Brynne Rao

* Brynne
* With Mini

**Brynne Tvarika Lakshmi Balamuralikrishna Rao** is a major character in the Pandava Quintet. She is the modern-day reincarnation of the Pandava Bhima and lives in New York with her two uncles.

## History

### Early Life

Brynne grew up with her two uncles, Gunky and Funky, mainly raising her. Brynne's mother, Anila, felt she’d given birth to Brynne at too young of an age and was unable to take care of her. Brynne always hoped to gain her mother's approval, and hoped that if her mother was impressed with her she might actually parent Brynne. So, Brynne participated in a lot of competitions and won a lot of trophies, filling up a scrapbook with her posing with her rewards and melting the trophies into bracelets.

At some point, Anila was with Brynne when a boiling pot of water fell off the stove, but instead of pushing Brynne out of the way, Anila decided to save her purse instead, and Brynne got a nasty scar.

Brynne was also bullied due to her asura heritage; Aiden Acharya saw some kids bullying her at school one day and cursed them with his apsara powers. Afterwards, he and Brynne became best friends.

## The Pandava Quintet

### Aru Shah and the End of Time

Brynne was aware of her possibly being a reincarnated Pandava for a while before she was Claimed. Before the events of *Aru Shah and the End of Time*, she awakened her Pandava powers to save her uncle, and though she expected to be brought along on the first quest to stop the Sleeper, nothing happened. She assumed it was because of her asura lineage.

Later, Brynne finds Kamadeva’s bow and arrow outside her doorstep.

### Aru Shah and the Song of Death

Brynne travels to the Otherworld to return Kamadeva's bow and arrow, and gets ambushed by a fake Aru Shah and an army of Heartless. Later, the Council of Guardians deems the Pandava siblings guilty of stealing the bow and arrow, and Brynne goes on a quest with Aru Shah, Mini Kapoor-Mercado-Lopez and Aiden to clear their names, lest they be banished from the Otherworld. They travel through the dangerous realm of Naga Loka to find the true thief of the bow and arrow, making new friends and dangerous enemies along the way.

#### All By Mah-Selllf (bonus chapter)

Brynne goes to an Otherworld middle school Halloween party along with Aru, Mini and Aiden. She goes there dressed up as an saltshaker, though Aru told her to be dressed up as Mary, who is one of the Sanderson sisters from *Hocus Pocus.*

### Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

Brynne helps rescue two "targets", one of whom is about to utter a prophecy that could turn the tide in the war between the devas and asuras. The targets turn out to be the last two reincarnated Pandava siblings, Nikita Jagan and Sheela Jagan. Ultimately, the Pandavas fail in preventing the prophecy from reaching the Sleeper's ears, and they are asked to step aside. Instead, Brynne goes with Aru, Mini, Aiden and Rudy on their unofficial quest to retrieve Kalpavriksha. The group encounters new demons and gods on their journey, and they eventually locate Kalpavriksha.

### Aru Shah and the City of Gold

Brynne, the Potatoes, and Kara travel to Lanka to answer Kubera's summons. They compete in his three trials in order to win the two things that could help them win the war against the asuras, meeting manipulative gods and being tested in ways they have never been before along the way. The Potatoes manage to complete Kubera's dangerous trials and battle alongside the Nairrata army against the Sleeper and his supporters.

## Appearance

Brynne is an extremely tall biracial (half-Irish and half-Telugu Indian) girl with chestnut skin and long brown hair that had golden highlights. She has long, thick, sturdy limbs that are covered in metal bracelets made of melted down trophies.

In the beginning of *Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes*, Brynne wears an apron-like piece of clothing with the word "HANGRY" stitched across it. Nikita later gifts her a blue jacket than can double as a parachute in *Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes*.

## Personality

Brynne often charges into situations without much thought; an example of this is when she takes the key from Kamadeva’s swan without listening to Aru’s concern, resulting in the group nearly getting killed. In *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, she uses Kubera's eye to transport the Potatoes to their first trial without consulting the others first, and makes some rash decisions which lands them in trouble, mainly because she's doubting herself after Boo's betrayal. Brynne is insecure about her asura heritage and about being a hero, which is why she’s so headstrong; she desperately wants to prove herself to others (and even herself). She pretends to be confident in herself and prizes her immense strength to justify the fact that she is worthy of being a Pandava despite being part asura, although she sometimes doubts and blames herself when she fails and does something wrong.

Brynne has an abrasive personality at first glance. She frequently puts up walls and acts like she’s better than other people to protect herself from being hurt. This has faded a bit as she gets to know Aru and her other sisters, and she reveals a more playful, high energy side where all she wants to do is support her friends and family and have fun; however, when she's upset or scared she tends to revert back to this persona, such as when she gets angry at Nikita and almost attacks her.

