Spoiler warning: this essay will contain major spoilers for Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. Please read at your own discretion.
Introduction:
Ninian is a character in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (FE7). She appears as a mysterious travelling performer with her younger brother, Nils and serve as the game’s dancers. Both siblings are on the run from the Black Fang – a mysterious organisation led by Nergal, the main antagonist of the game.
In terms of appearance, Ninian has long pale blue hair, deep crimson eyes, and a long flowing dress that makes her resemble a fairytale princess. Her skin tone is pale and she has a look of fragility about her. She has a shy demeanour and is shown to speak slowly as she thinks deeply before she speaks, highlighting her thoughtful nature.
Ninian is one of the supporting characters in the game and plays a significant role in the main story. Her interactions with the main lords highlight this, as she and Nils are helped by the lords on several occasions, and subsequently agree to let the siblings travel with them on the way to defeat Nergal. Additionally, Ninian has a notable crush Eliwood, one of the game’s main lords, that is explored in the main story regardless of their support status.
Despite all of this, however, she and Nils remain outsiders from the rest of society for one major reason. Both Ninian and Nils are manaketes, dragons that take on human form. This is the reason why Nergal is after Ninian and Nils, as they have the power to open the Dragon’s Gate and let all the dragons loose on humanity, creating utter chaos as was seen a thousand years prior during the Scouring. Though this is not known to the common people of Elibe, the siblings are constantly shunned and are deemed as trouble by villagers and townspeople due to the Black Fang chasing after them.
FE7 has no shortage of wonderful characters with brilliantly-executed character arcs, Eliwood, Hector, Jaffar and Nino come to mind in particular, and showcase the brilliance of FE7’s character-building.
However, I have found there to be very little discourse on Ninian as a character, likely due to her character being fairly simple at face value: She is an ethereal maiden who is rescued after being chased by the villain, and falls in love with her rescuer. While this is definitely true, I believe that Ninian undergoes a lot of character development in the story which transforms her from her shy self with crippling self-doubt and guilt, to a lady with confidence who ends up saving the heroes towards the end of the game, both through her abilities, but also through her sheer desire to help them after all that has been done to help her and her brother.
This essay aims to show the different roles Ninian plays during the game, from the shy outsider to the one who saves them all and highlight the major points in the story that contribute to this transformation in character.
Ninian the outsider: how she is shunned from society.
Ninian and Nils are both physically and societally seen as outcasts in Elibe due to their unfortunate circumstances following their return to Elibe. Herself and Nils are being chased by Nergal and the Black Fang for the majority of the game and have been marked as trouble by the locals. This can be seen from the very beginning of their time in the game, when Ninian vanishes from the inn in Khathelet and the innkeeper kicks Nils out, calling them “a plague on decent people”. Nils asks Lyndis’s Legion for help and says how he and Ninian are used to being marked as troublemakers and villains due to them being on the run.
When Eliwood returns with Ninian, Nils is grateful after fretting about life without her and asks if they can stay with Lyn for the rest of her campaign. They show their usefulness as individuals who can sense foreboding danger, as well as revitalising their allies during battle. Ultimately, after Lyn’s campaign is finished, they return to their life as travelling performers who continue to be shunned by society. Sometime shortly after, they are captured again and taken to Valor, the Dread Isle. During the main story, Eliwood is searching for his father, Elbert and is told that he may be on the Dread Isle. He is given passage to Valor by a group of pirates.
When Ninian is next seen in the game, she is found unconscious, drifting in a small boat on the sea leading to the Dread Isle, by the heroes. They pull her aboard and discover she has amnesia. The pirates aboard the ship are shown to fear Ninian almost instantly upon her rescue.
“the men are afraid she, well , she might be cursed, you know?”
Fargus to Eliwood
This shows once again that she both looks and acts differently to the common folk in the eyes of society and highlights yet another instance of prejudice against her. I find this idea interesting, especially in conjunction with her ethereal appearance, and points to the idea that the pirates think she may be a siren, a deadly sea monster that takes on human form and seduces pirates with her singing.
