothes are bloody and torn.
• Bullying a Dragon: She's trying to start a war with Kohka, a country far larger and more powerful than Xing. Then again, she does have a good reason for doing so.
• Cain and Abel: Subverted; she initially appears as the Cain to Tao's Abel. However, she's only preparing for war because she views it as inevitable and remembers the horrors of the last one. Not only that, she doesn't want her sister harmed.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She had apparently a front seat to the past war with Kohka and a soldier she was very close to was murdered by Yu-Hon in a cruel and unnecessary way.
• Foil: Like Tao, she foils Yona, only Kouren represents the kind of princess Yona could become now. She cares deeply for her people, and she isn't afraid of picking up a weapon to defend them. She's astute and not afraid to scare people like Gobi. Yona also foils Kouren right back, however — Yona represents what Kouren could have become if she'd found a more productive outlet for her rage against Kohka, rather than focusing on revenge against Su-won and Yu-hon.
• Important Haircut: It's revealed that she cut her hair after Yu-Hon dumped the head of a soldier she was close to over Xing's castle walls. Since then, she's spent years learning to rule, learning military strategy, and preparing to go to war with Kohka again some day.
• Lady of War: She's a princess who wears armour and carries a sword. Presumably, she knows how to use it too.
• My God, What Have I Done?: She seems to have this, after Mizari suggests killing and eating the dragons, and goes on to say that Kouren would be happy with the complete death and destruction of Xing as long as she got her revenge.
• Only a Flesh Wound:
  • She attempts to brush off her graze wound as nothing serious to Yun. He gently rebukes her, and she allows him to treat it.
  • She tries this again with Riri. Riri instantly sees through it and orders Tetra and Ayura to treat Kouren's wounds.
• Politically-Active Princess: She is the acting ruler of Xing, and is the next in line for the throne.
• Princesses Rule: When the current king is ill, they do.
• Power Hair: She sports a short and middle-parted hairstyle, and is heavily involved in Xing politics.
• We Can Rule Together: She offered the Dragons the opportunity to be set free from their imprisonment if they agree to fight for her and Xing. They rejected it, of course.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: She truly does care about her country and wants to defend it, however, her methods could cost the lives of hundreds and her need for revenge has clouded her common sense.
• The Wise Prince: This wouldn't usually apply, since she actively promotes war against Kohka. However, her reasons are actually sound, as Kohka's recent military activities alerted her. She feared that Su-Won was like his father, who would conquer and enslave Xing, so she felt like she had no other choice but to go to war. She sends out Yona to Su-Won on a whim, but once she is convinced that a peaceful and fair solution for Xing is possible, she immediately does her best to make sure it happens.

The Five Stars

The best warriors of Xing Kingdom. The title is bestowed by Princess Kouren.

In General

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• Foil: As a group, they are a foil to Kohka's Five Generals, and they were intended to counter them. They also are a foil to the Four Dragons (and Hak, to a lesser extent). Instead of being given godlike powers to protect a god-turned-human, they are human warriors chosen by a human ruler and her own judgment. Like the Four Dragons, they're powerful, but unlike the Four Dragons, their love and loyalty to their leader and each other isn't magically compelled. Voldo and Algira move against Kouren politically, despite respecting her, and the flaws in Kouren's judgment regarding who she chooses to be her warriors is on full display with Mizari.

Voldo

One of the Five Stars of Xing. He is loyal to Princess Tao.

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• Big Damn Heroes: Comes to both Yona and Hak's aid multiple times.
• The Comically Serious: His serious demeanour often clashes with Algira's perpetually cheerful disposition.
• Eyes Always Shut: Unless the situation is truly serious, he never opens them.
• Horrible Judge of Character: He originally seems to think Gobi and his men are on Tao's side, but he is horrified when Gobi's men attack Kouren's Villa with the intention of murdering the anti-war faction and taking Tao. Hak and Yona, on the other hand, can instantly tell Gobi and his men are not to be trusted.
• Luminescent Blush: His was triggered by a hug from Tao, and later a hug from Hak.
• Socially Awkward Hero: He flusters easily from physical contact and affection.
• Spell My Name With An S: Fans romanized his name as Vold, but Viz goes by Voldo.
• Undying Loyalty: To Tao.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He constantly bickers with Algira, but the two of them are comrades-in-arms and Tao's most trusted warriors. Algira insultingly calls Voldo "Voldopus" and Voldo in turn calls Algira "Idiot-Gira".

Algira

One of the Five Stars of Xing. He is loyal to Princess Tao.

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• Bare-Fisted Monk: He doesn't fight with a weapon, instead preferring to use melee attacks.
• Big Damn Heroes: Comes to both Yona and Hak's aid multiple times.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He is silly and obsessed with cats, but he is also the strongest warrior in his kingdom, followed closely by Voldo and the other Stars. He actually impressed Hak. Given that Hak is likewise the World's Best Warrior for Kohka, that is a high bar.
• Bodyguard Crush: According to Word of God, he's romantically interested in Princess Tao.
• Dumb Muscle: He's the strongest of the five stars, but his almost childlike manner of speaking and his complete disinterest (in the form of wandering off and playing with cats instead of paying attention) in the politics of the Xing-Kohka conflict imply that he's probably not the smartest guy around.
• Establishing Character Moment: In his first scene he beats the crap out of a dude who was mistreating a cat.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: He absolutely loves cats. He even sleeps with them.
• Malaproper: He did this when he was first introduced, though dropped it as the manga went on.
• The Nicknamer: He calls people he likes "nyan" (Shin Ah-nyan, Hak-nyan). It's the Japanese equivalent of "meow," the sound a cat makes. When it comes to Mei-Nyan... he ends up referring to her as simply Nyan.
• Undying Loyalty: To Tao.
• World's Best Warrior: He is outright stated to be the strongest of the five stars.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He constantly bickers with Voldo, but the two of them are comrades-in-arms and Tao's most trusted warriors. Algira insultingly calls Voldo "Voldopus" and Voldo in turn calls Algira "Idiot-Gira".

