Zero Two

Origin

She is a Human-klaxo Sapien hybrid, which is the result of her horns and somewhat devilish appearance. She is a member of APE Special Forces, and even fights on the front lines. Though she normally wouldn’t care for humans, she took a liking to Hiro and even offered him the opportunity to fly with her. Hiro was then able to ride with her, and the pair became the 13 Plantations’ newest members, and even piloting the powerful FRANXX Strelizia. She began to develop romantic feelings for Hiro, though they broke apart because of Zero Two’s personal conflict, like her being afraid of her own feral quirks. She chose to sacrifice her life alongside Hiro to save humankind. A thousand years later, her soul and Hiro’s reincarnated as a pair of children, thus meeting again and restarting their romance.

Appearance

When she was a child, Zero Two looked much more like a monster, with red skin, long sharp nails, and fanged teeth. She had larger horns in comparison to her head, and her hair was a lighter shade of pink. As she got older, Zero Two developed a fair complexion. She had a slender and athletic figure; she was the tallest girl in the squad and even taller than most of the boys as well. She had waist-length, long pink hair with straight bangs covering her forehead and a pair of red horns on her head, and a white limiter headband over her horns. She had sharp, turquoise eyes with rings around the pupils and pinkish-red markings on the canthi.

Zero Two’s full ensemble was composed of a white military cap with a matching overcoat and boots. She was often seen wearing her signature red military uniform, black leggings, and white boots. Zero Two’s originally wore the 9’s pistil suit: a red bodysuit with white accents. After being assigned to Squad 13, she adopted the squad’s standard Pistil uniform: a white bodysuit with red accents. As side effects of aggressively riding Strelizia, Zero Two’s fangs and horns can grow at an alarming rate. Her eyes shine red when angered, even while wearing her limiter headband. It once got to the point when her face was deathly pale and her eyes blood red. Her horns could also branch out to the point of being able to touch the ceiling, and her skin color could also revert back to her original red color.

In Episode 17, Zero Two was given a flower headband by Miku, which was worn for the rest of the episode.

In Episode 21, Zero Two removes her limiter in order to save Hiro, which causes her skin to turn red similarly to her as a child, and her horns to grow and stretch across the room similarly to tree branches.

In Episode 23, Zero Two merged with her FRANXX and transformed into Strelizia’s True Apus form. In this form, its faceplate was replaced by Zero Two’s face, in which she appeared with more pronounced lips and pinkish lip color. She had a white helmet with red lines with a blue horn-like weapon on top of it. There was also a veil-like sheet of light behind Apus’ helm. Strelizia True Apus’ legs changed into a semblance of a white, shoulder-less, and bare-back dress with green accents. In one of the MATO comics, Strelizia True Apus is considered to be Zero Two’s wedding dress

Personality

Since Zero Two has klaxosaur blood, she is seen as a “monster”. She became defensive, aggressive, and angry when people interacted with her, because of how she was treated as a child. Besides that, Zero Two acted like a wild animal or a feral child, eating with her hands, growling, making other vocal noises instead of speaking, and chasing after mice that were near her. However, Zero Two was also shown to a fairly cheerful, curious, and happy girl, and it was during her time with Hiro that shaped much of her personality and quirks in the present, such as her sweet tooth. Because Hiro treated her as he would anyone else, whereas others didn’t treat her as a human for one reason or another, Zero Two had developed a deep admiration and liking towards him. Despite having her memories of the darling from her childhood erased, Zero Two retained some fragmented memories which were why she strived to become human no matter what.

Zero Two was cynical, and very much wanted to become human. As she grew up, she was said to be alluring, dangerous, and cold. Zero Two always kept people at arm’s length with mocking humor, nihilism, and emotional detachment. Zero Two also freely talked about how much she hated their society. It is later seen that Zero Two was a very unruly, passionate, fierce-tempered, self-confident, smug, assertive, and carefree girl who hated to follow the rules set up by the adults.

