Kyoko Mori is a character from the epic space adventure Space Pirate Captain MacTaggart. She is the Chief Engineer on board the Stellar Typhoon, and one of the major protagonists.
Persona[]
Kyoko Mori is the very shy and sweetly spoken niece of Jaws MacTaggart, and acts as the Chief Engineer onboard the Stellar Typhoon. In common with many residents of the Hinode Cluster, Kyoko is quite proficient technologically, and she can usually be found tinkering with some contraption of her design. However, the nature of her work means that Kyoko tends to shut herself away from the world at large.
Perhaps because of this, Kyoko tends to have a very unique perspective on the world she lives in. Things which seem normal to other people are completely absurd to Kyoko, like the concept of scented shampoo, or pre-packaged bags of ice. However, she isn't stupid by any means, and in fact can be very intelligent and insightful at times.
Kyoko has few friends, but those she does have, she cherishes as if they were members of her own family. One of her closest friends is Leslie Kennedy, her immediate superior onboard the Stellar Typhoon. Kyoko empathized with Leslie's dark past, and offered herself as a shoulder to rest on in times of trouble, although Leslie can often be seen returning the favour more often. Another of Kyoko's friends is Alasdair Geddes, her Assistant Chief Engineer, and in fact she has steadily become an item with him.
Kyoko acts as a peacekeeper to her friends, and their enemies, and also as a meditating force between people of opposing factions who'd be tearing each others throats out without her interference. However, she tends to get upset by conflict, and will try to avoid it if she can help it, but if this isn't possible, she will get involved.
Kyoko has rather old fashioned tastes, preferring, for instance, to listen to the music her parents grew up with. Her musical taste is one of the things that endears her to the similarly old-fashioned Alasdair, with Baker Street being a mutual favorite.
Kyoko is also a keen rail enthusiast, thanks to her mother, and in her spare time can almost always be found with some book or magazine on the subject. She also has a copious collection of models of all kinds, many of which she made herself. As well as this, Kyoko sometimes makes trips to film and photograph aspects of the different railway systems, not only in her home system but across the galaxy.
Physical Description[]
In comparison to most other characters, Kyoko is pretty diminutive, only standing at 2 foot 10 inches tall. She rarely considers her height to be a problem, except for when she has to be lifted up by Alasdair when they kiss, as she only comes up to his shoulders. However, her short height is compensated for somewhat by her also having the largest breasts out of the main female characters.
Kyoko has violet eyes, and long raven black hair. She ties this up in a ponytail using one of a large collection of hair bands. Kyoko's demeanor is very beautiful and graceful, but she can be serious when she has to be.
Kyoko can generally be seen wearing bell bottom jeans and a plain white t-shirt, over which she sometimes wears a Bert Raccoon style hoodie. On her right arm she wears an armband with her name written on it in Japanese kanji, in common with the other members of Jaws' crew.
Besides her normal clothes, Kyoko will sometimes don the traditional kimono for special occasions. She also has a martial arts gown that she exercises in, sometimes alternating between this an a black ninja outift.
Kyoko's night-wear tends to vary, but she most commonly wears either a set of pink pyjamas or a pink silk nightie. However, Kyoko has increasingly taken to sleeping in a set of red lace underwear, given to her by Alasdair as a Valentine's Day gift, whenever she goes through one of her naughty phases.
Kyoko wears a thick pair of glasses, which reinforce her nerdy image. She also has a bent ear (thanks to an incident at school), on which she wears a single earring. This gives the impression that the earring is weighing her ear down.
Background[]
Kyoko having a bit of fun with Alasdair (artwork by Jake Elmer)
Early Life[]
Kyoko was born in the Port of Minato, a city on the planet Tenchō, in the Hinode Cluster. She is the youngest of six children, including (from oldest to youngest) Hiro, Akiko, Shigeru, Kazuko and Noriko. Her parents are Saburō and Kumiko Mori (Née Kaizoku). Saburō runs an interstellar haulage and salvage company, while Kumiko is a locomotive driver in the Minato Dockyards.
Although one gets the impression that Kyoko lives an impoverished life, in fact it was quite the opposite. Since both her parents had high paying jobs, Kyoko and her siblings were able to live quite comfortably. Kyoko was (and still is) very much the baby of the Mori family, being adored by her parents and looked down upon (but not necessarily in a bad way) by her older siblings.
Even at a very young age, Kyoko was very good with technology, and could often be found inventing some revolutionary gadget. In elementary school, Kyoko was that nerdy kid we all knew at school, and was sometimes the target of some rather vicious bullies. However, Kyoko did have one friend, a vixen by the name of Bunko Kondō, who kept her safe, and acted as someone for Kyoko to confide in.
However, in junior high school, the pair began to drift apart, mainly because Bunko was jealous that Kyoko was developing faster than her. Tensions came to a head when Bunko tried to claim that she'd experienced a growth spurt overnight. Kyoko got the last laugh, though, during a swimming class. When Bunko attempted to show off with a high dive, not only did her top come off, but she inadvertently revealed that she'd been stuffing shirts down her top to boost her womanly assets. The pair (of friends) broke off their friendship after this incident.
With no friends to help her through the rigours of school life, Kyoko felt that
she was as good as dead. But she needn't have worried. Her natural beauty and developments, which had alienated her from Bunko, now enabled her to become the object of affection for many of the boys (and even some of the girls) in her senior high school, and though she wasn't a fan of her bustiness, she was welcoming of the attention.
Kyoko seeks Alasdair's comfort during a visit to the chilly ruins of Glasmuir railway station (artwork by Jake Elmer)
Joining the Stellar Typhoon[]
Nothing much happened in Kyoko's life until late 3006, when she was visited by her aunt Keiko, better known as Jaws MacTaggart. Jaws had recently lost her right arm in a katana battle with her rival, Princess Midori, and she hadn't quite adjusted to life with one arm.
At the time, Kyoko had been developing a robotic arm as part of a school project, and Jaws took interest in her work. She commissioned Kyoko on the spot to create an artificial limb replacement for her arm. Even though she was never given a deadline, Kyoko worked hard to have the arm created in time to give to Jaws as a surprise Christmas present.
Impressed by Kyoko's speed and efficiency, Jaws took her on as her resident tech-girl aboard her cruiser, the Stellar Typhoon, employing her services to create several weapons to use on her enemies, as well as to maintain and improve the Typhoon's various weapons and systems.
Kyoko led a relatively sedentary-if rather lonely-existence until 3009, when Alasdair Geddes was made a part of the crew. She fell in love with him the moment she saw him, and then again the moment she heard him. Needless to say, she was delighted when Alasdair was made her Assistant Chief Engineer. Though their relationship is at the moment strictly professional, per request by Alasdair, the promise of moving on to bigger things is there...
Kyoko receives a much-needed massage from Alasdair. (artwork by Jake Elmer)
Trivia[]
- Creator Craig Black has said that his decision to make Kyoko a Japanese character stems from the Japanese being well known for their technological achievements. Black has also admitted that Kyoko is his idea of a good girlfriend; sweet, shy, preferably with glasses, but still strong-willed and independent.
- Artist Jake Elmer has cited Kyoko as his favourite of the series' characters, and is in fact an indirect co-creator; it was him who suggested that Craig Black should create a character responsible for maintaining Jaws MacTaggart's robotic arm.
Creators' notes[]
- Jordann Edwards had pointed out that he'd like to have Janice Kawaye (My Life as a Teenage Robot, HiHi Puffy AmiYumi) on board as the voice of Kyoko.
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