Yotaka

One of the Five Stars of Xing. Loyal to Princess Kouren.

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• Agent Peacock: Will stop strangers to ask them their beauty secrets and then will beat the crap out of them when they turn to be from an enemy kingdom.
• Carry a Big Stick: His weapon of choice are clubs.
• The Dandy: He is very concerned with his appearance, and even attempts to interrogate Gija for beauty tips.
• Dual Wielding: Uses two clubs as weapons.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: His loose clothes and his long hair don't help.
• In the Back: He gets stabbed in the back by a soldier whose friend was killed by Mizari.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Even Gija comments that his long hair is very gallant.
• Odd Friendship: Is rather happy to see Tae-U of the Wind Tribe again on the frontlines in Kin Province during the war with South Kai.
• Would Hurt a Child: He was willing to kill Yun if he was an ally of "the monsters of Kohka". Thankfully Yun manages to talk him down.

Neguro

One of the Five Stars of Xing. Loyal to Kouren.

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• Every Scar Has a Story: His prominent facial scarring happened in the original war with Kohka 17 years ago, and is possibly a factor in his grudge against the nation.
• Foil: As the oldest of the Five Stars who uses himself as Kouren's shield, he foils Zeno. He clearly illustrates just how much more horrific Zeno's battle philosophy would be without the Yellow Dragon's power.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He endurs being shot over and over again to help Kouren escape her villa safely. By the time Mizari finds him, he is nearly dead. He uses the last of his strength to throw Mizari out of the way of an arrow, taking one final shot to the throat.
• Human Pin Cushion: He takes over 15 arrows to the torso to protect Kouren.
• Perpetual Frowner: He has a permanently annoyed expression. Justified when he has to deal with Mizari, though.
• Scars Are Forever: Has a couple of scars on his face.
• Undying Loyalty: To Kouren. He has a long Internal Monologue about how much he respects Kouren and how he'll stay loyal to her no matter what. He even takes over a dozen arrows for her when she's shot at the end of the chapter. This is taken up a notch when he subsequently uses himself as a human shield, being shot with arrows meant for Kouren.

Mizari

One of the Five Stars of Xing. He is fanatically loyal to Kouren.

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• Armor-Piercing Response:After he stabbed an innocent Xing soldier, Yotaka asks him why he did it. Mizari admits he stabbed the man simply for acting high-and-mighty. The response to this is horror from all those who witnessed it — including Yotaka, who grabs him and punches him, demanding to know if Mizari can tell right from wrong.
• Ax-Crazy: Attacks Zeno in broad daylight to prove he's immortal.
• Creepy Child: He's only sixteen, but he sure can be hair-raisingly unsettling at times.
• Do Not Go Gentle: Mizari arrives in time to protect Kouren and fight Gobi's men to open a path for her, but eventually succumbs to his wounds, deeply regretting that he can no longer be by Kouren's side and wishing he had Zeno's immortality.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Since Gija and Jaeha rejected Kouren's offer to join the Xing cause, he suggests trying to gain their powers through eating their flesh and drinking their blood. Zeno insists it's not possible.
• Psycho Supporter: To Kouren. He even went as far as to attempt to assassinate Tao against Kouren's wishes, simply because he believes she is in the way. He also believes it would be okay for the entire kingdom of Xing to die as long as Kouren was happy.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Official colouring confirms him to have red eyes. Fitting, given his far more violent and villainous characterization compared to Kouren's other stars.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He begins one after Neguro is killed, starting with the particularly brutal murder of the shooter that killed Neguro.
• Slasher Smile: He is almost always sporting one and it is terrifying.
• Only a Flesh Wound: He is shot in the chest, and not only survives, but is able to run away from his assailants. Proves to be fatal eventually, when he keeps on fighting instead of resting treating his wound.
• Token Evil Teammate: While Kouren and the Stars loyal to her are the antagonists of the arc of Xing, Mizari is the only one that appears to be actually malevolent. He tried to assassinate Tao against Kouren's orders, and his obsession with cutting Zeno down is really disturbing.He takes the cake when he stabs an innocent Xing man, suggests cannibalism, and even admits that the rest of Xing could die horribly as long as Kouren was happy.
• Undying Loyalty: Only to Kouren and no one else due to the fact that she picked him up and gave him purpose when he was little and had nothing.
• Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: His default expression.
• Would Hit a Girl: He tries to assassinate Princess Tao.

Other

Gobi

The High Priest of Xing, and a supposed ally of the anti-war faction.