By the end of her trial in *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, Brynne has decided firmly that she can and will place her trust in her sisters and Aiden, because even if she fears being defenseless or getting hurt, she knows they'll have her back.

## Relationships

### **AIDEN ACHARYA** (friend, reincarnated wife)

Brynne and Aiden are best friends and both seem to consider their friendship as one between a brother and sister, which makes things awkward when they found out their reincarnations were married. The two seem to understand each other and trust each other greatly. Aiden even invokes the "best friend rule" with Brynne when she is about to tell Aru what Aiden's secret is, and Brynne abides by it.

### **ARU SHAH** (formerly antagonistic, friend, Pandava sister)

Aru and Brynne had an antagonistic start to their relationship due to a combination of circumstances, conflicting personalities, and jealousy. They truly become friends after Mini is captured, learning to set aside their differences and past arguments and work together. They commiserate about family and become closer; Brynne even shares the candy bar that Aru tried to use to bribe Brynne into making up with each other. After that, they become pretty close friends, joking around together and teasing each other. In later books, they fight out of anger but always make up with each other. Brynne reminds Aru that even though she is a mess, she is still her sister, and Aru says that she loves and hates Brynne at the same time.

### **MINI KAPOOR-MERCADO-LOPEZ** (friend, Pandava sister)

At the beginning of *Aru Shah and the Song of Death*, Brynne mainly ignores Mini or thinks she’s weak, while Mini tries to smooth things over between the quartet. Mini has a lot of empathy for Brynne, giving her good advice. When Mini is kidnapped, Brynne is just as upset as Aru is, showing that she cares deeply about her. In later books, they have a very tight bond and joke around and laugh with each other. Brynne helps Mini to realize her full potential as the daughter of the god of death, and tells her not to be pushed around by people who don't listen to her and see the value in her (such as Rudy).

### **NIKITA JAGAN** (initially antagonistic, friend, Pandava sister)

Nikita is initially aggressive towards Brynne in response to her doubting the twins being Pandavas, and they quickly get into a fight. Later, Nikita acts somewhat passive-aggressively to Brynne, until they eventually grow closer. In *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, Brynne cares for Nikita just as much as she cares for Aru and Mini, and treats her like a younger sister.

### **SHEELA JAGAN** (friend, Pandava sister)

When Brynne and Sheela first meet, Sheela accidentally vomits on Brynne's shoes, which annoys her. Later, Brynne appears to care for Sheela, trying to comfort her when she and Nikita have a nightmare. Despite this, Brynne sometimes acts awkward around Sheela, not knowing how to treat someone who is younger than her, and ends up patting her on the head. In *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, Brynne cares for Sheela just as much as she cares for Aru and Mini, and treats her like a younger sister.

### **VAYU** (previous avatar’s father)

Brynne has known Vayu was her father for a while. He cools her cooking for her, so she never has to wait, and before her official claiming he sent messages occasionally through her half-brother Hanuman. When Brynne won her first Otherworld trophy, Vayu sent a tiny whirlwind of daisies to her room.

### **ANILA** (estranged mom)

Anila feels like she had Brynne too young, and seems to feel guilty and avoids Brynne. Brynne wants to impress her enough so that she’ll stay and they can be a family, so she has an entire scrapbook of her posing with trophies and melts her trophies down into bracelets and wears them in an obvious way, just to show to her mother that she’s worth something.

Anila also seems to be very neglectful when she was around. Brynne has stated that Chandra, the god of the moon, seems like the type of person who only reacts when something he values is in danger. Brynne then moves her trophy bracelets to reveal a scar. Aru remembers that the scar was from a hot water accident. A pot of hot water had spilled from the stove, and instead of pushing her daughter out of the way, Anila chose to save her purse instead, proving that she values her purse more than her own daughter. Brynne's scar is apparently one of many that her mother has given her, although most are not physical ones.

### **HIRA**  (friend, possible love interest)

In *Aru Shah and the Song of Death*, Brynne is upset at Hira’s treatment and calls her adopted brother and his friends "pigs" and blows them into the mud using her wind mace. Later, Hira and Brynne seem to be friends; Hira keeps Aru from catching a glimpse of the birthday cake Brynne was making for Aru. Brynne also sympathizes with Hira’s predicament with the terrible Otherworld Foster Care Program, and offers to have her uncles set something up for her, which ends up happening. In *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, it is implied that Brynne has a crush on Hira, when she mentions that Hira is "Fine. Like, you know, she's okay, not 'fine' like..." and her cheeks turn red. During Aru's birthday party, Brynne and Hira wear matching chef hats and work on the food together. When the Sleeper attacks, Hira hides behind Brynne. It is unclear whether Hira reciprocates Brynne's feelings.

