Amaya

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**Amaya** is the younger sister of Queen Sarai, the sister-in-law of King Harrow, as well as the maternal aunt of Callum and Ezran. She is Deaf and communicates through sign language. Her close friend and trusted lieutenant Gren is her primary sign language interpreter. She is the general and the leader of the Standing Battalion, one of Katolis's most powerful armies, keeping vigilant guard at the Border. She is currently engaged to Janai.

## Appearance

Amaya is a muscular woman with short, dark brown hair that used to reach to her ear on the right side while a thicker part was brushed to the right side of her head, slightly reaching past her ear. She is physically fit, as she starts every day with a workout. Being of Asian-equivalent Katolian heritage, she has slim, dark brown eyes and a fair complexion. Her right cheek is marked by a scar left by an attack of a Magma Titan. When off-duty, she would wear a blue shirt sporting golden Katolian symbols on its shoulders and bottom seam in combination with long, dark blue gloves, and pants of the same color. Her knee-high boots came in a brown shade with darker parts at the front and top. During duty, this attire was topped by the armor of the Standing Batallion, a set of heavy, silver plates combined with brown leather parts and straps, and sharp, blue shoulder plates adorned with golden details. Her weapon of choice, a sharp-edged shield in the same silver, blue, and golden shades of her equipment, is usually carried on her back.

Two years after the battle at the Storm Spire, Amaya's hairstyle changed to a side undercut on the right, while the thicker part of her hair on the left has significantly grown longer, now reaching past her chin. Lux Aurean plating has been added onto her armor, and the silver parts of her shield have taken on a shade of brown instead.

## Personality

Amaya is a warm, caring, and strong woman who deeply cares about her family and is willing to fight to protect them. She is also incredibly loyal to her late older sister, Sarai, acting as a mother-like figure to Callum and Ezran in Sarai's place, placing their safety and well being above all else.

Amaya is an iron-fisted commander who initially harbored a deep hatred for Xadia. In battle, she adopts a confident and intimidating nature - an attribute best demonstrated in her fight with Rayla, during which she mercilessly attacked the elf with her shield. This hatred may stem from her sister Sarai's death at the hands of the Dragon King Avizandum. However, she put aside her hatred when she remembered that Viren is the true enemy. She also has a sense of humility when admitting her own mistakes, similar to her nephews, and changed her opinions about elves when she saw their true colors. She also has a good intuition, as she suspected that Viren's betrayal of the kingdom would happen someday.

According to Khessa, Amaya has a pure heart of strong conviction, as shown when she faced the light of the Sunforge and came out unscathed. This statement was supported when she was allowed to ride on the backs of Embertail and Aegis, Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tigers and creatures that only allow people with pure hearts to become their riders.

According to Janai, Amaya also has a strong spirit that drives her to brave any danger for a right and noble cause.

## Skills and Abilities

### Communication

Due to her deafness, Amaya communicates with others using Katolian sign language and is highly skilled at reading lips, as shown by her ability to understand others without the use of sign language. However, she possesses the rudimentary ability to speak and can communicate verbally when she needs to.

### Combatant

In battle, Amaya is immensely strong and brutal, often using her shield as a sort of battering ram to deliver blunt attacks to her foes. According to Sarai, Amaya's deafness is part of why she has a stronger awareness and strategic sense than any other general. Consequently, her fighting style can be somewhat destructive, as she leveled an entire game room in the process of fighting and subduing Rayla. Her fighting prowess is on par with that of Janai, a Sunfire Elf knight renowned for her ferocity in combat.

Amaya had even been called "a beast" for her ferocity combat.