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• Ambition Is Evil: His goal was to higher his ranking and become more powerful within Xing. However, he eventually becomes obsessed with the power of the dragons.
• Black Cloak: He wears a long, sinister black robe, along with the other Xing priests.
• The Chessmaster: Kouren claims he supports Tao only so that he can use her as an Unwitting Pawn. As it turns out, Gobi is planning to hand Tao over to Suwon for marriage so that he can snag himself a higher position of power.
• Corrupt Church: Given that he's the leader of it, it seems this is what Xing's church has become.
• Dirty Coward: When Kouren and Mizari attempt to attack him, he shoves an innocent girl in front of him to use as a shield.
• Evil Gloating: He gloats to Yotaka that Kouren and the other Stars supporting her are dead, unaware Kouren still lives.
• Laughing Mad: After viewing the four dragons powers at the end of the Xing arc, he becomes fixated on them and grows increasingly unhinged throughout the Tully Tribe arc.
• Manipulative Bastard: He claims to be on the side of peace - Tao, Voldo and Algira believed him to be an ally - but he attempts to have Kouren and her men assassinated, only not succeeding because Yona and the others happen to show up just in time to defend her.
• Sinister Minister: He is the High Priest of Xing who claims to want peace, but he sends assassins to murder Kouren, her stars and kidnap Tao. Kouren even implies that the only reason he supports Tao is because he believes she will be easy to control and use as a puppet.
• Unusual Eyebrows: His look to be partially shaven off, which looks to be a motif of Xing priests in general.

Kingdom of Kai

The large body of land directly north of the Fire and Earth Tribes is technically ruled by Emperor Shenhon... however, due to a lack of strong leadership, it has devolved into splintered provinces with regional warlords. Many of the more wealthy and powerful merchants and nobles have moved into the splintered segment now known as South Kai.

North Kai

Li Hazara

The leader of North Kai's Sen province. He works with Su-jin in an attempted coup, which is foiled by Yona and her companions and their combined efforts with Su-won's army. He is later stripped of much of his power when his territory is taken by the Tully tribe.

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• Ambition Is Evil: His original ambition was to take over Kohka and gain more land and power for himself, meanwhile double-crossing Su-jin.
• Beard of Evil: He sports a cropped, jagged beard that wraps along his jawline.
• Betrayal by Inaction: He betrays Kuelbo this way, surrendering to Kohka without consulting him and ultimately losing their side the war. However, he was tricked into doing so by Jaeha and Vold, who, thanks to Yona, knew to play off his fears.
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: He has prominent and dark undereyes.
• The Dog Bites Back: Being forced into allying himself to the Tully Tribe in the first place made him easy to manipulate into surrendering to Kohka when the time came.
• Evil Eyebrows: His are thick and stuck in a perpetual evil downward arch.
• Eye Scream: He lost an eye to a slash by Gija’s claw during his initial coup attempt.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He now has a gnarly one across his eye socket.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He was defeated and threatened into allying himself with Ying Kuelbo, which of course lead to him becoming a very unwilling pawn in the war.
• Villainous Cheekbones: He has gaunt, highly emphasized cheekbones.

Ying Kuelbo

The leader of the Tully tribe and current self-made "king of northern Kai". Formally a nomad, he's been slowly taking over all of Kai's smaller territories, with the eventual goal of taking Kohka, and then Imperial Kai.

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• Best Served Cold: His final target for conquest is not Kohka, and is instead Imperial Kai. It's heavily implied the main modivation of his conquest is avenging the death of his sister at the hands of Kai's Emperor and reclaiming the glory that had been lost after her death. As such, he's been slowly building up strength in order to march to Imperial Kai and take over.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: He and Hak argue about Hak and Yona's romance in the middle of their fight. Lampshaded in-universe by other soldiers who note that the battle should be impressive, but that their conversation was too stupid for it to be.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Small girl or not, as soon as Yona proves she poses a physical threat, he chains her up just as much as he does Zeno and Jaeha.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He sneaks back into Hazara's castle despite the large injury Hak gave him, in order to save his wife from Kohka's army.
• Faux Affably Evil: His general disposition is quite casual compared to most antagonists in the series, but that doesn’t lessen his malevolent presence.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: A mild example, but he likes to throw a casual arm around Yona to taunt both her and her companions.
• I Have Your Wife: He attempts to mess with Hak this way once they fight, but Hak takes his assumptions about the romantic nature of his and Yona's relationship as a joke made at his expense.
• Martial Arts Headband: He wears a fabric headband tied around his head.
• Over-the-Shoulder Carry: He favours carrying Yona like this or under his arm, rather than letting her hop around with her chained feet.
• Pelts of the Barbarian: His cape has a fur-rimmed collar, emphasizing his nomadic origins.
• Shipper on Deck: Oddly enough, he picks up on the romantic relationship between Yona and Hak despite both of them separately claiming She Is Not My Girlfriend when he asked. He's more than likely a Shipper with an Agenda, looking to use the relationship to taunt Hak when they fought, but still.
• Smug Snake: He’s very confident after so many battle victories and amassing a large army of over 12,000.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Emphasis on the “tall” part; he's gotta be around 6'5'', taller than even Hak and Jaeha ^note His earliest appearances showed him as much taller than Jaeha, closer to 7 ft, however, this was later retconned to just a few inches of height difference. He's also the snarkiest out of the series' villains so far, directly taunting Hak during their fight.
• Terms of Endangerment:
  • He uses “Princess” to refer to Yona in chapter 165. ^note In the original Japanese, he uses “Hime-san” specifically, which is a more casual and improper form of Yona’s title used only by Hak before this scene. Though English translators usually translate them both to “Princess”, her proper title would be “Hime-sama”, as used by Gija, Min-su and most of the Hiryuu Castle staff. Given that that form of address is exclusive to Hak, the gesture sparks immediate anger from Yona, and she demands he never call her that, even preferring being called “Prisoner” instead.
  • Similarly, Hak reacts ''very'' angrily when he hears Kuelbo refer to Yona by name, snapping at him not to speak as though they're close and even breaking his sword in their fight.
• Tsurime Eyes: He has notably sharp, upturned eyes.
• Would Hit a Girl: He is pretty harsh when he subdues Yona, not hesitating to shove her to the ground or put her in a chokehold.
• You Remind Me of X: He states that Yona reminds him of his older, deceased sister.

