Merlinna McGinn

Merlinna McGinn (メルリナ マクジン, Merurina Makujin) is a teacher and former student in the Athelney School of Nen and Abilities.

Appearance
Merlinna is a tall middle-aged woman with light skin, graying light brown hair and light green eyes. Her hair is tied in a bun. She normally wears a very serious expression, rarely smiling.

She wears long black robes with a dark green cape over them and black shoes, occasionally wearing a necklace. She also wears glasses all the time.

Personality
Especially at first glance, Merlinna can be considered extremely stern, prim and intolerant towards any kind of mistakes, receiving awe from most students and even some fellow teachers. In fact, she is a very serious person who doesn't tend to condone audacity or jokes from students during important moments such as classes, and can be cold to them in return. Having very high standards, it is said to be exceptionally hard to make Merlinna smile or compliment someone, and the ones who know her describe any of those happening as a "miracle".

However, Merlinna is also well-known for having a much kinder and friendlier side that can be awakened. Her lack of fear to speak her mind and give her opinion on things, especially during arguments, could come out to be quite humorous at times. She cares for all Athelney students more than anything in the world, as if they were her own children, and is only strict because she wishes what is best for them. The traits she values the most in students are courage, ingenuity and kindness. She strongly believes that the concept of Towers, where the students are divided based on Nen type, exists only for practicality, and students shouldn't hesitate on interacting with each other and being together because of that; she also has no problem with teaching students from all Towers and treats them all equally, being unbiased enough to recognize when her own Tower commits mistakes.

Because of her great emotional control, she can sometimes come off as indifferent and apathetic. When finding students with great potential, Merlinna tries her best to be supportive and close to them and help them achieve great lengths. Despite being a natural Specialist, Merlinna also focuses great part of her time studying the other types; apart from Specialization, the one she is most proficient at is Transmutation, which she greatly respects, considering it to be especially complex and one of the hardest, although she also respects the other types just as much. To further her study on it even more, she decided to create a Hatsu focusing on mainly Transmutation. Despite not being exceptionally skilled in Enhancement, she admires their determination and traits. She is also very knowledgeable about Nen and enjoys reading articles about it (and even correcting them). Merlinna respects all law and rules and insists that students follow them. She is also a fan of Kritch, probably due to the fact she played it in her youth.

Background
Not much is known about Merlinna's early life; however, when she was just 11 years old, she already had her Nen awakened and went to Athelney to learn further. As her natural Nen type is Specialization, she was placed in the Specialists' Tower and began to study there. In her first year, she was chosen by one of her teachers to take part on the Forest Tournament, in the end being chosen as a winner and rightfully earning the position of Nen Monitor. At some point during her time at Athelney, she was recognized as a prodigy in the use of Nen.

In her second year, Merlinna joined the Specialists' Kritch team as a player, being a great player at it and letting her Tower win many awards. However, during the middle of her fourth year, she suffered a severe accident during a match of Specialists vs. Manipulators, which many believe to have been a foul from the other team, accused of cheating, but nothing was proven. In the end, the Manipulators won the match and Merlinna was rendered incapable to continue playing Kritch for the rest of the year. Eventually, she gave up on playing the sport, but remained a fan and often watches matches, even those of the school.

After graduating from the school with perfect grades, Merlinna was able to do the Special Tests, which motivated her to do the Hunter Exam, though it is unknown which kind of Hunter she would be. She passed the exam, but gave up on being a Hunter, and, some years later, came back to be a teacher at Athelney, which she currently is.

Powers & Abilities
As a former Kritch player, it's likely Merlinna is above the average person in speed and raw strength.

Nen
Merlinna is a Specialist. As an student in Athelney, however, she has already been introduced to all the other Nen types, and even furthered her studies by practicing them by herself. Apart from her natural Nen type, the one she is skilled at the most is Transmutation, which she admires and decided to create a Hatsu on.

Wild Tornado (回転サイクロン, Spinning Cyclone) Type: Transmutation
Transmuting her aura into wind, Merlinna could use stronger breezes to attack or defend herself by pushing people or objects away. Oppositely, she could also use it to carry things towards her. She claims this ability is quite useful in everyday life, as she uses lighter breezes to bring small objects on her direction and avoids getting up to grab them.