Corporal Darthe

(ダース伍長, Dāsu gochō?, lit. Corporal Darthe)

AKA: Darthe

“Wouldn't be much of a soldier if I couldn't live through this much.
”

—Darthe to Cube

**Corporal Darthe** is a character from the Distant Future chapter, The Mechanical Heart. A military personnel passenger on the *Cogito Ergo Sum*, he is brought on to oversee the transport of the Behemoth.

## Profile

### Appearance

Darthe wears a brown military suit along with black boots. He is depicted with a short black mustache and a red beret.

### Personality

As a man of the military, Darthe has a gruff, terse, and no-nonsense personality. He is distant to the other crew members, and has a strong dislike for robots in general, bordering on post-traumatic stress disorder. Through he is among the more rational members of the crew, Darthe nevertheless begins to succumb to paranoia as events go south. He is not hesitant to attack if the situation needs it, deploying his gun at the slightest threat.

By the chapter's end, he manages to overcome his technophobia and develop a bond with Cube.

## History

### The Distant Future: The Mechanical Heart

In his youth, Darthe was a soldier who participated in a great war. In this war, highly advanced robots were used as weapons by the enemy side. Though he would survive the war, being able to only watch as these killing machines slaughtered his friends heavily traumatized Darthe, leading him to develop a deep-seated disgust for all robots. After the war, Darthe rose up in the military ranks to become a corporal.

Darthe was deployed as a guest on the *Cogito Ergo Sum* under the orders of the TDF Special Command, assigned to monitor the special cargo containing the Behemoth and ensure its safe delivery. He is immediately distrustful of new crewmate Cube, at one point kicking him across the room as he attempted to offer him a cup of coffee, making his hatred of robots clear.

As conditions begin to degenerate on board, including the escape of the Behemoth, Darthe attempts to serve as the voice of reason, calming Rachel down and demanding the Captain to emerge, but nonetheless ends up as one of the few survivors. Having seen the crew's instability, Darthe briefly accuses Kato of killing off his fellow crewmates. The finger is turned on him, however, when a message from his superiors is found in his room stating the Behemoth's survival is a higher priority than the crew's. After discovering and destroying an impostor of Cube, however, it is learned that the true mastermind is the ship's mother computer, OD-10, who seeks to completely eliminate the crew.

With all other members of the crew dead or incapacitated, Darthe must work together with Cube to survive. The pair learn the safest way to neutralize OD-10 is to engage it from the arcade machine in the ship's break room. In the ship's interface room, Darthe reroutes the connection to the machine for Cube to hack into, but the Behemoth enters the room and attacks him. Darthe manages to kill the Behemoth with his advanced weaponry.

After Cube successfully neutralizes OD-10, Darthe returns to the break room, wounded but alive. Darthe confides his past in Cube, and, having seen the potential in the young bot, encourages him to learn and grow, and to be better than violence and anger. Exhausted, Darthe gratefully accepts a cup of coffee from Cube as the pair pilot the *Cogito Ergo Sum* home.

In the mission's debriefing, Darthe is mentioned as having received an honorable discharge from the military at his request following the *Cogito Ergo Sum's* return. He would go on to acquire a new job in manufacturing medical robots.

### Final Chapter: The Dominion of Hate

As the event takes place directly after The Mechanical Heart's end, Darthe is present as Cube is warped to the Dominion of Hate,

In the true ending, Darthe is seen with a recovered Kato in the *Cogito Ergo Sum* soon after the ship's landing. He witnesses the reunion between Cube and Kato.

## Gallery

Darthe's portraitDarthe shows his dislike for robots (SFC)Darthe blasts the Impostor Cube (SFC)Artwork by Yumi Tamura for Live A Live A Live 2019Promo art depicting The Mechanical Heart for the remakeLINE sticker for remake
## Trivia

* Darthe's name comes from the "Darth" title from the Star Wars franchise, most associated with Darth Vader. The name "Darth" is a variation of "Dark".
* His outfit resembles that of Rolento, a boss from the game Final Fight, which Yoko Shimomura previously worked on.