Amelia and Naga: Sisters?!

A lot of you have heard about that rumor that there is a chance of Naga being Amelia's lost older sister, and for anyone who doesn't believe it or just needs evidence, maybe this "article" will help you out a bit.

I know that some people come to the conclusion that Amelia and Naga can't possibly be sisters because of how different they are. For example, Amelia's clothes are completely modest (excluding those princess dresses -_-) while Naga is barely wearing anything at all. I do admit that this is true, but it also doesn't disprove anything. In reality, siblings have their similarities and differences, and sometimes they're completely different in almost every way. So explaining how different they are just won't do.

To start off with my evidence, I've heard that in the manga, it gives back up details about Amelia's mother's story. Apparently she was killed by the sword of an asassinater (which is probably one reason why Amelia doesn't carry one, or any weapons, for that matter) and her older sister, Gracia, witnessing this, went mad and ran away from home. (I've also heard that Phil just allowed her to leave) Also if anyone hasn't noticed, Naga does carry a sword too, but she rarely, and almost never, uses it; she is also deathly afraid of the sight of blood, as seen in the OAV "Jeremy's Knighthood". Something had to happen that would result in her fainting at the sight of blood. (A bandit's cheek was just slightly scratched, and Naga went freaked out and fainted at the sight.) Throughout the series (all of them), the group makes mentions of Amelia's older sister, one time being in episode 9 of NEXT, when Phil is believed to be dead, Zelgadis mentions that he has heard of Amelia's older sister, the crown princess of Seyruun, who ran away from home.

Another piece of evidence, however minor, are Amelia's and Naga's principles. Both on several occasions have brought up "not to judge a book by it's cover" and such.This similarity could signify similar, or the same, family teachings, and that's only possible if they lived in the same household. (at least for awhile ^^) Thanks goes to Stefanie for reminding me of this!

Remember that episode in the first series when Gourry is forced to cross-dress for the very first time? Well, at one point, a rather familiar looking person passes in the foreground. (This is right after the occurrence with that poor, framed cockroach.) The person has long, dark hair (although it has a reddish tint to it), a long, dark cape, spiky shoulder guards, and those strange "clothes" that Naga wears. That's not all, though, because at that moment Amelia strays from Lina's conversation with Gourry and notices the passing person. She looks up and out at the person with surprised eyes and makes an expression of thoughtfulness after she passes, as if she were saying to herself, "Hmm... don't I know her from somewhere?" Obviously Amelia recognizes the unnoticed "stranger". Believe me, it's there!

Another piece is in a later episode of TRY. Lina, for some reason I can't remember, starts laughing at Jiras (or Jillas in the pro subs) with a Naga-ish fashion, with all the oh-ho-ho-ho's. Amelia then looks up and exclaims, "Miss Lina, I don't like that kind of laughter!" (See image to the right, kindly submitted by Tikel! Thank you!) It sounds like Amelia has heard that laugh all to much before...

The "last" clue I've noticed is in one of my favorite episodes of TRY, when the group has to couple up in order to gain access to a cow dung-shaped temple. (yuck!) When crossing a bridge, Gourry makes a quick point that Amelia has grown taller, and the replies are as follows:

Amelia: "Naturally. My older sister is about as tall as you!"

Gourry: "Sounds scary..."

Amelia: "She is!"

Obviously it's known that Naga is pretty tall and when compared to Gourry, they are probably about the same size. She's scary, too... Leaves you something to think about, huh?

For a more professional bit of evidence, though... the following is quoted from Mr. Kanzaka's official fan magazine called "Blaster Magazine":

Naga the Serpent's actual name is Gracia Ul Naga Saillune. She is the first princess of Prince Philionel El Di Saillune and the elder sister of Ameria Wil Tesla Saillune. Prince Philionel met a woman during his private journey. He brought her to his castle and married to her. They had two daughters, Gracia and Ameria. Ameria was born seven or eight years later.

Naga studied magic spells in the castle. The daughters of Saillune family usually become priestesses, so Gracia (she uses this name in Saillune) studied white magics, but she loved to study shamanistic magic spells and black magic spells. At that time she dressed normally. She is thought to wear a robe of a priestesses. Ameria was too young to study magic then.

When Gracia was 16 or 17 years old, Booley, the assassin came to the castle in order to kill Gracia, but her mother was killed in place of her. Gracia ran into mother's room and killed Booley with her magic spell Chaos String (this spell makes strings of magical power). Gracia's mother was killed with knife and the room was a bloodbath. (This is cause of her reaction to blood.) After the funeral, Gracia found that bikini costume in mother's closet. She regreted that she couldn't save her mother and she decided to study more offensive magic spells. She started her journey wearing mother's keepsake. So nobody of her family knows that Gracia is wearing that awful costume. Naga met with Lina Inverse when she was about 19 and Lina was 13 years old then. Before Lina met with Gourry, Naga left her..

(Thanks to Serredeth the Wanderer for sending me this info and the link to the site containing it. I recommend the site, by the way. ^_~)

Now for the finale! My sister pointed this out to me because I had never noticed before. When I did realize it, I was quite shocked. Now, we all know Naga calls herself "Naga, the White Serpent", right? Well, we've all seen Seyruun's royal seal, but have you ever looked closer? Like- really close? We all see that it consists of a crown and a pair of white, feathery wings, but what's that in the middle?

You've got it. It's a white serpent.

Coincidence? I think not!

Well, there you have it! There are also some little similarities in appearance between Amelia and Naga, since siblings usually look alike. If you look closely at the two (or maybe you don't have to) you'll notice that they have similar features in their looks and build, such as their hair, their faces (maybe slightly), and, well... chest size. I personally follow all this evidence to the conclusion that Amelia and Naga really are sisters. Of course, there are probably lots of things I don't know that can be found in the manga that I don't have (yet)! ^-^