Moniqa

Moniqa is a supporting character in the first Azure Striker Gunvolt. She is an Operator working for QUILL as part of Team Sheeps alongside Asimov, Zeno, and previously Gunvolt, and has the codename "Sheeps 3". She gives Gunvolt the missions Abyss (Subaquatic Base), Garden (Pharma Lab), and Kaleidoscope (Sinner's Row).
Unlike most QUILL members, Moniqa is a normal human instead of an Adept.
Moniqa also appears in the side stories Admiration to Peace and Armed Blue Gunvolt (Drama CD).
== Website Description ==
The Armed Blue: Gunvolt Complete Works added these two lines to her profile:
==Appearance==
Moniqa is a young woman with green eyes and long light brown hair tied in a ponytail. She wears a QUILL uniform consisting of a gray and white jacket and miniskirt, and white thigh-high socks.
She also wears black fingerless gloves and a pair of black-and-white heels.
When in public, she wears a long brown coat, green muffler, white shirt, blue shorts, and black tights.
===Gallery===
Main article: Moniqa/Gallery
Monika concept art.png
== Personality ==
Moniqa takes her job at QUILL seriously and often advises caution when acting as GV's operator. She also looks out for his well-being beyond physical safety, such as by expressing concern and reassurance when something on a mission seems to distress him, or by reminding him to get a good rest afterward. She is apologetic when she has to send him on the Sinner's Row mission on short notice and when she fails to stop him from triggering the flooding trap in the Subaquatic Base mission. When Zonda's illusions make her feel dizzy even through her monitor, she turns down GV's suggestion to cut off her remote support. While not opposed to lethal violence against enemy combatants, she regrets the loss of lives like Stratos and the Sumeragi employees caught in the flooding trap along with GV.
Moniqa admires Asimov for his bravery and dedication to the cause of saving Adepts. Her feelings even extend to romantic affection for him, and she often gets flustered when the subjects of her romantic interests or her relationship with him come up. She implies in Admiration to Peace that he is her primary inspiration and motivation for serving in Team Sheeps.
As a foreigner in Japan, Moniqa does not understand all aspects of its culture. In Admiration to Peace, she tries to convince herself that getting a marriage tie charm will cause the "eight million" Japanese gods and goddesses to support her romance with Asimov, but Lumen remarks that the "gods and goddesses" number more than eight million.
== History ==
=== Armed Blue Gunvolt (Drama CD) ===
During Eden's battle with Sumeragi, Asimov uses this opportunity to sneak Moniqa and Zeno into Japan where the two meet Gunvolt for the first time.
=== Azure Striker Gunvolt ===
Moniqa, along with Zeno, acts as Gunvolt's operator in the field (her codename is Sheeps 3), feeding him intel on foes and stage gimmicks in various missions. Moniqa also partakes on the group's party activities, while regularly checking up on GV's status along that of Joule's.
=== Admiration to Peace ===
==== Prayer ====
Hearing rumors about a temple that gives “marriage tie charms” Moniqa went there and runs into Joule who is also there for the same reason and Zeno who was there sightseeing. Since Zeno knows where the charms were being sold he takes them there and discovers collectible soundtracks being sold. As Moniqa and Joule line up to purchase a charm only to learn the charms were sold out. 
Disappointed the two are about to leave when Zeno comes back and gives the two the charms they were after. Zeno tells the two he got them as a bonus for buying his soundtracks. 
Still in disbelief, Moniqa hopes that it will work. 
==== Ninja Arts ====
Following Gunvolt's assault on the Biochem Plant, Moniqa confronts Asimov about his mission report calling the specially equipped soldiers encountered "ninjas" and breaks his fantasies, to Asimov's disappointment. This veers into discussion about Japanese culture and terms, with Asimov bringing up that Zeno called him a "kuudere", how he didn't understand it, and Zeno gave him a video game with an oddly big package while telling him that will help him understand. Moniqa panics and tells Asimov to give that back immediately, claiming that Zeno's idea of culture is really crazy and he shouldn't be taken seriously.
When Moniqa hesitantly comments on Asimov's language use being a bit odd and Asimov questions her statement, things start to take a personal turn. She admits she thinks it's a charming point due to the contrast with his seriousness, and also admits she thinks he works too hard and that it's inevitable his studies would falter. While Asimov calls her words hard, he admits what she said is the truth; he's neglected studying and is not good at Japanese.
When Moniqa questions why Asimov puts himself on the front line and fights so hard for a country he's not familiar with, asking if there's a safer way, Asimov gets serious and calls the country Sumeragi's homeground, talking about how until he rescues all comrades from their evil hands he can't simply "stay somewhere safe and use his brain", and that as long as his body holds on he must do everything that he can. He then brings up Moniqa being a non-Adept and questions her motives for serving in QUILL, admitting that she's the one who seems unnatural to him.
