History Anime / Madlax

* HomoeroticSubtext: All over the place. The most prominent example is between Madlax and Vanessa. While their relationship is never explicitly stated to be romantic, they become very attached to each other quite quickly. They both ask the other to [[ThereIsOnlyOneBed share the bed]] with them (even [[SleepCute cuddling together]] on one occasion), [[ThePromise promise]] each other that they'll stay alive, and Madlax even refers to herself as Vanessa's "prince" when she goes to battle [[ColdSniper Limelda]]. Though their relationship carries the strong implication of a mutual BodygaurdCrush, they do only ever refer to each other as "friends".
** Eleanor and Margaret's relationship also has it's fair share of subtext, perhaps even more so than Madlax and Vanessa, at least on Eleanor's side. She's completely devoted to serving Margaret, and seemingly pulls a CannotSpitItOut at least a couple times. For Margaret's part, she tells Eleanor that she loves her when the latter agrees to go to Gazth-Sonika to look for Vanessa.

* BiTheWay: Madlax arranges a date with a guy she is hired to assist, comes to "comfort" her mark the night before his assassination, then cuddles with a woman she bodyguards (going as far as calling her her princess), before ultimately hooking up with [[spoiler:her (female) killer]].

* CartwrightCurse: Every single person who is or attempts to be romantically involved with Madlax dies [[spoiler:with the sole exception of Limelda]]. Most of them of them die in the time period between her agreeing to go on a date with them and the time the date was supposed to happen.

* DiabolicalMastermind: Monday. Running a NebulousCriminalConspiracy involved in everything from political corruption on a global scale to occult rituals for well over a decade towards the ultimate goal of [[spoiler:brainwashing the entire humanity into a world war]] definitely qualifies.

* DragonWithAnAgenda: Carrossea serves Monday to get access to the resources he needs to [[spoiler:protect Margaret, the girl he loves so much, even his death couldn't stop him]].

* EnigmaticMinion: Carrossea is working for Enfant, so why does he go out of his way to keep Margaret out of their hands?

* PsychoLesbian: Limelda's obsession with Madlax costs her much of her sanity (though there are other major contributing factors to this), leading her to alternate between trying to kill her and trying to kill anyone trying to kill her.

* StalkerWithACrush: Limelda becomes obsessed with Madlax, stalking her through the warzone.

* [[HesBack She's Back]]: Madlax does it at least twice: after snapping out of her temporary Enfant-trap induced amnesia to save Vanessa and after getting a pep talk from Nakhl to finally snap out of [[spoiler:Vanessa's death-induced]] HeroicBSOD and go save Margaret.

* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Where The Hell Is Gazth-Sonika]]: Signs point to somewhere around where Pakistan should be, but it has Vietnam-like jungle and several recognizable Hong Kong landmarks. The name might have been inspired by the Gaza Strip.

* RewatchBonus: Considering how much of a MindScrew the series is, first-time watchers will undoubtedly miss the importance of several moments such as Luciano's comment about Margaret's smell [[spoiler: being similar to that of Gazth-Sonika's]]. Watch through the series a second time, and the story will make more sense.

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Limelda's love-hate obsession with Madlax eventually renders her a borderline raving lunatic ready to stalk her object of affection through the jungle, indiscriminately murdering anyone who stands in hes way. [[spoiler:She gets over it, eventually.]]

* MindControlEyes: [[spoiler:Margaret sports these while she is brainwashed by Monday.]]

''Madlax'' is the second installment of BeeTrain's GirlsWithGuns trilogy, following ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' and followed by ''Anime/ElCazadorDeLaBruja''. In stark contrast to gritty and down-to-earth ''Noir'', ''Madlax'' incorporates many supernatural aspects and concepts associated with psychological thrillers and surrealism, [[ViewersAreGeniuses which the audience must often interpret without further explanation]]. The title (which isn't supposed to sound like "Film/MadMax") is a [[{{Portmantitle}} portmanteau]] of the English words "mad" and "relaxed", playing on the prominent theme of [[OrderVersusChaos active insanity vs. near-catatonic sensibility]] in the story.

