Colonel

The Colonel (大佐, Taisa), real name David (デイヴィッド, Deividdo), is a supporting character in Black★★Rock Shooter DAWN FALL.

Appearance
The Colonel is a well-built man with light gray hair slicked back and a bandholz beard, but his face is usually covered up by the elastomeric respirator that he wears on the field. As with other serving members of the Peacebuilding Forces, he wears an olive green shirt with a tactical vest, military trousers, as well as black gloves and combat shoes, both of which have orange accents on them.

Personality
Outwardly, the Colonel appears as a cold-hearted man who is willing to make sacrifices in order to accomplish his missions. However, according to Bolt, he is not unfazed from witnessing atrocities committed by his enemies, but he nevertheless prioritizes duty over personal desires for vengeance to achieve greater goals. This sometimes come in odds with Empress' belief, however, as she wants to save as many people as possible, which forces him to follow her own plans as a diversion from their journey towards the Orbital Elevator.

History
David joined the Peacebuilding Forces sometime after its establishment, and it was around that time he also started dating Jessica. Rumors of their relationship spread, and Ahmed Kanu cautioned Jessica to keep her involvement in Project Elysion a secret from him or anyone else in the Peacebuilding Forces due to the sensitivity of her job. The two eventually got married, had a daughter named Charlotte, and moved to Bogotá, where David served as the Orbital Elevator's garrison.

Despite the fact that AI core of Project Elysion, Artemis, went rogue and turned against mankind, David's family remained together by 2051, spending time in camps away from Unmanned Forces' attacks. However, sometime later he lost both his wife and daughter to the Education Institution. Believing they were murdered in a raid, David held deep grudge against the cultists.

By 2062, David was the leader of the Peacebuilding Forces special forces, and was referred to as the Colonel. He and his team found an amnesiac Empress in the open after detecting her reactivation in the Peacebuilding Forces' network, and told her that she needed to destroy the Orbital Elevator that Artemis planned to complete before it was too late.

When the Education Institution sent Charlotte, now brainwashed and modified into a pseudo-Hemiteos Unit, to attack Empress, the Colonel was shocked to learn the true fate of his daughter. The Colonel pleaded Empress to spare Charlotte as Empress fires her coil gun on his daughter, which barely missed and ultimately caused the latter to flee. After battle, Monica and Empress assured the Colonel that they would save his daughter one day.

The Colonel also learned that his wife was a failed subject of Hemiteos Unit conversion as well as a Hemiteos Unit researcher at Lighthouse No. 8. Despite knowing that the incubation pod left by his late wife could reverse his daughter's ability, he prioritized having Empress restored to her original power with it, and guarded the laboratory himself as a last line of defense. Charlotte broke through the Peacebuilding Forces' defense and confronted the Colonel, but was stopped by Empress, who had her memory and power fully restored by then, in the nick of time. Although Charlotte's pseudo-Hemiteos Unit conversion was reversed to some extent with the help of the incubation pod afterwards, the mind control was not yet undone. This meant Charlotte continued to see everyone else other than the Education Institution as enemies, and stabbed her own father while he shielded her from falling boulders. Despite being wounded by Charlotte, the Colonel survived the ordeal and his selfless love for his daughter finally broke the brainwashing on her.

After a brief reunion with Charlotte as a family, the Colonel participated in Peacebuilding Forces' assault on the Orbital Elevator, leaving his daughter behind. His vehicle was disabled by Lunatic in battle, and as he climbed out of the wreck he saw Empress confronting Lunatic, with the latter telling him and Empress how the completion of the Orbital Elevator would allow Moon Flakes to bombard Earth and exterminate mankind. As Empress battled Lunatic, the Colonel had to fight for his own life, but he was surrounded and outnumbered by the Unmanned Forces. Despite Charlotte flying in and trying to rescue his father, the Colonel took a shot in the torso while trying to reach out to her. Knowing that he would not survive the battle, he distracted Charlotte away by feigning a request to fetch a weapon for him, while he took a look at the picture of his wife and daughter one last time before committing suicide.

Development
According to screenwriter Makoto Fukami, the Colonel was added to DAWN FALL at the personal request of huke, who as a military enthusiast wanted to have a relatively old soldier to pair up with Black★Rock Shooter in a series.

Trivia

 * The Colonel's given name David was first shown upon the character's reveal in February 2022. However, this name had been removed from the official website by March 2022.

Gallery

 * Full article: Colonel/Gallery