This page contains only character tropes relevant to the fan fiction. For the original list of tropes applying to the existing canon characters, see Full Metal Panic!
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Main Characters
Sousuke Sagara
Sergeant Major Sousuke Sagara
The protagonist of the story. He is a 20 year old sergeant major within the paramilitary counter-terrorist force, MITHRIL. He is an Arm Slave pilot in the SRT (Special Response Team) of the West Pacific Fleet flagship, Tuatha de Danaan. His callsign is Urzu-Seven and his ID number is B-3128. He is the only authorized (MITHRIL) pilot of the ARX-7A Arbalest, the only Arm Slave MITHRIL has equipped with a LAMBDA Driver.
- Ace Custom: Since the end of The Second Raid, the Arbalest has been upgraded with a larger frame, expanded cockpit, and secondary seat/console configuration so that Kaname can ride inside it in the event it becomes necessary to use the Arbalest to extract her from danger, reasoning that it's safer and more combat-efficient for her to be inside than carried in one of the hands. This upgraded Arbalest simply has an 'A' added to its model number.
- Anti-Hero: He's a good guy who willing to do bad things to save the day, such as the willingness to use torture and deception and execute any terrorists detained. This is played with, in that he has an entirely separate personality, "Kashim", who is more than willing to resort to these worst of methods so that "Sousuke" can retain some relative innocence.
- Battle Couple: With Kaname. Though his military skill far surpasses hers, he is exceedingly comfortable with having her watching his back in a gunfight.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: After all the bad things in chapters five and six, after getting out of the hospital, Sousuke attempts to drown his sorrow with an entire bottle of whiskey. It ruins his motor functions, causing him to fumble repeatedly while doing gun tricks (something he typically has more than enough reflexive skill for), which only exacerbates his depression and drives him to want to end it all.
- Catchphrase: "It's not a problem."
- The Comically Serious: His social skills have advanced tremendously in the three years following TSR, to the point where he's fully capable of punning, making cultural references, and playing pranks. He retains his serious demeanor because of its inherent humor value and because it's a familiar sense of comfort to his friends.
- Driven to Suicide: After the West Pacific Fleet is seemingly annihilated by Amalgam, Kyoko is injured in a terrorist attack, the Arbalest is destroyed in battle with Leonard, and Kaname willingly goes with Leonard to secure his survival, Sousuke is mired in such deep depression (exacerbated by consuming an entire bottle of whiskey), that he would rather put himself out of his misery than suffer with the pain he feels. Fortunately, his gun jams.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: He and Kaname thought they had earned this following the end of TSR. After the events of chapter six, reclaiming his happy ending with Kaname is his primary motivating force.
- Fish out of Water: Played for laughs more than a true problem, ever since the end of TSR.
- Heroic BSoD: He has an almost-fatal one in chapter seven.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: How he feels about Kaname willingly leaving with Leonard to spare his life. He also feels horrible about Kyoko getting injured on his watch, thanks in part to Ono-D chewing him out for it.
- Improbable Age: Sergeant Major (E-9, highest possible enlisted rank) at the ripe old age of 20. Most 20-year olds in the military aren't even an E-3.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: He's definitely not averse to doing this to his opponents.
- Lightning Bruiser: Both his ground combat style and AS piloting are this, preferring to charge in for medium-to-close range combat.
- Love Hurts: If the back half of TSR didn't demonstrate it, his momentary willingness to opt out of the story rather than continue to live heartbroken makes this abundantly clear.
- Mindlink Mates: Shares one with Kaname, thanks to her Whispered powers. He uses it to help stabilize her control over the Whispers, and on one occasion has forcefully removed her from a resonance with another Whispered. He otherwise has no clue what the hell to do with it.
- An Odd Place to Sleep: Prefers to sleep underneath beds. That habit wasn't broken for three long years after TSR, until he started to physically sleep with Kaname, at which point she forced him to stop. He simply compensated by sleeping buried in bedding.
- Official Couple: He's been this with Kaname since the end of TSR, three years earlier.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Once he's gotten his head back in the game and started his one-man war against Amalgam, it's revealed that Sousuke has repressed the darker sides of his personality that helped him survive in Afghanistan during his youth. That personality is named "Kashim", and what's scarier is that Sousuke is willing to occasionally cede control of himself to this dark side to keep his conscience clear of the atrocities he is likely to commit in pursuit of his vendetta.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Definitely and unquestionably this when piloting the ARX-7A. Not so much so in his civilian life anymore, having stated in the beginning of the story that he hasn't even felt the need to draw his weapon in two months. He does, however, still jokingly play up that he is this.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: While using the Arbalest, Sousuke's favorite weapon is a Boxer shotcannon, which is essentially a mecha-sized shotgun.
- Split Personality: There's "Sousuke" as we've known him through the entire series, and then there's "Kashim". Kashim is representative of all of the darker, more brutal instincts that Sousuke was forced to survive on while he was in Afghanistan as a child. Sousuke's inner monologue states that he would love nothing more than to lock Kashim away in the deepest, darkest recesses of his mind and never allow anyone he considers a friend to meet that persona. A slight variant exists in that Kashim and Sousuke are explicitly two halves of a single coin, meaning that their goals and desires are always in line with one another. It's simply their methods that (wildly) deviate.
- Split-Personality Takeover: A benign example. Sousuke fears that the atrocities he may have to commit in his pursuit of rescuing Kaname may make him unworthy of being allowed to be with her. "Kashim" offers to take over when those situations arise, putting Sousuke's main personality in a sort of blackout coma for the duration, in order to spare him the memories of doing terrible things to people who richly deserve it.
- The Stoic: He's still famous for this, though his comrades and direct superiors are well aware that he has thawed considerably in the three years since TSR.
