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    Madlax 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/madlax_2_3465.jpg

Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese) Nancy Novotny

An agent for hire in the war torn country of Gazth-Sonika. She is a part of Margaret, released after the horrible plane crash incident.


  • Action Girl: As the highest rated mercenary in Gazth-Sonika, this is a given.
  • All-Loving Hero: She's kind to everyone, sticks her neck out for people she barely knows, and only fights to bring an end to the war in Gazth-Sonika. A perfect example of this is when she's hired to publicly assassinate the commander of Gazth-Sonika's armies, Guen McNichol. When she's told that the target was also the person who commissioned the hit, she sneaks into his residence at night and, after discerning his motives, comforts him before leaving.
  • Ambiguously Bi: She shows some interest in a couple of men, and then there's her subtext-fueled relationships with Vanessa and Limelda. She also says that she loves Margaret during the final battle, when the true nature of their relationship is revealed.
  • Anti-Hero: She's not a bad person once you get to know her, she'll stick her neck out for friends and even acquaintances, and she's only fighting to put an end to the war as quickly as possible, but she's still a mercenary— considered to be the very best (read: possessing the highest bodycount) in Gazth-Sonika— who kills hundreds without really batting an eye.
  • Ass Kicking Pose: She has a lot of these.
  • Badass Adorable: Madlax is oh so very sweet and cute for a mercenary.
  • Bodyguard Crush: It's heavily implied that she develops a mutual one with Vanessa.
  • Cartright Curse: Virtually everyone who expresses romantic interest in her ends up dead. Two of them end up dead after asking her out, but before the date can actually happen.
  • Code Name: Her name has always simply been known as MADLAX.
  • Compressed Hair: Her hair disappears whenever she wears a motorbike helmet.
  • Cursed with Awesome: Her Immortality.
  • Dissonant Serenity: She's terrifyingly calm whenever she fights. Sometimes, she even closes her eyes.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: She can snipe a target from farther away than even an expert sniper thought possible. Then there's her hitting her targets despite not looking directly at them from a considerable distance away using just a pistol. And finally, she also brought down an attack helicopter by firing a FAMAS while she was hugging it like a stuffed toy.
  • Legacy Character: Madlax isn't the first person to go by that title. The first one was Margaret's father.
  • One Woman Army: Platoons- even companies- of soldiers can do nothing but die in droves when Madlax starts fighting.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: "Madlax" is her codename, but everyone uses it. She does have an ID giving her name as "Laetitia Lune", but that only comes up in one episode, and is clearly just another alias.
  • Prince Charming: Sees herself as this for Vanessa. Her exact line from Episode 12 as she's about to face off against Limelda once again:
    Madlax: Vanessa Rene, you're the princess. And... I'm the prince. So I have to go. Because the scary person is coming.
  • Ship Tease: With multiple characters. She has some with Guen McNichol (a person she kills later on in that episode), and Chris (a young boy she's assigned to protect in Episode 5). However, she has the most teasing with Vanessa Rene, whom she spends protecting for a majority of the series.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: Yanmaani!
  • Tomato in the Mirror: She later realizes that she's Margeret's survival instinct (along with some other parts of her personality) given form.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: "Yeah, PASTA!"
  • The Unfettered: Subverted. She seems to be completely matter-of-fact with regards to her job (and the body count it entails), and when Vanessa calls her out on her apparent callousness, she calmly defends herself saying it's what she needs to do to survive. In the final episode, however, Margaret states that Madlax actually torments herself over every person she's killed, which is what makes her a "kind killer".
  • Unscrupulous Hero: While she's a very nice person, she's still a mercenary and as a result of her job, she leaves a considerable amount of bodies behind in her wake.

    Margaret Burton 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/margaret_burton_74_7875.jpg

Voiced by Houko Kuwashima (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)

A usually sleepy eyed and slightly amnesiac aristocrat.