Ying Yoo-lan

The wife of Ying Kuelbo and Queen of the Tully Tribe. She is left in charge of watching Yona while the Tully are off at war with Kohka.

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• Clingy Jealous Girl: Subverted. Gobi tries to get her to invoke this trope by taunting her with the possibility that Kuelbo intends to take Yona as a second wife, but she doesn't take the bait.
• Dark Mistress: Downplayed given her sympathetic portrayal, but she is the wife of an Arc Villain after all.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: She genuinely really loves and is devoted to Kuelbo, despite his warmongering and general antagonism toward Kohka.
• Food Slap: She throws tea in Gobi's face to make a point of rejecting his offer to take Yona off of her hands.
• Undying Loyalty: To Kuelbo. Yona notes several times that she has complete and unshakable faith in her husband.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: She's very graceful and proper, drawing a lot of contrast to her brash, wolfish husband.

South Kai

Cha-Gol

The current leader of South Kai who rules from the Phoenix Palace Yuukyou.

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• Annoying Arrows: Yona shoots him in the chest and he barely flinches, much to everyone’s horror.
• Bad Boss: Do something wrong? Prepare to be insulted, beaten, blinded, exiled and/or executed. Do something right? Well… you still aren’t in the clear.
• Bald of Evil: Gives him something of a mystic or monk-like appearance.
• Bullying a Dragon: Three of them, to be precise. He threatens Yona’s life as a bit of a test in front of Zeno, Jae-ha and Sinha, even causing the latter, who’s notoriously taciturn, to threaten him in return.
• Corporal Punishment: Fond of beating his subordinates should they displease him.
• Themed Tattoos: Sports a phoenix tattoo on his head.
• Manipulative Bastard: Plays with Mei-Nyan’s desires and pushes her into doing horrible things while attempting to break her spirit and convince her that no one else will ever accept her, forcing her to believe she has no where else to go.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Participated in the burning of Hiryuu Castle.
• Smug Snake: Enjoys lounging about and treating both enemies and subordinates with disdain and mockery. However, he’s no slouch when it comes to combat and doing his own dirty work if he feels like it.

Mei-Nyan

Arriving in Kohka as part of an official Southern Kai delegation, Mei-Nyan first appears to be little more than a noblewoman of high status. However, not only is she formally one of South Kai's famed Eight Great Generals, she turns out to have a secret personal agenda in the works.

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• Ambitionis Evil: Everything she’s done has been essentially for the purpose of getting closer to the Crimson Dragon Castle and what she feels is her birthright.
• Angst? What Angst?: She’s heavily implied to have endured a ton of hardship, including beatings, and brushed it off with a smile on the path to her ultimate goal. It’s only when it looks like all her suffering may have been for nothing that the cracks start to show.
• Brutal Honesty: She’s not afraid to explain why she thinks Kohka has no chance against South Kai should it come to war. She also told Yona to her face that she doesn’t feel she “deserves” the Four Dragons.
• Bitchin Sheeps Clothing: Her introduction to Yona. She plays the role of a grieving family member at a funeral before quickly turning to cruel insinuations and manipulations. If not for the dragons intervening, she would’ve culminated things by slapping the princess.
• Dark Action Girl: Absolutely vicious with a sword and pragmatic to boot. She’s said to use poison on her weapons as well.
• Femme Fatale: She’s definitely not above using seduction to get what she wants. In fact, she made the jump from army general to court concubine just for the sake of her goals.
• The Gadfly: To a small degree. She makes some light-hearted teasing remarks when dealing with Hak and Yun and had a playful relationship with her former fellow general, Val.
• Hidden Depths: She easily allows herself to be seen as nothing more than a visiting Southern Kai noblewoman who happened to accompany the official delegation to Kouka – in reality, not only is she Emperor Cha-Gol’s top mistress, she’s a former general and a distant descendant of King Hiryuu.
• He Knows Too Much: Her plan to find common ground with King Su-Won almost immediately blows up in her face when doing so reveals that she knows about his illness – Keishuk tries to have her executed on the spot, and it’s only thanks to the intervention of Yona and Jaeha that she ends up a prisoner rather than dead.
• Manipulative Bastard: During a funeral, she claims to be a grieving relative in an attempt to exploit Yona. Furthermore, she doesn’t think twice about using her sex appeal to get the advantage over gullible soldiers (though it fails on Ju-Do). She tries several things to attempt to gain Hak’s support, though she reasonably backs off when it’s obvious it’s not working.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: She’ll let others think she’s an empty-headed noblewoman or an easy sexual conquest if it suits her needs, but privately she has nothing but contempt for the idiots around her.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege!: At her lowest point, she finds herself attempting to bargain with Cha-Gol to spare a lot of people she’s come to care for.
• The Mistress: Chief Concubine in Emperor Cha-Gol’s court. Not that he seems to actually care that much for her.
• Petthe Dog: Or, as the case would be, squirrel. Just like Sinha, she takes comfort in a small animal companion. In fact, she considers her little “Hoh-chan” the only thing she’s not willing to sacrifice for her goals.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Beneath those plush, expensive robes is a former general who’s endured a lot of pain and hardship.

