Arle Nadja

**Arle Nadja** is the main protagonist of the Sega's Puyo Puyo video game series and is one of the main characters from the long-running Puyo Puyo animated television series.

She is the main partner of her pet Carbuncle.

Arle Nadja is voice provided by Erica Mendez.

## Appearance

Arle's appearance between games have minor differences, but there are several details that are consistent between depictions. In the Compile games, both her hair and eyes were brown, while in the SEGA games starting with *Puyo Puyo Fever 2* her hair is orange while her eyes are a golden brown (curiously, her eyes were blue in *Puyo Puyo Fever*). Regardless, her hair is constantly tied together with a blue band to form a ponytail. Her clothing always puts an emphasis on blue and white colors, commonly sporting a blue skirt, blue boots, a T-shirt, blue wristbands, and a blue breastplate. These pieces of accessories and clothing would receive minor changes in later games, for example adding a white stripe to her wristbands and boots starting with *Puyo Puyo Fever*, and her breastplate covering her whole chest starting with *Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary*.

*Puyo Puyo~n* would give Arle several additional characteristics that would later be used in some later spin-offs or adapted in later SEGA games. She sports a heavier emphasis on armoring with bulkier shoulder padding and a breastplate that covers her chest and neck. Her blue band in her hair is replaced with what appears to be a type of tiara, however she still sports a ponytail. Puyo Puyo~n would start a trend of Arle wearing a type of cape, in this game a red cape that reaches to her legs. Later games would revive the characteristic of Arle wearing capes starting with Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary, where she wears a blue cape with a white rim. Her boots would gain a golden band with blue socks, and her wristband changed to a type of fingerless glove that covers the top of her hand similar to a gauntlet.

In *Puyo Puyo DA!*, she receives a dramatic makeover. Her normal attire being replaced with a red and black hoodie with a long-sleeve shirt underneath, a grey beanie, black sweatpants with a chain, and a pair of red, grey, and white colored sneakers, overall giving her an appearance that invokes hiphop or rap. Her ponytail is also missing.

## Biography

### Games only

She is depicted as a spellcasting warrior who roams the country in search of adventure with her friend Carbuncle. However, her success leads to rivalry with several others. Her birthday is July 22nd.

Her origins lie in the RPG *Madou Monogatari*, as well as other characters from the originial series. In those games, she is as young as five and in kindergarten, but in the Puyo Puyo games, she is sixteen and not in school.

Starting with *Puyo Puyo Fever*, Arle is no longer the protagonist, but rather a girl who warped to her new friend Amitie's universe as a result of a usual Puyo game. Amitie tries to return her by trying to play with Arle, which never works.

In *Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary*, Arle changes her mind about this, and decides to warp between universes.

## Relationships

### Amitie

From *Puyo Puyo Fever 2* onwards, Amitie and Arle are friends who frequently hang out with each other and play Puyo together. They trust each other and rely on one another when the situation calls for it, though Arle sometimes struggles to follow Amitie's zany behavior.

### Carbuncle

Out of every character, the strongest relationship Arle has is with Carbuncle. Ever since Arle met Carbuncle in *Madou Monogatari*, they have been the best of friends, and when he isn't off on his own adventure, he is with Arle. Despite Carbuncle going off on his own in *Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary*, Arle states that she'd be devastated if Carbuncle ever went away. In *Puyo Puyo! 20th Anniversary*, Arle's story begins with her happily exclaiming that she finally gets to take a relaxing walk with Carbuncle. She also says that when she's with Carbuncle, everything is fun.

### Draco Centauros

Draco Centauros is one of Arle's rivals. Arle expects to be challenged in a beauty contest by Draco so much that she sarcastically shows concern when she was denied a beauty contest in *Minna de Puyo Puyo* and switches roles with Draco by being vain in *Puyo Puyo Tsu*. Draco Centauros is best known for partnerships with her mother and best friend Rulue.

### Ecolo

Arle was possessed by Ecolo during the events of *Puyo Puyo 7*. She seems to find them troublesome and annoying, similar to how she sees the Dark Prince.

### Harpy

Harpy has been doing jobs for matchmaking Arle's different personalities with the achieve to require the singers by ignoring her.

### Ringo Ando

Arle and Ringo first meet in *Puyo Puyo 7* where Arle explains how Ringo has the power to pop Puyo because she was affected by the otherworldly light before being possessed by Ecolo. Ringo seems to envy Arle's adventurous lifestyle and wishes to go on adventures as she does.

### Rulue

Rulue considers herself to be Arle's rival in gaining Satan's affection. In spite of this rivalry, she accompanies Arle to her magic school so she may learn how to use magic in *Madou Monogatari III*. Generally speaking, while Rulue sees Arle as a rival, while Arle doesn't reciprocate the rivalry and sees her more as a friend. They are at least reasonable enough to rarely team up together for a similar goal. Arle worried about Rulue's well-being after being told she and Schezo were in danger in *Puyo Puyo Tetris 2*.

### Schezo Wegey

Her relationship with Schezo Wegey is rather ambiguous, as Schezo's poor choice of words allow for romantic subtext rather than directly telling her he wants her power. She often calls him a pervert for this, and sometimes corrects his sentences for him. Sometimes she intentionally messes with him, for example ignoring one of this boasts in order to irritate him, or comparing Schezo to fungus and moss in *Puyo Puyo Sun*. She is somewhat able to tolerate him accompanying her whenever they share the goal of foiling Satan's schemes. She is later friends with him. Arle worried about Schezo's well being after being told he and Rulue were in danger in *Puyo Puyo Tetris 2*.

They later become Power Rangers.

### Witch

Similarly, Witch is a competitive rival over having the strongest magic, occasionally going so far as to try and land a cheap shot while Arle is distracted. In Puyo Puyo SUN she is seen assaulting Arle while in her sleep, proclaiming "I love you" and implications of molestation. However due to the ambiguous nature of the cutscene, it's unknown if Witch genuinely loves Arle or if she's was thinking of someone else, (in the *Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary/Trivia*, it is said that "Witch has a crush with a prince, and often dreams that she dances with him").