Gelda (ゲルダ Geruda?) was a Künstler who saved Yoko and Erica from a squad of enemy Martian soldiers during the Terraforming Wars when both girls were a very young age. She subsequently took them into Grünthal and acted as a surrogate mother figure for both girls. Alita considers her to be her master in Last Order, replacing an an unnamed male cyborg who appeared in flashbacks in Battle Angel Alita.
Appearance[]
Gelda was a slim cyborg woman with short, light colored hair. In battle she had the Künstlers' distinctive eye black applied under her eyes and wore a dark colored combat suit that was equipped with the Mauser School's elbow blades. When in Grünthal, she dressed casually. An illustration by Yukito Kishiro for the 2003 Ultra Jump calendar shows her as having white hair.[1]
Gallery[]
Personality[]
Despite her ferocity in combat, Gelda took compassion on Yoko and Erica and brought them into Grünthal. Flashbacks have shown her to be both patient and honest with both girls.
Relationships[]
Alita[]
While their relationship has not been fully explored, it is presumed that Alita was in awe of Gelda's power and speed as a Künstler when she was saved as a toddler. It is believed that the woman was the primary reason Alita became a Künstler herself. These feelings were reciprocated, as Gelda cared for Alita as a surrogate daughter and would instruct her on many forms and techniques as she grew up.
Erica[]
Similar to Alita, it is believed that Erica also saw Gelda as a mentor and mother figure in her life.
Abilities[]
Gelda teaching the Hertza Nadel in a flashback in Phase 17.
A member of the Mauser School Gelda was a highly skilled Künstler, wielding the school's Elbow Blades.[2] She had mastered one of the Panzer Kunst Geheimnisse, the Verschlag and the Hertza Nadel of the Schneider School, suggesting that she was at least at the Höher Krieger level.[3][4]
History[]
Yoko and Erica were children during the Terraforming Wars. They met in ES 373 when a squad of enemy troops tried to force Yoko to walk across a minefield and would have killed her had not Erica intervened.[5] The duo managed to safely walk a hundred steps before they instinctively knew that their next step would be their last. While looking at the sky, they saw two objects falling towards them. One turned out to be an aircraft, the other was Gelda, who swiftly killed the enemy squad and destroyed their armoured personnel carrier with a rocket launcher.
A few years later in Grünthal, Gelda taught Erica and Yoko how to handle their fear.[6] She also passed on to them the Verschlag and Hertza Nadel.
Plot[]
Gelda has appeared in all of Alita's memories when the latter was still a young girl and her eventual fate is a mystery, but her memory remains strong. She was invoked by Colonel Payne during Alita's fight against Toji in the Combat Chamber in an attempt to convince her to quit,[7] and Alita recalled her when Queen Limeira and Zazie departed Leviathan 1.[8] Gelda was one of the many characters from Alita's past shown when Melchizedek reached out to her consciousness after her ego was shattered and her Imaginos Body dissolved following Super Nova's Seca attack.[9]
Trivia[]
- Her name may be a mistranslation of Gerda, as Gelda is not an actual German name.
- Gelda is played by Michelle Rodriguez in the Alita: Battle Angel movie.
References[]
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