Jormungand - Character Spotlight: Mildo - Motive

Back in the second episode of Jormungand we were introduced to the rival arms dealer group known as CCAT, led by Curry and his two bodyguards. In this article, we will look at bodyguard Mildo, a woman who is all kinds of quirky with a hint of sociopathic impulsiveness.

First interpretations of her character make her seem pretty straightforward. She shows an interest in both Koko and Valmet that borders on sexual tension, she kills people who piss her off, and she has a complete and utter obsession with knives. After her sparring match with Valmet, however, we begin to garner some insight into her personality and rationale:

"Expectations? I gave up on those a while ago. People who do what we do learn early not to expect much from this ugly, empty world, because we're empty too. Maybe it starts the first time we hold a weapon, or the first time we kill someone. We tell ourselves it's to protect our family, our country, but it doesn't take long to realize that's bullshit."

For her, violence and death are simply things which occur in nature; there is no inherent meaning to them. Her desire to become good at it merely stems from her willingness to embrace a carnal desire. To her, there is no motive other than, "it feels right."

This is in stark contrast to the theme of Opportunity Cost which presented itself through the eyes of Koko Hekmatyar (see the "Pulsar" article for more information). Mildo's perspective is to do something for its own sake, rather than for an explicit or implicit gain. In this case, violence simply lends itself to us because we are animals at our core, and the ability to perpetuate this violence grants us clarity.

If we were to take it to its logical conclusion, we would find ourselves again discussing the Criminal MO, which you can find information for littered throughout the WLIA blog at this point. The bottom line is that certain things are what they are, a side effect of existing, and our sole motive for carrying them out is because it is our preordained mission to do so. Very rarely do we realize that our forward path is not consciously decided. In a way, it's kind of a terrifying notion, this violent autonomy.