Nier is the titular protagonist of NieR and its remake, NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139.... He is a young man in search of a cure for the Black Scrawl, a disease which has afflicted his younger sister, Yonah.
While not officially named, as his name is determined by the player, most fans[3] and many official supplemental materials also refer to him as "Nier."[1]
His traveling companions are Grimoire Weiss, Kainé, and Emil.
Appearance
Nier is a young man with white hair and grayish-blue eyes. During the first half of the game, the sixteen-year-old Nier has his hair swept to the left and styled into a small ponytail. He has a thin, black hairpin that sits on the right side of his hair. He wears a black cloak over a white shirt with white shorts, along with black knee-length boots and elbow-length gloves.
Five years later, during Act II, the now-adult Nier has grown out his hair, but still wears the hairpin from Act I. He is taller, and wears a light-black tunic with detached sleeves lined with fur over his white underclothes, along with a black sash around his waist. He wears black metal-plated gloves and metal greaves over his boots.
During the events of 15 Nightmares, Nier's appearance changes into that of Father Nier, specifically his appearance in Act II of NieR Gestalt (NIER).
Story
Background
- "I never knew Shades were so similar to people...I mean, you cut them and they bleed. Plus, the way it feels when you hit one..."
- — Nier, regarding killing Shades and the unnamed man
Nier's father died when he was a child, and his mother died when he was ten years old. Left with only his younger sister Yonah, who he loves and treasures more than anything in the world, Nier became her only caregiver. He sought to provide for her by completing odd jobs for the villagers as well as hunting and exterminating Shades. Through his efforts, and Devola and Popola's watchful guidance, Nier earned a reputation as a reliable and gentle youth with the villagers.
In the short novella Red and Black from Grimoire NieR, it is revealed that when he was 15, Nier was coerced into an implied sexual relationship with a man in Seafront in exchange for money to help care for Yonah. He despised the man, and when they both later joined an expedition to kill Shades, it is implied that Nier killed him—noting how similar humans and Shades actually are.
Act I
The story begins 1,412 years in the future, where a 16 year old Nier's sister, Yonah, has succumbed to a violent cough and must remain in bed while he searches for a cure. Though much time has passed, the world in which this brother and sister resides is, in many ways, one of a simpler time. Villagers live in modest homes and work together to ensure a better life for their community. The entire village knows of young Yonah's illness, and lends their support by hiring Nier for numerous odd jobs and errands. Some would say the work is beneath a young man of his caliber, but he holds his head high and does whatever he can to provide for his sister, all the while hoping that the village's wisest members, Popola, and her twin sister Devola, can discover a cure.
One day, Yonah leaves to seek out the Lunar Tear, a flower her brother once told her about, and goes off in search of the Lost Shrine where Popola told her they grow. Upon searching the Lost Shrine, Nier stumbles upon a talking book capable of wielding magic, calling itself Grimoire Weiss. The two team up to defeat an army of Shades and two living guardian statues to save Yonah. It is discovered that Yonah is suffering from the Black Scrawl virus, which is linked to the Shades. This partnership with Weiss allows Nier to use magic, and the two begin their quest to search the lands to collect the Sealed Verses that Nier hopes will give Weiss the power to destroy the darkness and save his sister. In their search, they encounter the hot-tempered, foul-mouthed Kainé, who is herself part-Shade, and a young boy, Emil, whose eyes petrify anyone that gazes upon them. Their quest sees many hardships, culminating in Kainé becoming petrified in order to seal a deadly Shade beneath the library, while Yonah is carried away by a being known as the Shadowlord, who carries his own book, Grimoire Noir.
Act II
- "I have something to defend! I have a reason to live!"
- — Nier, when fighting the Shadowlord
In the five years since Yonah was carried away, Nier has neither given up hope that she's alive nor doubts for a moment that he can find her again. Times have gotten hard for the villagers during these intervening years. The gates to the village remain shut at all times, and food is scarce. News from the outside world seldom makes it to the village because of the increased number of Shades in the neighboring plains, and many of the animals that used to graze have fled the area. Shades have also become far tougher to defeat, even for Nier. They are outfitted with plate armor, helms, and wield swords. The world is in turmoil, and the Shadowlord is behind it all.