- Tragic Keepsake: The personalized MP7 personal defense weapon that Kaname gave him for Christmas has begun to be treated this way since she was abducted by Amalgam. It is never far from his person and he touches the laser engraving of their initials together often to ground himself. The cheap, gas station-bought Saint Michael's medallion that Kaname bought for him also counts.
- Would Hit a Girl: Or shoot, bomb, whatever. He definitely isn't sexist when he deems the person a threat, that's for sure.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Sousuke is not one for doubting himself, but just the same, Kaname is constantly reminding him of this, always telling him that he is a hero that has done good and right for the world, and throwing in a healthy dose of You Are Not Alone for good measure.
Kaname Chidori
Kaname Chidori
Kaname is the main female protagonist of the story, and appears to be a "normal" 19/20-year old (her birthday occurs in the first two chapters) Japanese high school student at first glance. However, she is secretly a "Whispered", an individual who possesses advanced knowledge of sophisticated technology. Like her boyfriend, Sousuke, she works with the anti-terrorist organization MITHRIL, albeit in a civilian capacity, helping to refine and advance their Arm Slave technology. Kaname is the only person other than Sousuke to whom the Arbalest will respond and allow itself to be operated. Her MITHRIL-designated callsign is 'Angel'.
- Action Girl: Upgraded from an Action Survivor, she's received a fair amount of military training in the three years since The Second Raid and is very capable of taking care of herself in a pinch, no longer serving as The Load for Sousuke when she's drawn into battle.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her callsign from MITHRIL, Angel, has been interpreted as this by her civilian friends. This is helped by the fact that he actually treats it as such around them.
- Afraid of Their Own Strength: The utter ease with which she makes use of the LAMBDA Driver in the Arbalest, exceeding Sousuke's highest recorded output by three hundred percent, while fighting off a number of Venoms terrifies her about the prospect of what else the Whispered might be good for.
- Battle Couple: With Sousuke. He eclipses her completely in combat skill, but she has enough training to hold her own in a gunfight.
- Brooklyn Rage: She spent about eight years of her childhood in New York City, which she herself admits is why she's used to being more open and aggressive than most Japanese people.
- Invisible Parents: Kaname lives with Sousuke in Tokyo. Her mother died years ago and her father lives in New York along with her younger sister Ayame.
- Laughing Mad: She has a crazy one she gives whenever she's lying about something (most of the time involving Sousuke).
- Mindlink Mates: She has a permanent resonance with Sousuke due to her Whispered powers. Tessa has implied that Kaname and Sousuke's link is stronger due to more time with it, but Kaname has not demonstrated any specific special abilities with it.
- Missing Mom: Her mother died of illness long before even canon FMP started.
- The Nicknamer: She's full of terms of endearment for Sousuke, frequently referring to him as her soldier/specialist/sergeant. He also refers to himself in such a manner, and it often inflicts cavities/diabetes on their friends who witness it. These terms, and their reference to a shared emotional attachment to a specific song, also double as a means of providing comfort and support to one another.
- Official Couple: The main pairing of the story is her and Sousuke.
- The Ophelia: Becomes one temporarily whenever she goes into her Whispered moments.
- The Power of Love: An uncompromising believer in this, she and Sousuke continually reaffirm to each other that there is no force in the world more powerful than their love for each other.
- Teen Genius: Due to her status as a Whispered.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Tessa and Kyoko's girly girl. Not that Tessa is a stranger to being a decidedly un-feminine badass.
- Took a Level in Badass: Put on full display during the attack at Jindai High. Not only did she pilot the Arbalest and annihilate several Venoms while Sousuke was caught out of the AS, but when Amalgam ground troops were closing in to kill Sousuke and capture her, she stood firm and returned effective fire.
- Twitchy Eye: Whenever she's trying not to blow her top.
- What Does She See in Him?: What Leonard bitterly keeps wondering about Kaname, citing that Sousuke is a worse choice for a boyfriend because he's killed possibly thousands of people. Of course, if he would sit down and start figuring out exactly what makes Sousuke so appealing, maybe he would find it easier to woo women.
Teletha Testarossa
Captain Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa
Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa is the clumsy but charming Captain of the MITHRIL anti-terrorist organization's revered TDD-1 Tuatha de Danaan. She is American by birth but has lived on submarines and military bases for most of her life. She was a child prodigy who rose to her relatively high rank at the age of only 16 after using her Whispered power to design the submarine. Three years later, at 19/20, she is commander of the entire West Pacific Fleet with talk of promoting her into the admiralty. Tessa has silver hair (described as platinum/ash blonde) and grey eyes. In combat operations, when she's not commanding from the Danaan, her callsign is 'Ansuz'.
- Action Girl: While she's not yet been given the opportunity to flex her Action Girl chops, she has most assuredly not atrophied in this regard since TSR.
- Alliterative Name: Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa. Not just the first letter, but every sound in her name is alliterative!
- A Mother To Her Men: Ridiculously so, to the point that she felt guilty for not having a Christmas present for her newest crewmember, who got there four hours before Christmas day. This trope is all but name-dropped by said crewmember.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: When she finally admits her burgeoning feelings for Garon to Melissa, Kaname, and Sousuke in her cabin, she breaks down in tears.
- Attempted Rape: The two Amalgam infiltrators that tried to kidnap Tessa. It went very poorly for them when Garon caught up.
- Badass Adorable: Still a moeblob, still commander of the most powerful weapon (and its compliment of even deadlier weapons) on the planet. Unfortunately, the days of incompetent foes who are unaware of her badassery are behind them.
- Battle Couple: Given the state of world affairs, it won't be long until she and Garon grow into this role.
- Big Good: Unquestionably the singular most good and heroic character in the story, Tessa largely having this role displays how much of a Foil she and her brother are to one another.
- The Captain: So much so, that she intended to go down with her ship.
- Character Tics: She retains her habit of absentmindedly playing with her ponytail. During her time on MolMol, she's slightly distressed by no longer having a ponytail to do this with, since she's taken to wearing her hair down in an effort to hide from Amalgam spies/satellites.