However, soon after, Zero Two became more obsessed than ever to become human and reuniting with her original darling. She became more melancholic and silent, barely speaking or showing any affection to Hiro, despite her behavior in previous episodes. Zero Two also seemed to only care about herself, so much so that even when Hiro was dying, it seemed like she couldn’t be brought to care when Ichigo demanded she takes it easy on him. That having been said, she had deep insecurities about not being human. Though she hates it when other people bring up the fact she’s not human and when people call her a monster, she can be very self-deprecating about it herself and even calls herself one. Additionally, her hatred for Klaxosaurs stems from the fear of becoming one herself. Her desire to avoid this, however, caused her to act more monstrously.

However, soon after, Zero Two became more obsessed than ever to become human and reuniting with her original darling. She became more melancholic and silent, barely speaking or showing any affection to Hiro, despite her behavior in previous episodes. When Hiro would ask her to talk to him about her problems because he wanted them to understand each other, Zero Two coldly rejected him and she stated that they could understand each other well enough by piloting Strelizia. Her obsession later caused her to become violent towards Squad 13, including Hiro the more he tried to calm her down. While fighting Klaxosaurs, Zero Two acted recklessly, disregarding Ichigo’s orders and plans, and getting irritated by Hiro getting in her way. Zero Two became much more aggressive both to Hiro and while battling Klaxosaurs, chasing the Klaxosaurs until she was away from the group and then repeatedly stabbing a Klaxosaur corpse she had just killed, maddeningly saying she will kill more Klaxosaurs. When Zero Two started getting a little too obsessed with killing Klaxosaurs during a mission in which Hiro tried to rein her in. However, in the heat of the moment, she ended up choking him and said things that were heard by the others that heavily imply she was going to kill him like so many of her other co-pilots in the past.

Additionally, Zero Two became emotionally prepared for the strong possibility that she and Hiro would have to part ways on the grounds that they are different creatures and the dystopian society they lived in would never allow them to be together. However, when Hiro proved his resolve to stay with her no matter what so they can see the outside world together and create their own destiny, she gave in and accepted his vow to never let her go. When she and Hiro went off to space to fight VIRM’s home planet, Zero Two was moved to tears by her friends’ words in that they would always wait for them to return. Because of this, Zero Two’s perspective on humans changed drastically; she concluded humans are strong beings for their perseverance and ability to leave behind a mark for the future and fight for what they believe was the right cause. Right before her demise, Zero Two and Hiro were completely willing to sacrifice themselves to save the Earth and so their friends and all the other people could live a good life. They state that even if they would die, the paths they had walked would never fade since their friends would take them even further.

Relationships

Hiro

Zero Two was enthralled by Hiro immediately after seeing him. They first meet when she was skinny dipping in Cerasus’ lake. Being pleased with his taste and him not being afraid of her horns, she proposes that he become her “darling”. Though they are briefly separated, they reunite after her partner dies and Hiro acts as his replacement. Their relationship becomes stronger with them both finding someone with whom they can successfully pilot; being even able to pilot Strelizia in its iron maiden form.

As they spend more time together, Zero Two acts more flirtatious and teasingly towards Hiro, causing him to become bashful. Many of the things that she does seem foreign to the other parasites, such as sitting on Hiro’s lap at the boys’ table and feeding him. Their relationship is briefly strained after hearing of her past and seeing Mitsuru near death after riding with her, as Hiro becomes somewhat wary of her. He later realizes and confesses that he never really cared about riding the FRANXX but wanted to ride with her. After riding again with her, Hiro develops a tumor in his chest. Though Hiro could die, he feels that being useful to others is more important than his life and thanks to her for giving him the chance to pilot the FRANXX. Zero Two reaffirms that she is his partner and sheherone. Zero Two then unzips his uniform revealing a pulsating blue klaxosaur tumor growing out of Hiro’s chest. She reminds him that none of her partners have ridden with her more than 3 times. She asks him if it hurts, and relates that the pain must be unbearable, however she states “it looks beautiful”. Zero Two poses Hiro that if he wants “off this ride” now’s his chance. Unyielding, He declares “I’ll ride with you!”. Zero Two becomes overjoyed and begins laughing and dancing by the lake.

