Xenovia Quarta

Xenovia Quarta is one of the many female protagonists of High School DxD. She is a third-year high school student at Kuoh Academy in Class 3-B and is a natural-born Holy Sword user who wields the Durandal. After learning the truth of God's death in the war, she was excommunicated from the Church and decided to join the Occult Research Club as Rias' second Knight, alongside Yuuto. After Issei's promotion, she now serves under him as his first Knight.

Appearance
Xenovia is a young woman with chin-length blue hair with a dyed green fringe on the right side and brown eyes (dark yellow in the anime). Her body measurements are [B87-W58-H88 cm], and her slender figure is due to her low weight [56 kg]. Xenovia's height 166 cm. (5 feet 5 inches), making her a person of average height.

Her battle attire is her Church battle suit, which consists of a black, skin-tight, short sleeve unitard with pauldrons, matching fingerless gloves that extend to her biceps, and thigh-high boots, all of which are adorned with straps. This attire is worn under a white hooded cloak with gold and blue accents. She also wears a crucifix around her neck, which was later removed after becoming a Devil.

After joining Issei's peerage and during the Rating Games, Xenovia wears a uniform that consists of a red button top with a white tie and red shorts. She also wears a black waist cape as well as a purple cape over her left shoulder.

Upon transferring to Kuoh Academy and joining the Occult Research Club, she wears the Kuoh Academy girls' uniform but without the cape.

Personality
When Xenovia was first introduced, she was shown to have a calm, quiet, and serious demeanor, putting her mission first and only speaking when necessary. She was also very cold, bordering on heartless, as she called Asia a witch for becoming a Devil (even though she became one unwillingly so she could be with Issei) and even went so far as to try and kill her. She later threatened to do the same to Kiba when he was technically a Stray. After being reborn as a Devil, however, she gains a very close relationship with Asia, being touched by her kindness and apologizes for calling her a witch when they first met.

While a faithful member of the Church, her beliefs are flexible enough to accept help from a Dragon such as receiving a free lunch (after Irina spent all their money on a fake painting of a Saint) and wanting to not only accomplish their mission but survive afterward as well.

In battle, Xenovia appears to be a bit arrogant, stubborn, and rarely using her head and attempting to overwhelm her opponents with pure power and strength instead of being subtle or using skill. According to Issei, her fighting style is comparable to that of a Rook despite being a Knight. As Xenovia was raised in the Church, she lacks common knowledge on the life of a normal person, evident when she brought a box of condoms to school as well as wanting to give birth to strong children, and has chosen Issei as her mate. As the series progresses, it is shown that Xenovia has developed genuine romantic feelings towards Issei due to him protecting his comrades even if he gets injured by doing so.

While still a faithful Christian, Xenovia has become extremely flexible and open-minded with her beliefs as shown when she deeply sympathized with Masaomi's tragedy and during their Second fight, she shed tears for Masaomi's agony contrary to her calm and serious nature in battle.

History
Since her childhood, she has endeavored in her training and studies for God and her religion. She was also raised and trained as the wielder of Durandal under Griselda Quarta as her sword master and legal guardian. Eventually, she becomes an exorcist, an agent of the Catholic Church, and partnered with Irina Shidou.

After Xenovia's life was put in danger because of her formerly long hair in a mission with Irina to exterminate a vampire, she chose to cut her long hair to prevent that kind of thing from happening again. She also dyed a part of her hair green for fashion.

Birth of the Breast Dragon Emperor
Xenovia first appears in Volume 3 along with Irina under the order of the Church to retrieve the three stolen Excalibur swords. She and Irina formed a temporary alliance with Issei, Yuuto, Koneko, and Saji, in which they would retrieve the stolen Excaliburs fragments but would allow Yuuto to destroy one of them. During the fight with Freed Sellzen and Valper Galilei, she reveals herself to be the wielder of Durandal and quickly turns the tide of battle by destroying the fused Excalibur and cutting down Freed. Following the battle with the Fallen Angel leader Kokabiel, she became a Devil under Rias after finding out that God died.

