Line #70 Characters/DesertRose


1	!Counterattack Terrorism, Section F, Division M
2	!!Mariko Rosebank (née Morinaga)
3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/31_08.jpg]]
4	%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
5	->''"Shrapnel ripped my little boy's body apart. It entered my breast and stopped three millimeters short of my heart. If there had been ten kilos... no, five kilos more of explosives, it would have killed me, just like it did my husband and child."''
6
7	The main character of ''Desert Rose'', Mariko was once an unassuming housewife until her entire family was killed in a terrorist bombing. Following that, she enlisted in CAT, and has since gone on to become leader of Division M and one of the foremost experts in fighting terrorism worldwide.
8	----
9	* [[CrusadingWidower Crusading Widow]]: She's been fighting terrorists the world over after they killed her husband and child, and she'll probably keep at it as long as she has breath in her body.
10	* AFatherToHisMen: A mother, more specifically. Mariko cares deeply about the women under her command and does everything she can to make sure they survive any mission that they undertake.
11	* FriendToAllChildren: Given her past history, it's not hard to see why she's protective of children, and always gets involved in hostage situations involving them.
12	* HeterosexualLifePartners: She and Helga share a very close friendship, born from their time training together at CAT. It's rare to see them apart when off-duty. It gets to the point when Mariko suffers a head injury, she mutters Helga's name in a delirious haze, not her husband's.
13	* ImprobableAge: Mariko is three-year veteran and leader at 26 years old. More improbably, she lost her family 4 years prior, meaning CAT's training turned her from a housewife into a soldier in a single year. The manga's final afterword pokes fun at this, with Mariko angrily insisting that she's 26, and "Manga characters don't age after their initial appearance".
14	* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: The light feminine to Helga's dark feminine. Mariko exudes a maternal, sweet atmosphere, and acts like the gentle leader, while Helga has a cool, mature aura, and serves as Division M's taskmaster.
15	* RedBaron: "Marie the Rose". In fact, she has a tendency to [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname refer to herself as "Marie"]] more than her real name.
16	* ScarsAreForever: Her rose-shaped scar on her chest, created by shrapnel. It's sometimes mistaken for a tattoo, and it never fades -- indeed, when she gets emotional, the scar actually turns red.
17	* SigningOffCatchPhrase: She announces the end of an operation with "That's a wrap!" The others are so familiar with it that when Mariko doesn't say it, they know the mission isn't personally finished for her.
18	* SherlockScan: Good instincts and years of experience allows her to easily determine if a terrorist plot is happening, or how. In "Sold Out", she sees a bag being passed through a fence at an airport. A lack of a second bag tells her it isn't a drug deal, and seeing it getting added to the cargo immediately sends her into action. Later in the story, she uses a video recording to determine that a suspected terrorist is a woman in disguise based on how she walks.
19
20	!!Helga Mittelmeier
21	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7_1_91.jpg]]
22	%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
23	->''"The Berlin I knew was a city ripped asunder. Everything was sundered. History... culture... even love."''
24
25	Helga serves as Division M's second-in-command and Mariko's righthand woman.
26	----
27	* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: A passing remark in "Blood Bridal" mentions she has no parents.
28	* ADayInTheLimelight: "Blood Bridal" recounts Helga's messy past as an East Berliner and what led to her escape to the West.
29	* DefectorFromCommieLand: In the past, she fell in love with a foreign reporter. On the day of their wedding, he was shot and killed, before being outed as a NATO spy. The heartbreak and humiliation she received in the aftermath disillusioned her of East Berlin, prompting her to escape to the West (though the incident wound up killing her unborn child, just to twist the knife further).
30	* FailedAttemptAtDrama: At one point in "Blood Bridal", Helga, with her reputation ruined, tries to make a cool departure from her roommate... and winds up tripping down the stairs. The atmosphere is skewered enough that Lotte convinces her to at least spend one last night in their apartment.
31	* FriendlyAddressPrivileges: According to others, only Helga is allowed to address Mariko as "Marie". Everyone else in the unit only gets to call her "Commander".
32	* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Mariko. While Mariko worries over the women in Division M, Helga in turn worries over Mariko and makes sure she's taking care of herself.
33	* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: The dark feminine to Mariko's light feminine, as she exudes a classy, mature aura.
34	* MayDecemberRomance: When she was 18 years old, she fell in love with the 30-year-old Walter Heinz.
35	* TheWorfEffect: As the next most important member of Division M after Mariko, as well as a frontline fighter, Helga often winds up getting incapacitated in order to drive up the stakes of a situation.
36	* YouAreInCommandNow: "Atomic Connection" and "Heaven's Gate" have Helga take over when Mariko isn't able to lead, letting her show her leadership skills.
37
38	!!Irene Sanders
39	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1_5_5.jpg]]
40	%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
41	->''"Do you asswipes take pleasure in interrupting a girl when she's having fun?"''
42
43	Irene is in charge of small-arms and close quarters combat; in the field, this makes her the leader of Division M's vanguard, putting her in the thick of the action to cause the most trouble to terrorists.
44	----
45	* AllWomenAreLustful: She's the most sexually active of Division M, being seen several times having sex with a man.
46	* ADayInTheLimelight: "Call Me Queen!" gives more focus on Irene and her personal issues.
47	* NaughtyNuns: During "Atomic Connection", Irene winds up in a convent that thinks she's joining. Before she escapes she takes great pleasure scandalizing the others with tales of her sexual conquests.
48	* VitriolicBestBuds: With Delilah and Lin. While she trades barbs with both, especially Lin, when a mission is on, they steadfastly look after each other.
