Nephenee

"Queen Elincia, Crimea needs you more than anything, and I reckon you could use my help."

- Nephenee, prepared to help Elincia at Fort Alpea.

Nephenee (ネフェニー Nefenī) is a playable character from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. She is the oldest daughter of a large family, which includes triplet brothers and two sisters. In the course of both games, Nephenee has been forced to leave her family behind in order to protect her homeland of Crimea from external threats.

Path of Radiance
Nephenee first appears in Chapter 10 of this game, where she is, alongside Kieran and Brom, held captive in Canteus Castle. She is then rescued by Ike's army, whereupon she expresses her gratitude by joining his ranks.

Nephenee will then remain with Ike's troops until the game reaches its conclusion before returning to her hometown in the countryside.

Radiant Dawn
Nephenee returns in this game with Brom, where the two of them work to quell a local rebellion that is instigated by Ludveck's subordinates. She then pays a visit to the Royal Palace in Melior to alert Elincia to the rebel uprising taking place within Crimea.

Nephenee will later join the Laguz Alliance in Part 3 of the game, fighting alongside her old allies from Path of Radiance. When Ashera later casts her judgment upon Tellius, Nephenee is spared from the resultant petrification, and is a possible candidate to be brought into the Tower of Guidance.

After Ashera is defeated, Nephenee will return to her family in Melior, frequently participating in battles when the need arises.

Personality
Nephenee appears to be a simple country girl, and hails from a rural village Ohma in Crimea. She is observed to be ashamed of her upbringing, as she often keeps her silence in order to conceal her countryside accent. This has resulted in her suffering from low self-esteem issues, where she often puts herself down, lacking the confidence to speak amiably with other members of the armies she joins, save for fellow country dwellers like Brom and Heather. An example of this trait of hers may be observed in the support conversations she shares with Calill, where she expresses immense embarrassment at being told to remove her helmet, claiming that doing so will incite the reproachful stares of everyone else around her.

Recruitment

 * Chapter 11: Automatically from the start; This will only take place if two conditions are fulfilled: One, Nephenee's prison door in the previous chapter was unlocked, and two, she must have survived the chapter.

Growth Rates

 * 55%
 * 40%
 * 20%
 * 55%
 * 55%
 * 25%
 * 35%
 * 25%
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Support Conversations

 * Brom
 * Devdan
 * Calill

Promotion Gains
* Only if Lance Mastery Level is at D or lower.

Overall
Nephenee can develop into a very useful unit in this game. Joining fairly early as the only playable Soldier unit, she has solid growths in practically every stat, save for Luck. Nephenee may not be able to cap her Strength, but is still capable of impaling enemies in just one hit nonetheless. She stands a good chance of capping her Skill and Speed, as her class caps for both stats are rather low.

Availability
◎=Forced　○=Available　□=Available for selected
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Growth Rates

 * 45%
 * 35%
 * 15%
 * 70%
 * 65%
 * 40%
 * 35%
 * 45%
 * }

Promotional Gains
Promotion to Sentinel
 * HP: +4
 * Strength: +3
 * Magic: +4
 * Skill: +2
 * Speed: +2
 * Defense: +3
 * Resistance: +4
 * Con: +0
 * Move: +0

Overall
Nephenee is relatively easy to train in this game, owing to her high availability, starting from Part 2. She has the potential to grow into a powerful unit, with her average growths in Strength and Defense being offset by her excellent Skill and Speed growths. Nephenee has the potential to cap Skill, Speed and Resistance way before promotion, making her a good choice for spending Bonus Experience on.

SpotPass
*Enemy only; joins unequipped

Death Quotes
"The world... It grows... so...dark..."

- Nephenee's death quote in Path of Radiance.

"...It's darker than a prairie night... Why can't I...see...anything...?"

- Nephenee's death quote in Radiant Dawn.

Path of Radiance
"When I get back to the countryside, I'm gonna boast to all my family and friends that I fought under you."

Radiant Dawn
Nephenee lived with her family in Melior. Time and again she raised her lance in defense of the realm.
 * Relentless Halberdier (最強の村娘 Saikyō no mura musume, lit. The Strongest Country Girl)

Etymology
The origin of Nephenee's name is uncertain. It could derive from various South Slavic names like 'Nevena', which come from the word 'marigold'. In medieval Europe, poor Christian peasants offered marigolds to the Virgin Mary if they are unable to afford to offer more expensive gifts or tithes. This name could therefore be a reference to Nephenee possessing great virtue and valor, despite her humble socioeconomic background.

On the other hand, in Greek mythology, 'Nephele' was a nymph woman created by Zeus out of the clouds. He did so in order to trick a mortal named Ixion for lusting after his wife Hera, and therefore created Nephele in her likeness. Ixion then proceeded to rape Nephele instead of Hera, giving Zeus the excuse to banish him to the depths of the underworld. The children from Ixion and Nephele's union were the centaurs.

In the Odyssey, 'Nepenthe' is a mythical drug that is supposedly able to cure grief by causing the user to forget his or her troubles. This drug is also briefly mentioned in the fourteenth stanza of Edgar Allen Poe's hauntingly morose poem "The Raven". In this part of the poem, the persona is observed to plead with the holy Seraphim to relieve his tormented soul from the agonizing grief he has suffered from the death of his implied lover (Lenore), requesting to be given a "quaff" of nepenthe to forget her.