The story revolves around two young women who, at first, seem completely unrelated and don't even know of each other's existence. The title character is a [[ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl legendary mercenary and assassin]] plying her bloody trade in the fictional [[DuringTheWar civil war-torn]] Asian country of Gazth-Sonika. Almost everything about her, from her real name to her past, is a mystery--even to herself, as she had [[EasyAmnesia lost her memory]] soon after the war started twelve years ago. The other protagonist is Margaret Burton, the sole heir of a wealthy aristocratic family attending school in the peaceful European country of Nafrece. Twelve years ago, an airliner carrying her mother and her crashed over Gazth-Sonika, and its passengers, as well as Margaret's father who led the rescue party, have been missing ever since. By means unknown, Margaret returned to Nafrece soon after the crash, becoming its only known survivor but losing all memories of the event--all except a single word: "Madlax". Twelve years later, this strange connection and the mystery behind their amnesias come back to haunt them after they cross paths with a powerful crime syndicate, "Enfant", whose DiabolicalMastermind seems to have sinister plans for both of them.

''Madlax'' is the second installment of BeeTrain's GirlsWithGuns trilogy, following ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' and followed by ''Anime/ElCazadorDeLaBruja''. As arguably the most striking innovation in action-adventure anime since ''Noir'', ''Madlax'' incorporates many supernatural aspects and concepts associated with psychological thrillers and surrealism, [[ViewersAreGeniuses which the audience must often interpret without further explanation]]. The title is a [[{{Portmantitle}} portmanteau]] of the English words "mad" and "relaxed", playing on the prominent theme of [[OrderVersusChaos active insanity vs. near-catatonic sensibility]] in the story (it isn't supposed to sound like "Film/MadMax").

* THE {{Flashback}}: The flashback of what really happened 12 years ago is glimpsed in bits and pieces throughout the series before finally coming together in the end: [[spoiler:Monday attempted to use his Gift, the three Holy Books, and the power of the Sanctuary to plunge the world into mindless self-slaughter. This accidentally brought down a plane flying over the site of his ritual and carrying two unwitting Gifted children: a boy, Poupee, and a girl, Margaret. Margaret's military officer father went looking for her but stumbled onto Monday's ritual and managed to stop it by depowering Monday. Monday retaliated by driving Colonel Burton violently insane and turning him onto Poupee and Margaret, who survived the crash thanks to their Gift and were watching them from the sidelines. Poupee died TakingTheBullet for Margaret, who, unable to shoot her own father, created a LiteralSplitPersonality to pull the trigger for her. Poupee, who fell in love with Margaret during their brief time together, used his Gift to cast out the memories of his past life, including his death, and trap them within the Sanctuary in order to continue to exist for Margaret's sake. Margaret herself similarly trapped the memories of killing her father in the Sanctuary and warped back home to Nafrece, leaving her other, murderous self behind. The self-resurrected Poupee was picked up by Monday to serve as an Enfant agent under his new identity of "Carrossea Doon"; Margaret's split personality, in the meantime, was left to fend for herself and took on the name "Madlax"--Colonel Burton's old codename, which Monday used to address him during their fight. The cast-out memories of Carrossea and Margaret/Madlax sublimated themselves within the Sanctuary as Poupee and Laetitia, respectively.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: Sort of. Madlax has regular flashbacks of being abandoned by her father in the middle of a warzone, [[spoiler:but these are actually fake memories. She never had a father and the man she sees is actually Margaret's dad, whom Madlax was specifically created to kill. Madlax ''was'', however, abandoned by her progenitor--namely, by Margaret, who left her behind in Gazth-Sonika when she returned to Nafrece (something that Margaret ultimately makes up for), so the two facts seem to have conflated into one flashback in Madlax's mind]].

Building upon and expanding ''Noir''[='=] formula, ''Madlax'' stars a much larger main cast and throws {{Mind Screw}}ing mysteries, over-the-top HeroicBloodshed action, and heavy doses of existentialistic symbolism into the blender to produce a complex, yet gripping plot. And if that wasn't enough, Creator/YukiKajiura composed yet another stellar soundtrack for this anime. The show was licensed by Creator/ADVFilms in America and Europe.

Although originally dismissed as a ''Noir'' [[DuelingShows rip-off]] by many a viewer, ''Madlax'' was universally praised for its complex yet comprehensible plot (which successfully blends {{Mind Screw}}ing mysteries, over-the-top HeroicBloodshed action, and heavy doses of existentialistic symbolism in later episodes), memorable characters, and an ingenious soundtrack on par with ''Noir''[='=]s. Nevertheless, the initial resentment and three years between the two series' air dates left ''Madlax'' forever in its predecessor's shadow, much to discontent of a small number of extremely dedicated fans. The show was licensed by Creator/ADVFilms in America and Europe.