Kura-U

One of the famed Eight Great Generals of South Kai, as well as the stepbrother to Cha-Gol. This puts him in a position of great power.

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• Anime Hair: Some kind of combination rat-tail/mullet, perhaps?
• Fantastic Racism: A mild case. Shows interest in the dragons and dismisses Jae-ha as a “single beast” on the battlefield, among other things.
• Facial Markings: Sports a phoenix wing tattoo on his forehead as well as small marks at the corners of his eyes.
• Trash Talk: Ju-Do attempts to ask Kura-U for a one-on-one duel in order to spare their armies. The South Kai general responds by laughing in his face and mocking the soldiers who perished in the Kin province flood. He also attempts to engage in an exchange with Jae-Ha but quickly loses his cool.
• Gory Discretion Shot: A lot of what he does to Zeno is shown. The result of what Hak does to him is not.
• The Sadist: Oh boy. First, he decides to counter the dragons with “human weapons” of his own – by loading live POWs captured in an earlier battle into catapults and launching them at Kohka’s army. Then he attempts to beat Jae-ha specifically, before running Zeno through (mistaking Sinha’s attack on his army as coming from the Yellow Dragon)… and it gets even worse when he realizes that Zeno keeps healing from the damage he inflicts.
• Stupid Evil: Things may have gone better for him if he had focused on the battle at hand instead of “playing” with Zeno and mocking General Kaji…
• Themed Tattoos: He and Chagol have similar tattoos on their foreheads, symbolizing the phoenix of Kai.
• One-Hit Kill: Courtesy of Hak. Maybe don’t throw a brutalized Zeno in front of him…

Rahn

One of the famed Eight Great Generals of South Kai. He was in charge of the assault against the province of Kin within the Earth Tribe after it fell back under control of Kohka.

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• Alas, Poor Villain: Despite how poorly Cha-gol treated him and his fellow Generals, Rahn helped him escape Kohka’s army… and took several arrows to the back for his trouble.
• Annoying Arrows: Subverted, hard.
• Agent Peacock: Has long flowing hair, is a bit flamboyant, wears elaborate robes and feathered collars, and appears to possibly be wearing lipstick and eyeliner. Is also a highly capable general who respects his soldiers.
• Combat Aestheticist: He sees Hak on the battlefield, covered in blood, apparently “too poor” to wear armor, on the verge of collapse, and still tearing through opponents, and thinks to himself, completely stunned, that he’s a beautiful warrior.
• Combat by Champion: Draws Hak into a one-on-one conflict in order to spare his own men… but it’s also in order to keep Hak in the path of danger as Rahn plans to have his men flood the region, even if he’s sacrificed along the way.
• Loyal Animal Companion: Despite Rahn urging otherwise, his horse refuses to leave him after he’s been defeated, leaving them both in the path of the flood. Hak claims it’s out of sympathy for the animal that he puts Rahn on its back and sends them both away.
• Eye Scream: After his “failure” in Kin, Cha-Gol beat him to the point of costing him an eye.
• Undying Loyalty: To Cha-gol… even though the emperor doesn’t expect it.
• No Brows: Part of his unusual features.
• Sympathy for the Hero: Outed Hak as an enemy soldier despite himself.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: At least, to the point that even he admits that a lot of his military strategy relies on schmoozing up rich nobles for funding, and then just using an abundance of resources to exhaust his opponent.
• Worthy Opponent: Has great respect for Hak both as a warrior and as an individual.

Kaji

One of the famed Eight Great Generals of South Kai, and the youngest of the group.

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• Always Save the Girl: A non-romantic example: Mei-Nyan used to look out for Kaji when he was younger and now he’s absolutely determined to return the favor.
• Blind Obedience: Maybe he wasn’t exactly wrong to readily believe “Soo-won bad” but… he also really needed to take some time to learn and reflect on things for himself.
• Caring Gardener: Or at least a big fan of plants and flowers. This becomes a problem when the senjuso herbs Hak and Yun had acquired go missing…
• Failed a Spot Check: Upon meeting a teenage girl named Yona who’s infiltrated the South Kai camp from Kouka, he assumes she’s named after the princess.
• Delivery Guy Infiltration: Uses the uniform of a camp medic in order to pretend to be the one delivering Mei-Nyan’s medication and sneaks into Cha-Gol’s personal tent.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Fell for a LOT of propaganda to the point of leaving a befuddled Hak having to actually DEFEND Soo-Won, of all things.
• Late to the Realization: Regrets that he was so slow to notice Mei-Nyan’s situation and foolishly continued fighting for Chagol based on shallow beliefs.
• Passive Rescue: A subtle one, when Yona only loosens his ropes rather than completely free him from captivity, so that he has the opportunity to ambush the soldier guarding him.
• The Dog Bites Back: Turns on Cha-Gol after being viciously beaten and seeing Mei-Nyan horrifically mistreated.
• The Resenter: Hated General Kura-U to the point of distraction upon seeing the man struck down in the middle of battle.
• Would Hit a Girl: Tells Hak that deserters and their families are to be put to the sword and that thieves ought to have their hands cut off. He doesn’t like it, but believes that it’s necessary for society to maintain order.
• Would Hurt a Child: Slightly subverted. He claims he finds it distasteful to personally punish a child… so he attempts to cut off the fingers of the child’s mother instead in order to teach the child a lesson. Thankfully, Hak intervenes.

