Rico

Voiced by: Kanako Mitsuhashi (Japanese), Luci Christian (English) in Gunslinger Girl
Voiced by: Anri Shiono in Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino

Born with severe birth defects confining her to a hospital since birth^[1], Rico's parents signed her over to the SWA on her eleventh birthday, where she was given a new lease on life due to her cybernetic operation. Rico loves her new body and life at the SWA, viewing each day as a blessing. She maintains a happy disposition, despite her treatment as a machine by her handler, Jean. With the exception of a statement Angelica made in the anime, Rico is the only one who clearly remembers her past: that she was in a hospital, that her parents fought, and where her father works^[2]. Her name, like Henrietta's, is derived from "Enrica" (Enrica → Enrico → Rico). Rico's preferred weapons are the CZ 75 pistol and the Dragunov SVD. In the anime, she wields a Beretta SCP-70/90, and is additionally shown training with a Galil MAR carbine in volume one and a Benelli M4 super 90 shotgun in volume six. Her preferred support weapon is the MG3 multipurpose machine gun, which has only been used twice thus far (first in volume three, then again in four). She felt happy when she was praised by Jean, but when told about Angelica's death by illness she didn't feel sad. Telling Jean the same happened when Elsa died, Jean hugged her and told her not to think like that. She blushes and thinks that Angelica's death had a lesser effect then being hugged by Jean.


credit:wikipedia

emperor wrote:Her name, like Henrietta's, is derived from "Enrica" (Enrica → Enrico → Rico).

No proof for that one. Doesn't say so in canon.

no prove, but probably. since jean also loves his sister. well, she is the second best cyborg only after Triela, don't count the 2nd gen.

she has no expression either emotion due to the "conditioning". well, but even jean can't stop her feeling for him. lol

Ok, since we’ve started to learn a good bit more about the girls and their handlers in recent chapters and episodes, I thought it might not be a bad time to revise their sections in the wiki. I also took the liberty of trimming them a bit, since in many cases they were more plot summaries than character summaries. Let me know what you think, please.




Confined to a hospital since birth by severe birth defects [1], Rico's parents signed her over to the SWA on her eleventh birthday for cybernetic augmentation. Rico loves her new body and life at the SWA, viewing each day as a blessing, and maintains a happy disposition. Rico appears to be the only cyborg who retains a clear memory of her life before the SWA [2]. Rico's preferred weapons are the CZ 75 pistol and the Dragunov SVD. She has also been shown wielding a Beretta SCP-70/90 and is additionally shown training with a SIG SG 551 carbine and a Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun. Her preferred support weapon is the MG 3 multipurpose machinegun.

Looks good. Post it, I say!

Confined to a hospital since birth by severe birth defects [1], Rico's parents signed her over to the SWA on her eleventh birthday for cybernetic augmentation. Rico loves her new body and life at the SWA, viewing each day as a blessing, and maintains a happy disposition, despite her treatment by her handler, Jean. Rico appears to be the only cyborg who retains a clear memory of her life before the SWA [2]. Rico's preferred weapons are the CZ 75 pistol and the Dragunov SVD. She has also been shown wielding a Beretta SCP-70/90 and is additionally shown training with a SIG SG 551 carbine and a Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun. Her preferred support weapon is the MG 3 multipurpose machinegun.

Can we adding the reason behind in her mind when she killed Emilio?

I'd rather not, since that goes to story and plot.

...and maintains a happy disposition, despite her treatment by her handler, Jean...

It's a minor point, but I'd probably qualify the nature of Jean's treatment for the sake of clarity. Say maybe, "... happy disposition, despite her handler Jean being a harsh taskmaster and emotionally distant." That should cover both Jean's lack of the bonds that we've seen in other handlers, and his demandingly utilitarian use of Rico.

How bout we just end with "maintains a happy disposition."

Kiskaloo wrote:How bout we just end with "maintains a happy disposition."

I may be wrong Kisk, but I’m thinking you’re about ready to start tearing your hair out.

Danjo3 wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:How bout we just end with "maintains a happy disposition."

I may be wrong Kisk, but I’m thinking you’re about ready to start tearing your hair out.

Just make sure to lock the door to the clock tower.

