Diana (MÄR)

Infobox animanga character
name = Diana
series = MÄR


caption = Diana by Nobuyuki Anzai
first =
voiced by = Michiko Neya (Japanese)
Tara Platt (English)
age = ?
born =
relatives = Dorothy (little sister)
divider = yes
aux1 = Chess Pieces
aux1 name = Affiliation
aux2 = Chess Piece Queen, Queen of Lestava
aux2 name = Rank

Diana (ディアナ, "Deiana") is a fictional character and major antagonist in the popular manga and anime series MÄR. She is the Queen of the Chess Pieces and the queen of the Kingdom of Lestava.

Background

Diana is a former citizen of Caldia, the island nation of witches and wizards off the Southern Continent of MÄR-Heaven. Very little is known about her time in Caldia, though from what is known Diana, and her sister Dorothy, belonged to an aristocratic wizarding family ["MÄR" manga volume 15, chapter 154, page 8] . It was Diana who trained Dorothy to use the ÄRM "Zephyrus Broom", as indicated by a flashback in the anime, and it is also possible she was its original wielder. It is also known that she made dolls for Dorothy and repaired them when they were broken, one of which she later was the later Chess Pieces Knight Pinocchio. While to Caldian and her little sister she was a caring figure and a well-liked citizen, Dorothy says that Diana insatiably covet nearly everything since a young age. ["MÄR" manga volume 9, chapter 88, page 14]

It is also known that, fourteen years before the series, Diana sneaked a Magic Stone into Lestava's queen, giving birth to Snow and giving her a connection to Koyuki. Diana's quotes in the manga, however, make it apparent that Snow's connection with Koyuki was formed through other events. 10 years before the series, motivated by an immense craving for power, she began to discard her loyalty to Caldia. "MÄR" manga volume 9, chapter 88, page 15] After releasing Phantom from Caldia's cell, ["MÄR" manga volume 14, chapter 146, page 6] the two unsealed the Orb, "MÄR" manga volume 9, chapter 93, page 7] which the sorcerers held under imprisonment, and stole 798 ÄRMs (including Babbo, which they downloaded the Orb into). They then fled Caldia to the outside world.

After 2 years of wandering, Diana was chosen as Lestava kingdom's royal bride, with Lestava's king wishing for a new queen for the sake of Snow, who was saddened by the death of her mother, and the two instantly got along like a true mother and daughter. ["MÄR" manga volume 9, chapter 89, page 5] During her rule of Lestava, Diana was respected by residents of the palace as a kind-hearted queen, her malice so well concealed. In secret, Diana was also enthroned as Chess Pieces' Queen, being one of the founders, and granted Phantom the title the leading no.1 Knights. She also branded him with a Zombie Tattoo, which grants the wearer eternal life, as a reward. ["MÄR" manga volume 9, chapter 90, page 1]

With the uprise of the Chess Piece army, she moved on to the next step of her plan to conquer MÄR-Heaven: creating the Cross Guard, presenting them all with ÄRMs for weapon, with the other-worlder Danna for leader. ["MÄR" manga volume 9, chapter 89, page 7] Understandably, she was acknowledged as the one who walked MÄR-Heaven to victory, a position from which she could achieve her true goal - domination over Ginta Toramizu's world, wishing to use their advanced weapons and technology to defeat the much less developed people of MÄR-Heaven. With the king falling ill, Diana began to show her darker side, constantly ordering more delicacies, ÄRMs, and also began to order Lestava's army to conquer new territory. ["MÄR" manga volume 9, chapter 89, page 13] As more and more suspicious characters developed around Lestava Castle, Alan, one of Lestava's strongest knights and the Cross Guards second-in-command, led Snow to safety outside the castle.

Personality

Diana is initially sinister, selfish, and uninterested in anything as long as those of a lower rank can do her biddings without fail. As the Chess Piece Queen she is one of the two heads of a twin-headed snake commanding the Chess army, made Lestava Castle a safe haven for the army, and shaping MÄR-Heaven into a land of war and destruction. Remaining in the background at all times, Diana pulls the strings of the Knights, using them as her ultimate weapons for her plan to conquer both MÄR-Heaven and Ginta's world.

Unknown to anyone else, including herself, Diana's true self is still locked away inside of her, clouded by the influence and manipulation of the King, which was not reminded to her until the very end.