During the next battle, Strelizia flies into battle to help the other parasites. In the midst of combat, Hiro’s tumor intensifies causing his engorged veins to show through his battle suit and spread to face. This causes their performance to slump and lag, prompting Zero Two to rile him up, this proves effective as Hiro pulls himself together and continues the fight. Once all the Conrad-klaxosaurs have been annihilated, Squad 13 shifts priority to Target Beta which has taken a humanoid form. Squad 13 immobilizes the titan while Hiro flies the Strelizia into the sky. He begins to pour what energy he has left into a downward thrust in hopes of killing it. The attack seems successful causing Target Beta to collapse. Hiro appears to have died causing the Strelizia to deactivate and go into Stampede. In his death-like state, Hiro is greeted by Naomi. He subsequently sees Zero Two. Wondering if she came to say goodbye to him, He reaches out to her. However, Zero Two sadly turns away mirroring the beginning of the episode. Hiro wakes up and sees Zero Two desperately trying to fight of Target Beta. He desperately tries to tell Zero Two not to fight alone, in doing so, she’ll cause her own death. Hiro then recalls that Zero Two is a monster and that she’s been all alone. Zero Two can’t “fly” by herself after all. Zero Two lets out a groan in pain then a newly revived Hiro grabs her from behind and calms her down. Zero Two eyes return from red to cyan and ask if it’s really him. Hiro reminds her that he is her partner and that he’ll never leave her alone. The Strelizia’s Iron Maiden form is then restored.

Hiro and Zero Two’s relationship continues due to him surviving after his third time piloting with her. While at the beach on Squad 13’s day off, Zero Two teases Hiro thinking she would kiss him again. When Zero Two had stolen the other Parasites’ clothing during a “gender conflict” among the squad, Zero Two playfully taunted Hiro, telling him to catch her, or saying he has to do better, laughing as he chased her around the house. On the day the Parasites received presents, Hiro, feeling bad that everyone else got presents, gifted Zero Two with a hand mirror that was left behind by Naomi, with Zero Two thanking Hiro with a surprise hug. Starting at episode 11, Hiro and Zero Two’s relationship starts to dip, with Hiro asking Zero Two to open up to him if anything was weighing on her mind, however, she brushes his request off, calling it a pain. During the fight with the Klaxosaur collective, Zero Two expressed anger when Hiro had stopped her from attacking it, even though he also saved them from getting possibly crushed under its foot.

Episode 12 is where their suffering relationship begins to show, during the fight with Klaxosaurs, Hiro repeatedly bickers with Zero Two, saying they need to cooperate with the others, but his pleas fall upon deaf ears, And Zero Two annoyed that Hiro is also “getting in her way”. Later, at the lake in Mistilteinn that same episode, Hiro finds Zero Two biting her fingers, expressing concern, and asking what she means by “wanting to become human”. In an effort to make her snap out of her state, Hiro desperately confesses his feelings for her, she, however, brushes it off and pushes him to the ground, thinking he means it in a different manner, then stating that she will teach Hiro what comes after kissing, unbuttoning her uniform. When this did not work, Zero Two, in her off state, claims this isn’t enough, telling Hiro to kill more Klaxosaurs to turn her human, calling him her Fodder. During the episode’s climax, as Zero Two maddeningly fights klaxosaurs, Hiro pleas that what she is doing will not satisfy her wish, fed up with Hiro, Zero Two commands that he should be quietly devoured like the fodder he is, taking complete control of Strelizia, causing it to enter its Stampede Mode. Zero Two begins to strangle Hiro, telling him to give her all of his life. Then stating that she will become human so she can meet her “Darling from back then” which, unbeknownst to her, was actually Hiro all along.

At this moment, it’s revealed Hiro and Zero Two had already met each other before as children. Hiro helped her escape from a parasite experimentation laboratory after witnessing APE’s cruel experimentations on her. While they were on the run, Hiro named her Zero Two, helped her learn many things, and molded her personality. He eventually promised he’d marry her and become her Darling, making Zero Two cry out of joy and hug him. Unfortunately, APE officers managed to catch them and wipe their memories away. After recovering their once lost memories through syncing in Strelizia, Zero Two and Hiro stare at each other with tears in their eyes, realizing they have finally found their lost love. Unfortunately, after Zero Two beats each and every Squad 13 member, Hiro calls Zero Two a Monster. Deeming this as a punishment for what she did to Hiro, Zero Two leaves his side. However, having refused to give up on Zero Two. Hiro recklessly goes to the battlefield while using the Training unit. After his Training unit is destroyed, Hiro temporarily uses Delphinium to forcefully enter Strelizia Stampede. There, Zero Two was consoled and even kissed by Hiro. Finally realizing that Hiro will be always at her side no matter what, Zero Two reciprocates Hiro’s feelings towards her.

