Maria Tachibana

Maria Tachibana (タチバナ・マリア) is a character from Sakura Wars series, she makes her debut on the first Sakura Wars game as one of the characters of the game.

Profile
Born to a Russian diplomat and a Japanese mother, Maria was orphaned during the Russian Revolution in which she eventually joined the revolutionary forces at the age of 14. Traumatized by the loss of her squad captain, she shut out her emotions, becoming a merciless sniper and earning the nickname "Kazuar" (Russian word for "cassowary"). She later moved to America in 1920, finding work as a professional killer in a mafia before being recruited by the Imperial Flower Assault Group's vice-commander, Ayame Fujieda.

In the third episode, "I Am Not Fit To Be Captain?!", her past is revealed to the others. She was given the codename "Cassowary" due to her prowess on the battle, racing through the battlefield like a black flame. Her captain died due to her hesitance from gunfire, and the events still haunt her in her sleep. After being captured by Setsuna, Ogami goes alone to rescue her. The other members of the Assault Group arrive in time to help out in defeating Setsuna. He then returns her pendant to her, which she dropped when she was captured.

In her ending, she and Ogami go to her former captain's grave and places her pendant on it. After paying their respects, the clouds part and they embrace each other.

Personality
Maria is very cold and distant at the beginning due to her traumatic past, but began to turn slightly after accepting Ichiro Ogami as her captain. Calm and collected, she is skilled in the ability to judge things objectively. She is good at cooking and loves to read books.

Crossover Appearances
Project X Zone 3: War of Infinite Worlds

Maria appears as a Pair Unit teaming up with Sumire Kanzaki.

Trivia

 * Maria is the second tallest character in the series, the first being Kanna Kirishima.
 * It is revealed that in Sakura's story mode in Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2, Maria has a fear of cockroaches.
 * Maria is known to speak at least three languages: Russian, English, and Japanese. Of these, she speaks at least Russian and Japanese fluently.
 * One of Maria's image songs, "Akai Katyusha", appears to draw heavy influence from Russian folk songs.