List of Full Metal Panic! characters
Full Metal Panic! is a series of light novels written by Shoji Gatoh and illustrated by Shiki Douji running from 1998 to 2011. The series follows Sousuke Sagara, a member of the covert anti-terrorist private military organization known as Mithril, who is tasked with protecting Kaname Chidori a hot-headed Japanese high school girl.
Sousuke Sagara
Sergeant Sousuke Sagara is the main protagonist of the series. Sousuke Sagara is of Afghan-Japanese heritage. While his Japanese heritage can be deduced by his surname, Sagara grew up in Helmand, a region in Afghanistan caught up in political strife. At the age of 8, he joined a guerrilla movement to survive and was eventually recruited by Mithril. Sousuke only knows military life and as a result, does not handle the everyday occurrences of civilian life very well. He has difficulty integrating into high school due to his lack of social skills. His military bearing and encyclopedic knowledge of weapons earn him the nickname "Military Maniac".He often responds to situations as though he were on the battlefield; for example, he blows up the shoe lockers if there is any hint that someone has tampered with them. Sousuke can be quite insensitive at times: In Volume 7 he buys a pregnancy test while out with Kaname and does not understand what was wrong, though his intentions are always in the right place. He gradually develops strong feelings for Chidori Kaname.
Kaname Chidori
Kaname Chidori is the heroine of the series. She is described in the universe as "the kind of girl everyone looks up to, but not even a boy wants as their girlfriend". She is direct and brash with her opinions, a trait she picked up when she studied abroad in the United States. She feels the need to protect Sousuke from the harsh, cruel world of high school: a place where he doesn't quite fit. She is one of the "Whispered," a group of people who have technologically advanced knowledge in their subconscious that numerous governments and other groups want to use for their means.She often berates Sousuke for his violent overreactions, stating that they are not proper for a high school student. While she criticizes Sousuke for being too militaristic and overprotective, she appreciates his experience in life-or-death situations. Chidori develops serious feelings for Sousuke and feels dejected when he is so obtuse in such matters.
Teresa "Tessa" Testarossa
Teresa Testarossa is the captain of Mithril's submarine Tuatha de Danaan. She's very young for her position, only 16 years old, and has a crush on Sousuke. Tessa maintains an optimistic outlook that she can make a difference in the world. She is stubborn and will try her hardest to prove wrong to those who tell her she can't do something. Still, most of her crew sees her as someone who never got her hands dirty on the battlefield and therefore can't defend herself.Kurz Weber
Sergent Kurz Weber appears to be a typical ladies' man and often offers Sousuke advice about life and love. He is laid-back, but will not avoid responsibilities. He is regarded as one of the finest snipers in Mithril.Melissa Mao
Sergent Major Melissa Mao is the superior officer of both Sousuke and Kurz. She is a spunky woman who loves beer, smokes a lot, and wishes she could be free-spirited and optimistic like Tessa. She was originally a member of the Marines, signing her recruitment contract on the day she was supposed to marry a businessman that her father had pushed onto her. Eventually, she left the Marines and joined Mithril, where she met Kurz and Sousuke as new recruits. The two were downplaying their skills intentionally, but she saw through their ruse and picked them out to be her teammates.Gauron
Gauron is Full Metal Panic's main antagonist, a twisted and violent mercenary deeply involved in the black market and global terrorism. Despite possessing an extremely vile personality, his ruthless cunning and mastery of the Lambda Drive system make him a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. In combat, his vehicle of choice is the super AS called Venom.Mithril
Andrei Sergeivich Kalinin
Andrei Sergeivich Kalinin is Sagara's commanding officer and one of Tessa's military strategists with the rank of lieutenant commander, fulfilling the role of Operations Director. He is also the foster father of Sagara. He and Sousuke were once enemies, as mentioned in a two-part episode by Sagara himself. The foster father status may be on the school's official papers only, but Kalinin is certainly a very fatherly figure to Sagara. Kalinin was formerly of the Soviet special forces – Spetsnaz – and was the leader of the team that found a crashed Japanese airliner. There was only one survivor: a three-year-old child by the name of Sagara Sousuke. His wife is deceased and the whereabouts and status of the rest of his family are unknown. There is speculation that Kalinin has betrayed Mithril to Amalgam, due to his meeting with Leonard Testarossa at the end of the book 'Dancing Very Merry Christmas' and also due to his mysterious disappearance and attitude during the raid by Amalgam on Mérida Island. Kalinin later appears in 'Tsudou Make My Day' at Leonard's villa, apparently as one of Leonard's subordinates. He later shoots Leonard in the chest before Leonard could detonate the TARTAROS system along with Mérida Island. In a final knife battle with Sousuke, he is mortally wounded by Sousuke just before the nuclear missile hits the island.Kalinin mentioned that he had difficulty maintaining family ties, mostly with his wife, due to his time spent with the Spetsnaz. He seems to be of a family man sort and loves his wife so much that he made the Borscht that his wife made him as he returns from missions. He operates under the codename Perth 1.