In the beginning of Volume 4, Xenovia attempted to seduce Issei in hopes of giving birth to a strong child (Issei's body emitting the aura of one of the Heavenly Dragons) but was unsuccessful due to the interference of Rias, Akeno, Asia, and Koneko. Later, she accompanies Rias and the other Occult Research Club members for the unsealing of Rias' other Bishop, Gasper Vladi, and assisted in Gasper's training (by attempting to exorcise him). During the attack by the Khaos Brigade, Xenovia was able to escape Gasper's time-stopping abilities and assisted in fighting off the magicians sent by the group. After the meeting between the leaders of the Three Factions, Issei asked Michael to allow both Asia and Xenovia to pray to God, to which Michael agrees.

In Volume 5, she accompanies Rias and her allies to the Underworld for the Young Devils Gathering. In the Underworld, Xenovia trained in mastering the Durandal through the use of Ascalon. During Rias and Sona's Rating Game, Xenovia and Yuuto fought against Tsubaki Shinra, Tsubasa Yura, and Tomoe Meguri. She was defeated by Tsubaki who used her Sacred Gear to counter Xenovia's Ascalon which resulted in her elimination but she manages to hand Yuuto the Durandal before disappearing.

In Volume 6, she is reunited with Irina who had come as a representative of the Angels, after she (Irina) herself became one. After helping Issei and Asia train for the three-legged race of the school festival, Xenovia attempts to "flirt" with Issei and calls for Asia to join her before they were interrupted by Irina. During her training, Xenovia tells Issei that she wants to be part of his peerage in the future, along with Asia, stating that it will be fun being with them and kisses him on the cheek as a gift, much to his surprise. After Asia was kidnapped by Diodora Astaroth, the Gremory group set off to rescue her, facing Diodora's peerage along the way. Xenovia was able to terminate his two Rooks using her Durandal and Ascalon together. After Issei defeated Diodora, Xenovia wanted to behead him right then and there for what he did to Asia but was talked out of it by Issei. When Asia was thought to be killed by Shalba Beelzebub, she broke down in grief but was relieved and cried for joy when Asia was rescued by Vali and his team. She, with the other members, was last seen enthusiastically cheering Issei and Asia on their three-legged race.

The Heroic Oppai Dragon
In Volume 7, Xenovia, along with the Occult Research Club members, defeated the Sacred Gear users and anti-monsters sent by the Hero Faction of Khaos Brigade. The Occult Research Club are then asked to serve as Odin's bodyguard as they are attacked by Norse's Evil God Loki and Loki's son, Fenrir. The Occult Research Club, along with Baraqiel, Rossweisse, and Saji, later teamed up with the Vali team to fight their final battle against Loki and Fenrir.

In Volume 9, prior to her trip to Kyoto, she sends her Durandal to Heaven for improvements. While on the train to Kyoto, she asked Issei to lend her Ascalon, which she uses in her first battle against the Hero Faction in Kyoto. During the second battle, she regains her Durandal which has now been upgraded to the Ex-Durandal after fusing the Excalibur fragments into the Durandal, dealing a huge attack to the Hero Faction. She and Yuuto then fought against Siegfried but were easily defeated by the latter.

In Volume 10, she assisted Rias in her Rating Game against Sairaorg Bael under Dice Figure Rule where she and Gasper fought against Ladora Buné and Misteeta Sabnock, with Misteeta sealing Xenovia's ability to wield Ex-Durandal using his Sacred Gear. Despite so, they won after Gasper sacrificed himself for buying some time to undo the curse placed on Xenovia, who proceeded to defeat the two of them in one strike. She then fought against Sairaorg alongside Yuuto and Rossweisse but was still defeated by the former.

In Volume 11, she accompanies Issei, Yuuto, and Akeno to the Underworld for the Middle-Class Promotion test. The team is then attacked by Cao Cao and Georg with Cao Cao using his True Longinus to shatter her Ex-Durandal. She later teleports out of the dimension created by Georg along with Irina and Le Fay Pendragon to go to the Heavens to repair the Ex-Durandal.

She returns in Volume 12 with a fully repaired and completed Ex-Durandal after gaining all seven Excalibur fragments and assisted Irina and Akeno in facing Jeanne. While they are able to corner Jeanne, Jeanne manages to take a child hostage in order to prevent them from further attacking her. After the return of Issei and the defeat of Cao Cao, Xenovia says she wants to go on a date with Issei, as do the rest of the Occult Research Club.

