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Mariko Takeda is the older daughter of Takeda, who discovered a parallel world. On Earth, her body was in a coma but on the Fast World, she became as a powerful vigilante called the Black Queen.

Personality[]

Mariko has few conscious appearances so her personality is hard to decipher. Her father declares her a brilliant, dedicated genius with the makings of a great scientist better than himself.[1] Her sister was very close to her and implies that she leaned on Mariko whenever she was overwhelmed. With Mariko gone, Shinobu couldn’t cope with the stress of life.[2] The best authority of Mariko’s character was her lover, who declared she was a person who taught him how to love[3] and that, when faced with a choice between love and science, she picked love then as well.[1]

From her actions, Mariko was generous and selfless, deeply worried for the people of the Fast World when the White Queen was becoming dangerous. For their sake, she became the Black Queen they needed to fight back, forming an army behind her, even with the potential loss of her own life.[3] Mariko is not above holding grudges, as she told W.I.T.C.H. without hesitation that her father was their enemy and was surprised that Shinobu wanted to rescue him when he was in trouble. Shinobu likewise pointed out that Mariko didn’t really want to sacrifice her father either despite what his actions had cost her.[4]

Plot[]

Mariko was the oldest daughter of the rich Takeda family; her father was the cryogenics scientist Foreman Takeda while her mother, Mia, was a housewife. She had one younger sister, Shinobu, who she was very close to. Mariko worked as an assistant to her father with his research on the cold and with the COLDNESS machine.

One day while running tests with the machine, they accidentally opened a portal into another dimension, the Fast World, one which vibrates with a speed so high that it is impossible to reach using normal means. Mariko passed through the portal and was enchanted with the magic of the land, feeling more alive in the Fast World than she had in her own. She also met and fell in love with Fast World native Liam, who showed her his magic while she taught him about love.[3] At some point after entering the Fast World, Mariko became trapped there, separated from the father on the other side. Evidence suggests she made a choice to stay with the man she loved rather than focus on her scientific career, a decision that Foreman would not accept.[1]

While living in the Fast World with Liam, Mariko became concerned about the rising threat of the White Queen Arkaam. To protect the world she now called her own, Mariko made the choice to become the Black Queen, a mysterious figure that battled against the White Queen to someday liberate the world.[3] At some unspecified point during all of this, Foreman Takeda made an attempt to forcibly bring Mariko back to her original dimension but she instead became split, her spirit remaining in the Fast World with Liam while her body was taken back to her father.[5] Foreman mistook her soulless body as her being under a sleeping spell caused by magic. He preserved the body in cryogenic fluid and began a mission to destroy all magic on Earth hoping it would “free” Mariko, without knowing it was pointless.

Mariko in cryo-stasis

Mariko is in a cry-stasis unit within her father's laboratory.

Mariko’s spirit, meanwhile, continued to act as the Black Queen, raising an army of soldiers and battling against Arkaam’s control. She never told any of them of her split condition, perhaps thinking they wouldn’t accept her.[3] However, without a physical body her spirit was in danger of fading away which greatly worried her lover. Liam made the choice to side with Foreman Takeda to battle against W.I.T.C.H. in the hopes to someday reunite Mariko's pieces and save her life.

Eventually, the actions of Foreman led to Liam kidnapping William Collins and bringing him into the Fast World as bait to lure W.I.T.C.H. in as well. They were followed soon after by Mariko’s sister, Shinobu.[6] When Mariko learned that her sister had arrived, she sent her soldiers to locate the girl though ultimately found Shinobu herself as well as infant William. The sisters reunited, but there was no time to linger as Mariko had to face Arkaam in their last decisive battle. She absorbed Shinobu and William into her magical armor to keep them safe.[3]

At the same time, W.I.T.C.H. had met the White Queen and as they were ignorant of her true wicked nature, they agreed to help her fight the war as they misunderstood that Mariko had kidnapped Will Vandom's brother, William.[3]

On the day of the war, Mariko led her Black Army to the White City using various flying machines. Mariko's powers let her push back the ruthless White Army, but they were still overpowering her own soldiers with W.I.T.C.H. assisting the White side. Mariko tried a sneak attack against Cornelia Hale, but the Guardian used her ribbon weapon to rip Mariko’s armor apart. This revealed to everyone that Mariko had no solid body. Arkaam pointed this out to the Black Soldiers, asking how they can trust a ruler who is “only a ghost”. The Black Army became disillusioned in their commander and were quickly defeated by the White Army; Mariko was also captured though she managed to keep the pieces of her armor. All of them were moved into Arkaam's floating prison with Mariko sealed in a special cell, where Shinobu and William were also trapped with her.[3]