  • Ambiguously Bi: She appears to grow quite fond of Luciano (which Vanessa and Eleanor notice and make knowing smirks about), but also at one point tells Elenore that she loves her. She's also heavily implied to have been in love with her classmate Anne Morey.
  • Awful Truth: She is the killer of her father- more specifically, she subconsciously created Madlax to do the deed that she could not do herself.
  • Badass Adorable: Becomes this in later episodes.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Somewhat spacey most of the time (the first episode has her walking to school in the wrong direction). She's far from stupid, though.
  • Oblivious to Love:
    • She doesn't know what her classmates meant when she's on "someone else's mind" and she actually thought that she did something wrong to the guy instead.
    • She also doesn't seem to notice Elenore's feelings for her. Or Carrossea's/Poupee's.
  • Self-Made Orphan: Technically. Madlax is the one who killed her father, but she's actually one of Margaret's Literal Split Personalties.

    Elenore Baker 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elenore_2_9336.jpg

Voiced by: Ai Uchikawa (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)

Margaret's loving and very devoted personal assistant and maid.


  • Action Girl: In certain circles it's joked er... hinted that she's the teacher of Roberta from Black Lagoon.
  • Beach Episode: Episode 9. One of the few times in the series that you see her wearing something other than her maid uniform.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: She's very nice but if harm comes to Margaret, she will show no mercy to the perpetrator. Lopez found this out the hard way in Episode 6 and when Margaret revealed that her wrist hurt because of Lopez's grip, Elenore didn't hesitate to break Lopez's wrist in turn.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: In Episode 21. When she finds out that Margaret went through the Gate of Truth with Carrossea, she states that this can't be possible because Margaret is... Something to her. Elenore couldn't say it out properly but it's clear what she was going to say.
    • And again in Episode 24 during a flashback. As she takes up Vanessa's offer of being driven back home after doing some grocery shopping, Vanessa asks if looking after Margaret all the time is tedious. Elenore denies this and says that protecting Margaret is the most important thing to her and that Margaret is... Something to her once again. Despite prodding by Vanessa to continue, Elenore doesn't but once again, it's made clear what she meant to say.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Downplayed example towards Margaret as she doesn't want Margaret to grow fond of any guys. She does deny it when Vanessa asks her about it, though.
    • Later cranked up in Episode 17, though. She doesn't take kindly to Carrossea getting closer to Margaret.
  • Gainax Ending: Her fate and that of Vanessa and Carrossea has been the cause of some intense debates over if Margaret resurrected her or not.
  • Just Friends: Vanessa and her in the first half of the series, until Vanessa hooks up with Madlax.
  • Kick Chick: Fights mainly through kicking her enemies.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: She reveals that she is actually a skilled martial artist when Margaret's date tries to assault her.
  • Ninja Maid: Zigzagged. Eleanor is Margaret's bodyguard as well as her maid, and she's a skilled martial artist, but she isn't trained with firearms because Margaret hates guns and so she's not much use in a life or death fight.
  • Old Retainer: Her grandpa was this, and she'd fit if not for her age since the Bakers have served the Burtons for generations.
  • Plucky Girl: Pretty much one the entire series.
  • Small Girl, Big Gun: One episode she gets on a mounted gun and starts firing off like hell.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Margaret. Regardless of the circumstances, she will always protect her master.

    Vanessa Rene 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vanessa_3487.jpg

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese), Kelly Manison (English)

Margaret and Elenore's friend who's determined to find the truth and clear her parent's names. She's also an employee of Bookwald in order to find their connection to the civil war Gazth-Sonika.