- Curtains Match the Window: Gray eyes with silver hair.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Given that Bonds is more serious a story, this hasn't been demonstrated, but is still a notable component of her character.
- Ditzy Genius: Extremely intelligent due to being a Whispered, and possessed of extreme tactical savvy, but take her away from her world and she appears to be a shy, typical ditzy girl.
- Dude Magnet: After defusing a potential turncoat situation with words (thereby preventing Garon from doing it with blood), the majority of the Arm Slave pilots joke that they'd like to pursue her romantically. This earns dirty looks from Melissa and Kurz, and prompts Garon to turn right around and stake his claim.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Tessa mentally delivers one of these to herself after the first cruise missile strike on Meridia Island, following a very brief Heroic BSoD from the chaos of the strike. Her inner voice demands that she stand up and prove herself worthy of Garon's respect and affections.
- The Good Captain: She earned herself this title by way of utterly shutting down a half-assed attempt at treason during Amalgam's attack on Meridia Island. Not that she didn't already have the respect and admiration of her crew, but there's no question that the survivors of Meridia Island are now more than willing to follow her to hell and back.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Suffers from a severe inferiority complex due to her older brother's greater intelligence and belittling of her. This despite being the youngest naval captain in history and enough of a badass that she can run rings around other captains with more experience, and so recognizably dangerous that she's explicitly targeted for assassination by Amalgam.
- Improbable Age: A 20-year old captain and fleet commander in a huge, anti-terrorist organization. Although this is justified by her Whispered status, and her own skill in the position.
- Insecure Love Interest: Due to her above-mentioned complex, and her failure of winning Sousuke's heart, she doesn't consider herself worth being in a relationship with. Half of the SRT corps as well as Garon distinctly do not agree with this assessment.
- Lady of War: As stated above, Tessa is a damn dangerous opponent and has a rather firmly military outlook.
- Mindlink Mates: Due to her Whispered powers creating a permanent resonance with Garon, she can sense his emotions in almost any situation and can communicate telepathically with him when she's able to concentrate.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: While she and Garon are in hiding on MolMol, she lets her hair down out of its distinctive style in a half-assed effort to hide from Amalgam spies. She briefly debated dying her hair, but has not yet decided to go through with it or not.
- Red Baron: She's known by Amalgam as "The Witch of the Sea" and is most of the reason why they don't have a navy. The US Navy, likewise, has a fearful reverence for her, and her submarine is known as the "Toy Box". An irony, to be sure, given her age.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Shows serious signs of this after the events at Meridia Island.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Shortly before the Arm Slaves sortied during the battle on Meridia Island, she suspected that someone might make treasonous suggestions to the other pilots and went to the hangar with armed guards. She was proven prophetic, catching Spake in the middle of trying to goad the other pilots into turning her and the Danaan over to Amalgam. In between preventing Garon from murdering Spake in cold blood, she utterly verbally emasculated him in under thirty seconds and makes it abundantly clear that any attempts at treason would be met with summary execution. Even her close friends are dumbstruck by this hidden side of her.
- Teen Genius: She's 20 in-story, and designed the Tuatha de Danaan before she was even 16.
Garon Crayson
Gunnery Sergeant Garon Crayson
Rounding out the primary protagonists of Bonds is Original Character Garon Crayson. A mercenary from the mysterious faction of individuals who live by the tenants of the Mandalorian culture, Garon joined MITHRIL upon invitation and was assigned as an AS pilot aboard the Tuatha de Danaan to fill the hole left by Sousuke spending less time on active duty. The mystery of his culture caught Tessa's attention, and from there a budding relationship has grown. His callsign is Urzu-Five and his identification number is B-3267.
- Ace Custom: His assigned M9, programmed with a Mandalorian AI personality, named Orar (Mando for "Thunder") and emblazoned with a mythosaur skull (sort of a long-faced elephant), the symbol of the Mandalorians, on its shoulder. It, unfortunately, was destroyed in the Battle of Meridia Island.
- Berserk Button: His is Tessa. Threaten her, harm her, or upset her in any way, and he will snatch the life right out of you. As two Amalgam infiltrators learned the hard way.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: His eye color is described as "one shade lighter than looking like a crazed madman", but subverted in that he's decidedly not a creep in any regard.
- Every Scar Has a Story: Not so much on Garon's actual body, as his armor is described as doing an exceptional job at protecting him from small-arms fire, but Tessa took notice of a particular impact-and-deflection pitting on the stomach plate of his armor, which she estimated was made by a point-blank AK47 shot.
- Good Colors, Evil Colors: Unlike some of his compatriots, Garon wears a very plainly-colored set of Mandalorian armor that is mostly shades of gray. Despite that color usually seen on mooks, he is anything but.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Averted to the extreme. In his Mandalorian armor, he wears the typical full-head bucket helmet with a T-slit visor.
- Mildly Military: Uses his own personal combat gear and is in a relationship with his ship's captain, but still gets annoyed by failure to adhere to proper radio security protocols.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: By his own admittance, he's very subdued about this in relation to some of his fellows, but he is a Mandalorian.
- Taking You with Me: When literally disarmed by an enemy Arm Slave, he contemplates using the self-destruct device in his own unit to try and at least incapacitate the foe, but his own machine refused to allow him, citing that he (Garon) needed to survive and protect Tessa, his sweetheart.
- Terror Hero: A Type 3, as his main battlefield attitude. He'll do some nasty things to an enemy he has in physical proximity in an attempt to terrify any other enemies into either fleeing or not fighting as well.
- Tragic Keepsake: After his Arm Slave was destroyed in battle, he broke off a chunk of shoulder armor the size of a bottle cap to carry with him at all times as part of the Mandalorian tradition of remembering the fallen.
