Neuvillette/Storyline

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Last edit: Chilli Crab at 2026-09-05 05:52:04 (UTC) (5 days, 21 hours ago). If this was over two weeks ago, please contact the editor who placed the tag before removing it.

Neuvillette is the Iudex of Fontaine and the reborn Hydro Dragon, one of the Seven Sovereigns who originally ruled over Teyvat before the arrival of the Heavenly Principles. Because of the impurities created by the Bathysmal Vishaps during their time in Enkanomiya, Neuvillette was born in human form rather than as a dragon lord, resulting in a good portion of his powers and memories being lost. He was later discovered by the Hydro Archon Focalors, who brought him to Fontaine to serve as the Iudex in order to help him learn human feelings and sympathize with them.

Following Focalors's death, her human half, Furina, abdicated the position of Hydro Archon, passing on the responsibilities to Neuvillette. Alongside serving as the head judge, he now oversees the entirety of Fontaine.

Profile

Personality

In accordance to his role as the Chief Justice, Neuvillette takes the court and trials very seriously, handing out verdicts with impartiality. He is notably perceptive, being able to hear Paimon's whispers and is able to deduce the additional details from the evidence provided to him during a trial. He utilizes the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale to make the final decision, honoring its request regardless of his own feelings on the matter as per protocol.

Due to his position and ties to the Hydro Archon, he is popular among Fontaine's people as a symbol of justice and honor. As a member of the Seven Sovereigns, Neuvillette is unfamiliar with human customs and feelings, using the court to help him process and understand them. He rarely spends his time out in public, as he does not enjoy unwanted attention, and in the few times he speaks to humans, he appears to be aloof, though honest in his words. However, when interacting with Melusines, he is extremely friendly, seen as the ideal father by them; likewise, he is fiercely protective of them, considering them the pride of Fontaine and investigating matters himself should he hear of a Melusine being bullied or threatened. This stems from his failure to protect his friend and subordinate, Carole, when she was driven to death due to Fontainian's prejudice, and Neuvillette being forced to sentence his other friend, Vautrin, for carrying out a revenge killing for Carole, he had since resolved to prevent such tragedy from happening ever again.

When he was initially reincarnated, Neuvillette was left with many questions about himself, leading to him accepting a position as the Iudex. His time overseeing trials led him to experience a plethora of human experiences and emotions, which was secretly prepared by Focalors in the hopes that his newfound perception would save the people of Fontaine from a looming prophecy that would exterminate them. Upon learning the full extent of Focalors' deception, he admitted that she was devious and was both saddened and shocked by her self-sacrifice. Indeed, having seen humanity positively, Neuvillette used his fully restored powers to save the people and shares fragments of his power in the form of Visions for those worthy of them.

Neuvillette opposes the Heavenly Principles, and by extension The Seven, as they usurped the authority of the Dragons that once ruled Teyvat. This is more of a professional standpoint rather than personal, as Neuvillette is shown to express admiration, regret and surprise when the Traveler tells him about the activities of the Archons they interacted with.

Neuvillette enjoys water and is an avid taster, being able to discern the properties of where the water came from and how it's prepared; as a result, this also extends to him liking food with plenty of sauce. He does not like deep fried food and grilled food with no sauce, especially taking great offence to Charcoal-Baked Ajilenakh Cakes.

Appearance

Neuvillette uses the tall male model. He is a tall man with pale skin, purple-shaded slit eyes, slightly pointed ears, and mid-thigh length white hair with a single lock that has a blue underside. He also has what appears to be two bright, blue horn- or feeler-like accessories at shoulder length.

History

Past

Because the Bathysmal Vishaps had strayed from their true heritage as Hydro creations when they adopted Electro and Cryo powers, the people of Enkanomiya prophesized that the reborn Hydro Sovereign would be a human.^[5] Due to the impurity, Neuvillette did not have full control over Hydro and had lost a good portion of his memories. Eventually, he came upon Focalors, who invited him to become the Chief Justice of Fontaine.^[6] Although Neuvillette did not care about humanity at the time, he agreed in the hopes of restoring his memories.