Hiro speculates that he was able to pilot with Zero Two over three times due to him licking Zero Two’s bleeding knee, allowing Hiro to adapt his body to Zero Two’s Klaxosaur aspect. They spend their nights having fun together by drawing pictures for Zero Two’s picture book. They also talked together more and become openly affectionate with each other, including kissing and holding hands. Before Kokoro and Mitsuru’s wedding, Hiro and Zero Two talked about how beautiful the cherry blossom trees are and reaffirmed their promise to each other, spinning and laughing together. However, after finding out Papa erased Kokoro and Mitsuru’s memories as punishment, Hiro openly rebelled against Papa for doing such a thing and demanded Squad 13’s release from duty if they win the final battle against the klaxosaurs. During this, Zero Two holds his hand in support. Before going into battle, they share a tender moment and express their desire to be together forever.

During the battle with VIRM, Hiro is forced to link with the klaxosaur princess who severely wounds Zero Two in the process. Zero Two, despite her injuries, pursues the Strelizia to save Hiro and, when she finally reaches him, she fears he is dead and tearfully pleads for him to live. She kisses him and he is revived, and their connection is restored in time to stop the VIRM from causing more destruction and force them to retreat. However, Hiro finds Zero Two unresponsive and her horns cracking. Hiro tends to her and he learns that her mind is connected to Strelizia and she is actually fighting the VIRM in space. Despite it being a suicide mission, Hiro resolves to rescue her and depart with his squad mates to space. Hiro is able to board Strelizia and mentally meets with Zero Two, whose mind is filled with images of her storybook. She says they can’t be together because she is not human and she is fine with being alone. Hiro disagrees and offers her his hand, vowing to never leave her. They reconcile and reconnect, causing Strelizia to evolve into the Strelizia True Apus. They then decide to travel through a warp gate in order to eliminate the VIRM and put an end to the war for good. After leaving their solar system, Zero Two says they started their “honeymoon” wandering through space. In the final battle, they are nearly defeated when their connection is cut off but the prayers of their friends allow them to reconnect and they are able to destroy the VIRM home planet and liberate all the souls the VIRM collected. However, they end up sacrificing their lives to complete their mission. Before dying, they profess their love to each other and vow to meet again as long as their souls exist. A thousand years pass and one day, a boy resembling Hiro sits at a cherry blossom tree when a girl resembling Zero Two falls in front of him. He helps her up and they introduce themselves, revealing they are Hiro and Zero Two’s reincarnations.

Ichigo

Zero Two finds Ichigo bossy, even annoying. However, she does acknowledge the tension between them stemming from Ichigo’s unrequited love towards Hiro and takes visible pleasure in taunting her about their closeness. Ichigo is grateful that Zero Two saved her life and those of her squad, however, she also harbors resentment towards Zero Two due to her attitude and relationship with Hiro. This results in altercations between the two whenever they come face to face. Over the course of the series, Ichigo becomes saddened, which progresses toward depression due to her desire to be with Hiro combined with the fact that they are incompatible and Zero Two’s attachment to him. Despite this, Ichigo welcomes her to the team after their battle together and even confronts 9α that she prefers battling together with Zero Two rather than with Nines. When Zero Two helps Ichigo rescue Goro, she is happy when Ichigo says that she trusts her, and admits that she doesn’t dislike helping her out. Zero Two has also said that she likes Ichigo’s taste after licking her cheek, much to Ichigo’s discomfort.

