Character

Ikuno

イクノ

Ikuno (イクノ, Ikuno) is one of the main characters in DARLING in the FRANXX. She is a former Parasite with the codename "196" of the Thirteenth Plantation, where she's partnered in boy-girl pair with Futoshi to pilot a FRANXX called Chlorophytum. She had Mitsuru as her original partner. Due to her struggling with her sexuality, she shared a stormy partnership with Mitsuru and didn’t know how to express her true feelings for Ichigo. She usually kept her thoughts to herself until Ichigo encouraged her to be more open with herself. She has deep purple hair tied into a short ponytail using a blue butterfly clip and bangs on either side of her weary green eyes. She wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses and has freckles under her eyes. When piloting Chlorophytum, she wears a white bodysuit with light violet accents. During the events of Episode 21, her purple hair turned white. In Episode 24, she is shown to have aged significantly compared to the other parasites, having white hair and is confined to a hospital bed. Ikuno is intelligent, logical, and a very quiet girl who doesn’t speak much with others. She naturally comes off as emotionally detached and serious, and she prefers to keep to herself and maintains an air of poise. She is considerate of her comrades and expresses concern for them in troubling situations, such as Hiro’s fate as a parasite and his decision to ride with Zero Two. She doesn’t mind saying what is on her mind, whether it's a question she wants the answer to, an opinion she holds firmly, or, although rarely, a frustration she can't let go of. She is an avid reader and spends her off-duty time reading. Although she gets along with most of the squad, she has a tumultuous partnership with Mitsuru and they don’t hesitate to show their dislike for each other. They often prefer not to associate with each other, and when they exchange words, there is usually a negative atmosphere between them. When he speaks coldly or mocks her, she never backs down to retaliate with her own mockery towards him. However, she is not completely indifferent towards him and is willing to help him if necessary, even if he refuses her help and treats her coldly. She demonstrates this when she was visibly hurt when he paraded how Zero Two was a preferable partner and when she got worried for him when he fell ill with a fever. To fulfill her duties as a pistil, she is willing to maintain a strictly professional attitude with him while they pilot Chlorophytum together. After they switch partners, they become more civil with each other and, having noticed significant a change in his demeanor from being moody and stoic to friendly and smiling since he paired with Kokoro, she suspected they had become romantically involved. Once this was confirmed, she was not surprised but became very vocal in her support for them. Despite her composed exterior, she is rational and will carefully analyze a situation so she can help conclude a logical solution. Due her keen to be observant, she is strongly opinionated, especially regarding to the pros and cons of both genders. By her own admission, Ikuno loathes the boy-girl pairing system, to the point she openly states she agreed to participate in the Boys vs Girls conflict because she prefered to keep the boys and girls separated forever and she has never harbored any interest in boys. She finds it repulsing when the girls and boys take an interest in one another, and Miku is surprised when Ikuno says she is not interested any of the boys from Squad 26. This causes confusion among her squad mates and she exhibits dismay when she realizes the FRANXX can never function with two pistils, as she attempted to try it with Ichigo as a back-up plan but, in truth, she wanted to see if it was possible to be Ichigo’s partner. Although she rarely exhibits sentimentality, deep down, she secretly hates how she feels. Despite that she is happy for Mitsuru and Kokoro when they find happiness together as a couple, this deeply irritates her because she struggles to accept her complicated feelings for Ichigo and how she can’t have that kind of relationship with Ichigo, who sees her as a dear friend. She later admits to Ichigo that she is attracted to girls and she has been in love with her since Ichigo gave her her name but she is ashamed for this because it makes her feel she is not normal. Despite this, she is comforted and encouraged to not be scared of her true feelings because, while it may be a pain, it’s part of life. Her struggle with her own sexuality tends to have a deep impact on her over concepts such as gender; when Alpha said humans casted their gender aside for evolution because it was a nuisance, Ikuno was enraged and slapped him before attempting to attack him, surprising her friends. With Ichigo’s encouragement, Ikuno becomes more open and sociable, and is willing to take risks for the sake of her friends. This is demonstrated when she goes full power in episode 21 to help Zero Two reach Hiro, causing her health to significantly weaken. She also spends ten years developing a cure for the parasites’ accelerated aging process, although she chooses to keep her condition as a gesture of her surrendering to her fate but also as one of making a significant contribution to her friends so they can all live their lives to the fullest.