* BigBad: Friday Monday, the insane DiabolicalMastermind behind the war in Gazth-Sonika and [[spoiler:pretty much everything bad that has happened in Margaret/Madlax's life]].

* BiTheWay: Madlax arranges a date with a guy she is hired to assist, comes to "comfort" her mark the night before his assassination, then cuddles with a woman she bodyguards (going as far as calling her her princess), before ultimately hooking up with [[spoiler:her killer]].

The story revolves around two young women who, at first, seem completely unrelated and don't even know of each other's existence. The title character is a [[ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl legendary mercenary and assassin]] plying her bloody trade in the fictional [[DuringTheWar civil war-torn]] Asian country of Gazth-Sonika. Almost everything about her, from her real name to her past, is a mystery--even to herself, as she had [[EasyAmnesia lost her memory]] soon after the war started twelve years ago. The other protagonist is Margaret Burton, the sole heir of a wealthy aristocratic family attending school in the peaceful European country of Nafrece. Twelve years ago, an airliner carrying her mother and her crashed over Gazth-Sonika, and its passengers, as well as Margaret's father who led the rescue party, have been missing ever since. By means unknown, Margaret returned to Nafrece soon after the crash, becoming its only known survivor but losing all memories of the event--all except a single word: "Madlax". Twelve years later, this strange connection and the mystery behind their amnesias come back to haunt them after they cross paths with the powerful crime syndicate of Enfant, whose DiabolicalMastermind seems to have sinister plans for both of them.

Although originally dismissed as yet another ''Noir'' [[DuelingShows Rip Off]] by many a viewer, ''Madlax'' was universally praised for its complex yet comprehensible plot (which successfully blends {{Mind Screw}}ing mysteries, over-the-top HeroicBloodshed action, and heavy doses of existentialistic symbolism in later episodes), ingenious soundtrack on par with ''Noir''[='=]s, and memorable characters. Never the less, the initial resentment and three years between the two series' air dates left ''Madlax'' forever in its predecessor's shadow, much to discontent of a small number of extremely dedicated fans. The show was licensed by Creator/ADVFilms in America and Europe.

* GratuitousEnglish: Words like "invation" and "denyed" tend to pop up on computers.

* TheGunslinger: Madlax is a mix of the Trickshot and the Woo: she has incredible sharpshooting skills but is also quite proficient when outgunned.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: In the original Japanese, each episode's title consists of a short, two kanji-long Japanese word and a short English word.

* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Madlax enjoys looking good and doesn't have any ulterior motives for it.
* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: The BeachEpisode looks like just another borderline filler before you realize that it's the first step towards all storylines set up thus far to converge together.

* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind]]: Lady Quanzitta is the last remaining member of the AncientTradition that guards Thirstari [[spoiler:and, following her apparent death in the ending, presumably the last overall]].
* LetsGetDangerous: In an early episode, the snarky but harmless-looking maid Elenore suddenly goes into SWAT mode when she cannot locate her mistress, mounting an emergency search-and-rescue mission for her and [[NinjaMaid going completely medieval]] on a guy who dared to lay a hand on Margaret.

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Limelda's love-hate obsession with Madlax eventually renders her a borderline raving lunatic ready to stalk her object of affection through the jungle, murdering anyone who stands in the way indiscriminately. [[spoiler:She gets over it, eventually.]]

* {{Meganekko}}: Vanessa seems to be slightly shortsighted, possibly explaining her weak aiming skills, but she doesn't wear her glasses often.

* NietzscheWannabe: Monday can go on for hours rambling about how humanity is a worthless vermin hellbent on destroying itself and how the world is better off burning.

* OldRetainer: Elenore's grandfather and herself to the Burtons, though she isn't old by any measures.

* ParentalAbandonment: Sort of. Madlax has regular flashbacks of being abandoned by her father in the middle of a warzone, [[spoiler:but these are actually fake memories. She never had a father and the man she sees is actually Margaret's dad, whom Madlax was specifically created to kill. Madlax ''was'', however, abandoned by her progenitor--namely, by Margaret, who left her in Gazth-Sonika and returned to Nafrece (something that Margaret ultimately makes up for), so the two facts seem to have conflated into one flashback in Madlax's mind]].

* PsychoLesbian: Limelda's obsession with Madlax costs her much of her sanity (though there are other major contributing factors to this), leading to to alternate between trying to kill her and trying to kill anyone trying to kill her.

