Mia

Mia is a Mercury Adept and a playable character in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. She joins Isaac's party somewhat early in the first game and is present for virtually every battle that takes place in the rest of the game. Being the sole mage-style Mercury Adept in the GBA duology, she plays very differently from the second game's warrior-like Piers and features a default class series that makes her fit as a designated healer for either game's party.

Mia is introduced as a resident of Imil who descends from the ancient Mercury Clan that once held sway over the snowy domain of northern Angara, and she considers herself bound to an oath handed down by her clan to prevent the nearby Mercury Lighthouse from ever being reignited. When her scheming cousin Alex betrays the oath they share and helps Saturos' company infiltrate the tower and light the Mercury Beacon, Mia willingly joins Isaac's party of Adepts as they pursue Saturos and Alex across the world, hoping to prevent them from lighting any of the other Lighthouses.

Over the three decades that take place after the events of The Lost Age, Mia mothers two children who inherit her Mercury-aligned powers: her son Rief, who joins Matthew's traveling party early on, and her daughter Nowell.

As a playable character
Mia joins Isaac's party in Golden Sun as the party's resident Mercury Adept, which restricts her to either the mono-elemental Water Seer class series or various multi-elemental class series that allow her to cast Water and Ice-based Psynergy spells. When she is first added to the party early in the Mercury Lighthouse dungeon somewhat early in the game, she starts at level 10 (with exactly 3226 experience points accrued) and is initially equipped with a Witch's Wand artifact weapon, as well as the common items Travel Robe, Leather Gloves and Wooden Cap. She also comes with one Mercury Djinni already Set onto her, the restorative Fizz. Lastly, she comes with an Herb, Antidote, and Elixir in her inventory.

Mia is very much like Ivan in how she lacks the attack power to use physical attacks and Unleashes based on them with as much numerical effectiveness as the warriors Isaac and Garet; in fact, not a single class series she can switch into carries a particularly high Attack modifier. If she is kept in her mono-elemental Water Seer class series, her access to area-of-effect offensive Psynergy will be staggered for a long stretch of time lasting between the 100-damage Glacier at level 24 and the 160-damage Ice Missile at level 42.

On the other hand, the Ply Psynergy series she starts out with, which is exclusive to Mercury mono-elemental class series like Water Seer and Mariner, allows her to easily top off the health meter of one ally at a time even while waiting for more Djinn to be collected and Set onto the party. Once that threshold is crossed, the third tiers of all three of her primary dual-elemental class series — Hermit, Pilgrim, and Seer — can grant the extremely effective Wish Psynergy series, which allows Mia to rather thoroughly heal the entire party in one turn.

If the party setup keeps everyone in their respective mono-elemental class series, Mia will be the only Adept out of the first game's party to have access to Wish, which makes her usable as a designated cleric — albeit one with low Agility that will only keep her acting faster than Garet in his mono-elemental Guard class series. It is possible to drive up her stats while retaining access to Wish by exchanging Mercury and Jupiter Djinn between herself and Ivan to put the both of them into the very fast Hermit class series. On the other hand, the higher Mercury power levels she will reach by having nothing but Mercury Djinn Set on her will directly benefit the resulting health values restored by Wish Well and the like, which can easily mean the difference between 190 HP restored to all party members and 230 HP.

Mia and the other members of Isaac's party do not add themselves to Felix's own party until very late in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Once they do, how the password data transfer function was used will shape Mia's statistics, inventory, and the overall Djinn collection returning from the first game. If no data transfer is used at all, Mia will join at level 28, and she will be equipped with a War Mace, Silver Vest, Platinum Circlet, and Silver Armlet. Mia's comparatively easier access to the Wish series will help distinguish her from the Mercury Adept warrior Piers, who requires class shifts into the aforementioned three dual-elemental class series to give himself access to that series. Regardless of which class series is used to give Mia the Wish series, she is capable of reaching the extremely powerful and well-valued Pure Wish Psynergy starting from level 46.

