Arle

Arle Nadja is a young girl with magical powers. As she is the main protagonist in Madou Monogatari, she is also the main protagonist of the early Puyo Puyo games and is generally accepted to be the main protagonist of Puyo Puyo in general. She is described to be cheerful, but prone to making snarky comments. She attacks with elemental magic such as Fire, Ice Storm, and Thunder, but also knows some other magic such as Diacute, Heaven Ray and her signature Bayoen. Despite her design changing throughout the series, Arle states that she wears the same clothes 365 days a year. She has a pet, or creature friend named Carbuncle or its nickname, Carby. She is desired by Satan.

In some early games set during her childhood, Arle has a mother and grandmother she lives with. It is unknown what has happened to her father, though his background is touched on in some continuities. This is most notable in True Madou Monogatari, where he went missing when she was 5 years old. She was 16 years old in the Puyo Puyo series.

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 True 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, a red cape that reaches to her legs in this game. 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 was 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 who's somewhat of a tomboy. In Puyo Puyo Tetris, it's been stated she hates proper etiquette such as hand sanitation and being told not to play with your food. Although she's normally optimistic, she has her limits and will start scolding others if irritated. She typically 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 her, which often causes Arle to respond with annoyance, anger, 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 in Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary, where in her story, Arle gives some mildly-scolding remarks to her opponents before battling them. In the "Final Story" of the same game, she breaks down and scolds Satan for his actions, even physically attacking him before engaging in a Puyo battle with him.

Her tomboyish traits are occasionally touched upon, the leading trait being that she uses the masculine pronoun, "ボク (boku)" to refer to herself. It's implied occasionally that she's oblivious to typical feminine interests, or flat out has no interest in stereotypical feminine hobbies and behaviors. 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 panics when Draco challenges her to a swimsuit contest, and in Puyo Puyo Tetris she was upset when Zed tried to force her to do "prim and proper" tasks as she wasn't used to them.

Abilities Arle's notable ability is that she's an expert at using various types of spells, even when she was in kindergarten. Throughout both Madou Monogatari and Puyo Puyo she's been shown using many kinds of spells each with their own properties. Her most common spells are Fire, Ice Storm, Diacute, Brain Dumbed, Jugem and her signature move Bayoen, commonly appearing as standard spells in both Madou Monogatari and Puyo Puyo. However, as revealed in Madou Monogatari III, she still has a limit on how often she can use these spells. On one occasion, her finger started bleeding after abusing Ice Storm too much. Other commonly used spells include Thunder and Heaven Ray.

In addition to the powers listed above and below, Arle can apparently also sense the feelings of Puyos, as stated in Arle no Bouken: Mahou no Jewel.

The full list of Arle's magical abilites can be seen here. Bold means it appears in a Puyo game (names are based on the English localization of Puyo Puyo Tetris/Puyo Puyo Champions), while italics means that's the old name, or direct translation of Japanese/English Puyo Pop Fever name.

