Leonora

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

Appearance and Personality
Leonora is a young, blonde haired girl dressed in a priest's mitre. She wears a fairly oversized robe with sleeves that timidly drape past her hands.

At the start of Palom's tale, Leonora is introduced as a humble, shy and quiet lady who is shown to have 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 and faith in her abilities, and later takes an interest in becoming a Sage like Palom. She eventually admits that she likes Palom, and even ignores his wishes in order to save his life from one of the Maenads, which demonstrates 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 eventually shows to have faith in Leonora and a certain fondness for her, saying that 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 see 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 both train at the Tower of Trials, where Leonora learns some Black Magic under Palom's guidance. Palom constantly teases her, which she tolerates until he starts making rude remarks about the Epopts, which he apologizes for after Leonora says that 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 spirit of the Dark Elf resides. It attacks them and assumes its dragon form, which resists their magic. Suddenly, the Eidolon Shiva destroys the Dark Elf, and the Mysterious Girl enters. She threatens Palom 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 before the Mysterious Girl decides to smash him into pieces. After casting Esuna on him, Leonora reveals that she was the same girl he was boasting at 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 ultimately 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. When 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. Immediately afterward 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.

Equipment and Stats
As a magic user, Leonora can equip most bows, rods, staves, robes and hats. During Palom's Tale, the player can visit the King's Bounty Club to purchase the Queen set of equipment for Leonora, including the Queen's Whip, which is the only whip she can use. It is vital for performing the Call Me Queen Band ability.

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 one of the three can learn it. Because she knows both types of magic, Leonora has the most variety with Dualcast. Leonora's versatility comes at the cost of her having the third-lowest HP growth of any character, being only slightly better than Calca and Brina, and also low MP growth, Speed and Stamina.

Although she can learn Black Magic, she focuses on her White Magic, and has Spirit on-par with Rosa and Porom, but lower Intelligence than Golbez, Rydia and Palom. Leonora does not learn the Black Magic spells Quake, Bio, Toad, Pig, Warp, Break, Death, Tornado, and Meteor. She also learns her spells much slower than the other mages.



Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
The Final Fantasy Trading Card Game features a card which depicts Leonora's artwork from 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 an Italian short form of the name "Eleonora", which means "shining light". Similarly, "Leonora" is a name of Greek origin that means "light".