Madlax

**Madlax (マドラックス *Madorakkusu*)** is the main protagonist of the Madlax anime series. She is a very charismatic and attractive young woman, and the best mercenary agent in the whole Kingdom of Gazth-Sonika, with her 98% mission success rate.

## Description

**Madlax** is the best fighter in the Kingdom of Gazth-Sonika, where she operates as a mercenary agent under the directives of SSS, her boss and mentor. She is very able to dodge bullets with her Gun Kata fighting style, and capable of taking down a group of enemies all by herself.

Like Margaret Burton and Carrossea Doon, Madlax has no memories prior to 12 years before, except for the word "Madlax", which she has adopted as her codename, and a vague memory of her father walking away. In episode 13, she experiences a flashback of a gun in her hands. Madlax believes that her father is still alive and fighting somewhere in Gazth-Sonika.

She lives in a small apartment in Daman, a city of Gazth-Sonika, in wich she attached to a wall the missing page from Margaret's mysterious book *Secondary*, not knowing its real entity and using it as a lucky charm.

Madlax is seen mainly wearing a red t-shirt, black shorts, an olive short-sleeved jacket, a pair of black knee-high boots and a pair of dark brown fingerless gloves.

Her primary weapons are a pair of Sig P210, which she carries in a shoulder holster.

## Personality

Madlax is self-confident, courageous, curious and has a good sense of humor. During her missions she is mostly serious, although sometimes she seems relaxed or even cheerful.

She never shows signs of fear and does not fail to take great risks, as a result she's very charismatic and arouses admiration from other people. When she is alone, she often feels sorry when things goes wrong or when someone she likes dies (like Pete in episode 1).

Although she is able to kill people on her missions without feeling any remorse, Madlax is still capable of human love: she spares lives when she can do so, becomes very protective of people who hire her as a bodyguard (like Eric Gillan and Vanessa Rene), and when she feels she has a connection with someone (like with Chris Krana), she is very committed to their protection.

Madlax is rarely seen crying: the only times are for example in episode 9, when she feels that Luciano dies; in episode 18, when she has a flashback of her father's death and in episode 22, when Vanessa dies.

When in episode 16 she realizes that she's been killing people in a civil war that has no point, Madlax becomes soundly depressed, as she has a certain sense of justice.

Madlax becomes angry with Friday Monday and his criminal organization, since they started the civil war and they keep it going, helping Vanessa to seek and reveal the truth behind the conflict.

## True identity

There are clues pointing to the truth about Madlax all throughout the series. However, it isn't until episode 25 that the real story is told in full. Here it is revealed Madlax is the second *persona* of the former Margaret Burton. Twelve years ago, young Margaret was reunited with her father Colonel Burton in a dangerous war-zone. Friday Monday, who was nearby, used the words of awakening on Margaret's father, which caused him to try to kill his own daughter. Little Margaret didn't want to die, but also couldn't bear to shoot her own father. So her soul split into three pieces, and each piece was given a life and a will thanks to the power leaking in from the other world. One of the soul fragments became Madlax, a girl capable of killing without remorse. She took upon herself the sin of patricide to protect Margaret.

Madlax's astounding fighting powers seemed supernatural since the first episode. It turns out that her powers are, in fact, supernatural. Her non-human nature becomes apparent in episode 22, when her left lung, which was pierced by a bullet two days ago, is completely healed. After being shot again (this time by Margaret) at the end of 22, Madlax wakes up in episode 23 with no wounds whatsoever. There are numerous times throughout the series where the mercenary girl wipes out whole squads and mini-armies of men from the King's Army, Galza, and Enfant. But in case it wasn't clear, we see Madlax slaughtering dozens of men (who have machine guns, bazookas, tanks, and helicopters) in episode 24. At that point, she has accepted her nonhuman nature and can no longer be killed by anyone except Margaret, who has the power to make her cease to exist.

## Character resolution

In episode 26, after finally learning the truth about her existence, Madlax surrenders her gun to Margaret and says it's time for her to decide whether Madlax and Laetitia are allowed to exist, or whether they should combine with Margaret's soul, ceasing to exist as individuals. Though she temporarily takes their existences to become whole, Margaret then proceeds to the Door of Era and ends up wishing for Laetitia and Madlax to exist with their own minds and human bodies.

After becoming human, Madlax attacks Friday Monday's base, slaug

    hters his guard squad, and finally kills him. During that last fight, she is wounded, bleeding for the first time like a normal human. At the end, Limelda Jorg gives Madlax a ride in her jeep, saying that she wishes to continue watching over and taking care of her former enemy. Then, Madlax gets a call from SSS giving her a new assignment for some mercenary work. Presumably, Madlax will continue her work as a hired gun, with Limelda Jorg by her side.

## Relationships

### **SSS**

**SSS** took Madlax out of an orphanage when she was a kid, and raised her to become a mercenary. Madlax receives her client's requests through SSS. Their relationship is mostly businesslike.

