Nino

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Nino Artwork of Nino from Blazing Sword. One of the Black Fang. True and innocent.

Gender Female Race Human Age 14 Family Sonia (adoptive mother) Brendan (adoptive father) Lloyd (adoptive brother) Linus (adoptive brother) Canas (possible uncle) Lugh (son) Lleu (son) Hugh (possible cousin) Juge (father) Iris (mother) Kai (older brother) Nationality Lycian Starting class Mage Appearance(s) Blazing Sword

“	I loved the Black Fang. Nergal and Sonia have ruined it, but... The Black Fang that my father and brothers made... Everyone was so kind, I thought of them as my family...	”	— Nino talking to Jan about the Black Fang.

Nino (ニノ) is a fourteen-year old girl from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. She was kidnapped by Sonia from her true family as a child and brought under the Black Fang. Though she comes late in the game at a low level, she has high growth rates, causing her to fit into the Est archetype.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

Role

Pre-game

Nino was born in Lycia to a family of famed and powerful mages, consisting of her father Juge, her mother Iris, and her brother Kai. They lived peacefully until, while Nino was still just an infant, Sonia held her and Kai hostage to get their parents to reveal all the secrets they know about dragonkin. Juge and Iris gave Sonia the information she wanted, but she killed them anyways, along with Kai, whom she held hostage. However, before she could finish Nino off, Nergal stopped her, believing that she could be of some use owing to her lineage. Although Sonia was strongly reluctant to follow his orders, Nino was adopted by Sonia as her foster daughter, and was taken into the Black Fang.

Over the years, Nino had attempted to earn Sonia's warmth and love, but she was always neglected and spited by her, unsure of why her supposed mother was unable to reciprocate any feelings back to her; at the age of 14, Nino was still completely illiterate, only able to use anima magic by repeating chants she heard from Sonia. Nino's life became slightly better one year prior to the start of the game; upon gaining access to the Black Fang, Nino grew very close to her foster father Brendan, the founder of the group, and his sons Lloyd, the White Wolf, and Linus, the Mad Dog. She also developed a close relationship with Jan and Legault, both of whom she regarded to as her uncles. Despite being considered a member of the Black Fang, however, Nino received no assignments; Sonia refused to allow the girl the opportunity to be useful, and Brendan did not want to see his adopted daughter in danger.

In-game

Nino makes her first appearance in Chapter 23/24: Four-Fanged Offense. At the start of the chapter, Nino is seen conversing with her two supposed older brothers, Lloyd and Linus, talking about her current "mission". Upon leaving the two to meet with Jaffar, the two remark how Nino is a kind lass, unlike her supposed mother Sonia.

As the battle gets underway, Nino remains inside a house in the area to wait for Jaffar, as to renew his assassination contract. While everything initially goes to plan, Nino finds that he is horribly injured and covered in blood, and she treats his wounds after he passes out, going in direct violation of Sonia's newly-introduced Fang's Judgement of getting rid of those who cannot positively help the organisation. If the player sends a unit to visit that house, she will prompt him or her to leave, along with denying that she is a member of the Black Fang.

Later on, just before the lords steal back the Fire Emblem from the Black Fang, Sonia gives Nino her first official mission as a Black Fang agent. Her mission is to kill Prince Zephiel, and she is to be accompanied by Jaffar, whom she had saved earlier. However, her step-father Brendan and Jaffar push against this plan, believing that it would be far too much for her to handle. Regardless, Sonia sends Nino and Jaffar to Prince Zephiel's headquarters, while also promising an eager Nino that she will go as far as to finally reciprocate some love to her as her daughter; Sonia, however, also orders Jaffar to kill and use her as a scapegoat after assassinating Zephiel to avoid chaos in Bern just after Nino leaves the area.