Eventually, Ichigo becomes fed up with Zero Two and hated her very existence, mainly due to her jealousy that Hiro always had his view of Zero Two and not her. In episode 14, Ichigo won’t allow Zero Two and Hiro to meet with each other and proposed to Nana that unless Zero Two is kicked out from Squad 13, they won’t participate in the next mission. Later, Ichigo is beaten by Zero Two due to Hiro’s absence when she, after discussing with Goro, reluctantly allows Zero Two to visit. After Zero Two gets deported for her actions, Ichigo tells a bewildered Hiro that this is for the best. Ichigo finally realizes Hiro’s unwavering feelings for Zero Two, delivers Hiro to Zero Two using Delphinium. Afterward, their friendship starts anew. Ichigo helps Zero Two rush to rescue Hiro after the klaxosaur princess links with him. In the next episode, after Hiro decides to go to space to rescue Zero Two, Ichigo is worried he will die but she and the rest of the squad decide to help him because the squad isn’t the same without Zero Two.

During the mission to rescue Zero Two from VIRM, Ichigo is happy to see Zero Two is alive but she opposes Zero Two and Hiro’s decision to leave and fight the VIRM alone. However, Ichigo changes her mind and orders them, as Squad leader, to come back. Ichigo constantly worries about Zero Two and Hiro while they fight in space. When she learns they sacrificed themselves to destroy the VIRM planet, she is saddened but resolves that everyone will continue rebuilding the planet and society the two will have a home to come to when they decide to return. Ichigo finish’s Zero Two’s book and encourages the new generation to read it so they will know about the two. She later credits the two for teaching everyone so many lessons on life.

Kokoro

Kokoro finds her a “strange person and wonders if she likes sweets”. Kokoro is very quiet and reserved, but is fond of Zero Two and finds her presence reassuring. Zero Two rescues her, Ichigo (Delphinium), and Miku (Argentea) during their mission into the underground. After the retrieval of the deactivated Strelizia, she is visibly worried when she sees Zero Two emerge from the FRANXX but not Mitsuru, who was at a near-death state in the cockpit. She emulates Zero Two when feeding Futoshi in the same manner Zero Two feeds Hiro. Kokoro and Miku are excited to see that Zero Two and Hiro are now part of Squad 13. Kokoro expresses that it’s reassuring since Zero Two has saved the squad in every mission.

It is from Zero Two that Kokoro learns the meaning of marriage and this contributes to her and Mitsuru’s decision to have a wedding. Zero Two dresses up in the standard squad uniform for the occasion. Kokoro later tends to Zero Two while the squad, minus Kokoro and Mitsuru, fight the VIRM. Kokoro and Mitsuru credit Zero Two for teaching them what love means and it inspired them to name their daughter Ai for ‘love’. When Zero Two and Hiro sacrificed themselves, Kokoro broke down in tears but was thankful to them for saving the planet.

Nana

Nana is Zero Two’s handler from HQ and Papa. She transmits orders to Zero Two and whether or not she has the proper authorizations. She and Zero Two have a passive-aggressive (or just aggressive) relationship, however, they are particularly chummy on occasion. They share a degree of respect for each other as they make concessions that others do not enjoy. Zero Two is known to ignore or directly disobey orders from Nana when she sees fit to do so.

Zero Two asks Nana whether there’s an ocean in Plantation 13, to which Nana asks why she can’t take a simple shower. Zero Two licks herself, expressing she hates how she “tastes”. Later after disembarking into Plantation 13, Zero Two disappears unknown to Nana’s knowledge. Zero Two is then shown mocking Nana as she plays with her cap then tossing it aside.

Later, Nana reprimands Zero Two for running off and orders her not to mix with the Parasites. After the klaxosaur attack, Nana informs the Parasites of Zero Two’s background and reputation.

Nana commands Zero Two to sit at the table she’s “supposed” to be sitting at, instead of mixing with the Parasites. Later in the elevator, Nana tells Zero Two not to mess with the parasites as she is “Too much for them to handle”. During the discussion of Hiro’s parasite promotion, Nana vetoes Zero Two’s proposal informing her that HQ hasn’t authorized the use of Strelizia.

While Nana is coordinating the seemingly successful mission in the superpipe, Zero Two suddenly appears in the room and begins to mock them that it’s not over yet. Zero Two was right as a swarm of Conrad-class klaxosaurs emerge from the shadows of the underground and begin to overwhelm the FranXXs. As the situation becomes dire, Zero Two continues to jest Nana into letting her pilot the Strelizia with Hiro, but Nana does not bend. Zero Two and Nana begin to butt heads, before the tension escalates any further Mitsuru intervenes and volunteers to pilot the Strelizia, being the only available “official” stamen. Nana asks Zero Two whether she could ride with Mitsuru. Zero Two persists that she will only ride with Hiro. She then looks over to Hiro to coax his affirmation, but Hiro tells Zero Two to ride with Mitsuru. He states that he’d rather have his teammates saved than be able to pilot a FranXX. Nana then coordinates the deployment of Strelizia.

