Itonde is the wonder-child of Lonkundo and the sun-woman Ilankaka and the central hero of the middle of the epic. Born already grown, he leaves the womb by night to hunt; releasing a bird he has caught, he receives from it a bell called 'the world', which grants his every wish and yields wealth, weapons, weather, peace and war alike. His father renames him Ilele, and he succeeds to the leadership of the people. He wins Mbombe by being the first of her suitors to overcome her in wrestling. His death at the hands of the rival Sau-Sau, contrived by malevolent spirits, is the wrong that his posthumously conceived son Lianja is born to avenge.