When Nino and Jaffar arrive, they hear Zephiel in his room, praying for his father's acceptance, and for his family to finally get along after the turmoil over the coronation of Bern. Jaffar then breaks into the room, knocks Zephiel out, and then prompts Nino to finish him off. However, Nino refuses, saying that Zephiel is much like her; all he wants is his father's love and affection, just like how Nino wishes those of her "mother's." Knowing the consequences of failure in accordance with Black Fang law, she tells Jaffar that he can go ahead and kill her, as she claims she is ready to die. Instead, Jaffar spares the prince and Nino, and Nino follows Jaffar to escape the castle, until they are stopped by Ursula, the Blue Crow, who plans on killing her, Jaffar, and the prince altogether. Ursula also reveals Sonia's plans on killing Nino, which unpleasantly shocks her. As soon as Eliwood, Lyn, Hector, and their other comrades arrive, Nino is left by Jaffar towards the exit of the castle, and then runs back to kill off the Black Fang members, telling Nino to flee; the mage, however, refuses to leave until Jaffar does as well. In the ensuing battle, Nino engages with a monk in the castle's right wing; if either of the three lords talk to her, they will tell her all about Nergal's schemes in manipulating the Black Fang, and despite finding their story hard to believe, she chooses to join them. After this, Nino eventually finds Jaffar and talks to him, stating that she wants him to leave the battle with her, and that if he doesn't leave, she won't leave either; despite this, he refuses to leave until the lights are turned back on in the manor, after which all of the fighting has ceased.

Only a few hours after the battle ends, Nino elects to temporarily visit the mountain headquarters of the Black Fang to find the truth about her supposed last mission; initially going alone, she is pursued by Jaffar, who is aware that her mission might end up killing her. Upon arriving, Jan, who had just witnessed Brendan's death in the hands of Sonia, tells Nino to leave and get to safety, but Sonia intervenes, and he retreats in fear. Afterwards, Sonia scornfully tells Nino the truth of how she killed her real family, and how she always despised her, which devastates Nino. Before Sonia could attack Nino and Jaffar, the three lords arrive to assist them, and a battle ensues; if Nino fights against Sonia, the latter will continue taunt and insult Nino, claiming that her parents's naïvety made her sick.

After the battle and the death of Sonia, Nino meets up with her supposed uncle Jan, who gives her a pendant which contains a picture of her real family. He states that Brendan, who did not trust Sonia the whole time, met with one of her family's housekeepers, who apparently wept with joy upon hearing of Nino's safety, and she gave him the pendant. She plans on cherishing it, and then says her farewells to Jan, believing that she will see him again someday.

In the morning following this, the lords's group finds themselves ensued in a large battle against Black Fang members, who are either led by Lloyd or Linus, Nino's step-brothers. They are both out to seek revenge against the ones who had killed the other, but Nino, upon finding out that the army of Black Fang members is led by one of her beloved step-brothers, plans on meeting up with them to make amends. However, this is unsuccessful in both of Lloyd's and Linus' cases. If Linus was defeated earlier, Nino can talk to Lloyd, and she will try to persuade him to stop fighting, saying that Eliwood is not a bad person at all. However, Lloyd claims that they were his brother's enemies, and that is why he plans on avenging him. He then says that Nino must live for the future, revealing that even in this situation, Lloyd never stopped caring for her. While Lloyd will attack all other members of the player's army, including his former comrade Legault, he will not attack Nino. On the other hand, Nino's meeting with Linus turns out worse; Nino will also beg him to reconsider his attack, but in response, Linus angrily states that he will kill anyone who aids the group who had "killed" Lloyd, and this includes Nino. After the battle is over, a devastated Nino is shown mourning over the death of her brothers, with Jaffar standing next to her.

During the final battle, Nergal summons morphs that resemble Brendan, Lloyd, Linus, Uhai, Ursula, Darin, Jerme, and Kenneth. If Nino fights Brendan's, Lloyd's, or Linus' morphs, she will be saddened by the fact that their deaths would have to be revisited. Upon coming face to face with the man who ordered the death of her family and had caused the end of the Black Fang, she shows a display of rage against Nergal, swearing that she will avenge them all in the battle.