Spell Description Name Effect (Notable) Appearances Element Hot ホット Flame-based magic that can be used for both offense and heating up water. MSX2 Madou Monogatari 2 Madou Monogatari A Waku Puyo Series Fire Fireball Fire (Japanese, English Fever) ファイアー Flame-based magic that can be used for offense. In most apperances, it shoots out fireballs. All appearances of Arle, Except for Puyo Quest Fire Fire Arrow ファイヤーアロー Flame-based magic that projects fire in the form of an arrow. Satan's Grand Popularity Enterprise Fire Fire Storm ファイアーストーム Flame-based magic that projects fire in a more powerful attack. It creates a whirlpool of flame. Waku Puyo Series Fire Fire Blast ファイヤーブラスト Flame-based magic. However, the effect is unknown. True Madou Monogatari Volume 2 Fire Magma-tude マグマチュード Earth and flame-based magic capable of bringing lava out from underground. Empowered by Yellow Puyo. Satan's Grand Popularity Enterprise Fire Earth Volcana ヴォルケナー Flame-based magic capable of using lava as a bullet to shatter the enemy. Inherited from Lilith. True Madou Monogatari Volume 8 Fire Cold コールド Ice-based magic that can be used for offense as well as cooling down water. MSX2 Madou Monogatari 2 Madou Monogatari A Waku Puyo Series Ice Ice アイス Ice-based magic that serves as the ice counterpart to Fire. MSX2 Madou Monogatari 2 Waku Puyo Series Ice Ice Storm アイスストーム Ice-based magic that serves as the ice counterpart to Fireball. Often depicted as a snowflake attack. It appears as alternative effect variant of Fireball in Puyo Puyo 7. All appearances of Arle Quest: Chronicle AS Ice Glacieria グラシェリア Ice-based magic that serves as the ice counterpart to Volcana. True Madou Monogatari Volume 8 Ice Winter Magic ウィンターマジック Presumably Ice-based magic with no known animation. Adds 5 to trace capacity for 1 turn (same-time coefficient increases to 2×). Quest: Winter Break AS Ice(?) Shock ショック Electricity-based magic that stop foes. Waku Puyo Series Electric Thunder サンダー Electricity-based magic that serves as the electric counterpart to Fireball & Ice Storm. Depicted as a bolt of lightning. Big Kindergarten Kids Waku Puyo Series Puyo Pop Fever Electric Lightning ライトニング Electricity-based magic that strikes lightning over walls. Game Gear Madou A Waku Puyo Series Saturn Madou Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop Electric Lightning Arrow ライトニングアロー Electricity-based magic that serves as the electric counterpart to Fire Arrow. True Madou Monogatari Volume 8 Electric Lightning Burst ライトニング・バースト Electricity-based magic that shoots several smaller bolts that shoot the enemy and explode. True Madou Monogatari Volume 8 Electric Stone ストーン Earth-based magic that attacks with falling stones. i-mode Madou Monogatari Earth Wind ウィンド Wind-based magic that can be used to do things such as gather leaves. Satan's Grand Popularity Enterprise Wind Tornado トルネード Wind-based magic that can be used to generate a large tornado. Empowered by Purple Puyo. Satan's Grand Popularity Enterprise Wind Sonic Ball ソニックボール Non-elemental magic that can attack with a light pink orb. Satan's Grand Popularity Enterprise Miscellaneous Holy Laser ホーリーレーザー Holy-based magic that can attack enemies with a ray of light. Cannot penetrate walls. Waku Puyo Series Holy Heaven's Ray Heaven Ray (Japanese, English Fever) ヘブンレイ Holy-based magic that causes Arle to be lifted in or by a beam of magic. Formerly, it was a bullet that exploded on contact with an obstacle. It appears as alternative effect variant of Mind Blast in Puyo Puyo 7. It shares the motion with Bayoen in Puyo Puyo Tetris, and Mind Blast in Puyo Puyo Chronicle. Waku Puyo Series Fever 1 to Puyo 7, Tetris, Chronicle, Tetris 2 Quest: Valkyrie AS Holy Aurora アウローラ Extremely powerful magic inherited from Lilith. True Madou Monogatari Volume 8 Unknown Blast ブラスト Rudimentary attack magic. Fires bullets, which can cause explosions. True Madou Monogatari Satan's Grand Popularity Enterprise Miscellaneous Judgement Jugem (Japanese versions) ジュゲム/じゅげむ Non-elemental attack magic that is extremely powerful. Often obtained late game, and not guaranteed to succeed in RPGs. In Puyo Puyo Tetris, it shares the motion with Ice Storm. Madou Monogatari 1/2/3 Puyo 2 - Minna 20th Anniversary onwards Quest: Original ★4 AS Miscellaneous Magic Missile マジックミサイル Attack magic that fires a semi-transparent arrow. Always hits due to tracking the target. Satan's Grand Popularity Enterprise Miscellaneous Holy Night Present 聖夜のプレゼント Christmas magic(?). Deals colored explosive damage with 10× Attack centering one enemy at *6. Quest: Santa AS Misc./Ice(?) Heedon ひーどん Magic that can make enemies fall asleep. MSX2 Madou Monogatari Madou Monogatari A Big Kindergarten Kids Unused in Puyo 2 Arcade Status Sleep スリープ Magic that can make enemies fall asleep. PC98 Madou Monogatari PCE Madou 1 Waku Puyo Series Unused in Puyo 2 Arcade Status Blind ブラインド Magic that can blind the enemy. Waku Puyo Series Status Spooky スプーキー Magic that can intimidate the enemy. This lowers their magical power. MSX2 