Ariana Sterling

## Aria

**Ariana Sterling** is the current leader of Atlas and the main antagonist of team WNDR.

## History

Aria joined the Atlas military at a young age, and after witnessing corruption and chaos on her travels with it, decided that the world would be better off under her orderly rule. She began to work her way up to the top and eventually gained control of the entire Atlas military. Secretly, Aria began establishing a slow government takeover of the rest of the world by using her semblance to take out government officials while she claimed the newly vacant spot.

## Appearance

Aria is a fair-skinned woman with grey hair and white eyes. She is tall with impeccable posture. Her hair is wavy and usually tied into a bun.

She usually wears a black top with puffed sleeves that tighten on her forearms. Over her shoulders is a metallic guard carved with filigree. She has a short grey skirt under a longer white open-front skirt. She wears sheer black tights under thigh-high black boots with silver heels. When outside, she wears a heavy white fur coat.

## Personality

Aria thinks highly of herself in that she believes only her orderly ways can "save" what she considers a chaotic and corrupted world. She is shrewd and composed, always acting in a dignified way. She rarely shows any emotion at all. Though she has passion, it is cold and calm; she believes deeply in her cause but never lets her emotions get the better of her. She is formal and strict, valuing proper ceremony, and keeps a dignified air even when in battle. She is a skilled leader, able to get people to support her or join her cause through the power of speech alone. She can't stand weakness and won't hesitate to discard someone if they no longer have any use to her.

When interacting with other government higher-ups and important figures, she puts on a bit of a façade, taking on more of a celebrity personality. She acts more sociable and lively, purposefully cozying up to people to make them relax in her presence. This is all an act, of course, to gain as much information about their role and life so she can better take over their position.

## Powers and Abilities

### Weapon

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### Semblance

Ariana's semblance, nicknamed "Pawns", is the ability to create humanoid constructs out of aura that carry out a single task and disappear once the task is complete, or if destroyed. They do not actually resemble Ariana - they appear closer to a mannequin, having no face. For this reason, Ariana has them wear masks when she sends them on their tasks.

She can create up to eight pawns, but an increased amount of pawns comes at the cost of their autonomy. One pawn can carry out a task while also reacting to changes, but when all eight pawns are out they can only do exactly what they are told and nothing more.

## Trivia

* Aria alludes to the Snow Queen the story of the same name*.* For more information on her character allusion and other creative choices, see Aria Sterling/Behind the Scenes.

* Ariana is an elaboration of the Welsh *arian,* meaning "silver". Her nickname, Aria, means "air" or "song".
* Her surname refers to sterling silver, a high-quality alloy of silver.