ok so we all can agree Roberta is one of the most OP fighters in all of black lagoon? she is known by many and all for her insatiable bloodlust when out in the field and being a complete badass when she fights. yet while we all remember her as this unstoppable force, a lot of people seem to miss out one thing about her: she isn’t someone who is proud of that.
Roberta is a former FARC guerilla, one who had a major role in the forces and was a brutal murderer to the point even children were not safe. but upon learning of the cocoa fields being guarded for the mafia, she fled and became the maid to the Lovelace family.
As seen in her first appearance, she trembled when Balalaika revealed this to Garcia and even told her to stop. ironically, the one person in the series remembered for her brutal feats, would pretty much hate that all people see her as is this indestructible force of death. A fate she brought upon herself.
and yet when we look at her life before the Lovelaces, it is shrouded in mystery. sure, bloodtrail gave us a few sprinkles to it, but there is still a lot of things we do not know on her. What happened to her late father? Why did she join FARC in the first place? Why is she so religious despite all she went through? It never gets brought up much by most people which is a shame considering she is perhaps one of the few characters who people can do some research on to help fill some of those gaps in.
Bloodtrail in her POV is also pretty tragic too. She lost her master/father figure by Americans, went back to Roanapur, almost killed Garcia twice, and lost most of her limbs. And while people say she is proof that people can change in black lagoon, it certainly reads more like “people can only change for good if enough of their limbs are blown off.” And considering how many other redemptive arcs and reformed monsters are in media, it is upsetting that Roberta is one of the more muddier ones as it seems the writers have no clue what he should write her as. Escpecially given how the ending to bloodtrail is more of a badass boast about powerful women being powerful and sexy in general rather about Roberta admitting her own faults and planning on atoning for them looking forward.
in fact, the true tragedy is that no matter what happens to Roberta, whatever good thing she does or whatever terrible ordeal she will suffer, she will mostly be remembered for being an insane, powerhouse of a woman. And also having big boobs because everyone these days seems to have to point out that women have breasts.
in conclusion: Please don’t make the Roberta spin-off about fights and bullets Rei. water this plant the same way you water Revy and Balalaika.
