Cleo Marks

Cleo as seen in Character Chair

**Cleo Marks** (クレイオ マックス *Kureio Makkusu*) is an experienced member of Transtello and is the tritagonist of *Shift Star*. Her star has not been revealed yet, but she is the first main character to be portrayed with a weapon. As of the beginning of the series she is 20 years old.

## **BACKGROUND**

Cleo received a mirror-bladed scythe from an unknown man before the beginning of the series. She was described as intelligent but reckless, and the moment is significant enough for her to recall. In her past, Cleo was severely injured while hunting for the spirit of Bloody Mary. Because of her size and lack of muscle-mass in the flashback along with a different personality, it's possible she was a young teenager, possibly 16 or 17, at the time. It's likely the incident that resulted in the scar on her back and arm.

## **PERSONALITY**

Cleo is a stoic, silent character. She can be rather blunt and confrontational, and doesn't seem to have a problem bringing up topics even if it might make somebody else feel uncomfortable. She is rarely caught off her guard unless discussing the topic of Transtellonomy, which seems to make her rather wary. She can be kind, but her neutral expression makes it rather difficult to take her words as kindness. Cleo is described as intelligent, but also reckless. The intelligence seems to have carried over, but Cleo is yet to be seen in a combat situation. It is likely she no longer has reckless tendencies, as Uriel descries her as being one of, if not, the best at Transtello. She has an apparent liking for fighting, at least when she gets to use her star, but she is not an inherently violent person.

## **APPEARANCE**

Cleo is a young, tall, and very attractive woman with a very muscular build. She has olive skin, narrow green eyes, a hooked nose, and eyebrows that are noticeably thicker than others. She has short, blue hair parted down the middle with long fringes. She has a red and green bead on the left fringe, and she wears a white bandana with two long streamers fluttering behind her head. She wears a dark blue collared jacket with the sleeves rolled up. There is a black and white arrow design on the right side. She wears black fingerless gloves and a white scarf wrapped around her neck and left shoulder. Her tank top is also white. Her brown pants are tucked into her black combat boots. She has a large scar on her back, a scar around her right arm, and likely many more hidden under her clothing. Her star is located on her left arm and seems to have a decorative band surrounding it.

Her younger design is much more specific than Lazarus's, and it shows her to have long hair tied in a low ponytail. She does not have her scarf or hair beads, and she is wears a white dress shirt with the black and white arrow design on the left instead of the right. Her pants are black instead of brown as well, and her frames much leaner than her current one. She does not have her signature scarf either.

## **SHIFT STAR ABILITIES**

Cleo's star, Soul Equip, is described as "Utilizing power of captured spirits". Going off of the ghostly face in Cleo's scythe when she first activates her star, she captures spirits and uses their powers as her own. The only spirit she has that is known of is Bloody Mary, which is shown to allow her to control her own blood. Its full strength is yet to be shown, but one of its abilities allows her to use her blood as bullet-like projectiles.

A feature of her star is which ever spirit's power she is utilizing, its form will appear on her arm as a cute doll-like figure clutching her star. It's possible that this means she can only use one spirit at a time, and has to manually switch between them.

## **RELATIONSHIPS**

### **Maki Seo**

Cleo and Maki display a very close bond and seem like incredibly close friends. Cleo allows Maki to climb on her and is seemingly not bothered by it at all, and the two are work-out partners. Maki describes Cleo as her partner, which likely means the two wok together on missions. However, it's also incredibly likely Cleo and Maki have a much deeper relationship.

### **Lazarus Trabae**

Cleo seems to be comfortable enough with Lazarus, and actually seems to have a fair amount of intrigue.It's unknown why she addresses him using both his first and last name. She doesn't dislike Lazarus, but doesn't seem to know much about him.

### **Uriel R Cielo**

Cleo doesn't really interact with Uriel, but it's implied they at least think fondly of each other.

### **Nola Marks**

Cleo resembles Nola, the girl in her flashback, and seems to have a bond with her. They both have blue hair, hooked noses, thicker eyebrows, and the same or similar skin colors for the most part. It's very possible they're sisters, or close cousins at the very least. They worry about the other, and care for each other greatly.

### **Asil**

Cleo seems to know Asil, the man in her flashback, and she refers to him as "Asil-hoca", with "hoca" being the Turkish honorific for "teacher". As he speaks openly and honestly with her, she seems to be a receptive student. She has respect for him as well, as she acknowledges her mistake.

## **TRIVIA**

* If Shift Star were to be occurring in our world, Cleo would be Turkish.
* Cleo's name is actually pronounced "Clay-oh", not "Clee-oh".
* Arc imagines Cleo's voice would be somewhat deep and both strong and feminine, and would sound like Brina Palencia.
* Cleo is confirmed to be homosexual, as she sports a homosexual flag on her shirt in the Pride picture.
* Cleo's design and personality are heavily inspired by her sister's design of her character Nazo, the protagonist of her upcoming web-comic *Enigmatic*.
* Her favorite color is indigo.
* Cleo is a fan of small, cute things, and has a kitty charm on her phone.