Lina is known to the general public as the Bandit Killer, the Enemy of All Living
Things, a Dragon Spooker, in her own words, "the beautiful, genius sorceress, Lina Inverse!"
and in the words of many others, simply, "that brainless, breast-less
sorceress." She is the lead of the series we all
love, Slayers!When you first see Lina in action, you'll notice that she's anything but the cliché female lead. Usually they're clumsy, ditsy, childish, can't take care of themselves, and often end up in "damsel in distress" situations. Not Lina. She knows what she's doing and isn't the type of girl that gets saved by anyone except herself. She refuses to be helpless.
You know when some female character does something brainless, you think "Why did she just do that? How stupid!" Lina thinks the same. She's never corny about anything and when something sounds stupid or useless, she'll most likely be the one to point it out. Chivalry, heroism, romance, and all that junk? Forget it. That's a load of bull according to Lina. That's her attitude. She's neither corny, helpless, nor whiny. Rather, she's laid back and doesn't take trivial things seriously. Lina doesn't associate herself with melodrama; she likes to live without it. Though laid back, when it's time to get serious, Lina gets down to business.
You'll also notice that Lina is
loud and energetic. She looks at the bright side of life, making
sarcastic remarks here and there while escaping in lighthearted glee from
bandits that she recently robbed. Once Lina is on a roll, no one can stop her.
People can't help
but wonder where she gets all her energy from. Perhaps it's all the food she
eats, because she eats an unbelievable amount for someone her size. Either way,
she's something else.Lina is not one to be ignored. If you don't pay attention to her, then you're going to get it. She hates to be disregarded, especially if it's because of someone else. "How dare you ignore me! You've got a lot of nerve!" she says. If you're going to fight her, she's definitely not the one to mess around with. If you get on her nerves or insult her, she's very likely to mangle you good. Lina demands respect from her opponents and won't take treatment below her standards.
A powerful sorceress, Lina's power is feared by many, especially bandits. She's somewhat the Robin Hood of the Slayers world, except she "takes from the rich and gives to herself," so to say. Lina can easily be greedy when she wants something badly. Whether it's treasure, jewels, Gourry's Sword of Light, or just food, she'll do anything in her power to get it. As she once said to Gourry, "I'm sticking with you until you finally decide to give me the Sword of Light!" She's determined and never gives up.
Another
thing you'll notice about Lina is that she's rather
undeveloped. She's constantly teased about having small breasts, and how Amelia is younger than her and yet still
has a bigger chest. It takes guts to tell her that to her face though, because she certainly
doesn't take it lightly. Lina also looks a lot younger than she really is. When Gourry
first met her, he thought she was a little kid and he had no idea that she was
actually the famous sorceress, Lina Inverse! Gourry is the only person who has
the guts (or the lack of brains) to point out these things to Lina.Lina is a leader, not a follower. She knows what strategy is needed to beat the opponent. She studies and observes everyone's weaknesses and strengths, so she knows when and where everyone is needed. She also knows how to make people feel good about themselves. For example, when Sypheel doesn't have confidence to do something, Lina knows how to make her feel good about herself and to help her get the confidence that she needs to carry out her attacks. She also has the most confidence in Gourry, and believes that he will triumph, especially when he's fighting Zangulus.
Lina eats like a pig. It's amazes how much food she can consume -- she can also be a bit of a whiner whenever she doesn't get enough food or sleep, but she's clever. She knows how to trick people into giving her what she wants -- whether that's something as simple as food, or Gourry's Sword of Light. She often tries to trick Gourry into giving her the Sword of Light, but he miraculously manages to show some intelligence and avoids handing it over. Lina has a lot of confidence in Gourry, even though she might not show it. She trusts and cares for him, though Gourry sometimes treats her like a child and gets on her nerves, especially at the beginning of the series. Lina hates to be underestimated, and really hates to be treated like a child.
Her personality is two sides of a coin: Lina can act young and
childish while sometimes she's extremely mature. Especially when she's fighting, her skills and tactics
really show through. She can be immature, like when she's arguing with Gourry, or
when she gets angry. Other times, her maturity shows through because she
knows what's the smart thing to do. Lina doesn't like to waste time and when she feels
like she's doing something useless, she gets frustrated.Contrary to popular belief, Lina is nicer than she makes herself out to be. It shows when it comes to Sypheel. Since Lina isn't sensitive to other people's feelings too much (she has a hard time communicating with feelings) she's afraid that Sypheel might be hurt by what she says. Lina understands that Sypheel is sensitive, so she tries to be more careful around her. Lina cares a lot for her friends, just has a hard time showing it. She's fiercely loyal. Once she hit Gourry on the back in congratulations, and Sypheel said "Stop! You're going to hurt Gourry!" and Lina replied "No, he's fine! This is my way of showing my affection. Right, Gourry?" Then she bonked him on the head a couple more times.
Though she's a phenomenal sorceress, Lina never gets any recognition for her accomplishments. After she beat Shabranigdo, other swordsmen tried to take the credit for it. She deserves all the credit but is misunderstood by the public; her name strikes fear in the hearts of many when it should be admired instead. I suppose one can't be great without being misunderstood. Lina is, in fact, a normal sixteen year old girl with her dreams. A normal sixteen year old girl that can kick ass and has saved the world more than a few times, but a normal sixteen year old girl nonetheless.