Shana (Shakugan no Shana)

Shana is the main female protagonist of the Shakugan no Shana anime and light novels.

Shana is a Flame Haze, usually referred to among other Flame Haze by her title "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter" (Enpatsu Shakugan no Uchite), or as "The Flame Haze of the Nietono no Shana" (Nietono no Shana no Fureimuheizu). Her name was given to her by the MystesYuji Sakai, who named her after her sword. She has entered into a contract with the Crimson God Alastor, "Flame of Heaven".

In the Heroes Coalition fics, Shana is part of the Heroes Coalitions as a trainee.

Appearance
Shana is a young girl with jet black hair which is almost as long as her body. She has an anime antenna hair (ahoge) which always sticks out on the top of her head and characteristics that would make her a Moe character. She also has dark brown irises and a fair complexion. Because of the effects of being a Flame Haze, Shana's physical age will remain that of a girl that appears to be 9 to 13 years of age. Upon invoking her powers as a Flame Haze, her hair and eyes change color to a fiery crimson with embers fluttering from her head down. Shana is described as pretty and of Asian descent. Her actual age is unknown, but it is speculated that she has only been a Flame Haze for a couple of years and had made the contract with Alastor when she was at least 12 years old.[1][2]In the anime, she is 141 cm tall.

In her first few years as a Flame Haze, she wears all black attire consisting of a shirt, pants, and her Treasure Tool Yogasa in the form of a trench coat. However, after she decided to stay in Misaki City, she is most usually seen with the Misaki City Municipal High School uniform. When in combat, she has the Yogasa as a cape worn over her clothes.

Shana is seen wearing various other clothing throughout the series. Before becoming a Flame Haze, Shana wore a pink cheongsam (Chinese dress). When she went to Misaki Waterland, she wore a pink swimsuit, wearing her hair in pigtails. She is also seen wearing the Misaki Municipal High School swimming uniform on occasions when she is swimming in Physical Education classes, as well as, the white top and red pants that compose of the normal P.E. class uniform. She sometimes wears a green dress and ties her hair in a ponytail at the Sakai Residence when in the company of Chigusa Sakai. She is also seen wearing a denim jacket with pigtails, as well as a pink jumper/sweater on Christmas Eve.

She is later seen wearing a red-and-black formal dress during her stay inside the Seireiden. After freeing herself, she is seen wearing a battle-damaged white dress before Sophie requested that she change her clothes. After the battle at Seireiden, she is seen wearing a maroon-coloured shirt in Hong Kong.

Personality
Initially, Shana came off as very cold and uncaring, being concentrated solely on her duties as a Flame Haze. Although she protected humanity from the Crimson Denizens, she did not care for them and was only truly concerned with preserving the balance of the world, even willing to sacrifice human lives in order to do so. She was shown to be a nihilist, as she saw little to no meaning in even the most basic of things, not even having a name until Yūji gave her one. She insisted that Yūji was only a Torch, albeit an interesting one due to his status as a Mystes, and referred to him as only an object. She also referred to herself as only a Flame Haze. However, her low opinion of Torches was justified due to the fact that all the ones she had met before Yūji were uncompromisingly selfish and desperate to hold on to what little existence they had left. Therefore, she was very surprised and confused when Yūji decided to give up his existence to restore the damage to a classroom, when she had been planning to use the existence of one of his classmates. Her opinion of him changed once and for all when he helped her in the battle against Friagne, in which he lost nearly all of his existence to the point that he would have faded were it not for the Midnight Lost Child. This act of bravery convinced Shana to finally accept Yūji as a person, which was the beginning of her slowly opening up to him and eventually falling in love with him.

When she started training Yūji, Shana was shown to be a very strict teacher, constantly criticising him for his lack of progress and treating every training session like an actual battle. When Yūji chose to postpone training to help out the school committee, she became convinced that he wasn't taking his training seriously. Soon after, while fighting a Rinne by herself, she grew to realise how much she hated being alone, something she had never realised before due to spending years with only the bodiless Alastor for company, as well as having grown up believing that a true Flame Haze doesn't rely on anybody. Once Yūji starts to show signs of progress, her attitude changes and she begins to compliment his steady increase in strength.

Even as a child, Shana was very fond of melon bread, and Alastor noted that the times she was eating it was one of the rare times she was in a good mood. She can be borderline fanatical about melon bread at times, often giving Yūji lectures on the best way to eat it and even gets disappointed when she finds that a shop has added a spice to it, going so far as to say they have no respect for its natural taste. She is described as having a "transcendent sweet tooth" and it soon becomes clear she has a fondness for anything sweet; melon bread is just her favourite. She has also been seen joyfully eating other foods such as ice cream, taiyaki, and berries. Shana is described by Alastor as being a "unique case" among Flame Hazes i.e. she's the only one who harbours no real grudge against Crimson Denizens. As such, she has no biased opinions about Denizens and recognises that not all of them cause harm to the balance, as opposed to Margery, who initially considered the idea of an 'innocent Denizen' to be laughable.