There's a lot of rico lovin' going on in the petra thread so I thought i'd post here a little,poor rico only has 10 posts in her thread!

I mean really,10 posts!



I was a bit indifferent to her when I first watched the show but the more I see her the more she grows on me.

Like some kind of cute little moss! D'aww!

Sending a hug to Rico.

somehow i can see Rico doing the Heeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrssssse Johnny ! from the Shining

Totoum wrote:There's a lot of rico lovin' going on in the petra thread so I thought i'd post here a little,poor rico only has 10 posts in her thread!

It's because she is creepy scary.

If I saw her -IL TEATRINO- version walking down the street towards me, I'd not only cross to the other side, I'd also chose a different city.

Poor Rico. She has the second least amount of posts in her thread! Hopefully Yu Aida gives us some Rico stuff. Maybe a whole volume dedicated to her?

Yet I have this odd feeling that she's gonna get offed sometime very soon...

Hmm... I would show Rico some more love, how can I top killing off Jean and letting her go on an adventure with Emilio, as I did in my currently incomplete fic.

Well actually, thanks for taking out the gunner on that APC so my OC could get a clean shot at it (in my other incomplete fic (What, I'm busy with reality at the moment).

Love ya in a completely NON-PEDO way, Rico!

Five_X wrote:Like some kind of cute little moss! D'aww!

If moss pointed a semi-auto at you...

Kiskaloo wrote:How bout we just end with "maintains a happy disposition."

"...and she lived maintaining a happy disposition there after."

It does not sound quite the same for some reason.

ElfenMagix wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:How bout we just end with "maintains a happy disposition."

"...and she lived maintaining a happy disposition there after."

It does not sound quite the same for some reason.

I agree. Sounds odd, like something out of a fairy tale. "...and little Rico lived happily ever after. The end."

Everybody is kind of missing the point...

By our standards poor Rico should be miserable, yet she is the happiest character in the story. She's Yu's social commentary on the idea that "ignorance is bliss."

Professor Voodoo wrote:Everybody is kind of missing the point...

By our standards poor Rico should be miserable, yet she is the happiest character in the story. She's Yu's social commentary on the idea that "ignorance is bliss."

Yeah, I'd run with that, in that being able to move etc is still better than what she knew before. I always took her persistent happiness to also (or at least partly) be a result of her much stronger conditioning, in that she's not going to see anything wrong no-matter how miserable she should be.

I don't really agree, Alfisti. Rico's situation isn't a case of "ignorance is bliss" - if anything, she knows more about her situation than any of the other girls, as she's the only cyborg not to get a mind-wipe - she remembers her pre-Agency life (such as it was).

Rico is grateful for the gift of freedom that the Agency has given her, relishing a life of colours beyond beige and sensation beyond scratchy hospital sheets. Her dream in "Dum Spiro, Spero" reinforces this - Rico is terrified of becoming immobile again, and so Agency work is a lifeline which really preserves her sanity - usefulness as a cyborg is an opportunity to continue expressing her fully-articulated body. While the episode with the hotel bellhop shows that she still only has the run of a gilded cage and that it's conditioning which suppresses any frustration with its limits, there's no reason why the core of her feeling isn't genuine.

Rico doesn't take comfort in ignorance - her attitude is more one of sangfroid, fully conscious of her situation but not at all daunted by it. She swells with simple optimism, and, well, cheerfulness. Maybe it's not so complex and affecting and profound that you could write a psychological or dramatic paper on it, but Rico puts great emphasis on living rather than being set in a character's single pose. She could be mawkish and dreary and mordant and maudlin about giving up her childhood to be a government assassin...

...but why?

What's the use of worrying? Why be sad when you can be happy? Who's to say that she should be miserable? She's her own being, and meeting the world with a smile rather than a scowl makes that being so much more fulfilling.

If anything, Rico seems the most well-adjusted member of the whole Agency.

This I agree in part with... maybe I wasn't explicit enough with what I wrote: Yes, Rico is grateful for her freedom (such as it is) at the Agency, it's a better life than being stuck in her hospital bed and maybe she is a naturally up-beat person.

