Origin
Roberta’s real name is Rosarita Cisnaros, and she is a Colombian native and soldier of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). She was sent to Cuba for training in combat and assassination. A true believer in the cause of revolution at any price. As such, she killed many men, women, and children. The fierceness and ability to follow all missions through without fail earned her the nickname of “Bloodhound of Florencia.” One day when she went looking into the area she was guarding. She discovered what she had been watching over was a drug field. The FARC was in collaboration with the Colombian drug cartel and had been using her as their attack dog. After being disillusioned with her life and all the people she has killed, she left the FARC and was on the run. However, her terrorist actions had made her an internationally wanted criminal.
She eventually reached Venezuela at the home of a friend of her father Diego Jose San Fernando Lovelace, the head of one of South America’s thirteen families. Before she could leave and return on the run, Diego insisted that she stay the night for a proper supper before she could leave. The one night became several days at the glorious mansion till she agreed to stay. Not as Rosarita, but as Roberta the head maid of the Lovelace Family. Her home making skills were non-existent but she served as a bodyguard. During this time she was happy and became especially close to Diego’s young son, Garcia. She dotted on the well behaved young master and would play with him, often allowing him to beat her in arm wrestling.
When the drug cartels came to pressure Diego, Garcia was abducted. Roberta quickly packed several weapons and went in search of the young master despite Diego’s objections. After extracting information from several sources, her journey led her to the oceanfront city in Thailand called Roanapur, a dirty city filled with crime and corruption.
Creation
Roberta (ããã«ã¿, Roberuta) is a supporting character in the Black Lagoon series that was created by Rei Hiroe. The series first began serialization in Shogakukan’s Sunday GX magazine on April 19, 2002. In a later interview, Hiroe has mentions that Roberta is a violent parody of Mary Poppins and goes so far as to call her “Death Poppins”.
Her first appearance was in Black Lagoon Volume 1 CH. 2 “Rasta Blasta PT. 1”.
Many of the images used in Roberta’s initial appearance in the story were directly mimicking events from the Terminator series of films. In the story Rock even refers to her as an invincible killing machine. In an interview with the anime director, Sunao Katabuchi, that was published in Anime Insider magazine. He said that the animation staff also called her “Evil Mary Poppins”.
Character Evolution
” Both of you are serving the same master. The loathsome fraud called Ideology or Philosophy. I will never serve a master like that again. There’s only one person in this world that can put a collar on me. Garcia….Fernando Lovelace. The master I’ve chosen. the only master worthy enough that I would drink sewage for and protect with my own life. I chase my mortal enemies only for him, and…like a hound I will run them down and tear them apart! “
Roberta “Black Lagoon” Volume 8 CH. 63
Roberta is one of the most physically powerful character in the Black Lagoon series, and is an example of a character attempting to redeem herself. The source of her monstrous level of strength is never explained. She has very long dark hair and is a native citizen of South America. She’s a relatively tall woman with a toned build that is hidden under the maid’s clothes she is normally seen wearing. She doesn’t require glasses to see, but looks to them as a symbol for her identity as the maid Roberta.
She was a true believer in the path to revolution that the FARC preach about, and murdered many men, women, and children for the cause. To much of the world she is seen as a murderer and terrorist. When she discovered she was being used by the Colombian drug cartels, she left and went into hiding. It was only too late that she realized that she had sold her soul and become the evil she always saw her enemy as.
She went to live with a friend of her already deceased father, Diego Lovelace. There she took on the name of Roberta and worked as a maid/bodyguard for him and her young son Garcia. When Garcia was abducted by rival families, she used her former training to hunt the boy down. She had wanted to keep her past a secret from the young master and expressed shame and remorse that she wasn’t what he believed, but to her joy he accepted her and didn’t want her to fight again. Though she had always thought of herself as an dog, she was proud of the idea that she was a guardian of Garcia. She saw him as the only one worthy of being her master.
Major Story Arcs
Rasta Blasta Arc
After hunting and torturing for information that helped her to track down Garcia. She finally arrived in Roanapur. Roberta made herself visible and asked around town for a fellow countryman. She eventually stopped at the Yellow Flag bar and her actions had the desired effect. Asking around town drew attention from the local Colombian cartel members. They had no idea who she really was, and she began opening fire with her hidden weapons. The one sided fight continued until Revy from the Lagoon Company shouted out at the Colombian leader. She and her allies had Garcia with them. However, seeing Roberta’s rampage had terrified him of her.Roberta then used grenades to finish off the Colombians, destroying much of the Yellow Flag.
