Zola

She demonstrates exceptional interpersonal skills, showing herself to be sensible and rational when making decisions and being able to maintain motivation in the face of difficult situations.
Unlike in the game, Zola doesn't work for Nene; instead, she seeks to plunge the world into darkness.
In the anime, Zola's shadow is able to wield a sword, unlike the shadow in the game, which fights unarmed.
In Latin, "Zola" means "ball of earth"; the name also derives from the African word "Zulu"—meaning "peaceful" or "tranquil"—which, interestingly, perfectly matched his serene demeanor.
It is possible that she has an interest and aptitude in the fields of history and archaeology, since she described the chance to see "the oldest book in the world" (the Book of Beginnings) during a brief conversation with Conrad as "a rare opportunity and an honor," on which occasion she demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the historical manuscript.

Shu: In the game, he is impressed by her skills and respects her actions, although, like the others, he was shocked when everyone found out she worked for Nene.

In the anime, she arrives at his village and, after defeating Gran Kingdom soldiers, asks him to accompany her. Just like in the game, he feels deeply hurt by her betrayal of the trust and friendship they shared. However, Shu stubbornly insists on confronting her about her mistakes, as he believes there is still goodness in her and that she truly considered him—as well as the others—a friend. After defeating her, he quickly forgives her, as he values ​​their friendship much more.

Zola respects Shu's determination—and, at times, his stubbornness—in wanting to save the world, considering it one of the most important qualities in an individual. She firmly believes in his potential to accomplish such a feat. Zola feels a pleasurable satisfaction in seeing him achieve his goals, displaying a genuine smile before departing for the afterlife.

Jiro: In the game, she doesn't interact much with Jiro, although he was the one who realized that Nene was using her power as collateral for his.

In the anime, it was Zola who found Jiro after his village was destroyed. He traveled with her, and she taught him swordsmanship and possibly hand-to-hand combat techniques, which he came to master. This became even more evident in the second season. They are very close in the anime; their relationship resembles a sibling bond. However, when Jiro fails to control his emotions, she usually reprimands him, as happened at the end of the first season.

Kluke: In the game, not much is known about their relationship; however, in the anime, Zola acts as a mother figure to her—as seen in episode 3. She admired and praised the young woman's compassionate personality, encouraging her to continue her acts of compassion. As she herself once told her: "You are a kind person, and one day, that kindness will become your greatest strength."

Marumaro: In the game, she likes him despite him yelling loudly at her and constantly repeating the word "LOVE!". After the events of the first game, she takes Devee on as an apprentice, a role he enjoys very much.

In the anime, she is the one who frees Marumaro after the group captures him. She also allows him to join the group, despite his perverted behavior.

Zola is the owner of the Killer Bat shadow.

In the video game, Killer Bat is blue. She possesses typical assassin abilities, such as striking first or delivering two attacks in a single move. When performing her materialization move (also known as "Tension"), Killer Bat turns white, with an appearance similar to the Great Apes (Oozaru) from the Dragon Ball franchise.
Anime: Its shadow is silent, like most artificial shadows. It is the only shadow in Zola's group that uses a weapon. After Zola reveals its true nature, it is discovered that Killer Bat is the manifestation of Zola's own darkness. The battle intensified, and Zola merged with its shadow (powered by darkness) to assume a demonic form.

Zola has lightly tanned skin, white or silver hair, and gray-blue eyes. She wears a black bandana on her head with a white skull printed on it. She wears gold hoop earrings and a necklace of white beads that resembles a row of teeth. Her top is a light blue strapless top, and she wears light green shorts. A purple sash tied at the waist falls down her back, and she sometimes wears a brown belt with a sheath over it. She wears matching black armbands and thigh-high stockings, as well as brown fingerless gloves and high-heeled boots with dark brown fur trim.

In the anime, her appearance undergoes slight alterations. Her skin is a bit more tanned, and her headband is closer to a dark burgundy than black. There are other minor color variations, such as the sash, which is lighter, and the necklace, which has gained gold beads.

Video games
Zola is a playable character in Blue Dragon and Blue Dragon Plus . She is a former mercenary who serves as the leader of King Jibral's Blademasters. She is the only character who never loses her Shadow.

Zola is introduced in the story when Shu, Jiro, and Kluke find spheres of light aboard the Flying Fortress. It is her voice that, under Nene's orders, commands them to swallow the spheres.