Post-game

Upon the destruction of Nergal and his plans, Nino ordinarily is invited to live in a small village in Pherae from Eliwood; her ending also outlines her intentions to visit "a certain cemetery". Similar events occur if she gets a paired ending with either Erk or Jaffar; both endings, however, end in tragedy. In the former, Nino abandons her family to protect them after bounty hunters try to seek her out; in the latter, Nino disappears after she tries to find Jaffar after he flees bounty hunters as well.

In all three endings, however, she gives birth to twins, Lugh and Raigh. Both are magic users, and the former twin also inherits his mother's anima magic skills, as well as her upbeat personality. Nino herself is absent in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade; as stated in a support conversation between Miledy and Lugh, she is deceased at the start of the game , though the specifics of her death are not mentioned.

Endings

Nino, Pious Mage
At Eliwood's invitation, she started a quiet life in a small village in Pherae. She plans to return to Bern to visit a certain cemetery.

Jaffar, the Angel of Death, and Nino, Pious Mage
They were married after the conflict and were gifted with twin boys. Their time in Pherae was happy until bounty hunters came for Jaffar. To protect his family, he disappeared. Nino vanished in search of him.

Erk, Studious Mage, and Nino, Pious Mage
They were married after the conflict and were gifted with twin boys. Their time in Pherae was happy until bounty hunters came for Nino. To protect her family, she disappeared. Erk vanished looking for her.

Starting stats and growth rates

Mage Level 5 Affinity

Recruitment: Speak to her with either the main lord or Lyn in Chapter 26/28: Battle Before Dawn. Stats Growth Rates Max HP 19 Luck 10 Magic 7 Defense 4 Skill 8 Resistance 7 Speed 11 Constitution 3 Movement 5 Aid 2 Max HP 55% Luck 45% Magic 50% Defense 15% Skill 55% Resistance 50% Speed 60% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Elfire Elixir Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- C -- -- --

Promotion stat gains

Class	HP	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Con	Mov	Weapon level
Sage	+3	+1	+1	+0	+0	+3	+3	+1	+1	D, +31

Analysis

Nino falls into the Est archetype. With only a few more chapters to go, as well as the player having an army consisting almost entirely of promoted or near-promoted units, Nino initially comes grossly underpowered as a level 5 mage; despite this low starting level and availability, Nino's growths are among the highest in the game, and as such, she will likely end up as one of the player's most powerful units in the end of the game. In particular, Nino is almost guaranteed to max most of her stats except for HP and defence as a level 20 sage, owing to most of her growths begin at fifty or higher. For some players, Nino is also a common pick for the Afa's Drops, as giving them to her makes all of her growths, except for defence, to either be at or above 50%. Adding to her high magic growth and ability to use staves on promotion, Nino can also act as an effective healer even with just the Heal staff.

Despite high potential, Nino is not flawless. Owing to her late availability, Nino requires considerable effort to raise, due to her inability to defeat most enemies on her own; this is especially a problem in the hard difficulties, due to an abundance of flying enemies that can bypass most units and attack Nino directly. In addition, Nino has the dubious distinction of having the lowest constitution in the game; she starts with 3 in the stat as a mage, and this only increases to 4 upon promotion. As such, even the basic Fire tome reduces her attack speed, and, notably, wielding Excalibur as a sage reduces her skill and speed by 9. While Nino has a high chance of capping speed, it is still recommended she be given a Body Ring as to reduce these significant reductions to her speed.

