Mako Mori

“	For my family!	„
	~ Mako before she and Raleigh kill Otachi

“	You and your new recruit.	„
	~ Mako offering Jake to rejoin the Jaeger Program and help train the Jaeger Cadets

Mako Mori is the deuteragonist of the movie Pacific Rim and a supporting character in it's sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising. She is a Jaeger pilot and a survivor of at least one Kaiju attack, which claimed her family. She is also the co-pilot and possible love interest of Raleigh Becket.

She was portrayed by Rinko Kikuchi.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Mako is born April 23, 2003 to parents Sumako and Masao Mori, a sword maker. An only child, Mako grew up in village in Tanegashima and lived a relatively comfortable and happy life with her mother and father. Mako would spend hours in her father's workshop, watching as metal is forged, hammered, cooled and sharpened into weapons. Her fascination with her father's profession instills tomboyish attitudes in her. At some point in time he gifts her with a Hanbō staff.

Mako is ten years old when the first Kaiju, Trespasser, attacks San Francisco in 2013. She overhears the news broadcast on the radio.

Onibaba Attack[]

Sunday, May 15, 2016 marked the attack of the Kaiju Onibaba in Tokyo. When her father is diagnosed with cancer, Mako and her mother head into Tokyo to get him treatment. Afterward, her parents took her shopping where they bought her a pair of red shoes. Their visit to the park coincided with Onibaba's attack. Mako and her family are bombarded by the people trying to escape. During the chaos, Mako’s shoe strap breaks and pulls away from her father in order to retrieve it. When she finally recovers her lost shoe, she loses her parents in the crowd during and left standing alone in an abandoned street.

Distressed, Mako searches for her parents; she calls for her mother as the military converges on Onibaba. She is forced to fend for her life during the military’s battle against the creature that remained in close proximity. When she tries to hide from it in an alley, Onibaba finds her and tries to pull her out of the alley. However, the intervention of the Jaeger, Coyote Tango, saves her life. Her survival in the face of Onibaba’s rampage made her an iconic figure in the media.

Makomorikid — Mako during the Onibaba atack

Pan Pacific Defense Corps[]

Mako joins the Jaeger Academy in 2021. She develops skills for mechanics and engineering during her tenure as a student in the Jaeger Program. In accordance with her wishes, Pentecost becomes her teacher and trains Mako to become a Ranger at the academy. Her overall score in the Jaeger simulator is "51 drops and 51 kills". Despite Mako’s records in the academy, Pentecost is adamant that she remain outside of the battlefield and dissuades her at every chance. In 2023, Gipsy Danger is removed from Oblivion Bay and relocated to the Anchorage Shatterdome where Mako oversees its refurbishment under the Mark III Restoration Project; the Jaeger is refitted with a completely iron hull, free of any alloys, new weaponry and two nuclear reactors.

When the Anchorage Shatterdome is shut down, Mako, Pentecost and what remains of the PPDC personnel are relocated to Hong Kong with eight months of funding. In search of pilot for Gipsy Danger, Pentecost assigns Mako to compile a candidate list for Raleigh Becket, a former Ranger who quit the PPDC after his brother’s death.

Pacific Rim[]

Mako greets her father and Raleigh as they arrive on deck of the Shatterdome. As Pentecost introduces him to his daughter, Mako remarks in Japanese that Raleigh is not what she expected. Raleigh, revealing himself to know the language, asks in Japanese if her expectations are good or bad. Embarrassed, Mako apologizes and compliments him on his record as a Ranger.

Once Pentecost introduces Raleigh to the functions of the Shatterdome and the personnel fighting alongside them on the mission to bomb the breach, Mako shows him to bay three where the refurbished Gipsy Danger is undergoing repairs. Raleigh remarks that Gipsy Danger “looks like new”; Mako explains the Jaeger is one of a kind, the only Jaeger running on two nuclear reactors.

Showing him to his room, Mako informs him that his candidates will be prepared to face him in the morning. Curious to know her stake in the Pentecost’s mission, Raleigh asks if she’s Jaeger pilot. Mako answers in the negative, however, she tells him that she wants to become a pilot more than anything. However, Pentecost has his reasons for preventing her from doing so. He notes that her impressive simulator score can’t be the reason Pentecost forbids her the opportunity.

Mako changes the subject; she expounds that she’s studied his every move and mission deployments, especially his final one in Anchorage. She believes his tendency to deviate from standard procedure and taking unnecessary risks put the lives of those at his side in danger.