DiscStation Madou Monogatari Status Mind Blast Brain Damned/Dumbed (Japanese versions) ブレインダムド Magic that can induce stupidity into those who listen to the incantation. Takes many forms, and can either lower attack power, or even prevent the enemy from doing anything. In Puyo Puyo Tetris, it shares the motion with Ice Storm. Most Madou Monogatari games Puyo 2 - Minna Fever 2 onwards Quest: Original ★3 AS Status Bayobayo ばよばよ Magic that causes a feeling of distant aging. Weakens physical attack power. MSX2 Madou Monogatari Madou Monogatari A Game Gear Madou 2 Status Lwark Woid ルアク・ウォイド Dark-based magic that drains the target's defense. PC98 Madou Madou Monogatari A PCE Madou 1 Darkness Speed Down スピードダウン Magic that causes Arle's target to slow down. Waku Puyo Series Status Speed Up スピードアッブ Magic that causes Arle to move faster. Waku Puyo Series Status Diacute Diamond Cutie (English Fever) ダイアキュート Magic that when used, increases the power of any spells used after it. It also usually causes Arle to stutter the name of the spell. It using Mind Blast's motion when you playing Mega Puyo Rush/Mini Puyo Fever rules in Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary and Puyo Puyo Chronicle. All appearances of Arle Quest: Celebration AS Unnamed in English Tetris ("Want more?") Status Eclipse イクリプス Dark-based magic that enhances Arle's defense. MSX2 DiscStation Madou Monogatari Darkness Defensive Shield シールド Creates a shield to defend Arle from various attacks. MSX2 DiscStation Madou Monogatari Waku Puyo Series Unnamed in 15th/20th (Good!よーし！) Unused in 15th Defensive Barrier バリアー Magic that generates a barrier to protect Arle. Satan's Grand Popularity Enterprise Defensive Don'een どんえーん Works similarly to Barrier, but Arle cannot attack with it up. MSX2 Madou Monogatari Defensive Bayohihihi ばよひひひー Magic that lessens the damage Arle takes. Usually also reflects damage. MSX2 Madou Monogatari Big Kindergarten Kids Genesis Madou 1 Defensive Revia リバイア Magic that retaliates any damage Arle takes to whomever it was that attacked her. In Puyo Puyo Chronicle, it reusing the motion of Shield in the past games. PC98 Madou Monogatari Big Kindergarten Kids Tetris & Chronicle Unnamed in English Tetris ("Counter!") Defensive Warp ワープ Allows Arle to warp herself to the front of the current floor that she's on. MSX2 DiscStation Madou Monogatari Game Gear Madou Monogatari PCE Madou Monogatari Miscellaneous Owanimo オワニモ Magic that when used, allows transport of four being with the same color. This is used to power Puyo matches. Michikusa Ibun Implicitly all Puyo games Explicitly mentioned in Fever 2 Miscellaneous Illusion イリュージョン Allows Arle to take the form of a dragon and get out of encountering enemies. MSX2 Madou Monogatari Madou Monogatari ARS Rally Puyo 2 Miscellaneous Light ライト Lights up the surrounding area. Also, it makes Arle more likely to encounter enemies. MSX2 Madou Monogatari Game Gear Madou Monogatari 2 PCE Madou Monogatari Miscellaneous Purifa ピュリファ Allows Arle to cure her current condition. Occasionally, it can only heal certain statuses. Waku Puyo Series Arle's Adventure Healing Dance おどる A dance that rarely gains a very small amount of Experience. Game Gear Madou Monogatari 3/A Misc. Condia コンディア Allows Arle to cure her current condition, given that it is not poison. Waku Puyo Series Saturn Madou Monogatari Healing Healing ヒーリング Allows Arle to heal herself in battle. Waku Puyo Series Saturn Madou Monogatari Quest: Tetris AS Unused in Puyo 4 Healing Gaia Healing ガイアヒーリング Allows Arle to heal herself in battle for more than what Healing can do. Madou Monogatari A Healing "Buchi" Healing ブチヒーリング Allows Arle to heal her team. Daimadou Senryaku Monogatari Series Healing Ressurectia リザレクティア Allows Arle to resurrect herself or her teammates. Waku Puyo Series Saturn Madou Monogatari Healing "Arle Shield" Ruipanko るいぱんこ A spell that has several, random effects. Best known for being able to prevent garbage Puyo from falling for 15 seconds. Game Gear Madou Monogatari Genesis Madou 1 Puyo Puyo 4 Defensive (Puyo 4) Misc. (normally) Summon 召喚 Allows Arle to summon people to fight for her. These include: Honey Bee, Kodomo Dragon, Archan and others. Daimadou Senryaku Monogatari Series Miscellaneous Unlocking Magic 解錠の魔法 Allows Arle to unlock anything she desires. Saturn Madou Monogatari. Miscellaneous Sing'arize シングアライズ It is unknown what this spell is like. Attack of blue cards increases to 4× when attacking with blue color for 3 turns, but can be powered up to 5x. Quest: Steam City AS Unknown Bayoen Cutie (English Fever) ばよえ～ん Arle's most legendary move, and her signature ability. It rends the hearts of those nearby, allowing her to paralyze or otherwise distract them with flowers. Occasionally, it takes a more offensive form, being a collection of random objects such as planets and stars or lots of Puyo, and can even be used as a burst move. All appearances of Arle Quest: Original ★5~ AS Arle's Personal Source: http://suwa3.web.fc2.com/data-kan/magic/magic1.html