However, I think by the same token she still hasn't ever known a "normal" happy childhood, and hence is maybe resonably ignorant of what that is like. Essentially she's never had anything but situation that's worse than life at the agency to compare against. Yes, she can compare how the other girls are treated and she can see how other kids behave when she's out on missions... but seeing/hearing about something isn't the same as actually experiencing it. Her interactions with the bellhop to me would reinforce the idea that she's not known or been exposed to "normal" life in that she is unable to comfortably hold down one end of the conversation.

By the same token I guess it could be argued that Henrietta or Angelica may have trouble in the same situation, but Triela has proven herself socially competent.

But I digress.

Essentially what guess I'm trying to say is that yes, Rico has every reason to be optimistic and love life and as you say: emphasise being able to live. However, I also think that she's not beenexposed to any situations in a manner which would cause her to think otherwise (and the conditioning handles the rest).

Robert Frazer wrote:I don't really agree, Alfisti. Rico's situation isn't a case of "ignorance is bliss" - if anything, she knows more about her situation than any of the other girls, as she's the only cyborg not to get a mind-wipe - she remembers her pre-Agency life (such as it was).

Rico is grateful for the gift of freedom that the Agency has given her, relishing a life of colours beyond beige and sensation beyond scratchy hospital sheets. Her dream in "Dum Spiro, Spero" reinforces this - Rico is terrified of becoming immobile again, and so Agency work is a lifeline which really preserves her sanity - usefulness as a cyborg is an opportunity to continue expressing her fully-articulated body. While the episode with the hotel bellhop shows that she still only has the run of a gilded cage and that it's conditioning which suppresses any frustration with its limits, there's no reason why the core of her feeling isn't genuine.

Rico doesn't take comfort in ignorance - her attitude is more one of sangfroid, fully conscious of her situation but not at all daunted by it. She swells with simple optimism, and, well, cheerfulness. Maybe it's not so complex and affecting and profound that you could write a psychological or dramatic paper on it, but Rico puts great emphasis on living rather than being set in a character's single pose. She could be mawkish and dreary and mordant and maudlin about giving up her childhood to be a government assassin...

...but why?

What's the use of worrying? Why be sad when you can be happy? Who's to say that she should be miserable? She's her own being, and meeting the world with a smile rather than a scowl makes that being so much more fulfilling.

If anything, Rico seems the most well-adjusted member of the whole Agency.

She's well adjusted, but is adjusting to be happy with a horrifying lifestyle something that's right for a human? Rico evidently thinks so, but her conditioning-enforced logic is that of a child; she's happy to 'follow the rules' and kill people just because she's told to, without any kind of self-criticism. So rather than being ignorant, she's failing to engage fully with her situation.

As for her being happy, I'm sure she isn't conciously scared about her own eventually breakdown and hospitalisation, or death, but we know she doesn't want to die, and the possibility has to be niggling at the back of her mind. Whether she could keep smiling if she was immobilised again, we'll have to see, though she'll have happy memories and hopefully some nicer visitors than her real parents.

In light of this I see Rico as the ever-present optimist of the group. I personally think that she is the rare few that remembers what her life was before the Agency and thus knows that it could be worse.

So if Jean smacks her up from time to time; Rico's mental response is most likely, "It could be worse."

boomer_gonz wrote:So if Jean smacks her up from time to time; Rico's mental response is most likely, "It could be worse."

Being smacked by Jean VS. Being immobilized in a hospital bed for 11 years, listening to your parents argue about what a burden you are.

I’m surprised Rico doesn’t say, “Thank you Sir, may I have another!”

Not that I personally condone hitting children, but you know what I mean.

Danjo3 wrote:

boomer_gonz wrote:So if Jean smacks her up from time to time; Rico's mental response is most likely, "It could be worse."

Being smacked by Jean VS. Being immobilized in a hospital bed for 11 years, listening to your parents argue about what a burden you are.

I’m surprised Rico doesn’t say, “Thank you Sir, may I have another!”

Not that I personally condone hitting children, but you know what I mean.

Yes, I know exactly what you mean!

It is sad that some children are in such a condition that they would take any form of physical contact, no matter how harsh, and take it as a form of love! Believe me, I have seen it many times in my life time.