She doesn’t believe he’s the right man for the breach assault. Raleigh, stung by her opinion, cites that real life combat is different from anything in a simulator and that the choices made in the moment are ones he has to try living with. Frustrated, Mako leaves his room; as she prepares to close the door she spies the scars on his back and left arm and becomes envious.

The following day, Mako approaches her father for the chance to pilot Gipsy Danger like he promised her when she was younger. Pentecost’s belief that she merely wants revenge, however, has him deny her the opportunity again. She and Pentecost oversee Raleigh and the candidate’s performance in the Kwoon Combat Room. As he progresses through each candidate, Mako is unimpressed by Raleigh’s performance. He stops long enough to ask why she has a problem with him, taking a stab at her pride when he questions her selection of candidates. Mako tells him the problem lies not with the candidates, but with his inability to use the best tactics immediately take them out quicker than he is.

Irritated, Raleigh challenges Mako, bringing into question her purported skills as a Pentecost’s “brightest”. Though Pentecost objects at first, he allows Mako the opportunity to fight Raleigh. The two are evenly matched the fight, but Mako rises victorious when she uses a sweep maneuver, knocking Raleigh off his feet and pinning his leg. Despite her compatibility with Raleigh, Pentecost tells Raleigh that she won’t be his pilot and dismisses the issue. Mako leaves the Kwoon, disappointed and retreats to her room.

Later, Pentecost decides to honor his promise to her; visiting her room, he offers her one of the red shoes she wore in 2016 when Onibaba attacked. Out of respect, Mako bows and prepares to suit up. She arrives in Gipsy Danger’s Conn-Pod, ready to pilot alongside Raleigh. As they prepare to Drift, Raleigh warns her not to latch onto a memory during the drift. The initial Drift between the two goes smoothly; their neural handshake allowing them interface with Gipsy Danger without issue.

However, when Raleigh latches onto the memory of his brother’s death, he throws them both out of alignment. Mako gets lost in her memory of Onibaba’s attack; reliving the memory while connected to Gipsy Danger activates the Plasmacaster on Raleigh’s side of the Jaeger.

Her connection with the Jaeger is strong enough to override the emergency failsafe’s in the LOCCENT, and as a result, she nearly destroys the Shatterdome, which leads technician Tendo Choi and the Hansens, Herc and Chuck, to shut down power the entire system connected to the Jaeger.

The incident brings into question Mako and Raleigh’s capability to run defense for Striker Eureka during the breach assault. Chuck confronts Raleigh and Mako outside of Pentecost’s office after a meeting with the Marshall and his father. Knowing they heard him, Chuck tells Raleigh to disappear, figuring that the five year gap from the last time he piloted a Jaeger would endanger the mission. Mako warns Chuck to stop antagonizing Raleigh. He continues when Raleigh holds her back, calls them bitches who need leashes.

His comment enrages Raleigh enough to punch him; when Chuck fails to apologize to Mako, the two get into a fight that ends in Raleigh’s favor. Herc and Pentecost exit the office and split the two up. In Pentecost’s office, Mako’s father believes she’s too inexperienced to reign in her memories and that it was a mistake to allow her in the Jaeger in with Raleigh. Heartbroken, Mako asks to be dismissed from his office, Pentecost grants her wish and she leaves.

When LOCCENT picks up two Category IV Kaiju signatures, Otachi and Leatherback, Crimson Typhoon, Cherno Alpha and Striker Eureka are deployed from the Shatterdome to confront the Kaiju in the Victoria Harbour while Pentecost keeps Mako and Raleigh grounded. However, when Otachi and Leatherback gain the upper hand on all three Jaegers; Otachi destroying both Crimson Typhoon’s Conn-Pod and Leatherback crushing Cherno Alpha’s pilots inside their Conn-Pod underwater and disabling Striker Eureka with an EMP blast; Raleigh reminds Pentecost that Gipsy Danger is analog and they still have a chance against the Kaiju.

Reluctantly, Pentecost sends both Mako and Raleigh out to fight Leatherback. The two grapple with the Kaiju, tearing its EMP organ from its back. Gipsy Danger is thrown into the docking area of the city where Leatherback continues to engage them. Throughout the battle they force Leatherback back toward the water, using the environment against it. Locked in a power struggle, the two use the Plasmacaster and fire into Leatherback’s stomach repeatedly; when the Kaiju falls dead, Raleigh and Mako shoot its corpse several more times to ensure it won’t get up.