Classes and statistics
Mia, like other "caster" Adepts, has below-average HP, Attack, and Defense statistics before class adjustments are considered — though both the Jupiter Adepts Ivan and Sheba are more extreme than Mia in these areas. Her natural maximum PP, which comes close to the ratings of said Jupiter Adepts, is higher than that of the Mars Adept Jenna and any of the four warrior-like Adepts. Her low natural Agility lies at the exact midpoint between the warriors Felix and Piers. Her inherent Luck rating is five points, a number shared with Sheba as the highest Luck rating of all Adepts. When compared with Piers as the game's other featured Mercury Adept, she has much less HP and Defense and somewhat less Attack, but more Agility, a lot more PP, and two more Luck. The following classes are available to Mia:


 * Mono-Elemental: [[File:Star_mercury.gif]] Water Seer
 * Dual-Elemental: [[File:Star_mercury.gif]][[File:Star_jupiter.gif]] Hermit, [[File:Star_mercury.gif]][[File:Star_mars.gif]] Pilgrim (Mercury), [[File:Star_mercury.gif]][[File:Star_venus.gif]] Seer (Mercury)
 * (Partial) [[File:Star_mars.gif]] Swordsman (Mars), [[File:Star_venus.gif]] Swordsman (Venus)
 * Tri-Elemental: [[File:Star_mercury.gif]][[File:Star_mars.gif]][[File:Star_jupiter.gif]] Ranger, [[File:Star_mercury.gif]][[File:Star_jupiter.gif]][[File:Star_venus.gif]] White Mage, [[File:Star_mercury.gif]][[File:Star_venus.gif]][[File:Star_jupiter.gif]] Medium
 * (Partial) [[File:Star_mercury.gif]][[File:Star_venus.gif]][[File:Star_mars.gif]] Dragoon

Appearance and Personality
Mia is depicted as rather tightly bundled in a robe-like dress with a long cloak overlaid on top of it, both of which seem heavy and meant for the wintry atmosphere of her hometown, Imil. Its colors are dominated by a bluish white with purple patterns and accents, and gold-plated ornamentation adorns her upper chest and makes up the clasp that holds her cloak together. Mia's long hair, which is tied up at the back, matches the sky blue color of her eyes, and both her hair color and noticeably round facial structure are shared with characters biologically related to her, such as her cousin Alex and her future children Rief and Nowell.

Mia is known village-wide for her kindness and empathy, which drives her to dutifully use her restorative powers to keep her entire village in good health even in times of epidemic. Given that none of the other villagers are aware of Psynergy being the basis of her supernatural powers, some unironically question whether she is an angel. ("Angel," coincidentally or otherwise, is the final stage of her default class line in-game.) At first, she unquestioningly adheres to the ancient charge of her bloodline to keep Mercury Lighthouse unlit, and she bases her pride as a healer on maintaining this status quo.

Based on an epilogue cutscene in the first game, Mia appears to be slightly skeptical when events are attributed to miracles when they could well be mere cases of good luck lining up. She is also capable of showing a very occasional snark, as shown when the group is asked to retrieve medicine stored deep inside a cave and she incredulously asks whether there is a "pharmacy down there." She can be harsh and judgmental when she is party to flagrantly evil behavior, yet she is not above making fun of a person in mourning when said person has not yet looked around and realized that they had not lost anyone after all.

Background
Mia is a resident of the village of Imil far in Angara's snow-covered northern reaches, having presumably been born and raised there alongside her cousin and fellow Mercury Adept, Alex. They are the area's only known living descendants of the ancient Mercury Clan that once guarded Mercury Lighthouse in the world's ancient past. The two cousins' bloodline, signified by their access to ice- and water-aligned powers that include restorative effects, is widely accepted to hold both of them accountable for keeping the Lighthouse dormant. Mia seems to already be aware of factors like there being a village named "Vale" and that a "Mercury Star," one of four "Elemental Stars" hidden somewhere, is the only means by which the Lighthouse's ancient beacon can be lit. The Lighthouse itself requires a Mercury Adept to use their powers to unseal its entrance, meaning that Alex and Mia are functionally the only individuals in the area who can enter the structure and bring other parties inside with them.

The English localization of Golden Sun has a townsperson describe Alex as Mia's "apprentice," but this is a change from the Japanese version, which identifies him as having apprenticed to Mia's father, who is never seen on-screen otherwise and is presumed to be deceased. At any rate, throughout the years leading up to the present, Mia would take on two children at the local Sanctum as apprentices of her own, Justin and Megan. The "sacred" healing power she has inherited from her bloodline, known by the name "Ply" and understood to be generated through meditation, has helped Mia gather some degree of fame in Angaran settlements far beyond Imil, with various townspeople referring to her as an "angel" either as an affectionate label or out of legitimate suspicion that she is some kind of physical manifestation of one. However, she is unaware that her healing powers come from a force called "Psynergy."

