Forte Stollen

Infobox animanga character
name = Forte Stollen
series = Galaxy Angel


caption =
first = Episode 1, Galaxy Angel Season 1
last =
creator =
voiced by = Mayumi Yamaguchi (Japanese)
Alison Matthews (English)
age = 22 (26 in GA II)
born = nihongo|Forte Stollen|フォルテ・シュトーレン|Forute Shutōren is a fictional character from the anime, manga and dating sim series, Galaxy Angel.

In the anime

At age 22, Forte Stollen is first lieutenant and squad leader of the Galaxy Angels. A strong and brusque woman, she often leads the Angels into combat to victory, and usually gets their mission objectives completed. Her most notable characteristics are her above-average height and strength, large breasts prominently displayed by her elegant dress, superior marksmanship and knowledge of firearms, and left-eye monocle.

Forte's life is rather complex and immersed in neverending conflict. She first learned how to use guns as a child trying to survive in the city where gunfights were frequent. A chance encounter with Huey O. Volcott brought her into the military academy and out of the harsh urban environment. In her military career prior to assignment to the Angels she served as infantry, her most notable role being the neutralization of experimental killer robots gone awry. At some point later on, however, she joined a revolutionary organization and fought for them before leaving.

Forte, as Ranpha once put it, is a "man among women." She has a rough personality, believing in the virtues of brute force and generally leaping into things without much of a plan. Prone to violence, she often beat people up when annoyed or sometimes point her gun at others. She keeps a massive collection of firearms and artillery in her room and underneath her dress, her most favorite piece being a revolver she keeps at her side. Fond of drink, Forte often spends her free time chugging alcohol when not cleaning her guns. She is also prone to spending great deals of money at casinos.

After her service in the Galaxy Angels, at age 26 Forte was given command of a battleship and had personally trained Lily C. Sherbet to lead the next generation of Angels.

In the manga

She is the big sister of the Angel Troupe, often advising others and trying to help them with their problems. Forte also helps Takuto and gives him a little advice when it comes to "relationship problems". She is the one who has the least intimate relationship with Takuto in the manga, acting more as a big sister to him.

In the games

Similar to the anime, and is the leader of the Angel Troupe. Being the oldest, Forte acts as the big sister of the group, often giving advice to others. Like many of the other characters in the first game, Forte is less than impressed with the appointment of Takuto as the commander of the Elsior and bluntly tells him that she will not consider him her commander until he proves himself. He eventually does, and she begins to trust him as much as she would her teammates on the Angels.

Of all the couplings, Takuto and Forte is the most mature, with Forte often advising Takuto.

In the first game "Galaxy Angel", if Takuto chooses to take her to the dance that occurs halfway into the game, the two of them share a drink together instead of dancing. Later on, after Forte is injured and Takuto is visiting, Forte mentions how the others think the two of them are a couple and asks if he's against the idea (predictably, he says no). When Elsior was in danger and surrounded by enemies, Forte uses her Strike Burst to destroy all of them. At the end of the game, Forte is assigned as the Vice-Commander of the Elsior while Lester is transferred elsewhere (to the regret of one of the operators, Almo, who has a crush on him).

In Moonlit Lovers, Forte is concerned with the arrival of Karasuma Chitose, a beautiful young recruit who seems to be just the kind of girl Takuto likes. At one point, during an invasion of fake Angels, it seems as Takuto thought that Forte and Chitose were willing to shoot each other. However, Takuto was wrong, and just to make sure, Takuto eventually manages to reassure her and the two take a vacation together.

In Eternal Lovers, Forte is still together with Takuto on the Elsior and leads the Angel troupe. After her Angel Frame is remotely hijacked and forced to fire on the Elsior, Forte develops an inability to fire guns or fight, as she is crippled by the fear that she will hurt those she cares about. After her return to the Elsior after recovering from her injuries after being shot down, she rallies the Angel Troupe and leads them from the Elsior. With Takuto's help, she manages to overcome her problem and swears to fight to protect Takuto and returns to active duty.

This, incidentally, means that Forte is the only Angel whose biggest story issue in Eternal Lovers (in her romantic story route) isn't Takuto's fault. In Milfeulle's and Mint's romantic storylines, their psychological problems result from "injuries" received from being shot down by Takuto; in Ranpha's, Vanilla's, and Chitose's romantic storylines, their psychological problems result from unstated fears about, and/or doubts in, Takuto's romantic behavior. But in Forte's case, her newfound and temporary fear of guns stems entirely from Forte's guilt over what the Happy Trigger was forced to do on account of sabotage.

It should be noted that out of all six members of the Angel Troupe, Forte is one of only two Angels who does not, in all three games of the original trilogy, have a computer graphic depicting her kissing Takuto (the other is Mint). The first game has a picture of Ranpha and Takuto kissing by accident, the third game has a picture of Milfeulle and Takuto kissing at night in the park, the third game has a picture of Vanilla and Takuto kissing under the same circumstances as in the Milfeulle storyline, and the same goes for Chitose. But none of the Forte-centric computer graphics the player can earn show Forte and Takuto kissing. The only visual depiction of Forte kissing Takuto on the cheek is not in a computer graphic but rather in an "animated cutscene" at the very end of Galaxy Angel Eternal Lovers.

Galaxy Angel II

In Galaxy Angel II, Forte was one of the two original Moon Angels who did not resign from the military. She stayed on the planet "Celdar" along with Chitose Karasuma and is a guard of a royal family in NEUE. She is responsible for training the new members of the Rune Angel Troupe abroad Luxiole. She is forced to fight against Takuto and the Angels when Celdar is held hostage by enemy forces, who placed planet destroying Crust Breaker bombs around it. She admits to Takuto she is slightly happy about the situation, since she finally has a chance to match wits with the legendary hero Takuto Mayers. Despite having a numerical advantage (700 ships against Takuto and Ranpha's combined fleet of 400), Takuto's strategies prove superior and the Angels destroy the Crust Breakers. Now free to act, Forte rejoins the Luxiole and shares all the information she managed to gather about the enemy.

It should be noted that Forte was seriously trying to defeat Takuto, since if she failed or held back Celdar would be destroyed. She held a sizeable number of her ships back, suspecting a trick by Takuto. She succeeded in seeing through his ploy, but her subordinates, arrogantly underestimating the power of the Luxiole and the Emblem Frames, failed to react in time despite her orders. After her rescue, she happily conceded defeat to Takuto. In response, Takuto congratulated Forte on smuggling data on the Crust Breakers to them via broadcasts, admitting victory might not have been so simple otherwise.

External links

* [http://galaxyangel.wikia.com/wiki/Forte_Stollen Forte Stollen] on [http://galaxyangel.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page The Galaxy Angel Wiki] at [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] .