They go after Otachi who’s entered the city in search of Newton Geiszler; dragging along oceanic freighter, they use the boat to attack Otachi before the Kaiju snatches the boat and tosses it aside. Otachi engages them immediately, knocking them down with its tail. The Kaiju evades them, disappearing into the crowded buildings. Mako and Raleigh search for the Kaiju, relying on their immediate sight and the helicopters patrolling above to detect movement.

The two are blindsided by Otachi who crashes through a building; it rams through the next building, using the environment to its advantage. The kaiju tries to use its acid to burn through the hull of the Jaeger though while they could to dodge it, they weren’t quick enough to avoid its pounce.

Otachi tries to use the pincer on its tail to crush their Conn-Pod, forcing Mako on Raleigh’s order to use coolant to freeze the tail enough to shatter it. Free of its tail, Mako and Raleigh tear the acid sac from its throat and discard it. Otachi pounces on them again and digs into the back of the Jaeger and takes flight. The Kaiju smashes them through the tops of the skyscrapers and moves to take them above the atmosphere.

As they begin to lose oxygen, Raleigh believes they`re out of options. Mako, remembering the chain sword, deploys the weapon. She takes vengeance for her family as she and Raleigh cut Otachi in half. With the death of the creature carrying them up, they plummet and barely manage to slow descent using Pentecost’s advice to purge the nuclear reactor. Landing relatively safely, the two return to the Shatterdome victorious. Herc thanks them for saving his and Chuck’s life from Leatherback.

Pentecost congratulates them for their efforts, but reminds the Shatterdome personnel that they still have work to do. Mako is the first to notice Pentecost nose is bleeding, alerting the Shatterdome to his illness. When he dismisses himself and orders the War Clock restarted, Mako shares a look with Raleigh that lets him know she is aware of his illness.

Mako and Pentecost share one last moment together in which the latter reveals that he will pilot Striker Eureka alongside Chuck in Herc’s stead, Mako tries to stop him, reminding him that getting into another Jaeger will kill him. Pentecost, understanding her concern, commends her on her training and tells her he was proud to see her grow up.

Striker Eureka and Gipsy Danger are airlifted to the Challenger Deep, the location of the breach. As they approach the breach, they are attacked by Raiju and Scunner, two Category IV Kaiju sent to defend the breach. Scunner and Raiju ambush Gipsy Danger, tearing off its right arm and damaging its leg. When Raiju circles around for another attack, Gipsy Danger’s chain sword cuts the Kaiju in half. Crippled, Mako and Raleigh cannot get to Chuck and Pentecost before Scunner comes to the aid of Slattern, a Category V Kaiju who disabled Striker Eureka’s ability to deploy the thermonuclear bomb into the breach.

Pentecost tells Mako to make for the breach and destroy it using the Jaeger’s nuclear reactor. Though reluctant, she obeys the order and tells her father that she loves him. He and Chuck use the bomb to kill the remaining Kaiju. When the thermonuclear bomb goes off, Mako and Raleigh use the chain sword to brace themselves against the blast that parts the sea. The water comes rushing back around them, but they are able to recover despite the damage sustained to the Jaeger.

Mako begins to lose consciousness after her oxygen is compromised. They limp toward the breach with the halved body of Raiju when their path is blocked by a wounded Slattern. Tackling the Kaiju, they stab Slattern in the back with the chain sword as it attacks Gipsy Danger’s with its horned tails. It succeeds in cutting the line to Mako’s air supply. As they descend into the breach, Mako loses consciousness. Raleigh gives her his air supply and ejects her in one of Gipsy Danger’s life pods.

Mako reaches the surface first. Regaining consciousness, she searches for any sign of Raleigh’s life pod. When it emerges, she swims over and forces the hatch open. Mako fears the worst when she cannot find his pulse. Embracing Raleigh, she begs him not to leave her. Raleigh regains consciousness and tells hers that she’s choking him. Relieved, she lets him go. Raleigh relays the destruction of the breach to LOCCENT and the two wait for pick up from the helicopters.

Pacific Rim Uprising[]

Mako reappears in Pacific Rim Uprising, now Secretary-General of the PPDC. A hologram of her first appears when Jake is serving prison time with a teenage girl named Amara Namani. Mako tells him that he can either remain in prison for life or rejoin the Jaeger Program and train the cadets with Amara as his recruit. He chooses the latter.

Later, a Chinese company calling itself Shao Industries reveals the idea for Jaeger Drones. The Council decides to have a vote deciding on whether the Drones can be approved for launching. Mako gets the final vote, although she does not trust Shao's Drones just as yet. She tells this to Jake as well as the fact the Jake's Jaeger, Gipsy Avenger gets to be the honoured guard. The meeting will be held in Sydney, Australia, New South Wales.

