─ application
CHARACTER NAME: MOMO Mizrahi
FANDOM: Xenosaga
CANON: post-Episode III.
WHAT THEY LOST: The use of her sensory arrays. As a 100-Series Observational Realian, MOMO is equipped with sensors that give her the ability to scan for information such as location or gene clusters even from a far distance.
ABOUT THE CHARACTER: MOMO is an artificial human called a Realian - specifically, she is the 100-Series Observational Realian prototype created by Dr. Joachim Mizrahi, the man MOMO considers to be her father. His original intent in creating her was to help his ill daughter, Sakura, whose disease prevented her from interacting with the outside world. However, Sakura passed away not too long after Joachim began MOMO's construction, and with her death, he instead decided to try to bring Sakura back to life by using MOMO as a vessel. He thought that if he used the U.M.N., a universal network from which all consciousness are born and return to, he could retrieve his daughter's consciousness, but in that regard he failed, and MOMO began to develop her own consciousness. Until that point Joachim had been seeing her as Sakura's replacement, telling her that if she did good deeds, she could become a real girl - "become my Sakura". But something in him changed, causing him to view MOMO as a second daughter rather than an imitation of his first, and he made the decision to protect the world she would be born into, first entrusting her with his legacy: the Y-Data, an accumulation of all of his research.
She was "born" in the heart of the space station Proto Merkabah above the planet Miltia; at the same time, Joachim and countless others perished on the planet below in an incident that would come to be known as the Miltian Conflict. After the Conflict had passed, MOMO was retrieved by the Federation and released into the custody of Joachim's wife, Juli Mizrahi. MOMO was happy to be living with the woman she saw as her mother, but Juli, still mourning the loss of her daughter, could only view MOMO as a replacement for Sakura that Joachim had created in his madness. She found herself unable to love MOMO and rejected her.
The Y-Data that Joachim had placed inside of MOMO came to be coveted by many, most notably an organization called U-TIC, who kidnapped MOMO with the intent to extract it from her and use it as a weapon against the Federation. She was rescued by a cyborg known as Ziggurat 8, later to be nicknamed Ziggy by her, who had been commissioned by the Federation to bring her to Second Miltia where the Y-Data could be analyzed. Ziggy and MOMO teamed up to escape U-TIC's base but were pursued, only then to be picked up by the Elsa, a cargo ship working for the Kukai Foundation and also headed to Second Miltia. Before they could reach their destination, the ship was swallowed by a massive Gnosis called the Cathedral Ship, and after making a getaway met up with the Kukai Foundation's ship, the Durandal. It was here that MOMO first met Jr., a young man with a connection to Sakura, though she did not become aware of that until later.
MOMO and the other leading characters have a respite at the Kukai Foundation, but that is cut short when the U-TIC Organization makes an attempt to take MOMO back by doctoring video footage to make it appear as though the Durandal destroyed a Federation ship. Though the party was placed under arrest, the Foundation's name was cleared through the efforts of Shion, a scientist who was also a passenger on the Elsa, and KOS-MOS, an advanced android created by Shion. The U-TIC Organization then upped the ante by calling on a man named Albedo, who proceeded to summon a hoard of Gnosis to attack the Foundation, and amidst the ensuing chaos he snatched MOMO and tried to hack into her systems to access the Y-Data.
Though the party arrived to rescue her, Albedo was able to glimpse enough of Joachim's research to call Proto Merkabah out of the Abyss and attempt to drop it on Second Miltia, but by using MOMO's knowledge of Proto Merkabah's layout, KOS-MOS was able to destroy the space station before it reached the planet below. After they boarded the Elsa and arrived on Second Miltia, the group split up, as MOMO was taken to see Juli and begin the analysis of her systems. Though Juli did not genuinely respond with warmth upon seeing MOMO again, after she talked with Ziggy, who suggested that Juli see MOMO as a second daughter, she began to feel affection towards the Realian. During the analysis, however, a trap that was set inside MOMO by Albedo activated, and though MOMO tried to stop the Y-Data from reaching Albedo's clutches, he manipulated her and was successful in the end.
Despite that loss, MOMO becomes close with Juli, as well as Ziggy and Jr. Though she takes a backseat in the story after the incidents with Albedo, she continues to support her friends and fight by their sides. They are able to save the universe from its destruction, albeit temporarily, and in the end MOMO, Ziggy, and Juli remain on a space ship named the Dämmerung, while Jr., Shion, and others depart on the Elsa in search of a more permanent salvation for their world.
Throughout the series, MOMO appears as a girl struggling to find herself amidst the preconceptions others have of her. She encounters those who see her as an object, rather than a person, and those who believe her to be nothing more than the shadow of Sakura or Joachim himself. After the events of Miltian Conflict, Joachim was largely considered to have been a madman, and his research was declared an abomination. In the first game especially, MOMO is seen questioning whether that makes her an abomination, as well. She longs to be more than a Realian - when she's told her heart is an optional function, it upsets her, and she also says that she doesn't like being called the 100-Series, because her name is MOMO.