- Worthy Opponent: Garon has shades of this with Commander Mardukas, though mostly it's Garon thinking of Mardukas this way. With Mardukas being more than willing to get in a physical throwdown with a much younger, more fit, and battle-ready man that he has no realistic hope of beating over Tessa's honor, Garon has a much higher amount of respect for Mardukas than he started with.
MITHRIL
Kurz Weber
Sergeant Major Kurz Weber
Kurz is a member of MITHRIL and has the rank of Sergeant Major in the SRT (Special Response Team) of the Tuatha de Danaan (TDD-1) West Pacific Fleet. He has the callsign Urzu-6 and his ID number is B-3127. He is an SRT Arm Slave pilot and designated marksman, equally proficient with sniper rifles and Arm Slave long range precision cannons. It is said he can visualize the exact trajectory of a bullet, resulting in an almost inhuman accuracy. Traditionally, he most often formed a three-man cell with squadmate Sousuke Sagara and squad leader Melissa Mao, but has been partnered with Garon Crayson since the Mandalorian joined the fleet. He is regarded as a finicky genius, burdening the MITHRIL mechanics with extremely difficult to understand complaints and requests.
- Badass Normal: Unlike Sousuke, Kurz wasn't a child soldier and apart from beginning training with a rifle at 12, has nothing really remarkable about his military career. None of this stops him from being an utter badass with a sniper rifle, to the point where he considers world-record shots to be his business as usual.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Very much a party person, as he has no problem getting drunk and instigating amongst the rest of the crew. He also has the loudest mouth among the main cast, which has thus far earned him a tandem beating from Garon and Melissa, and a rare (good-natured) insult from Tessa.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He may be a flirt, but he's also a Sergeant Major by rank, with all the military training that implies. He's best at sniping, but is suitably competent in an AS battle and can at least survive in close quarters.
- But Not Too Foreign: He's German, but was raised in Japan.
- Chivalrous Pervert: He's usually the first one to jump on a situation to peep on girls, but god help you if you actually hurt one within earshot of him. He genuinely believes if you make a woman cry, you'll end up as an abusive husband.
- Crippling Overspecialization: It's unsurprising he's awesome with any long-range weapon but the moment he gets caught in a melee, he's even more useless than most civilians in the series. Mao later calls him out on it since he apparently focused so much on becoming a sniper that he neglected his hand-to-hand training.
- Friendly Sniper: Very friendly and outgoing to just about anyone (well, anyone that hasn't done him wrong), but no less awesome with a rifle. Amusingly, he actually sucks at close combat, meaning a Sniper is actually all he can do. Fortunately for him, his new wingman is outfitted for close- to medium-range in an AS and carries an impressive cache of close-range weapons on his battle armor.
- The Gadfly: He sasses everyone within earshot without mercy, just to get a giggle out of it.
- Heroic Sacrifice: His and Clouseau's decision to go out with no support and attack the enemy landing forces initially looked to be this, but both of them managed to survive and board the Danaan as it was escaping the island.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: His ability to put accurate fire into places most other people would just hit by saturation borders on the supernatural. He's no slouch in an AS either; sniping from a nearby mountain during Garon's first combat mission, he dropped an enemy AS in close proximity to Garon without ever risking friendly fire, and during the Amalgam invasion of Meridia Island, he shoots down high-altitude aircraft with single shots to cockpit sections while his AS is laying on its back.
- It's implied that he deliberately holds back from what would otherwise have been very easy kills for him during his Body-Count Competition with Garon, just to ensure that his new wingman would score that kiss from Tessa.
- Ladykiller in Love: He's not as successful as he may wish.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: This hasn't changed. When he's not making lewd commentary at Mao, he dials it back just slightly and makes suggestive statements about Garon and Tessa.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After Garon's date with Tessa, Kurz inquires about it in a manner that is simple, no-nonsense, and without any lewd commentary. This contrast with the way Kurz normally acts regarding anything to do with romance or the opposite gender lays out that he feels strongly about what a good complimentary match the Mandalorian is for Tessa.
- Phenotype Stereotype: Blond-haired, blue-eyed and born in Germany. But he was actually raised in Japan, where his father worked as a reporter. Cue jokes about him being more Japanese than Sousuke — at least from a cultural perspective.
- Romantic Wingman: Plays this role to both Sousuke and Garon, though he considers Garon to be far less in need of his aid.
- Shipper on Deck: He and Mao consider themselves to be the ringleaders of the "small but growing number of Tuatha de Danaan crew" that ship Garon and Tessa together.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Not even just hitting - just simply making a girl cry. To the point where he hits Sousuke and chews him out for making Kaname sad. "People like you grow up to be those violent, abusive husbands!" indeed.
Melissa Mao
Second Lieutenant Melissa Mao
Serving as the SRT's second-in-command under Clouseau, she serves in MITHRIL under the callsign Urzu-2. Her expertise in electronic warfare is valued by the West Pacific Fleet in general and the Tuatha de Danaan in particular. Commissioned into the officer corps from the enlisted ranks, she is a 'mustang' officer and fits the bill rather well (respected by the men but more rough-around-the-edges than other officers). She is 28 years old.
- Ace Custom: Her unique M9, fitted with a unicorn-like antenna on the forehead and an excess of electronic warfare equipment. It, like many others, was destroyed on Meridia Island.
- Action Girl: A skilled and competent AS pilot, she's nonetheless incredibly skilled on the ground as well, capable of using a wide variety of firearms and also is the most skilled in hand-to-hand aboard the Danaan, despite not having a formal specialization in it.
- Badass Normal: Like Kurz, she has no special training or abilities, but nonetheless can fight off enemies in advanced AS with no problem and has enough strength to terrify Sousuke of all people.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Very energetic and trigger happy.
- Boyish Short Hair: Goes along with the territory, but also likely a combat requirement since Kaname and Tessa (both of which are non-combatants) get caught with their long hair.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Insults her superiors (her captain no less), uses million dollar equipment for a Tango demonstration. Frequently gets drunk, sometimes on the job, and badmouths everyone within earshot when she feels like it. Nonetheless, she is one of the most skilled pilots on the Danaan.
