This is a list of fictional characters from Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water.

Nadia

Full Name: Retrieved on 12-12-2008. Age: 14 (15 toward the end of the series), 18 (movie), 27 (in epilogue) Born: May 31, 1875 Species: Atlantean (a race that came from M78 to Earth thousands of years ago) Origin: Tartessos, forgotten city between Europe and Africa now Andalucía Iberia Spain. Voiced by: Yoshino Takamori (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English, Streamline dub), Meg Bauman (English, ADV Films dub)

Nadia is a 14-year-old (15 toward the end of the series) who works in a circus as an acrobat to survive, since she is an orphan and of unknown origins. She is chased by Grandis and her associates Sanson and Hanson, who are looking for the jewel that Nadia possesses, the Blue Water. While escaping from them, she meets Jean, and from that moment the two of them will be together in the series, where she tries to discover her origins and find out the truth about her past and the Blue Water, the jewel that seems to have an enormous intrinsic power.

Nadia is quite stubborn, easily irritable, socially inept, and has the ability to talk with animals. For example, she is able to communicate easily with her pet lion cub, King. Nadia is also known among those who have knowledge of the Blue Water for being its possessor. Despite her flaws, Nadia is highly moralistic and ethical, frequently calling others out on acts of violence towards other humans or animals, even when it is essential. She even happens to be a strict vegetarian and believes that there is no excuse for eating meat or killing (although her friends attempt to justify their reasons for doing so). Because of her unhappy past, Nadia is even extremely suspicious of all grown-ups—particularly Nemo. As such, she does not know how to act around other people, and sometimes treats them very badly. She misjudges her friends' motivations as well. As a result of her growing love for Jean, however, she comes to learn valuable lessons about friendship, respect, and trust for those around her. On several occasions she is prepared to sacrifice either her life or her freedom to protect her friends.

It turns out the Nadia is the rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis, and that her Blue Water has the power to destroy the world, if it is misused. Ashamed of her fate and regretting both her resentment of Nemo and bad calls of judgment, Nadia impulsively decides to throw her life away... only to be spared by the power of the Blue Water. Jean touches Nadia's heart by telling her that he loves her regardless of who she is, where she is from, and her fate. Inspired, Nadia decides to embrace her fate and is rewarded when she discovers that she can choose how to use the Blue Water's power.

In the epilogue told by a grown-up Marie in the last episode, Nadia has married Jean and they have a child. While Nadia is still a dedicated vegetarian, she is no more aggressively so (as evidenced from her meals of meat and fish for Jean and their son).

Jean

Full Name: Age: 14-15, 18 (movie), 27 (in epilogue) Species: Human Origin: Le Havre, France Born: March 28, 1875 Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka (Japanese), Ardwight Chamberlain (English, Streamline dub), Nathan Parsons (English, ADV Films dub)

Jean is a young 14-year-old orphan who fell in love with Nadia ever since he first laid eyes on her; unlike her, however, Jean has a completely different personality and interests. He is very generous, patient, friendly, and devoted to the things he loves, which are his friends and the love for science. He is also a genius inventor, in fact he is capable of creating complex machines at a very young age. Jean's father is a wealthy trader and ship's captain, but was recently lost at sea and is presumed dead. (We later find out that there has been a rash of mysterious disappearances of ships lately and the rumors are that a sea monster has been attacking them) Jean, however, chooses to deny them and is determined to finally find his father along with his big adventure with Nadia to find about the Blue Water. Despite being somewhat awkward when it comes to social graces around the opposite sex (such as giving compliments or lack of awareness in some cases where he is inventing and/or reading when Nadia wants his attention), Jean is genuinely well-behaved and is nice to everyone; even Gargoyle finds something to admire about his courage and cleverness. He is openly honest and brave as well. Jean continually looks on the bright side of things; for example, when his only pair of glasses are broken when Nadia accidentally steps on them, Jean immediately tells her not to worry, that it is God's way of teaching him detachment.

His relationship with Nadia is one of the more central aspects of the show. When they first meet on the Eiffel Tower, Nadia refuses his overtures, but when Jean rescues her, he earns her trust. A close friendship forges between the two of them—Jean is consistently loyal to her and vows to take her to Africa someday. Nadia genuinely appreciates his company and attention to the point where she feels lonely when he gets involved in a project. Later their relationship begins to turn romantic, but Nadia does not know how to express her feelings to him. Nor is she capable of conveying what she wants from him (a compliment for a dress, for instance). This leads to outbursts of anger often misdirected at Jean (in reality cries of frustration at her inability to declare her desires), yet he continually forgives her. Subsequent scenes following rages involve Nadia feeling bad for her actions. For instance, in episode 10, after unfairly laying into Jean when they have to switch rooms, she apologizes to him. When she is not brooding over their relationship, Nadia often goes out of her way to do something nice for him, such as cooking, encouraging him to build a gyrocopter, or comforting him when he grieves about his father (in Episode 16). She is also seen to passionately defend Jean in several instances, such as when she verbally attacks Nemo and his crew for reprimanding Jean for endangering the Nautilus due to an accident with one of his inventions, or even more when she allows herself to be captured by Gargoyle on Marie's Island so that an injured Jean can escape. Likewise, each time Nadia gets into trouble, Jean continually rescues her. Occasionally a disagreement will occur between them about certain issues (notably eating meat or the use of technology vs. nature), but they do not last long. As a result of Jean's love, Nadia is gradually transformed as a person; his optimism overcomes her pessimism, and she becomes more trusting, respectful, and caring of others.

