Name: Leslie Amanda Tuatara (leslie_83)
Age: 14 at series start
Birthday: 8 Awakening (February)
Bloodtype: O
Fav. Food: Pies (meat, apple, pumpkin)
Fav. Colors: Earth tones
Hobbies: Playing Cheat!, gardening
Likes: Flowers and her garden, Lupe Moon, mornings, drawing
Dislikes: Fruity Faerie Fingers, puzzles, imposing people
School: NCJH (7, 8, 9), Inigmah: Botany (10, 11, 12)
Hair: Dark green, Lupe-tail style
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 140 lbs.

Leslie's father took off before she was born, and her mother died in childbirth. She was taken care of by the Adopt-a-NeoPet Guild until she turned thirteen, by which time she had amassed a few hundred NP, enough to strike out on her own.

She's lived on her own since the legal age (13), but got a provisional account back when she was six, and adopted FirePrinse with the help of the ANP Guild.

After moving to her own NeoHome, Leslie continued attending Neopia Central Junior High. She's a fairly good student, but since first grade has been shunned and teased for her strange hair - dark green with cream ends that look like a Lupe's tail. (She's tried cutting the yellow part off, but her hair simply changes color overnight.) The popular girls, especially Abbie (Sailor Chia), tormented her mercilessly over this.

At the start of her tenth grade year (as of episode 48), Leslie started attending Inigmah Center for Special Skills, a school that lets students specialize in somewhat esoteric areas. Leslie's studying botany, so now she's apt to come home with a rowdy Negg Muncher to care for or a set of Sponderola seeds to coax into blooming.

FirePrinse, a red Lupe. FirePrinse is slow to anger but slow to forgive, and is fiercely loyal to Leslie; in defending her he can get a little violent. He really wants to be a Fire Lupe because it matches his name, and likes playing all sorts of games. Owns a pet Gruslen, Tigger, as of episode 4.

Unirus2000, a red Uni. Unirus was adopted by Leslie after the Lost Desert invasion (episodes 9,10, and 11) and is very sweet and lovable. She's aptly described as a "pink sugar uni". Owns a pet Fungree, SpongeBob.

Although Leslie's parents are missing, she was raised by her mother's good friend Cheryl, an ample woman known for her generosity and her cooking. Other guild members include Fleas (i_gots_fleas, a part-Lupe user), Susie (hyper_active_susie, a cheerful young woman), Katie (the guild leader, owner of a JubJub), and John (second council, and Katie's husband).

In episode 33, Cheryl is severely injured, and Leslie offers to take care of her seven-year-old daughter Lunete and Lunete's striped pet Silvacheek. (Luname's twin brother Karl is taken in by Cheryl's brother.) Lunete is a curly-haired take-charge type; the two can be a handful, and their arrival limits Leslie's ability to act as Sailor Lupe.

Leslie also lives with Kaen, the guardian Earth Faerie of the Sailor Neopets.

Leslie is a loner, partly as a result of being shunned for so long, but partly because it's just the way she is. She's a demure, self-effacing type for the most part, preferring to fade into the background. While willing to stand up for her friends, she's not used to having them, and she certainly doesn't stand up for herself.

When listened to and respected, however, Leslie's leadership abilities shine through. As she was the first to transform, and is descended from the original leader of the Sailor Neopets, she is automatically accepted as the one in charge. She's capable of making quick decisions and breaking up skirmishes (usually the ones between Jean (Sailor Shoyru) and Zelda (Sailor Zafara)).

On the other hand, Leslie does not suffer personal challenges well. She's survived as leader because her position has not been questioned; if someone were to challenge her for the spot, she'd fall back on her more assertive friends to back her up. She tends to lead by calm and rational group discussion; she's not comfortable with making Executive Decisions, even when they're necessary.

Calm, kind, and understanding, Leslie is good at making new sailors feel welcome. She's a very intuitive type; she has the same gentle touch with plants. That's what attracted her to the Botany concentration at Inigmah - she'd like a career working with plants. (Most of her Neohome land is garden.) She didn't anticipate how much technical information is involved, though; long science papers keep her up late into the night.

Leslie's reaction in the face of serious trouble is to retreat and hide. (Nothing else seemed to work in the face of Abbie.) Her new friends have helped her feel better on a regular basis, and being Sailor Lupe gives her a new sheen of confidence, but strip her of those and she'll go back to retreating. She has yet to develop a backbone that stands on its own.

Henshin: "Lupe Neo Power, Make Up!" A vortex of green and gold sparkles surrounds Leslie, and her uniform coalesces onto her in a swirl of ribbon.

Colors: Dark green is her aura, light yellow her secondary.

Lupe Lunge: Sailor Lupe's standard attack. She thrusts out her hands and shouts, "Lupe Lunge!" Two green lupe paws shoot out from her palms.

Lupe Growl, Lupe Shield, Lupe Shin Kick: Like every Lupe in Neopia, Leslie gained these attacks on Lupe Day. Unlike the Lupes, however, she lost them afterwards. Lupe Growl materializes as an earth-shaking growl; Lupe Shield is a semitransparent green shield that originates at Sailor Lupe's outstretched finger; and Lupe Shin Kick is, obviously, where she kicks the adversary in the shin - with extra force.

Other: Leslie's uniform has one addition to the norm. Her usual black headband grows a pair of Lupe ears.

The most important points to keep in mind when writing Leslie:

• She's usually quiet. Not too much small talk.
• By the way, that means she's not going to be shouting clever insults, even in battle.
• She's still scared of Abbie. Never force her to face down Sailor Chia alone.
• If you're working on a story and need a character, don't just use Leslie first! Look at the other sailors and think about who would fit best into your plot. Leslie shouldn't be in EVERY episode.
• She has to take care of Luname, Silvacheek, and Unirus. Please account for them when you have her out-about-town.