- Cool Big Sis: She even refers to this trope by name. Kurz also calls her "Big Sis."
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Though she's been forced by the change in her rank to mellow out a bit, she's not above cracking a cold one with the other pilots at the end of a day.
- The Lad-ette: It's notable that the only time we ever see her in anything remotely feminine, she's undercover.
- Military Brat: Her father was in the Air Force.
- Only Sane Man: During the skirmish on Pararakelse Island, while Kurz and Garon are acting like small children in their competition, Mao tries with much exasperation to keep their focus on taking down the enemy.
- Romantic Wingwoman: She plays this role to Tessa, and takes it very seriously. From the moment she realized that her captain had feelings for Garon, she's continually pushed and encouraged her to act on those feelings. She even offers to handle Tessa's paperwork so the latter can have a lunch date with Garon. And even to Garon as well, going so far as to privately ask him during live combat what his feelings were for Tessa.
- Runaway Bride: She ditched her own Arranged Marriage to join the Marines, showing up at the recruitment office still wearing her wedding gown.
- Semper Fi: Mao enlisted in the Marines on her wedding day, but was dishonorably discharged sometime before the story begins. It's hinted that she was a DI at Parris Island.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: An even better example than Kaname, who is generally agreed to be quite pretty even when she's not dressed up. Mao, on the other hand, rarely appears in anything but fatigues or a flightsuit, making the slinky dress she dons for her undercover operation in The Second Raid all the more impressive.
- Up Through the Ranks: Promoted to second lieutenant from previously being a Sergeant Major, and now second-in-command of the Danaan's AS corps. She also appears to be Garon's direct supervisor, which isn't unlikely given their relative ranks.
Ji-Eun "Wraith" Lee
Ji-Eun Lee
An ex-North Korean State Security Department agent recruited to work for Intelligence Division. She is at first against Sousuke's role to shadow Kaname, and is tasked for a time to replace him during The Second Raid, but following the Hong Kong incident, she comes to accept Sousuke as being best-suited for Kaname's protection. She was reassigned for a while afterwards, but then once the threats of Amalgam came up, she was returned to being a long-distance shadow and support for Sousuke.
- Cold Sniper: The implication is that she is this, as the main method she uses of getting Sousuke's attention without actually calling him is to deliberately manipulate a scope so that the reflected sunlight catches his attention. This when she's not resorting to shining laser sights on people to screw with him.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": 'Wraith' is the MITHRIL callsign she operates under, and it's also the only name that Sousuke and Kaname know her by.
- Married to the Job: Like her inspiration, she is a lifer in the covert operations industry. Unlike her inspiration, she does it because she enjoys the thrill of the job.
- Master of Disguise: Par for the course as an Intelligence operative. She disguised herself as a corpulent male businessman during her first tenure of guarding Kaname. Her self-admitted preference, however, is the far simpler "rich businesswoman or hard-partying minx".
- Mission Control: She served this role for Sousuke during his kidnapping of Kurama, and largely serves this purpose in their partnership.
- Shout-Out: Many of her traits and commentary are inspired by Michael Westen.
- The Cavalry: During the battle at Jindai High, she's all that Sousuke and Kaname get. She grudgingly supports their decision to turn back to save their friends, thereby being on-hand to take both Kyoko and Sousuke to a hospital after they're grievously injured in the battle.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Wraith is utterly perplexed as to why Kaname holds her in such high regard and wishes so fervently to befriend her. The reason is because it was Wraith who directly enabled Kaname to reunite with Sousuke during the Hong Kong incident, and Kaname is eternally grateful for that. Wraith just chalks it up as a self-deprecating case of Evil Cannot Comprehend Good.
Belfangan Clouseau
Captain Belfangan Clouseau
An African-Canadian and commander of the Special Response Team aboard the Tuatha de Danaan, having served in this role ever since the events of The Second Raid. As Urzu-One, Clouseau also takes command of all local AS forces whenever the TDD is operating with the rest of the West Pacific Fleet or Meridia Island's defense forces. A no-nonsense officer who instills discipline in his men by fear of his beating the crap out of them, he nonetheless cares considerably for their welfare.
- Ace Custom: Possibly the most custom of the lot aside from the Arbalest itself. Clouseau's M9D Falke is a prototype unit that was intended to have a LAMBDA Driver installed on it. After the suicide of MITHRIL's Whispered who specialized in them, the Falke never received one. It has a pitch-black coloration and a customized, intimidating head section. Clouseau has had the machine tuned to be hyper-responsive, fitting his martial arts-based combat style.
- Consummate Professional: This is the attitude he puts forward to the pilots under his command, and attempts to instill in them. With mixed results.
- Cultured Warrior: Unquestionably the single most skilled and combat-decorated pilot within the West Pacific Fleet, possibly MITHRIL as a whole, possibly in the whole damn world, and he spends his off-time binge-watching anime and dreaming of visiting Akihabara.
- Heroic Sacrifice: His and Kurz's decision to go out with no support and attack the enemy landing forces initially looked to be this, but both of them managed to survive and board the Danaan as it was escaping the island.
- Otaku: Oh yes. He even shares the common stereotyped trait of preferring to watch anime in its original subbed format, rather than dubbed.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Prior to the AS team launching at Meridia Island, when Spake continued to suggest that they should capture Tessa and turn her over to Amalgam for their own lives, Clouseau calmly remarked that the punishment for treason was death, and seemed moments away from ordering the pilots holding back Garon from murdering Spake to let him go.