* SniperRifle: If there's one aspect where the writers have ShownTheirWork, it's guns. Limelda's signature gun is a H&K PSG-1, while Madlax wields a Remington M24 SWS Custom during their first confrontation.

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: It is implied that Monday went insane after first coming in contact with the Holy Books--which exactly why Quanzitta's AncidentTradition was guarding them from unauthorized access.

* AntiHero: Madlax is the pragmatic kind: while she is a kind and empathetic individual off-work, she shows absolutely no reservations about killing people. Which may be justified in that [[spoiler:she was created specifically more murder--it is part of her true nature]].

** "The Gift" is eventually revealed to be [[spoiler:the RealityWarping ability that Margaret, and, to a lesser degree, Monday and Carrossea possess]].

* BadBoss: Friday Monday, the insane DiabolicalMastermind behind the war in Gazth-Sonika and [[spoiler:pretty much everything bad that has happened in Margaret/Madlax's life]].

* BigFancyHouse: The Burton Manor is pretty indicative of the family's vast wealth. Too bad the sole heir is too infantile and amnesiac to appreciate it.
* BladeReflection: Nakhl, the KnifeNut she is, looks in her blades regularly.

* BloodlessCarnage: For a show with this amount of violence and mired in HeroicBloodshed traditions, it is rather bloodless.

* BulletDodgesYou: [[spoiler:After embracing her other selves (Madlax and Laetitia) in the final episode, Margaret unlocks the full extent of her RealityWarping powers and effortlessly redirects the bullets when Monday tries to kill her.]]

* CreepyChild: Laetitia and Poupee, two eerie children who appear inhabiting war-torn nightmare land visions throughout the series. They are eventually revealed to be [[spoiler:"memory keepers" of Margaret and Carrossea, trapped within the Sanctuary to prevent them from, respectively, learning about her patricide and merging with Madlax and discovering that he was DeadAllAlong and dying for good]].

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Carrossea is eventually revealed to have been Poupee: a boy slightly older than Margaret who fell in love with her on the plane and survived the crash thanks to also having a weak Gift. However, Poupee died by TakingTheBullet for Margaret when her BrainwashedAndCrazy father shot her but before she brought herself to kill him. Poupee's love for Margaret allowed to use his Gift to cast out the memory of his own death in the last moment, creating the Poupee we see in the Sanctuary visions and the amnesiac young man who was picked up by Friday Monday and given the name "Carrossea Doon".]]
* DeathByFlashback: [[spoiler:After Carrossea learns how he was killed 12 years ago, he instantly dies.]]
* DiabolicalMastermind: Monday. Running a NebulousCriminalConspiracy mired in corruption on global scale and occult rituals for well over a decade for the ultimate goal of [[spoiler:brainwashing the entire humanity into a world war]] definitely qualifies.

* EyepatchOfPower[=/=]MaskPower: Monday wears a cool red-and-gold half-mask over his right eye, [[spoiler:which was [[EyeScream shot out]] by Colonel Burton during their confrontation--which apparently had a side-effect of robbing Monday of most of his Gift powers]].
* TheFaceless: The most we see of SSS, Madlax's liaison and manager, is the lower half of his face. Friday Monday also gets this treatment until later in the series.

* {{Fingore}}: Do ''not'' lay your hands upon Margaret while Elenore is less than four hundred kilometers away, or she'll break your hands.

* THE {{Flashback}}: The flashback of what really happened 12 years ago is glimpsed in bits and pieces throughout the series before finally coming together in the end: [[spoiler:Monday attempted to use his Gift, the three Holy Books, and the power of the Sanctuary to plunge the world into mindless self-slaughter. This accidentally brought down a plane flying over the site of his ritual and carrying two unwitting Gifted children: a boy, Poupee, and a girl, Margaret. Margaret's military officer father went looking for her but stumbled onto Monday's ritual and managed to stop it by depowering Monday. Monday retaliated by driving Colonel Burton violently insane and turning him onto Poupee and Margaret, who were watching from the sidelines. Poupee died TakingTheBullet for Margaret, who, unable to shoot her own father, created a LiteralSplitPersonality to pull the trigger for her. Poupee, who fell in love with Margaret during their brief time together, used his Gift to cast out the memories of his past life, including his death, and trap them within the Sanctuary in order to continue to exist and find Margaret again. Margaret herself similarly trapped the memories of killing her father in the Sanctuary and warped back home to Nafrece, leaving her other, murderous self behind. The self-resurrected Poupee was picked up by Monday to serve as the Enfant agent and given the new identity of Carrossea Doon; while Margaret's split personality was left to fend for her own and took on the name "Madlax"--Colonel Burton's old codename, which Monday used to address him during their fight. The cast-out memories of Carrossea and Margaret/Madlax sublimated themselves within the Sanctuary as Poupee and Laetitia, respectively.]]

