- "You know, I understand now why we're twins. It's because...because we were born without souls. This world is too lonely for one without a soul. There's too much...emptiness. Our souls are missing, but our tears still work. That's kinda weird. Sorry, Sis. I love you."
- — Devola's last words to Popola
Devola, also known as Debol in the Japanese release, is a major character in NieR, its remake, NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139..., and a minor character in NieR:Automata and NieR:Automata Ver1.1a. She is the older twin sister of Popola and a friend of Nier.
Appearance[]
The Devola in NieR is a female android with wavy red hair and blue-gray eyes. She wears red clothing underneath a white cloak with loose black sleeves, and wears black shoes, identical to Popola in terms of apparel.
The Devola that appears in NieR:Automata looks nearly identical to the Devola from NieR, though her hair is a darker shade of red, and her eyes are green. Additionally, she wears a white flower in her hair on the left side. She wears red pants with a white belt and knee guards, black boots, a puffy black wristlet on her left wrist, and a white top with short black sleeves that is split on the left side, exposing some of her abdomen, invoking the appearance of her predecessor. Her clothing mirrors that of her sister’s.
Story[]
NieR[]
- "Those two have watched the world wither for time immemorial. The cruelness of such a fate is difficult to imagine."
- — Weiss after the twins are revealed to be androids
Devola is a bard and regular performer at the tavern in Nier's village. She is often seen performing an acoustic rendition of Song of the Ancients at the village fountain. Popola, her twin sister, is the librarian in charge of the village library. Both sisters are considered leaders and look out for Yonah during Nier's frequent absences. Devola is responsible for giving out most side quests.
When the player reaches the Shadowlord's Castle, it is revealed that both Devola and Popola are android observers for Project Gestalt. They are revealed to have lived for thousands of years as a result of the project's initial experiments, and have thus been charged with keeping eye on others: namely over the members of the party, including Yonah. They were made to provide support for when Gestalts were to return to the Replicants' vessels. They are tasked with extracting data from Gestalt souls, making new Replicant bodies, and returning a dead Replicant's data to its Gestalt.
It is also revealed that the Sealed Verses originated from experimentation on them both, stating that they only loaned Grimoire Weiss a "fraction of their power," thus implying that their magic and capabilities are far superior to that of his.
Devola dies in her sister's arms after being defeated by Nier.
NieR:Automata[]
New models of Devola and Popola appear in the Resistance Camp thousands of years after the events of NieR, serving as medics. They can initially be seen in the background of the camp but can't be interacted with.
After the destruction of Grün, the twins give 2B a Scanner to help her find the missing 9S. They also function as vendors, selling high-level chips and the Type-3 Sword and Type-3 Blade.
In Route C, the twins help repair 9S as he awakens and after he leaves the Soul Box. They also offer various side quests.
It is later revealed that after the death of the Shadowlord, the Devola and Popola models were blamed for the failure of Project Gestalt, and in turn the remaining models were reprogrammed to harbor constant feelings of guilt. The twins were treated as pariahs in the Resistance Camp and were often given the most grueling tasks.
Devola and Popola aid 9S in getting inside the Tower by serving as distractions to the machine enemies. After 9S fails at hacking his way inside, Popola makes an attempt at the cost of being perpetually electrocuted. Devola defends 9S and Popola from the machines until Popola manages to open the Tower's gate.
Devola annihilates the machine she's fighting and drags 9S through the gate Popola opened, saying her goodbyes to 9S as the gate begins sealing itself again. As soon as the gate fully closes, Popola receives a presumably fatal shock, which brings about a static screen.
A heavily wounded Popola is later seen with Devola by A2 at the Tower's entrance. They ask A2 if they managed to do some good, with A2 mentioning they had. The pair reveal to her that they have opened the Tower for 9S. Devola and Popola are later shown to have succumbed to their wounds and die together after the arc is launched from the Tower in Ending D.
NieR:Automata Ver1.1a
Devola and Popola are infected with the Logic Virus after defeating the machine lifeforms at the entrance of The Tower. After Popola succumbs to her wounds.,Devola asked A2 if they managed to do some good. A2 reassured her by saying yes, then mercy killed Devola.
Other Appearances[]
SINoALICE[]
The NieR RepliCant × SINoALICE collaboration has both twins available as a potential character through the collaboration gacha. Their staff can be unlocked through a payment of 300 crystals. When the player uses the job class in battle, only one twin is randomly selected to fight. They do not appear as a team.
Their job story is a third-person narration of the twins' thoughts in NieR Replicant that is told in a fairy tale like fashion. Neither one of them understands why they were created to be sisters until they are forced to bid farewell to one another. To live in such a cruel world, family would have been the only remedy for the loneliness they would have had to endure.
The twins' weapon story is a series of letters addressed to Popola. The last level has Devola writing to her sister that she will be late coming home, telling her twin to not stay up waiting for her. Her twin happily accepts her concern.
"Ancient Song" is the first answer for the collaboration's Twitter quiz.
Media[]
Trivia[]
- Like Popola, Devola's name is a reference to the weapon Devolapopola (Skald's Song) in Drakengard. According to a Drakengard guidebook, Yoko Taro liked the weapon story and wished to someday make them characters in one of his projects. The names were taken from two dogs owned by an acquaintance.
- According to Nier, when Devola drinks alcohol she becomes "very friendly." This is further demonstrated in the Drama CD.
- Devola is good at tying a cherry stem with her tongue.
- Saito conducted a Niconico livestream to promote Automata which included a character popularity poll for Replicant. Users voted the twins to fifth place.[4]
- Devola is shown to be right-handed, while Popola appears to be left-handed.
- Devola & Popola's Memories state that the twins established the first iteration of the lunar server centuries prior to Project YoRHa's creation and further development of the server.