Arle Nadja (アルル・ナジャ), known as Silvana in the first arcade game's localization, is the protagonist of the Madō Monogatari series and the early Puyo Puyo games.

Recognized for her talent at magic from a young age, Arle goes on an adventure to enroll in the ancient magic school to improve herself, her powers attracting many bad guys that wish to use them to their own benefits. Her talent in combat has allowed her to dispatch of many villains who stood in her way, saving many people in the process, though she's usually not aware of the good she's doing. Focused on her own objectives, Arle generally does not go out of her way to help people unless it helps her in her quest.

In Japanese, she was voiced by Reiko Kurusu, Mami Inoue, Minako Ozawa, Kotono Mitsuishi, Emi Motoi and Mie Sonozaki. In English, she was voiced by Ali Johnston and Erica Mendez.

Biography[]

Madou Monogatari 1[]

It's the end of the school year at magic kindergarten, the teacher announces that unfortunately, only one student had developed enough power to even attempt the graduation test, six year old Arle Nadja. In order to graduate, she must go through the kindergarten's own tower of illusion monsters, full of beasts, ghosts, and the revived corpses of those who did not survive. Arle puts on her combat uniform and heads into the tower, clearing all the floors and slowly improving her magic in the process.

As she attempts to leave to pass the test, she is blocked by the tower's master, Fudoushi, who shows Arle an illusion of her friends' faces rotting and melting off of their bodies in an attempt to get the girl to lower her guard. Arle starts crying, but still manages to fight and kill Fudoushi, escaping the tower, and successfully graduating kindergarten.

Arle would go on to have a successful history as a gifted young mage, graduating both middle school and high school. She then decides to embark on a journey to enroll in the ancient magic school of her dreams.

Madou Monogatari 2[]

One of the requirements to enroll in the magic school is to make the trip on foot, without the use of vehicles. On her way there, she gets robbed and loses all her gold. As she's thinking about a way to not starve to death, she is approached by the evil magician, Schezo Wegey. Schezo declares that he wants her powers for himself, and starts speaking in the dead magic language, casting a sleep spell on Arle. Arle is then thrown into Schezo's prison, to be slowly drained of her magic, killing her in the process, just as he had done to many other traveling mages throughout the years.

When Arle wakes up, she immediately formulates a plan to escape, using her feminine charms to steal the key from the prison guards, she fights her way to the exit. Schezo spots her trying to leave and decides to just kill her there to absorb her powers in one go. Arle battles Schezo, decapitates him and then destroys his head, unknowingly putting an end to his centuries of bloodshed.

As she prepares to leave, she is approached by a strange owl monster, who offers her a deal, to trade a rare gemstone for a powerful magic wand. Arle accepts, and embarks on a new quest to search for the gem.

Her search for the gemstone leads her to clearing the entirety of Satan's dungeon. Satan is very impressed by Arle's exploits, and reveals that his entire dungeon was set up as a test for women to find a worthy bride for himself. As he vows his eternal love for her and tries to pull her in for a kiss, Arle insults him and demands that he hand over the gem. Satan, now convinced that Arle came to his place to murder his pet Carbuncle, angrily attacks her, attempting to kill her. Arle wins the battle and knocks Satan unconscious. In the depths of his room, she notices a small rabbit-like creature, with the gemstone embedded in his forehead.

Now realizing that obtaining the gemstone would kill the poor creature, she gives up on the staff and beckons for Carbuncle to join her in her adventures, which he accepts.

Madou Monogatari 3[]

Back on track to reach the magic school, Arle runs into Rulue, the queen of the monsters. Rulue notices Carbuncle on her shoulder, and knowing that Carbuncle was a gift that would only be given by Satan to his future wife, thinks that Arle has married him and decides to murder her in order to have a chance to marry her beloved Satan. Rulue summons her loyal servant, Minotaur and orders him to execute Arle.

Arle runs away and gets lost in a forest. She manages to escape, but ends up with frostbite, and visits the local town to buy medicine. She discovers that the medicine cannot be made, due to nearby labyrinth being infested with monsters controlled by Rulue. Arle attacks Rulue's domain and defeats her most powerful monster, Minotaur. Rulue then claims that she did nothing wrong, and that she was just defending her territory from the humans. She makes a deal with Arle and agrees to share ingredients with the town, as long as Arle promises to take her with her to the magic school. Arle accepts, and is joined by Rulue and Minotaur on her adventure. The group would successfully make it to the magic school, and enroll in classes together. Unbeknownst to both of them, the school was actually created and maintained by Satan himself.

