Nifa Radhakhan (Legendary Defender)/History

## History

### Early Life

Nifa was born on the planet Raion to Sapphira, an astrologist, and Niju, her village's leader. She lived on her home planet until her village's seer selected her to be the new Spirit Guide of the legendary weapon, Voltron. Knowing she would have to be out of harm's way for this to come true, Niju sent Sapphira back to Earth with Nifa so she could train without running the risk of Zarkon finding her. And so it was, that Nifa left Raion at 6 years old. Upon reaching Earth, Sapphira contacted her old highschool friend, otherwise known as Keith's father, where Nifa met Keith, also aged 6, for the first time.

### The Death of Sapphira

After living on Earth for three months, disaster struck. On their way back to Keith's house one night, Nifa and her mother got lost. A group offered to help them home, but they ended up being bandits, (which are later revealed to be Galra soldiers, sent by Lotor, who was still a part of the empire and knew of Voltron's spirit guide back then) and they attacked Nifa and her mother. Too scared to fight back, Nifa ran away to find help. By the time she brought Keith's father to the scene, Sapphira was already dead. In order to protect her child, she had allowed the bandits to take her life. Nifa was devastated, but she received no comfort from Keith, who seemed somewhat sympathetic, but otherwise indifferent to the event.

### The Death of Keith's Father

Another three months later, a fire started somewhere in their city. Upon being a fireman, Keith's father responded quickly, but he didn't make it out of the building alive. Keith, upon losing the only parent he'd ever known, tried to force himself to feel nothing. However, Nifa gave him comfort over losing his father, even though he neglected to do the same when her mother died. This caused Keith to finally express his grief over losing his father, but he and Nifa grew closer that way as well. From that day forward, they swore to be not only best friends, but to have the truest and strongest bond in the whole universe. They sealed this bond by burning the Galran mark of friendship (which Keith didn't know was Galran back then) onto their pinkies, to which they would lock, as a sort of secret handshake to mark their friendship as a sign they could use to identify one another.

### Shiro's Arrival and the Separation

Keith and Nifa lived alone together in his father's old house for 6 years. Both were partners in crime, sometimes swindling and stealing to get by without their case workers knowing both of the adults were dead. (They knew about Keith's father, but not Sapphira). Nonetheless, they shared great memories and kept their word about the bond they shared. One day, when Shiro arrived to test the children with the spaceship simulation video game, Keith showed his skill in piloting, and Nifa in her co-piloting. Shiro believed the two would make a great pair in the Garrison, but the schoolteachers and staff disagreed, arguing that the children had already dug too deep, applying their partnership to "juvenile practices." As a result, they had decided to split Keith and Nifa up once and for all, once Nifa's mother was labeled unfit to care for the children. Upset about these news, the two attempted to escape in Shiro's car, but get caught and sent to juvie. Still, Shiro promised to keep their secret and invited them both to the Garrison's cadet training program.

Unfortunately, Shiro forgets about the background checks, and the system learns that the children are living alone, giving them initiative to separate them, by sending Keith to a new house and by making Admiral Sanda Nifa's new guardian. Keith, upset by this, makes an aggravated performance during his first class and ends up beating up his school bully, James. After Keith is kicked out, Shiro promises to make sure he can see Nifa again. He then treats the two to a race across the canyon, to which they are overjoyed. However, this would be the last time Keith and Nifa would meet in a long time, for Shiro is selected for the Kerberos mission before he can give Keith the information he needs to know where Nifa is.

## Episodes

### Season 1

#### The Rise of Voltron

6 years later, Nifa is an 18-year-old girl, made cold and surly by the influence of Admiral Sanda. Just then, Commander Iverson comes to her house and tells her about a transmission from space that has been sent for her. Nifa answers to it, and it ends up being Princess Allura, telling Nifa her destiny as Voltron's Spirit Guide.

Nifa is then brought to the Castle of Lions by Coran, where she meets Allura herself, and meets Shiro again. She then meets Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and reunites with her old friend Keith for the first time in years. Soon after that, she's sent off on a mission to help Hunk and Lance retrieve the Yellow Lion, where Nifa puts her powers to the test and it works out wonderfully.

