Niaes Varge

Niaes Varge (ニアエス・バージ), or Black Maiden (ブラックメイデン), is a fictional character in the Shaman King manga sequel series. A member of Team YVS, she murdered Tao Jeanne and made Jeanne her Guardian Ghost for the Flower of Maize.

Appearance
Niaes is a short young woman with long black hair. She has freckles across her nose and braces in her mouth. She wears a pink blouse (short-sleeved in Flowers and long-sleeved in The Super Star) with a black ribbon looped under the shirt's collar and tied into a bow. She also wears a black, tight-waisted skirt and pair of boots.

Personality
She aims to become the ultimate maiden, a goal she wants to achieve by possessing the spirit of Iron Maiden Jeanne and Jeanne's own guardian ghost, Shamash, which is currently in the possession of Jeanne's son, Tao Men.

Despite claiming to be a maiden, she uses slang and is rather foulmouthed, calling Tamamura Tamao and the Hana-Gumi Waitresses "hags" (ババア).

Spirit

 * See More: Tao Jeanne

Niaes's guardian ghost is Tao Jeanne, former leader of X-Laws. Jeanne was a powerful shaman that participated in the Shaman Fight in Tokyo 2000. Niaes acquired Jeanne's spirit after killing her. She uses the face plate of Jeanne's Iron Maiden as a medium for her Over Soul.

Past
Niaes was recruited by Team YVS and in exchange for getting stronger, she was brought by Red Crimson to kill Tao Jeanne. Jeanne pleaded for her not to kill anyone, and when Niaes hesitated, Jeanne decided to have Shamash impose a death sentence on herself to prevent Niaes from becoming a murderer. Kamogawa Yohsuke used one of his YVS Cards to stop time and shot Jeanne himself, so that the bullet would her kill before Shamash, when time resumed. Yohsuke later implanted a false memory inside Niaes, making her believe that she pulled the trigger.

Flowers
Niaes accompanied Asakura Munzer Redseb and Seyrarm to Funbari Onsen. Whereas the Munzer siblings came to retrieve the Golem, Niaes sought to kill Tao Men and take Shamash from him. When Men attacked her, she revealed her Over Soul with his mother's spirit and severely injured him. Before she could kill Men, she noticed the Golem staring at her, and the Munzer siblings pointed out that the Hana-Gumi Waitresses would have killed her if she had continued. The Waitresses attacked with their own Over Souls but were interrupted by the return of Tamamura Tamao. Tamao then invited the Team YVS members in for tea. Niaes stood outside, while Redseb and Seyrarm sat inside with Tamao, discussing a truce. When asked, Redseb confirmed that Niaes had indeed killed Jeanne. The Team YVS members left after Tamao requested more time before giving her response.

Niaes later accompanied Yohsuke to Nagano Prefecture. They met up with Hebishima Yumeji, who showed them a recording of Alumi Niumbirch's fight with Oume Kaizou. After Yohsuke explained to Niaes how Kaizou's long life had strengthened his soul, Niaes suggested going after Asakura Hana who was a spirit, but Yohsuke refused, wary of Hana's power from training in Hell and of a possible trap set by Asakura Hao. Frustrated, Niaes threw Amidamaru's petrified soul at the floor but agreed to be patient.

Later that night, Niaes and Yohsuke went to Kaizou's hospital room so they could investigate his past with Sakurai Sakutaro. Using an YVS Card, they accessed the Great Spirit and viewed events during World War II. They followed Kaizou and Sakutaro from the Yamato to the Northern Lights, Luke Lasso's ship. Upon hearing the name "Lasso", Niaes grew agitated and wondered if she and Yohsuke were there to kill Luke, but Yohsuke explained that they could only observe the past. After Kaizou awakened his oni, Luke decided to test its power, and the battle resulted in the sinking of the ship. Niaes and Yohsuke were forced to swim ashore. She complained that they almost died, but he explained that they could not die. When she questioned again why they were there, he explained that the knowledge would help them win the Flower of Maize.

After leaving the archive, Niaes and Yohsuke traveled to Kaizou's mansion, where they found Alumi and Yumeji surrounded by the ghosts from Kaizou's safe. When Alumi was unimpressed by Dong Honhon's name, Niaes warned her about the Dong Family's power. After Alumi slapped Yohsuke, Niaes and Honhon summoned their Over Souls but were stopped by Zenki and Goki. Niaes was confused how Alumi could summon them when she had been out of Furyoku, as well as why she appeared like Asakura Anna. While Niaes and Honhon were preoccupied with fighting off the ghost soldiers, Yohsuke stopped time to investigate Alumi's Soul Integration of Anna.

When time resumed for Niaes and Honhon, Yohsuke had moved them out of the mansion since their mission was done. Niaes questioned where Yumeji was, and Yohsuke explained that the Rapt had fled with Kaizou's file. She asked for money so she could buy some poultice for his injured cheek, and he suggested that she buy some whistle candy, too. Before they left, Yohsuke used an YVS Card to make Kaizou go on a rampage. As they walked, Niaes was playing with the whistle candy and wondered if they should watch Hana who had arrived to fight Kaizou, but Yohsuke assured her that he knew Hana would win since Hana's memories had been restored and Hao had prepared the ghosts for Hana. The news irritated Niaes, causing her to crunch the candy.

Niaes, Yohskue, and Honhon returned to Kyoto and waited outside a toy shop for Thorim to retrieve the power YVS had given to Asakura Yohkyo. Niaes complained about the constant travel, to which Yohsuke responded that the bullet train was fun to ride and that they have a big meeting in Kyoto Tower. As they drove to the tower, Niaes wondered how the Knights Templar had physically returned and were escorting their car. Honhon explained about dimensional shifting and the Flower of Maize's rule against resurrection. When Honhon kept calling her "Black Virgin" and mentioning the Dong Family's views on death and murder, Niaes grew irritated, summoned her Over Soul, and fought Honhon.

Trivia

 * Her favorite food is pretzels.
 * Her hobby is metal.