Plot

War Games

Diana is introduced fairly late into the storyline, during the second round of the War Games. During that round she meets with Phantom and Peta, discussing the progress of the war and Team MÄR. During the War Games, it is shown she watches the battles from Lestava Castle, through her own personal, and overlarge crystal ball.

Diana later reappears after Dorothy's battle with the Knight Rapunzel, who reveals to Dorothy how Diana is the Chess Pieces' Queen. Diana gives an order to Phantom to lead a large number of Rooks into Caldia and steal all of the remaining ÄRMs, coincidentally the same time Team MÄR visits Caldia. Phantom, however, calls back the invasion following his battle with Ginta, surprised by how Ginta wounded him and deciding to immediately report this to his Queen. Diana, too, is impressed by how Ginta has grown, and realizes that soon he will become a great threat.

Diana later orders Magical Roe to capture Snow in a battle against her in the 6th round of the War Games, which he does reluctantly. With Snow in her possession, Diana's plan to take control over both worlds began to fully bloom, watching the other world through the eyes of Ginta's mother. Following Phantom's next battle with Ginta, which ends in Ginta's victory, Diana scolds Phantom for losing and casts him away as a useless and outdated weapon.

Post-War Games

During Team MÄR's invasion of Lestava Castle, in an attempt to rescue Snow, Diana reveals to them Snow's connection to Koyuki of Ginta's world and how the connection came to be, much to their shock. In the anime, following Snow's rescue and Diana and King's flee of Lestava Castle, Diana and King began their attempt to conquer Ginta's world, opening several portals throughout MÄR-Heaven leading to the other world. Diana personally attacks Caldia Floating Castle, cursing the Grand Elder into a slime monster that will wreak havoc on the Caldians, and stole the castle to use as her new base of operations following Lestava's fall, watching as King killed off a large number of Chess Pieces and most of Team MÄR.

When Dorothy and Ginta attack the, now grounded, floating castle, Diana chooses to battle Dorothy rather than have King be sent to deal with the two. Both are evenly matched, with both sending Guardian after Guardian to each other only to have it countered with another Guardian. In the end, Diana, using her Ghost ÄRM to attack Dorothy's final Guardian, receives a fatal wound from Dorothy's Ring Dagger, returning Diana to her true self as a loving sister for her final moments. Using the last of her strength, Diana apologizes to Dorothy, dying in her arms. Dorothy, broken-hearted, claimed it was unfair of her sister not to say that until the end.
* Last words: "But you know something Dorothy? I never stopped loving you.."

ÄRMs

As the Chess Pieces' Queen, Diana is one of the strongest characters in the series, though she prefers only getting involved once she is needed. Her ÄRMs are:

* Aeros Staff: The scepter Weapon ÄRM mere possession of which symbolizes Diana's supremacy; and which manifests the power she holds, having the blood of Dorothy's veins run in hers - wind mastery.
** Queen Flicker: The Staff's initial technique, which blasts powerful gales at opponents.
** Air Drive (anime only): The air from Diana's surroundings is concentrated into vertical wheeled blasts.
** Air Dragon: A technique that gyrates air into a serpentine form to charge at opponents.
* Ring of End (manga): Nature ÄRM, creates poisonous wheel of mists.
* ??? (anime): Nature ÄRM, purple slime that surrounds a person and turns them into a slime monster.
* Death Cube (anime): Darkness ÄRM which locks a person inside a fluorescent Rubik's cube. It's designed to open only when the cube is solved (which must be dealt with extra meticulousness), and is fail-safed to claim the riddle solver's life afterwards.
* Dalia: Named for the Lithuanian goddess of fertility, this belt Ghost ÄRM fuses Diana's body with wings and claw in resemblance to a harpy.
* ??? (manga): An unnamed ÄRM, a large bubble that engulfs human beings. When it engulfed Snow, it used her connection to Koyuki to open a portal between the two worlds.
* Octopus: Guardian ÄRM, a giant octopus.
* Pinocchio II: Guardian ÄRM, a giant remade version of her puppet Knight Pinocchio.
* Cerberus: Invoking her choker Guardian ÄRM, Diana conjures three voids which, upon contact, will release Cerberus, a dog with 2 other heads of snake on its shoulder.

References