However, upon return, the Galra send a warning that they have the Red Lion and will attack the planet unless the other four lions are turned over. Nifa, not wanting this to happen, sneaks away from the group and tries to get the Red Lion on her own, only to be joined by Keith and the others later.

They succeed in reuniting all five lions, and Nifa's powers undergo the ultimate test when it comes to forming Voltron. Luckily, she manages to get through to the lions, and they form Voltron, winning the day and living to fight another.

#### Some Assembly Required

The day after Sendak's attack, Allura calls in the team for some training, but they start off their day very poorly, not meeting her standards for being battle-ready. Nifa soon learns how stressful it can be to be a spirit guide, as the minds of the lions turn out to be more scattered than she thought.

Her recklessness and resolve to be independent shines through during a drone exercise, where she actively engages the training drones instead of letting the team keep her safe, as instructed. She ends up losing the drill for everyone, giving most of the paladins a very bad view of her.

After one failed drill after another, the team breaks for lunch, only for Allura to give them a final test, by linking the paladins together and giving Nifa the power to feed them. Of course, this ticks all of them off, and they finally come together in an all-out food fight.

Successfully bonded, the paladins form Voltron flawlessly, but they leave Nifa out of their success, which leads her to think that it's better like this, to keep from bonding with the paladins on a personal level at all.

#### Return of the Gladiator

(This episode is unseen in the book, but Nifa forms the Voltron sword for the first time and saves the Arusians, also ignored by them entirely.)

#### Fall of the Castle of Lions

The group is celebrating their victory against a Robeast that attacked a nearby Arusian village. However, Nifa sits out of it, as she isn't comfortable socializing with others after so many years alone. The lions manage to convince her to go outside, and she receives help in prettying up from an Arusian child.

She meets up with Keith in the ballroom, and, sensing her misery, he invites her to go stargazing outside, to which she gratefully accepts. The two are given a moment alone to bond, and Nifa's mood is lifted, knowing that her bond with her best friend hasn't faded away, but she can't help but feel that something about their relationship has changed...

Nifa doesn't get much time to think about it when the castle is powered down. The crystal that powers it is destroyed by a bomb, also injuring Lance in the process. The teams splits up to cover the damage, and Nifa is left behind with Shiro to guard Lance. Sendak then appears and attacks Shiro, succeeding in knocking him out and capturing him along with Lance, but Nifa escapes with Pidge without Sendak noticing.

#### Tears of the Balmera

The two remaining members of Team Voltron attempt to power down the castle's engine to slow Sendak down, but get separated by a drone patrol. Nifa manages to take the patrol out and shut off the particle barrier with the help of the space mice. She then returns to the bridge to attempt to save Shiro and Lance, but Sendak discovers her and is also about to take her captive when Keith and Allura arrive just in time.

A fight ensues, but the team manages to trap Sendak and restore the castle to its former glory. Nifa, worn out by the adventure, takes the time to rest in a healing pod to recharge.

#### Taking Flight

Nifa awakens from her sleep in the healing pod and is taken to the dining room so the others can brief her on what happened during her absence. Hunk mentions something about a Balmera and returning there to save a girl he met there named Shay, but Nifa denies the plan, saying Voltron needs to prepare a little more before taking on such a challenge. An argument starts, but Nifa is outvoted by the other paladins. She leaves as their view of her grows with disdain.

Later on, she dreams of the events that happen on the moon, and manages to guide the Red Lion into saving the Blue Lion, her powers of connecting with their consciousnesses stretching out to her dreams.

#### Return to the Balmera

Nifa is brought to the bridge, and she informs the others of her dream, where they realize how useful it could be. They then return to the Balmera to fight off the Galra once and for all with a plan. However, the plan goes slightly awry, and Nifa figures the truth out too late.

The castle is attacked and the paladins are trapped as the lions are stolen away, but from help from Shay and her family, the paladins escape and form Voltron in the nick of time to save the castle from destruction.

But just when they think the fight is over, a Robeast crash-lands on the Balmera, opening up a new problem for the team.