The Legend of Oppai Dragon and his Lively Companions
In Volume 14, Xenovia is shown to be practicing on how to use the seven abilities of the Ex-Durandal after taking heed of Millicas' and Yuuto's advice and had gained mastery over four of its ability (Destruction, Mimic, Transparency, and Rapidly). During the fight against the Khaos Brigade, with some help from Sona, Xenovia gained partial mastery over Excalibur Ruler.

In Volume 15, Xenovia was seen competing against Irina in a swimming match in the underground pool of the Hyoudou Residence for the right to sit on Issei's lap which Xenovia ultimately won.

In Volume 16, Xenovia, along with the Occult Research Club members, Bennia, and Loup Garou, went to Romania to aid Rias and Yuuto who were confined in the Tepes castle. On their way to the Tepes castle, Xenovia revealed that she found something that she wants to do and she needs the knowledge to accomplish that. She then participated in the attempt to stop the extraction of the Longinus, Sephiroth Graal from Valerie Tepes and rescue her; fighting enhanced Vampires and Grendel along the way. Xenovia later teamed up with Irina to defeat the mass-produced Evil Dragons that were rampaging in the Carmilla's castle town. After returning from Romania, she participated in the meeting for the formation of D×D.

In Volume 17, Xenovia, along with with the Occult Research Club members, went to the Underworld and participated in the experience day for the school Sona Sitri built located at Auros in the Agares territory. While doing the respective activities assigned to them, Qlippoth managed to surround both Auros and Agreas inside a barrier and announced their intent to attack after a certain period of time. Before the time was up, they reconfirmed their plan and Xenovia ended up pairing with Tsubasa of the Sitri group and fought with the mass-produced Evil Dragons. After the fights were settled, she revealed her plan to run for the next Student Council President to Issei and the others.

Xenovia and the Occult Research Club went to Heaven in Volume 18 to talk to Michael about the Christmas project the alliance is working on. After the meeting, Michael informed them about the death of Church officials and the presence of Evil Dragons in the area. While Xenovia, Issei, Rossweisse, Irina, and Irina's father Touji Shidou were strolling through the shops in preparation for the Christmas project, they were attacked by Masaomi Yaegaki that was wielding the holy sword, Kusanagi Sword, with the Evil Dragon Yamata no Orochi sealed inside it. Even with Xenovia using the combined abilities of Excalibur, Masaomi was able to fight evenly with her. Masaomi retreated after being able to poison Touji and the rest of the Occult Research Club arrived. During the attack of Qlippoth on Heaven, Xenovia, together with Issei and Irina, fought against Masaomi in the Fourth Heaven and was able to defeat him after Irina's holy sword was able to purify the Kusanagi Sword and rid it of Yamata no Orochi. Xenovia then fought against Rizevim Livan Lucifer but was unable to do anything against him as she was already exhausted from the previous fight.

In the Extra Life of DX.1, Team Gremory has a Rating Game rematch with Riser Phenex. Xenovia is teamed up with Issei and Koneko where they head to the gym. She faces off against Ile and Nel while the others battle Mira and Xuelan respectively and win. The three then leave the gym before Akeno blows it up. They then met up with Yuuto who then went up against Karlamine and to their surprise, they find that Irina had temporary took the place of Riser's Bishop. Xenovia and Irina then begin to battle each other, as the others moved on. Their match continued even after the end of the game.

In Volume 19, Xenovia went to Kyoto for New Years with the rest of the club members where she prayed to a shrine to win the election for Student Council President (and to have Issei's child), she then kisses Issei on the lips for good luck. Later the club members are challenged to participate in the fight against the exorcists that rebelled against the Church. Xenovia was troubled as she needs to fight against the former wielder of Durandal, Vasco Strada, that is said to be the closest to the original wielder Roland. While Issei was meditating in the underground pool, Xenovia entered planning to do her usual routine of skinny-dipping. During their talk, Xenovia expressed her worries of being unable to surpass Sona as the Student Council President and Vasco as the wielder of Durandal. Issei told her that she can do it and asked her why she chose to run as the Student Council President. Xenovia reasoned that she loves Kuoh Academy as it has given a lot to her and she just wants to give something back. Xenovia pulled Issei into the pool with her and kissed him a second time and reminded him of her intent to join his peerage once he becomes a High-class Devil.