Andrei Sergeivich Kalinin
Lieutenant Commander Andrei Sergeivich Kalinin
Formerly a top agent of the Russian Spetsnaz, Lieutenant Commander Kalinin serves as operations director aboard the Tuatha de Danaan, commanding the military arm of the submarine. Though he comes across as stern, he takes the welfare of those under his command very seriously. He also is something of a universal father figure, serving in this role alongside Commander Mardukas for Tessa, and being Sousuke's registered foster father.
- The Atoner: He always felt guilty that he couldn't save Sousuke's beautiful mother. And he also feels responsible for letting Sousuke get taken in by the KGB (who raised him to be a Straw Nihilist assassin). As a result, he desperately wants to humanize Sousuke.
- Cool Old Guy: Very much so.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He remains behind with some of Wildfire's men to hold off advancing Amalgam forces so that the submarine's bridge crew can escape.
- Lethal Chef: His Borscht (made with miso paste and cocoa powder) almost killed Tessa. And it's horrific enough that Sousuke flees in terror. This is apparently because it's something his wife used to make him when he returned home from a long mission, as a punishment. However, he never realized this, and thought it was delicious
- Majorly Awesome: Holds the Major-equivalent naval rank of Lieutenant Commander.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During the attack on Meridia Island, he appeared very out of touch and even mournful over the battle, such to the point that even Tessa thought he was acting weird.
- Parental Substitute: He ended up becoming Sousuke's adopted father and legal guardian.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: His subordinates get away with a lot of crap, ranging from Mao's oft-drunkenness, to Kurz's frequent antagonizing of his comrades, to Garon clubbing another crewmember with a Guitar Hero controller. His stance largely seems to be letting the combat forces do what they desire, so long as it doesn't have a negative effect on morale or combat effectiveness.
- Shipper on Deck: Very low-key, but he did encourage Tessa to initiate a relationship with Garon after she directly sought his advice on the matter. He even went so far as to point out the traditional rules against fraternization, then pointed out that MITHRIL had no such concrete rules.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Last heard of making a stand against Amalgam ground forces within the base on Meridia Island in order to buy time for evacuees to reach the submarine pens.
Richard Mardukas
Commander Richard Mardukas
Holding the rank of Commander, Mardukas serves as the executive officer of the Tuatha de Danaan, responsible for keeping the ship running smoothly. When Tessa's not on the ship, he has command, and honestly he's no more fun to face in the sea than she is. Has a professional working relationship with Kalinin and defers to his judgment on ground combat. Very stuffy and very British.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Being Tessa's father figure, he fills this role for her with an almost-religious enthusiasm. His "out a torpedo tube" death threat became memetic in the West Pacific Fleet as a result of his warning Sousuke of the extreme consequences that would occur if he were to take advantage of Tessa. He hasn't been shown to make a similar threat against Garon, but as the Mandalorian is aware of the torpedo tube threat and likes his chances, there's clearly some level of tension between them regarding this.
- The Captain: Formerly a submarine captain in the Royal Navy. Now, as Tessa's Number Two, he takes over whenever she's not on the ship. It's implied that Tessa's fearsome skill at submarine warfare is in thanks to having Mardukas as her mentor.
- Character Tics: Whenever he's ready to kick ass, he has a habit of wearing his hat backward. He did this even back when he was in the Royal Navy when the uniform hat made it impractical to do so. It's why he has his cap. It was a gift from Tessa's father to make doing it much easier.
- Commander Contrarian: Mardukas questions some of the more unusual actions by Tessa and others, which is sort of part of his job as her Number Two. Most of the time, he's submitting legitimate tactical questioning of those decisions, and is more than happy to back off if presented with sufficient logic. Again, an executive officer is supposed to do such to make sure that all of their captains' decisions are well thought-out.
- His backstory reveals that Mardukas was a reasonable Commander Contrarian, but it also got him into trouble: late in his career with the Royal Navy, he submitted a brutally honest report that ran contrary to and embarrassed his superiors, causing him to be demoted and relieved of his command; this ultimately leads to his joining MITHRIL.
- Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: His favored threat against anyone who crosses him is to fire them out a torpedo tube. Torpedo optional. The threat itself is typically treated like a joke, but the fact that you shouldn't cross Mardukas is not.
- Papa Wolf: Since Tessa's parents died, he's become more or less her father figure. Justified, considering he was a close friend of her parents.
- Red Baron: Known to the submarine communities of the US and UK as The Duke of Undersea Warfare.
- Shipping Torpedo: He does not approve of Tessa's relationship with Garon in any fashion, but does recognize that he provides her happiness and so will not stand in their way. It's very clear, however, that he will not tolerate Garon hurting her, even if it comes down to a physical confrontation.
- Training from Hell: Mardukas is both a graduate and instructor of Perisher, the Royal Navy's submarine equivalent to TOPGUN... but harder.
- Worthy Opponent: Garon considers him one because Mardukas has threatened him directly over any harm that he might cause to Tessa. For an older gentleman not at peak fitness to not only make, but clearly be willing to back up a threat of physical confrontation against a young man in the prime of his life equipped with what might as well be Powered Armor, takes some serious testicular fortitude. As a Mandalorian, Garon definitely respects that.
Callsign "Wildfire"
"Wildfire"
A ground forces commander based on Meridia Island, Wildfire unflappably aids in the evacuation efforts of the island when it comes under attack by Amalgam forces. His name and rank are unknown, and his only description is that of an "older British gentleman wearing a boonie hat".
- Casual Danger Dialogue: While he and his men are under fire from Amalgam infantry, Wildfire reports their situation to Tessa with no indication whatosever that he feels the slightest bit threatened by the pressing enemy attack.
- Expy: Of Captain Price. Wildfire is explicitly not Captain Price, however, since during the time of Amalgam's attack on Meridia Island, Captain Price was still rotting in a Soviet gulag.
- I Am Very British: Wildfire speaks with a notable British accent.