Not long before the present-day events of Golden Sun, Alex suddenly disappears from Imil and abandons Mia to her struggles with the onset of the year's winter epidemic. The game does not describe this incident or Mia's reaction to it in detail.

In Golden Sun
A period of time after the eruption of Mt. Aleph disrupts the world on various levels, a group of travelers led by the Mars Adepts Saturos and Menardi pass through Imil on their way to Mercury Lighthouse. Apparently, their mere presence exacerbates the flu epidemic, adding to Mia's workload. When Isaac's party of traveling Adepts pass through the village in pursuit of Saturos shortly after, they watch as Mia treats one elderly patient using what they can tell is healing Psynergy. Just as Mia takes notice of Isaac, Mercury Lighthouse suddenly glows in the distance, which greatly alarms her because it signifies to her that someone like herself has just unsealed and entered it. As soon as she makes the connection that Alex must be involved, Mia rushes past Isaac and dashes to the Lighthouse to investigate.

When Mia reaches the tower, however, she discovers that its entrance has been barricaded in a way that she cannot get past it with her own powers, suggesting the intruders explicitly intended to prevent Mia from following them. Isaac and his companions then arrive and cast their own Move Psynergy to telekinetically push aside the statue blocking the entrance. Mia surprises them by revealing she was able to perceive the "ghostly force" they projected, and she learns from them that they call their own powers "Psynergy." Mia immediately rushes inside, only to find that wild monsters have begun swarming the place and that further barriers have been set by the intruders to block her path. When Isaac helps out again, she correctly presumes that Isaac's party have some business in the Lighthouse, and she admits to feeling she can trust them even though she still holds that only those of the Mercury Clan are "permitted" to enter.

Mia accompanies Isaac's party as they surmount the many riddles and obstacles of Mercury Lighthouse, and they eventually reach the aerie — but they discover to their great dismay that the Mercury Beacon has already been lit. When Mia mentions that only the Mercury Star could have been used to do this, Isaac and Garet clarify that the Elemental Stars were stolen from Sol Sanctum on Mt. Aleph, which their home village of Vale at the mountain's base had long protected, and that they are now laboring to recover the Stars. The crestfallen Mia muses that she has failed the one duty placed upon her.

Just then, the intruders responsible call out to Mia and Isaac's side from a distance, and once Garet confirms for them that Isaac's party is intent on taking back the Elemental Stars rather than exchange them for the hostages Jenna and Kraden, Saturos steps forward and prepares to kill all four of the young Adepts to prevent their meddling. Under normal circumstances, Saturos would have made good on his word, but the Adepts manage to best him thanks to external factors severely stacking the fight in their favor. Not only does energy being exuded by the Mercury Beacon suppress Saturos' own Mars-aligned powers, but Mia also finds herself capable of repeatedly casting her Mercury-aligned spells without depleting her energy reserves throughout the fight.

This is when Alex next steps into view, commenting that it has been quite some time since he and Mia saw each other last; in so doing, he confirms that he was the one who let his newfound companions invade Mercury Lighthouse. Greatly alarmed that her own clan-mate has betrayed their shared oath to their clan's bloodline, Mia accuses Alex of having gone mad, but Alex attempts to impress upon her the value of releasing mighty forces such as this, supporting his stance with the fact the Mercury Beacon empowered Mia during the battle. Mia learns from this that her own powers are the same "Psynergy" as what Isaac and Saturos' sides have been demonstrating. It soon comes out that Alex was stalling for time so that Saturos could stand back up and Alex could help him escape the tower, and Mia is very surprised when Alex utilizes a "warping" Psynergy to do so; as she explains to Isaac, Alex never exhibited that kind of power before. Alex's parting words to Mia before he leaves with the rest of Isaac's enemies are that he cannot "stay the same Alex" she knew.

Mia, obviously reeling over Alex's betrayal and how that equates to her having failed her clan and duty, muses that she does not deserve to be a healer. Isaac, Garet, and Ivan raise her spirits by vowing that the three of them will stop Alex's side from lighting the other Elemental Lighthouses and save Jenna in so doing. They are momentarily taken off guard by Mia's willingness to accompany the trio as a full-time member of their group, figuring at first that the people of Imil still need her. Mia reveals an old saying that holds that the fountain at the base of the tower will now run over with healing waters because of Mercury Lighthouse's lit beacon; therefore, Imil's people will never need to fear malady again. Mia confesses to having mixed feelings about leaving her home village, but she accepts that her duty to the world lies with Isaac's party. She sets off with the other three Adepts once she says goodbye to Justin and Megan back at Imil, who view her departure as her setting out to protect both the Mercury Clan and the world itself.

