List of Macross Frontier Characters - Main Characters

Main Characters

Alto Saotome (早乙女 有人, Saotome Aruto?)

Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura, Brad Swaile (Rumor)

• Age: 17 → 18, male.

A high school student in the Mihoshi Academy Pilot Training course. As a result of his fine features and long hair he is often mistaken for a girl at first glance, even receiving the nickname 'Hime' (Princess). His appearance was revealed to have been inherited from his late mother, Miyo. Despite this, he is otherwise a rather normal, though somewhat aloof and standoffish, boy. Born into a well-known Kabuki family, his persistent yearning for the skies has made for a thorny relationship with his father, who has disowned him. He constantly frets about living aboard Macross Frontier due to the lack of a true 'sky'. After getting the chance to pilot the VF-25 Messiah variable fighter (due to its original pilot, Henry Gilliam, being killed by a large type Vajra in the first episode) his flying skills draw the attention of Ozma Lee, who accepts him as a candidate for the S.M.S. Skull Squadron. When S.M.S. grows suspicious of Leon and break away from the Frontier fleet, Alto remains as one of the few S.M.S. members who stay behind on Frontier. He later joins the N.U.N.S. forces and is assigned to the 4th Fighter Wing as squad leader (3 fighters) with call sign Sagittarius-1. As a result, he is given a new VF-171EX variable fighter. After being told by Leon Mishima that Ranka may become a tool for the Vajra in their war against humanity, Alto vows to kill her if necessary to save the Macross Frontier fleet. He is presumed dead after his VF-171EX is destroyed by Brera Sterne's VF-27 during the initial stages of the final battle between the Macross Frontier fleet and the Vajra. However, Alto reveals he had ejected from the VF-171EX before it was shot down. He resumes the fight in his original VF-25 Messiah, stopping Grace O'Connor with Michel's sniper rifle while being aided by Brera, who had broken free from Grace's control. As the Frontier fleet lands on the Vajra home planet, he ejects from his damaged VF-25 in his EX-Gear, giving the fighter a final salute as he fulfills his dream of flying in a real sky. He is last shown flying over the two girls and reaching out to them.

As part of the 25th Anniversary Tribute, Alto is shown mimicking scenes from the previous Macross series:

• The scene where Alto saves Ranka for the first time is a nod to when Hikaru Ichijyo rescues Lynn Minmay.
• While controlling his VF-25 in slave mode, he uses the same flying hand motion as Isamu Alva Dyson.
• His salute to both girls in the final episode is a nod to a similar scene in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?.
• When his fighter is rising to the surface to be launched, that scene and the one in which Alto raises his head is very similar to those shown in the opening of the original Macross when Hikaru and his Valkyrie rise to the surface.

Ranka Lee (ランカ・リー, Ranka Rī?)

Voiced by: Megumi Nakajima

• Age: 16

Known as the "Super-Dimension Cinderella (超時空シンデレラ?)", Ranka is a petite, lively and cheerful (although naive) teenage girl with green hair. She suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result from witnessing the destruction of the 117th Long Distance Research Fleet in which her biological family perished. She is one-quarter Zentradi, which gives her the ability to have her hair move on its own according to her feelings, as well as an above-average resistance to the vacuum of space. As the adopted younger sister of S.M.S. ace Ozma Lee, she initially attends an all-girl's high school at the urging of her brother while working part-time at the Chinese restaurant "Nyan-Nyan". She later transfers to the Mihoshi Academy to facilitate her singing career after being discovered at the Miss Macross contest and the "Bird Human" movie where she plays the role of Mao Nome. Ranka starts off as a huge fan of Sheryl Nome as she has loved singing since childhood and had dreamt of becoming a singer. She falls in love with Alto Saotome, especially after being rescued by him when the Vajra first attacked the Macross Frontier fleet. It is revealed that she has a deep connection to the Vajra as her songs confuse them and she feels severe pain whenever large amounts of Vajra are killed in her vicinity; the exact nature of this ability is explained as the result of her mother's exposure to the "V-Type" infection during pregnancy. As such, Ranka is referred to as the "Little Queen" by Grace O'Connor, suggesting that her relation to the Vajra may be more than it seems. In episode 21, she leaves the Macross Frontier fleet (along with her bodyguard Brera Sterne) while trying to deliver her Vajra pet "Ai-Kun" to the rest of its species. She and Brera eventually find the planet of origin of the Vajra. Ranka is captured by them just as she recalls her past and realizes that Brera is her biological brother. While being held on the Vajra planet, she realizes that everything that happened to the 117th fleet resulted because her singing attracted the Vajra. Using Ranka's self-perceived blame for the incident, Grace O'Connor manipulates Ranka into compromising the Vajra fold communication network, allowing Grace to send the Vajra against the incoming Macross Frontier fleet during their final battle. However, with the help of Alto, Sheryl, and Brera, she manages to break free from Grace's influence and rallies the Vajra to side with the Frontier fleet to defeat Grace. In the last chapter Ranka saves the life of Sheryl from the "V-Type" microbes that she had, sending from her brain into her abdomen. In the final scene, she tells Sheryl that she will not allow herself to lose, whether in singing or in love.

