Wu Zetian

Arrogant and egotistical. In essence, she is a flamboyant little girl.

"Kehaha. There's no question that I am the most gorgeous, shiny one! ...By the way, who are you to casually call me a little girl, you fool!?"

Height/Weight: 138cm, 35kg

Origin: History

Region: China

Alignment: Lawful-Evil

Sub-Attribute: Human

Gender: Female

She chooses to go by "Wu Zetian" as it is well-known.

The name comes from her posthumous name, Empress Consort Zetian Dasheng. Personally, she prefers the title "Empress Regnant," which she used when she took the throne for the first time.

The only empress recognized in Chinese history.

At first she was the concubine of the second emperor, Taizong, of the Tang dynasty. After Taizong's death, she became the concubine for Taizong's son, Gaozong. Soon after, Wu gave birth to Gaozong's child. However...

The small flame of life was abruptly extinguished.

It is said that Wu accused Empress Wang of murdering her child, drove both the Empress and Consort Xiao out of the court's good graces, and insinuated herself into the vacated position of Gaozong's Empress.

Upon assuming power, Wu executed the two by drowning them in wine jars after severing their limbs.

From this chain of events, some speculated that Wu was actually the one who killed her own child and framed the Empress...

But the truth is forever unknown.

As she gained power as Empress, she began to assassinate family members and political enemies that were in her way. After Gaozong's death, she renamed the dynasty "Zhou." In the end, she placed herself on the throne and declared herself the "Empress Regnant."

As ruler, she instituted a policy of terror where citizens were encouraged to inform her about the secrets and doings of others. Officials called "Torturers" struck fear into the common masses with their brutal interrogations.

『Manual of Accusation』

Rank: B NP Type: Anti-Personnel

The Manual of Accusation is an instruction book for the Torturers said to have been written during Wu's rule. It is essentially a how-to guide for interrogation and torture with the aim of forcing the victim to admit themselves a criminal.

This Noble Phantasm is an embodiment of her national law, where it is solely her judgment that determines who is and who is not a criminal. In other words, whenever this NP is used, everyone and anything is deemed appropriate for torture in her eyes, and the target will be tortured without any real choice.

Normally she has various methods of torturing her victims, but recently she exclusively uses a version of the wine pot and poison torture she once used against her political enemies.

Wu Zetian was surprisingly superstitious.

She liked to change the names of dynasties and titles not only because she liked new things, but also due to that superstitious nature.

When Consort Xiao was on the verge of death, she cursed Wu: "You will be reincarnated as a rat. I will be a cat and bite you to death!" Since then, Wu forbade cats within the palace.

She even moved the nation's capital from Chang'an to Luoyang because she was afraid of a ghost...

"H-hey! Revealing my weaknesses is cruel... I mean...that information is a complete lie! I'm not afraid of cats or ghosts...just...argh! To the wine pot with you!"