Momoka Sagara

"*相良百華です☆よろしくニャン*"
*"It's Momo Sagara☆Nice to meet you-nyan"*
—Momoka, *Valkyrie Drive Mermaid*
**Momoka Sagara** (相良 百華 *Sagara Momoka*) aka **A3** aka **Françoise** is the ultimate antagonist of Valkyrie Drive Mermaid. A former partner of Mirei Shikishima, she subtly takes over Mermaid Island and obtains a source of considerable power.

## Appearance

Momoka has light-blueish hair that is tied in a bow with two long pieces of hair flowing out reaching almost to the ground. She has a cat hair clip similar to Mamori's clipped at her bangs. She has turquoise eyes.

She wears a black bluish jacket with a yellow bow wrapped around her collar. To accompany it she wears a short skirt, black-blue boots, a black glove on her right hand and a stocking on her left leg.

## Personality

Momoka has a wild personality, fears nothing and is quite sociopathic. She is also very manipulative and sadistic. She was able to easily manipulate Charlotte Scherzen into going along with her plan to expose Akira Hiragi's true gender. She is also quite insightful as she was able to see through Akira's disguise instantly upon meeting her.

Her maniacal behavior drives her into malicious insanity when fighting her enemies.

## Background

When Momoka was infected with the Armed Virus she became an Extar, a girl who can transform into a weapon when sexually aroused. She was taken in by the mysterious organization and surgically operated upon in order to enhance her abilities, thus becoming what is known as a "Soldier". The surgery also caused her hair to turn light blue.

Codenamed A3, Momoka was assigned as Extar to the Liberator C7. A lesbian, Momoka made sexual advances on C7 which the latter did not appear to appreciate.

The two girls were sent into a war zone where, using Momoka as an Arm, C7 destroyed several enemy tanks but could not bring herself to kill the enemy troops. The Organization saw this as weakness and ordered C7 to be eliminated but a sympathetic technician helped her to escape and she became Mirei Shikishima.

Meanwhile, Momoka endured further surgical procedures and experiments. She blamed her former partner for the horrors that she was forced to endure.

## Story

When some of the exiled girls on Mermaid Island discovered a secret abandoned factory, they were attacked by an artificial Arm. While fighting back, one of the girls caused a powerful energy surge called the Valkyrie Effect. This surge was detected by the Organization which was monitoring Mermaid Island and Momoka was assigned to investigate and find the source.

Momoka arrived on Mermaid posing as another exile but fully aware of her status as an Extar. Her lively personality and ability to turn into a powerful Arm impressed Charlotte Scherzen and she soon integrated into Charlotte's elitist Adel group. Charlotte dubbed Momoka "Françoise" and she called Charlotte "Char-chan". The two girls became lovers.

When she met Governor Akira Hiragi, Momoka quickly deduced that the one everyone else assumed was the only boy on the island was really a girl in disguise and that she had assumed a male appearance in order to be the center of attention and power. Momoka persuaded Charlotte to challenge Akira to a duel. Using Momoka as an Arm, Charlotte took on and defeated Akira, exposing the Governor's true gender as a woman. Akira was overthrown and Charlotte became Governor, with Momoka acting as the real power behind the throne.

Momoka was now joined by other girls sent by the Organization, D5 and E9. They rounded up as many of the girls on the island as possible and conducted tests to find the source of the Valkyrie Effect. When Mirei Shikishima and Mamori Tokonome tried to intervene, Momoka recognized Mirei as her former partner C7 and attacked her. In the course of the battle, Mamori turned into a powerful force of energy, the Valkyrie Effect that Momoka had been looking for.

Momoka, D5 and E9 captured Mamori. Excited by the prospect of so much destructive power, Momoka resolved to keep it for herself rather than hand Mamori over to the Organization. Momoka assaulted Mamori, driving her so wild with passion that she turned into a powerful weapon which Momoka used to take on Mirei.

Momoka was now able to absorb the bodies and souls of nearby girls including Mirei and make them part of her weapon. Realizing that she had double-crossed them, the Organization ordered a satellite to fire a laser at her but, now at the height of her power, Momoka was able to block the laser, fly into orbit and destroy the satellite.

Trapped inside the weapon, Mirei managed to fight back and free the other girls including Mamori. Freed from the weapon, Mirei and Mamori then merged their bodies into one. Momoka, E9 and D5 combined together to form a large robot-like fighter but, overwhelmed by the Mirei/Mamori Valkyrie and their allies, they were resoundingly defeated.

Although beaten, Momoka refused to admit defeat. She resolved to fight on against the Mirei/Mamori Valkyrie, but the Valkyrie suddenly kissed her and asked Momoka to forgive the Mirei side of her. Overcome by this display of affection, Momoka calmed down and they released an energy that caused all the girls on the island to be cured of the Armed Virus. Now that they were no longer capable of turning into deadly weapons the girls were allowed to leave the island and return to their homes and families but Momoka, D5 and E9 were taken into custody, presumably for disobeying the Organization's instructions.

## Arms

Mamori Tokonome: Mamori's Sword Form was a corrupted version in contrast to the original form she assumed when activated by Mirei, bearing a darker teal design, with the addition of an emotional version of the Guru-Neko keychain at the back of the blade. This form of Mamori is seemingly uncontrollable (due to her will was restraint by Momoka's influence), where Momoka was allowed to use her Valkyrie Effect to absorb other A-Virus carriers while trapping them within Mamori's subconscious. This form of Mamori was now lost after Mirei frees her from deep slumber.

## Etymology

* The name **Momoka** means "hundred" (百) (**momo**) and "flower, petal" (華) (**ka**).
* Momoka's surname **Sagara** means "phase, aspect, countenance, mutually, fellow" (相) (**saga**) and "good, virtuous, respectable" (良) (**ra**).

## Trivia

* Momoka and Charlotte are the only characters to have inverted nipples.
* Although officially classified as an Extar, towards the end of the series Momoka is shown to use D5 and E9 as if she was a Liberator. It is unknown if the experiments on her after being separated from Mirei managed to transform her into a Hybrid, or if she is using her Extar powers in a manner similar to Meifon Sakura, or if it's merely a quirk of D5 and E9's own powers.
* Momoka's code name is A3.
* Momoka's motifs are Gentoku Himuro (A.K.A, Kamen Rider Rogue) and Nariaki Utsumi (A.K.A, Kamen Rider MadRogue) (in case, both them as Night Rogue) from *Kamen Rider Build*. In parallel, both Momoka, Gentoku and Utsumi have malicious nature and insanity themselves.

## References

1. ↑ Momoka tells Mirei this in a flashback opening scene in episode 11 "Soldier Arm"
2. ↑ *Valkyrie Drive Special* episode 6