Dobrynya Nikitich

A famed dragon-slayer, and one of the valiant "Bogatyr" warriors portrayed in the epic songs known as bylina.

Dobrynya Nikitich was one of the greatest Bogatyrs ever to serve the legendary Sun Prince, Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev. The only one to ever surpass him was Ilya Muromets, the strongest of all the Bogatyrs. He is best known for slaying the evil three-headed dragon Zmei Gorynych to rescue the princess of Kiev, and by legends about his wife Nastasia.

According to the stories in which the character appears, Nikitich is a man, which this Nikitich confirms. However, in this manifestation, she appears decidedly female. Whenever she is asked about this discrepancy, she just shrugs and says, "Yes, that's true."

Height/Weight: 165cm, 50kg (including her ears)

Origin: Bylina (Kievan series)

Region: Russia, Ukraine

Alignment: Neutral-Good

Sub-Attribute: Earth

Gender: Female?

Often claims she can do just about anything.

A young warrior positively brimming with confidence. She is not the most eloquent speaker, but it's clear from talking to her that she's absolutely convinced there are very few things out there she's incapable of doing. Normally, this kind of belief would be walking a thin line between assuredness and reckless overconfidence, but Nikitich is levelheaded enough to admit when there are things beyond her purview.

Nikitich is quick to make decisions and never second-guesses herself. Once she decides to do something, she is on it right away, which isn't great for working in groups. Thus, on the occasion she is operating with a team, she leaves all the decision making up to the king or commander in charge and deliberately avoids doing too much thinking herself (which sometimes makes her seem as if she's spacing out.)

Unsurprisingly, her unshakeable confidence and strong initiative make her well suited to Independent Action; she's well suited for solo adventures and scouting missions.

According to bylina, Dobrynya Nikitich was born to nobility, and grew up into a refined young man under his widowed mother's love. She told him there were three things he was never to do, but driven by his adventurous spirit, he "borrowed" a set of armor and went on to have adventures that involved doing every one of those forbidden things.

Eventually, he managed to triumph over the evil three-headed dragon Zmei Gorynych over the course of two battles. When he won the second one, he also rescued the Grand Prince's niece, Princess Zabava, and was rewarded for his accomplishment with the princess's hand in marriage...even though he did not desire it.

Instead, he went on to marry another woman named Nastasia Mikulishna, the daughter of the giant Mikula Selyaninovich, and a legendary warrior in her own right. She is also known in another legend as Nastasia Nikulishna, where she waits many years for her husband's return.

In the Mikulishna legend, it's said that Nikitich and Nastasia do battle after Nikitich defeats Zmei Gorynych, only for Nastasia to win and shut Nikitich away in her pouch, after which they are married.

In the legends, Nikitich is a man, not a woman. So then, why did she materialize as a female Rider? Nikitich herself refuses to say, but a certain Chaldean staff member came up with three possible hypotheses.

First, it may just be that Nikitich's real life differs from her legends, much like Altria is known as Arthur Pendragon. Clean and simple.

Second, it may be that a malicious curse from Zmei Gorynych, the evil dragon she uses in her Noble Phantasm, is distorting her Spirit Origin. Definitely plausible.

And third, it may be that the Nikitich who was summoned is not actually the Nikitich of legend, but his wife, Nastasia (for the purposes of this game, we'll say she possesses traits from both her Mikulishna and Nikulishna incarnations) who is disguising her True Name by pretending to be her husband. We can imagine any number of reasons as to why this hypothesis might be true. For example, Nastasia might have worried that her young and courteous husband would be hugely popular with other women were he to materialize, or it could be a simple case of Chaldea's summoning system malfunctioning in some way.

While each hypothesis has some degree of possibility, there is no way to tell which, if any, may be true. All we can say for sure is that, as a Heroic Spirit, Dobrynya Nikitich acts exactly as one would expect from Dobrynya Nikitich, the dragon-slayer.

Eternal Young Warrior: B+

Dobrynya Nikitich always remains young. Some people believe it's because her mount has a power to keep his rider from aging. This skill has the same effects as Natural Body and Fair Youth.

Berza Damask: A

Manifests Nikitich's second Noble Phantasm as a skill, taking full advantage of her legendary weapon and armor.

Berza Burko: EX

Manifests Nikitich's third Noble Phantasm as a riding skill.

Nikitich's steed (read: dragon) talks a lot. Like, a whole lot.

(It's now believed that her mount's anti-aging power has become part of Nikitich herself, and is therefore separate from her Eternal Young Warrior skill.)

『Zmei Gorynych』

Rank: A

NP Type: Anti-Personnel/Anti-Army

Range: 1 - 50

Maximum Targets: 1/200

The Evil Dragon Breathes Sin.

Nikitich's first Noble Phantasm. Nikitich summons Zmei Gorynych, the legendary evil three-headed dragon, and has it incinerate her foes with flame from all three of its heads.

If that weren't enough, Nikitich herself then swoops in while her foes are still reeling from the dragon's attack to finish them off with her steel. Even if an enemy is able to withstand three full torrents of dragon's breath, there are few who can also withstand a finishing blow from such an incredibly heavy weapon.

Why did a Heroic Spirit materialize there? Was it the Counter Force at work? A kind of miracle? Some sort of summoning ritual akin to a Holy Grail War?

We may never know the truth since she refuses to speak on the subject, but we do know that this Heroic Spirit who calls herself "Dobrynya Nikitich" may have visited the site of the Tunguska event shortly after it occurred in 1908.

Furthermore, this Heroic Spirit also claims to have been the one to name the Beast that had just formed at that site.

The name she chose? Yaskaya.

If this story is true, that would mean that Tamamo Vitch Koyanskaya, the nine-tailed Evil of Humanity who resembles Fair-faced Golden Fox, owes the "Koyanskaya" part of her name to this very Heroic Spirit.

Now that Nikitich has been summoned to Chaldea, she's taken a keen interest in Koyanskaya, and would like to befriend her if possible...