Dang Tuanku is the young king of Pagaruyung in the Kaba Cindua Mato, only son of the queen Bundo Kanduang. Refined, contemplative and pious, he is drawn as the spiritual pole of the epic, set against the earthly resourcefulness of his foster-brother and retainer Cindua Mato. He is betrothed to the princess Puti Bungsu, and the drive of the narrative is the winning of that bride against the claim of the rival prince Imbang Jayo. At the epic's end Dang Tuanku departs the visible world together with his mother; recensions vary on whether this is a death, a voyage to the land of Rum, or a bodily ascent, and some tellings endow him with frankly miraculous powers along the way.