Character

Nana

ナナ

Nana (ナナ, Nana) is a character in DARLING in the FRANXX. She was the parasite manager of APE's combat headquarters' and in charge of the parasites in Mistilteinn. Nana is an adult woman with long, wavy brownish-red hair and teal-green eyes. She wears the standard APE senior uniform. Nana is shown to be a very caring and loyal person. As a caregiver to the parasites, she is committed to their safety and is available to them when they face professional and personal problems. She is well-liked and respected by Squad 13, as they were excited to see that she will be in charge of them, as Nana has known them since their infancy. She also cares deeply for the children and worries about their welfare, which is seen when she gets worried when Ichigo tries to pilot Delphinium all by herself in Episode 2. Despite being close to the children, she is not above scolding them for misbehaviour and disciplining them for it, particularly with Zero Two, and seems to fill in the role as a mother figure. However, she also values her orders and the plantation to the point of resorting to make difficult, if not heartless, decisions, as shown in Episode 09, when she is willing to leave Goro behind in order to defeat the Klaxosaur and protect the plantation at the worst case scenario. Despite her noble opinions fondness for the parasites, she is not without demonstrating her personal opinions. After Squad 13 survives the battle of the Gran Crevasse and they are ordered to be left alone as part of an experiment on their human emotions, Nana worries the children will fall out of favour with Papa should they be allowed to demonstrate their true feelings. However, seeing them thrive in their brief period of peace irritates Nana and she strongly voices her disapproval over their behavior that is considered a violation against regulations. She shows this when she berates Kokoro for wanting to have a baby and falling in love with Mitsuru. However, she undergoes a massive change after witnessing the children’s brief peaceful lives; despite undergoing the procedure to become immortal and emotionless, she relapses into puberty and is briefly kept in isolation. During this period, she has painful flashbacks from her time as parasite, in which she was in a happy relationship with her partner and was devastated when he was killed. Because of this, Nana feels she has lost her purpose in life and prefers to be abandoned. However, when she sees the dire situation the children are in, she starts to feel remorse for how she treated as tools for warfare and goes as far as to comfort them. She then shows a deeper understanding of the children and develops a desire to protect them and their future, as she no longer wishes to watch them hurt themselves any further for the sake of others who don’t acknowledge their existence. As she sees the children grow up and work hard to restore society and the planet, Nana feels proud for their achievements and develops an obligation to continue watching the world.