Melissa Penworth

> *Melissa Penworth/Relationships*
>
>
> > "Who am I? I'm the rookie of the Foresters who will make a difference in Virdis. Commit it to memory after you're sent away for your heinous crimes. [...] My name...is Harlow. And I'm here to raise havoc among the kingdoms, just like with Verde."
> >
> > Melissa Penworth, Bandit of the Forest pt1: Rising Stardust, Chapter 27
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>

## Melissa Penworth

### Aliases

* Harlow
* Skill Hunter Harlow
* Mortal Marshadow
* Harlow the Maniac Thief (formerly)
* Rookie (by Jason)
* Prietene (by Basil)
* Mels (by friends in private)
* Hars (by friends in public)

### Relatives

* Temperance Penworth (Maternal Grandmother, deceased)
* Roscoe Penworth (Father)
* Odolina Penworth (Mother, deceased)
* Quentin Penworth (Uncle, deceased)
* Inigo Penworth (Uncle)
* Charlie Penworth (Adopted Brother)

## Personal Information

### Likes

* Creme Puffs
* Spending Time with Friends
* Fancy Parties

### Dislikes

* Darby Tetrarch
* Azelia's tight hugs
* Fantasy
* Someone messing with her creme puffs
* Being useless
* Someone keeping secrets from her

## Appearances

### Debut Chapter

Rising Stardust Ch.1: The Verde Princess

Melissa Penworth is the main protagonist in Bandits of the Forest. She is the princess of the Verde Kingdom and former heir to the throne. Due to infighting with her father and wanting to be stronger to make her dream come true, she ran away from home, where she inadvertently becomes a member of the Foresters.

## History

### Before *Rising Stardust*

Melissa grew up very sheltered in the Verde kingdom. Her mother died when she was very young, giving her a locket to remember her by, which is her most precious object that she holds dear to her heart. Due to her sheltered lifestyle, she never made any real friends before she met Sadie Mailet. The rest of the staff kept their distance and never interacted with her. And her relationship with other royals were only professional with the exception of Prince Darby Tetrarch whom she have a big crush on.

### Rising Stardust

Melissa was engaged to Prince Erasmus without her knowledge. Upset that she was kept in the dark and she couldn't give her personal opinion about something that important, she spoke her mind about the matter to her father who dryly told her she is unfit to rule the Verde Kingdom and all the power will be given to Erasmus. Feeling upset and depressed that she won't be a ruler the way she wanted to make her mother's last wish come true, and feeling she doesn't have a purpose in the castle anymore. She asked the help of her friend Sadie to run away from the kingdom as she wants to be stronger and with her help managed to go past the capital walls and start her adventure in the outside world.

But the same night she left home, she got easily captured by Jet Fyrewalker and Blitz Leafwind who made the decision to bring her to their base to discuss about her future with their leader

### Tales of Virdis

Melissa's role in this story involves her preparing for an upcoming exam for incoming Greenwood Leaders, a position in the Foresters she is aiming for. She, along with Klaus, the Thievery Twins, and Fabrice head to the Echo Bell capital in order to figure out what their upcoming heists will be.

### Withered Spirits

Melissa's role in this part involve her dealing with challenges and revelations that will break her spirit. From being the teacher of two Green Scouts Felix Teufel and Victoria Maldonado to facing the true face of Darby Tetrarch

### Silence Knells in the Fog

Melissa's role in this part involve her performing her Heist at the Echo Bell capital, accompanied by Jason, Lucient, Wyatt, Avel, Felix and Victoria. She will also facing the Echo Bell's reaper Grim Deadlock and the Cirque du Madness

## Personality

Melissa has a very kind and gentle nature. Growing up as a Royal, however, she originally was very spoiled and ignorant. She often doubts herself, thinking little of her accomplishments and always comparing herself to others, making significant damage to her self-improvement. Over the course of the story, she steadily grows more and more bold, retreating from her previously shy nature, but self-doubt is still her biggest flaw.

## Abilities/Skills

**Overall Abilities-** Among the Foresters, Melissa is considered the weakest due to her Royal upbringing. However, with time, she has slowly developed into a capable fighter able to keep up with her peers. She managed to pass her Forester Entrance Exam with only two months of training. She is quick on her feet, mostly relying on retreating tactics if she can. She prefers coming up with a plan to better her chances of surviving a battle, though she has learned to defend herself.

As time pass, her abilities increases as she's able to hold her own against more dangerous foes like Ignacia Desierto, or Itzal Abasolo, one of the Ten most wanted criminals in Virdis

**Swordsmanship-** Melissa trained how to use the sword through the combined teachings of Jet, Marie, Basil, and Jason. Though she struggled at first, she has mastered the basics of swordplay to defend herself in a fight. She was able to match blows with Luna Freia, who was much more experienced with swords.

**Tactical Genius-** Despite her physical limitations, Melissa proved to have a tactical mind. She impressed Jet by correctly assuming their situation against Marlo the Simisage Alchemist and how to counter him. In her fight against Blind Luck Amos, she took advantage of her time to analyze how Amos fought and capitalized on his eyes' weakness to sunlight.

### Equipment

* **All Purpose Weapon-** A weapon created by Pandora Day, an all purpose weapon to match her copycat fighting style
* **Tactical Scarf-** A scarf made by Jason Stormbreaker and Adenine Brennan. It got many little pockets, allowing Melissa to bring many tools with her

**Ability-** Limber

* Copycat
* Bounce
* Quick Attack
* Endure
* Foresight
* Mega Kick

### Enhanced Moves

* **Super Springy Dash-** A Bounce/Quick Attack combo to increase her speed.
* **Super Springy Kick Move-** A Bounce/Quick Attack combo where she kicks her opponent *really hard.*
* **Adaptive Foresight-** A combination of Melissa's enhanced Copycat and Foresight. When Melissa's eyes glow blue, she absorbs all the visual information in her line of sight and processes it at an accelerated rate. By observing how her opponent moves and fights, she can create mental images of all possible attack patterns based off this information. This technique allows her to learn the movements within seconds. Overuse of this technique gives Melissa a terrible headache.

### Inherited Will

An Inherited Will is an inherited spirit passed down through the bloodline. When the current holder of the Inherited Will passes, the next born into the bloodline inherits it. Those who possess an Inherited Will have enhanced perception and reflexes, naturally surpassing their species and most other Pokémon. Using an Inherited Will amplifies the effects of a single move the user is attached to, but it typically comes with side effects.

**Faithless Imitation-** Melissa's Inherited Will amplifies the effects of her Copycat. This allows her to scan and perfectly copy her opponent's fighting style. With enough training, she can replicate the fighting style with near precision, almost resembling the original user. In addition, she can copy certain Enhanced Moves, allowing her to copy an opponent's entire moveset and replicating their techniques. She can call upon any copied technique at any time even if the user isn't present. She cannot copy Abilities or any amplified versions of an Inherited Will, however.

There are a few side effects to using Faithless Imitation. When Melissa activates a copied fighting style, she will take on the personality of the user while still retaining her sense of self. It is possible Faithless Imitation has developed in a way that gave birth to the Harlow personality working in sync with Melissa. The other major side effect is that multiple uses puts great strain Melissa's mind, and will eventually lead to her suffering a nosebleed.

## Trivia

* Melissa means "bee, honeybee" in Greek. Penworth is a play on the surname of Sir Arthur Pendragon.