Sometime after being Chief Justice, Neuvillette also discovered the Melusines and introduced them to Fontainian society. However, not everyone agreed with the decision at the time, due to Neuvillette being a newcomer who had been appointed an incredibly high position and the Melusines being seen as heralds of calamity. As a result, the Melusines were discriminated despite their efforts to integrate, especially by hard-liners who wished to keep the status quo. This eventually caused one Melusine, Carole, to commit suicide in order to prove her innocence after she was framed for murder. Both Neuvillette and her friend Vautrin were devastated, causing the latter to embark on a personal vendetta against those responsible for her death. After he was apprehended, Neuvillette sentenced his former friend to the Fortress of Meropide, though seemingly unaware that Vautrin was manipulating his feelings in order to prove his sincerity and impartiality in order to have the people trust him. Ever since these events, Neuvillette has sworn to never let such a tragedy occur again.^[7]

A legend regarding the Hydro Dragon would pass throughout Fontaine, when it would inexplicably rain. People would say "Hydro Dragon, Hydro Dragon, don't cry!" to dispel the rain. This rain is actually caused by Neuvillette whenever he experiences great grief.^[8]

Throughout the years, Neuvillette would oversee numerous trials and verdicts, seeing the trials as a form of an interest in humanity's emotions.

When Sigewinne took on a human form in order to save a human friend of hers, she was arrested for her crime of the forced change of a species. Neuvillette sentenced her to the Fortress of Meropide, though he suspected that the Egeria had placed this law in order to prevent others from following in her footsteps.^[9]

At some point prior to the Traveler's arrival in Fontaine, Neuvillette was also responsible for sentencing Wriothesley for the murder of his adoptive parents and Escoffier for a lumiline poisoning incident. He also witnessed Callas' duel against Clorinde and did not stop it, even though he suspected Callas to be innocent, as he expected Callas to yield rather than sacrifice his life in the duel; this resulted in Callas' daughter Navia holding resentment towards him.

Present

Neuvillette first appears as an audience member for Lyney and Lynette's magic show, though he does not initially introduce himself to the Traveler at the time until Lyney does so. After Cowell is crushed to death in an accident, Neuvillette orders the Opera Epiclese into lockdown and begins a trial against Lyney for murder. The Traveler is prompted to defend their new friend in trial, during which Neuvillette oversees the proceedings. When Lyney is forced to reveal his affiliation with the Fatui, the Traveler requests a recess, which he grants. The Traveler manages to defend Lyney until Vaughn brings evidence that the same water used in the murder was found in his belongings. Fortunately, Navia arrives and reveals the truth by bringing another suspect, Liliane, who had falsified her arrival as Halsey, causing Neuvillette to realize that Vaughn had tampered with evidence. He then orders the Garde to confess and reveal the culprit, but before he can do so, Vaughn dissolves into water in front of the audience. He orders another lockdown, but no suspects are found.^[10]

Navia later asks the Traveler to help her in the missing disappearances case, which they accept and head to Palais Mermonia to get the files from Neuvillette. When they arrive, he apologizes to her for Callas' death, but Navia angrily shuns him away, believing he did not sincerely mean it. This upsets him and as they leave, it begins to rain. The Traveler and Navia eventually discover the culprit behind the disappearances, Vacher, and bring him to court while another trial had already began as Tartaglia had been accused of being the suspect behind the disappearances. While the Oratrice found Vacher guilty, it also deemed Tartaglia the same for reasons unknown. Tartaglia then attempted to escape using his Foul Legacy transformation, forcing Neuvillette to personally intervene, knocking him out in a single blow before having him taken away. Although he was just as confused as everyone else was, Neuvillette explained to the Traveler that he had to uphold the verdict but promised to investigate what was going on. Neuvillette later allowed the Traveler to bring him to the Fountain of Lucine, which resulted in Vacher dying of a massive fright caused by the collective consciousness of his victims.^[11]

Arlecchino would later request a meeting with Furina regarding the prophecy, and she asked Neuvillette to accompany her to the talks. Neuvillette initially refused believing it would make matters worse, but relented when Furina insisted on doing so. During the meeting, Arlecchino asked Neuvillette to transfer Tartaglia to him, but he declined, stating that the Fortress of Meropide was outside of his jurisdiction. However, he proposed an alternative, using the Traveler as a medium to do so on her behalf, which they accepted. In order to send the Traveler there, he had them eat a slice of Fruity Trio. When they left, he then charged them with the crime of eating cake meant for the Archon.^[12]

