Leonora

Leonora is a character from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. She is a talented Epopt trainee determined to join the Epopts of Troia. Leonora knows White Magic from her Epopt training and learns Black Magic from Palom through training in the Tower of Trials.

Appearance and Personality
Leonora is a young, blonde-haired girl with blue eyes. She wears a light blue priest's mitre and blue and green robes with lace trim and a green, yellow and blue pattern down the front. The sleeves of the robe are loose and hang down to cover her hands, and the bottom of the robes drag on the ground. In early artwork of Leonora her dress was shorter, just long enough to brush the ground instead of dragging, and there was no lace trim on the bottom. She wields a long staff topped with a circular design and a large red orb. In early artworks the orb is orange and smaller.

At the start of Palom's tale, Leonora is introduced as a humble, shy and quiet lady who has great aspirations as an Epopt. She is rarely shown to assert herself to Palom, unless he puts his life in jeopardy or insults the Epopts of Troia. Under Palom's guidance, Leonora gains more confidence in her abilities, and later takes an interest in becoming a Sage like Palom.

She eventually admits to liking Palom, and ignores his wishes in order to save his life from one of the Maenads, demonstrating courage and a strong sense of concern for her partner. Palom at one point compares Leonora to his sister, remarking "... Is there a written rule somewhere that says all White Mages have to be so stubborn?" He reveals to have faith in Leonora and a certain, mutual fondness for her, saying she passes with flying colors as his partner.

Final Fantasy IV
Like Biggs and Wedge, Leonora was originally unnamed in Final Fantasy IV. She appears in the ending as a little girl in Mysidia, listening to Palom brag to her about his adventures until Porom arrives to take him to the Elder.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
When one of Troia's eight Epopts falls ill, they seek a replacement. Palom is sent from Mysidia to train Leonora, who the Epopts chose as the new guardian. They train at the Tower of Trials, where Leonora learns some Black Magic under Palom's guidance. Palom constantly teases her until he starts making rude remarks about the Epopts, which he apologizes for after Leonora says Troia has been very kind to her.

They finish her training and return to Troia, where they learn the Red Wings have begun to steal the Crystals again. Palom worries and suggests he and Leonora take Troia's Earth Crystal somewhere safe before the Red Wings arrive. Leonora leads Palom with the Earth Crystal through an underground waterway in Troia's castle. As they make it out of the waterway, they continue to the Chocobo's forest north of Troia, and mount a black chocobo.

They fly to the Lodestone Cavern, where the strong magnetic field protects them from the Red Wings, who are made to discard their metal weapons. Leonora and Palom take the Earth Crystal to the chamber where the Dark Elf's spirit resides. It attacks them and assumes a dragon form, which resists their magic. The Eidolon Shiva destroys the Dark Elf, and the Mysterious Girl enters threatening Palom's and Leonora's lives if they do not give her the Earth Crystal.

Palom teleports Leonora away from the chamber, before casting Break on himself and the Earth Crystal, effectively preventing the Mysterious Girl from taking it. Leonora refuses to leave Palom and returns to save his life. After casting Esuna on him, Leonora reveals she was the same girl he was flirting with during Final Fantasy IV's ending. Palom tells the Mysterious Girl that even though Leonora is not the best Epopt, she is perfect as his partner. They band together to fight her, but are defeated before losing possession of the Earth Crystal.

When the True Moon moves closer into the Earth, Rydia, Luca, Golbez, and Edge go to the Lodestone Cavern and find it has been frozen by Shiva. They reach the Crystal Chamber and find Palom with Leonora, who have been frozen in ice as well. After the party stops Shiva, Palom and Leonora recover on the Falcon.

Within the True Moon, Leonora speaks briefly with Porom, who reveals Palom's faith in her as a student, which surprises Leonora but makes her happy. Luca confronts her over her relationship with Palom, and while she is embarrassed by the question, Leonora admits she does like him. Palom, eavesdropping, remarks that women can be dangerous things.

After the Creator is defeated, Leonora gives up her position as the new Epopt, deciding she wants to spend more time with Palom in order to become a Sage.

Stats
Leonora's versatility comes at the cost of her having the lowest HP growth of the party - alongside Calca and Brina, she is one of three characters with less than 4,000 HP at Level 99. Her MP is good, though not as high as other mages', and her Stamina and Speed are low. She focuses more on her White Magic, and has Spirit on-par with Rosa and Porom, but lower Intelligence than Golbez, Rydia and Palom.

Abilities
Leonora is similar to a Sage, able to learn both White and Black Magic. In the Depths, it is possible to teach Dualcast to Palom, Porom, or Leonora, but only one of the three can learn it. Because she knows both types of magic, Leonora has the most variety with Dualcast.

Leonora learns her magic later than the other characters and cannot learn the Black Magic spells Quake, Bio, Toad, Pig, Warp, Break, Death, Tornado, and Meteor.

Equipment
Being primarily a white mage by training, Leonora can equip similar equipment to Rosa and Porom, with the addition of Rods to reflect her ability to cast black magic as well.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
The Final Fantasy Trading Card Game features a card with Leonora's artwork from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. Its cost is 3 and is of the Water element. It is a backup card, with 'Epopt' as a subtype. If the player draws this card, they may search their deck for a card of Palom or Porom, and must shuffle their deck afterward.

Etymology
'Leonora' is a name of Greek origin that means "light". Similarly, it is the Italian short form of the name 'Eleonora', which means "shining light".

Leonora