Zola makes her first appearance — and becomes playable for the first time — when the survivors of Talta Village, traveling towards Jibral, are attacked along the way. She is among the warriors accompanying King Jibral and joins Shu, Jiro, Kluke, and Marumaro to fight the group of Steel-Eating Tigers.

Next, she leads the group on a mission to disable Nene's Flying Fortress—an objective they achieve while Shu and his friends face General Szabo. Zola helps King Jibral and his army escape the base before it falls; Shu and his friends flee soon after, aboard a stolen mechat .

Zola's role in the plot loses some prominence when Kluke is kidnapped by Nene. The group rescues Kluke, but ends up being pursued by the remnants of Szabo's forces before reaching Nene's chamber. Zola detains Szabo while the others go to confront Nene. They escape, and Zola rejoins the group shortly after, once they have recovered their Shadows. They witness the planet splitting and reforming due to Nene's manipulation of the Ancients' technology. After advancing through the cube-shaped masses of worlds that spread from the planet, they find the cube where Nene is installed.

After fighting their way through hordes of enemies, they finally reach and defeat Nene. Nene lies amidst the ruins of his ancient machines and reveals that Zola was working with him all along. She briefly fights the group—without actually attacking—before turning on Nene, revealing that she only collaborated with him for his power. She then kills him. Zola rejects his power, throws Nene's sphere of light into the wreckage, and helps the others fight off Deathroy's released form: Destroy. Later, she reappears in Jibral, continuing her work as leader of the Blademasters . Following the events of Awakened Shadow , it is suggested that she marries King Jibral, though this is not confirmed.

Anime

Zola acts as the leader of the group of protagonists, being the most mature and intelligent of them. She and Jiro arrive at Shu's village; there, her heightened senses and exceptional swordsmanship lead Shu to mistake her for a Sword Master. After repelling one of Nene's attacks on the village, she introduces herself to Shu as a descendant of the Seven Warriors of Light and explains her mission to find the other descendants in order to defeat Nene.

Only after Nene's death are Zola's true intentions in gathering the Shadow Bearers revealed... the evil contained within Killer Bat corrupts Zola, leading her to unleash the darkness that plagued the world. Although Shu still believed there was goodness in Zola, he discovers the reason for the change: Killer Bat had expelled her "good side" since the collapse that caused her father's death. With her goodness separated from her essence, Zola became the personification of absolute evil and the avatar of legendary darkness. Killer Bat then merges with Zola, transforming her into a demonic version of herself. With the help of the other descendants of light, Shu manages to defeat the Demonic Zola, destroying Killer Bat once and for all.

Later, while the others struggle to seal away the darkness, Zola appears before Shu one last time, smiling; it is speculated that, despite having unleashed the darkness, she felt happy about Shu's growth.

The Trial of the Seven Shadows
However, it is later revealed in the second series that only the darkness within Zola had died. The goodness that resided within her (and which had been expelled by Killer Bat) was found by Dr. Tarkovsky, leader of the White Guardians; he transferred this light to a homunculus, whom he took in as his own granddaughter, naming her Primella.

Game: Zola worked as a mercenary some time before the game's story takes place. One day, she was ambushed by a group of enemies and failed to defeat them. Just before receiving a fatal blow, time stopped and Nene granted her a Light Sphere in exchange for her services. The Light Sphere granted her a new Shadow, Killer Bat, allowing her to defeat the remaining enemies. Later, she became the leader of the Jibral Blademasters, at which point the events of Blue Dragon begin to unfold. While working for Nene, she was considered his "loyal servant" and performed various tasks for him, including instructing Shu, Kluke, and Jiro to swallow their Light Spheres. However, her supposed loyalty was only temporary; as she herself explained: "If I were to betray someone, it wouldn't be Shu and his friends. It would be you, Nene!" Next, she defeated him using Killer Bat and took his Sphere of Light. After Shu and the others asked her not to keep the sphere, she threw it onto the Eternal Engine to which Nene was connected.
Anime: As a child, Zola lost her father in an accident while exploring ruins with him and Nene. She was the only survivor besides Nene, and succumbed to darkness; sadness and despair unleashed the creature sealed within the ruins: Killer Bat. Unlike in the game, she previously served the Kingdom of Gran under General Logi before leaving to pursue her own goals.