ElfenMagix wrote:

Danjo3 wrote:

boomer_gonz wrote:So if Jean smacks her up from time to time; Rico's mental response is most likely, "It could be worse."

Being smacked by Jean VS. Being immobilized in a hospital bed for 11 years, listening to your parents argue about what a burden you are.

I’m surprised Rico doesn’t say, “Thank you Sir, may I have another!”

Not that I personally condone hitting children, but you know what I mean.

Yes, I know exactly what you mean!

It is sad that some children are in such a condition that they would take any form of physical contact, no matter how harsh, and take it as a form of love! Believe me, I have seen it many times in my life time.

The sad thing it that he may very well care more about here then ther parents did...

ElfenMagix wrote:It is sad that some children are in such a condition that they would take any form of physical contact, no matter how harsh, and take it as a form of love! Believe me, I have seen it many times in my life time.

That makes me think of Henrietta in chapt. 21, wear she jumped up on the the curb hoping Jose would grab her arm.

So Rico didn't seem to feel much when Angelica died, or with the recent deaths in the series. Triela seemed to feel for Henrietta's memory loss, so Jean has a right to be proud of Rico's exceptional lack of empathy. Presumably he wishes he could blot out his own feelings in the same way, though at the end of chpt 64, he clearly failed; and went back to being mean to Rico. Two very self-centred characters, but hey, they're pretty.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call Rico 'self-centered'. She just doesn't know better, is all. Girl's thinking is warped.

Nachtsider wrote:I don't know if I'd go so far as to call Rico 'self-centered'. She just doesn't know better, is all. Girl's thinking is warped.

What do you expect for somebody being in a hospital bed for 11+ years with what little human contact she had was her mother and father fighting over her.

The term "self-centered" carries with it a very negative connotation which Rico does not deserve, but Ghost has a point...and Elfen's observation about the hospital bed is a big part of her reason for it.

I allude to the Emilio incident, and the final line in that chapter. By reminding us that she "loves (her) life at the Social Welfare Agency very much" Rico is confirming that Emilio's life was not as important to her than her own freedom. Sure, she was being watched, and if she hadn't shot Emilio someone else would have, but Rico sure as hell isn't going back to that hospital bed...even if it means blowing away every innocent bystander in Italy.

Professor Voodoo wrote:The term "self-centered" carries with it a very negative connotation which Rico does not deserve, but Ghost has a point...and Elfen's observation about the hospital bed is a big part of her reason for it.

I allude to the Emilio incident, and the final line in that chapter. By reminding us that she "loves (her) life at the Social Welfare Agency very much" Rico is confirming that Emilio's life was not as important to her than her own freedom. Sure, she was being watched, and if she hadn't shot Emilio someone else would have, but Rico sure as hell isn't going back to that hospital bed...even if it means blowing away every innocent bystander in Italy.

That's a good point. I never thought of Rico like that before. It's like she doesn't know what to feel with her emotions sometimes too.

Rico is still cute!

That is all.

Five_X wrote:Rico is still cute!

That is all.

Only Series 1 and manga Rico. She's hella creepy in -IL TEATRINO-.

Manga Rico is creepy as hell at one point, when she's waking up from bed. Oh, dear god...

I liekd Il Teatrino Rico. I didn't find her creepy. Though then again, I have a high "creepy threshold".

Time to poke the hornet's nest and stir up some debate;

Since Rico's mind was not wiped when she was converted, do you think she can remember her dreams? That would make her unique amongst the cyborgs. Chapter 28 and the corresponding anime episode (OVA 1) seem to suggest that she can remember.

When Petrushka asks Rico and Henrietta why she feels so tired after the "mental examinations" in Chapter 42, Rico states "It's because we have scary dreams", though she does add "even though I don't remember them well".

Triela can remember dreaming about Raquel vaguely too, can't she? Only Henrietta manged to block her traumatic experience until the agency made her remember in that recent chapter with the water tank.

And didn't Angelica just have happy dreams about her dog? She probably didn't dream about good times with her family, since that would link to the repressed memory of her father running her over.

Even if Rico remembers her past, she's probably supressing her fear of becoming helpless and being rejected, causing it to filter through in dream.

