Queen Merona

*"How do we keep getting into these situations?"*
*"Twenty-three years of friendship and I still don't know."*
—Veronica and Merona while on a mission

**Merona Tanis Lillias Nolwenn Aristeia** is the Queen of Altea and Paladin of the Blue Lion. She is the oldest child of Queen Allura and Prince Lotor of Altea and the older sister of Prince Amias.

## Appearance

Merona is a young adult woman with deep bronze skin, waist-length white hair, and bright blue eyes with lavender pupils. As an Altean, her ears are pointed at the top rather than rounded, and she has purple marks that stretch across her cheekbones, her eyelids, and end right under her eyebrows.

She wears her Paladin armor while on missions and when in battle. When she's not in her Paladin armor, she likes to wear short dresses with long sleeves and knee- to thigh-high boots, along with scarves or long necklaces. Sometimes, while on diplomatic missions with the team or her mother, she'll wear formal Altean gowns.

She has various old/healing scars from battles and training. One of the more noticeable ones starts right below her left ear, wraps around her neck, under her right arm, and ends right above her belly button. Most days, she uses make-up to cover it up.

## Personality

Despite being a member of the Altean Royal Family, Merona is known for her joking attitude towards the other Paladins, her playful demeanor, and occasionally serious personality. She is brave, adventurous, friendly, and free-spirited. She can seem shallow at times, though it is mostly just an act. She can be quite sensitive, reflective, and distant at times when she isn't working or when her guard is lowered.

Despite her joking attitude towards the other Paladins, she cares greatly about her teammates and would be devastated if one of them got hurt on her account. Though she is very caring, she can be harsh and judgmental during first meetings, but after winning her approval she is very loyal.

She is also a born leader and leads the team through missions and diplomatic meetings, despite not being the Black or Red Paladin.

## History

Merona was born in the Castle of Lions to Queen Allura of Altea and Prince Lotor of Altea. Her mother was pilot of the Castle of Lions and Paladin of Blue Lion. Her father was Emperor of the Galra Empire until he passed it off to the Blade of Marmora to free all the planets under the Galra’s rule. Before she was born, her grandmother Honerva kidnapped and experimented on her mother while she was pregnant, causing Merona to have some deformities. When she was 8 years old, her younger brother Amias was born.

When she was 16, her younger cousin Veronica bonded with the Red Lion and she tried bonding with the Black Lion, assuming she would be the Black Paladin. It was unsuccessful and after trying to bond with every other Lion, she came to the Blue Lion and she immediately accepts Merona.

She was crowned Queen of Altea on her 23rd birthday, after her mother was injured in a terrorist attack on Altea.

## Abilities

### **Equipment**

Apart from the Blue Lion, Merona uses this Equipment:

* **Paladin Armor****:** High tech armor that protects the wearer from harmful forces. Contains a built-in oxygen mask, jet pack, energy shield, communications system, and a grappling hook and tether.
* **Bayard****:** Takes several forms suited to the specific Paladin who wields it. For Merona, it takes the form of an Altean broadsword, a mace, and an energy rifle.

* **Lion Speeder****:** Small transport vehicles within each Lion that allows the Paladins to separate from their Lions and travel to other locations.
* **Marmora Blade:**A small double-edged knife made of luxite that can manifest into a larger, single-edge blade when activated by Merona's Galran heritage.

### **Skill Set**

* **Long-range Combat:** Merona is skilled with long-range weapons, like her rifle, and is able to accurately hit targets from long distances.
* **Close-range Combat:** Meronais also skilled at close-range combat, both with and without weapons.
* **Martial Arts:** Merona was taught different martial arts styles from a young age so she could master more and more as she got older.
* **Expert Piloting:** Like her parents and uncles, Merona is an expert at piloting different air crafts.
* **Altean Physiology:** Like other Alteans, she possesses a natural, though somewhat limited ability to shapeshift.
* **Magical Abilities:** Like her mother and grandmother, Merona is gifted with latent abilities to manipulate magical energy.
* **Altean Alchemy:** After traveling to the fabled ancient Altean land Oriande and fighting the White Lion, Merona, along with her cousin Veronica, mastered Altean Alchemy.

## Trivia

* Merona's extended family includes Keith and Lance McClain-Kogane, their children, Veronica, Gabriel, Rachel, and Daniel.
* Merona is demisexual, which means she only feels sexual attraction to people with after a close emotional bond has been formed.
* Merona has a cosmic space wolf named Aster that her uncle Keith gave to her for her 6th birthday.
* Merona spends more time in the royal library than any other room in the castle.

## Gallery

Merona in her day-to-day outfit.Merona in royal Altean armor.Merona in her coronation outfit.