After discovering Tartaglia was missing and being released by Wriothesley, the Traveler and Paimon were making their way back to the Opera Epiclese when they ran into Neuvillette. Having been informed of the situation by him and Clorinde, Neuvillette was about to go to the prison when Arlecchino requested another meeting with Furina. Fearing that she would break down, he asked the Traveler to quickly help Furina handle negotiations as he descended into the prison. When he arrived at the lower levels, the gates blocking the Primordial Sea collapsed, but Neuvillette was able to use his powers to temporarily push back the waters and restore the mechanisms. As he made his way back, he saw Arlecchino leave and asked the Traveler about the meeting. Noticing the sky suddenly rain, the Traveler realized that Neuvillette was actually the Hydro Sovereign, which he confirmed, but asked the Traveler to keep it a secret.^[13]

Shortly after these events, Neuvillette learned that another Melusine, Kiara, was being threatened by an unknown party. Refusing to let the Carole situation occur again, Neuvillette personally investigated the case when the Traveler and Paimon paid him a visit. Learning what was going on, they offered to help him, which he accepted. With the help of their friends, they confronted the perpetrator, Domenico, who admitted to making a ruse in order to get revenge on him. As he was taken away, Neuvillette explained that he did not want a repeat of the trauma he had back then, but Wriothesley explained to him that the Fontainians of today were different than those of the past. As he returned to his office, he thanked the Traveler and Paimon for their assistance.^[14]

While exploring some ancient ruins on Arlecchino's behalf, the walkway Navia was on collapsed and resulted in her plunging into the Primordial Water. Before this happened, Melus and Silver, in their original Oceanid forms, saved her at the last moment. During this time, she was in a coma and found herself in the Opera Epiclese, where she found herself on trial by the collective of Poisson victims who tried to absorb her. Neuvillette appeared and threw the case out, and as she returned to her senses, he explained what happened to her and why he had come. They ventured to the end of the ruins, finding several stone slates on the wall regarding the prophecy. Seeing the tablets, Neuvillette decided to confront Furina over her inaction.^[15]

During the confrontation, Neuvillette demanded to know what Furina would do, though the Archon continued to dodge his questions and stormed out of the room as the Traveler arrived. Seeing no other choice, Neuvillette agreed to put Furina on trial. With their friends and acquaintances, the Traveler managed to lure Furina onto trial. During the trial, the Traveler successfully argued that Furina was a fraud, and Neuvillette delivered a guilty verdict while also stating that per the Oratrice, the Hydro Archon would also be sentenced to death. This confused the whole crowd, since the trial already confirmed that Furina was not an Archon. Freminet then arrived with the missing tablet, and with it, Neuvillette discerned that they had been following the prophecy all along. Suddenly, the courtroom began to shake and a massive narwhal emerged from the rift to consume Fontainians. Neuvillette worked with Tartaglia to temporarily repel the beast, though because it had control over the Primordial Sea, he would not be able to handle its return. As the Traveler recalled N's words, they reached out to Furina, causing them and Neuvillette to be sent to different areas.^[16]

Neuvillette then met with the true Archon, Focalors, who explained her plan to outwit the Heavenly Principles which would involve her death and the shattering of her throne. As Focalors committed suicide, the Hydro Authority was transferred back to Neuvillette. In anguish over her demise and seeing humanity positively, Neuvillette proceeded to absolve the Fontainians of primordial sin, meaning that the prophecy would have no effect on them. With his power restored, Neuvillette then had the Traveler accompany them into the Primordial Sea to handle the narwhal. They were able to defeat it after a long battle.^[8]

While the Traveler is out checking on the people of Fontaine in the aftermath of the flood, Neuvillette uses the time to speak with Skirk, who was impressed by their strength as they did not rely on the Abyss to defeat the narwhal. Seeing the Gnosis in his hands, Skirk urges him to get rid of it as soon as possible, which he did by giving the Gnosis to Arlecchino for her contributions. Furina also abdicated her position and roles to him, meaning that he now had to run an entire nation rather than the courtroom, though he would help take care of any needs she had. When the Traveler returned from their checkups, Neuvillette explained that the Gnoses were made from the remains of the third Descender. The Traveler in turn told them that they were the fourth, leaving him intriguied. He then told them that their next destination was Natlan, informing them that another Harbinger, Capitano, was active there and urged them to be fully prepared before they went there.^[17]