49
50	!!Lin Ryu Hi
51	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1_8_70.jpg]]
52	%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
53
54	Lin handles hand-to-hand combat, befitting her background as an assassin-in-training, though her ditzy personality also lends her to being the group's comic relief.
55	----
56	* AnimeChineseGirl: A darker version than others, as her childhood in Hong Kong included training to become a "Needle Princess", eg, an assassin for [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Bai Kowloon]]. If she hadn't joined CAT she would have become your typical DragonLady.
57	* ADayInTheLimelight: Lin gets a story to herself in "China Girl Syndrome".
58	* TheDitz: Other members tend to tease her for her foolishness, with Irene outright saying she'd be the sort to fall for obviously suspicious booby traps.
59	* MasterPoisoner: While she hasn't had huge need of it thanks to CAT, Lin still has a supply of deadly poisons and darts at her disposal when guns aren't available.
60	* TeamChef: She's the best cook of the characters, meaning when they have a get together, Lin is all to happy to volunteer to make meals for them.
61	* RazorFloss: She keeps a wire saw hidden in her hair decorations. A swing from it lets her cut through steel, and flesh is even more effortless, allowing her to do LiteralDisarming.
62	* VitriolicBestBuds: With Irene, as the two always get into spats between missions, thought they are steadfast teammates when on the job.
63
64	!!Delilah Kankkunen
65	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/17_0.jpg]]
66	%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
67
68	Delilah is in charge of Division M's intelligence, though when on the field, she commands the group's sniper teams.
69	----
70	* CoolShades: She's seen maybe all once without her aviator sunglasses, and only because she was masquerading as a prostitute. Otherwise, those glasses are pretty much part of her face.
71	* CulturedBadass: She's known to pass time reading [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal Stendhal]].
72	* DeadpanSnarker: She's probably the most prone to giving caustic remarks of the whole group.
73	* InSeriesNickname: "Dela".
74	* VitriolicBestBuds: She and Irene both served in the bloodthirsty Division Q before they transferred to M, and it shows in the way they're quite familiar with sniping at each other. But past that, Irene remains one of Dela's few friends, who she worries about when Irene gets brainwashed in "Call Me Queen!"
75
76	!!Jessica Clearkin
77	[[quoteright:326:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9_885.jpg]]
78	%%[[caption-width-right:326:some caption text]]
79
80	Jessica is Division M's foremost expert in bomb disposal, though her large frame has made her an obvious pick for carrying the Division's heavy weaponry, too.
81	----
82	* {{Brawnhilda}}: Unlike the classic feminine figures of the other characters, Jessica has a stocky build and large muscles. Given her past in the Soviet army, this also makes her Division M's version of the HuskyRusskie.
83	* ADayInTheLimelight: "Red Star Galil" pits Jessica against a particularly tamper-proof bomb, and it follows her struggles and examination of the titular bomb.
84	* TheBigGuy: She is, indeed, the largest of Division M, and when she's not dismantling bombs, she's usually carrying the Division's rocket launchers.
85	* DemolitionsExpert: This is her main job in Division M, as she focuses on taking apart bombs terrorists plant during an attack.
86	* RedsWithRockets: In one conversation with an old mentor, Jessica is identified as formerly serving as the Commander of Bomb Squad One, in Company Six of the First Battalion of the Soviet army.
87
88	!!Colleen Anderson
89	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/21_06.jpg]]
90	%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
91
92	Colleen serves as Jessica's back up, helping her defuse bombs when an extra pair of hands are needed, which is often.
93	----
94	* BloodKnight: After an unfulfilling life of shooting straight through university, the dangers of working for CAT have given Colleen reason to make friends and things worth living for. That, and the [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence thrill of defusing bombs is actually a turn on for her]].
95	* ADayInTheLimelight: "Dr. Colleen Is Busy Today" forces her to dismantle a series of bombs on her own while on a break.
96	* DemolitionsExpert: She serves as Jessica's number two in this regard, providing Jessica with further back up.
97	* TeenGenius: She's the youngest member of the team, at around 23 years, but she already had a doctorate at 19 years and currently has enough field experience that the Pentagon is begging her to transfer over and begin teaching troops bomb defusal.
98	* ShrinkingViolet: She's easily flustered and less comfortable with crowds, though her spine quickly shows when she's on a mission.
99
100	!Other recurring characters
101	!!Colonel Huntsman
102
103	The leader of CAT, who Mariko meets sometimes to get new missions.
104	----
105	* TheFaceless: He's usually either a voice on a phone, or seen from behind.
106
107	!!CAT Section M, Division A
108
109	A male unit of CAT, which is known for both its near-perfect success rate and equally high number of casualties, even if the actual death count is low. Their leader is Commander Arnold.
110	----
111	* AntiHeroTeam: Opposite Section M's heroic counter-terrorist activities, Section A's focal story in "Team A" shows them handling much more dubious contracts and shady business, which even warranted an undercover audit. Nonetheless they show a strong combination of morals and professionalism, even recognizing that their clients will likely betray them. Even their under-the-table sales of CAT equipment is so they can get favors from arms dealers when they're in a serious pinch.
112
113
114	!!Gryphon
115
116	A terrorist mastermind responsible for the bombing that killed Mariko's family. He remains a looming figure who has eluded the authorities even after all these years.
117	----
118	* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Harold might once have been happily married to Mariko, but he threw it away to pursue a career in terrorism. By the final arc, it's revealed that Harold was working undercover as a manager of a TV network, while planning to use the network broadcasts to incite mass murder in the US.]]

Context Characters / DesertRose