Hye-Tan

One of the famed Eight Great Generals of South Kai.

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• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Gives him a rough, experienced look.
• Manly Facial Hair: Rough and close-cropped.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Follows orders, but also grows concerned when details don’t seem to line up and the chain of command begins to fall apart.
• Eyepatch of Power: Over his left eye.
• I Will Punish Your Friends For Your Failure: A victim of this. He realizes things are fishy when Val reappears and wants to help Mei-Nyan, but Hye-tan has family back in the capitol of South Kai and doesn’t want their lives to be put to risk for his actions, leaving him in a difficult position.
• Tap on the Head: Gija ambushes him with a punch that instantaneously incapacitates him. He’s lucky that’s all that happened.
• Spell My Name With An S: Hye-tan, Hittan, Hytan…

Val

One of the famed Eight Great Generals of South Kai, and a close companion to Mei-Nyan.

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• The Stoic: Rarely outwardly emotes.
• Dual Wielding: His preferred style of combat.
• Oblivious to Love: Seemed to miss a lot of Mei-Nyan’s earliest hints, thinking he was just not interfering in her life choices.
• Conflicting Loyalty: He didn’t head to Kohka intending to defect, but as things spun out of control, his hand was forced.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Doesn’t seem to especially notice or care how popular he is among the women of South Kai, who bring him snacks and pray for his safety in battle.
• Defecting for Love: After learning of Mei-Nyan’s condition and seeing her connection to her new friends in Kouka, Val can’t bring himself to complete his mission to bring her back to South Kai. Unfortunately, the Dromos with him won’t accept this… so he finds himself fighting them off alongside Mei, Ayura and Tetra.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Ends up with three thin slashes up through his right eyebrow, into his hairline.
• Tareme Eyes: Suits his calm, disinterested demeanor.
• The Comically Serious: Mostly playing off more emotionally extroverted characters like Mei-Nyan and Jaeha.
• Would Hit a Girl: Only after he’s attacked first, and even then, it was more to subdue.

The Dromos

Cha-Gol’s personal squad of faceless assassins.

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• In the Hood: They wear long, hooded black cloaks.
• Flash Step: Their movement can be hard to follow… unless you have dragon eyes.
• Malevolent Masked Man: They all wear eerie half-masks with arched eyes.
• Wolverine Claws: A common weapon of theirs, often coated with poison.
• Would Hit a Girl: They attack Yona, Mei-Nyan, Lili, Tetra and Ayura. At one point they even tell Mei that they have permission to injure her legs so long as they leave her face alone.

Would Hurt a Child: Mei-Nyan claims they’re merciless. They kidnap Yun at one point to use him as a bargaining chip and no one doubts his life is in danger.

Sonon

A commoner woman who saves Hak’s life after the flooding in Kin Province. She lives with her son, Ranran.

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• Boyfriend Bluff: Claims Hak is her injured husband in order to let him recuperate at her home.
• Make an Example of Them: Kaji threatens to have Sonon and others in her village killed for harbouring an enemy soldier.

Past Characters

Dragon Warriors

First Generation Spoiler Warning

Hiryuu

The Crimson Dragon who founded and became the first king of the Kohka Kingdom. He's said to have been a red dragon who took the form of a human. His true family line has seemingly been lost with all the changes in leadership Kohka has experienced over the centuries.

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• All-Loving Hero: Loved the humans who tried to kill him.
• Founder of the Kingdom: He founded Kohka, uniting the scattered tribes in the area into one nation and becoming the first ruler.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: While he isn't as feminine as Abi, Hiryuu's hair reached his mid-back and he was quite attractive. On further inspection, he looks a lot like Yona, actually, which is not too surprising.
• Nice Guy: Even though he was king, he was friendly and kind to everyone.
• Oh, Crap!: When he realizes Zeno's Blessed with Suck status.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: The first king of Kohka. He went to the battlefield personally and worked hard to establish peace.

Guen

The original white dragon warrior.

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• Absurdly Sharp Claws: His dragon hand has them and are very sharp and dangerous.
• Big Brother Instinct: He felt that all the dragons were like siblings and should look after each other, he particularly behaved like a caring older brother towards Zeno.
• Gentle Giant: He was huge but really caring and brotherly.
• Mark of the Supernatural: His right hand is a dragon claw.
• Mystical White Hair: His previous hair colour is unknown.
• Right Hand of Doom: His dragon hand is rather large and can increase in size.

Abi

The original blue dragon warrior.