Perhaps because of what Joachim told her, that she could become a real girl if she did good deeds, she's always happy to help others in any way she can, even if it means going out of her way. She's especially caring towards her friends, and though she sometimes worries that she's being a burden on them, she's grateful for their help and likes being a part of a team.
Most of the time, she has a cheerful and out-going disposition, but when she's feeling down, she becomes quiet and withdrawn. She's one to wear her emotions on her sleeve, which makes her easy to read and has led to her being manipulated in the past. She isn't a very good liar, and when she's nervous she has the habit of swaying on her feet or adjusting her beret. Confrontations are something she prefers to avoid if it's possible, but she does get angry when someone tries to hurt her friends or family, and she'll do her part to stop them, whether that be fighting or providing support.
MOMO places a great deal of importance on family - Juli noted that Joachim programmed MOMO to be stimulated by familial warmth, but it also goes beyond that. She considers other 100-Series Realians to be her sisters, as well as the 99-Series, who were created to gather data for MOMO's birth, and Sakura, Joachim and Juli's first daughter. Her friends are almost like family to her, too, and she's very loyal to them. Despite being told over and over again that Joachim caused the Miltian Conflict and was a destructive lunatic, MOMO believed in him, insisting that her daddy was a good person who wouldn't do that, and though some thought it was blind faith, it turned out that she was right.
In some regards, MOMO acts like a little girl, from calling her parents Mommy and Daddy to giving the cyborg Ziggurat 8 the nickname Ziggy, but she is also a capable navigator and fighter, and Juli describes her as a thoughtful, dependable young woman. She's seen death and destruction first-hand, and those events have helped to shape her into a brave and responsible individual.
By the end of the series, MOMO has matured into a more confidant young woman than she was before. She's found her family with Juli and Ziggy, and she has friends who accept her as MOMO and care about her feelings. She's become a real girl, with her own heart and soul.
THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE: Since the departure of the Elsa, MOMO had kept herself busy. At first building a new universal network to replace the now-defunct U.M.N. seemed like an overwhelming task, but with the help of Scientia, who had always advocated the creation of another network, a starting point had been found, and the Federation Government had volunteered the crew of the Dämmerung to assist them. To MOMO, it still seemed rather daunting, but her friends believed in her not to fail, which gave her all the motivation she needed. Having Juli and Shion's friends from Vector to help her gave her a boost in confidence, too, so she had begun her part in the new network's formation eagerly.
Life on the Dämmerung had been strange at first, since she had always thought of Second Miltia as her home, but she was getting used to it more and more with each passing day. The crew had been very accommodating - Juli, Alby, and she had been given a room together, and, to MOMO's delight, Ziggy had been placed close to them, as well. She had even been treated to a small tour of the ship, including the office that had formerly belonged to Wilhelm. It had been emptied of what little belongings Wilhelm had stored there, all except for the Compass of Order and Chaos. After seeing first-hand the effect its powers had had on Voyager and Canaan, MOMO and Ziggy felt that it was best to leave it be for now. With the defeat of Zarathustra and the death of Wilhelm, its powers might have been lessened or vanished altogether, but until an analysis was done, no one felt that it was a risk worth taking.
The ship had been picking up evacuees from Second Miltia and Fifth Jerusalem each week, and MOMO, wanting to help, had spent the time she wasn't working in front of a computer helping them to settle in. She was making her way back from showing a mother and her son to their living arrangements, Alby trotting behind her, when she passed one of the computer rooms and paused. It was getting late, and she had been planning to return to her room, thinking that Juli would already be there, but no; her sensors told her that her mother was still working. A small frown crossed her face. She admired her mother for many things, her dedication included, but MOMO didn't want Juli to overwork herself. When the doors slid open for her, she stepped inside, surprised to find her mother had fallen asleep, her head resting on the keyboard akin to how one might use a pillow.
With a smile, MOMO gently moved her guardian to another chair and covered her up with a blanket. Alby jumped up onto Juli's lap and curled up to sleep, causing MOMO to giggle softly before she sat down. "Mommy," she whispered, "I'll work hard too, so for now, have a good rest." Turning to face the computer, she brought up what her mother had been working on and began to type.
FIRST-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE: What's going on? This doesn't look anything like the Dämmerung... but how could I have left? A warp transfer shouldn't be possible without the U.M.N.! ... Mommy? Ziggy? Are you there? Even Alby's gone missing... oh, I hope they're all right.
... Right. I know Ziggy will take care of Mommy. First I have to find out where I am, and then I can get back to them! I can do this.
INTENT: I love the Xeno series and MOMO in particular - I was drawn to her by the kindness she exhibits towards others, as well as her inner strength and growth as a person. I could see her forming bonds with the residents of Paradisa, as friends, allies, or enemies, and I hope to further explore her character as well.