Relationships Amitie From Puyo Puyo Fever 2 onwards, Amitie and Arle are friends who frequently hang out with each other and play Puyo together. They trust each other and rely on one another when the situation calls for it, though Arle sometimes struggles to follow Amitie's zany behavior. Carbuncle Out of every character, the strongest relationship Arle has is with Carbuncle. Ever since Arle met Carbuncle in Madou Monogatari, they have been the best of friends, and when he isn't off on his own adventure, he is with Arle. Despite Carbuncle going off on his own in Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary, Arle states that she'd be devastated if Carbuncle ever went away. In Puyo Puyo! 20th Anniversary, Arle's story begins with her happily exclaiming that she finally gets to take a relaxing walk with Carbuncle. She also says that when she's with Carbuncle, everything is fun. Draco Centauros Draco Centauros is another one of Arle's rivals, though this is mostly for competitive reasons such as beauty contests. Arle expects to be challenged in a beauty contest by Draco so much that she sarcastically shows concern when she was denied a beauty contest in Minna de Puyo Puyo and switches roles with Draco by being vain in Puyo Puyo Tsu. Ecolo Arle was possessed by Ecolo during the events of Puyo Puyo 7. She seems to find them troublesome and annoying, similar to how she sees Satan. Ringo Arle and Ringo first meet in Puyo Puyo 7 where Arle explains how Ringo has the power to pop Puyo because she was affected by the otherworldly light before being possessed by Ecolo. Ringo seems to envy Arle's adventurous lifestyle and wishes to go on adventures as she does. Rulue Rulue considers herself to be Arle's rival in gaining Satan's affection. In spite of this rivalry, she accompanies Arle to her magic school so she may learn how to use magic in Madou Monogatari III. Generally speaking, while Rulue sees Arle as a rival, Arle doesn't reciprocate the rivalry and sees her more as a friend. They are at least reasonable enough to rarely team up together for a similar goal. Arle worried about Rulue's well-being after being told she and Schezo were in danger in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. Satan The original antagonist of the series, Satan, is in love with Arle and does various things in order to be with her. In Puyo Puyo Tsu, he wants to have a date with Arle under the starry night sky. In Puyo Puyo Box, Arle meets Satan, who is wearing a tuxedo, in a Carbuncle-themed room in his castle. In Minna de Puyo Puyo, he wants to have a date with Arle, this time being a three-day two-night stay for two at the Love Springs. However, Arle normally expresses embarrassment or disappointment at Satan's attempts at trying to marry her. In spite of this, Arle does not hate Satan, and occasionally shows concern when he's in peril. Schezo Wegey Her relationship with Schezo Wegey is rather ambiguous, as Schezo's poor choice of words allow for romantic subtext rather than directly telling her he wants her power. She often calls him a pervert for this, and sometimes corrects his sentences for him. Sometimes she intentionally messes with him, for example ignoring one of his boasts in order to irritate him, or comparing Schezo to fungus and moss in Puyo Puyo Sun. She is somewhat able to tolerate him accompanying her whenever they share the goal of foiling Satan's schemes. She is later friends with him. Arle worried about Schezo's well-being after being told he and Rulue were in danger in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. Witch Similarly, Witch is a competitive rival over having the strongest magic, occasionally going so far as to try and land a cheap shot while Arle is distracted. In Puyo Puyo Sun, she is seen assaulting Arle while in her sleep, proclaiming "I love you" and implications of molestation. However, due to