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• Bad Ass In Distress: He was kidnapped for his power at one point. While he was rescued quickly, the experience scarred him.
• Deadpan Snarker: With Shuten as his favourite target.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: He looks like a beautiful woman, and his outfit looks a lot like a dress. If it weren't for Guen referring to him as a brother and the occasional glimpse of an Adam's apple, there'd be no way to tell Abi was a guy.
• Mark of the Supernatural: In addition to the slitted golden eyes he had bright red markings under his eyes.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Like all of the Seiryuu. There's no indication of what color his eyes were before he drank the dragon blood.
• Squishy Wizard: In contrast to Sinha, Abi relies primarily on his eyes to take out dozens of enemy soldiers a time, but is helpless during the resulting backlash.
• Tender Tears: When Zeno calls him by name, like King Hiryuu would, before the first dragon warriors left his castle forever.

Shuten

The original green dragon warrior.

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• Fire-Forged Friends: At first he was a bit antagonistic towards the other dragons and even Hiryuu, but as they fought and spent time together he came to care for them.
• Mark of the Supernatural: He has a scaly green right leg that grants it super strength and allows him to leap long distances.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Unlike the other dragons, who have Cute Little Fangs, he has a mouth full of sharp teeth.
• Weapon Specialization: Unlike many of the others, he primarily used a spear to fight, combining its strikes with powerful jumps.

Zeno

The original yellow dragon warrior.

See his entry under Main Characters.

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Previous Generation

Gija's father

The previous white dragon, whose dedication to tradition came to a horrific head when his son was born.

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• Abusive Parents: For all of a moment. When Gija was born, his father was upset to see that Gija would succeed him and slashed his back with his claws. They were never allowed to interact unsupervised afterwards.
• Last Request: On his deathbed, he only wanted to be allowed to see his son one last time, reasoning that having lost his powers, he couldn’t hurt him again.
• Moment of Weakness: Realizing his newborn son was also his successor as a dragon warrior was too much for him.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He regretted slashing Gija's back for the rest of his life.
• No Name Given: He's only known to have been Gija's father.

Garou

The previous green dragon who deeply struggled with his role in life.

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• Abusive Parents: While he was Jaeaha's caretaker and not his father, Garou was physically and verbally abusive to Jaeha on top of keeping him chained to the wall. Whenever Jaeha tried to run away, Garou would drag him back to earth.
• Broken Bird: Cynical, mocking, verbally and physically abusive… and hating the fact that Jaeha is the only person he can relate to while the rest of the village treats them both like trash.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Finds himself getting less and less compensation from his village, who consider his unusually long survival (for a dragon) to be a burden. However, by this point he’s too beaten down to really fight it.
• Heel–Face Turn: In the end, he decided to sacrifice himself to help Jaeha escape the village.
• Messy Hair: Long, lank and unkempt, reflecting his sorry lot in life.
• Never Accepted in His Hometown: Because of an incident less than a century ago, his clan began seeing their Green Dragons as an annoyance at the very best.
• Parental Substitute: An abusive and unwilling one due to his village's traditions.
• Resentful Guardian: The fact that Jaeha, just by existing, was essentially causing him to gradually lose both his powers and his life was something he couldn’t cope with. That Jaeha seemed to pity him because they’d been born in the same situation only made it worse.
• The Runaway: Gorou actually succeeded in fleeing his village as a teenager. However, when he sensed Jaeha’s birth, he was hit with a crushing loss of purpose and found himself wandering back.
• Would Hurt a Child: Frequently – and viciously — took his frustrations out on Jaeha.
• You Shall Not Pass!: An impulsive, desperate version, preventing the villagers from shooting Jaeha down.

Ao

The previous Blue Dragon warrior. Despite not knowing their origins and believing them both to be cursed monsters, he raised and trained the nameless boy later known as Sinha.

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• Angry Collar Grab: Ao’s anger and frustration resulted in a lot of yelling.
• Broken Bird: The treatment he received from his own clan, the belief that he was cursed, and the knowledge that his successor was seemingly stuck with the same fate all left him rather embittered.
• Bad Ass And Child Duo: He brought Sinha, a toddler at oldest, along when he went to fight, in order to teach him combat by example.
• Colourful Theme Naming: Ao means "blue".
• The Darkness Before Death: As part of his nature as a Blue Dragon, he gradually went blind and then completely lost his sight shortly before his death.
• Death Means Humanity: When Ao realizes he’s fully lost his powers, he begins to scream that he’s truly human and can finally die. The younger Seiryuu doesn’t know how to handle this.
• Disabled Bad Ass: Fought as well as ever while going blind.
• Everybody Calls Him "Barkeep": "Ao" isn't his name anymore than "Seiryuu" is Sinha's. Like Sinha, he was only known as "Seiryuu." After Sinha was born, he started calling himself "Ao," which means "blue." In essence, now that Sinha was the Blue Dragon, he was simply "Blue."
• Fights Like a Normal: His eyes are potent, but they backfire and leave the user helpless when fully utilized. Additionally, part of his job is to prevent the village from being targetted by anyone seeking the dragons' supernatural powers. Therefore he doesn't use them in battle and acts like he doesn't even have them.
• Manly Tears: When he apologizes for leaving Sinha alone.
• Mentor in Sour Armor: Used what little time they had together to train Sinha to use his powers and his sword while insisting the former should never actually be used.
• Parental Substitute: To Sinha. He wasn't suited for it, but he cared for him to the best of his ability.
• Perma-Stubble: Goes along with his generally rough, unkempt appearance.
• Sorry That I'm Dying: Right before dying, he apologizes to Sinha for leaving him alone.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Believes his gold, slitted eyes are a sign of being cursed.
• Tough Love: While Sinha remembers Ao as someone he loved, he also described him as “very strict.”