Later, Zero Two (Strelizia) decides to go on a rampage rather than comply with Nana’s order to withdraw. Nana then deploys a team to “retrieve” the Strelizia and her Stamen. After the retrieval, Nana grimly looks at the sight of Zero Two as she exits Strelizia without her stamen. After all the chaos is settled via Zero Two and Hiro’s reconciliation, Nana is relieved.

However, Nana is removed from being the squad’s caretaker but returns a month later. She supports the squad’s decision to travel to space to rescue Zero Two and, two years later, she mourns Zero Two and Hiro’s deaths.

History

Zero Two was created by Dr. FRANXX out of the Klaxosaur Princess’s DNA. Many specimens like Zero Two herself were born but failed to survive; making her the only successful human-klaxo sapiens hybrid. Dr. FRANXX also created clones using Zero Two’s cells; the 9’s, but they didn’t inherit the Klaxosaur blood. Due to Zero Two being the only specimen with Klaxosaur blood to survive, she was decided to operate the Star Entity; a collective mass of Klaxosaurs which can only be operated by a Klaxo-Sapien, on humanity’s behalf. Because of her high Parasite potential and potential in general, she received the code number “002”.

Zero Two did not receive the same regular training as other children in the Garden to become a Parasite, since she had been trapped in her room for as long as she could remember, which she described as being the entirety of her world. Occasionally, a woman would enter Zero Two’s room to bring her food, and she thought that she was probably a stand-in for a mother. She would bring Zero Two food and pet her head. One day, she appeared for the last time with something that wasn’t food; a picture book called “The Beast and the Prince”. Zero Two tried to eat and break it at first, and her “mother” flipped open the page to which she was amazed by its bright colors and different shapes. Though it had words, she couldn’t read them. Despite that, Zero Two described the book as her first “pretty thing.” Thanks to the picture book, Zero Two was sure the outside world surely had many more things to offer; though she added that she was half right and half wrong.

One day, Zero Two was taken along for experiments. In the testing room, Dr. FRANXX was amazed at how she developed such a human form. With Zero Two tethered, a laser was centered on her palm and when it fired, she screamed in pain. Dr. FRANXX was amazed at how quickly her wound healed and how her skin regrew. After her testing, Zero Two was isolated in yet another room. In the room, she was seen struggling against an adult to get her picture book back, and she soon managed to take the book back and the woman gave up. After that, Zero Two was put through even more painful experiments due to her special abilities. Since Hiro had witnessed Zero Two’s suffering several times by then, he made up his mind that he was unwilling to watch her suffer anymore. When Hiro came to rescue her, scaling one of the trees near her cell, Zero Two had just gone through testing and was curled up on the floor, taking the picture book in her bosom as a sense of comfort. Hiro shattered her window with a searchlight and although Zero Two was initially aggressive, she was moved by Hiro’s tears and began crawling towards his outstretched hand. When they got out, however, the branch broke and they fell to the ground, causing Hiro to lose consciousness.

History

Zero Two was created by Dr. FRANXX out of the Klaxosaur Princess’s DNA. Many specimens like Zero Two herself were born but failed to survive; making her the only successful human-klaxo sapiens hybrid. Dr. FRANXX also created clones using Zero Two’s cells; the 9’s, but they didn’t inherit the Klaxosaur blood. Due to Zero Two being the only specimen with Klaxosaur blood to survive, she was decided to operate the Star Entity; a collective mass of Klaxosaurs which can only be operated by a Klaxo-Sapien, on humanity’s behalf. Because of her high Parasite potential and potential in general, she received the code number “002”.

Powers & Abilities

While Zero Two has no superhuman abilities, she is a remarkable pilot, and she pilots the FRANXX Strelizea. She was a prized military asset of APE.

Zero Two has also demonstrated impressive agility, performing somersaults and flips then landing on her feet every time.