Comparison with Erk

Compared to Erk, Nino has superior growth rates in all stats except for HP and defence; in addition, their base stats are average for their starting level, though Erk's higher constitution of 6 prevents him from taking as much of a speed and skill deduction when wielding heavier tomes. Ultimately, the decision to use Erk or Nino comes down to whether or not he player is willing to wait to use Nino or not; while it is quite feasible to play through the entire game without using Erk, it limits the player's potential variety due to a lack of other anima magic users, except for potentially Priscilla. While Erk and Nino can also both support with each other, they lack any other common support partners, thus preventing them from forming a support triangle; in addition, there exists the question of whether or not it is advisable to have two anima magic users, owing to the presence of only five Guiding Rings in Blazing Sword.

Comparison with Pent

Owing to being a prepromote, Pent will have trouble matching Nino when she promotes; unlike Erk, who has the possibility of becoming inferior to Pent, Nino has no risk of being worse than Pent due to her high growths. While the decision may overwhelmingly favour Nino, Pent is not completely worthless compared to her; unless the player makes a strong effort to do so, Nino is unlikely to reach an A rank in staves, and owing to Pent's higher constitution of 8, he takes a considerably smaller infraction to his speed and skill than Nino.

Personality and character

Nino, despite being neglected and hated by her foster mother on several occasions, has retained a sense of loving optimism and deep caring to those in need; in the former case, she speaks with her two foster brothers about how she hopes that she will do a good job in her next mission, with the two later remarking on this personality trait. During this same mission, instead of finishing off Jaffar as required by the Fang's Judgement, Nino instead elects to nurse the assassin back to good health; while she is reprimanded by her patient, she refuses to go back on her decision and continues to nurse him back to health. In addition, upon meeting the shaman Canas, she expresses great joy upon being told that he will teach her how to read, and after learning to do so, she tells him to quickly return home after their travels are over so then he can spend more time with his infant son. Nino continues her optimism with Merlinus; while initially called a "an imp with the face of an angel", Nino continues to stay with Merlinus in hopes of him warming up to her, which eventually does happen, to the point of Merlinus willingly taking the role as a replacement for Nino's own Uncle Jan.

Nino, however, is also very emotional with other characters in the player's army, especially on the subject of her foster family and herself. When speaking with Florina about her two foster brothers, Nino is reduced to tears when she believes the two will hate her because of how they ended up on opposite sides of the battlefield, despite Florina's best wishes. . Nino also shows this emotional side to fellow mage Erk; when told she has incredible talent at anima magic due to her inability to read, Nino bursts into tears, with the claim that no one has previously praised her in such a way. In the game's last moments, Nino also cries when fighting against some of the morphs of her family; this sadness, however, turns into rage when she fights against Nergal.

Supports

Main article: Nino/Supports

Nino Mage Jaffar Assassin Initial: 10 Per turn:+2 Florina Pegasus Knight Initial: 0 Per turn:+2 Canas Shaman Initial: 0 Per turn:+3 Merlinus Transporter Initial: 0 Per turn:+2 [[{{{support9}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin9}}}affin.png|link={{{affin9}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints9}}} Per turn:+ Erk Mage Initial: 0 Per turn:+3 Legault Thief Initial: 0 Per turn:+2 Rebecca Archer Initial: 0 Per turn:+2 [[{{{support8}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin8}}}affin.png|link={{{affin8}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints8}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support10}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin10}}}affin.png|link={{{affin10}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints10}}} Per turn:+

See Support § GBA games for more details on supports.

Quotes

Death quote

In-battle conversation

Nino: Am I...Am I going to die?
Lyn: Nino!

Post-battle conversation

Lyn: Nino! You're conscious! That's a relief.
Nino: Oooh...Yes...I...Ouch!
Lyn: Don't move. You'll only make it worse. You need to make sure you let that heal. Do you understand?
Nino: I'm truly sorry... I've been useless.
Lyn: I never want to hear you say that again. Nino, you are in no way useless. You are very important to us all, do you understand?