Other

Other

Kaya

Zeno's late wife.

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• Florence Nightingale Effect: While Zeno didn't really need the help, they first met after he collapsed from injuries and hunger and she treated him. When he learns of her illness, he takes care of her. They fell in love and married.
• Incurable Cough of Death: The first indication of her illness was when she collapsed, coughing.
• The Lost Lenore: To Zeno. While he doesn't talk about her much, many of his mannerisms were taken from or suggested by her.
• Mayfly–December Romance: With Zeno. Sadly, she died young and they likely didn't have more than a year or two together.
• Nice Girl: Even though she was weak and dying from illness, she took a wounded stranger in and treated him.
• Small Role, Big Impact: She only appears in one chapter, interacting with one character, but she made a deep impression on Zeno. His natural cheerfulness was more balanced out by his maturity before he met her, and in the present day, he adopts various quirks of hers, like the way he wears his scarves around his neck and his use of third person.
• The Pollyanna: She remained a cheerful and kind girl even though she's dying of illness and was completely isolated outside of Zeno.
• Posthumous Character: Has been dead for hundreds of years by the time the story begins.
• Tears of Joy: When Zeno proposes to her.
• Third-Person Person: When Zeno revealed he had almost forgotten his name, she suggested he use this to avoid forgetting.
• Walking Spoiler: She appears in all of one chapter, but even the most barebones description of her spoils that Zeno isn't quite what he presents himself to be.

Ghost Seiryuu

The angry spirit of a long-dead Blue Dragon. Like Sinha, he lived as a pariah and was never given a name. His fellow villagers had used him to lure away attackers while the rest of them fled and left him to die alone in the underground crypts.

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• Arc Villain: For the Lushing Blue Forest.
• Body Snatcher: When Ao and Sinha accidentally disturb the abandoned village’s ancient crypt, the Ghost Seiryuu takes control of Sinha’s body. However, what he doesn’t realize until later is that, to a degree, Sinha let it happen… out of pity.
• Comfortthe Dying: Well, he’s already dead, but Yona holds him and hears him out before it’s implied he finally moves on. Later, Sinha finds his actual remains and implores him to rest.
• Dying Alone: The people of his village left him locked in the underground crypts where he died alone in the dark, bitter and cursing everything.
• Facial Markings: Like all Seiryuu.
• Familial Body Snatcher: Not a direct ancestor, but from the same clan as Sinha, meaning they share a common ancestor at the very least.
• Kickthe Dog: Ao thinks she’s finally tracked down Sinha, but the Ghost Seiryuu flinches in annoyance and smacks the poor squirrel away.
• Last Stand: An unwilling one. While not an experienced warrior, he was forced to lure away bandits so that the rest of the villagers could escape. They took the new infant Seiryuu with them and left him to die in the attempt.
• Misdirected Outburst: The Ghost Seiryuu turns his powers on the other three dragons and Yun and laughs while doing so, saying it feels great to let loose and even asking them how it feels on their end. He grows increasingly aggressive when it turns out his powers aren’t so effective against Zeno. Later he says that he and generations of other Blue Dragons had yearned to throw away their masks and use their powers freely but were scorned and forced to repress themselves… but eventually also he admits that he was more or less lashing out and knew deep down that his time was long gone.
• Never Acceptedin His Hometown: Again, just like Sinha. There’s a reason the younger Seiryuu sympathized with him.
• Not Himself: It really doesn’t take Gija, Jaeha, Zeno and Yun long to notice that “Sinha” is acting off. He’s unmasked, unhelpful and rude. However, they’re so used to him being reserved and socially stunted that they at first try to excuse it as some kind of weird personal growth.
• Oh, Crap!: He may have recognized Zeno as the Ouryuu, but he was in no way prepared for what he could do.
• Overthe Shoulder Carry: Does this to Zeno (after tying him up) after realizing he can’t kill him; the Ghost Seiryuu figures that the Ouryuu might make a good vessel for the other spirits trapped in the crypts to possess, so he takes him back there.
• Silly Rabbit Idealismisfor Kids: When Gija tells him to let his “younger brother” go, the Ghost Seiryuu is disdainful towards the idea of the four dragons “playing” at being siblings.
• Spottingthe Thread: Things fall apart once Gija notices Ao is missing and asks where she’s gone. “Sinha” has no idea who he’s talking about… nor does he care.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Like all Seiryuu, gold eyes with vertical pupils. Of course, he was also forced to cover them with a mask. It’s the fact that, as “Sinha,” he returns to camp without a mask on that starts to alert the others that something’s changed.
• Villainous B So D: After possessing one dragon, attacking three others (and Yun), trying to kill and kidnap Zeno, and then trying to drag everyone he could into the crypts to be possessed by the remaining spirits, the Ghost Seiryuu breaks down when confronted by Yona, as he subconsciously recognizes her as the Crimson Dragon.

The Four Dragon Gods

The four dragon gods are the ones who granted the dragon warriors their powers for the sake of protecting Hiryuu.

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• Jerkass Gods: They care about Hiryuu and nobody else. Their first idea to protect Hiryuu was actually to kill all humans and eventually only chose the dragon warriors when Hiryuu nixed their initial plan.