Shana has a funny habit of saying "Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!" ("Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!") whenever Yūji asks her questions or makes remarks that disturb her original worldview or embarrass her, or simply to avoid talking about something. Shana is shown to be highly intelligent as she has gotten a perfect score on every exam without ever having to study and is talented in Physical Education. However, this intelligence initially doesn't apply to her combat, with her preferred method being to just charge in blindly, forcing Yūji to do the strategizing for her. Overtime, she outgrows this style of combat and becomes more careful and strategic about how she approaches things.

Shana is a Tsundere, being deeply in love with Yūji but not being able to admit it and getting very jealous when she sees him with other girls, especially Kazumi and Fumina Konoe- ironically, her jealousy of the latter is what ultimately causes her to become friends with the former. She grows deeply hurt by all the time Yūji spends with Konoe, to the point of avoiding him as much as possible and leaving his training to Wilhelmina. After getting some advice from Kazumi that she got from Margery, namely that things aren't always what they seem, Shana decides to stick with Yūji until she finds out for sure how he feels about her. As a result, Shana learns to control her jealousy and from then on isn't nearly as bothered by Yūji spending time with other girls as before. She is also very considerate of Kazumi's feelings despite their mutual love for Yūji, which is shown when she chewed out Yūji for bluntly rejecting Kazumi's gift.

A defining trait of Shana's early on is her complete lack of social skills. Wilhelmina, Shiro and Alastor mostly focused on her physical and mental being, forgetting the importance of being socially adept. This was, as Alastor said, one of their mistakes, since they thought that they would just teach her these feelings when she grows up a little more, not realizing that these feelings should be developed, and could not be taught so hastily (Although, Shiro did teach her indirectly that love is the most powerful unrestricted spell of all). However, in Wilhelmina's case, she simply didn't bother, as she found such skills to be distracting and unnecessary for a Flame Haze. As a result, Shana is frequently shown to be very naive when it comes to social affairs, not knowing the meaning behind a kiss until Chigusa explains it to her and once even unabashedly asking Kazumi and the Sakais "how babies are made". This is the reason behind her cold, ruthless personality when Yūji first met her, as she failed to see the importance of anything beyond her duties. It is also the reason behind her Tsundere nature, as her growing feelings for Yūji were initially highly confusing and frustrating for her, due to her not even knowing what love is. Through continued interactions with Yūji, Chigusa and Kazumi, however, Shana gradually outgrows this problem, and overall becomes a much kinder, friendlier and more empathetic person as a result of their influence. However, she can still be rather shy when meeting new people, as shown in her initial encounters with Chiara Toscana, though the two quickly become friends after Chiara shares her food with her.

After encountering Yuji when merged with the Snake of the Festival, she is completely traumatized to discover what kind of person he has transformed into, as well as the fact that he defeats her so easily and strips her of her powers. After escaping the Palace of the Stars and encountering him again, however, she states that she has finally gained the resolve to face him, saying that she had been torn between the her who had to fight and the her who didn't want to, but she has now overcome that because she has found the strongest unrestricted spell; love, something Shiro had indirectly taught her years before. She vows that she will do whatever it takes to stop and defeat Yuji, and she will do so without killing him. After the creation of Xanadu, hereby ending the conflict between Denizens and Flame Hazes, Shana shows just how much she loves Yuji by completely forgiving him for all that he's done and asking only for him to promise to never leave her side, to which he happily agrees.

Abilities
Shana is a powerful and talented Flame Haze, and is said to be the most powerful, known and feared by most Crimson Denizens with her title alone. This has allowed her to defeat many powerful Denizens, and permits her many different abilities, including her proficiency with the Nietono no Shana, the ability to wield flames, manipulate the Power of Existence, harbor extrasensory traits, and fly with wings of flame. In the third volume of the manga, the first volume of the novel, and the movie, Alastor states that the reason why she did not explode after being shot by Friagne's Trigger Happy was because she held a capacity that existed in dimensional space, which was able to contain the Flame of Heaven (and more); He has thus stated her as "The Great One" (Idainaru Mono).

