Highlights
- Nadia is a seductive and powerful character introduced in Season 3 of Rising of the Shield Hero, with a mysterious influence over the underground gladiator fights.
- Nadia is not only a skilled fighter with a two-prong spear, but she also possesses lightning-based magic and can use her lightning powers to increase her speed and power.
- Nadia's shrewdness and compassion are revealed in her objective to purchase and free demi-human slaves, particularly those from her hometown, using the money she earns from winning fights in the coliseum.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Rising of The Shield Hero Season 3, Episode 2, “Nadia”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Nadia is one of the new characters introduced in the third season of Rising of the Shield Hero. She is a beautiful and extremely seductive lady, which is the type of woman that Naofumi hates the most due to his past trauma with the first princess of Melromarc.
Unlike the first princess, however, Nadia is more than a pretty face. After all, not only is she extremely knowledgeable about the fighters and the inner workings of the Zeltoble’s Coliseum, but she also seems to have some sort of influence in these underground gladiator fights. By the end of the first episode, Naofumi and we as the viewers are left wondering whether she is an ally or an enemy. Fortunately for us, the second episode is basically dedicated to her. So let’s use this chance to talk about Nadia and her many secrets.
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Nadia: The Wild And Powerful
Nadia is an easygoing and free-spirited lady. She always follows her heart and does whatever she wants to do, which makes it extremely difficult to predict what she will do next. One moment she gives useful tips to Naofumi to help him navigate the treacherous world of the underground coliseum, the next moment she warns him to not go against her. One thing’s for sure, Nadia is extremely powerful.
There are lots of moments in this episode where Naofumi and his companions get to witness Nadia’s prowess. Nadia’s main weapon is a large two-prong spear, similar to the Hades’s Bident in Greek Mythology. And despite the fact the weapon is longer than her body, Nadia can masterfully use it to knock out multiple opponents in a matter of seconds.
As if that’s not impressive enough, she is also a master in lightning-based magic. During a fight, Nadia will use her lightning magic and martial arts skills in tandem. She will clad her body and weapon with high-powered electricity and use it to increase her speed and power exponentially. There are also several other variants of this spear and lightning combination attack.
Some of her most notable special moves in this episode are shooting a powerful lightning bolt from the tip of her bident, attacking one opponent with her lightning-clad bident that causes a chain reaction that will electrify every nearby enemy, and summoning a high-powered lightning strike from the sky, just to name a few.
Nadia: The Shrewd And Compassionate
In an interesting twist of fate, Naofumi and his companions (who fight under the alias of “Rock valley Team”) have to fight against Nadia. All of Naofumi’s previous battle in the coliseum has been largely influenced by an illusion spell in order to disguise not only their identity but also their real power. When it’s time for them to fight Nadia, however, they quickly realize that they have to use every ounce of their power if they wish to stand a chance against her. Because it’s clear as day that she is a powerhouse who can decimate everything that dares to stand on her path.
That said, there are some new sides of Nadia that Naofumi finds during this battle. As it turns out, Nadia managed to secure quite a wealthy man as her main sponsor. That means as long as she keeps winning the fights in this coliseum, therefore enriching the sponsor who bet on her, she will keep earning an unbelievable amount of money. Much more than any other fighters in the coliseum. Quite a shrewd move for somebody who seems to only care about booze and having fun.
So why does somebody who is as free-spirited as Nadia need a large sum of money? As it turns out, she has the same objective as Naofumi. She wishes to purchase and free as many demi-human slaves as she can, especially those who come from the Lurolona village. Based on what’s being said in this episode, Nadia seems to have managed to buy quite a few demi-human slaves during her tenure in the coliseum. So there is a kind and compassionate reason behind her thunderous barrage of attacks.
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Nadia: The Killer Whale Demi-Human
Out of everything that happens in the second episode of the third season of the Rising of The Shield Hero, this one is the biggest and most mind-blowing revelation of them all. So not only Nadia is a fierce fighter who commands thunder and lightning, but she is also a demi-human. To be more precise, she is a killer whale demi-human.
As if her being a demi-human is not surprising enough, she was actually one of the original settlers of the Lurolona Village. That is why she is incredibly familiar with everybody from the village, including Raphtalia. As a matter of fact, the reason why she tries so hard to free the demi-human slaves is to save the people from her hometown.
On a day-to-day basis, Nadia uses magic to assume the form of an alluring woman. But when she is in serious fighting mode, Nadia will transform back into her original killer whale form. While in this form, she displays a remarkable ability to control water. Being a killer whale, she is practically an expert when it comes to underwater battles. Add to that her magical power to summon and manipulate lightning, and it’s clear that she is one of the strongest characters in this series. Looking forward to seeing more of Nadia in the subsequent episodes.