Amalgam
Leonard Testarossa
Leonard Testarossa
A young genius and Whispered like his younger sister, he is known as "Mr. Silver" in the heirarchy of Amalgam. His specific area of expertise in Black Technology is not known, but he personally brought forth the Alasator miniature Arm Slave and his personal anti-kinetic defensive coat. Because of his genius and cruel upbringing within Amalgam, he has a massive superiority complex and considers everyone else in the world to be beneath him.
- Aloof Big Brother: Even, especially, Tessa is not exempt from being considered beneath him. When he sent the command to the unmanned drone to destroy her submarine, he seemed to take a sadistic glee in it, and often refers to her as his "foolish little sister".
- Badass Bookworm: He's regarded as the most intelligent of the Whispered, having developed the Alastor and a literally bulletproof coat. His personal AS, the Belial, is a monster the likes of which Sousuke is utterly powerless against, even with his own LAMBDA Driver.
- Badass Longcoat: So badass, it even blocks throwing knives (and bullets) aimed to the head.
- Big Bad: There was never any doubt that this would be his role in the story.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He hates how Sousuke keeps getting in his way of not only his goal, but winning over Kaname. He can never seem to understand why anyone would ever accept Sousuke at all. Especially as a romantic interest no less.
- Curtains Match the Window: Same as his sister, with gray eyes with silver hair.
- Evil Genius: Comes with the territory of being a Whispered. He's considered to be the smartest of them all.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: A raging pretty boy, but also the most flat out dangerous leader of Amalgam.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He not only hates Sousuke, but is very jealous of him. A LOT. It not only involves Kaname, but in general too. He hates how people are easily attracted by Sousuke, who can be aloof, stoic, and awkward, yet his loved ones are much more forgiving towards him. Even though he's killed over hundreds of people. What pisses him off more than anything, is that he believes that he and Sousuke aren't so different and so questions Kaname repeatedly; why she would show such strong care and emotion for someone like him.
- Icy Gray Eyes: His gray eyes are the cold and superior type, as he is an aloof young man, who thinks he and he alone will be the one to set humanity on the right path.
- Insufferable Genius: He openly and blatantly refers to people not Whispered as lesser creatures, and directly stated that their sole purpose in life is to be used as mere tools by the Whispered.
- Mind Rape: Attempted this against Kaname during their forced resonance before the "Day of Reckoning" began, but her own willpower held out long enough for Sousuke to forcefully terminate the resonance.
- Moral Myopia: He considers himself to be morally superior to Sousuke, because Sousuke has killed and he has not. This completely ignores the fact that while he has never killed anyone with his own hands, the number of people who have died or been put in mortal peril due to his actions far exceeds the number of people Sousuke has killed. He is even aware of the exact number of people who have been killed as a result of his actions, but they mean nothing to him.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Leonard's personal AS is named the Belial, a name associated with The Devil.
- Narcissist: Unlike Gauron and Gates he is capable of caring about people, at least, in his own creepy way but he really, really likes himself and believes he's a brilliant revolutionary who can save the world.
- Smug Snake: A very high functioning and intelligent one. Nevertheless, Leonard firmly believes himself to be an absolutely brilliant young man and is prone to freak outs when he doesn't get his way. His dialogue from within the Belial, when he had Sousuke completely at his mercy, dripped smugness from every syllable.
- Teen Genius: Even more so than Tessa, being the most referred to as the most intelligent of the Whispered. In particular, he excels in the creation of Arm Slaves.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Leonard Testarossa isn't the kind of pilot who can go toe-to-toe with Sousuke in a fair fight, but his Belial is equipped with the LAMBDA Driver, a device driven by the user's willpower that lets them perform feats that defy the laws of physics; since Leonard has tons of willpower, the Belial is practically invincible.
- White Hair, Black Heart: How he's seen by those against him, especially his sister, who may as well be the poster child for Incorruptible Pure Pureness.
Kurama
Kurama
An international mercenary known for taking on any task for the right price, regardless of its mission objectives. He's hired by Amalgam to lead the ground operation to capture Kaname Chidori during Amalgam's all-out assault against MITHRIL.
Gates
Gates
Formerly "Mr. Kalium" of the Amalgam organization, Gates was a complete and utter psychopath who advanced the cause of Amalgam in the Southeast Asia/Pacific region following the death of Gauron. His actions in China led to several direct confrontations with MITHRIL's West Pacific Fleet, the last of which—the Hong Kong incident—saw his death come at the hands of Sousuke Sagara's LAMBDA-equipped AS, the Arbalest.
- Posthumous Character: Exists in this story solely by being referred to by other characters.
Republic of MolMol
King Su
His Royal Majesty, King of the Island Republic of MolMol
The sitting ruler of the technologically-advanced nation of MolMol in the central Pacific Ocean. He is a benevolent monarch, concerned with the welfare of his citizens before anything else. Despite this, he has a strong sense of justice, and deeply opposes Amalgam on general principle.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: This is subtly implied to be in play by the fact that the king is in his mid-50s and is built like a brick shithouse, giving him the appearance of possibly being able to take on and beat fully-armored Garon in a fight.
- Big Good: As benevolent king of a highly-advanced nation, offering sanctuary and military aid to the remnants of MITHRIL, setting up a future confrontation with Amalgam, King Su is shaping up to share this role with Tessa.
- The Good King: A wise and just ruler, beloved by his people, who bases his every action on ensuring the welfare and happiness of the people of MolMol.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Fully aware of the threat Amalgam poses to the world at large, he offers Tessa and Garon sanctuary within the kingdom with only a token lip-service paid to it being in return for MITHRIL's prior aid.
Kaolla Su
Her Ladyship, Princess of the Island Republic of MolMol
The second adopted daughter of King Su, technically a crown princess due to her betrothal to the king's son, Lamba Lu. She is secretly a Whispered, her area of expertise being in the applied applications of energy, and this knowledge is largely responsible for MolMol's technological prosperity. Her status as a Whispered has been kept strictly secret to prevent Amalgam from attacking the nation in pursuit of her, and her Cloudcuckoolander personality helps obfuscate further.
