FrostNova
| NPC | Enemy | "Winter's Scar" |
- CN: 叶莲娜
- JP: エレーナ
- KR: 옐레나
- Yeti Princess
- Wintry Death
- Rhodes Island (posthumously)
- Reunion (formerly)
- Unnamed parents☠
- Unnamed grandmother☠
- Buldrokkas'tee☠ (adoptive father)
FrostNova is an NPC in Arknights. She briefly appears in Act initium of the Main Theme and is the focus and one of the antagonists in Episode 06 of Act I. She also makes a cameo in Episode 14.
Background[edit]
Born Yelena, FrostNova is one of the well-known Reunion leaders. Her leadership of the famed Yeti Squadron and her frigid ice Originium Arts that could control her surrounding temperature and freeze any target earns her many titles such as the "Yeti Princess" and the "Wintry Death." In order to cast her Arts, she chants her spells in the form of folksongs and channels it through her Caster wand. However, this comes with a heavy price. She suffers from extreme hypothermia that others could get frostbite just by touching her skin, and she has to consume chili candies and strong alcohol such as vodka to maintain her body temperature. Her Arts often comes with a deteriorating health and the worsening of her Oripathy. In order to avoid hurting her Yetis, she has been restraining herself from unleashing her full potential which could easily lead to her death.
FrostNova's childhood is a tragedy. She was born in a poor family who was sentenced to work in a labor camp in the Northern Tundra due to their opposition of the militaristic policies of the Ursus Empire. Her parents and grandmother were forced to work in an inhuman conditions while mining Originium, leading to their Oripathy. In the meantime, the Ursine soldiers overlooking the mine took pleasure on the persecution of those Infected slave-miners; they drew lots for them and then execute them on spot if they pulled a black lot. FrostNova's family could not avoid such fate either; her parents were killed when she was five and her grandmother when she was nine. By the time she reached eleven, it was her turn to be executed alongside other children in the mine. Her fate seemed to be sealed the moment she pulled the black lot.[2]
Just before she was about to be executed by those evil soldiers, a miracle happened onto the poor girl. Her Arts suddenly went rouge for the first time, killing four executioners in the process. While the other soldiers threatened to kill other children, a mysterious band of guerrillas defeated them and rescued the survivors. Their heroes turned out to be Buldrokkas'tee the "Patriot" and his Shieldguard guerrillas. Seeing FrostNova living in misery inside the camp, Patriot decided to raise her up as his beloved adopted daughter. Those children would eventually became members of the Yetis whom she treats as her brothers and sisters.[2]
For the next few years, the matured FrostNova and her Yetis worked together with Patriot's guerrillas to liberate the oppressed Infected from the hands of their imperial overlords. Their brilliant military tactics earned them reputations to both the commoners and the authorities as guardians of the Tundra. Their name would eventually attract Talulah's proto-Reunion Movement. After a somewhat awkward first encounter with an unnecessary duel, the two factions decided to sit down and discuss an alliance between the two. To Talulah, Reunion needs military aid so that they could defend themselves from the soldiers' harassment. She also needs them to accomplish her goal of liberating all the Infected across Terra. The two at first oppose such idea, thinking that it was too impossible. Following her persuasions as well as Ursus targeting them as a threat to the empire, the two eventually agreed her words and incorporated their forces into Reunion.[3] While the two had some minor disagreement about some issues, especially when it came to Patriot's stubborn, conservative mind, the alliance was nonetheless a success.
However, series of tragic events starting from Alina's death until Talulah's furious massacre of an anti-Infected village caused FrostNova to notice her comrade's changed character. In her opinion, this Talulah is no longer a humble hero for the oppressed but a violent, cruel tyrant ignoring innocent lives. FrostNova has been trying to recall Talulah's conscience, but all is futile. In the end, she does not want to see Reunion falling into darkness and go astray from its original goal. She even persuaded her father from killing her, believing that they have no right to judge her. She acts as a remaining beacon for Reunion's conscience throughout the Chernobog-Lungmen crisis.
Story[edit]
A1 Operations Preparation Detachment[edit]
FrostNova presents herself to Elba after she was brought to the Yetis' camp in Ursus by Cannot Goodenough. She offers her a candy, hoping that it could make her feel better.[4]
Episode 04[edit]
FrostNova encounters Rhodes Island head-on for the first time during their investigation of the ruined Chernobog. As Mephisto announces her arrival to R.I., she expresses her disdain towards him. On the other hand, she could feel Amiya's unique aura and praises her as a warrior.[5] To see her worth inside her, Amiya and FrostNova have a brutal fight. FrostNova's ice Arts overpowers Amiya's and she proclaims that she will give R.I. a painless death. Just then, Frostleaf charges at FrostNova to buy some time for the escape, but she herslf was almost frozen by FrostNova's frost. Meteorite quickly intervenes by igniting the bombs around FrostNova, allowing the rest to run away from her.[6]
After the fight, Patriot appears and warns FrostNova about her deteriorating health. FrostNova refutes by stating that she does not like to be nagged by an old-timer like him.[7]
Episode 06[edit]
FrostNova and the Yetis continues their pursue of the escaping R.I. team. Blaze suddenly jumps from a helicopter above the ruins and joins the fray. She also notices that FrostNova is becoming exhausted due to the overuse of Arts and calls her to stop the fight. FrostNova refuses and even freezes the entire street to stop R.I.'s charge. Without realizing, the city's underground structure suddenly collapses due to the frost, and both FrostNova and the Doctor accidentally fall into it.[8] The incident causes both factions to stop their fight but to prioritize on rescuing their leaders.