### **RUDY** (friend)

Brynne and Rudy meet in *Aru Shah and the Song of Death* when Rudy saves them from Takshaka. In *Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes*, Brynne sometimes speaks harshly to Rudy and gets angry at him. However, she doesn't dislike him as much as she acts like she does. They have a friendly relationship, with Brynne sometimes getting annoyed at Rudy.

## Powers

### **Less Accessible Mind**

In *Aru Shah and the Song of Death*, Uloopi states that because Brynne is a Pandava, her mind is harder to access, with sizable gaps in her memory.

### Gogo

Gogo, or the Mace of Vayu, is the celestial weapon Brynne was granted. It is a light blue with a red stripe sometimes appearing on it. Gogo is destroyed by Kara when she uses the astra in *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*.

#### **The Power of Flame**

Brynne was gifted this from Agni, the god of fire. She can generate fire from her mace as well as wind.

#### **Controlling the Wind**

Brynne uses her mace to control the wind and make sound vortexes.

### **Pandava Mind Link**

Brynne is able to communicate telepathically with her sisters. It can be blocked out, and typically it’s easier the better you know somebody. Brynne so far has used the Pandava mind link with Mini and Aru.

### **Abilities Inherited from Bhima**

#### **Internal Compass**

Brynne can locate where she is anywhere as well as figure out where north, south, east and west are in relation to her. She can also provide precise longitude and latitude coordinates of her location by licking her finger and feeling the air.

#### **“Iron Gullet”**

Brynne has been shown to have a large metabolism and eats far more than the average human. Aru says that watching Brynne eat food is like watching a "human vacuum cleaner".

#### **Enhanced Strength**

Brynne is much stronger than an average human.

#### **Summoning Air Gazelles**

Brynne can summon the four air gazelles of the cardinal directions.

### **Shape-shifting**

Brynne can transform into a lot of different animals due to her asura heritage. When she transforms, there is a blue flash of light. It seems as though she always turns into sapphire blue animals. As a result of her enhanced Pandava powers in *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, Brynne can take the form of larger animals, such as a chicken the size of a rottweiler.

#### **Talking**

Brynne can speak to other people while shapeshifting. However, she can't speak animal languages.

### **Kamadeva’s Recipe Book**

As a gift to Brynne, Kamadeva hands over a slim red book that contains recipes for heart-food, which brings you kindness for days.

## Trivia

* Her dad was a musician and Irish, according to her mother
* Brynne is part Telugu, which she inherits from her mom's side of the family
* She was going to be named "Brian" because her mom thought she was having a boy. But, when she turned out to be a girl, her mom named her the next closest thing, which was "Brynne"
* Brynne has stated she is attracted to both boys and girls, making her one of the first confirmed characters that is LGBTQ in the Pandava Quintet
* *Brynne* means "hill" and is of Welsh origin -- it can also mean "drop of water", "black-haired", "noble", and "defender"
* *Rao* is a Hindu surname from Sanskrit meaning *raja*, or "king"
* Brynne was taught to play the harp at her uncles' insistence and is very good at it, however much embarrassed she is of that fact
* Brynne can whip up a perfect souffle
* Brynne knows a dozen ways to knock someone unconscious
* Brynne likes watching action movies

As confirmed by one of Roshani Chokshi's Instagram AMAs for the Pandava sisters...

* When asked if she liked guys or girls more or if she was a 50/50 bi on the AMA, Brynne responded with 50/50
* Brynne's favorite animal to transform into is the wolf
* Brynne cannot turn into dinosaurs
* Her favorite recipe is for bread
* Aiden tries to get her to meditate, but Brynne always falls asleep
* Brynne's favorite foods for releasing aggression while cooking are bread (she likes throwing it on the counter) and risotto (because it's time-consuming and satisfying)
* If she could turn into any fantasy animal, she would turn into a manticore
* Brynne's zodiac sign is Taurus sun and Capricorn moon, an earth sign known for being down-to-earth and strong-willed; her birthday is May 7
* Her favorite movie is "The Hundred-Foot Journey"
* Her favorite video game is "Halo 4"
* Her favorite Tollywood movie is "Baahubali"
* To annoy Aru, Brynne will: make oatmeal raisin cookies and tell her they're chocolate chip cookies, turn into an octopus and hide under her bed and grab her ankle, and say "hmm" as an answer to every question
* The group favorite food she likes to make is loaded-up nachos
* Her favorite song is "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion
* If she couldn't shapeshift, Brynne would want the power to teleport wherever she wants, since she hates when she forgets an ingredient at the grocery store
* Brynne loves dosa and makes it, as well as making the best sambar and coconut chutney, too
* She thinks Aru is a weirdo and Mini is a germaphobe and she knows she wouldn't want anyone else as family.
* Being the daughter of the wind, for her, is like holding a cyclone in her hands or grabbing hold of an invisible rope capable of snapping trees and shaking buildings
* Her pet peeve is loud chewers