#### Rebirth

The Robeast reveals itself to be the Drazil, a multi-eyed monster which forces the paladins to split into lions again and try to draw its fire away from the castle while the others come up with a plan. In the meantime, Coran discovers that the Balmera is dying, and will soon implode. Not wanting to risk the team, but knowing they must save the Balmerans deep down inside, Nifa reluctantly conjures up a plan for the paladins to distract the Drazil while they make a landing and evacuate the Balmerans.

Once on the surface, Shay tells them that she and her people wish to perish with the Balmera, and Nifa fiercely insists that they say otherwise, but Allura steps in and gains the Balmerans' trust. Meanwhile, the Drazil closes in on the paladins, and Nifa sees that she has to help. So, once again, she rushes into danger, dropping a rock on the Drazil's head in order to give the team enough time to form Voltron. They do so and form a new weapon, the shoulder cannon, stopping the Drazil once and for all.

The Drazil begins to rise again, only to be stopped by the Balmera, to the relief of everyone. As the team receives their thanks from the Balmerans, Nifa once again feels left out, knowing that they can never know of her involvement. Later that night, she dreams of her past with Keith, when they still lived together. This concerns her, knowing that spirit guides aren't supposed to have dreams like this...

#### Crystal Venom

Nifa worries over the dream she had earlier that night, so she tries to find Princess Allura to speak with her about it. As she does, she walks in on Allura with her father, whom she explains the concept of. Nifa is reminded of her dead mother and becomes saddened, but Allura comforts her by saying that with responsibilities like fighting Zarkon, they must learn to let go of the past and work towards a better future to live up to their loved ones' legacy.

When morning comes, Nifa finds the paladins and Coran trying to gain information from Sendak, who is frozen in a pod. The team starts to file out when the information is not delivered. Nifa eventually leaves as well, though not before sensing a dark presence in the back of her mind.

On her way to the hangar deck, she is lured into the airlock and then trapped inside. Mere moments before she is sucked out into space, Keith comes to her rescue and they meet up with the other paladins, whom have suffered similar actions. Nifa then rushes to find Shiro, who has sent Sendak off into empty space, traumatized by his taunting words, which Nifa realizes she wasn't able to recognize.

Things get worse when a sleepwalking Allura pilots a course into a dying star. Nifa tries to snap her out of it, but King Alfor, corrupted by Sendak's crystal virus, refuses to let her. He then reveals that the last spirit guide made the wrong decisions and failed not just Voltron, but the entire universe ten thousand years ago. Nifa is so distraught by the news, she fails to focus her mind on forming Voltron, and the paladins are nearly destroyed until Allura disconnects her father's memories from the system and saves them all.

Afterwards, Nifa and Allura have another talk, where they manage to bond a little. Allura thanks Nifa for reminding her of the same lesson she taught her last night, and it gives Nifa time to think about her previous worries. If the past must be forgotten, she fears it also means letting go of the time she spent with Keith on Earth.

#### Collection and Extraction

Nifa dreams of the events involving the team sneaking to a Galran transport hub and searching for the information Sendak was hiding from them. However, as Shiro and Allura sneak off, Nifa starts dreaming of another memory of her childhood with Keith. Though somewhere in the memory, she receives comfort for her past mistake, by the time she snaps back to her original dream, it's already too late, and Shiro and Allura are cornered. Nifa can do nothing as Allura sacrifices herself to save Shiro and let him get away, where she wakes up to the same realization.

#### The Black Paladin

With Allura captured, the team turns to Nifa to find out whether to rescue her or to hold off on such a mission, as not to risk the Voltron lions. Nifa is unable to make a choice, so Coran, noticing her struggle, steps in and cooks up a plan for them. He then reminds her that her perseverance is what makes her Voltron's spirit guide.

The team goes into battle as Voltron, and they appear to cleave their way through the Galra forces with ease until a mysterious force pulls Nifa out of Voltron's mind and draws the Black Lion to Zarkon's ship. Sensing danger, Nifa comes up with a battle strategy that she manages to pass through to the lions, who carry it out.

However, Keith confronts Zarkon and ultimately loses the fight he picks. Nifa risks all by coming to her best friend's rescue, directly attacking Zarkon and almost getting discovered in the process. Pidge comes to get her, and with everyone accounted for, the team retreats. When their way is blocked off by a Galran particle barrier, someone from the inside mysteriously opens it up, and they are able to escape, but not before Haggar messes with the wormhole and scatters everyone.

