Breath of Fire: Nina’s Background

In the SNES video game “Breath of Fire”, the character Nina has two references to her past. These unfortunately didn’t make it into the official English release.

The first mention takes place when player control switches from Ryu to Nina. After resting up, Nina plans to leave the castle on a journey to obtain the antidote that will save her poisoned father.

Nina takes this opportunity to reflect on her past. She once left home on a journey to run away from her life as a princess, but now she’s about to embark on a journey to save her father and their kingdom.

The official English release trimmed this to a message of duty, and managed to put a little distance between her and her father in doing so.

The second mention of Nina’s appears in the castle basement during the day.

The basement leads to the castle’s east exit. This may be why the member of the court jokes about Nina running away again. He’s likely unaware that Nina actually is going to leave, except to the west in search of the antidote.

In the official English release, the man appears to be aware of Nina’s plans, and makes no mention of her running away.