Mirenel Linke was a Zirel Central Intelligence Department special officer for the Greater Garmillan Empire. She was one of the few survivors of the genocide that almost extinguished the Zirel race, and was rescued personally by the Garmillas Supreme Leader Abelt Desler together with future Secretary of Propaganda Miezela Celestella. She was an extremely powerful and talented telepath.
History[]
Early life[]
Linke and Celestella in prison
Mirenel Linke was born on Planet Zirel in the early 2190s. When her homeworld was ravaged, she and another Zirellan girl, Miezela Celestella, were imprisoned. Eternal Supreme Leader Abelt Desler, the dictator of the Greater Garmillan Empire, went to free the two children himself. The two would grow up to serve the Supreme Leader and the empire with enormous zeal. Linke would become a special officer in the Central Intelligence Department while Celestella rose through the ranks and became Secretary of Propaganda and Information.[1][3][4]
Psychic attack[]
For this topic in more detail, see Psychic Attack on Yamato
Linke and Celestella in front of the Ghost Link device
In early 2199, at the height of the Great Garmillas War, Celestella devised a psychic warfare plan against the Earthling space battleship Yamato, which had broken the empire's lines of defense. The goal was to project Linke's spirit inside the battleship through an ancient archelian device in the ruins underneath the Balun Military Base. The special officer would hypnotize the ship's crew and take control of its systems to guide it to Balun, where it would be captured.[3][5]
One of the illusions projected by Linke during the attack
Linke and the minister arrived at Balun aboard the Haizerad-class battleship Shangri-La and the attack was launched successfully. However, two UNCN officers were outside the ship at the time, remaining free of Linke's control. While all other crewmembers slept inside Yamato's engine room, reliving memories from their past, the Zirellan lieutenant struggled to keep the two officers under her influence.[3]
Linke's well deserved death
Unbeknownst to both parties, the Third Princess of Iscandar Yurisha had been put in suspended animation aboard the ship, and during Linke's attack, she took control of the body of a young Earthling warrant officer and freed one of the officers, Lieutenant Yuki Mori, from the enemy's telepathy. As Mori entered Yamato's engine room to deactivate the engine and stop the ship from heading into enemy hands, Linke physically manifested her spirit to try and stop her. However, the other terran intervened, activating the ship's wave-motion shield inside the engine section, blocking Linke's spirit. After taking his comrade to safety, the officer reactivated the engine, causing a flow of radiation that instantly destroyed the Zirellan's spirit, killing her.[3]
Legacy[]
Celestella weeps for Linke
Linke's death greatly affected Celestella, who now believed to be the last surviving Zirel. The knowledge she had gathered during her infiltration of Yamato would become essential for the rest of the war. The salvaged information included the design of the crew uniforms and the positions of Yamato's armaments, but most importantly, the presence of an Iscandarian on board. Supreme Leader Desler sought to use the princess to formally announce the unification of Iscandar's empire with his own. To do so, during a later battle, a special forces platoon infiltrated Yamato to kidnap the Iscandarian. However, due to Linke's sudden death, the information received and given to the infiltration squad was not precise, and the team accidentally kidnapped Mori instead of the real Yurisha.[3][5][6][7]
Mirenel Linke in her uniform
Appearance[]
She had yellow eyes and, like other members of her species, pale white skin and light gray hair. Linke kept her hair long and styled it in a frisette.[3] She's as tall as Celestella, at approximately 165 cm.[8]
Like other Zirellans, she had elaborate geometric tattoos on her body.[4] Her uniform consisted of a lilac bodysuit adorned with darker purple, magenta, and silver details. She wore long, dark purple gloves that matched her boots and the belt she secured around her waist. The uniform featured a cut-out design on the chest.[3]
While infiltrating the minds of Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori, Linke disguised her appearance. She took on the guise of an Earthling with black hair and red eyes. In this form, she appeared to Kodai dressed in a plain shirt, her face obscured by shadows.[3]
Linke dressed in lolita fashion with her doll counterpart next to her
Mori encountered her in the same guise, but as an Earthling nurse. In another vision, Linke presented herself as a news reporter, wearing a formal grey suit, with her hair tied up, adorned with earrings and glasses. The dress also once appeared to be black and red. In yet another illusion, she donned a Cosmo Force Type C female uniform.[3]
Linke also manifested as a shadow or dressed in lolita fashion, complete with tall boots, long gloves, and an umbrella. She wore a dark blue dress with white details, puffy shoulders, and a collar reminiscent of her uniform, featuring a silver cross beneath the neckline. Additionally, she appeared as a doll in a maid outfit, similarly adorned with a cross.[3]
In one of her illusions, Linke appeared on the cover of a movie poster, maintaining the same black-haired appearance, though her ears were slightly pointier than those of an ordinary Earthling.[3]
Personality and traits[]
Linke was a dutiful officer, and she admired her superior Celestella like a sister, even being ready to lay down her own life for the Secretary. She showed a cocky demeanor during her infiltration of Yamato, though that could be considered a mere mask put on to intimidate her enemies.[1][3][9][10]
She was a poweful telepath.[3]
Manga[]
Celestella and Linke kiss aboard Shangri-la
The Space Battleship Yamato 2199 manga adaptation shows more of Linke's character. Her admiration for Celestella is characterized as romantic, with the two being in a relationship. Celestella, however, maintains her attraction to Desler as in the anime. Linke is aware of this and shows jealousy in the Leader's regard, often asking Celestella to show her more affection and to call her by her nickname "Nel".[11]
The manga also shows Linke's suffering as she experiences the traumatic memories of some of Yamato's crew members. Despite this, she maintains her cocky attitude when facing Kodai directly.[11][12][13][14][15]
Novels[]
In the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 novelization, Mirenel Linke does not appear directly. However, Celestella is described walking out of the Balun ruins with a bodybag as Elk Domel reaches the base.[16]
Behind the scenes[]
The original draft for Space Battleship Yamato by Leiji Matsumoto included the characters of "Secretary of Propaganda Shaberastar" and her subordinate "Female Soldier Irose". A scrapped episode saw her launching a mental attack on Yamato, only to be stopped by Yuki. At the strong request of Yutaka Izubuchi, the unused episode was used for "The Whisper of the Witch".[17]
Linke was designed by Nobuteru Yuki,[9] and is portrayed by Akemi Okamura in Japanese and Lindsay Seidel in English.[3] Ariel Graham voices kid Linke in the flashback scene shown in "The Planet That We Head For".[4]
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- Her artwork in Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Complete Works Volume 2 depicts her with purple lipstick, similar to that worn by Celestella, but she doesn't have it in her on screen appearance.[10]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Yamato 2199 official website character introduction for Mirenel Linke
- ↑ Day count at the end of "The Wolf from Another Dimension"
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 "The Whisper of the Witch"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "The Planet That We Head For"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Yamato 2199 Scret File 01: The top secret information that backed the covert operation during Domel’s last battle
- ↑ "Point of No Return"
- ↑ "Under A Rainbow Sun"
- ↑ Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Complete Works Vol. 2 p. 153
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Model Sheet Design Collection GARMILLAS p. 174
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Complete Works Vol. 2 p. 152
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Manga ch.29
- ↑ Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Manga ch. 30
- ↑ Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Manga ch.31
- ↑ Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Manga ch.32
- ↑ Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Manga ch.33
- ↑ Space Battleship Yamato 2199 novelization Vol.2
- ↑ Commentary video by scriptwriter Sadayuki Murai
Japanese language information[]
ミレーネル・リンケ Mireneru rinke