Nariko

Nariko is the wielder of The Heavenly Sword.

Nariko is depicted as a slender young 23-year-old woman of average height with light brown skin and long, flowing red hair that almost reaches to the ground, similar to her mother's hair. She wears a thin, cream-colored and purple-accented robe covered in sakura petals that conceals her midsection, left arm and part of her waist, exposing her midriff and most of her legs. She also wears her clan's traditional sandals with socks that reach up to her calves, as well as leather wraps around both of her hands and an arm band around her right arm. She also appears to wear a head band that allows her to maintain her exceedingly long hair in a manner that doesn't interfere with her when performing actions. In death, she is dressed virtually identically, with the exception being the removal of her headband, revealing the full length of her bright red hair.

Because her birth defied the prophesy revolving around the Heavenly Sword, Nariko was continually heaped with scorn and derision from the rest of her clan. The negative attitudes towards her remained even after she had matured to a beautiful and intelligent warrior. Even her father displayed little affection towards her, instead trying making their relationship strictly professional. Despite this, Nariko remained fiercely loyal and protective of her clan and family, and as shown in Chapter Two, she placed herself in considerable personal danger to rescue her clan members. Her cunning and combat prowess would eventually lead to her father trusting her with protecting the Sword. Her fierce determination was so great that by cleverly appealing to the Sword's own ego, she was able to manipulate and convince the Sword to delay her death enough so that she could defeat King Bohan and the Raven King; she controlled the relationship, not the sword.

Nariko was highly trained in combat and was among the most capable fighters in her clan. A quick and cunning tactician, she was highly agile, and her lithe figure belies her immense physical strength and remarkable resilience; she was capable of defending herself against multiple assailants and even massively deformed Orangumen. Throughout the game, she demonstrated her proficiency in sword fighting, hand-to-hand combat, rocket attacks, and artillery strikes. When armed with the Heavenly Sword, her combat capabilities were magnified to the point that no single combatant was able to stop her.