Final Chapter: Light quote

“	... Father... Brothers... For all that I've lost... I won't let him get away!	”	— Nino

Battle History quotes

“	Wow! Terrific! The best score!	”	— Nino, with S or A rank

“	Good marks, aren't they? Yes, indeed.	”	— Nino, with B or C rank

“	I'm holding you back, aren't I?	”	— Nino, with D or E rank

Tactician quotes

“	Mark! Let me go! I can talk to my brother! I know it might not work, but...	”	— Nino in Chapter 27/29: Cog of Destiny, Eliwood's story

Battle quotes

Against Ursula in Battle Before Dawn

Ursula: Why won't you die as Lady Sonia wishes? You, born of garbage. This was your one chance to be useful.
Nino: My mother...she would not say such things. I...don't believe it. I don't believe anything you have to say!
Ursula: Stupid child...I'll see that you don't suffer at least.

Against Sonia in Night of Farewells

Nino: I thought for so long that you were my true mother...
Sonia: Ha ha ha! Your mother and father looked so much like you. They were so naive it made me want to vomit. I dressed in rags and entered their house with a child in my arms. They were sincerely concerned. Ha ha... Trusting a stranger is so utterly foolish. Oh, they came to regret their trust, but it was too late.
Nino: Aaahhh!!! You're no perfect being! You're a monster in human form! No mercy! No forgiveness!!!

Against Lloyd in Cog of Destiny

Nino: Lloyd!
Lloyd: Nino...
Nino: Listen to me, please. This is all a mistake...
Lloyd: Do not speak. We are enemies now... I can show you no mercy.
Nino: Lord Eliwood is not a bad man! You'll fight knowing that?
Lloyd: They were Linus's enemies... That is why I fight.
Nino: Lloyd, please...
Lloyd: Don't cry, Nino. You must live for the future. I am bound to this course. Kill me, and don't look back.
Nino: No! I don't want to! Lloyd!!!

Against Linus in Cog of Destiny

Nino: Linus! Stop!! Please listen to me!!
Linus: I will kill anyone who aids my brother's killers! Nino, that includes you!!!
Nino: No!! ...My...brother...

Against Morph of Lloyd in Final Chapter: Light

Lloyd: ...............
Nino: Ah...Lloyd... ...Sniff...oh...... Why does this have to happen again?

Against Morph of Linus in Final Chapter: Light

Linus: ............... Nino: Linus... I'll...see you again... I'm sure you're angry, but... Please be my friend...again...

Against Morph of Brendan in Final Chapter: Light

Brendan: ...............
Nino: Father... Fa-Father... I... I'll...end this......I'm sorry...

Against Nergal in Final Chapter: Light

Nino: ......
Nergal: Uhn? Who do you think you are?
Nino: You will pay! You stole my family from me, and you will pay, Nergal!!! I will avenge them all!
Nergal: Now, I see... You're Sonia's...

Etymology

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology, and notes
English	Nino	Corruption of "Nina", a word in Spanish and Hebrew meaning "little girl" or "grand daughter"; famously used in reference to Saint Nino, a priestess who introduced Christianity to Georgia in the 4th century.

Trivia

• As stated in their A support, it is possible that Canas is Nino's uncle by marriage; when showing a picture of her family to Canas, he notes how the name of Nino's mother, Iris, is identical to that of a sister of his wife. Furthermore, Canas has never met this sister, owing to her dying some time before the game starts. While Canas does note that Iris is "not an uncommon name", the two hold hope that they might be related.
• At the release of Blazing Sword, Nino's mage and sage sprites were both unique; instead of the long hair seen on Lilina's sprite, Nino's sprite instead had a bob cut to mimic her official art and mug. While Lute reused the short-haired sprite for her mage animations, her sage sprite reverted back to the long-haired sprite seen from Lilina.

Gallery

style="border: 1px solid #b0b0b0; widith: 50%; background: #232855; Template:Round" align="center" | Sprite Gallery
Mage Sage Anima Anima Staff

References

This article is part of Project Characters, a project focused on writing articles for every character present in the Fire Emblem series.