Later, Mako arrives by helicopter in Sydney, Australia, New South Wales. Gipsy Avenger is safely deployed. While heading towards the PPDC (That's Pan Pacific Defense Corps) building, Mako notices a huge flock of seagulls making it look suspicious that something bad and of course evil is about to happen.. Suddenly a rogue Jaeger appears from the ocean. Gipsy Avenger recieves note of this and it's co-pilot, Nate Lambert orders the rogue Jaeger to power down and exit the Conn-pod immediately (Noting that he might have piloted the Jaeger November Ajax earlier in the movie before Jake was apprehended and put into prison).

The rogue Jaeger, Obsidian Fury refuses to and attacks. The two Jaegers fight. Obsidian Fury nearly kills Mako, but Gipsy lobs a heli-pad at it's back. Obsidian Fury starts to jam helicopters transmission signals. The two Jaegers continue fighting and deploy their swords. During the battle, Gipsy Avenger punches Obsidian Fury but it slows itself by sticking it's swords into two of the buildings. It shoots rockets at the helicopter striking it's tail and causing it to spin and go out-of-control.

Gipsy knocks out Fury using the Gravity-Sling and rushes towards the helicopter. It jumps at the wrong time and fails to catch the helicopter. The helicopter crahses killing everyone onboard including Mako Mori. Mako's image is seen in a memorial hall alongside Stacker Pentecost and a Cherno Alpha pilot.

Later, it was revealed that Mako pinpointed the location of an abandoned Jaeger facility in Severnaya, Zemlya, Russia. Gipsy is taken there where it kills Obsidian Fury who had followed the Jaeger, avenging Mako's death. However Mako's death caused the Pan Pacific Defense Corps to deploy the drones. Newton tampers with the drone and because of his actions, the drones attack all the Shatterdomes across the Pacific Rim and destroying almost all Jaegers, save for Gipsy Avenger, Guardian Bravo, Saber Athena, and Bracer Phoenix.

Miscellaneous Inforrmation[]

Height: 169 cm (5'6½")

Hair: Black, short

Age: 32 (at death)

Birth Date: April 23, 2003

Cause of Death: Helicopter crash

Weight: 55 kg (121 lb)

Eyes: Brown

Birth Place: Tanegashima, Japan

Time of Death: 2035

Equipment[]

Gypsy Danger: Gipsy Danger was a Jaeger in the movie Pacific Rim. It was piloted by Raleigh Becket, Yancy Becket (Deceased) and Mako Mori. Gipsy Danger was a mark 3 Jaeger powered by a nuclear reactor. It was one of the oldest jaegers in service aside from Cherno Alpha. It was constructed in 2017 and destroyed in 2025.

Gipsy was first seen in the Alaska shatterdome preparing for battle against Knifehead. It's fight with Knifehead severely damaged it tearing of it's left arm and killing Yancy Becket. Raleigh was forced to take on the strain with piloting Gipsy alone which a few pilots have ever done. After killing Knifehead with Gipsy's plasmacaster in it's right arm Raleigh then quits the Jaeger program. Gipsy is now placed in oblivion bay a place for destroyed or decommissioned jaegers.

Gipsy is next seen 5 years later in the Hong Kong shatterdome when it was restored by Mako and Stacker Pentecost to prepare for the assault on the breach they then later they do a test with Gipsy with Mako and Raleigh. Everything was smooth when Raleigh then latched on to the memory of his brother's death then Mako also latched on to her childhood memory of the onibaba attack then charges up Gipsy's plasmacaster it almost fires on to the Loccent control center when Tendo Choi shuts of the power.

Gipsy is then deployed when the kaiju Otachi and leatherback attack Hong Kong and destroy Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon and disables Striker Eureka so that means Gipsy is the last available Jaeger. Gipsy then kills leatherback with it's plasmacaster and kills Otachi with it's chainsword.

Later on, it is deployed with Striker Eureka to destroy the breach it then starts a fight with Scunner and Raiju while Striker engages with Slattern. Gipsy kills Raiju with it's chainsword but Striker sacrifices itself to buy Gipsy some time to destroy the breach with a reactor meltdown. The blast from Striker's bomb kills Scunner but wounds Slattern severely. Gipsy then fights Slattern and kills it with a fuel purge then jumps to the breach. Raleigh ejects Mako from Gipsy to save her from low oxygen then engages reactor meltdown and ejects. Gipsy is then destroyed along with the breach.

The legacy of it is Gipsy Avenger which is Gipsy Danger 2.0 with upgraded weapons.