Name:
Sousuke Sagara
Name:
Sousuke Sagara
Alias(es): Kashim, Military Maniac
Age: 16
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Gray
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 145.5 lbs
Blood Type: A
Family: orphaned
Status: Sergeant in Mithril
Quote: "It's not a problem."
Anime: Full Metal Panic, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, Full Metal Panic: the Second Raid
Voice: (English) Christopher Patton (Japanese) Tomokazu Seki
History and Personality:
Sousuke is an approximately 16 (or 17) year old sergeant within the paramilitary counter-terrorist force, Mithril. He is a member of the SRT (Special Response Team) of the Western Pacific Battle Group "Tuatha de Danaan". His call sign is Uruz-7 and his ID number is B-3128, and he operates as team pointman as an Arm Slave (sophisticated military mechas) specialist.
In addition to being a capable Arm Slave pilot, Sousuke is a specialist in Arm Slave operations and maintenance, improvised explosives, small arms, survival training, anti-armor combat, trap setting and camouflage. Additionally, he is proficient in logistics, demolitions, breach and forced entry, covert intrusion, and hand to hand combat. His background and experience as a guerrilla fighter, and later a mercenary soldier has made him much more sensitive and knowledgeable about tactics and methods more commonly used by guerrillas than government trained regulars.
Sousuke is unfortunately not very good at social interaction of any kind. He constantly causes many problems for Kaname Chidori due to his military nature. Even in school he carries a gun on him although it is loaded with non-lethal shells. He is almost always serious and tends to overreact to anything he might be a potential threat. He is also very bad at blending in with normal members of society due to his nature (i.e. following Kaname with stalker-like aspects and jumping off a train to follow her). This is shown throughout the main series in multiple episodes, and the Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu! Series focuses mainly on this aspect.
On the battlefield Sousuke is nearly the perfect soldier. He is talented, skilled, can endure a great deal physically, and it has been stated by his superiors that he never lets emotion cloud his judgment. Specifically, Kalinin states that Sasuke has never let his personal feelings interfere with his objective. Though his growing attachment to Kaname has caused him to occasionally abandon this creed he still generally maintains a level head in combat situations.
He is of Japanese descent, but has no clear nationality. His exact age and date of birth is also unknown. He has a small, visible cross-shaped scar on his left chin. He is literate and fluent in both English and Japanese. He can also speak (but not read or write) some Russian, Farsi (Persian), as well as several local Afghan dialects fluently. He was raised as a Muslim, but only very loosely follows the Sharia. He is shown eating pork, but refuses alcohol due to his religion and his dislike for its taste. He is capable of reciting the Qur'an from memory, but finds poetry and classic Japanese literature extremely difficult to comprehend.
Sousuke Sagara was saved as a child from a crashed Boeing 747 jetliner in the North Pacific by then Spetznaz officer, Andrei Kalinin. His age at this time was approximately 2 or 3 years old. The Soviet nuclear submarine's rescue action was unauthorized, and later officially denied. Officially there was no Soviet involvement, and thus no rescue operation nor survivors. Kalinin's efforts to locate living relatives of the child also failed, as no record of a passenger named "Sagara" existed. It remains unknown if Sagara is the maiden name of Sousuke's mother, or if the name written upon the child's clothing is even the child's real name.
From there, Sousuke was taken into the Soviet state child care system as an orphan. He was later taken into a KGB training program for child soldiers. At (approximately) age 8, Sousuke was trained as an assassin and deployed into Afghanistan (Helmajistan in the anime) to assassinate a local leader of the local resistance army. He failed to assassinate his target, and instead was adopted by the man, General Majhid, he was sent to kill. He became part of the resistance army, fighting against the invading Soviet forces. He learned the use of small arms and basic survival techniques during this time as a guerrilla fighter.
Raised as a guerrilla fighter, he became a skilled AS pilot and soldier. During this time, the Soviet offensive grew in magnitude with the fresh success of the new Arm Slaves. In the early stages of the war, Kalinin's forces captures Sousuke. Sousuke and Kalinin are reunited for the first time, eventually leading to Kalinin's decision to desert the Soviet army. Kalinin gives specialized Spetznaz training to Sousuke, from which Sousuke learns Japanese and some Russian.
Following the defeat against the Soviet army, Sousuke becomes a mercenary eventually escaping the country with Kalinin. However, they were separated afterwards in Cambodia. Sousuke has since been involved with most of the wars in the Middle East, collectively called the Fifth Middle East War. He built a solid reputation as a soldier during this period, gaining a group of friends. He spent five years as a soldier for hire, further building his combat and survival skills.