* THE {{Flashback}}: The flashback of what really happened 12 years ago is glimpsed in bits and pieces throughout the series before finally coming together in the end: [[spoiler:Monday attempted to use his Gift, the three Holy Books, and the power of the Sanctuary to plunge the world into a mindless slaughter. This accidentally brought down a plane flying over the site of his ritual and carrying two unwitting Gifted children: a boy, Poupee, and a girl, Margaret. Margaret's military officer father went looking for her but stumbled onto Monday's ritual and managed to stop it by depowering Monday, who retaliated by driving him violently insane and turning him onto Poupee and Margaret, who were watching from the sidelines. Poupee died TakingTheBullet for Margaret, who, unable to shoot her own father, created a LiteralSplitPersonality to pull the trigger for her. Poupee, who fell in love with Margaret during their brief time together, cast out the memories of his past life, including his death, and trapped them within the Sanctuary in order to continue to exist and find Margaret again. Margaret herself used her Gift to similarly trap the memories of her killing her father in the Sanctuary and warp back home to Nafrece, leaving her other, murderous self behind. The self-resurrected Poupee was picked up by Monday to serve as the Enfant agent and named Carrossea Doon, while Margaret's split personality was left to fend for her own and took on the name "Madlax"--Colonel Burton's old codename, which Monday used to address him during their fight. The cast-out memories of Carrossea and Margaret/Madlax sublimated themselves within the sanctuary as Poupee and Laetitia, respectively.]]

''Madlax'' is the second installment of BeeTrain's GirlsWithGuns trilogy, following ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' and followed by ''Anime/ElCazadorDeLaBruja''. As arguably the most striking innovation in action-adventure anime since ''Noir'', Madlax incorporates many supernatural aspects and concepts associated with psychological thrillers and surrealism, [[ViewersAreGeniuses which the audience must often interpret without further explanation]]. The title is a [[{{Portmantitle}} portmanteau]] of English words "mad" and "relaxed", playing on the prominent theme of [[OrderVersusChaos active insanity vs. near-catatonic sensibility]] in the story (it isn't supposed to sound like "Film/MadMax").

The story revolves around two young women who seemingly have little in common and do not know of the other's existence, at first. The eponymous Madlax is a [[ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl legend]] amongst the mercenaries and assassins of the fictional [[DuringTheWar civil war-torn]] country of Gazth-Sonika. "[[OnlyOneName Madlax]]" is a code name and a substitute for her real one, [[EasyAmnesia forgotten]] along with the rest of her past before 1999, when the war started. The other protagonist is Margaret Burton, the sole heir of a wealthy aristocratic family in the peaceful European country of Nafrece. Twelve years before the story begins, an airliner her mother and she were on crashed over Gazth-Sonika, and its passengers, as well as Margaret's father who lead the rescuers, have been missing ever since. Margaret managed to travel back to Nafrece on her own, though how she made it remains a mystery considering that she too has lost her memories prior to her return; the only thing she recalls it the one word "Madlax". With this thread linking the two girls, they both independently start investigating the powerful crime syndicate Enfant and its DiabolicalMastermind who, for some reason, shows interest in both of them.

Although originally dismissed as yet another ''Noir'' [[DuelingShows Rip Off]] by many a viewer, ''Madlax'' was universally praised for its complex yet comprehensible plot (which successfully blends {{Mind Screw}}ing mysteries, over-the-top HeroicBloodshed action, and heavy doses of existentialistic symbolism in later episodes), ingenious soundtrack on par with ''Noir'''s, and memorable characters. Never the less, the initial resentment and three years between the two series' air dates left ''Madlax'' forever in its predecessor's shadow, much to discontent of a small number of extremely dedicated fans. The show was licensed by Creator/ADVFilms in America and Europe.

