Arle Nadja

**Arle Nadja** is a character in the Puyo Puyo/Puyo Pop series of video games.

## **Biography**

### **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. In *Shin Madou Monogatari*, it is said that she wears these colors in honor of her father, who went missing after an encounter with a necromancer. 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.

### **Personality**

Between games her characteristics receives minor changes, but overall she's a cheery girl that's somewhat of a tomboy. In *Puyo Puyo Tetris*, it's been stated she hates hygienic things such as hand sanitation and not to play with your food. Although she's normally optimistic, she has her limits and will start scolding others if irritated. Typically in the Puyo Puyo series she acts as the "straight man" of the cast, often being bewildered by the many weirdos and jerks she encounters. A common example is with Satan, who often comes up with out there schemes to marry Arle, which often causes Arle to respond with annoyance or disappointment. Because of this, she can sometimes come off as surprisingly mean-spirited, either intentionally ignoring her opponents or flat out mocking them. Regardless, she doesn't hold personal grudges towards anyone, even for her many enemies and rivals. However starting with Puyo Puyo Fever, her mean attitude is heavily downplayed or ignored, focusing more on her being peppy with a love for playing Puyo Puyo. This mean attitude is touched up upon lightly Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary, where in her story, Arle gives some mildly-scolding remarks to her opponents before battling them. And in the "Final" Story, she breaks down and scolds Satan for his actions, even physically attacking him before engaging in a Puyo battle with him.

Her tomboy characteristics is occasionally touched upon. She refers to herself using Bokukko speech (A term for a girl using male pronouns, commonly stereotyped with tomboys), and occasionally implies that she's oblivious or dislikes proper girly things. For example in *Puyo Puyo CD* she goes on a tangent about "not being ready for love", in certain versions of Puyo Puyo Tsu she starts panicking when Draco challenges her to a swimsuit contest, and in *Puyo Puyo Tetris* she got upset when Zed tried to force her to do "prim and proper" tasks due to her not being good with it.