#### **Margaret Burton**

Margaret Burton sees hints and visions of Madlax in her dreams on a few occasions throughout the series. They finally meet in person at the end of episode 18. Immediately, Madlax feels extremely uncomfortable around Margaret, perhaps feeling their connection. When Margaret tries to talk to her in episode 20, Madlax seems angry. She can't believe Margaret would like someone who kills people, and she thinks it's stupid that Margaret calls her a "kind murderer." Despite not getting along very well, Madlax goes to great lengths to try to save Margaret from Friday Monday from episode 23 to episode 25.

#### **Vanessa Rene**

Vanessa Rene hired Madlax as her bodyguard when she came to Gazth-Sonika in episode 11. They end up staying together for a long time, once Madlax realizes that Vanessa needed continuous protection from the agents of Enfant. During the series, the two girls get very close, hugging each other and sleeping together. In episode 18, Madlax and Vanessa swear to each other that they will keep living, and that promise ends up becoming Madlax's only real reason for staying alive after Vanessa's sudden death in episode 22.

#### **Limelda Jorg**

Limelda Jorg's rivality with Madlax begins in episode 3 after the assassination of Royal Army Commander Guen McNichol. Numerous times, the two dangerous women face off and fight, and each time, Jorg fails to kill her rival. At some point, while obsessively chasing Madlax around, Limelda Jorg fell in love with her, yet she still wants to kill her because only while fighting Madlax she truly feel alive. Madlax spared Jorg's life lots of times, and in episode 17 she tells her the truth about the Gazth-Sonika civil war, because she believed that she deserved to know it. In episode 24, Madlax asks her to watch her and remember her existence. In the final episode, Limelda Jorg is seen giving a ride to a wounded Madlax, and saying that she will continue to watch over her.

#### **Elenore Baker**

Elenore Baker meets Madlax at the end of episode 18. They treat each other civilly but don't seem to have any deep connection. When Elenore asks to come along on the quest to save Margaret in episode 23, Madlax warns her that she'll die, but finally agrees to let her come along. In the beginning of episode 25, when she finds out that Elenore died, Madlax seems upset and angry.

#### **Guen McNichol**

Guen McNichol requested his own assassination in episode 3, and it's Madlax who takes the job. She infiltrates his hotel and presumibly spends the night with him, to assassinate him the following day during his speech.

#### **Eric Gillain**

Eric Gillain hires Madlax in episode 7 as a bodyguard, who saves him from Enfant's agents who had gone to kill him. However, in episode 8, she is unable to prevent Eric from committing suicide.

#### **Luciano**

Luciano was a mercenary who had close ties with Madlax before he left Gazth-Sonika to start a new life in Nafrece. In a flashback where Luciano is leaving, Madlax is clearly sad. When Luciano dies in episode 9, Madlax somehow feels it, and cries.

#### **Friday Monday**

Friday Monday saw Madlax for the first time when she was created, but was forced to retire due to his eye wound caused by Colonel Burton. He briefly appears in front of her in episode 18, questioning her to gather informations about the Secondary Holy Book. When he understands that she doesn't know anything, Friday Monday leaves saying that Madlax's existence is a mistake. Madlax knows the masked man is the leader of Enfant and is clearly angry with him for continuing the pointless civil war in Gazth-Sonika. Upon seeing him at the beginning of episode 25, Madlax instantly tries to kill him, but Margaret Burton, under his spell, prevents it from happening. She eventually manages to kill him in episode 26, when she becames human and attacks his base.

## List of assignments

* Recover confidential data files belonging to the Royal Army, possessed by the Garza resistance (Episode 1)
* Assassinate Guen McNichol during his speech (Episode 3)
* Unknown assignment (end of Episode 4)
* Recover unknown goods secretly sent to the men of Garza by a civilian group of Nafrece (Episode 5)
* Protect Eric Gillain during his stay in Gazth-Sonika (Episode 7, failed as he commits suicide in Episode 8)
* Unknown assignment (end of Episode 9)
* Protect Vanessa Rene during her stay in Gazth-Sonika (Episode 11)
* Unknown assignment (end of Episode 26)

## Notable kills

* **Guen McNichol**: killed on his own request during his speech in the Demilitarized Zone of Gazth-Sonika with a M24 Sniper Rifle (Episode 3)
* **Friday Monday**: killed after becoming human (Episode 26)
* **Richard Burton**: killed as soon as she was created, as a result of Margaret Burton's desire to survive him (12 years before)

## Notes & Trivia

* Because of her relationship with Vanessa and her apparent attraction to Limelda Jorg, many fans have speculated that Madlax is a lesbian. However, she's also implied to have had a one-night stand with Guen McNichol before assassinating him, intended to go out on a date with Pete before he died of his wounds, and it's suggested she may had romantic feelings for Luciano. When put together, these facts all but shout that Madlax is more likely to be bisexual than a lesbian.
* According to an ancient Chinese superstition, the wearing of an earring in the left ear is supposedly protection against bad luck.

## Gallery

Madlax's first appearence in the anime series.The first encounter between Madlax and Limelda Jorg.Madlax taking aim to assassinate Army Commander Guen McNichol, while holding his father's military plates.Madlax seen through the scope of Limelda Jorg's Heckler & Koch PSG-1, right after the assassination of Guen McNichol.A very young Madlax holding a Colt MustangTwo Sig P210