''Madlax'' is the second installment of BeeTrain's GirlsWithGuns trilogy, following ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' and followed by ''Anime/ElCazadorDeLaBruja''. As arguably the most striking innovation in action-adventure anime since ''Noir'', Madlax incorporates many supernatural aspects and concepts associated with psychological thrillers and surrealism, [[ViewersAreGeniuses which the audience must often interpret without further explanation]]. The title is a [[{{Portmantitle}} portmanteau]] of English words "mad" and "relaxed", playing on the prominent theme of [[OrderVersusChaos active insanity vs. near-catatonic sensibility]] in the story. (It isn't supposed to sound like MadMax.)

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Vanessa's superiors are actually in cahoots with Enfant and [[spoiler:directly involved in selling arms to both the government and the rebels in Gazth-Sonica]].

%%* DramaticGunCock
%%* DramaticWind
* DuringTheWar: Most of the plot takes place against the backdrop of the Gazth-Sonican civil war and goes out of its way to remind the audience that people are dying every day.

* EyepatchOfPower: Monday wears a cool red-and-gold plate over his right eye, [[spoiler:which was [[EyeScream shot out]] by Colonel Burton during their confrontation--which apparently had a side-effect of robbing Monday of most of his Gift powers]].

%%* HereWeGoAgain

* HiddenAgendaVillain: Monday.
* HiddenEyes: Dark Margaret; Madlax, episode 23.
* IHaveTheHighGround: Madlax, e.g. episode 23, shooting a bullet out of midair.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Verbatim, Madlax in episode 16.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming
* IdiotHair: [[http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/m-serve/madlax/chara/img/margaret1.jpg Margaret]].
* ImmuneToBullets: Madlax, in the last episodes.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Madlax.
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: The cocktail dress.
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Madlax.
* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode

* JigsawPuzzlePlot
* JustFriends: Madlax and Vanessa; yeah, '''right'''. Same could be said about Elenore and Vanessa.
* KarmaHoudini: Limelda, [[spoiler:accepted by Madlax in the end, despite killing her romantic interest, Vanessa]]. Can be seen as FridgeBrilliance, though: check the anime section for it.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Monday is killed by Madlax, whom he indirectly brought into existence himself]].

* KingBobTheNth: Korslan IV, King of Gazth-Sonika. Never appears onscreen, but is mentioned from time to time as one of the major forces in the Civil War.
* KnifeNut: Nakhl.
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind]]: Lady Quanzitta.
* LetsGetDangerous: Elenore, episode 6.
* LightIsNotGood: Friday Monday.

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Limelda, episode 20.
* MacGuffin: Holy Books, the Gift.
* MadArtist: Monday.
* MaskPower: Monday, too.
* MeaningfulName: Madlax.
* {{Meganekko}}: Sometimes Vanessa as well.
* TheMenInBlack: Chasing Vanessa in episode 11.
* MessianicArchetype: Madlax, but Elenore even more so.

* MindControlEyes: [[spoiler: The brainwashed Margaret]], during episodes 22 to 25.
* MindScrew
* MysteriousParent: Colonel Richard Burton, obviously; SSS, father figure to Madlax.
* MysteriousPast: Tons of it.
* NietzscheWannabe: Monday.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler:Carrossea]].
* NumberTwo: Carrossea.
* OffModel: More than Noir. The eyes are often more than just a little off.
* OldRetainer: Elenore's grandfather and herself, though she isn't old by any measures.
* OminousLatinChanting: Not Latin but totally ominous.
* OneLastJob: Luciano.
* OnlyAFleshWound: Madlax in the final episodes.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Limelda's relationship to Madlax, evident in episode 17.
* OnlyOneName: Madlax, Nakhl.
* OutOfTheInferno: Madlax in the very first episode.

* ParentalAbandonment: Sort of, Madlax's "father".
* PosthumousCharacter: Richard Burton.
* ThePromise: Madlax's to Vanessa and vice versa.
* PsychoLesbian: Limelda.
* RareGuns: Madlax's SIG P210s.
* TheReveal
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Madlax and Vanessa, albeit mostly in {{subtext}}.
* SchrodingersCat: [[spoiler:Vanessa, Elenore, Carrossea.]]

* StalkerWithACrush: Limelda.
* SuicideByCop: Limelda's boss, an old and seasoned general, hires Madlax to kill him in public since he's ''that'' sick of the war. It does NOT suit Limelda well, becoming Madlax's rival.
* {{Synchronization}}: Pasta and rain.
* TheSyndicate: Enfant.
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Vanessa]].
* TeachMeHowToFight: Vanessa asks Madlax to teach her to shoot.
* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Yanmaani!
* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: Vanessa says to Madlax.
* ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil: This is essentially the BigBad's goal, since he sees all humans as evil deep inside and actively tries to bring out their "true natures".
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Madlax and Margaret Burton ([[spoiler: who are actually the same person]])
* TomeOfEldritchLore: Holy Books.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: "Yeah, pasta!"

