Nana

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 a tall woman with long, wavy brownish-red hair that reaches to her upper back and teal-green eyes. She wears the standards APE senior uniform. As a child and teenager, her hair was shoulder length. 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, who 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 and Kokoro try to pilot Delphinium and Genista respectively by themselves. When any of the children fall ill or show signs of being unwell, she shows concern for them by tending to them and offering to run tests on them to make sure they are in good health. Despite their initial short upcoming, Nana has strong faith in the parasites and believes the plantation will be in good hands because of them. However, while she is curious to why Hiro is only compatible with Zero Two than any other pistil, she hesitated to let him ride with her because of Zero Two’s reputation as the ‘Partner Killer’ and the third ride may result in his death. However, because Strelizia is necessary for the plantation’s security, she reluctantly relented but remained wary after he miraculously survived his third ride. She also has qualms about letting the children have any experience or knowledge of the outside world, as she is concerned the children will question the ideals of APE and forget what their priorities are. 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 to die in order to defeat the Klaxosaur and protect the plantation at the worst case scenario. Despite her noble opinions and 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 demonstrates this by showing her angry disapproval towards 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 replaced with the New Nana. During this period, she has painful flashbacks from her time as parasite. It is revealed that, as a child, she was a happy young girl who always smiled. Upon becoming a parasite, she fell in love with her partner and she was in a happy relationship with her partner but she was devastated when he was killed, which, as intimacy between parasites is forbidden, resulted in her memories being altered. After regaining fragments of her forgotten memories, Nana lost faith in herself as a caregiver and felt she has lost her purpose in life, and prefered to be abandoned. However, when she sees the dire situation the children are in due to the lack of guidance and affection from the adults before the children were betrayed and abandoned by Papa, she starts to feel remorse for how she treated them as tools for warfare rather than as individuals and she goes as far as to make amends to them by comforting 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. To encourage them as they make their first steps into adulthood, she supports all their dreams: when Hiro decides to go to space and rescue Zero Two, Nana doesn’t object his decision and not only expresses her amazement that he is right about the klaxosaurs being humanity’s ally against VIRM, but she accompanies him and the squad so ensure they survive the battle. When Kokoro and Mitsuru decide to keep their baby, Nana shows her support for their decision by being the one to help with their child’s delivery. She also supports Goro’s decision to leave in order to gather supplies and rescue survivors. 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.