Hachamecha Kimatsu Shiken[]

During the end of the school year, Arle competes with Rulue for the highest grade in finals. Misunderstanding her assignment, Arle jumps into a sealed portal to the Ancient Maze, where she encounters and battles Doppelganger, a fellow mage strangely very similar in appearance to Arle. She tells Arle that in order to escape, she must defeat the master guardian, Phantom God, in head-to-head combat. Thanks to Doppelganger's guidance, Arle ultimately achieves victory against Phantom God, becoming his master. As her reward, Arle receives control of the Seraphim Orb, an artifact of unimaginable reality bending properties. She refuses to accept her new powers, and instead orders her new servant to erase her memories and warp her back to the outside world. Though she had forfeited her right to the position, Phantom God remains loyal to Arle, and promises to aid her when the time comes.

Doppelganger would later be revealed to be Lilith, enemy of the Creator and shepherd of Arle's universe. She had defeated Phantom God and obtained the Seraphim Orb ages prior in order to protect humanity from extinction. She also played a part in Arle's creation alongside Lucifer, which gave Arle's very existence mysterious properties that freed her from the laws of fate. Hence why she secretly manipulated her into becoming her successor.

The Final Hour[]

As the second Lilith and the only creature able to resist the laws of creation, Arle enters a long campaign against the Creator. As the two reality warping beings clashed, all things ceased to exist. Even time itself lost all meaning. The Creator perished, and in the end only Satan remained in aftermath of their destruction. In the emptiness of the void, Satan stayed alone for over 500 years. He eventually decided to take the Creator's position as a keeper of a new universe. He created a brand new world, modeled after the Madou world created by Lilith eons ago, making new versions of all the humans and monsters he had met over the years. Satan also made a new Arle for his world, as he presumed Arle had sacrificed herself to end the Creator. This became known as the New Madou/Puyo Puyo World, a universe where no one ever ages, keeping this new Arle eternally at 16 years of age.

Sadly, the original Arle had actually survived her battle, and was left in a weakened state, trapped in the maw of the void just like Satan had been. The centuries of isolation drove her insane. She eventually stumbled upon the Puyo Puyo world, and noticed that she had been completely replaced by a new version of herself. She would later break free from the void and invade the new world with a new identity by the name of Pierrot, seeking revenge against this doppelganger who had taken everything from her.

Death?[]

In Puyo Puyo~n, Pierrot executes her plan to steal Carbuncle to lure Arle to her circus tent. She aims to kill Arle to steal back her lost identity. Puyo Arle and Madou Arle, both series protagonists, engage in combat, ending in Puyo Arle's victory. In her last words, Pierrot scoffs at her other self and loudly proclaims to be the real Arle before vanishing forever, leaving behind a very confused Arle. A common theory is that this was Madou Arle's death, caused by the paradox of two identical beings coming into contact with each other.

Puyo Puyo[]

This series stars the new Arle created by Satan after the universe's end, starting with the prequel to the series, Michikusa Ibun. Arle and Carbuncle explore the Ruins of Time. She defeats its guardian and discovers an old magic tome sealed in a chest. She reads the tome and learns the Owanimo spell, allowing her access to the goddess of time's powers, which can only be used to banish four similar monsters of the same color. Due to it having no practical use cases, Arle and Carbuncle dismiss the spell as completely useless, until one day, the jelly like monsters known as Puyo began to show up in huge numbers for some unknown reason. Their numbers were so great that they began to be used in a combat sport known as "Puyo Pop" (also known as "Puyo Hell" in some versions).

Satan quickly mastered the game, and rose to the top of the rankings, winning several world championships, becoming the best Puyo Pop player in the world. But with Arle's recently learned Owanimo spell enabling her to compete in Puyo Pop matches, she decides to journey towards Satan's domain to prove herself in the game, ultimately defeating him. This impressive display of skill and magic caused Arle to earn Satan's admiration, much to her dismay.

Wanting to meet Arle again, Satan hosts a Puyo Pop tournament in a huge tower, knowing she would surely come to test her abilities again. Arle clears every single floor of the tower and makes it to the final round. Her opponent being Satan, disguising his identity with a flimsy mask. Satan is defeated once again, this time losing his title of Puyo Puyo Master. Arle and Carbuncle show little interest in his shenanigans, and exit the tower, leaving Satan behind, now a crying mess on the floor.

Sega[]

After Compile went bankrupt, Sega acquired the rights to the franchise. They eventually brought back Arle in their new Puyo games, however with Sega not considering any games before 2003 to be canon, this Arle is a completely different character. Her first new iteration came in Puyo Pop (GBA), a comedic retelling of certain events in the early games, with Arle being given a much more aggressive and sarcastic personality, which Sega would later change their minds on.