Do people think Rico remembering her past was intentional or non-intentional on the part of the SWA?

Ghostfriendly wrote:Do people think Rico remembering her past was intentional or non-intentional on the part of the SWA?

I believe it's unintentional, but some have put forward that Jean allowed Rico to remember to control her through fear - "Disappoint me and I'll take away your mobility."

Very few ppl in real life remember their dreams. The same applies to the GsG girls. Yu only has shown that a couple of them remember their dreams, and those dreams bother them. Again, like real life- to many those dreams that are remembered as often the ones that shook their beings to their internal cores.

Kiskaloo wrote:

Ghostfriendly wrote:Do people think Rico remembering her past was intentional or non-intentional on the part of the SWA?

I believe it's unintentional, but some have put forward that Jean allowed Rico to remember to control her through fear - "Disappoint me and I'll take away your mobility."

Jean could probably manipulate a terrorist like that, but to do that to Rico I think he would need to understand her feelings more than he's willing to, and treat her as person rather than a tool.

Elfenmagix wrote:Very few ppl in real life remember their dreams. The same applies to the GsG girls. Yu only has shown that a couple of them remember their dreams, and those dreams bother them. Again, like real life- to many those dreams that are remembered as often the ones that shook their beings to their internal cores.

If the dream represented something they'd been suppressing before they remembered it, it certainly would shake them.

Ghostfriendly wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:

Ghostfriendly wrote:Do people think Rico remembering her past was intentional or non-intentional on the part of the SWA?

I believe it's unintentional, but some have put forward that Jean allowed Rico to remember to control her through fear - "Disappoint me and I'll take away your mobility."

Jean could probably manipulate a terrorist like that, but to do that to Rico I think he would need to understand her feelings more than he's willing to, and treat her as person rather than a tool.

Jean pretty much did treat Rico as a tool, to be thrown away when no longer of use and replaced. He seems to have mellowed out a bit after Angelica died.

Kiskaloo wrote:Jean pretty much did treat Rico as a tool, to be thrown away when no longer of use and replaced. He seems to have mellowed out a bit after Angelica died.

Because he was pleased with Rico for taking Angelica's death in such an unemotional and tool-like way. Strange man.

With Beatrice and Angelica, Jean seems to be going out of his way to shield Rico from the death of other girls. If she really started being afraid of her own death, he would call her useless, but maybe he wouldn't order her to keep on fighting anyway. Having Rico as a 'tool of vengence' means he can think of revenge when he thinks of Erica and Sophia, and not the pain and fear they must've suffered when they died.

Ghostfriendly wrote: Only Henrietta manged to block her traumatic experience until the agency made her remember in that recent chapter with the water tank.

Alternately, we've only now gotten a glimpse of her dream. Henrietta may have been dreaming that every night since her conversion.

Professor Voodoo wrote:

Ghostfriendly wrote: Only Henrietta manged to block her traumatic experience until the agency made her remember in that recent chapter with the water tank.

Alternately, we've only now gotten a glimpse of her dream. Henrietta may have been dreaming that every night since her conversion.

Based on the effect it seems to have had on her, I would be more inclined to think this is something new...

Kiskaloo wrote:

Professor Voodoo wrote:

Ghostfriendly wrote: Only Henrietta manged to block her traumatic experience until the agency made her remember in that recent chapter with the water tank.

Alternately, we've only now gotten a glimpse of her dream. Henrietta may have been dreaming that every night since her conversion.

Based on the effect it seems to have had on her, I would be more inclined to think this is something new...

It maybe new that she remembers. But everybody dreams in their sleep; its part of the sleep cycle under the R.E.M. cycle. On average a person goes through 6 - 10 REM cycles in an average 8 hour sleep; as my memory serves me right on this. There is on record of 1 man who does not REM Sleep due to a head injury (surviving a bullet through the brain). As I remember (info needs to be verified), he died within a year from not being able to REM in his sleep. He also showed signs of deteriorating metal stability, degrading to full blown insanity in the end.

So sleep and dreams, as intergral as they are to the human condition, the girls must have it. Whether they remember their dreams remains to be seen; as most people on the planet do not remember their average dreams on most nights.