Roberta lept onto the Lagoon Company’s car and fired into it until they crashed into the docks. She and Revy fight to a stalemate till they were both stopped by the Hotel Moscow leader Balalaika and her troops. She was then forced to sit as Balalaika revealed her evil past to Garcia. She admitted her sins to him and being the dog she had always told she was, but he cut her off. In tears, he called her family, she was Roberta to him, and to never call herself a dog again. Roberta’s fight with Revy was settled with a fist fight that lasted till dawn and ended with double KO, but Roberta was still conscious at the end. The Russian mafia then transported Roberta and Garcia back to South America.
El Baile de La Muerte Arc
Months after the Roanapur events, Diego Lovelace was caught in a bombing that killed him and many others of the left leaning leadership. Roberta tried to comfort Garcia at the funeral, but left him as she hunted down the killers based on the information she gained and a photograph. This brought her to an American NSA officer, and she tortured him till she learned the killers were really an army squad called Grey Fox. This brought her back to Roanapur, where Grey Fox was waiting to deploy on their next mission. She hired a local information broker, Richie Leroy, to get her weapons and hire the mercenaries to find Grey Fox. However, the drugs she had been taking to keep herself calm were starting to effect her mind. She was being haunted by the ghost of one of her earliest victims. When Grey Fox was located, Roberta went on the rampage.
The fight through the streets with the US military members became even more heated by the appearance of FARC soldiers that were brought in by the Colombian cartel to kill her. She was captured by the FARC commander Alberto Camarasa. He offered to let her return with him after killing the Americans, and she invited him to have sex. Though, once he backed away to allow her to strip, she shot him with the zip gun hidden in her belt buckle. She crushed Alberto’s skull with her bare fist until she heard a scream and saw Garcia standing there. He collapsed in horror. She argued with her hallucinations, and thought that he was responsible for her seeing Garcia. She was willing to shoot him to prove he wasn’t there. She was only stopped by the appearance of the Grey Fox Squad. They used smoke to escape and took Garcia with them.
Revy from the Lagoon Company was with Fabiola Iglesias, who had followed her with Garcia; but they were too scared to stand in her way. Roberta tracked the Americans down and even landed on their leader Major Shane Caxton. Before she could strike, they were saved by Balalaika’s soldiers, who helped Grey Fox out of Roanapur. While searching for clues to follow once they were gone, she found a bottle of liquor with a note attached to it for her with a plane ticket to Laos.
Roberta arrived before Grey Fox and captured their target, Shue Yan, before they arrived and strapped him with explosives. Roberta fought the trained team and was slowly slaughtering them in the dark jungle. Eventually, Garcia began talking to her through the radio and convinced her to meet with him. At dawn, Garcia and Fabiola walked out with Caxton. She still wasn’t sure he was real, then Garcia fired on Caxton point blank. Roberta aimed at Garcia, becasue she didn’t believe her young master would do that and he aimed back. After they both fired, Garcia tackled Roberta and kissed her. He came to tell her he was going to bear her burden with her. Caxton was still alive, being shot by a rubber bullet; and Garcia stopped her from shooting. He explained it was all part of the plan that they all died there and were free to start over. They all returned to Venezuela and Garcia helped her in trying to atone for her past sins.
Powers & Abilities
Martial Arts
Roberta was trained in Cuba in the martial arts as part of her standard military training, and is one of the best they had ever produced. It’s a mixed martial arts style of combat that is designed to be quick and devastating. The only equal she has ever been shown to have is Alberto Camarasa, a FARC combat trainer.
Military Training
As part of Roberta’s training with the FARC, she was educated in stealth, tactics, tracking, assassination, use in a variety of firearms, and bomb making. She also excels in using improvised weapons and can modify firearms to disguise.
Super Strength
Roberta’s intense strength borders on super natural. With her bare hands she can crush a skull and lift heavy firearms with ease, including being able to accurately fire the 40lbs Barretta M82A1 rifle with one arm. She even shattered one of the Kuri knives of Shenhua with her teeth. Her durability has even been compared to the Terminator.
Weapons & Equipment
IMBEL M1911 x 2
Roberta’s basic weapon of choice are a duel pair of IMBEL M1911 pistols. She keeps these in a double holster on the back of her belt on her pants. She normally uses the standard size clips, but also has used extended drum clips for both guns. IMBEL is a Brazilian state government own company that manufacturers it’s military’s firearms. This model is exported to the United States under the Springfield Armory brand.