Ranka shares many characteristics with Lynn Minmay of the original Macross series. Both characters started out working in a Chinese restaurant and both participated in a local beauty pageant (with the exception that Minmay won the Miss Macross pageant while Ranka finished as a runner-up in the Miss Macross Frontier pageant).

Sheryl Nome (シェリル・ノーム, Sheriru Nōmu?)

Voiced by: Aya Endo, singing voice: May'n

• Age: 17

Known as the "Galactic Fairy", Sheryl Nome is a pop idol from Macross Galaxy fleet who constantly tops music charts, leading people to say that it was impossible not to hear her songs if you lived in this galaxy. As such, her popularity was soaring just as high in the Galaxy's sister fleet, Macross Frontier. Due to her beauty and singing talent, she is a very proud and self-assured person. Sheryl recognizes the singing talent of Ranka Lee and often offers to help her 'behind the scenes' to realize her dream of singing. Sheryl's first encounter with Alto Saotome occurs when he serves as a backup 'performer' at her first concert in Frontier. It is later revealed that Sheryl is apparently a failed experimental subject called Fairy 9 and is "discarded" by Grace O'Connor on Galia 4, the latter stating that she had outlived her usefulness. However, Sheryl survives and makes her way back to Frontier together with Michael in his VF-25G. Confronting Grace O'Connor for sabotaging her career, she is reminded that she used to be an anonymous and homeless orphan girl living in Galaxy's slums, where Grace picked her up for the Fairy 9 project. Grace also reveals that Sheryl is suffering from a terminal "V-Type" infection and will soon die in the absence of a cure. Crushed by the revelation, she almost quits singing altogether if not for Alto's encouragement and the desperation brought on by a vicious Vajra assault on Frontier. While Sheryl is singing for a charity concert, Luca Angelloni discovers that her infection gives her similar abilities to those of Ranka Lee in producing fold waves through her singing, albeit to a lesser extent. Leon's administration immediately seeks her help, instantly resurrecting her singing career for the final assault against the Vajra. A letter and photograph written by Mao Nome's daughter is found by Cathy Glass in the remains of the 117th Research and Exploration Fleet and confirms Sheryl Nome is in fact Dr. Mao Nome's biological granddaughter, her fold quartz earrings inherited from Mao. The series hints that her mother fell on hard times shortly after the death of her grandmother. During the final battle, Ranka Lee cures Sheryl's infection by sending the "V-Type" microbes from her brain into her abdomen, resulting in Sheryl having the same capability as Ranka to link up with the Vajra through singing. Sheryl joins Ranka in rallying the Vajra to side with the Frontier fleet and defeat Grace. In the final scene, she also welcomes Alto onto the Vajra planet alongside Ranka.

The prequel manga reveals that her parents were residents of the Macross Galaxy who were opposed to mandatory cybernetic implants by the government and were ordered to be either executed or captured by the authorities under the cause of treason. Her parents were both killed for their resistance and Sheryl spend a part of childhood living in poverty until she met Grace'o'Connor, during that time she met Lylith Amagi, the daughter of the Amagi family who competed with the Saotome family as famous Kabuki actors, but was disowned after her father's second wife gave birth to a son. Like many disowned children of the aristocracy, Lylith was enrolled into Erato Academy, where she taught Sheryl that she must stop burdening her natural talent with feelings of sorrow as they affected her singing skills. During a major audition for the lead role in an upcoming musical, Sheryl's singing abilities attracts Vajra, which Grace took a notice to. Lylith sacrificed herself to save Sheryl, telling Sheryl that her songs must convey feelings to others; Sheryl promises to Lylith and her parents that she will be the best singer in the galaxy. During her time as a student in Erato, Sheryl unwittingly met Alto Saotome as a Kabuki actor on stage.

• This exact article was used in the Macross Frontier movie Wings of Goodbye as Sheryl's prison bio.
• It should be noted though that the Frontier Movies are stated to be Alternate Universe to the TV Series, so events and outcomes may differ greatly from the original source material.