With the release of Puyo Pop Fever, the events of Puyo Pop (GBA) have been completely retconned, and Arle is now depicted as a clumsy, airheaded mage, much like the new protagonist, Amitie. She accidentally traps herself in Amitie's world on multiple occasions, but thanks to a wish granted by Ms. Accord's medal, Arle can now freely teleport between both worlds.

Powers and Abilities[]

• Hot: A weak pyrokinesis spell that even toddlers can learn. Arle used it in combat by heating up some water until it's lukewarm and throwing it at her enemies. After an enchantment by the forest fairies, it has gotten much stronger, and developed into her signature Fire spell.
• Cold: A weak cryokinesis spell that even toddlers can learn. Arle used it in combat by cooling down some water until it's cold and throwing it at her enemies. After an enchantment by the forest fairies, it has gotten much stronger, and developed into her signature Ice Storm spell.
• Diacute: Amplification magic. It powers up the caster's next spell by three times. It can be used on itself.
• Mind Blast: An anti-magic spell that turns the target's brains to mush, disrupting their magical abilities.
• Judgment: Arle's strongest spell, equivalent to Schezo's ancient Areiyādo spell in terms of destructive power. Unfortunately, due to her lack of experience, the spell almost never works.
• Bayoēn: A sacred magical word that stuns evil doers with its power. It leaves Arle's opponents completely defenseless and at her mercy for a long period of time.
• Revaia: A defensive wall that deals damage to incoming attackers. It was later renamed to Bayohihihi.
• Luak Void: A draining spell that decreases the target's natural magical defenses.
• Equipment: Arle avoids using traditional weapons like swords and lances, relying on her magical abilities alone, and instead wielding magic staves to boost her powers temporarily. She will however, use shields for protection.
• Carbuncle: Arle's magical pet rabbit/sidekick. He will vaporize her enemies by firing a laser from the gem in his forehead, occasionally, when he's not in a grumpy mood, or hungry. Carbuncle despises working, and will frequently pretend to be asleep to get out of helping, leaving Arle to fend for herself most of the time. If Arle upsets him and tries to force him to fight, he will even go as far as try to kill her by punching her to death.

Weaknesses[]

• Human body: Though Arle is physically fit, she still has the same vulnerabilities as a normal person. She's very susceptible to piercing attacks, frequently bleeding from her eyes, nose and arms, which poses a threat to her life if not treated immediately. She has virtually no resistance to poison or the common cold, and her mouth is a frequent target for flesh eating worms to jump into. Over usage of her ice magic has even given her frostbite one time.

Appearance[]

Arle has short, dark-brown hair. In her teenage years, she started to tie it up in a top-knot. She has golden eyes. Her armor changes design often, though it is primarily composed of the colors blue and white. Sometimes she wears a cape, either red or white. In her original kindergarten combat uniform, she wore a headset on her left ear. Before entering kindergarten, Arle wore a long red cloak on top of her usual blue and white dress.

Her Puyo Pop Fever redesign gave her orange hair and green armor instead of blue. In Puyo Puyo Tetris, her hair was made longer.

Gallery[]

Arle in Madou 1.

Arle in Madou 3.

Arle in Madou A.

Arle in Michikusa Ibun.

Arle in Hachamecha Kimatsu Shiken.

Arle in Hanamaru Daiyouchienji.

Arle in Madou Monogatari I (Genesis).

Arle at 20 years old. Her final appearance in Puyo Puyo~n.

Trivia[]

• Arle originally did not have a name. The manual simply lists her as "Protagonist".
• Her favorite food is curry. She eats it at least five days a week.
• According to the developers, Arle's first game was named Episode II as a small nod to Star Wars.
  • To add to the connection, the first full release was published as a trilogy, followed by a prequel trilogy (ARS).
• Her first adventure in Madou Monogatari A is heavily based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.
• Her signature spell, Ruipanko, is an anagram of the developer's name, konpairu.
• Between the events of 1 and 2, Arle lost all of her memories. This could explain her magic level resetting and her powers weakening, though the plot circumstances behind this event are unclear.
• Throughout the years, the names for Arle's spells have changed in English:
  • Bayoēn was localized as "Cutie" in Puyo Pop Fever.
  • Fire was localized as "Fire Ball" in Puyo Puyo Tetris.
  • Diacute was localized as "Diamond Cutie" in Puyo Pop Fever, and "Want more?" in Puyo Puyo Tetris.
  • Mind Blast is known as "Brain Damned" in the Japanese version.
  • Judgment is known as "Jugemu" in the Japanese version.

External Links[]

• Doppelganger Arle on the Villains Wiki