| “ | Welcome to the war zone. | „ |
| ~ Madlax |
Madlax is the titular protagonist of the anime series Madlax. She is the best mercenary agent in Gazth-Sonika with a mission success rate of 98%, though she wishes only to end the civil war as quickly as possible. She doesn't remember anything before twelve years ago (though she hasn't lost her language knowledge), except for the word "Madlax", which she has adopted as her code name. Eventually, she is revealed to be a fragment of Margaret Burton who was created via The Gift.
She is voiced by Sanae Kobayashi in the Japanese version and Nancy Novotny in the English version.
Appearance[]
Madlax is a rather tall, beautiful young woman who appears to be in her early twenties. She has blue eyes and long blonde hair, and fairly large breasts. Her usual outfit consists of a red shirt, black tank-top and dark green coat. She also wears two gloves on her hands. She is shown changing outfits on several occasions, usually into various dresses.
Personality[]
| “ | A kind killer. Yes, that's exactly what I am. | „ |
| ~ Madlax recalling Margaret's words to her. |
Madlax is self-confident, courageous, curious, and has a good sense of humour, but is usually serious about her work. Even before she knows she's a nonhuman entity, Madlax acts like she's invincible, never showing fear, and being willing to take great risks. When in combat, she is disturbingly calm, and occasionally even fights with her eyes closed. At times, Madlax seems almost too cheerful or laid-back about her missions, often saying she wants pasta (her favourite food) after she gets home. At first glance, one could easily mistake her for an emotionless killing machine.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, Madlax is a very kind, friendly and peace-loving young woman who fights only to put an end to the war as quickly as possible- it just so happens that she's able to shut out all unnecessary emotions as she fights. Madlax says that she hates unnecessary conflicts, as they do nothing to shift the tides of the war. She is also more than capable of compassion, such as when she visits Guen McNichol, the commander of Gazth-Sonika, the night before she is meant to assassinate him (a hit he requested himself) and comforts him after learning his motive. This compassion extends to McNichol's subordinate, Limelda Jorg, going so far as to let her go several times despite the threat it could pose. While she won't hesitate to kill in self-defence, or to protect the innocent, Madlax will look for a peaceful solution whenever possible, an example being when she tells Carrossea and Limelda that she will spare them if they call off their forces, a promise she keeps. She also admits to Margaret that she doesn't like to kill, but does so because in Gazth-Sonika, it's kill or be killed. Because of this, she is called a "kind killer" by Margaret, something Madlax initially denies but ultimately accepts.
In spite of her kindness, Madlax is a very honest person and doesn't hesitate to call out people for their foolish choices, such as when she bluntly tells Chris Krana that wanting to find a father he's never met before is a stupid reason to enter a war zone. She will often give people warnings to leave Gazth-Sonika, as she knows all too well the probability of death if they stay. Nevertheless, Madlax often finds herself sticking her neck out for the very people she criticises, and is deeply saddened whenever she fails to save somebody, though she tries not to dwell on it for too long.
While not exactly vain, Madlax seems to be aware of her looks as she likes to dress to show off her body. She is shown wearing dresses on various occasions, even when fighting and at one point even throws off a dress she's wearing as a distraction, resulting in her briefly attacking a group of soldiers while completely naked, implying an abnormal lack of modesty. Due to her living alone before meeting Vanessa, Madlax is also a good cook, with Vanessa stating that her pasta reminds her of Elenore's.
Although she acknowledges that she lives in a lawless, civil war-torn country, this has only made Madlax more appreciative of life and its everyday joys. However, upon learning that Enfant is responsible for the war going on for twelve years for essentially no reason, Madlax is shocked and thinks back to all the people she had met who died (McNichol, Chris, Eric Gillian etc.) and starts to feel they did so for nothing. She simply can't understand why Friday Monday would allow such a meaningless war to continue in perpetuity, and overtime grows to despise him for this, with him being one of the few people to truly earn her hatred.
Gallery[]
