Margaret Burton , born on 14 July 1992, is a clumsy, absent-minded 19-year-old as she is the person who has the
Gift, a mysterious ability to alter the reality. Twelve years ago, she and the person who later became known as Carrossea Doon, survived a
plane crash in Gazth-Sonika and interrupted the stand-off between Friday Monday, who unintentionally caused the accident while accessing the
Sanctuary (see
Terminology), and Colonel Richard Burton, Margaret's father. Although Burton was victorious, Monday, with his last strength, chanted the
Words of Awakening and put him into
trance, forcing to shoot his own daughter. Protecting herself, Margaret shot her father and, to flee from the guilt, used her Gift to split herself into three
personae: one who retained the Gift (Margaret herself), one who took the
sin of
patricide upon herself (Madlax), and one who kept the memories of this (Laetitia). Since that moment, the person known as Margaret Burton became but a third of her former self, still possessing the Gift, but having lost all memories. The "picture book" she has is
Secondari, the second of the
Holy Books instrumental for using the Gift. Margaret believes that it was given to her by her father, though she cannot understand the language it is written in, or the reason for some of its pages being covered with blood. The red shoes that help her remember about
Secondari are an obvious homage to
Noir, where a similar pair is worn by
Kirika Yuumura. •
Mashimo Menu musical theme title:
Picture Book, Blood, and Deep-Sea Fish •
Madlax is an exceptionally charismatic and attractive young woman, who is at the same time the best
mercenary agent in Gazth-Sonika with 98% mission success rate. Like Margaret, she doesn't remember anything before twelve years ago (though she hasn't lost her language knowledge), except for the word "Madlax", which she has adopted as her
code name, and a brief
flashback of a gun in her hands and her father walking away - Madlax believes that her father is still alive and fighting somewhere in Gazth-Sonika. While she is the best fighter in the country, easily able to dodge bullets with her
Gun Kata fighting style and take down a small army all by herself. She fights only to bring a rapid end to all fighting and, when Vanessa Rene shows her that
Enfant is behind the war, Madlax immediately seeks to destroy it, no matter the personal cost. Madlax is the second
persona of the former Margaret Burton, the one who took upon herself the sin of patricide, and her supernatural fighting powers may have been influenced by this. Her non-human nature becomes apparent towards the end of the series, when her left lung completely heals overnight after being pierced by a bullet. Madlax has the missing page from Margaret's
Secondari. •
Mashimo Menu title:
The Gatekeeper of Hell is All Alone •
Vanessa Rene is Margaret's former neighbor and tutor, who has received a university education in
IT and is currently a manager for
Bookwald Industries. Some reviewers have estimated her age as early thirties. Her parents got mixed up with Gazth-Sonikan politics when the war broke out and were subsequently executed, therefore Vanessa's goal is to uncover the real reasons of the conflict. Being a strong-willed and self-confident woman, Vanessa travels directly to Gazth-Sonika after she discovers that
Bookwald not only invests into its
demilitarized zone but also sells weapons to both warring factions and, moreover, is a part of
Enfant syndicate itself. In Gazth-Sonika, Madlax is appointed as her bodyguard so it is Vanessa who links the two
personae of the original Margaret Burton back together. She is shot by Limelda after protecting Madlax, and dies from her injuries. •
Mashimo Menu title:
Gatekeeper of Happiness •
Elenore Baker is Margaret's
maidservant, wholly devoted to caring for her "miss". Elenore's family has served the Burtons for generations, so she considers it her duty to protect the absent-minded and clumsy Margaret from anything remotely dangerous - to the point of researching all her classmates' backgrounds. Her devotion and persistence helped her to graduate from school years ahead of the rest and later, become an expert in
hand to hand combat. In the final arc of the series, she is shot by soldiers while trying to rescue Margaret. While, with determination, she gets to reunite with her “miss”, she eventually dies of her wounds. Elenore holds the distinction of being one of the final 8 in 2004
Anime Saimoe Tournament. •
Mashimo Menu title:
Everyday Gatekeeper •
Friday Monday is the enigmatic founder and head of the
Enfant organization. Very little is known about his past before 1999, when he used his
Gift to open the
Door of Truth in a failed attempt to plunge the world into a
total war, which, as he believes, is its natural state. His attempt was foiled by Colonel Richard Burton, so the conflict only broke out locally, in the country where the ritual was held and where the
Enfant HQ was later situated - in Gazth-Sonika. To repeat the ritual and complete what he has started, Monday has been ever since searching for the two missing
Holy Books (he managed to keep
Firstari) and another person with a strong Gift, as he is no longer able to use his own, allegedly, because the right half of his
face (which he always hides it behind a mask) is disfigured by Burton's bullet. Although it is not stated explicitly within the series, according to Kōichi Mashimo's vision, Monday was once a talented artist. •
Mashimo Menu title:
The Gatekeeper of Heaven Smiles •
Carrossea Doon is officially an independent
contract worker for
Bookwald Industries, although, in reality, he is one of
Enfant's best operatives and the right-hand man of Friday Monday himself. Carrossea is smart and resourceful and he often exploits his position and powers in order to search for clues about his past, for he, just like Madlax and Margaret, doesn't remember anything before twelve years ago. During the incident in Gazth-Sonika, Carrossea, then known as Poupee, and Margaret were the sole survivors of the plane crash (maybe because both possessed the
Gift). He rapidly fell in
love with and vowed to protect her, therefore, when Margaret interrupted the stand-off between her father and Monday, Carrossea-Poupee has to cover her with his own body from a stray bullet and
died on the spot. However, his rather weak
Gift, the power of the
Sanctuary and his will to protect Margaret sufficed to partly resurrect him at expense of his memories. Friday Monday has found his amnesiac
persona, named him "Carrossea" and made his personal assistant, whereas his memories remained confined to the Sanctuary with the entity named "Poupee". Common past is probably the reason of the rapid mutual trust that appeared between Carrossea and Margaret upon their "first" meeting as
personae. Once he discovers the truth about his past, Carrossea vanishes. •
Limelda Jorg is a
second lieutenant of the Gazth-Sonikan
Royal Guard and the most prolific
sniper in the country with the exception of Madlax. After the latter has assassinated the
Commander-in-Chief of the Royalist Army, whom Limelda was assigned to protect, she has made it her duty to hunt down Madlax. Despite multiple chances to kill Limelda, Madlax has always let her go and eventually shared with her the data she discovered on
Enfant's involvement with Gazth-Sonikan war. This revelation shattered Limelda's
world view and made her quit the Army and renew the attempts to kill Madlax in a crazy hope that once she is dead, everything will return to "normal". Limelda initially
enlisted after her relatives were killed by Galza. • == Recurring characters ==