Emil believes he has discovered the key to removing his curse, as well as un-petrifying Kainé, so he and Nier journey to a lab below Emil's mansion, where Emil remembers his past: he and his sister, Halua, were the subjects of human experimentation through the National Weapons Research Laboratory, wherein they were genetically modified to turn into "weapons" with the power of maso. Halua, "Number 6," was utilized to create the "ultimate weapon," while he, "Number 7," was kept in reserve. This weapon—his sister—is a large, disfigured skeleton-like creature, and is ultimately defeated by Nier but not before Emil has to seal away her power. This has the unfortunate side-effect of transforming a devastated Emil into a similar skeleton-like body that floats above the ground. However, now he can see and wield his own form of magic. After un-petrifying Kainé and defeating the Shade beneath the library, the three set out to find the parts to a keystone that they believe will help them locate the Shadowlord and Grimoire Noir.
With the pieces in place, the team returns to the shrine where Weiss was originally found and enter the Shadowlord's Castle. They encounter Devola and Popola, who reveal to them that all of the remaining humans on the planet are not in fact humans, but Replicants, or "shells," from Project Gestalt. Faced with its own destruction over 1,300 years ago by a virus, mankind created Project Gestalt in an attempt to extend human lives by transferring their minds into duplicate shells, free of disease. The project was initially successful, but the Replicants began to exert their own consciousness and gradually became human entities of their own without the original human souls transferred into them. The Shades that Nier and his group have been fighting are actually the remains of humans from long ago who have succumbed to the virus, their aggressiveness due to an overwhelming desire to return to a real body. The twins fight against Nier and his friends, and when Devola is killed, Popola threatens to destroy everything until Emil sacrifices himself so that Nier and Kainé can continue.
Nier, Kainé, and Weiss reach the Shadowlord's chamber, and after defeating Grimoire Noir, they discover that the Shadowlord is the original "Nier" as seen in the game's prologue, who was the primary test subject for Project Gestalt and driven by an identical desire to protect his sister. Having taken Yonah, he has given the original human Yonah her Replicant body, but this Yonah realizes that she cannot keep it, as she hears the Replicant Yonah calling for her brother. She vacates the body, and Nier and the Shadowlord do battle. During the fight, Weiss loses all his strength and disappears, leaving Nier to fight the Shadowlord alone. After defeating him, Nier and Yonah are reunited. However, without their souls, the Replicants are all doomed to extinction.
Endings
Ending A: Call Her Back
Replicant Nier kills Gestalt Nier, hesitating for a moment before dealing a final blow. Afterwards, Nier goes to Yonah's side. Worried when Yonah doesn't respond to his calls, Grimoire Weiss, after losing his body, uses the last of his strength to speak. He tells Nier that she will awaken when someone says the name of the one she loves the most. The player is then given a choice to write their character's name. If entered correctly, Yonah slowly opens her eyes and observes her brother for the first time in five years.
Kainé moves to leave, but is stopped by Nier, asking if she wants to stay with them. She declines, saying she has "her own shit to take care of." The scene shifts over to Nier and Yonah, five years earlier in the village, sitting on the hill near their house. Yonah runs up to a sitting Nier and gives her brother a Lunar Tear as they both lay down on the hill.
Ending B: Lingering Memories
Similar to Ending A, Replicant Nier defeats Gestalt Nier. The scene then changes to Gestalt Nier scrunched up, weeping to himself—alone in a white void—as he regrets all the hardships he put Yonah through. A flashback occurs, with Yonah and himself alone in the grocery store from the game's prologue. He tells her that he isn't hungry, while Yonah tries to force him to eat something.
The scene reverts back and images of enemies that Replicant Nier killed gaze at him while he cries to himself. Gestalt Yonah, in her young form, comes to greet him and thanks him for always being there for her, and shares a cookie with him.
Ending C: Thank You
A continuation of Endings A and B, after Nier defeats and kills the Shadowlord, as Kainé goes to leave she begins to relapse. She then goes into her Shade form, forcing Nier to fight her. After Kainé is incapacitated, Tyrann explains to Nier how he can save her—either by killing her, or forgoing his entire existence for her.
If the player chooses to kill her, Nier stabs Kainé as he kisses her, finally ending her pain. Tyrann tells Nier Kainé's last words, "Thank you." A Lunar Tear falls next to a distraught Nier. He picks it up as he gazes through a window. It's unknown what events occur after this Ending, but it's likely that Nier and Yonah return to the village to live out the rest of their days together before they succumb to the Black Scrawl.
Ending D: Something Very Special
If the player chooses to sacrifice Nier's entire existence for Kainé, everything is erased and everyone forgets he ever existed. Nier disappears, while Yonah thanks Kainé for saving her. A Lunar Tear falls on the ground, which Kainé picks up. When she holds it, she has a flashback of Nier and mentions that it feels like she found something special.