The remainder of Golden Sun does not see Mia stepping beyond her role as a persistent member of Isaac's traveling party to influence the plot in her own way. At most, she provides commentary in the many events and conversations Isaac's party partakes in, often sharing more reasoned and sympathetic perspectives than the more gung-ho Garet while refraining from any emotional outbursts. Over the course of the party's quest, as all four of the Adepts develop their aptitude in Psynergy and combat prowess, they pursue Saturos and Alex's party far into the southern continent of Gondowan and climb through Venus Lighthouse. Despite a valiant effort made by Isaac's party at the aerie that even leads to the demise of Saturos and Menardi, they are unable to stop the Mars Adepts from lighting the Venus Beacon as well, and Mia's own attempt to reason with their surviving companion Felix that he should not consider himself bound to continue the duo's quest falls on deaf ears. Following the incident at Venus Lighthouse, Mia and her party take to the seas and begin a desperate effort to search for Felix and Alex before they succeed in lighting Jupiter and Mars.

In Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Mia, much like her companions following Isaac's lead off-screen, does not play any particular role unique to her throughout most of Golden Sun: The Lost Age; the party essentially spends all their time and effort fruitlessly searching the Eastern Sea for Felix's own party. Once Felix manages to open up a blocked naval route into the Western Sea, Isaac's party hastily follows into Jupiter Lighthouse, which lies on the island continent of Atteka.

During the group's own climb through the Lighthouse, a trap on one of the tower's outdoor levels is suddenly sprung by outside forces, and Mia falls onto a precarious ledge below. Garet lets himself fall into the same trap in a spur-of-the-moment decision to try to save her, only to end up injuring his left arm and render himself hanging helplessly from the ledge with his right, and Mia does not have the physical strength to pull him back up. With half of Isaac's party now divided, the responsible parties step forth and identify themselves as Karst and Agatio, Mars Adepts out to avenge the slain Saturos and Menardi. They admit that they were aiming to separate Mia from the rest of the group so that they would not have to account for her Mercury-aligned powers, and snagging Garet as well was a nice bonus. The duo also announce that they have since allied with Alex... though they immediately come to realize that Alex has just abandoned them and left them to deal with Isaac's party themselves.

As Mia and Garet remain trapped in their predicament, Felix's party — now consisting of Jenna, Sheba, Piers, and Kraden and having witnessed the entire scene from below — rushes up through Jupiter Lighthouse to try to stop Karst from killing Isaac and Ivan. During this climb up, Alex secretly approaches Felix and reveals he saw him watching the scene, and he voluntarily heals Felix's party so that they can save Isaac's side, which will put Felix in a better headspace to light Jupiter Lighthouse afterward. Alex also permits himself to admit to feeling a desire to come to Mia's aid. With this unexpected gift backing them up, Felix's side steps in just in time to prevent Isaac's death by forcing the weakened Mars Adepts to stand down, and Karst and Agatio bring Felix and Piers up to the aerie with them while Jenna, Sheba, and Kraden tend to Isaac's defeated party.

Garet and Mia are brought back out of the trap off-screen through undisclosed methods, and Isaac and Ivan are healed. After the Jupiter Beacon is lit, Jenna and Sheba head up to check on Felix and Piers out of concern for them. Eventually, Isaac's party recover and check on the aerie themselves, only to find that Felix's party has just come out of a fierce battle with the two Mars Adepts, who have just been compelled by Alex to flee the tower with him and avoid Isaac's group. (In the version of the scenario that takes place if the player loses this battle with Karst and Agatio as Felix's group, Isaac's side will find Felix's side beaten within inches of their lives, and Isaac will order Mia to quickly heal all four of them.) Isaac and Garet demand Felix explain himself, but cooler heads among the Adepts prevail, and it is agreed that the two parties meet in a more measured and diplomatic manner back at the village of Contigo nearby.

