3. Juani “Junah” Cygnus

Junah could have been a one-note (no pun intended) Taylor Swift in a fantasy world archetype (sheesh, sorry, these puns came from God, not me), but her entire schtick is subversion. She’s a widely beloved musician seemingly aligned with the enemy, but then it’s revealed that she’s an undercover agent who’s been slyly working behind the scenes to help save the prince. Junah presents herself as a starlet who is the epitome of grace and showmanship, but as a nidia, she’s actually using glamor to hide her true appearance as a childlike doll. Junah is full of surprises when she could easily have fallen into a number of predictable tropes. By the time she joins the party, almost everyone on the team has been dour and dramatic at some point, so Junah’s swagger is a welcome change. But she’s not without her own drama, and her carefree attitude is never at the expense of complexity. Junah contains multitudes, both in the way she presents herself to others and in who she reveals herself to be. While the world of Metaphor knows her best as a songstress, it’s in the moments that she reveals who she truly is that she’s the most memorable.