During the fight against Vasco, even with the combined abilities of Excalibur, he was able to fight evenly against Xenovia saying that it is alright to combine the abilities of Excalibur but she must not forget the essence of Durandal which is pure power. This prompted Xenovia to dual wield Durandal and the True Excalibur. She and Vasco then clashed resulting in Strada's defeat. After Strada's defeat, Walburga appeared and fought against them using her Balance Breaker. Xenovia was able to defeat her Balance Breaker by sending a huge amount of holy aura from Durandal and True Excalibur in a criss-cross fashion while Issei defeated Walburga.

After the fights were settled, Xenovia was seen giving a speech in front of the students as part of her campaign and it was well received by the students. After the speech, Xenovia asked permission from Griselda to use Irina's room to make babies with Issei which resulted in Griselda scolding her and making Xenovia use her surname once again to remind her that Griselda is her sister. At a later date, it was announced that Xenovia won the election and is the new Student Council President.

In Volume 20, along with everyone in her year, Xenovia attends to her school's career consultations with Griselda meeting her teacher. A few days later, Xenovia and members of D×D meet up with Ajuka who has recovered Ravel and explains the shocking revelation about the secret King Pieces. When Issei's parents were kidnapped by Niðhöggr, D×D began an invasion on Qlippoth's hideout on the stolen city Agreas were the Gremory Team face off against the Evil Dragon Niðhöggr. They had difficulty with him due to his possession of several Phoenix Tears vials, until Crom Cruach shows up and starts beating Niðhöggr senselessly. Xenovia assisted Issei and Asia to help find their parents by clearing a path through an army of Evil Dragons along with Kiba and Irina.

In Volume 21, days after Trihexa had been unleashed and wrought havoc onto the world, Xenovia and all her friends joined the army on an island on the coastal waters of Japan where they battled Qlippoth's army of Evil Dragons, fake Scale Mails and one of the imperial beast bodies controlled by Apophis.

In Volume 22, Xenovia arrived together with Asia and Irina and witness Rias and Akeno seducing Issei with Xenovia expressing jealousy of wanting her own Interdimensional room. At the Occult Research Club, Xenovia wants to take a job of teaching and start a cram school. Xenovia praised Issei's achievement and his promotion to a High-Class Devil within one year. One of Xenovia's secretaries of the Student Council, Ouryuu Nakiri came to deliver the documents and reminded her that she was going to introduce him to everyone. Xenovia tells Issei that if anything happens they should call Ouryuu to assist them. After school, Xenovia goes fishing with the Occult Research Club, the Vali Team, and Issei's parents while also challenging Irina to see who can catch the most fish. After Issei's promotion ceremony, Rias traded Xenovia and Asia so they join his peerage with Xenovia tearfully thanking her for taking care. After Rias's and Akeno's graduation, Xenovia watches as Issei proposed to Rias and smiles at their joyful union.

Red Dragon Emperor of the Blazing Truth × White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star: The True Dragon(s) of the Kuoh Academy
Xenovia arrives together with Issei and their fellow team members at the Azazel Cup through Ryuuteimaru. After ten days, Xenovia gave a bitter expression of their bad ratings and also agreed to Issei's decision. During the rating game tournament against Baraqiel, Xenovia successfully defeated Baraqiel's knight and two pawns. Xenovia and Irina take on a man with thunderclouds supporting him. Xenovia then gave her praise to Issei for his confession to Akeno. After the match, Xenovia watches as Rias and Akeno bicker over Issei while also saying to Asia and Irina that they need to get closer to Issei and make him take responsibility for them.

Powers & Abilities
Natural-born Holy Sword Wielder: Xenovia is a natural born Holy Sword wielder and is able to wield any Holy Sword without artificial means like Irina.

Master Swordswoman: Xenovia is skilled with swords and prefers to dual wield. She combines her speed with Durandal's destructive powers, making her a formidable fighter. Xenovia, however, is very weak in techniques and prefers to use power in all her attacks. However, she gradually improved her skills as the series progressed and Yuuto stated that if she mastered the use of the True Excalibur within Durandal, she would surpass him.

Immense Strength: Due to her years of training in the church, Xenovia is shown to have gained superb arm strength, being able to wield very heavy swords like the Excalibur Destruction and Durandal with ease.

Enhanced Speed: Xenovia is able to move at superhuman speeds. She, however, is considerably slower than Yuuto due to Xenovia being power-oriented as opposed to the technique-oriented Yuuto.