  • Ambiguously Gay: While she shows no interest in men, her relationship with Madlax is implied to develop into a mutual Bodyguard Crush, and she's also, on occassion, rather flirty with Elenore.
  • Cool Big Sis: To Elenore and Margaret.
  • Died Happily Ever After: Vanessa is reunited with her parents after saying goodbye to Madlax.
  • Gainax Ending: Her ultimate fate at the end of the series. Whether Margaret used the books to resurrect her was left up in the air.
  • Gaining the Will to Kill: The Actual Pacifist Vanessa has trouble coming to terms with shooting a guy to protect Madlax until the latter confirms that she only wounded him. Still, this leads to quite a bit of Character Development in Vanessa, who eventually asks Madlax to teach her to shoot properly.
  • Guile Heroine: Considering she has no combat experience and has never even picked up a gun (at first anyway), she relies on her wit in order to survive and get the information that she needs. Best shown when she finally arrives at Gazth-Sonika and she needs to find the terminal containing the data that will expose her company's illegal dealings in the country.
  • Heroic BSoD: She has one at the beginning of Episode 17 after she shoots a soldier that was about to kill Madlax. While Vanessa fails to actually kill the soldier and only wounds him (he's shown to be alive later on in the episode with his right arm in a sling), she still considers the act of just shooting someone "unforgivable." She later snaps out of it and asks Madlax to teach her how to shoot.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Shields Madlax from getting shot by Limelda.
  • Just Friends: With Elenore.
  • Senseless Sacrifice: She takes a bullet for Madlax near the end of the series. However, considering Madlax is immortal and immune to all forms of conventional damage, she died for nothing.
  • Ship Tease: With Madlax.
  • The Promise: Her's to Madlax and vice versa.
  • Teach Me How To Fight: When shit's about to go down, she asks Madlax to teach her how to use a gun.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: She delivers one to Madlax in regards to her apparent indifference towards killing people for a living. Madlax simply responds that she does what she has to in order to stay alive.

    Carrossea Doon 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0b8a5eff_b841_4349_bc8c_c4f572cb3bae.jpeg

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Vic Mignogna (English)

Officially an independent contractor working for Bookwald Industries, and secretly one of Enfant's best operatives and the right-hand man of Friday Monday himself.


  • Be Careful What You Wish For: He wants to uncover the truth behind his buried memories. When he succeeds, he realizes that he died twelve years ago and that his continued existance depended on him not remembering this.
  • Creepy Child: As Poupee.
  • Dead All Along: He only was alive due to his Gift and his unyielding wish to protect Margaret. Once he realizes this... he fades away out of existence.
  • The Dragon: To Friday Monday, serving as his spy to keep tabs on Margaret and Elenore.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: He only cares about discovering his past, and holds no loyalty to his boss.
  • Enigmatic Minion: Before it's made clear that he has his own agenda separate from Friday's plans, he comes off as this.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: When he realizes that he's been Dead All Along.
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend: Sort-of, to Margaret. Poupee was another survivor of the plane crash, fell for Margaret, vowed to protect her... and died Taking the Bullet for her. His Gift kicked in and he sort-of lived on. Then, Friday took the amnesiac kid in and named him Carrossea, with his Poupee self remaining stuck at the Sanctuary.

    Friday Monday 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4ee67d6d_55c3_49c9_bbc1_2ac86aa602c9.jpeg

Voiced by: Masashi Ebara (Japanese) Mike Kleinhenz (English)

The enigmatic founder and head of the Enfant organization. Very little is known about his past before 1999, when he used his Gift to open the Door of Truth in a failed attempt to plunge the world into a total war, which, as he believes, is it's natural state.


