Nino

"Ah, hello! I’m Nino! Nice to meet you!"

- Nino

Nino (ニノ, Nino?) is a playable character in Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken and is approximately 14 years old, according to one of her supports with Canas.

History
Nino's family, her father Juge, her mother Iris, and her older brother Kai, were powerful mages, as well as having the potential to be one herself. They lived peacefully until they were suddenly visited by Sonia, one of Nergal's morphs, who, according to her, carried a lone child in her arms to be welcomed into their household. Later, they were interrogated and killed to gain their secrets about the dragons, though Nino was spared by Nergal who, thinking she could be of some use, made Sonia adopt the orphan mage as her newest daughter. Sonia reluctantly agreed.

However, Sonia has resented her daughter for as long as she has ever been her mother and Nino, finding it impossible to bond with the cold morph, instead made close sibling friends with step-siblings Lloyd, the White Wolf, and Linus, the Mad Dog. She also became close with her new stepfather, the leader of the Black Fang: Brendan Reed. She also became good friends with the Hurricane, Legault. In a support with the shaman Canas, it is revealed that Canas's wife is the sister of Iris, Nino's mother, making Canas Nino's uncle-by-marriage.

She makes her first appearance in Four Fanged Offense, where she stumbles upon a wounded Jaffar. She quickly nurses the assassin to health, as well as shielding him from Eliwood, Hector, and their companions.

She is later seen in Battle Before Dawn, where she, along with Jaffar, are to kill the budding Prince Zephiel. However, Sonia instructs Jaffar to kill Nino as well, her patience with the mage expired, but Jaffar, driven by his bond developed from Nino's caring love, instead protects Nino. Ursula, a valkyrie and part of the legendary Four Fangs, takes up the role of killing both targets, as well as the turncoat. Coincidentally enough, Eliwood, Hector, and the rest of their companions storm the castle and protect Zephiel, and Ursula either dies in the siege or is killed by the morph Limstella soon afterward. Ironically, though, Zephiel's death would have prevented the war years later.

During the battle, she is recruited by Eliwood, Hector, and their companions, and, depending on certain circumstances, they could visit Sonia in the Water Temple. Sonia kills Brendan and declares her undying hatred of her daughter and proclaims that she murdered Nino's parents and brother and in response, Nino, along with her new friends, kills the morph. Strangely, the battle conversation Nino has with Sonia is the exact same dialouge as the long cutscene that occurs before the battle begins, repeated, though it can be seen as Sonia reminding Nino of her origins in a cruel and sadistic way.

Nino travels along with her new companions for the rest of their journey, showing deep regret for having to kill her remaining stepbrother in Cog of Destiny, and showing the same regret for having to kill their morph forms, as well as her stepfather.

At the end of their journey, Nino settles down in Pherae or marries Erk or Jaffar (if she has an A-support with one of them).

Personality
Nino, despite being neglected by her foster mother on several occasions, has retained a sense of loving optimism and deep caring to all that are injured. She rarely receives compliments and treats them and those who give them with great respect, and, despite her anger toward Sonia, she is hesitant to kill her, as she is with her stepbrothers. She's also very sensitive, as seen from her A support with Jaffar, where she quickly overreacts.

It should be noted that Nino has an exceptional talent for magic. Despite being woefully under trained, Nino is clearly adept at the skill. What’s more, she was never formally trained; instead she learned by listening to Sonia chant incantations and memorized them.

One comedic irony about Nino is that, despite being an adept mage, Nino’s reading skills are extremely poor as she was never taught Letters.

In-Game
Nino fits the Est Archetype, the famous archetype of a unit that joins late but has insanely high growths. Nino, unfortunately, starts at a low level, but, when trained correctly, Nino can turn out to be one of your strongest units. Due to her high speed and luck, as well as a high resistance, she will have a high avoid and will be able to defeat most mages, though her low defense should always be taken into consideration.

Base Stats
|Mage |5 |19 |7 |3 |8 |11 |10 |4 |7 |5 |Anima Weapon Rank: Anima Magic: C Affinity:  Fire Starting Weapon: Elfire, Elixir

Growth Rates
HP: 55% Magic: 50% Skill: 55% Speed: 60% Luck: 45% Defense: 15% Resistance: 50%

Quotes
''Erk: I’m just surprised. You must be a natural genius... ...I have the deepest respect for you now...''

''Nino: ... ...''

''Erk: !? W-Why are you crying? Did... Did I say something terrible?''

''Nino: Unh-unh... You didn’t... It’s just... I’m so happy...that someone...finally...appreciates me...... Thank...you......''

Etymology
'Nino' is often used as a diminutive ending for masculine Italian names. More importantly, Saint Nino is famous for introducing Christianity to Georgia, a Transcaucasian country, in the 4th century.