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- “What’s wrong with being a bit different from other people? When I look at you, I don’t see other people. I see Ninian. I see a normal, kindhearted girl.”
- — Eliwood to Ninian, in Blazing Blade
Elnini is the het ship between Eliwood and Ninian from the Fire Emblem fandom.
Canon[]
Eliwood is one of three main lords in the 7th Fire Emblem game. Ninian is a quiet and mysterious girl traveling with her younger brother; on first glance, the two appear to be a dancer and a bard traveling the world, but the story later reveals that the main villain Nergal has been chasing them for the past few years.
Eliwood first meets Ninian when he rescues her from bandits during Lyn's story, but the two do not properly interact until the main story following the first story arc. Ninian blames herself for the tragedies the group suffered, including the death of Eliwood's father, but Eliwood reassures her that none of it was her fault. Ninian officially joins the party, becoming a playable unit after this talk.
The two are clearly attracted to one another, with Eliwood going out of his way to look after her and Ninian slowly falling in love with him. However, Ninian is a dragon taking human form, and dragons are heavily feared on Elibe. Ninian keeps her secret, but feels guilty and unworthy of Eliwood's affections for doing so. If the player pursues their support chain, Eliwood tells Ninian he loves her even if she can't tell her secret, and at the end of the game they will marry.
Children[]
Roy[]
Roy is the heir of Pherae, known as the Young Lion of Pherae. He is also a descendant of Roland through his father's side. If Ninian is his mother he's one-quarter ice dragon. When war broke through the kingdoms, he led an ever-growing army to free the oppressed commoners, villages, and territories from the crushing might of Bern and eventually saved all of Elibe. In the future, Roy rebuilts Pherae and succeds Eliwood as the next Marquess Pherae. Like Eliwood, Roy has multiple possible love interests. From all of them, Sophia is the most similar possible to Ninian.
Fanon[]
Ninian is arguably the most popular het ship for Eliwood since Fiora and Lyn have other romantic options that are perceived as more interesting by some fans. Due to the absence of Roy's mother in The Binding Blade, it was commonly assumed that Ninian died in childbirth due to both her fragile appearance and the canon detail that her life would be shortened if she stayed on Elibe. More rarely, others assumed she survived the birth, but died while Roy was still a toddler.
Shippers adore the sweet and gentle dynamic of the pair's interactions. Eliwood cares very much about Ninian from the start, stating in the main story and their supports that he wants to see her smile and can't bear to see her in pain. One particular moment has him sighing over the antics of Lyn and Hector, which Ninian giggles at. In an earlier chapter he kindly offers her his arm when the desert heat is taking its toll on her, then tells her that her being "different" doesn't bother him because to him she's "a normal, kind-hearted girl". Additionally, there is an amusing moment in their C support where Eliwood trips over his own words while talking to her that shippers find adorable.
Some fans also enjoy the angsty angle of the ship, mainly Ninian's shortened lifespan if she stays on Elibe. Others like exploring a scenario where she and Eliwood never reached A support and the two spend the rest of their lives missing each other when Ninian goes back to the dragon world with Nils. A lot of fanfic was written back in the day about Eliwood's guilt and mourning after he accidentally killed Ninian. This ship is considered the FE7 equivalent to Royphia due to Sophia being part-dragon species like Ninian.
That said, Ninian herself was the subject of heavy controversy, some fans disliking her role as a damsel in distress before properly joining the player's army. This was especially common among Elilyn and Elifiora shippers, who feel like the pairing is being pushed on them at the expense of their preferred ships. In turn, some Eliwood/Ninian fans can get defensive of their ship, or even militant in their insistence that the pairing is the "real canon" despite Lyn and Fiora being just as valid options.
Some Elihec fans could also be derisive of Ninian, seeing her as "in the way" of their yaoi ship. This eventually died down and doesn't happen these days, though, as multishipping has become more popular. Some fans like to have it both ways, with Hector being Eliwood's second love after Ninian passes on (with the assumption that Hector is a widower now too). Rarer are the fans who OT3 them, with Eliwood having more than enough love for both Ninian and Hector.
Elnini's common ship mates are Hecflor and Hectorlyn. The former is due to both pairs being comprised of two sets of good friends (Hector and Eliwood, Florina and Ninian), and the latter is due to both pairings being strongly teased in the game itself outside supports (especially in Hector's path).
Other Ninian ships are rare, but Florinian is fairly well-liked among yuri fans, and there have been Lyn/Ninian shippers. These fans typically never got involved in the shipping wars, however, mainly sticking to their own corners.
Fans of the ship say the supports between Marcus and Lilina in FE6 strongly hint that Ninian is Roy's mother due to her liking Ilian flowers, and Ninian's homeland is Ilia.
Most paired variants in Fire Emblem Heroes[]
- Eliwood: Knight of Lycia (OG) - Ninian: Oracle of Destiny (OG)
- Eliwood: Devoted Love (Valentine) - Ninian: Bright-Eyed Bride (Bride)
- Eliwood: Blazing Knight (Legendary) - Ninian: Ice-Dragon Oracle (Legendary)
- Eliwood: Marquess Pherae (Brave) - Ninian: Bright-Eyed Bride (Bride)
- Roy: Blazing Bachelors (Groom Duo, with Eliwood) - Ninian: Bright-Eyed Bride (Bride)
- Roy: Blazing Bachelors (Groom Duo, with Eliwood) - Tiki: Harmonic Hope (Halloween Duo, with Ninian)
Fandom[]
FAN FICTION
- Eliwood/Ninian tag on AO3
- Eliwood & Ninian tag on AO3
- Knight of Lycia and Child of Destiny, a C2 community for Eliwood/Ninian fanfiction on fanfiction.net
FAN ART
- Eliwood/Ninian tag on Pixiv