Sousuke was eventually scouted and invited to become a Mithril operative. While showing unspectacular skills at the training camp, his actions in the line of fire with a Rk-92 Savage convinces Melissa Mao to include him in the elite SRT unit. It is at Mithril that he is reunited for the second time with Kalinin, this time his commanding officer. As a SRT member he is trained to operate the M9 Gernsback Arm Slave, serving as pointman.
The story of Full Metal Panic follows Sosuke's actions with Mithril, cementing his position as an elite Arm Slave pilot. In the Siberian tundra, an extraction operation of personnel from a secured research facility was detected and attacked by a mixed force of a Hind Gunship Helicopter and Rk-92 Savages. His actions in a M-9E was directly responsible for securing the survivor for extraction.
As the first person to operate it, Sousuke becomes the only Mithril pilot who is able to use the ARX-7 Arbalest. This increases his importance within the organization from a mere sergeant to the only soldier who can pilot an Arm Slave equipped with a Lambda Driver (a special device which turns the power of the pilot's will into actual physical power). His current mission to protect Kaname forces him to cope with an unfamiliar and peaceful lifestyle, forcing many awkward and comical situations. His over-protectiveness usually annoys Kaname to no end, but later in the story, they grow fond of each other and express their feelings for each other.
Initially, Sousuke was confused with the Lambda Driver-equipped ARX-7 Arbalest and its quirky AI, AL. Because of its unreliability in the field and his own internal conflicts, he came to despise the AS. However, Sousuke later resolved his own issues and came to accept the Arbalest and put up with Al. Since then, he has been able to utilize the Lambda Driver at will by concentrating.
He was known under various identities, such as Sousky Seagal (temporarily) and Isegar Kashim.
Relationships: Though Sousuke is socially inept he is surprisingly well-liked by most of his classmates, especially Kaname's best friend Kyoko, who seems to have an obsession with taking pictures of his various antics, and Shinji, a classmate who is almost as obsessed with all things military as Sousuke is. However, Sousuke would be unlikely to call either a friend.
Sousuke's unit is comprised of himself, Sergeant Kurz Webber, and Sergeant Major Melissa Mao. It was Melissa who recognized his abilities and pulled him into the special unit. Kurz and Melissa spend a lot of time teasing Sousuke (but he usually doesn't get it) and seem to treat him with older sibling-like affection. Sousuke respects both, but it is obvious that he does not understand most of their behavior as both are loud, unruly, and their humor runs toward dirty (or in Kurz's case, downright perverted...)
Having been under Kalinin's command at three separate stages in his life the two share a special understanding and bond, though neither would be likely to give the relationship a definition there is an obvious concern and measure of care, especially in Kalinin's actions regarding Sousuke.
The Captain of Mithril's attack Sub, and Sousuke's larger Mithril unit, is Captain Teletha (Tessa) Testarossa. She is the same age as Sousuke and, though his feelings are never made clear, she declares herself in love with him (though not to him) and warns Kaname that t hey are rivals for his affections. Occasionally Tessa's actions make Sousuke decidedly uncomfortable, but this seems to stem from his belief that they are inappropriate coming from a commanding officer rather than from any emotional attachment or awkwardness.
Possibly the only person Sousuke would admit to having an emotional attachment to, or any sort of friendship with, is Kaname Chidori - his current assignment. Though he attempts not to become involved in her life any more than strictly necessary he soon learns that this is not possible. Kaname is smart and independent and can be very nice, but she has a temper and Sousuke's odd behavior drives her crazy. AS her feelings for him grow she has trouble understanding that his commitment to his duty as a soldier has very little to do with what he may or may not feel for her. She tends to view his sudden absences as personal slights rather than as him simply doing his job. Sousuke tries to conform to many of Kaname's wishes, and he fears her wrath, but only occasionally submits to her will in the face of his duty. He is, however, forced to admit that (if only to himself) that she is more than just a mission to him, though he likely is not familiar enough with his own emotions to realize he is likely falling in love with her. Their awkward attraction and almost romance is a main source of both comedy and angst in the series.
Skills: Trained in many hand held weapons as well as an Arms Slave specialist, Sousuke is also trained in hand to hand and is the only member of Mithril capable of piloting a Lambda Drive equipped AS. The reason for this is unclear as all other characters introduced who possess this ability have been given medical treatment to be able to do so.
Why we love him: He's adorably clueless, and completely serious about everything. But in his element there's no one better and he's always genuine. Sure he'd be an embarrassing date, but he more than makes up for that in other ways.
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