MOMO

MOMO (Multiple Observative Mimetic Organicus) Mizrahi is a fictional character/reference from the Xenosaga series. She is a Realian—more specifically, a prototype 100-series Observational Realian—developed with special technology to combat Gnosis and utilize the Hilbert Effect. She was created with the appearance and personality of a little girl, and like all Realians, she never ages or otherwise changes from her manufactured appearance.

Basic information

*Sex: Female
*Height: 4' 8" (141 cm)
*Weight: 79 lbs (36 kg)
*Age: Appears around 12
*Hair: Pink
*Eyes: Gold
*Voice Actress (Japanese): Rumi Shishido
*Voice Actress (English, "Episode I") : Sherry Lynn
*Voice Actress (English, "Episode II", "Episode III"): Christina Puccelli
*Voice Actress (English, "Anime"): Brittney Karbowski

Backstory

Originally, MOMO was created by the scientist Joachim Mizrahi for the purpose of "reincarnating" his U-DO infected daughter Sakura Mizrahi. However, following Sakura's death, Joachim Mizrahi seemed to become even more obsessed with resurrecting his dead daughter. As in the tale of Pinocchio, Mizrahi told the developing MOMO that if she did good deeds, one day she could become a real human girl; that she could actually become Sakura. It is not entirely clear whether or not Mizrahi really attempted to incarnate Sakura's spirit into MOMO through the power of the Zohar, or if such an attempt was successful. Even so, MOMO's birth is known to have coincided with the massive gnosis invasion that occurred on Old Miltia.

Following the Miltian Conflict, MOMO's "sisters," the Kirschwassers, who were constructed for the sake of gathering data for her development, were taken by Albedo. MOMO was rescued by Galaxy Federation forces, and sent to live with Juli Mizrahi on Fifth Jerusalem. Programmed with the behavior and emotions of a twelve-year-old little girl, MOMO considered Joachim Mizrahi and Juli Mizrahi to be her parents.

Aside from her pink hair and the yellow eyes which mark her as a Realian, MOMO is an exact physical copy of Sakura. Because of this, Juli acted indifferently towards MOMO, and avoided her. To Juli, the creation of MOMO was a monstrous attempt by Joachim Mizrahi to replace their deceased daughter with an artificial doll. So although MOMO often wished for affection and attention from Juli, she was rejected, causing her much sadness. MOMO was also disturbed whenever she heard her father referred to as a madman due to his reported role in the Miltian Conflict.

It was not until MOMO's near death during "Episode II", that Juli realized how much she really cared about MOMO. Through discussion with Ziggy, Juli came to accept MOMO as a second child rather than a replacement. For the first time, Juli saw that MOMO was a very different person from Sakura, but still lovable.

Aside from her guardian Juli Mizrahi, the two most important figures in MOMO's life are Ziggy and Jr.

The cyborg Ziggurat 8, given the nickname "Ziggy" by MOMO, frequently serves as her bodyguard. He was originally assigned by Juli Mizrahi and the S.O.C.E. to rescue the kidnapped MOMO from the U-TIC base known as Pleroma. They have since developed a father/daughter relationship (although occasionally the games have jokingly suggested that Ziggy is more like MOMO's dog). In "Episode III" Ziggy is the co-pilot of MOMO's E.S. Zebulun.

MOMO has also become very attached to the URTV known as Jr. When Sakura was alive, the URTVs had been involved with her treatment at the Yuriev Institute. During that time, Jr had fallen in love with Sakura, and had promised to protect Sakura's "little sister" and mother. Opinion varies widely whether or not Jr's strong feelings for MOMO are brotherly or romantic. It does seem to get more and more obvious that MOMO's feelings for Jr. are not sisterly.

MOMO has often been central to the storyline because she contains the Y-Data. This has made her the target of several kidnappings and attempted kidnappings by Albedo and U-TIC. During a near fatal Y-Data extraction in "Episode II", she almost destroyed her own mind to prevent Albedo's implanted virus from stealing the data. However, Albedo still obtained the Y-Data from MOMO when he threatened Jr. This allowed Albedo to unlock the U.M.N. gate to Old Miltia. After these events, MOMO asked permission from her mother to assist Jr in investigation of Old Miltia with E.S. Zebulun and Ziggy.

Left at the dawn of a new era after the events at Michtam, MOMO began to work with Ziggy, Juli and the others in order to rebuild the world, firm in her belief that the construction of a new network was one path to saving the world. She believed that such a network promised a reunion with those who had already departed.

Influences

The story Mizrahi tells MOMO during her development (that if she does good deeds she can become a real human girl) hearkens back to the classic tale of "Pinocchio".

In "Xenosaga Episode I", MOMO seems to have been designed as an homage to the magical girl genre. Her outfit was made to resemble a futuristic Japanese schoolgirl's uniform, her weapons appear as magical rods and later as an Ether-based composite bow, and among her Ether skills is the ability to transform into a more powerful version of herself, complete with a colorful costume. When she transforms, it is accompanied by a henshin sequence. Even her name may be a pun on one of the early magical girl shows, "Minky Momo" (or, indeed, Namco's own "Wonder Momo" arcade game). It is interesting to note that the name of MOMO's physical model, Sakura Mizrahi, might also be a reference to a magical girl, specifically Sakura Kinomoto (of "Card Captor Sakura" fame). Her design in the later games in the series, "Episode II" especially, do not emphasize this aspect of her character as much.

"Momo" is also a 1973 German fantasy novel by Michael Ende. In the story, Momo is a mysterious little girl with an extraordinary ability to listen. Her presence has the power to solve problems and rekindle relationships, but her world becomes empty of imagination and people trade away all traces of their personality.

Weapons

As mentioned above, in "Xenosaga I" MOMO's weapon appears to be some sort of short mystical rods. The rods could be used to hit the enemies or have the ability to shoot some sort of musical or petal themed laser beams at the enemies.

In "Xenosaga II" and "Xenosaga III", as mentioned above, she has discarded the magical rods and replaced them with an Ether-Based Composite Bow. This causes all her attacks to become long range.

MOMO's Ether Bow in Episode II bears the name "LEGOLAS" on its surface. MOMO starts with her ether bow again in Episode III, this time the name of this default weapon is officially Compound VI.

Trivia

*Unlike Shion and KOS-MOS, MOMO's Episode I voice actress, Sherry Lynn, did not return to reprise her role for Episode III.
*In Japanese, "Momo" means peach or peach blossom. It should be noted that Sakura is Japanese for cherry blossom. Furthermore, the series of Realians that were originally based on Sakura's form and used to create MOMO are known as "Kirschwassers". 'Kirschwasser' is a German word for cherry brandy (literally, "cherry water"). Also, Albedo takes to calling MOMO, "ma pêche", French for "my peach", partially in reference to her name, partially as a sinister nickname (the very similar word "péché" means "sin" in the same language).