Lianja is the supreme hero of the Mongo and gives his name to the national epic Nsong'a Lianja. Conceived after the murder of his father Itonde-Ilele by the rival Sau-Sau, he speaks already from the womb and emerges fully grown and armed from the shin of his mother Mbombe, together with his twin sister Nsongo. He avenges his father and then leads his people on a long migration through the forest, overcoming monsters and rivals and gathering to himself followers possessed of crafts such as fishing, weaving and brewing. Though a warrior, the epic frames his ultimate destiny, shared with Nsongo, as the bringing of peace and the binding together of the scattered peoples; his many regional name-forms, Lianza, Libanza and Jibanza, attest the wide diffusion of his story across the Congo basin.