Ending E: e8a898e686b6e382b5e383bce38390e383bc
Note: This ending is exclusive to Grimoire NieR and NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139....
Three years after the events of Ending D, Kainé wakes up after having nightmares about Nier, only remembering that she feels that she forgot something important. Frustrated at being unable to remember, Kainé leaves her hut to take her anger out on Shades, which have grown rampant since the death of the Shadowlord. After this, she heads to the village where Yonah lives to check on her, saving a guard being attacked by Shades on the way there. Once the Shades are dispatched, the man informs Kainé that he was heading to the Forest of Myth to check on them, as they lost contact recently.
Kainé makes her way to the Forest of Myth, and finds that the entire village has been slaughtered and robots that resemble those from the Junk Heap are pouring out of the central tree. After destroying the swarm of robots, Kainé enters the tree and makes her way deeper inside, eventually learning that the tree is actually a quantum server housing the memories of humanity.
After facing off against a pair of twins called the "Administrators," and destroying the server's core, Kainé appears atop a massive bio-organic flower that resembles a Lunar Tear, holding a boy. She finally reunites with Emil and a reincarnated Nier, who appears as he did when he first came to the Forest of Myth at 16.
The Lost World
In the original version of Ending E told in Grimoire NieR, after the Shadowlord is defeated, a program to reset the entire Replicant system begins its execution in the Forest of Myth, and Kainé goes to destroy it. The forgotten Nier is reunited with Kainé, reconstructed with the "memories" that the tree had of his first visit to the Forest of Myth.The World of Recycled Vessel
- "I usually stop before the end, though. The last few entries are pretty bizarre."
- — Nier, regarding his mother's diary
Also known as 15 Nightmares, Nier and Grimoire Weiss happen upon a diary that belonged to the former's mother. Weiss asks Nier about it, with him responding that the later pages don't make sense. They then venture into "The White Room" as an older Nier, with a series of familiar and new locations with waves of Shades to fight.
At the end of each location, more of Nier's mother's diary is revealed, explaining the war between Gestalts and Replicants, and how the Dragon brought magic into the world where it didn't belong. When they finish reading the diary, both wonder what the meaning of the final pages were.
NieR:Automata Ver1.1a
In Episode 5 of NieR:Automata Ver1.1a, Nier appears briefly alongside Yonah, Kainé, Grimoire Weiss, Devola, and Popola when 9S hacks into Emil's memories.
He also appears in Episode 22 when Devola and Popola recall the events of Drakengard and how humanity comes to an end.
Development
The developers originally used Yoko Taro's birthday, June 6th, as a placeholder for Nier's birthday. It was planned to change this date to September 11th in honor of the Japanese release date for Drakengard, but they forgot and unintentionally made the placeholder official.[4] Yoko became aware of this at the end of development and was amused when fans later told him that it was Older Brother Day. Coincidentally, he has a real-life younger sister and admits he's not close to her.[5]
Saito Yosuke said that Nier's young adult form was designed to be the standard "good-looking do-gooder" protagonist. His younger self was constructed to have destructible accessories, but this concept doesn't completely survive in the game itself. Yoko said that he once had "aristocratic clothing," but his outfit was revised to capture the world wanderer image.
According to D.K's design notes in Grimoire NieR, his younger self follows a Siberian Husky image. D.K designed the younger Nier's lion belt buckle for a cool image for his back, struggling with its size throughout the design process. His older self actually wears the same head ornament as his younger self, just with one strap missing.[6]
The omission of displayed town names, Shade names, and so forth is supposed to represent the world from Nier's perspective. Yoko thought it would have been weird for the protagonist to have "godlike knowledge" of everything around him. He adds that he is bad with names too, so he knows it's realistic.
When asked about why the main character is just referred to as "protagonist" on the game's official website, Yoko stated that "Nier" isn't the character's name. He added that he was told to use a name for the novellas, so he used it as a compromise. "But as far as the game goes, he's simply the protagonist," he said, and asserted that "NieR" is the name for the series in general.[3]
Other Appearances
SINoALICE
The NieR RepliCant × SINoALICE collaboration had this Nier be a free job class. Players could log in during the event to receive Young Nier/Paladin. His younger self (Boy Nier/Sorcerer) could be purchased with real-world currency. Grimoire Weiss was the weapon that unlocked this job class. Arcana for Boy Nier could be purchased for 300 magical crystals per level.