### Season 2

#### Across the Universe

Nifa awakens from a dream of her past, where she was presented with the spirit guide's lion pendant. She finds herself stuck in a trash nebula with Pidge and the Green Lion. Unhappy to be in such a situation, she suggests that they search for help. Upon exiting, they meet a bunch of furry, potato-sized aliens, which Pidge befriends, but Nifa's coldness kicks in and she decides to start the search on her own.

Hours later, Nifa returns to the Green Lion, only able to cover a quarter of the area, while Pidge has managed to take on the rest of it, with the help of the furry aliens. After setting up camp, Pidge decides to entertain herself by building and acting out impersonations of the rest of the team. With nothing better to do, Nifa plays along and actually ends up having fun.

After a mock puppet battle, Nifa finally opens up to Pidge about why she acts the way she does, and the girls end up bonding. This bonding awakens the Green Lion and Pidge gets the idea of building a satellite to let the others know where they are.

They build the satellite, but it doesn't appear to function. Nifa then taps in to the pendant's power and is able to draw the castle's attention to them, enabling them to leave the trash nebula and search for the others.

#### Shiro's Escape

Nifa and Pidge regroup with Coran and Allura to find the other paladins. While Allura congratulates Nifa for learning how to bond with the other paladins, exhaustion from their past exploits catches up to Nifa and she passes out.

When she wakes up, she hears about Shiro and his escape from the Galra prison. However, her mind guides her off-course again, and she is back to dreaming of her past with Keith, where she recalls his connection to the knife his mother left him. As she snaps out of it, she sees a person has attempted to infiltrate the Castle of Lions, but she awakens from her dream and into reality, where she manages to catch said person, revealing to be Ulaz, the one who helped Shiro escape.

After she convinces Allura to let him take them to his communications base, Nifa asks Ulaz about the Galra's relationship to the Raionsupiriteans. He says that his race looked down on their interracial romances, but only because the half-breed offspring that followed would have to constantly fight to be accepted by those of both races.

However, before Nifa can go further into the topic, they are attacked by a Robeast, which they struggle to defeat. Ulaz then sacrifices himself to save them, telling them that the Blade of Marmora was their only hope.

After finding out that they must be tracked, Nifa promises Keith, who also wanted answers of his own out of Ulaz, that they will get the answers they are searching for after they pinpoint what is tracking them.

#### Greening the Cube

Nifa dreams of the events on Olkarion. An attack from the Olkari echo cube breaks her connection with Voltron and disbands it back into lions. When Pidge is in danger, she connects with her and the Green Lion, and manages to help unlock its secret power; the vine cannon. However, she still harbors guilt for failing the team by falling apart.

#### Eye of the Storm

After spending some time in the healing pod after the battle on Olkarion, Nifa tries to meditate to strengthen her mind for the battles to come, but her memories of her childhood with Keith keep interrupting her.

Finally, she gives in and decides to soak in the castle's pool for a little bit, and is joined by Lance and Keith himself. The tension thickens when the elevator shuts down with the trio still inside. After trying and failing to climb up the elevator shaft on her own, Nifa and Keith work together to get them all out, though not able to avoid some awkward interactions along the way.

Once in the pool, Nifa drifts off to Dreamland again, remembering a time where she and Keith were just hanging out, being friends. Then, her memories are interrupted by a nightmare with Zarkon in it. She transits into another dream, where she sees that Zarkon is chasing the castle all around the galaxy. When she sees that the others are leaving to hide in a storm, she grows fearful and tries to find a place to hide.

She wakes up to Hunk at her side, filling her in on what's going on. Zarkon attacks again, but Hunk convinces her to face her fear and fight. As the team reqroups on the bridge, Nifa theorizes that Zarkon must be tracking them through her, due to him appearing in her nightmare. Knowing that they must escape for now, Nifa forms Voltron and flies through the storm, but it's not long before her fear begins to get to her. Luckily, the castle distracts Zarkon long enough for them to make an escape, but not without leaving Nifa feeling totally at fault.

