Maetel

"The day will come when even your most heartbreaking memories will be important to you."

- Maetel

"There is nothing that cannot change, nothing that can thrive continually."

- Maetel

"Someday, you will feel nostalgia even for your sad memories and hardships."

- Maetel

Maetel is a major character in the Leijiverse. She is the younger daughter of La Andromeda Promethium II and the younger sister of Emeraldas and former heiress of La Metal. After escaping from the planet, she became a traveler to find hope.

She is the deuteragonist and major character of Galaxy Express 999 series, a supporting protagonist in Queen Emeraldas, Harlock Saga: The Ring of the Niebelung, Cosmo Warrior Zero, Cosmo Warrior Zero Gaiden, The Galaxy Railways: A Letter from the Abandoned Planet and the titular protagonist of Maetel Legend and Space Symphony Maetel: Galaxy Express 999 Side Story.

Portrayals

 * She voiced by Masako Ikeda in the television series, 1979 film version, Galaxy Express 999: Claire of the Glass, Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Traveller Emeraldas, Adieu Galaxy Express 999, Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy, Harlock Saga: The Ring of the Nibelung, Ginga Tetsudou 999: Niji no Michishirube, Galaxy Express 999 for Planetarium, The Galaxy Railways: A Letter from the Abandoned Planet and Ginga Tetsudou 999: Akai Hoshi Betelgeuze - Inochi no Kagayaki.
 * She was voiced by Kathlenn Barr in the film version and Adieu Galaxy Express 999.
 * She was voiced by Satsuki Yukino in the Japanese version and Lisa Ortiz in the English version in Maetel Legend. Satsuki also voices Maetel in Cosmo Warrior Zero and Space Symphony Maetel: Galaxy Express 999 Side Story.

Appearance
Like many other major female characters in the Leijiverse, Maetel has the standard appearance: tall, willowy, beautiful, long flowing blonde hair, long eyelashes, and narrow eyes with the color brown. Her primarily outfit is wearing a black dress coat that goes down to her knees with a long black cossack hat and boots that have a mourning theme. Their are also other alternate colored type such as white, blue or even crimson in some circumstances.

Personality
Maetel is very known for her calm and caring nature while also having mysterious motives and unhesitating towards anyone who would do her or anyone under her care harm. She admires people who have true courage and passion and have contempt towards bravado, arrogance, greed, rudeness and anger, seeing them as self-destructing means to an end. As such, she highly against anymore who has selfish goals and act of self-preservation and treats people who have not fallen to the darkness such as Tetsuro Hoshino by looking at someone's perspective from an insightful point of view.

While Maetel was in her youth days, she had a view on true strength, like rejecting her mother's plans of turning a living being into a brainwashed android. But was rather naive and wanted to get the chance to reconnect with her mother again, despite of Emeraldas' protesting the idea. During her battles with Emeraldas, Captain Harlock and Tochiro Oyama leads Maetel into becoming a hardened yet compassionate person who seeks to find people who also can find enlightenment beyond what has become established.

Past
Maetel was born as the second daughter to Promethium and her deceased father, Ban. She and her sister Emeraldas were always playing and having fun together, but were also rivals to each other, but stopped as they got older.

The rise of Queen Promethium
When the artificial sun was starting to fading, Promethium had her husband, Dr. Ban, to start the experimental process of converting to Machine Bodies. Her daughters Maetel and Emeraldas were against this, even their father was against this, but Promethium was dead set on the course. Ban tried to use a more mental link with his wife and use his consciousness uploaded into nanomachines for Promethium's mechanization to convince her of other ways besides just mechanization. But as the process went wrong due to another scientist Hardgear interfered, Promethium became a cold-hearted machine and using her last of her free will to sent her daughters away on the Galaxy Express train 999.

When Hardgear tried to have Promethium integrated into him, the artificial queen was working against him and had Hardgear assimilated into her, becoming a evil tyrant forcibly promoting mechanization under the illusion of choice. When her daughters and a few other of their companions proved to be obstacles, Promethium tried to get Maetel on her side through a clone. But at that point, Promethium's ruthless persona had overtaken her previous personality to Maetel's anguish when she was captured. As Promethium about to had Maetel to be mechanized until the human citizens of La Metal rebel against her.

Return to La Metal and the rebellion
Maetel escapes from her mother with dangerous information unknown to Promethium. By the time then, Promethium came into conflict with her daughters, Captain Harlock, Tochiro Oyama, and a few other rebels. While Promethium was occupied, Maetel used the received data to cut off power from La Metal's core to the Machine Men, causing Promethium's body to turn to dust. All the while leaving the capsule containing Dr. Ban's consciousness behind.

However, Promethium created herself on a new artificial planet, Planet Promethium. The artificial tyrant continued her goal of conquest until the sacrifice of a boy named, Nazca, to offset the living screws. Unfortunately this only powered Promethium down and did not stop her from rebooting years later.

Promethium's permanent death
By this time, Maetel seemed to have joined Promethium's plan and to assist her by bringing the boy named Tetsuro Hoshino as the next living screw. However, Tetsuro broken free from his imprisonment and Maetel tricked her mother and used the capsule of her father along with the energy fallout to destroy her mother's planet along with all of the systems that would have brought back Promethium, ending the tyrantess' reign once and for all.

Great Andromeda
After leaving La Metal, the Galaxy Express train is forced to dock at a station where Tetsuro meets Faust. Moments after gazing at the boy, Tetsuro attacks him, but drops the boy into a flashback where he must relive of his mother's death. The train finally arrives at Great Andromeda, Tetsuro and the others are greeted by Faust. Meanwhile, Maetel goes to the center of the planet where Prometheum's consciousness still exists.

After Maetel reveals to Tetsuro that that the energy the machine people use is actually drained from living human beings and trying to destroy Promethium, Great Andromeda is attacked a space anomaly called Siren the Witch. Later, Faust confronts Captain Harlock, asking him that he will not interfere with his fight against Tetsuro, as Harlock promise that will not interfere.

With Great Andromeda collapsing, the train is set to depart, Maetel watches Tetsuro fighting against Faust, face to face with him one last time atop the 999 as Great Andromeda falls to ruin. While fighting, Tetsuro manages to hit Faust with a fatal blow on him. As the black knight was defeated, Faust tells Tetsuro that he has grown strong and calls him son, before flying off into the Siren the Witch.