Out of respect for humanity's growth, Neuvillette would retain the Archons' tradition of passing down Visions to those who proved themselves.^[18]

Following Furina's abdication, she ended up being roped into helping a struggling troupe complete their last play in memory of their director, Aurelie, who died during the missing persons case. In order to find a suitable stage for their play, Furina decided to ask Neuvillette if she could loan the Opera Epiclese, which he agreed to. He then asked if she would be willing to return to the stage, though Furina believed her days as an actress were over.^[19]

Having some unexpected time off, Neuvillette decided to visit Liyue during Lantern Rite. At Yilong Wharf, he sampled some of the water, bought ten boxes of tea from Fengtai's shop and engaged in pottery, creating a soup ladle. Since he had duties to fulfill back in Fontaine, Neuvillette returned to Fontaine on the same day, taking back some souvenirs for Furina, Navia and Clorinde. He did not run into Zhongli, who was also in the area, though it is implied that Zhongli avoided him on purpose, and the Sovereign would've known his true identity as Morax if they had met. Furina later asked the Traveler to tell him that he needed to relax more, and approve his own leave if he insists on following protocol. The Traveler later encountered Neuvillette at the Erinnyes entrance to the Fortress of Meropide and asked about the gifts he was tasked to deliver, which Neuvillette confirmed had been done. He recalled meeting with Wriothesley at the entrance, where Neuvillette gifted him some tea boxes and a stone legal codex as part of a joke they had spoken about with Clorinde after sealing the sluice gate. Neuvillette agreed to consider Furina's advice, though he was worried about taking too much time off.^[20]

Arlecchino later returned to Fontaine to speak with Neuvillette. She proposed a deal to him; she would withdraw her forces from the nation and would not get involved in any events in the nation unless absolutely necessary in return for the Gardes ignoring former operatives who had left the organization. Neuvillette asked if she actually meant it, as he did not want a similar case like Tartuffe to come across his desk again, which she did. He agreed to her deal.^[21]

Neuvillette was in his office with Wriothesley talking about a smuggling case when a strange flying creature burst into his chambers in a panic. Due to his draconic heritage, Neuvillette partially understood Cacucu's speech, as he could understand what he was saying but not their meaning. As the Traveler and Kinich arrived and spoke about the case, Wriothesley asked if it was fine for Cacucu to listen in. Neuvillette told him that Cacucu would keep it a secret, though the Saurian would have to sign a confidentiality agreement. During the investigation, Neuvillette decided that Cacucu would not be classified as a flying object, allowing the Saurian to go wherever he pleased. The case was solved with the help of the Traveler and the Natlanese visitors.^[22]

The Melusines of Merusea Village would later band together to craft a new outfit for Neuvillette and went to the Palais Mermonia to gift it to him. Since many of these Melusines did not have much human interaction, they tried to cover up the reason of their visit rather awkwardly, requiring the Traveler to intervene. They then arrived at his office and presented the outfit to him, which they had taken inspiration from his previous visit to Liyue. Learning that a mystery vishap had saved them, Neuvillette appeared to recognize them and accompanied the group back to Elynas, where he sensed the mystery vishap observing them. Telling it that it could come out, the vishap is revealed to be Pahsiv, who had met Neuvillette in the past. The Melusines prepared a meal for Pahsiv before she left, while Neuvillette explained to them that Pahsiv considered Fontaine her new home. He then told the Traveler that being born in a human form forced him to learn about humanity and decided to plan another vacation, promising to give the Melusines a gift for their efforts in procuring his new outfit.^[23]

Neuvillette took some time off and visited Yilong Wharf for Lantern Rite in his new outfit. As he'd promised, he bought custom waterproofed Xiao Lantern supplies from Fengtai's shop, who remembered him from the previous year. Fengtai asked about Neuvillette's last purchase of tea from him and offered fresh, discounted Chenyu Adeptea, but the Traveler and Paimon came across them and reminded Neuvillette that he still hadn't finished the tea from last year. He explained his gift for the Melusines and that he was considering hanging Xiao Lanterns not just around the Palais Mermonia, but all over the city and the Fortress of Meropide.