What is important to note is how both siblings are hyper-aware of their differences from the others and are subsequently both shocked when they are taken in by Eliwood and Lyn, and treated as equals among their barracks. Both of these ideas initially prove to have a positive reaction, notably with Nils, however this treatment of equality creates a lot of guilt for Ninian, which I will be exploring in these next few sections.
Ninian the damsel: how she is saved, and the guilt that she feels afterwards.
Ninian’s character arc can be defined almost entirely by the guilt she feels throughout the game and largely dictate the actions she makes. This guilt is not attributed to one scoping event, rather it increases exponentially over the course of the game through the actions she has taken, both in the past and present.
Her initial guilt comes from her actions to return to Elibe, their homeland, out of a longing to return home, which Nergal feeds on to force them back. The siblings return to Elibe is largely what caused the trouble they are in as their ability to open the Dragon’s Gate is what is required for Nergal to release the dragons. This guilt is further added to when she is captured by the Black Fang and subsequently rescued by Eliwood. The guilt she feels here is both for not being stronger for her and Nils’s sake, and for roping both Lyn and Eliwood into their struggle. Though both lords assure Ninian that it was they who opted to get involved, not her dragging them into it, Ninian still blames herself.
In Ninian’s first few appearances, she is portrayed as a damsel-in-distress, as she is kidnapped, rescued from a wreckage, and then entranced by Nergal. All of which she is saved from by either Eliwood or Nils. These events also add to her guilt. Furthermore, when she is entranced she severely injures Elbert, the man who looked after them when they were trapped on Valor. By the time she joins as a playable unit, her guilt is unbearable and says to Eliwood that she is plagued with nightmares over her actions. It is this guilt that subsequently drives her to help them with her dancing, as she wants to make up for all the trouble she believes she has caused. Though this does initially help to ease her guilt, it is soon overshadowed by an unexpected development: her romantic feelings for Eliwood.
Ninian the love-interest: her relationship with Eliwood and their supports.
“You must not fall in love with him, you know? We… are different from them.“
Nils to Ninian.
This quote largely highlights the immense difficulty that Ninian feels as she wrestles with her feelings for Eliwood. Her supports with Eliwood show her struggle to deal with her feelings for him, as well as feeling guilty for her previous actions, while also being, as Nils pointed out, “different from them.” These elements can be seen as early as their C support when she laments that she did not give proper thanks to Eliwood upon being saved by the Black Fang.
Additionally, in the few chapters after she joins, Eliwood offers his help as he sees that she is struggling with the heat of the Nabata desert. Ninian initially hesitates, having not experienced such kindness from humans in a very long time. This results in the following dialogue:
Ninian: All of you treat my brother and me so… normally. Our powers… our looks… We’re different from… people…
Eliwood: Is that what’s been bothering you? What’s wrong with being a bit different from other people? When I look at you, I don’t see other people, I see Ninian. I see a normal, kindhearted girl.
This is one of the first instances where she begins to feel as though she belongs with them as an equal, not as a damsel-in-distress or a burden, on their group. It is an important moment in her character development and continues to develop during their B and A supports.
In their B support, Ninian is invited by Eliwood to a dance festival held in Pherae every year. Ninian is initially excited for this until her feelings regarding the death of Elbert resurface, as well as the guilt of what she views is her ‘deception’.
Eliwood: Ninian, remember what I told you? My father’s death was not your fault. You should not blame yourself, not at all.
Ninian: But, Lord Eliwood… y-you’re wrong. You don’t know everything that…
Eliwood: What?
Ninian: I… I have been deceiving you.
Eliwood: Deceiving? What do you mean?
Ninian: It is just… I-I’m sorry.
Eliwood: Ninian? Ninian, don’t cry. I don’t know what has happened, but I do know I never want to see you sad.
Her worries and guilt over who she is begin to overwhelm her, especially as she is falling in love with Eliwood, someone who she does not wish to lie to. These immense feelings come to head in their final support.
Ninian: Please, do not worry on my account. I… I am not worthy—I am not even worthy to stand in your sight, Lord Eliwood. I have been deceiving you.
Eliwood: Yes, as you were saying before. Ninian… You have been keeping some secret from us?
Ninian: Yes…
Eliwood: But…you can’t tell me what it is. Am I right?
Ninian: …Yes.
Eliwood: Very well.