#### The Ark of Taujeer

Certain that Zarkon is tracking them through her, Nifa tries to discuss a plan with the others, but Keith steps in, saying that Zarkon must be tracking them through him instead. Confused by this sudden concept, Nifa speaks with Keith and asks if his revelation has anything to do with the knife his mother left him. Keith questions if he's somehow connected to the Galra, but Nifa denies it.

Later on, Nifa is woken by Keith sneaking off to the pod hangar, and she ends up joining him on his quest to discover Zarkon's tracking point. While in the pod, she dozes off and dreams of yet another memory of their shared childhood. When she wakes, the team reports that the Galra have found them, regardless of their absence, and the two friends attempt to return in a rush. However, their pod explodes and Nifa's helmet is damaged, putting her at risk for suffocation.

As Keith tries to rush her back to the castle, Nifa faints and dreams of the battle on Taujeer. She calls the Red Lion for help, then helps Hunk and the Yellow Lion save the ark by using its secret power. The Red Lion finds Keith and Nifa in time, and is able to rush them back to Taujeer.

After winning the battle, Nifa and Allura have an argument over the outcomes of their plan to leave, but Shiro steps in, saying that they finally know how Zarkon is tracking them, as a result of their journey, and that it's through the Black Lion.

#### Space Mall

In order to repair the teludav, Coran journeys to a swap moon to trade for some with the Unilu. Meanwhile, Shiro attempts to strengthen his bond with the Black Lion so that Zarkon can stop tracking them through it. Nifa offers to help, but Shiro refuses it, believing that her influence feels like cheating on the relationship. After a heated argument with Allura, Nifa decides to prove her worth by leaving to get the scaultrite lenses on her own.

However, it isn't long before Nifa runs into trouble. A Uniluan merchant notices her claws and tries to buy them off her, but also lets it slip that Planet Raion has disappeared ever since the Galra attacked them. Keith rescues her from the merchant, but brings her along for the ride instead of bringing her back to the castle.

The two hang out at the mall for a while before running into more trouble with another merchant, which Nifa effectively gets them away from. Later on, she dreams of yet another memory shared with Keith, but halfway through, she projects herself on the astral field and finds Zarkon fighting Shiro. With little choice, Nifa reveals herself to Zarkon and saves Shiro with help from the Black Lion.

Back in the space mall, security sniffs out the paladins and Nifa and they all escape on the back of a cow. Back on the ship, Shiro has established his bond and the team is ready to meet the Blade of Marmora

#### The Blade of Marmora

Team Voltron prepares to travel to the Blade's base. When they get there, the Blades allow three to enter, but no more than that. Shiro decides that he, Keith, and Nifa should be the ones to go in. Allura tries to deny Nifa's entry, but Nifa furiously defends her right to go in, surprising everyone.

Later on, she reveals to Keith that the only reason why is because she wants to find out what happened to Planet Raion, and if the Blades know anything about it. As they travel to the base, she dreams about someone who took care of her in her early years. The memory is vague, but she remembers her father referring to him as a half-blood, like her.

In the Blade's base, they talk things over, regarding Ulaz and his sacrifice. Then, out of nowhere, an operative attacks Keith and reveals his knife, claiming it to be stolen. Keith denies this and Nifa backs him up, but their claims are written off as lies, as they don't believe Nifa is Voltron's spirit guide either. Shiro tries to get them to leave, but Keith wants to know the truth about his family, and Nifa the truth about her planet. Kolivan, leader of the Blades, agrees on the terms they run through the trials of Marmora. Keith offers to go first, and tells Nifa not to follow if he doesn't survive.

Keith runs the trials, but is beaten badly. He manages to escape by going through the floor, but he faints and hallucinates a holographic Nifa, who tells him to call it quits. After watching their conversation unfold, Nifa runs out to help Keith, unconsciously telling the Red Lion that Keith is in danger. As the Red Lion attacks, a burly operative demands that Keith give up the knife. Nifa furiously berates the man for telling him to do so, and the operative reveals to be Vrepta, Nifa's godfather and a half-Galra Raionsupiritean.

After Keith awakens the blade and is revealed to be half-Galra himself, everyone returns to the castle to discuss their next move. Nifa asks about what has become of Raion, and Vrepta says that only Slav knows where they could've possibly went.