Kokoro (Darling in the Franxx)

Kokoro is one of the main characters in DARLING in the FRANXX series. She is a former Parasite with the codename "556" at the Thirteenth Plantation, where she is partnered in boy-girl pair with Mitsuru to pilot a FRANXX called Genista. She was previously partnered with Futoshi.
She is voiced in Japanese by Saori Hayami and in English by Jeannie Tirado.
== Appearance ==
A girl with long, wavy, ashen blonde hair and rich blue eyes. She wears a lacy blue headband to keep her hair out of her face. When piloting Genista, she wears a white bodysuit with light green accents, and keeps her hair in a braided ponytail. As an adult, her once long hair is cut to shoulder length.
== Personality ==
Kokoro is a very gentle soul with a kind and optimistic personality to match. She doesn't speak too often, but when she does her words are well thought-out and meaningful. She is very friendly with her comrades and treats them pleasantly, and she is well-liked by them in return. She tends to go along with almost everything her friends do and never being honest about her own feelings.
Deep down, Kokoro holds back a myriad of feelings and she admits to Mitsuru hat she is often dishonest with most around her, especially with her original partner, Futoshi, whose feelings she doesn't reciprocate and feels uncomfortable by. She demonstrated this by breaking her promise to be partners with Futoshi forever so she could partner with Mitsuru, whom she had grown romantically interested in and wanted to help, and she later deemed herself a bad person for doing so. Kokoro felt bad at not being honest with Futoshi and breaking their promise but she praised Mitsuru for being so honest with her about his suffering and lack of trust in others.
Kokoro has a deep interest in plants and takes care of the greenhouse at Squad 13’s boarding house, and tells Mitsuru the names and meanings of the plants. After finding a baby book in Episode 8, Kokoro develops a fascination with pregnancy and childbirth, and wonders why humans stopped having babies. Knowing her purpose in life is to pilot the FRANXX and is likely to die in battle, Kokoro develops a desire to bear a child to leave a mark for the future when she dies.
After her memories are altered by APE during her and Mitsuru’s wedding, she retains her kindness but is more focused on her duties and loyalty to Papa, to the point she is more distant with Mitsuru than anyone else. When she learns she is pregnant with Mitsuru’s child, she is distraught at having lost her purpose in life and rejects Mitsuru’s support on the grounds of their memory loss. However, when he proves his resolution to stay with her and their child forever, they reconcile and rekindle their relationship. They are able to form a genuinely happy marriage and she is a loving mother to their daughter.
== Etymology ==
Kokoro's nickname may use some of the numeral's readings from her real name "Code:556": ko, an alternative spelling of "5" and ro as in 6 (六ろく, roku). Kokoro is also the Japanese word for "heart", reflecting Kokoro's caring and kindhearted personality.
== Trivia ==
*Kokoro is the first parasite to naturally conceive and give birth to a child.
*Kokoro greatly resembles Lilie Shirogane from Aikatsu Stars!, both of them have long wavy silver hair worn in a similar style.
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