SPAS-12 Shotgun
The Franchi SPAS-12 combat shotgun is a created by the Italian firearms company Franchi S.p.A. from 1979â2000. It’s a duel mode shotgun that can be fired as either semi-automatic or pump action. It’s distributed to the military and police to nations across the world. It’s 1041 mm (41 in), stock extended; 4.4 kg (9.7 lbs.), and holds 12 gauge 2 3/4 inch shells only. It can fire up to four rounds a second. Roberta specifically modeled her shotgun to be able to be disguised as an umbrella. The inner living of which is covered with Kevlar to act as a shield, but adds to the weight.
Hidden Machine Gun Suitcase
Hidden inside of Roberta’s suitcase is an automatic machine gun. This weapon can be be fired without even having to open the case. A quick and deadly firearm that can carried out in public and used at a moments notice. A weapon that can catch an enemy off guard.
MAG-7 x 2
Roberta owns a pair of modified MAG-7 shotguns. This shotgun was developed in South Africa as a close quarters weapon that combined aspects of a sub-machine gun and a pump action shotgun. Each weighs 4 kg (8.2 lbs.), it’s 550 mm (21.6 in.) long, and can hold 5 /12 gauge x 60 mm cartridges. The removed stock and shortened barrel allows it to be better concealed. Roberta is never shown using this weapon, but Fabiola took these from her personal armory when she and Garcia followed after her.
EX 41 Grenade Launcher
The EX 41 grenade launcher pump-action grenade launcher is another weapon owned by Roberta, but she is never seen using it in the series. This is a United States developed weapon by the Special Projects Division of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, which provided equipment to Navy SEALs. It weighs 4.63 kg (10.21 lbs.) loaded, it’s 875 mm (34.4 in) long, and can fire 15 rounds per minute. It uses a 3-round tubular magazine.
Sniper Rifle
Roberta has shown to be skilled in using an unknown model of .50 Caliber snipe rifle during her time among the FARC.
Barretta M82A1 Anti-Material Rifle
During her hunt for the Grey Fox team, Roberta initially used a Barretta M82A1 Anti-Material Rifle. This is an enormous rifle that is 145 cm (57 in.) long, and weighs 14kg (30 lbs.). The effective range of this sniper rifle is is just over one mile, but it’s maximum range is over four miles. It’s heavy .50 caliber rounds can even pierce light-armored vehicles. The power of this firearm can kill anyone is strikes and anything they may try to use as cover. Attached to the bottom is an option grenade launcher that adds an additional ten pounds to the weapon.
Combat Knife
Roberta uses a elaborately decorated combat knife. It has a long sharpened blade and spiked handle. It’s an intimidating weapon that she has kept since her days with the FARC.
Other Media
Anime
Black Lagoon (2006)
Black Lagoon is the first anime series based on the Black Lagoon manga. The series was directed by Sunao Katabuchi, and produced by the MADHouse Studios and Geneon Entertainment, The first episode originally aired on April 8, 2006.
Roberta’s first anime appearance was in Black Lagoon – Episode 8 “Rasta Blasta” that aired on May 27, 2006. Her character in the Japanese series is voiced by Michie Tomizawa, and the U.S. dub produced by Ocean Group is done by Tabitha St. Germain.
The continuity of Roberta’s placement in the story is altered for the anime. In the manga, her original appearance was directly after the initial first chapter. The placement of the anime was in last four episodes of the first season of the anime. Scenes were also extended in the chase sequence to include parody scenes to moments in the Terminator series of films.
Black lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail (2010)
The third season of the anime was sold as direct to market OVA and El Baile de La Muerte story arc. This season was titled, Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail. The first episode released on July 17, 2010. A production delay would push back the fifth episode to July 22, 2011. The finale of the Roberta’s Blood Trail was changed from the original manga. The anime adaptation showed Roberta suffering severe injuries during her fight with the Grey Fox Squad. By the end, Roberta is shown to of lost her right eye, right index finger, right leg, and left arm. Some of these injuries contradict the events of the anime that show her using her arm with no problems. None of these injuries were present in the manga.
Games
MicroVolts
Roberta, along with several other of the women from Black Lagoon, appear in the free to play online shooter game called MicroVolts (Toy Wars in Japan). The game is themed on toy figures fighting with guns and blades. Roberta appears in her regular maid costume and she uses her umbrella gun as her main weapon.