After Moniqa brings up the situation of Adepts and says there are several others like her who support QUILL and that the organization couldn't exist otherwise, Asimov is somewhat dismissive. He wonders how it is with the majority of non-Adepts, asking if they fear Adepts or see them as enemies, and claims most of the supportive ones really just have ulterior motives. But at the same time, he claims to feel to something different from Moniqa, remarking about how she serves directly in QUILL as part of a combat unit. When he asks if he's wrong, Moniqa also comments on everything he's done and keeps pushing himself to do, and how she feels she can't leave him alone.
Asimov says that's quite something to say, and Moniqa apologizes for speaking too much as his subordinate, but he says it's fine. Taking the subject back to the mission report, he says in English he'll "rebuild" it before correcting himself and using proper Japanese. Moniqa leaves him to the task with his English catchphrase "good luck."
==== Karaoke ====
At a later date, Moniqa is invited to a karaoke party along with everybody else by Zeno. While there Asimov mentions how events like this serve as good team building exercises and will increase their mission success rate, Moniqa has to tells him to relax since they're off work.
When the subject of karaoke experience comes up, after Gunvolt says he's attended after class parties to avoid standing out but didn't sing most of the time, Asimov mentions he has some experience for similar reasons. Moniqa makes a parent and child comparison, unnerving Asimov and causing him to bring up that he's still in his 20s.
As Zeno talks about anime songs being free, Asimov notes that the word free is fitting for QUILL and that he's going to freely enjoy it, exclaiming "Freedom!" in English as he randomly inserts a song, Find Out! ~ Compass of Hope ~. Moniqa is surprised by his action and shocked to see that it's a duet song, and Asimov is also surprised to see that it's a song he knows. As Zeno and GV decline to sing it and Joule is daydreaming about a duet with GV, Moniqa ends up joining Asimov in singing.
=== Kaleidoscape (Sinner's Row) ===
After Gunvolt has taken out three Adepts under Sumeragi's control, she calls him to hunt down Zonda.
=== Streak (Eridu) and Stratosphere (Babel) ===
Some time after the deaths of many of Sumeragi's most prominent Adepts, Joule is suddenly captured by the resurrected Merak, who takes her to the space station Firmament to the waiting arms of Project Muse director Nova. To get her back, Team Sheeps launches an assault on the orbital elevator Babel, with Gunvolt acting as a diversion by storming the front whilst Asimov, Zeno, and Moniqa move in to seize the elevator's control room. 
After gaining control of the orbital elevator Babel, Moniqa and Zeno lose contact with Gunvolt and notice Asimov has disappeared.
=== Azure (Firmament) - True Ending ===
During the true ending of Azure Striker Gunvolt she and Zeno discover Asimov's corpse on the Babel elevator, with the two asking GV what happened. Lumen who is now residing within GV, rejects Zeno, while GV simply leaves unresponsive. Moniqa makes no canonical appearances after this.
== Other Appearances ==
=== Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 ===
Moniqa appears as a passive Image Pulse.
=== Mighty Gunvolt Burst ===
Moniqa appears as a collectible pixel sticker. 
== Designer Comments ==
Source: Armed Blue: Gunvolt Complete Works
==Musical Themes==
Title 	Context 	Musicians 	Audio
Find Out! ~ Compass of Hope ~	Duet sung by Moniqa (Moemi Otaka) and Asimov (Masashi Yukita) in Admiration to Peace.	HeArt MakiArt (Lyrics)Ryo Kawakami (Composer)Yamajet (Arranger)	
==Trivia==
*Matching the car theme naming of most Gunvolt 1 characters, Moniqa is likely named after Monica, a French luxury car manufactured in the 1970s. Multiple sources show that "Monica" is the intended spelling of her name in the Japanese version.
*Moniqa happens to navigate missions in which the stage hazards are made by the Sumeragi Adept boss' septimal abilities: e.g., Abyss features Merak's wormholes, the Garden features Stratos's swarms, and Kaleidoscope features Zonda's mirrors.
*Moniqa's voice actress Moemi Otaka is the narrator of Azure Striker Gunvolt: Fleeting Memories.
*Moniqa is the only QUILL member from Gunvolt 1 who is not mentioned in Gunvolt 2.
== Japanese Version ==
"GV, don't do anything too reckless."
—Monica, Japanese Official Site
== References ==
* Official Japanese Tweet Regarding Moniqa
== Azure Striker Gunvolt 1 Navigation ==
Category:QUILL
Category:Characters
Category:Azure Striker Gunvolt
Category:Protagonists
Category:Female Characters
Category:Human
Category:ASG1 Characters
Category:Image Pulse