When Felix and Isaac's respective parties meet, Mia shares in her friends' shock when they learn from Felix that he had been pursuing this quest for Saturos because Saturos' hometown, the village of Prox, coerced Felix by keeping his parents — and Isaac's father — captive. The village is desperate for the Elemental Lighthouses to be lit because only the release of Alchemy will stop Gaia Falls from consuming it, and Felix additionally discovered on his own recent quest that all the continents are also waning away. In other words, Weyard is doomed to collapse into the void unless the dangerous power of Alchemy is restored to the world. When Isaac accepts that he must discard his long-running objective and join forces with Felix, Mia expresses relief that everyone has sorted out their differences, and a final traveling party of eight Adepts is formed to head north to Mars Lighthouse and light it as soon as possible.

The unified party proceed through the remainder of Felix's quest, and they eventually reach Mars Lighthouse and make it all the way to its aerie. There, the Wise One, the godlike entity that originally tasked Isaac and Garet with retrieving the Elemental Stars and keeping the Lighthouses unlit, presses them on why they have betrayed his command. Mia joins along with everyone else as they explain what they had learned about the need for Alchemy to be released to head off the death of the world itself. The Wise One counters with a revelation that would seem to prove his point that Alchemy's release will only lead to conflict and give opportunity to one individual seeking to rule over all using its power: Alex has used every party involved in this quest for his own gain and stands to attain ultimate power from the completion of the Adepts' objective. When the four Elemental Lighthouses are lit, they will send their beams above Mt. Aleph and briefly form the Golden Sun as part of the process that will break Alchemy's seal, and Alex is currently waiting at Mt. Aleph for the opportunity to absorb its power. Mia outright recoils in disgust to hear of what her own cousin has done.

Nevertheless, the Adepts hold firm to their belief that Alchemy has to be released regardless, but the Wise One forces them to battle a "miracle" — as in, a three-headed dragon of horrific power — if they mean to earn the right to light Mars. Mia puts her all into helping her allies win their final battle, but the party soon finds out that they were deceived into putting the missing parents to death — and they are too far gone for even Mia and Piers' combined healing efforts to make any sort of difference. Through a maelstrom of emotions, the Adepts manage to agree to consider this a price worth paying for saving all of Weyard and its peoples. As the Mars Beacon is formed, Mia is heard remarking that she will never forgive Alex for effectively setting this outcome in motion, but she also proclaims that she will not regret lighting the Beacon even if doing so would lead to wars and strife.

Suddenly, the party receives long-distance telepathic communication from, of all people, Justin and Megan back at Mercury Lighthouse, who explain that the Wise One came to them in their dreams and instructed them to remotely warn the Adepts from the tower that all the Lighthouses are about to emit enormous waves of energy. Master Hama, whom the party previously met on their quest, spirits to them a similar message from just outside Jupiter Lighthouse and claims that the Wise One is not the evil he had portrayed himself as. However, the Mars Beacon emits an outpouring of energy before the party can escape the tower, and everyone is bathed in energy atop the aerie — which has the unexpected effect of rekindling the dying parents' life force. The Adepts manage to bring themselves and the parents to safety.

It would later be surmised by Kraden that the Wise One's cruel trick was never intended to allow the parents to die, were the Adepts willing to stand firm and see their quest through to the end. Kraden speculates that the Wise One wanted to test the Adepts' moral fiber and willingness to sacrifice what was dear to their hearts for the greater good. By this interpretation, the being saw it as necessary for preparing the heroes for the great responsibility of guiding their world through a new and tumultuous era brought about by Alchemy's release.

In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
As a result of what turns out to be decades of natural disasters and newfound military conflict between nations in the wake of the Golden Sun, the eight figures who effected Alchemy's release become known worldwide and simultaneously praised and reviled for both saving the world and plunging it into chaos. They are collectively referred to as the "Warriors of Vale", despite Mia being among the four such Adepts who did not technically originate from that village. The Sun Saga books, which recount the Warriors' quest for the Golden Sun in a simplified and condensed format and would shape the world's understanding of the quest, depict Mia as having been "bound by duty" to join Isaac and his friends once her cousin Alex lit the Mercury Lighthouse's beacon and set out to ignite the rest.

Mia apparently settled back down in Imil during this time frame, and she ended up bearing two children with an unknown husband over a decade after the Golden Sun event: Rief and Nowell. With Alex being presumed by the Warriors of Vale to have gotten killed when he tried to take the power of the Golden Sun for himself, it can be presumed that Mia raised her children to view Alex posthumously as both a power-mongering traitor to the Mercury Clan and a wanton betrayer to her personally.