This Nier was one of the focal characters for the collaboration event. It begins with him being roused into consciousness by a decapitated Emil sometime after the events of NieR. After he warmly confirms his recognition of his bodiless comrade, Nier's immediate concern is Yonah's whereabouts. Although he doesn't know where he is or why the Shades still exist, Nier continues to make her safety his number one priority. As Nier and Emil fight through the SINoALICE Library, he monologues that he will always protect his little sister, even recognizing this goal as his only reason for living. He knows humanity is facing their darkest days, but also knows there is still good to found within it and never wants to acknowledge defeat. Yet if anything endangers Yonah, he would rather damn the world for her protection.
During their search, the two comrades encounter the Shadowlord. Nier is confused but reasons his defeat should return Yonah to him. It doesn't so they continue. They encounter a girl that resembles Yonah's figure. Nier is drawn to her in spite of Emil's warnings, becoming angered once the girl is revealed to be a Shade. Calling the Shade an impostor, he slays it while raving for his little sister. His mind soon regresses and he turns into an inconsolable Shadowlord before Emil.
When the narrative switches to Emil, he slowly remembers the truth: Nier's ultimate fate was turning into a Shade. The Nier he was traveling with in the Library was a recreation that manifested due to Nier's lingering thoughts within his weapons and Emil's loneliness. During the fight with the second Shadowlord, he is named "Precious Person," but changes to "Treasured Person" when Emil realizes the truth. While the event scenario has Emil fondly referring to Nier as "that person," clicking the "Follow" option for the Emil Copies NPC after the final battle has him call Nier by name.
Young Nier/Paladin's job story is narrated entirely by Yonah. She celebrates her brother's ability to cook, his kindness and strength. Worried that he is overworking himself for her sake, she swears to act normal before him in hopes of not burdening him with her sorrow.
Boy Nier/Sorcerer's job story roughly summarizes Nier's backstory and beginning motivations in Nier Replicant. His father died when he was young and his mother died when he was ten. His prostitution and Shade extermination jobs are blatant. It ends with him being motivated by Yonah's terminal illness to restore the forgotten Words for Weiss.
Parts of his adult outfit could be collected for the "Nameless Youth" equipment set. Equipping the entire outfit boosted player characters' efficiency against Shades.
The Shadowlord as a boss replicated his attacks from the base game, many of them hitting the entire party. When he was down to his last life bar, he would pummel player characters with a powerful debuff attack. Since he had strong stats, the recommended method of defeating him was to hit him with the strongest Wind weapons possible before he casted the debuff.
He could be earned as a Nightmare from the event's shooting gacha. When he was summoned in battle, he boosted the capabilities of Water weapons but decreased characters' defense against Wind attacks.
NieR Reincarnation
The NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... crossover event in NieR Reincarnation had Nier available under the name "The World-Ender" with three costumes and signature weapons. One was available through a limited event medal exchange, and the two others were available through premium gacha summons.
Gallery
Trivia
- Nier in French means "to deny." Yoko Taro intended there to be no special reason for it.
- Famitsu hosted a livestream that celebrated Yoko and Nier's birthday in 2018. The "Happy Birthday, Brother" part of the title mirrors Yonah's speech patterns.[5]
- The default ticket reward amount for the SINoALICE collaboration's sixth Hard boss battle against the Shadowlord was 666.
- In Drakengard 3, Nier's armor in the second half of the game and Beastlord are available as DLC for $2.99. The armor provides a 5% boost in damage.
- Brother Nier is referenced in NieR:Automata along with Yonah in the weapon story for Virtuous Dignity.
- Saito conducted a Niconico livesteam to promote Automata which included a character popularity poll for Replicant. Nier placed fourth, which led to Saito jokingly posting an image of Yonah mourning her brother's placement.[7]
- The 21 year old Nier shares his English voice actor, Ray Chase, with Eve from Automata.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Grimoire NieR: Revised Edition p.10
- ↑ Grimoire NieR: Revised Edition p.196
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fire Sanctuary (December 29, 2020). A Couple Interesting Facts About NieR Revealed on Saito's Christmas Special, Fire Sanctuary. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ↑ 4Gamer (July 10, 2010). 「ジャンルという概念を打ち破りたかった」――裏話もたっぷり聞けた「ニーア レプリカント/ゲシュタルト」ロングインタビュー, 4Gamer.net. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 FamitsuTUBE (June 6, 2018). 「おにいちゃん、誕生日おめでとう」ニーア誕生日会【ファミ通】, YouTube. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ↑ Grimoire NieR: Revised Edition p.172
- ↑ 電ファミニコゲーマー (February 23, 2017). 『ニーア オートマタ』齊藤Pがファンアンケート実施！「ぶっちゃけヨコオタロウ好き？」結果は……, denfaminicogamer.jp. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
