The heroine, Princess Nausicaa, is sympathetic and admirable. She is wise, brave, active, compassionate, and empathic, but not quite perfect and saintly; she attacks Torumekian soldiers in a rage after her father's murder.

Nausicaa has a very heavy burden on her young shoulders. She must try to save her nation, the Valley of the Wind, from being wiped out in the war between Torumekia and Pejite; also, she must prevent the Torumekians from trying to destroy the Toxic Forest, an action which (as Nausicaa alone realizes) would doom all humanity. She would give her life to accomplish these things, and it does seem unlikely she will survive.