The Bastard Empire was a short-lived successor state to the Jexisian Empire after its fall. It was ruled by Jaher's disowned son and Jexis' older half-brother, Elizar the Blooded, who claimed he was the natural successor to the Phoenix Empire, regardless of his disinheritance from the line of succession following his disastrous Thidinkai Campaign. Contrary to modern popular belief regarding the name "Bastard Empire," it in actuality is derived from the belief that the empire was a "bastard" or "bastardization" of the Phoenix Empire, as most contemporary historians, scholars, and chroniclers agree the Phoenix Empire, and subsequent Jexisian Empire, definitively ended with the death of Empress Jexis in 1162.