Shana has impeccable swordsmanship and form in hand-to-hand combat. However, she demonstrates a clear lack of experience in battle, as noted by Sophie Sawallisch, who has witnessed her fighting style first-hand, where she doesn't plan before a battle, and is unable to read the opponent's fighting style.[4] This is once held responsible for her defeat against a Flame Haze, Margery Daw, who is a specialist in Power of Unrestraint.

Gōka (World-destroying Conflagration): An Impact Skill in Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax, Shana charges forward while being engulfed in flames and slashes with Nietono no Shana.

Divine Summonings
Tenpa Jōsai (Heaven Destruction Earth Break): A secret technique inherited by Flame Haze of the title "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter". Shana is capable of using it to summon Alastor.

Unrestricted Spells
Wings of Crimson (Guren no Souyoku): A pair of fiery wings appear on her back, allowing flight. At first, Shana is not able to use this spell without Yūji in range. Later on, she manages to use Guren no Souyoku when she fought in later battles even against Yūji. These wings were fast enough to evade Hecate's powerful Aster spell. In the anime, the wings resemble a bird's, with feathers sometimes falling from them.

Great Blade of Crimson (Guren no Oodachi): It coats Shana's sword with a flame which she can use to hurl at enemies from a distance, whether as a wave of fire or fireballs. She is also capable of creating fiery constructs to do her bidding. Additionally, she has learned to summon the spirit of Tenmoku Ikko, the entity that resides within Nietono no Shana when she was held as a captive in Seireiden.

Shinku (True Crimson): A unique Unrestricted Spell that forms a shape of a hand with flame. Its primary purpose seems to be to push back, and even defeat enemies.

Hien (Blazing Flame): A unique Unrestricted Spell that provides a radiating wave of flame.

Shinpan (Judgement): A unique Unrestricted Spell that can be used to remotely observe areas from far away, broadcast speech over a wide area, determine the purpose of Unrestricted Spells, and sense Power of Existence in a large area.

Danzai (Condemnation): A unique Unrestricted Spell. Its primary purpose seems to be the destruction of obstacles, such as reinforced doors, structures, and destroying the enemy directly. Its continuous stream of flame is powerful enough to break through the flame shield provided by the Azure.

Kessen Ōgi (Final Battle Secret Ceremony): Named in Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax, Shana attacks using the four Unrestricted Spells Shinku, Hien, Shinpan and Danzai successively in that order. Shana performs Kessen Ōgi during her first use of those four Unrestricted Spells during her fight with Vual in Seireiden, leading to the destruction of the Crimson Lord.

Trivia

 * Shana shares many similar traits to Taiga Aisaka from Toradora!, Louise de la Valliere from Zero no Tsukaima (The Familiar of Zero), and Aria from Aria: The Scarlet Ammo
 * They all have a small stature with very long hair.
 * All of them initially treat their male companion poorly and have difficulty expressing their true feelings to him.
 * They all refer to them in a demeaning manner (Shana refers to Yuji as an object, Louise and Taiga refer to Saito and Ryuuji as dogs, and Aria refers to Kinji as her slave).
 * They all are very bossy and short tempered.
 * They all share Rie Kugimiya as their Japanese voice actress.
 * The name "Shana", which was given by Yūji to the Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter (from her main weapon, Nietono no Shana) actually refers to the buddha Vairocana. Coincidentally, Shana, also means "Year" in Hebrew and is a common variant of the Hebrew name or "Shoshana", meaning Lily or Rose. Also, translated into English, the name Shana can mean "God is gracious".
 * Her title, "Flamed-Haired Burning-Eyed" (Enpatsu Shakugan), is a play on the term "Blonde-Haired, Blue-Eyed" (Kinpatsu Hekigan), which described foreigners appeared in many anime and manga characters.
 * In Episode 5 of Hayate the Combat Butler, Shana is parodied by Nagi Sanzen'in, who shares the same Japanese voice actress as her. Both also have very similar personalities.


 * In the fourth episode of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, the main female character Haruka Nogizaka wears the dark-green-and-yellow uniform of Misaki City Municipal High School and references Shana by saying "Urusai, urusai, urusai!" She also wears a coat much like Yogasa. Hishoku no Soraalso plays in the background.
 * Mamiko Noto, the seiyu for Haruka, also voiced Hecate.
 * Hishoku no Sora is again played in the sixth episode, with official art of Shana seen in Comiket.
 * Shana and Kazumi Yoshida's original English voice actresses, Tabitha St. Germain and Chantal Strand, play a similar love triangle relationship role with Flay Allster and Lacus Clyne from Gundam Seed.
 * The names of Shana's Unrestricted Spells are all in Japanese.
 * Rie Kugimiya, who is Shana's Japanese voice actress, also voices Liechtenstein form Hetalia.