Story:Kings of Strife/Maria

Maria Zorphanul is a main character of Kings of Strife. A girl whose life was ruined by the government, or so she thinks, she has to cope with all of the sudden changes in her life while still trying to survive on the run.

Personality
Maria was a strong-willed young woman who always speaks her mind. She never backs down from an argument and never gives up on her goals. She likes to think that she is very powerful, and as a result, has practiced archery since she was a small child, to further strengthen herself. She always thinks to herself that she is a warrior first and woman second, and isn't afraid to share this to anybody who will listen. However, after a certain point in the story, her very character changes drastically.

Witnessing her entire village getting slaughtered because of her left an adverse effect on her psyche, to say the least. She becomes extremely quiet, anxious, and antisocial. Her very philosophy changes, and her fierce will shatters. She becomes fearful of any and all contact, and her battle skills seem to almost completely fade away. At times, she becomes simply catatonic, and will not speak, eat, sleep, or resist anything. Most of the time, she is simply very quiet and unambitious. She occasionally gets flashbacks that send her into flashes of anger, but these do not usually last long.

Eventually, as she braves more obstacles and travels around the world with her unlikely companion, she begins to get over her stress and fear and starts strengthening up again. Her old personality shines through the cracked, unstable persona, and she starts to gain back her strength again. She attributes this to Crono's intervention, and although he refuses to take credit for it, she is eternally grateful to him for his deeds. After her rejuvenation, she begins to show more of a kind, gentle side to her, and is generally much less arrogant and merciless.

Appearance
Maria is a relatively average sized young woman, with a skinny build. She has long, cascading brunette hair that can appear violet in the right light. She prefers to keep it in a long, tight braid, allowing only a fraction of her hair to flow over her face. Maria has dark eyes and pale skin. When happy, her face takes on a calm, content look, but when upset or agitated, her face forms a frown of quiet fury that can also be seen in her eyes.

Before a certain point in the story, Maria wears a light pink shirt with blue arm warmers and off white pants. The pants are tucked into black boots with small heels. Two or three scarves are wrapped around her waist.

After a turning point on the story, however, Maria's attire takes a drastic turn. She can then be found in a short-sleeved blue blouse that reaches down to skirt her legs. The blouse has two white lines on either side, separating the blue front from the black sides and back. On her waist are two belts, one of which holds her waist quiver in place for her archery. Under the blouse, Maria wears thigh high stockings with a garter belt. Over this, she wears a pair of silver knee high boots without a heel. Over all of this, she wears a light purple, ankle-length cloak that is connected by a silver neck clasp. She also wears her trademark pendant, a red gem encased in a blue lining, chained around her neck.

Abilities
When first introduced in the story, Maria is an inexperienced, weak girl who often doesn't have the heart to injure people. It shows in her archery, and her early accuracy is horrible at best. However, as the story moves on and she gains more experience, she also grows more jaded and more ruthless, and her fighting style evolves.

At first, Maria's plan of attack was to always stay in the back, away from enemies, and attempt to attack them from long-range. Her speed, attack speed, defense, and damage are incredibly low. As her style evolves, however, she quickly becomes very powerful. She can deal immense damage from both close and long range, whether it be by sniping multiple targets before they can get close to her, or by stabbing and cutting close-range enemies with arrows while bludgeoning them with her bow. When facing a crowd, she can shoot off many arrows at once, but this is usually the limits of her crowd-control, and she is indeed much better suited at attacking small groups of enemies.

Music

 * ''Main Theme: Blindness
 * ''World Map Theme:
 * ''Dungeon Theme:


 * ''Battle Theme: Soldier
 * ''Unleashed Battle Theme: Dark Oracle
 * ''Boss Theme: Fear's Confrontation


 * ''Special Theme: Dreams