Richard Mardukas
Richard Mardukas is an overly protective aide of Tessa, who insists on guarding her with his life. He holds the rank of commander and is in charge of Mithril's TDD-1 when the captain, Testarossa, is not on board; appropriate, given that Mardukas' position is that of executive officer. Mardukas is often seen wearing a hat bearing the name of HMS Turbulent, a real British submarine.Before joining Mithril, Mardukas was the commanding officer of HMS Turbulent, and a graduate & instructor of the Royal Navy's "Perisher" course: the submarine equivalent to the US Navy's famed "Top Gun" Fighter Weapons School. According to the FMP novel A Dancing Very Merry Christmas, Mardukas was known to the submarine community as a genius of submarine warfare, leading to his nickname "Duke"; he also served on HMS Conqueror when it sank the General Belgrano, and while commanding the Turbulent saved Tessa's father and his submarine on a secret mission. Many of his peers in the submarine community, such as Commander Killy B. Sailor, CO of the USS Pasadena, believe Mardukas to be working in a shipping firm after his retirement. A running gag throughout the series is that he usually ends up giving sermons to lower officers on deck.
Belfangan Clouseau (Ben)
SRT team's current team leader, callsign Urzu-1, first appearance in the novel 'End of Day by Days' and the 2nd anime series Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, replacing Captain Gail McAllen after his death near the end of the novel 'Rocking into The Blue'. The pilot of the M9D Falke was a part of MITHRIL's Mediterranean Sea Fleet. His first introduction to the team was kind of unorthodox, ticking off Kurz Weber and Sousuke Sagara by saying McAllen was a coward after sitting on the chair he used to sit on while in reality, McAllen was one of his most trusted teammates and a good friend. He proved himself to be an expert martial artist by incapacitating Kurz with just one move and defeated Sousuke and the Arbalest during the 'test' which he conducted. He also proved to be a capable leader when he made Sousuke understand why he lost and told him that it wasn't his skill as they were evenly matched in that aspect but rather his hatred for the Arbalest and tells him that an Arm Slave is like a part of their own body. Since then Kurz and he does not regularly see eye-to-eye, though they have developed a grudging respect for each other's abilities. It is also known that he & Melissa Mao have known each other since way back. His nickname from Mao was 'Ben'. He was also one of the few remaining survivors of the attack on Melida island, along with Melissa Mao, Kurz Weber, Richard Mardukas, Teletha Testarossa, and most of the crew of the Tuatha de Danaan at the end of the novel 'Continuing on My Own'.In the TSR OVA, it is revealed that he is an anime otaku in his spare time.
His surname is also Grouseaux. In the Ending of Day by Days novel, Belfangan states to the bartender in Mérida Island that he was a Muslim.
Vincent Bruno
An American MITHRIL officer in Intelligence with the rank of captain, he was supposedly responsible for communications maintenance in the Nanjing hostage rescue operation. He, however, leaked it to Gates and several Amalgam commandos, using the information to ambush SRT/PRT members, killing some of them. In return, Admiral Borda allowed a snatch operation to take place, which resulted in his capture and some strains in the relationship between the Tactical and Intelligence divisions. During his interrogation in Sydney, Vincent confesses that Amalgam had hired him to botch the Nanjing operation. He previously operated under the codename Ogma-1.His surname can also be spelt as Blueno. Vincent speaks Italian aside from English.
Gavin Hunter
A supposed native of Hong Kong and an officer in MITHRIL Intelligence's Hong Kong division, he was responsible for providing tactical support for Melissa, Sousuke, and other SRT/PRT personnel deployed in Hong Kong to locate a rogue Amalgam Codarl Arm Slave that went berserk in Hong Kong and Kowloon. Gavin is also married and has a family.He's known to the Hong Kong public as a businessman with multiple businesses in operation, such as the Hunter Cleaning Company Ltd. that Gavin used when he provided Melissa's squad with Hunter Cleaning Company Ltd., Toyota Hiace vans and uniforms to infiltrate Hong Kong and Kowloon without being caught by the North and South Chinese army and police.
He can be considered to be MITHRIL's humor character as Gates is to Amalgam's since he always smiles and rarely gets angry, except when he was instructed by General Amit to cease Intelligence operations in Hong Kong territory.