Praying: Xenovia is one of the two Devils, the other being Asia, that can pray to God without receiving damage in the form of a headache after Issei made a request to Michael to allow her to pray to God.

Flight: As a Devil, Xenovia can fly using her wings.

Equipment
Excalibur Destruction : Xenovia's initial weapon. A Holy Sword that has the ability to unleash pure, destructive power that can easily shatter anything it comes into contact with. Xenovia abandons the sword after she became a Devil under Rias. However, the sword was later returned to her and fused with Durandal.

Ex-Durandal (エクスデュランダル, Ekusu-Dyurandaru): The upgraded version of the Durandal combined with the Excalibur fragments. Ex-Durandal contains all seven fragments of Excalibur, granting it not only the combined power of Durandal and Excalibur but once mastered, it will have the individual abilities of each of the seven Excalibur Fragments in addition to Durandal's destructive power. Xenovia, however, currently only partial mastery over Ruler, Blessing, and Nightmare.

During the rating game between Rias and Sairaorg, Xenovia used a technique dubbed Durandal Cannon by Issei. In order to use this attack she has to charge the holy aura of Ex-Durandal, then she unleashes the aura as one powerful attack that can devour her opponents. However, after one use, it has to be charged again only it will not be as fast after it has been shot.

After the battle against Vasco Strada during the Exorcist Rebellion, Xenovia comes to accept the true nature of the Durandal and manages to use both the Durandal and True Excalibur in tandem, using the holy aura from both Holy Swords to augment each other and create a powerful cross-shaped attack she named Cross Crisis (クロス・クライシス Kurosu Kuraishisu).


 * Durandal (デュランダル, Dyurandaru): Xenovia's primary weapon. A uniquely-shaped broadsword with a blue blade and a golden edge. Durandal is a unique sword at the point that it responds to the user. For a user that seeks destruction like Xenovia, the Durandal releases a massive amount of aura with destructive powers. Xenovia can also tap into the Durandal's holy aura with other swords, evident when she uses it together with Issei's Ascalon.
 * Durandal Birth: A combination technique between Xenovia and Yuuto, both attack simultaneously with Xenovia unleashing the Holy power of Durandal and Yuuto springing multiple Holy Demonic blades from the ground directing at their target.
 * Excalibur (エクスカリバー, Ekusukaribā): Xenovia can also materialize the Excalibur fragments or the True Excalibur to allow Xenovia to double wield both the Durandal and Excalibur.

Crimson Destruction Dragonar: Xenovia's own variation of the Scale Mail armor, which she gained by syncing her aura with Issei's that uses his Red Wyverns to attach themselves onto her body which shifts into the form of armor. Like the original, it has all of the same functions of Boost, Transfer, and Penetrate. This is noted to be similar to Rias' and yet different.

Ascalon (アスカロン, Asukaron): Issei's weapon, Xenovia borrows the sword occasionally in order to tap the Durandal's aura into the Ascalon. After gaining the Ex-Durandal, Xenovia no longer borrows the sword from Issei.

Quotes

 * "I will bring judgment upon you with my own hands. In the name of God." (Season 2 New)

Trivia

 * Xenovia's birthday is February 14, better known as Valentine's Day.
 * Xenovia's nationality is revealed to be Italian, as seen in the High School DxD Girls Collection featured in the July 2010 issue of Dragon Magazine. Thus making her the second Italian character alongside Asia.
 * With Xenovia being the new Student Council President and Asia as the new Occult Research Club President, their relationship mirrors that of Rias and Sona being both best friends and leaders of their respective groups.
 * Xenovia's name, along with Irina's, were decided on a whim when Ishibumi spent a fine Sunday on a riverbank.
 * Cross Crisis is the name of a fan fiction approved by Ishibumi which takes place before Xenovia and Irina meet Issei.
 * It's revealed in Volume 14 that Xenovia has a poor sleeping posture which was also shown Episode 2 and 12 of Season 3.
 * Xenovia also has a habit of kicking Issei out of bed.
 * Etymology-wise, Xenovia's name is based off of Zenobia, which was the name of a ruthless third-century queen in the Syria-based Palmyrene Empire.
 * Zenobia is ostensibly from Ζήνων (Zḗnōn), an ancient derivative of Ζεύς (Zeús).