Marlene Karn (マレーネ・カーン) is a character first mentioned in Yoshiyuki Tomino's Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam novelization. Haman alludes to her in Episode 32 of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, although not by name. She also appears in the Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Deleted Affair: Portrait Of Young Comet and MSV-R Legend of the Universal Century Heroes: Rainbow's Shin Matsunaga manga series.
Personality & Character[]
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History[]
Marlene Karn was the first daughter of Zeon admiral Maharaja Karn. Her beauty had caught the eye of Vice Admiral Dozle Zabi, and she was subsequently taken as his mistress. This was also done to garner protection for the Karn family, whose head, Maharaja Karn, was a survivor of the political purge of Pro-Zeon Zum Deikun loyalists enacted by the ruling Zabi's. In turn, Maharaja was appointed as the regent on the newly-discovered Axis, away from the political infighting in Side 3. While her father was stricken by feelings of guilt as a result of this, Marlene however is treated courteously by Dozle, and often accompanied his wife Zenna Zabi as an attendant.
As the One Year War drew to a close, Marlene fled the Earth Sphere, immediately before the fall of the Zabi family, in obedience to Dozle's wishes. Marlene had always been physically weak. Her younger sibling, Haman Karn, had attempted to prevent her from leaving, due to her weak health. Sympathizing with Marlene's wishes, Haman left the Earth Sphere along with their youngest sister Serrana Karn and father, but still resented Marlene for doing so. Marlene died before reaching the asteroid belt, and Haman became one of Mineva Lao Zabi's attendants in her sister's place.
MSV-R[]
Marlene is the eldest daughter of the Karn family and is one of Dozle's attendants to the Zabi family. In reality, Marlene languished as she was treated more as a political tool, but it was Dozle's warm treatment that caused her to fall for him. In an effort to get closer and usurp Zenna Zabi, Marlene became Dozle's assistant and underwent experimentation to develop her Newtype abilities. When Aurelia visits Solomon to perform in a concert celebrating the birth of Mineva Lao Zabi, Marlene and Haman help the young girl meet her friend Shin Matsunaga. Marlene takes a private spacecraft and departs to the quarters of the Zabi's royal guards. Because she did not have proper clearance, Matsunaga ends up apprehending Marlene's vessel, conveniently solving Aurelia's problem for them.
During the ceremony, a strike force led by Oscar Sigrid raided Solomon. Oscar's platoon proved surprisingly difficult to manage even with Matsunaga and Anavel Gato thanks to the beam weaponry of their starfighters, and Dozle joined the fight with his custom Zaku. This led to disastrous results as Dozle's unit was heavily damaged while the commander was thrown off his unit and knocked unconscious. Marlene was able to sense Dozle's position and rescued him with an MS-05B Zaku I. Afterwards, she returned to Flanagan Institute to finish her tests.
By the time she finished, Marlene was devastated to learn of Dozle's death at the Battle of Solomon. Caring little for the fate of Zeon, Marlene blamed Dozle's death on Matsunaga's team and became increasingly spiteful towards Zenna and Mineva. Marlene took control of a mobile armor, and attacked Matsunaga's party during their attempt to escape A Baoa Qu for Axis. Matsunaga was able to close in on Marlene's cockpit thanks to both cover fire from the Federation forces, and Dozle's spirit distracting Marlene's vision. After critically damaging her unit, Matsunaga offers for Marlene to make amends or retire in peace at Axis, but she flatly rejects his proposal, feeling frustrated to have never proven to be better than Zenna when Dozle was alive. Before her mobile armor's explosions claim her life, Marlene finds Dozle's hand reaching out for her in her final moments.
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Notes & Trivia[]
- In Mobile Suit O Gundam continuity Marlene Karn has also a younger brother who's referred to as Karn Jr., implying that he bears the same name of his late father Maharaja Karn.
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