the ambiguous nature of the cutscene, it's unknown if Witch genuinely loves Arle or if she was thinking of someone else, (in the Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary/Trivia, it is said that "Witch has a crush with a prince, and often dreams that she dances with him"). Trivia Arle is named after Arles, a city in France, via the music "The Girl from Arles" by Georges Bizet. Her surname, Nadja, is named after the titular femme fatale from the novel "Nadja" by André Breton. Arle is the first and one of the few characters with an asymmetrical design (though it's her clothing rather than a physical feature). She is also one of the only asymmetrical characters not to have a second set of art. Arle's theme is 時空を超えて久しぶり! (Jikū o koete hisashiburi! lit. Long Time No See Across Time and Space!) Originally, this song was the stages 1-8 theme of Puyo Puyo (1992). Arle's ★5 form in Puyo Puyo!! Quest was redrawn in Version 3.0.0, along with Ringo's ★5 form. Her alternate costume Magnificent Curry Arle was designed by Twitter user えたぱにこ as part of a design contest Sega held to commemorate Puyo Puyo!! Quest's tenth anniversary.[3] Her signature spell, Bayoen, is based on a specific performance of the song "Boyoyon Rock" by the comedian Hikaru Ijuuin.[4] One of Arle's spells, Ru-i-pa-n-ko (るいぱんこ), is the reverse spelling of Japanese kana, Ko-n-pa-i-ru (コンパイル, Compile). Amitie shares many traits with Arle; namely, she is a primary protagonist and uses similar (or, in the case of Bayoen, outright identical) spells. In SEGA's Puyo Puyo games, Arle's chants have a unique quality in that her repeater, Diacute, will cause the chant for whichever spell follows its conclusion to have a stuttering effect. This reference's Diacute's function in Madou Monogatari, where the spell following its use will have the same stuttering effect to emphasize its increased power. In the English version of Puyo Pop Fever, her name is pronounced "Are-lee". The English version of Puyo Puyo Tetris changed to "Are-ll" (as in "R"), which is similar pronunciation with Arles above, make sounds more accurate than "Are-lee". However, Satan exclusively uses "Are-lee" as the pronunciation of his pet name for her, "Arly" in the English version of Puyo Puyo Tetris. As Fire, Bayoen and Diacute have all been called something else (Fireball, Cutie, Diamond Cutie), Ice Storm remains Arle's only spell to stay consistent between not only every game she appears in, but also between English and Japanese. The intro of Madou Monogatari: ARS associates each of its three main characters with a type of flower. Arle's flower is the sunflower, which is featured prominently in the artwork for Madou Monogatari A: Doki Doki Vacation. Alternate Voices In Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary, her voice becomes lower-pitched, and more reminiscent of Doppelganger Arle. In Puyo Puyo Tetris, she is whispering. Many lines of dialogue are also changed. In the English version, she speaks with a bit of a more serious tone. In Puyo Puyo Chronicle, The end of the sentence is raised and there is more emphasis on the pronunciations. She has an atmosphere with heart mark attached to the end. Like Puyo Puyo Tetris, there are many changes to her dialogue. Puyo Puyo Chronicle also features a special guest voice for her, which has the exact same dialogue as her regular voice. The same applies to Ally. In Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, Arle sounds drowsy, akin to Rulue in Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary, Raffina in the original Puyo Puyo Tetris, and Ecolo in Puyo Puyo Chronicle. In the English version, she speaks with a more "villainous" tone, somewhat reminiscent of Dark Arle. In Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop, she speaks with a bit of a more serious tone. In the English version, she speaks with a tomboyish tone.