Ninian: What…?
Eliwood: If it is too hard for you to talk about, I will not force you. Just… if you ever feel able, tell me then.
Ninian: But… I have been false… I have lied to you and the others.
Eliwood: Ninian, I love you. That will not change, no matter what may come.
Ninian: Lord Eliwood…
Eliwood: I don’t care what your secret is—I will still feel the same. If something troubles you, let me sweep it away. Please, don’t cry anymore. I would do anything to see you smile again.
Eliwood’s supports with Ninian are almost magical and serve to help Ninian feel as though she is worthy of appreciation and love, something she has lacked for much of her life. This is important going forward into her later actions in the game.
As Ninian is only available from Chapter 20E/21H to 27E/29H, there is only a small window of time to attain the other two supports with Eliwood before she is taken once again by the Black Fang for Nergal. This time, however, she escapes through her gaining the determination to return to the man she loves. This additionally results in her returning to her original form upon leaving. At this moment in the game, Eliwood has just attained the sacred weapon, Durandal, which has the power to slay dragons following the events of the Scouring. In a tragic twist of fate, Ninian appears in her dragon form, scaring all of Eliwood’s party. Before Eliwood can do anything, the Durandal cuts through Ninian’s body in one fell swoop. Nergal appears soon afterwards and tells Eliwood of the ironic tragedy he has just committed.
Using the remainder of her power, Ninian reverts back into her human form and tells Eliwood to protect everyone before dying in his arms. Truly a tragic fate has befallen them both, and Eliwood once again enters into mourning, alongside Nils who is also understandably heartbroken. However, this only spurs him on further to defeat Nergal, with the help of Nils, Hector and Lyn restoring his hope.
Ninian the heroine: her revival and saving of everyone’s lives.
After Nergal is defeated, he releases three fire dragons, assuring that his plan would succeed. Bramimond intervenes and uses the remainder of his quintessence to revive Ninian. With her renewed power, she is able to take down two of the three dragons and severely weakens the third enough for the heroes to defeat it. Though most would see this as a mere plot device, I personally believe this is a character-defining moment for Ninian, as her restored confidence from Eliwood and powers from Bramimond show her as a heroine who manages to save everyone from imminent death at the hands of the dragons. Though she collapses after the sheer force of what she had just done, Eliwood is rejoiced to have her alive again – regardless of the support level she has with him.
Endgame: The ‘canon’ ending as mother of Roy.
The ending for Ninian is dependent on her support level with Eliwood. As I mentioned earlier, it is clear that Ninian has feelings for Eliwood as Nils points this out during the main campaign. What impacts Ninian’s ending is whether she and Eliwood have fallen in love with each other during the campaign (i.e. achieved an A-support before she leaves in chapter 27E/29H). If she has not attained an A-support with Eliwood, then when the Dragon’s Gate opens for one last time, her and Nils will return through the Dragon’s Gate. If she has attained an A-support then she will instead stay with Eliwood in Elibe. Afterward, she will marry him and the pair will have a child named Roy.
This serves as one of the widely accepted endings for Eliwood and Ninian, and is considered canon by many circles of the fan base, myself included in this. Though this ending is wonderful, it is also incredibly bittersweet, as Nils remarks that the air of this world has gone bad, and that it is likely that if Ninian stayed in Elibe she would not live for long.
Her decision to stay with Eliwood shows her strength in character by finally making a decision that would make her happy, and not letting her ‘differences’ and insecurities that defined her decision making dictate her actions. Thus, completing her character arc with a wonderful, albeit brief life with the man she loves.
Author’s Note:
It goes without saying that I have a clear bias towards these two as a pairing, with Eliwood being my favourite male lord, and Ninian being one of my favourite characters in Fire Emblem. Their supports in my opinion largely explore the acceptance of being different and how being different does not mean you are not worthy of love.
Thank you so much for reading this little essay. I have been working on this since last year and has been a long time writing and rewriting. I know I could have included all the stuff with Nergal and Elbert but I did want to keep Ninian as the centre focus of this piece. Please feel free to leave a comment sharing your opinions.
Also, I may end up making this a series of essays so any characters that people would like me to review would also be greatly appreciated!
Em Wrote This 
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