* {{Unperson}}: Maclay Marini.

* TheVoice: SSS.
* TheVoiceless: Poupee, except for a single flashback in the beginning of episode 6.
* VillainousBreakdown: ''Margaret! What happened to you?!'' '''YOU BITCH!!!'''
* WarForFunAndProfit
* WeirdMoon: It's either red or blue (and in the Sanctuary, there are both at once).
* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Where The Hell Is Gazth-Sonika]]: Signs point to somewhere around where Pakistan should be.
** WordOfGod I believe stated Gazth-Sonika was loosely inspired by the Gaza Strip.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: implied: Monday, after acquiring the Holy Books for the first time.
* WomanInWhite: Madlax [[spoiler:and Margaret]] in the final episodes.

* FlungClothing: End of episode 16.
* ForgotTheCall: Madlax, episode 14.
* GagDub: The original English releases from ADV included a hilarious series of extras called "Conversations with SSS", where SSS is shown partaking in some extremely random, outlandish, and just plain weird dialog with the rest of the cast of the show.

* GunFu
* GunKata:
** Madlax, e.g. episode 26.
** Episode 1 as well. Madlax picks up a FAMAS [[spoiler: and it's implied she shoots the pilots of a helicopter that came after her... while she's cuddling the rifle like some teddy bear]].
* GunsAkimbo: Madlax.
* TheGunslinger: Madlax.
* HealingFactor: [[spoiler:Madlax, in later episodes.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Vanessa; although she wasn't aware of what her company was up to at first, she was too complicit for it to be a MookFaceTurn. And Limelda, playing up her and Vanessa's role as the other's {{Foil}}.
* HereWeGoAgain
* HeroicBloodshed: LOTS.
* HeroicSacrifice: Episode 22 [[spoiler:Poor Vanessa! Though the fact that Madlax didn't need to be protected like that at that point any more makes it somewhat of a SenselessSacrifice, too.]].
* [[HesBack She's Back]]: Madlax, episodes 16, 20, and 23.

* ShoutOut: Early in episode 1, Madlax uses [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Predecessor]] [[Anime/{{Noir}} Kirika's]] CatchPhrase "There we go" ("Yoishou").
** Also, the [[http://www.beetrainfan.org/wiki/index.php?title=Red_shoes red shoes]].
* SleepCute: Madlax and Vanessa pull this off twice, in episodes 12 and 14.
* SlowMotionPassBy: End of episode 17.
* SmallGirlBigGun: Margaret.
* SniperRifle: If there's one aspect where the writers have ShownTheirWork, it's guns.
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Madlax'' to ''Anime/{{Noir}}'', ''Anime/ElCazadorDeLaBruja'' to Madlax.
* SplitPersonality: [[spoiler:Margaret, Laetitia, and Madlax; Carrossea and Poupee]]; possibly, others.

* DuringTheWar: Most of the plot take place against the backdrop of the Gazth-Sonican civil war and goes out of its way to remind the audience that people are dying every day.

* EnigmaticMinion: Carrossea.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Dark Margaret.
* EvilLaugh: Carrossea pulls this off in episode 19 when burning down Enfant's base; Monday does this ''all the time'' in the later episodes.
* EvilOverlord: Monday.
* ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl: If Kirika is a witch, that makes Madlax a ''goddess''.
* EyepatchOfPower: Monday.
* TheFaceless: SSS; Friday Monday, until later in the series.
* FacelessGoons
* {{Fanservice}}: Madlax's more memorable fights include her ''killing a tank'' while wearing a [[FormFittingWardrobe skimpy dress]] and [[CombatStilettos heels]] ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK_gNbJfbL4 Link]]), and dispatching a group of {{mooks}} after [[WeNeedADistraction distracting]] them by ''[[ShowSomeLeg throwing off her dress]]'' in front of them and subsequently [[FullFrontalAssault wreaking havoc while completely in the buff]] ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_gDyDQgyc4&feature=related Link]]). Also, Madlax runs around in tiny leather hot pants in ''jungle combat''.
* {{Fingore}}: Do ''not'' lay your hands upon Margaret while Elenore is less than four hundred kilometers away.
* FiringOneHanded: Madlax, Limelda.
* THE {{Flashback}}

* AchillesInHisTent: Madlax, episodes 20 and 23.
* ActionGirl: Madlax, of course.