As of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn thirty years later, it can safely be presumed that Mia's reputation among the residents of Imil and beyond had graduated from "angel" to "goddess," if a book in Kolima Village that describes a "truly holy" priestess in Imil who tirelessly takes care of the old and sick of Imil is taken as referring to her. Like the other Warriors of Vale, Mia's rate of aging has slowed as a result of the Psynergy her body had ended up absorbing at the aerie of Mars Lighthouse, making her look significantly younger than what would be expected of a woman in her late forties. Rief and Nowell, meanwhile, are in their late teens and are now accompanying Kraden in his travels across the world as his pupils.

Over the course of the game, Matthew's traveling party of Adepts, which includes Rief among its numbers, fail to stop villains whom Alex is collaborating with from activating a certain dread machine, and much of Angara ends up covered in the shadowy field of the Grave Eclipse phenomenon. This brings out darkened monsters in droves that slaughter the populations of many settlements encompassed within the radius of the effect. Even though Matthew's quest to put a stop to this disaster brings his party and their sailing ship very close to Mercury Lighthouse and Imil's position on the world map, Mia is never seen on-screen throughout the game. The game does clearly show that the radius of the Eclipse encompasses Imil's location on the map, but nothing in the game shows or indicates Mia's experiences dealing with the effects of the phenomenon on her hometown.

Trivia

 * Mia is the only female Mercury Adept between the three Golden Sun games. Also, out of all playable characters between the three titles who wield maces, Mia and Sheba are the only ones who are female.
 * Nearly every screen from a beta build of the first Golden Sun game that depicts the prologue shows Mia taking Jenna's place as Isaac and Garet's female companion, as though she were originally envisoned as a resident of Vale like them. She ended up moved to the snowy village of Imil, and Jenna was created to take her place in the final product. Also, party members other than Isaac, namely Garet and Mia, are depicted as having sprites similar to NPCs in the game, where instead of having sprites that face directly south or north, they have sprites facing slightly off to the side. See here for a full gallery.
 * Mia is the only playable character in the GBA games who does not innately know a proper utility Psynergy regardless of her current class, the matter of utility Psynergy items asicde. While Ply causes some utility effects inside Mercury Lighthouse, and casting it with a shoulder button shortcut will cause the "Primula" fairy animation to play even outside the Lighthouse, there are no other spots in either game where this will affect something on the field.
 * In the German version of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, Alex is mistakenly described as Mia's brother instead of her cousin.
 * Mia is the only playable character from the GBA duology who is known to have more than one child.

Quotes
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn's encyclopedia entry for Mia:


 * This Warrior of Vale traveled with Isaac. She is a Water Adept whose powers were inherited by her son, Rief.
 * She is descended from the Mercury Clan, keepers of the Elemental Lighthouse of the same name.

In fan circles
The fan fiction community that sprang up around Golden Sun in the wake of its original releases penned many stories depicting Mia as Isaac's love interest, given that she was the sole female party member available for a traditional RPG protagonist like Isaac to be paired with. "Mudshipping," as this genre of shipping came to be called, was the most common genre despite virtually no one-on-one interactions between her and Isaac in either of the GBA games. The sole scene commonly interpreted as potentially romantic nervousness around Isaac is when Mia stutters while conveying to her disciples Justin and Megan that she will be leaving with him and joining his quest. Naturally, this led to a rivalry between Mudshippers and fans of Isaac's other primary shipping genre with Jenna, "Flameshipping" — and many fans were dejected when Golden Sun: Dark Dawn confirmed the latter ship canon while not even showing the person Mia eventually took as her husband.

Another prominent ship, "Steamshipping", pairs Mia and Garet together, and the commonly cited incident in the games used for the basis of this ship is when Mia falls into Karst's trap at Jupiter Lighthouse and Garet selflessly, recklessly dives in after her. In point of fact, Mia has been paired with all five male playable characters from the first two Golden Sun games ("Puretortureshipping" for Ivan, "Frothshipping" for Felix, and "Aquashipping" for Piers), which is impressive considering that Flameshipping fans often accuse Mia of having nowhere near as many outstanding personality traits as Jenna.

Because the original duology had not clarified at the time that Alex was related to Mia by blood, many romantic stories between the two were written and categorized in a genre called "Imilshipping," which often played up the sense of betrayal Mia felt when Alex abandoned his hometown to pursue Saturos' quest to light the Elemental Lighthouses. This genre naturally died down once Dark Dawn confirmed Alex to be her cousin.