Nealla Ju
Royal Bodyguard, Court Royal Mage, Nealla Ju
One of the elite Royal Guards of the Kingdom of MolMol, Nealla is Kaolla's personal bodyguard, often serving as the girl's double despite the fact that she is several years older than the princess. Her ability to mimic Kaolla is unusual in that, unless she is actively attempting to pass as Kaolla, she otherwise doesn't seem to look like her.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: As befits her role as a Royal Guard, Nealla is always seen dressed in a perfectly-fitted suit. She's even introduced as giving off the vibe of a professional hitman.
- Battle Butler: To Kaolla Su, as part of her job description as a Royal Guard.
- Body Double: Uniquely among the Royal Guards, Nealla also serves as a decoy for Kaolla.
- Brought Down to Badass: As Full Metal Panic! as a setting doesn't support magic (supposedly), Nealla's primary combat style from her home setting is out the window. That said, the Royal Guards are still considered the single most elite fighting force that MolMol has, so she wouldn't be one just on her ability to serve as the princess' body double.
- Little Miss Snarker: Back in full force as one of her main personality traits: the entire time that she and her soldiers were holding Tessa and Garon hostage on the beach, she knew exactly who they were, already considered them friendly, and was just messing with them.
- Shout-Out: Her title of Royal Mage references the fact that, in her home setting, she's the team Black Mage.
Shaiya
Royal Bodyguard, Shaiya
Another of MolMol's elite Royal Guards, she is the personal bodyguard of Amalla Su, Kaolla's older sister. In addition to these duties, she serves as a 'tour guide' of sorts for Tessa and Garon for the early part of their stay on the island.
Mandalorians
Mand'alor
Mand'alor
First and highest among the Mandalorian mercenaries. Little detail of her, other than her existence, has been given at this point.
- Authority Equals Ass Kicking: The leader of the 132 Mandalorians. It is not a democratically-elected position.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Somewhat. Garon states that she was an unknown before joining the Mandalorians and rose to the position both because she had the talent for it and because the seat was open.
Chakaar
Chakaar
One of the 132 Mandalorian mercenaries. Stated by Garon to be nominally employed by Amalgam, but having no actual loyalty to them.
- Meaningful Name: The Mando'a of his nickname means "thief" or "cheat".
- The Mole: He's on Amalgam's payroll, but he is explicitly loyal only to the Mandalorians, he is simply a paid contractor for Amalgam. Which version of this trope he qualifies for is subjective, but as the Mandalorians are treated as good guys...
- Underscored by the all-but-explicit statement by Garon that he quite freely provides intelligence to the Mandalorians from Amalgam, as Chakaar is the source of what knowledge the group has on Whispered.
Jindai High Alumni
Kyoko Tokiwa
Kyoko Tokiwa
Kaname's humble best friend who is usually seen carrying around her trusty camera. She has been the longest-standing supporter of Kaname and Sousuke being together, and considers theirs to be a model—if a little odd—relationship. Despite being close friends with both Kaname and Sousuke, she has remained unaware of the MITHRIL side of their lives, mainly through their own desire to keep her from such.
Shinji Kazama
Shinji Kazama
Sousuke's Arm Slave-loving former classmate. He shares the same amount of passion to AS as Sousuke and could be considered Sousuke's best civilian friend besides Kaname. Since graduating from Jindai, he's entered college studying mechanical engineering, planning to enlist in the JSDF and become an Arm Slave pilot.
Atsunobu Hayashimizu
Former Student Council President Atsunobu Hayashimizu
The mysterious former president of the Jindai High's Student Council. He is highly intelligent and seems to be able to deal with any situation - no matter how difficult. His behavior is always calm and he is never seen angry. He often considers Sousuke's behavior a reasonable response to the kind of situations he finds himself in, much to the frustration of Kaname. During his tenure as president, he assigned Sousuke to be the head of security in the Student Council. He and Sousuke share a mutual respect.
Koutarou Onodera
Koutarou Onodera
Another former student of Jindai High, he had a chronic problem with accidentally activating whatever random military device that Sousuke had brought to school at the time. As of the start of Bonds, he and Kyoko have recently begun dating.
Other
US Marine Corps 1st Force Recon Company, Bravo-Six
Lieutenant Vasquez, Sergeant Paul Jackson, Staff Sergeant Griggs, Private Wilson, Private West, "Deadly"
Members of the US Marine Corps special forces group Force Recon, Bravo-Six was assigned to the USS Ronald Reagan carrier battlegroup and became embroiled in the conflict between Amalgam and MITHRIL on Meridia Island.
- Boom, Headshot!: Private West suffers Ludicrous Gibs as a result of being shot in the head, point-blank, by the .50-caliber arm cannon of an Alastor.
- Expy: Vasquez, Jackson, Griggs, and Deadly (as well as the setup of the scenes they appear in) are all carbon-copied from Modern Warfare, as is the sequence of trying (and failing) to escape a nuclear detonation.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The members of Bravo-Six turn back to save Deadly, an allied Cobra pilot who was shot down on the island. Because of this, they don't escape the blast radius of the nuclear device in time and are all killed.
- More Dakka: Staff Sergeant Griggs wields an M249 squad automatic weapon, which he has to empty the magazine of to stagger an Alastor long enough for it to be destroyed by an underbarrel grenade from Sergeant Jackson.
- Sacrificial Lion: These characters were shown solely to give an idea what it's like to be a "normal" military force going up against the super robots of Amalgam, and met their end when Meridia Island was nuked.
George Luvruck
George Luvruck
Formerly an Arm Slave pilot for MITHRIL, he managed to survive the blitzkrieg by Amalgam and defected to their side.
- The Mole: Though he defected to Amalgam, he was later convinced to serve as a mole in the organization for the resurgent forces of MITHRIL.