* [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Alternate History Counterpart Culture]]: Gazth-Sonika is somewhere in the vague vicinity of Pakistan but is Southeast-Asian in culture; Nafrece shows some English influence but is mostly France; parallels with the Vietnam war are obvious (and clearly intentional).
* AmnesiacDissonance: Carrossea [[spoiler:discovers that he is actually dead]], episode 21; Margaret [[spoiler:finds out that she killed her own father]], episode 25.
* AncientTradition: Quanzitta.
* AntiHero: Madlax.
* AnyoneCanDie: Less than a half of the main characters survive the series' duration.
* ArcWords: "The Gift", "True Nature".

* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler: Margaret killed her father. A truth so awful that she created ''two'' [[SplitPersonality alternate personalities]] to escape it and doesn't admit it to herself until the penultimate episode of the anime.]]
* BadassAdorable: Madlax oh so very sweet and cute for a mass-murderer, and [[spoiler: Margeret in the final episodes.]]
* BadassNormal: Limelda, a mundane, albeit elite soldier able to combat supernatural Madlax.
* BadBoss: Monday, especially later in the series.
* BattleButler: Implied about Mr. Baker, Elenore's grandfather.
* BeachEpisode: Sort of, 9.
* BiTheWay: Madlax.
* BigDamnHeroes: Madlax, e.g. in episodes 5 and 11.
* BigFancyHouse: Burton Manor.
* BladeReflection: Nakhl.
* BloodFromTheMouth: Madlax, episode 26.
* BloodlessCarnage
* BloodstainedGlassWindows: Final shootout.
* BodyguardCrush: Vanessa, on Madlax, mutual.

* BrownNote: The Holy Words of Saruon.
* BulletDodgesYou: [[spoiler:Margaret does this in the final episode]].
* CartwrightCurse: Every single person who is or attempts to be romantically involved with Madlax dies [[spoiler: with the sole exception of Limelda]]. Most of them of them die in the time period between her agreeing to go on a date with them, and the time the date was supposed to happen.
* CharacterTitle
* ChildrenForcedToKill: Has this as part of the BackStory: [[spoiler: the entire plot basically stems from the fact that Margaret killed her own father (in self-defense) when she was 5 years old.]]

* CodeName: "Madlax", has a back-story.
* ColdSniper: Limelda, in the first third of the series.

* ConspicuouslyPublicAssassination: Invoked by Guen McNichol. He hires Madlax to kill him while he delivers a speech in order to show the people who were controlling his entire life that he is going out on his own terms.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Vanessa's superiors.
* CosyCatastrophe: The curiously intact airliner and overturned military vehicles that resemble scattered toys more than the shredded wreckage typically found at crash sites and battlefields. Heck, the two plane crash survivors don't even get ''dirty.''
** [[AWizardDidIt Their Gift did it.]]
* CreepyChild: Laetitia, Poupee.
* CriminalAmnesiac: Implied about Madlax, Carrossea.
* CursedWithAwesome: Madlax, [[spoiler:"the woman who cannot die"]], episode 24.
* CurtainCamouflage
* DayOfTheWeekName: Friday Monday.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Carrossea]].
* DeathByFlashback: [[spoiler:Carrossea]].
* DiabolicalMastermind: Monday.
* DiedHappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler:Vanessa is reunited with her parents after saying goodbye to Madlax]].
* DissonantSerenity: Madlax
* DisturbedDoves: E.g. in episode 12, when Madlax shoots at Limelda.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Carrossea.
* DramaticGunCock
* DramaticWind
* DuringTheWar
* EasyAmnesia: Madlax, Margaret, Carrossea.
* EnemyWithout: Subverted with [[spoiler:Margaret and Madlax]].

* LadyInRed: Madlax in the first episodes.

* TheMessiah: Madlax, especially, towards the end.

* KingBobTheNth: Corcelyn IV, King of Gazth-Sonika. Never appears onscreen, but is mentioned from time to time as one of the major forces in the Civil War.

* HealingFactor: Madlax, in later episodes.

* ConspicuouslyPublicAssassination: Invoked by Guen McNichol. He hired Madlax to kill him as he began a speech to tell the people who were controlling his life that he was going out on his own terms.