Mary (メリー Meri), alternatively romanized as Merry, is a minor character that appears at the start of the Underground Empire of Yomi arc in the Cyborg 009 manga. She is a childhood friend of Joe Shimamura, having grown up in an orphanage with him and also later turning out to be a delinquent.
Appearance[]
Mary has blonde, slightly wild shoulder-length hair with side-swept bangs, and wears a black bandanna-style ribbon tied around her hair. She wears a short-sleeved striped shirt, and capri pants.
Upon the revelation of her cyborg form, Mary's hair lengthens and spikes out more, and her ears become pointed. She is also revealed to have a cat-like tail and an entirely robotic body, which allows her to run on all fours like an animal. She remains nude within this form.
Personality and Relationships[]
Joe Shimamura[]
They were close friends in the days that Joe had grown up in the orphanage, as both were mixed-race children whose fathers were nowhere to be found. The two would spend time watching the ocean together, and talking of their hopes and dreams.
Mary was the most reluctant to kill Joe, although she had to follow Black Ghost's orders.
Abilities[]
In her cybernetic form, Mary gained the ability to run on all four of her limbs as a quadruped beast. She was also able to release shockwaves from her hands, and to control wolves with sonic-amplified cries from a special wave generator in her throat.
History[]
Much like Joe, Mary was born to a Japanese woman and a father of unknown nationality. She soon wound up in an orphanage, but grew close to Joe, as he was in a similar situation. Due to the fact that both were mistreated for being biracial, the two became delinquents in their teens and hung around Ibaraki and Oyamada, which Mary would somewhat regret as she realized that they had fallen into the wrong crowd of people.
At some point, Joe had wound up imprisoned in Kurihama. Mary would not hear again from him for at least two years after his attempted escape, until he had emerged as the racer "Hurricane Joe". However, by then, Mary had been modified into a cyborg by the Black Ghost organization with the orders to take out Joe. Ibaraki and Oyamada also had this fate befall them.
While she was reluctant and displayed the most regret about her orders, Mary was adamant at following them, otherwise she would die. During a fight against Joe, she wound up injured and in intense pain, with her moaning causing wolves to become manipulated and attack him.
Joe attempted to plead with her one more time to give up, and explained that he himself had been remodeled into a cyborg those two years ago. However, she attempted to charge at Joe, self-destructing as he flew out of the way. Joe then realized that she had been wired to explode, and that there was no way of stopping her.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- As the katakana for her name can be read as either "Mary" or "Merry", it is not certain which reading may have been intended. However, Tokyopop's translation goes with "Mary", while the Italian translation by JPOP uses "Merry". Other heroines by Ishinomori have names such as "Maria" and "Mari", so it is possible that the "Mary" spelling may have been the intended notation.
- Long before the conception of this character and as revealed in "Cyborg 009 a la Cult", "Mary"/"Merry" had been considered by Ishinomori as a possibility for the civilian name of Cyborg 003. Some readers will also note similarities between both girls' designs, particularly the shoulder-length hair held back by a sort of headband, and the side-swept bangs. However, Mary has slightly sharper eyes than 003, and her hair is also depicted less tamed down.
- Tokyopop's translation creates a misconception and continuity error in claiming that Mary was an inmate at the Kurihama juvenile hall, which had been established to be boys-only, and have her wondering if she wouldn't have wound up there if her dad had wanted her. The original dialogue had Mary stating of her and Joe having been bullied as children, and her stating how they'd wound up becoming delinquents and getting involved with the wrong crowd.