It was then that Wriothesley and Sigewinne joined the conversation, the warden suggesting that giving those incarcerated floating 'wishing lanterns' wouldn't be a good idea, with the head nurse adding that she'd already sent off lanterns with good wishes on the inmates' behalf. The group wishes each other a good holiday, and Wriothesley offers to pay for a meal together if Paimon picks the venue. Wriothesley also compliments Neuvillette's outfit, in which Sigewinne can recognize both Flo's handiwork and Laume's contributions. Neuvillette relates how the Melusines gifted it to him; Wriothesley supposes that gifting Xiao Lanterns would likely set off another flurry of gifting in return, and jokes that if the Iudex's office gets overwhelmed, he can send some to the Fortress for Sigewinne to take care of. Wriothesley then suggests they find an eatery for their group meal and enjoy the atmosphere of Liyue, which is so different from Fontaine.

Trivia

• Excluding the Traveler and Dainsleif, Neuvillette is the first playable character who was introduced without any known or apparent source for their elemental powers; all other characters have a Vision (or ostensibly have one), or, for the Archons, their former Gnosis.
  • His powers derive from his status as one of the reborn Seven Sovereigns.
• Before completing the Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act IV - Cataclysm's Quickening, Neuvillette's Profile section lists the source of his Hydro powers and constellation as "???" After completing it, the power source and constellation are revealed to be "Ancient Dragon's Authority" and "Leviathan Judicator," respectively.
  • It's strongly insinuated that Wriothesley knows he's the Hydro Dragon.^[24]
  • The Eleven Fatui Harbingers are aware he is the Hydro Dragon.^[25]
• Neuvillette is the first playable character who has an idle animation that causes an Element (in his case, Hydro) to be applied to himself.
• The light source and shading of Neuvillette's Wish Art differs from that of his Card.
• According to Furina, Neuvillette is several thousand years old.^{[26][Note 1]}
  • Neuvillette became the Iudex of Fontaine over four hundred years ago.^[27]
• He considers the Melusines and the Bathysmal Vishap Pahsiv as his dependants.^[28]
• Neuvillette is one of the few currently playable characters who acknowledges that the Traveler is from another world, presumably because of his status as one of the Seven Sovereigns, their shared experiences of being outsiders to Fontaine, and his knowledge of the Traveler as the fourth Descender.^[29][30]
• The title of Neuvillette's Character Introduction, "He who looks down on all that are haughty," is likely a reference to the verse Job 41:34 in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, which speaks about the Leviathan.^[31]
• Neuvillette is known by these aliases or titles:
  • Chief Justice of Fontaine
  • Hydro Dragon Sovereign
  • Connoisseur of Teyvat's Natural Waters (Self-Proclaimed)^[32]
  • New Valet (by Pahsiv)^[33]
• Neuvillette was first mentioned through his comment in Nahida's official introduction.
• Neuvillette is the first and only playable character so far to be known just by their surname.

Etymology

• The French word and name Neuvillette can be deconstructed into three parts: neu-, derived from neuf or neuve, which means "new"; -ville-, which means "city" or "town"; and -ette, a suffix used with grammatically feminine words to indicate diminution or endearment.
  • When used as a surname, Neuville is historically often paired with the nobiliary particle de placed between the first name and surname, indicating a family's city of origin or dominion.
• The name Neuvillette may be a reference to Christian de Neuvillette, the deuteragonist of Cyrano de Bergerac, who himself is loosely based on the real-life Christophe de Champagne, baron de Neuvillette. In the play, Christian is a fair-faced man but lacks eloquence and wit; with the help of the play's main character, Cyrano, he wins the heart of Cyrano's distant cousin Roxane, but later dies during the Siege of Arras. Nothing is known about the real-life Christophe besides his death during the Siege of Arras and his marriage to Madeleine Robineau, Baronne de Neuvillette.
• There are three French villages named Neuvillette. One of those villages is located in the French region that is closest to Great Britain, a region directly connected to Britain via an underwater railway tunnel, the Channel Tunnel.

Notes

References

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