During the rescue, both sides help each other. The Yetis stop other Reunion members from interfering the mission. In turn, R.I. analyses the structure to find a perfect breaking point. The two also start to understand each other with the Yetis agreeing R.I.'s peaceful approach and R.I. learning their tragic past. Deep beneath the pit hole, FrostNova narrates her childhood to the Doctor. She sees them as the key to stop Talulah's maniac plot. After R.I. and the Yetis finally get them out of the hole, the two go on their own way as if nothing has happened to them. FrostNova also hopes that she does not want to meet them again in Lungmen.[2][9] Despite their differences, there seems to be a silver lining of a friendship between the two.
But all hopes shatter during the devastating retreat of Lungmen. Upon their arrival, FrostNova and the Yetis realize that everything is too late. The Reunion side suffers severe casualties due to the joint forces of the Lungmen Guard Department and a band of assassins in black raincoats. Seeing the depressed Mephisto after witnessing Faust's sacrifice, FrostNova comforts him and orders the Phantom Crossbowmen to bring him along for the evacuation.[10] FrostNova then leads the Yetis to lay obstacles against the advancement by freezing the surrounding buildings at the slums, but she suddenly falls unconscious due to her worsening Oripathy. In order to have her meet Patriot for one last time, the Yetis order the Phantom Crossbowmen to hide her somewhere beneath Lungmen's underground structure. After FrostNova's departure, the Yetis hold a a short farewell drink and prepare themselves to fight the black assassins until their last man, leading to their annihilation in the slums.[11]
FrostNova comes face-to-face with R.I. at Lungmen's underground structure upon her recovery. She pushed herself to the limit to stand against R.I. that Originium shards on her body drains through her skin and forms floating black crystals around her, but her Oripathy has worsened in exchange, to the point much of her own life force is exhausted and she is one step closer to dying. FrostNova also shows no hesitation to unleash her full power, for she no longer has to fear that her comrades are caught in the way by accident.[12]
Amiya, the Doctor, Blaze, and GreyThroat tries to persuade FrostNova to stand down for the sake of her own life, but she refuses and wants them to fight her while lamenting Talulah's betrayal of Reunion's cause and the cruel world that causes her suffering, and proclaiming that only one of them will survive the ordeal in order to stop Talulah.[12]
Even though she managed to take down the Operators all by herself, FrostNova ends up succumbing to her Oripathy right before she reaches the Doctor.[13] Spending her last moments with the Doctor in their warm embrace, FrostNova states that she has accepted her fate and realizes that she alone could never stop Talulah from making things worse for everyone, Infected or not. Even so, she sees hope inside R.I., believing that they could stop the crisis, and makes her decision as she promised earlier:
| “ | From now on, I am at your side. Both of you. I... would like to join Rhodes Island. | ” |
FrostNova then feels warmer than ever and could see the Yetis waiting for her on the other side. She then dies with a peaceful smile on her face, still in the Doctor's arms.[14]
Episode 14[edit]
After stumbling upon Talulah inside the Assimilated Universe, the Doctor meets with a manifestation of FrostNova — now wearing R.I.'s uniform — much to their discomfort. As they slowly start to freak out, she asks them if they were feeling cold due to her standing close.[15]
Legacy[edit]
FrostNova's death has an everlasting legacy to R.I. As part of the procedure, her body needs to be cremated to prevent further widespread of Oripathy. People like Rosmontis pays huge respect for her after learning her tragic fall, and R.I. allows her body to be cremated inside the landship.[16] After the Chernobog-Lungmen crisis, both Amiya and the Doctor persuade Kal'tsit to enlist her on the death list. She has since being treated as R.I.'s member posthumously as a way of remembrance as well as following her will. Amiya even uses her name to patent R.I.'s newly released topical medicine and promotes it across Terra such as Ursus and Victoria.[17]
FrostNova's death also brings shock to many Reunion members. Even Talulah herself mourns for her despite shedding crocodile tears.[18] To Patriot, the death of his adopted daughter is a sorrowful one. He remembers how he loves her and will do anything for her sake. Even then, he is not interested to avenge FrostNova but believes that she dies because of her own weakness. He still needs to stand up against R.I. to be the last beacon of Reunion.[19] As for the surviving Reunion members, they have erected crude monuments in the frigid wilderness of Ursus to commemorate her alongside other deceased leaders and fallen soldiers.[20]
A strange phenomenon occurs after Patriot's last advance. A heavy snowfall occurs in Chernobog and Lungmen, and the Shieldguards interpret this as FrostNova's spirit coming to take Patriot into the afterlife. Meanwhile in R.I.'s landship, the incineration chamber that cremates her body suddenly malfunctions by a violent heat-absorbing effect as if it is frozen into ice. Even the fumes released from the exhaust valve are said to be the cause of the snowfall.[21]
Gallery[edit]
Other media[edit]
FrostNova's official render from Arknights: Perish in Frost.
Concept art[edit]
FrostNova's in-detail concept art, as seen in Arknights Official Artworks Vol.2
Trivia[edit]
- Her Chinese name translates to "Frost Star" and is the basis of her English name; Nova can also refer to a celestial event that appears as if a new star is born.
References[edit]
|