Before the continents divided, when the world's waters flowed as one, the Primordial Taniwha emerged from the deepest oceanic trenches as the first guardian of the boundary between the mortal realm and the cryptid world. As lands separated and cultures diverged, this ancient water dragon established a vast network of mystic currents connecting all bodies of water, allowing it to manifest wherever water meets land and serving as the ancestral spirit from which many water-dwelling cryptids draw their power and form.

The Primordial Taniwha exists simultaneously in all the world's waterways, able to manifest partially or fully in any body of water from the smallest stream to the vastest ocean. Its shape-shifting abilities allow it to adopt characteristics of local water cryptids, though it always retains certain distinctive features: luminescent scales that reflect the colors of its surroundings, ancient runes etched into its hide that glow when other cryptids are near, and eyes that contain swirling vortexes resembling the cosmic void. The Taniwha can travel through water at impossible speeds, creating mysterious currents and whirlpools that serve as portals between different cryptid territories.

The Primordial Taniwha serves as both guardian and chronicler of the cryptid world, maintaining the ancient equilibrium between cryptid species while recording their histories in the flowing currents of the world's waters, which is why fragments of its vast knowledge occasionally wash ashore as cryptid artifacts that provide clues to hunters seeking to understand the interconnected nature of these mysterious beings.