Yona (Akatsuki no Yona)

Yona is the titular protagonist of the Akatsuki no Yona manga and anime.

Yona is the princess of the Kouka Kingdom, the only heir of Emperor Il, and the reincarnation of the Red Dragon King Hiryuu. On her 16th birthday, she was forced to flee Hiryuu Castle after her father was murdered by Soo-Won.

Appearance
Yona is considered a very beautiful and attractive girl for her age. Throughout the series, she is often called cute. She is a slender girl of short stature, has purple eyes, very fair and white skin and long, wavy, crimson hair in the beginning of the series. After the series of events when she confronts Kan Tae-Jun, she slices her hair off with a sword to prevent being captured and to save Hak in the process. Yona now wears her hair short, which is slowly growing back. Her current outfit is made up of a white gown and a red vest with dark burgundy borderlines and a light pink sash tied around her waist. She often wears a cape with a hood to hide her full appearance, particularly her red hair. She is also never seen without the same pair of elegant, long earrings. Throughout the series, Yona's eyes suddenly appear to have a fiery look in them whenever her friends' lives are in danger or she needs to complete an important mission.

According to Princess Tao, Yona has a cute, kitten-like appearance.

Personality
Yona is very adaptable, has a sweet demeanor, and has a strong sense of conviction. On her journey, she shows an absolute willingness to learn, but she can still be idealistic even if she realizes that something is harder than it sounds. She can be selfish and demanding of others in her pursuits, which is first noted when Yoon scolds her for not thanking him for taking care of Hak. She does, however, constantly show appreciation of others through her travels.

When she was still living in Hiryuu Castle, Yona was ignorant and oblivious to everything happening around her and only cared about herself or her love. She didn't take the initiative to know the events unfolding around her country despite being a princess. Because of this she is struck by the hard truth of people hating her father and his leadership, also the fact her father was a coward that deeply loathes weapons and violence, as well as how ignorant she had been of her duty when she was chased out from her home. To compensate for her lack of concern for her citizens and to protect the place her father once protected, she vowed to mend the conflicts within Kouka little by little. With her sincerity to this oath, she manages to sway and surprise others to the point that they can’t help but support her regardless of the risks. It is also the reason why she can perform certain feats in spite of her previously hardship-free lifestyle, such as standing up to several armed soldiers or scaling a dangerous cliff for a rare herb. Additionally, these kinds of threats don’t scare her anymore because she thinks that there is nothing scarier than what she witnessed on the night of her birthday.

One of her biggest gags throughout the series is her tendency to say things that can easily be misunderstood or thought of in a romantic nature. Hak usually tends to take the brunt of the humiliation when he expects more, but is also the most used to it. Thus, Yona is very dense when it comes to romantic or intimate situations. Whether it's because of her very strong dedication to Soo-Won since childhood or the experience of Tae-Jun's courting, Yona does not notice when others seem to be attracted to her. Ironically enough, she does understand the adult interactions between men and women, as shown when she says that even Hak needs some time to fool around with girls.

Abilities
At the very beginning of the series, she lacks any sort of fighting skill and has to rely completely on Hak for protection. After his near-death in the fugitive arc, Yona insists on being taught self-defense so that she can protect both herself and her companions.

Archery: She begins practicing with the bow and arrow, with first Hak and then Yoon as her teachers. Her abilities with archery were at first at a beginner's level, but after consistently practicing every day (and secretly every night), she eventually reached the point where now she can fire off 200 arrows in a single session. She also gained better accuracy with her aiming, and is now able to kill animals (and a person) with one shot.

Swordsmanship: After months of trying to get Hak to instruct her, Yona eventually begins to learn swordsmanship. She is still a novice in this skill, and most of the time she only practices with a wooden sword. Yet, in the later chapters of the Nadai arc, she could be seen emerging as the victor in a sword fight against a man but only to sliced on the back when protecting Lili.

Observation: Even though she has been sheltered for the majority of her life, Yona has good observation skills. She can detect how people are feeling; for example, when she was in Awa she was able to tell the townspeople had "no light behind their eyes". In the manga she again showed her observation skills when she could tell who had taken the drug 'Nadai' by the bloodthirst in the peoples' eyes.

Charisma: In chapter 138 of the manga, Min-Soo explains that, although she only tries to help her own friends, "the people around her, in hopes of doing something for her, stretch out their hands." Yona, by earnestly protecting the ones whom she loves, earns the hearts and support of everyone she meets. Min-soo goes on to describe this, saying, "Isn't this a terribly formidable power?"

Music: During the series, it has been noted that Yona can play the Koto (a Japanese zither, it was mis-translated as a harp) and dance, as she stated in episode 23 of the anime. Also, in the Nadai Arc, she was disguised as a dancer to lure the drug addicts out.

Trivia

 * She placed 2nd in the character popularity poll conducted by Hana to Yume in December, 2014. She scored 2,289 votes in total.
 * Aside from dancing, Yona can play a Koto; a Japanese stringed instrument of Chinese origin.
 * Yona's earrings were originally red, but were re-coloured in the fourth volume to yellow.
 * Throughout the manga, Yona's hair steadily grows and is currently a little more than shoulder length. In the anime, this is only made clear in the OVAs.