Mariko Takeda & Liam

Mariko and Liam

They were eventually rescued by Liam and W.I.T.C.H., using the White Queen's seal which he had stolen. Mariko was overjoyed to finally reunite with her lover and showed W.I.T.C.H. that she had been protecting William, to Will’s relief. They readied to sneak off but the White Queen arrived at this point, revealing she wanted to trap them all together. She unleashed an artifact to freeze everyone, though Shinobu's new powers of invisibility let her go uncaught. Arkaam threw her Exile Sword at Mariko, hoping to destroy her, but Liam used all of his strength to jump in the sword’s path which destroyed him instead. Mariko cried for his loss but could do nothing as Arkaam aimed the sword her way once again.[3]

Luckily, Shinobu was able to sneak around the Queen and destroy her artifact which set the captives free. The Guardians trapped the White Queen in an ice block to stall while they took the Takeda sisters away, Hay Lin carrying Mariko who was still too distraught to run. They freed the remaining Black Army soldiers and all escaped on a street car, though Mariko warned they would need to jump off soon. Shinobu worried of how they would manage this but Mariko didn’t reply, seeming far too lost in the wake of all that had happened.[3]

It's assumed that after everything they had learned, the Black Army no longer saw Mariko as their leader. Sometime after leaving the White City, the Fast World natives went their own way while Mariko joined Shinobu and W.I.T.C.H. in trying to find a way back to Earth. Without Liam, she had no more reason to remain in the Fast World and as her body was destabilizing at an alarming rate, she needed to rejoin her other side before she completely vanished.[4]

The Earthlings ran to the forest where W.I.T.C.H. had entered, trying to find their portal but it had already disappeared. The White Army caught up but after dodging their spinning blade weapons, the portal reappeared (thanks to Matt Olsen) and they escaped, Mariko finally returning to her home dimension. Arriving to Foreman's lab, Mariko found her preserved body and melded her spirit back into it, becoming whole and saving her life. However, this caused a power wave that triggered an avalanche in the lab, trapping Foreman Takeda who had been frozen by his own robots while protecting Shinobu. Shinobu worried for him but Mariko assured their dad was safe in the ice. She led her little sister out of the building, declaring Shinobu was her number one priority right now.[4]

Shinobu led Mariko to their new home in Heatherfield and they were met at the door by Mia, who was overjoyed to have both of her daughters back again. They explained to Mia that Foreman was behind everything but was also trapped in ice; Shinobu insisted they could help him if they hurried. The two went back out into Heatherfield but ran across the White Queen's transmigrated army who were vibrating buildings to steal them from Earth. When W.I.T.C.H. flew by, they explained the situation to them and watched as W.I.T.C.H. tried to fight back, though the army’s incorporeal state meant they could not hit them. In contrast, the White Queen’s sword was still deadly and Mariko saved Taranee Cook from the blade that had destroyed her lover. Leaving W.I.T.C.H. to stop the White Army, Mariko and Shinobu made their way back to Takeshita Inc to free their father from his ice prison. Mariko was surprised that Shinobu was so determined to rescue him after all he'd done while Shinobu mentioned Mariko was still attached to their father as well. Besides, neither wanted him to be dragged over to the Fast World. The two arrived to Takeshita Inc and managed to free their father but also found an unknown boy in the ice.[4]

W.I.T.C.H. defeated the White Queen's army, though it’s unclear if they were destroyed or just sent back to the Fast World. The Guardians returned to Takeshita Inc to find the sisters and Will reunited with the boy who was her boyfriend, Matt Olsen. When they asked about Foreman Takeda who they had never met before, Mariko declared he was the person responsible for everything, not willing to forgive him so easily. Shinobu chimed in that he was also their father as she didn’t want the Guardians to be too hard on him. Forced to face what he'd done, Foreman tearfully grabbed Mariko's hand, declaring he did everything out of love for her. Mariko seemed at a loss for how to respond while W.I.T.C.H. and Matt left the family alone to settle their affairs.[4]

It is unknown if Mariko ever forgave her father for all he'd done to her and Liam. It is also unknown if she ever returned to the Fast World which might now be without a ruler or once again in White Queen Arkaam's hands without Mariko to protect it. The Takeda family were never mentioned again.

Powers[]

In her disguise as the Black Queen, Mariko possessed some magical powers, though this might be due to her magical armor. While wearing it, she could put up forcefields and create energy blasts that rivaled those of Arkaam. Her armor also allowed her to keep her incorporeal body together as well as carry other living creatures with her, unharmed.[3]

Gallery[]

Images of Mariko Takeda.

References[]

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