  • Ax-Crazy: He laughs like a maniac while trying to turn the world into a global battlefield.
  • Bad Boss: Killed one of his henchmen for basically annoying him.
  • Big Bad: He's the leader of Enfant, the most dangerous opposition to the protagonists. He's also behind everything that happened in the series, including the civil-war.
  • Bullying a Dragon: He apparently thought that shooting at the most powerful Reality Warper in the series was a good idea. It didn't end well.
  • Cool Mask
  • Diabolical Mastermind: He runs a Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy, which incited and prolonges a brutal civil war in order to complete a mystical ritual to turn everyone on Earth into a homicidal maniac.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: His goal is left unknown until late in the series.
  • Karmic Death: By brainwashing Richard Burton into trying to murder Margaret, he indirectly contributed to the creation of Madlax- who ultimately kills him.
  • Knight Templar: He really is convinced that bringing out humanity's darker, self-destructive nature on a global scale is the right to do.
  • Light Is Not Good: He wears white clothes, and is also the Big Bad crime boss.
  • Reality Warper: He's one of the few Gift users in the series, although he's less powerful than he was twelve years ago.
  • Smug Snake: At the end of the day, Friday is simply a man who thought that realizing that the world is twisted makes him a visionary. For all of his bluster, Friday's plan hinges on getting the far more talented Margaret to obey him and when she turns against him everything falls apart for him. After Friday's death, Quanzita reflects on how her order has observed countless people like him and they all fade into history.
  • Straw Nihilist: He believes that things like peace, love, and even basic human decency are all lies, and only war is real.
  • To Create a Playground for Evil: He ultimate goal, in a nutshell, is to brainwash humanity into starting a global Forever War.
  • Villainous Breakdown: “Margaret! What happened to you?! YOU BITCH!!!
  • Walking Spoiler: Aside from the fact that he's the leader of Enfant, everything about him is a spoiler.
  • War for Fun and Profit: What appeared to be his goal when it was revealed that the Enfant organization has provided both sides of the civil-war with weapons and recruits. Subverted when it was revealed that the organization did it for free.

    Limelda Jorg 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/572718cd_b3cf_454a_a77a_bb16f69d172f.jpeg

Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (Japanese), Christine Auten (English)

A beautiful and deadly Dark Action Girl whose boss dies at Madlax's hand. She is very displeased by that, and as such she starts chasing after Madlax.


  • Cold Sniper
  • Dark Action Girl
  • Depraved Bisexual: She sleeps with Carrossea Doon (and seemingly develops feelings for him), and becomes obsessively fixated with Madlax. She even says that she loves her later on.
  • Murder the Hypotenuse: She gives off this vibe with regards to Vanessa. Though Vanessa's relationship with Madlax is left ambiguous, Limelda becomes increasingly frustrated by Vanessa's "interference" in her and Madlax's fights, and is ultimately the one to kill her.
  • Stalker with a Crush: She's an interesting example of this. She starts off as a Stalker without a Crush, hunting Madlax after she snipes Gazth-Sonika's Army Commander, because she wants to defeat her in one-on-one combat. However, after discovering the truth behind Gazth-Sonika's civil war, she decides that her life has no meaning outside her battles with Madlax, and falls in love with her while continuing to try and kill her. She gets better by the end of the series.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Ever since her first encounter with Madlax, which had the latter sniping a general that Limelda was assigned to protect, she becomes very fixated with defeating Madlax.

Supporting Characters

    Laetitia 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6ab5592b_f4b2_4d0d_8547_6d795dcc4033.jpeg

Voiced by: Tomoko Kaneda (Japanese), Cynthia Martinez (English)

A strange and very creepy little girl seen more than once holding on her handmade doll. She is also a part of Margaret, and the keeper of her memories. As such, she's stuck in the Sanctuary.


  • Meaningful Name: She's named after both a character in Mashimo's favorite movie and the Roman Goddess of gaiety.

    Colonel Richard Burton 
Voiced by: Tōru Ōkawa (Japanese), Ben Hamby (English)

Margaret's Disappeared Dad. Killed by the recently "born" Madlax after Monday uses the Words of Awakening on him.


    Quanzitta Marison 

A mysterious woman who knows about the true cause of the civil war in Gazth-Sonika. She is later revealed to hold the third of the three Books of Truth, Thirstari.


    Nakhl 

A woman who serves under Quanzitta. Much like her master, she also knows about the true cause of the civil war in Gazth-Sonika.


  • Badass Normal: Compared to Madlax, Nakhl has no known confirmed supernatural abilities yet can still fight against the mercenary evenly.
  • Mysterious Watcher: Watches over both Carrossea and Margaret early on in the series.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: Pulls this off multiple times throughout the series. She's so good at this that even Madlax herself has difficulty sensing her presence.

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