Defender of Nibiru

The Defender of Nibiru was a title claimed by Rushymian leader Ferengool in June 1997 after he announced that he had been contacted by Vapourist spirits, and announced that they had ordered him to rebuild an ancient Atlantean colony, Atkantia.

The reasoning for the title is unclear, as "Nibiru" is the name of a fictional planet. Ferengool may have been familiar with various "ancient astronaut" theories which claim that extraterrestrials interacted with civilisations on Earth; if Ferengool believed that Atlantis and/or the colony of Atkantia Minor was founded by extraterrestrials from Nibiru, this may explain his choice of title, which he claimed had been given to him by the spirit of its former holder, an ancient Atlantean.

Ferengool, despite his title Warlord of the Playground, had not held any effective authority over Rushymia since September 1996, when he had appointed his second-in-command, Billy, to the rank of General. When Ferengool came out of what was effectively retirement and demanded that the army build a city, they deposed him from his nominal authority and Billy took power as unchallenged supreme ruler.

Although Ferengool was permitted to retain his title of Defender, Billy started to persecute Vapourism. Ferengool offered to crown Billy a King if he stopped the persecution, and Billy agreed. In September 1997, Ferengool crowned Billy the King of Rushymia, after which Billy immediately ordered that Ferengool be arrested. Billy claimed that after being crowned by Ferengool, all of his Vapourist powers and titles (including that of Defender) had passed to him - he stayed true to his promise and stopped the persecution of Vapourism, because it now gave him an excuse to claim a version of the divine right of kings.

In December 1997, Billy was overthrown by Captain Alex of the Footballers, who became the next King. Alex assumed the title of Defender along with Billy's other titles when he took the throne, and held it during his reign.

In July 2000, King Alex had to abdicate as he was leaving the school. This resulted in an interregnum (see King of Rushymia), but Alex had decreed before he left the school that the next person to control more than half of the Playground could assume the empty title of Defender. This was Midget Master Jonathan, who in June 2005 conquered the Patioed Pathway, expanding the Midget Empire to cover more than half of the Playground.

In light of this, the Midget Master resurrected and assumed the title Defender of Nibiru. On 4 January 2011 (by which time Midget Master Jonathan had become Heir to the Throne of Austenasia), the title was united with the position of Austenasian Heir to the Throne, and so passed to Crown Princess Caroline of Austenasia when she became Heir in January 2013. In an Imperial Decree passed on 17 March 2016, the now Emperor Jonathan I specified that the possession of the title implied no support for or belief in Vapourism by the Austenasian Imperial Family, but served rather as a sign of the Empire being a successor of sorts to Rushymia; despite this, the title was dissolved by Jonathan I in October 2017, stating that retaining the title was nevertheless "inappropriate for a Christian imperial family".

List of Defenders

Name	Defender from	Defender to	Notes
Arkshun	?	June 1997?	Mythological
Ferengool	June 1997	September 1997
Billy of Rushymia	September 1997	December 1997
Alex of Rushymia	December 1997	July 2000
Vacant	July 2000	June 2005	Title could only be held by the next person to control "most of the Playground".
HIH Crown Prince Jonathan	June 2005	20 January 2013	Resurrected title after conquering the Patioed Pathway, therefore putting more than half of the Playground under the Midget Empire. United with the position of Heir to the Austenasian Throne on 4 January 2011.
HIH Crown Princess Caroline	20 January 2013	31 October 2017	Became Defender due to becoming Heir to the Throne upon her brother Jonathan's ascension to the Throne. The title was dissolved in October 2017 due to being considered inappropriate for the Christian House of Austen on religious grounds.