## Trivia

* Amaya is a name derived from the Proto-Basque or Basque word "Amaia", meaning "the end". In Spanish origin, the name derives from the village of Amaya in Burgos, Spain, whose name comes from the old Celtic language spoken in Cantabria ("am(ma)" meaning "mum" and the suffix "-io/a" describing a toponym, thus, "mother city" or "capital".) Amaya is also a Japanese surname that is claimed to mean "night rain".
* Amaya was born Deaf.
* Amaya uses American Sign Language (ASL). To shape her character authentically, the creators and showrunners spent a lot of time talking with people they know are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as contacting several organizations that raise awareness around deafness or support deaf people. When they produced the episodes, they used two ASL interpreters, Lucy Farley and Darcie Kerr, to make sure that Amaya's communication was accurate, authentic and emotional.
* Amaya and her older sister, Sarai, are of Asian equivalent Katolian heritage.
* For "**Book Three: Sun**", the showrunners decided to have Amaya's gloves lightened for the sake of her fingers being easier to read.
* According to Opeli, Amaya and Sarai trained Katolis's army to become the best and fiercest military force in the five Human Kingdoms.
* Amaya has been confirmed as a lesbian by a lead writer.
* Amaya likes a good fight, breakfast, and her nephews. She dislikes liars, skipping meals, and salads.
* Amaya is a great breakfast chef, who had traveled the world and mastered breakfast tricks everywhere she had been, able to make muffins better than any baker in Duren and poach eggs with syrupy golden yolks like the farmers in Del Bar. Despite this, she has a tendency to leave eggshells in food while baking.
* Amaya's concept development included an elaborate exploration of "tough military aunt" colors and styles. In earlier concepts, Amaya's bangs included a lighter colored section and was jet black.
* As a piece of armor and main weapon, Amaya's shield needed to be iconic and multi-functional in battle. During early development, the design explored options to have the shield split apart and feature a built-in sheath that could hold a short sword.
* The first time Amaya audibly speaks is near the end of the episode "The Great Bookery" where she tells Team Zym to "Go".
* Amaya's actress, Sheila Ferguson, is also Deaf.

#### Her Birthday

* On her birthday, Amaya insists on sparring with her entire Standing Battalion at once (with Gren as the referee). She promises the first soldier to score a hit against her will be immediately promoted. To this day, however, no soldier has scored a hit on General Amaya.
* A second (but equally important) birthday tradition is the baking of Amaya's favorite treat: oatmeal raisin cookies. Her standards for oatmeal raisin cookies are very high. Good oatmeal raisin cookies? Delicious perfection. Bad ones? Trash. Garbage. Unacceptable. Only Corvus's baking can meet her standards and the responsibility… nay, the HONOR of baking them each year means Corvus, tragically, has to skip the birthday sparring match.

## Appearances

#### Book One - Moon

* 101. "Echoes of Thunder" (flashback)
* 104. "Bloodthirsty"
* 105. "An Empty Throne"

#### Book Two - Sky

* 201. "A Secret and a Spark"
* 204. "Voyage of the Ruthless"
* 205. "Breaking the Seal" (flashback)
* 206. "Heart of a Titan" (flashback)

#### Book Three - Sun

* 301. "Sol Regem"
* 303. "Ghost"
* 306. "Thunderfall" (flashback)
* 307. "Hearts of Cinder"
* 308. "Dragonguard"
* 309. "The Final Battle"

#### Book Four - Earth

* 401. "Rebirthday"
* 402. "Fallen Stars"
* 405. "The Great Gates"
* 406. "The Drakewood"
* 408. "Rex Igneous"
* 409. "Escape from Umber Tor"

#### Book Five - Ocean

* 503. "Nightmares & Revelations"
* 504. "The Great Bookery"
* 507. "Sea Legs"
* 508. "Finnegrin's Wake"
* 509. "Infantis Sanguine"

#### Books

* "Book One: Moon (Novel)"
* "Book Two: Sky (Novel)"

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Dragon Prince Official Website (Lineup)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *The Dragon Prince* Official Tumblr
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Dragon Prince Official Website - World: The Border
4. ↑ San Diego Comic Con 2022
5. ↑ The Dragon Prince Official Website Birthday Post
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Creator Q&A
7. ↑ Book Two, Chapter 6: "Heart of a Titan"
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Callum's Spellbook
9. ↑ Book Three, Chapter 3: "Ghost"
10. ↑ The Dragon Prince Official Website - Twin-Tailed Inferno Tooth Tiger
11. ↑ Book Four, Chapter 8: "Rex Igneous"
12. ↑ Book Five, Chapter 3: "Nightmares & Revelations"
13. ↑ The Dragon Prince Official Website - Characters
14. ↑ Book Three, Chapter 7: "Hearts of Cinder"
15. ↑ Book Five, Chapter 4: "The Great Bookery"
16. ↑ Book Four, Chapter 1: "Rebirthday"
17. ↑  Wikipedia - Amaya (Spanish name)
18. ↑ Nameberry - Amaya
19. ↑ Behind the Name - Amaya
20. ↑ Creator Q&A
21. ↑ INTERVIEW: Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond Flying "The Dragon Prince" to a Third Season
22. ↑ Book Three, Chapter 4: "The Midnight Desert"
23. ↑ Twitter - Devon Giel
24. ↑ Book One: Moon (Novel)
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 The Dragon Prince Official Website - Amaya's Birthday
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 The Art of The Dragon Prince
27. ↑ Dorothy Yang concept design