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"Stop? Stop? You want me to stop? You think I have the luxury to stop? You cut down my sister like an animal and you tell me to STOP!? No one STOPS!! It's way too late to STOP! No one...STOOOOOPS!!"
—Popola after Devola's death

Popola, also known as Popol 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 younger twin sister of Devola and a friend of Nier.

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

Popola is a librarian and is usually found at the library in Nier's village. Devola, her twin sister, is a bard and often performs at the village tavern. Both sisters are considered leaders and look out for Yonah during Nier's frequent absences. Popola is responsible for giving out most main story 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.

Popola is killed by her own attack in a final confrontation with Emil, who sacrifices himself to save his friends and counter her magic. It is later revealed that Emil survived that blast, but is left only as a head.

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.

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 first three letters are from the villagers. A child thanks her for teaching them how to make soup for their mother; an ill villager thanks her for the medicinal herb she gave them; a man confesses his desire to date her. Popola comments on each with scholarly curiosity, as she is unable to fully comprehend the sentiments expressed by each author. Regarding the man's romantic confession, she is puzzled by the strange sensation clenching her chest. Popola is most at ease with Devola's note, even chuckling at her sister's concern for her.

"Ancient Song" is the first answer for the collaboration's Twitter quiz.

Media[]

Trivia[]

  • Like Devola, Popola'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, Popola doesn't drink alcohol because it sends her into a violent rage. He describes her by saying, "Popola doesn't look it, but after a few, she's the strongest in the land." Nier explains that she even once knocked down a tavern wall. This could also be a subtle hint to her status as an android.
  • She is good at untying 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]
  • Popola is shown to be left-handed, while Devola appears to be right-handed.

References[]

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