That said, Jean also undergoes some growth as well during the show. For instance, he believes that technology can do no wrong, and is quite disturbed by Nemo's description of the Nautilus being a "killing machine." His faith in technology is crushed when a friend of his sacrifices his life in a contaminated engine room. Furthermore, he learns that his father is gone and there is no point searching for him. At that point, Jean begins to consider quitting inventing until Nadia suggests him to build a gyrocopter. He determines to do so without the aid of grown-ups, straining his friendship with Hanson in the process. Jean eventually realizes that receiving help from grown-ups is just as valuable, and, working together with Hanson, he completes his flying machine and manages to impress Nadia. Furthermore, he is forced to take responsibility for keeping Nadia and Marie alive when they become stranded on a deserted island, going out of his way to provide food, shelter, and care. Jean does not understand why Nadia is so adamant against eating meat, particularly when she mistreats him and Marie for doing so; as such, he is quite confused by her mood swings. It is not until Nadia finally confesses the real reason behind her hatred of meat that he gains a new understanding of her different view of the world. Even when Nadia later admits her true identity and acknowledges her faults, Jean still accepts her as a person.

Nemo Full Name: Age: 46 Species: Atlantean Origin: Tartessos, Africa Born: October 28, 1843 Died: May 31, 1890 Voiced by: Akio Otsuka (Japanese) Jeff Winkless (English, Streamline dub), Ev Lunning, Jr. (English, ADV Films dub)

Nemo is the captain of the submarine called Nautilus, whose purpose is to destroy the Neo-Atlanteans at all costs. He is a mysterious man with a dark past; in fact only step by step we discover that he is Nadia's father and was the king of Tartessos. Though he could have all mankind under his command, he chooses to live peacefully along with them on Earth, as he believes in humans and in their ability to love. While he acts cold and aloof when he first meets Jean, he nonetheless warms up to his outgoing cheerfulness and enthusiasm. Nadia, meanwhile, is very distrustful of him and is quick to accuse him of murder when he shoots a Neo-Atlantean to save her from death. However, she eventually learns to respect Nemo, and, at the end, at last acknowledges him as her father. Nemo then dies after overloading the Neo Nautilis's reactors to blow a passage out of Red Noah, permitting the rest of the cast to return to Earth.

Nemo's name is a reminiscence of the Greek city Eleusis, the place in Greece where the followers of Demeter met annually to initiate members into the ways of the Earth-goddess, and Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis in ancient Egypt. He is based on Captain Nemo (literally meaning "no man" in Latin). He also bears a striking resemblance to another famous anime captain, Bruno J. Global/Henry J. Gloval of the SDF-1 Macross in Macross/Robotech. Additionally, he wears a uniform similar to Captain Junzo Okita from Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers.

Marie

Full Name: Marie en Carlsberg / Marie en Löwenbräu Age: 4-5, 8 (movie), 17 (in epilogue) Species: Human Origin: Marseille, France Born: April 10, 1885 Voiced by: Yuko Mizutani (Japanese), Cheryl Chase, (English, Streamline dub), Margaret Cassidy (English, ADV Films dub)

Marie is a 4-year-old French child living in the Cape Verde Islands who is orphaned by the hands of Gargoyle and the Neo-Atlantean troops, who killed her parents. She is soon found by Nadia and Jean, who decide to keep her and to take good care of her. Although she is a kid, Marie is a very strong character, who is at the same time a child but also acts like an adult in difficult situations. She has a good relationship with King, her playmate; in fact, she later comes to see themselves as husband and wife, and Nadia and Jean as her new parents. Later on, however, she develops an interest in Sanson; in fact, in the epilogue, when a 17-year-old Marie tells what has happened to all the characters, she finishes her story by telling that she has married him and is expecting their first child.

The spelling of her name is uncertain. In the episode guide she appears as "Marie", in the Japanese series books she is "Mary", Streamline Pictures calls her "Mari", and in episode 24 she signs one of her drawings as "Marry" (though this could simply be that as a four-year-old she does not know how to spell her name). Even so, Marie is probably the most accurate spelling, as it is the French one.

In the CD audio dramas, her full name was revealed to be , whereas in the anime's epilogue, it is . (Both Carlsberg and Löwenbräu are, incidentally, names of two famous German brewery brands.)

King

Species: Lion Origin: Africa Voiced by: Toshiharu Sakurai (Japanese), Carl Macek (English, Streamline dub), Shawn Sides (English, ADV Films dub)

King is a small lion, and he is Nadia's best friend before she meets Jean and the others. He eventually becomes Marie's playmate during the series, playing with her all day. He is very jealous, especially when Nadia and Jean become more intimate.