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Maria: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here. And it's the former leader of Quark . . . Quark has been disbanded.
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Some facts about Maria Traydor:
Her Japanese Voice Actor is Michiko Neya.
Her English Voice Actor is Dorothy Elias-Fahn.
She joined Quark between the ages of 12 and 15.
She found out at age 12 from her mother Jessie Traydor that she was adopted.
She has an idea of who her biological parents are.
She was between the ages of 16 and 18 when her powers of Alteration manifested, allowing her and The Diplo to destroy the Federation ship The Invisible.
The transport ship she and her mother were on was called The Radish.
For being a major character in the game, she has no personal bio in the manual that comes with the game.
Item Creation Skills Set:
Cooking 19
Crafting 10
Smithery 4
Engineering 20
Alchemy 22
Compounding 25
Writing 22
Synthesis 15
Character Study - Maria Traydor
Name: Maria Traydor
Age: 19
Hair color: blue
Eye color: rotates between blue or green, depending on the artist. Official artwork, it looks more blue.
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 104 lbs
Rank: Captain of The Diplo, leader of Quark, gunman/archer
Birthdate: Sometime in the year 753 S.D.
Weapon: Guns/Symbology
Favorite food: unknown
Quote: Not applicable
From the strategy guide:
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I think this is bad wording on the part of the strategy guide's writers parts. It sounds, to a small extent, a misuse of power on Maria's part, and she isn't exactly the kind of person to misuse the power at her command or the trust placed in her by the Quark members. I'm sure that, while everyone in Quark (or at least the ones on The Diplo) wanted to know more about Maria's powers and why she has them, they wouldn't take very kindly to all of their resources being used for a singular goal when it potentially contradicts everything Cliff stands for when it comes to the Pangalactic Federation. Quark is known for its ability to be Switzerland in times of negotiation. To focus solely on the goal of tracking down the Leingod family in however many years since her powers manifested would be irresponsible on Maria's part, and she is not an irresponsible person.
I'm also not sure of the rumors . . . of course, as the players, we don't see evidence of the rumors before her arrival on Elicoor II. Cliff and Mirage don't even mention her by name, which is our only source to her enigma. We know that there's a leader to Quark who is as straight as an arrow, just like Fayt (if Cliff's mild grumblings are any indication).
The fact that she's orphaned at a young age does play into her emotional and social development. It's caused her to become a more mature person faster than if she'd had a normal childhood/life from the age of twelve. (I always thought it was age ten that she was orphaned, but I was mistaken . . . what I get for going years in between new games and all that.) It's never a good age to lose a parent, let alone the violent deaths that Richard and Jessie Traydor suffered. A lot was heaped onto Maria in those final moments with her mother, and I personally feel it scarred her on some level. More on that below.
From the in-game dictionary:
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Personally, I'm sick of the repetition with what Quark is. It's like we don't get what it is the first time around, and it's worse in the game.
Anyway, back to Maria and my analysis of her . . . I don't think the claims she makes about the research would be something she makes up. She knows of her own powers. She demonstrates them for Fayt and the Aquarians, and she's also done her homework. (Seriously? Knowing as much as she did about Fayt? Not just his age, who his parents are, and where he goes to school but also his favorite sport, the position he plays for that sport and his favorite food? That's some major research there that could border on stalking in some places!) I feel that Maria wouldn't make those claims if she couldn't back them or up if she hadn't been given a clue about them in the first place. The fact that she isn't able to prove it right away means very little. That's the kind of thing I realize someone could make up, but not someone who is clearly being described as being blunt with her honesty and possessing impeccable integrity. There are just some things that, while unbelievable, wouldn't necessarily be the imaginings of someone who is being described as a person of honesty and integrity. Again, poor wording/translation.
I also think it's silly that Maria would expect people to ask for her permission to genetically modify her. I don't blame her for being mad - I'd be mad, too - but at the same time, I also feel it's a bit unreasonable for her to remain angry after the fact. In the societal world in which she's born - which is ours, to put it bluntly - children are at the whims of their parents/guardians. They don't get a say in the decisions made for them by their parents/guardians until a certain age, and I also think it's very silly of her to want them to wait when they know the universe is in danger to ask her if she'd like to be genetically modified in order to save the universe, especially when they don't know the time the attacks will come, just that they will come. I don't blame her for being mad about it, but I do think it's unreasonable of her to expect for them to wait. Perhaps the strength of her powers (as well as Fayt's and Sophia's) is dependent upon her age as well. A younger body is more resilient than an older one.
A lot of this goes back to Maria's emotional ineptness. Because she did lose her parents - though they be her adoptive parents, they were her parents all the same - at the age of 12, she's at a great disadvantage when it comes to dealing with other people, people like Fayt, Albel, and Sophia. While I think it's possible she could identify with someone like Albel on a certain level due to some of their similar experiences in losing parents at a young age, it would only go so far. Nel would be the closest one she could really identify with as both women have a very strong sense of honor and courage about them. Not to say that Albel isn't honorable - he has his own brand, that's for sure - but Maria has a low tolerance level, and, let's face it, despite how much we love him, Albel is something of an asshole. Maria wouldn't tolerate being around him for very long without Fayt's presence. She wouldn't be able to handle Sophia for very long because Sophia would strike her as being an irresponsible airhead due to the fact that Sophia is still a high school student and more interested in the cute, fluffy things. There's the woman and then there's the girly girl, and Maria would have a hard time with that after all because it's been denied to her.
By the same token, I feel that her friendship with Fayt would become strained eventually. While she does possess the maturity of one who's seen and experienced a lot in seven years, thanks to living on The Diplo, she didn't receive the kind of emotional support that only a parent can provide a child. And this is all evident in some of her interactions. For example, when they're in the kitchens of the Kirlsa Training Facility, Maria confronts Dr. Leingod with her questions. She's angry and justifiably so. When Dr. Leingod gives her the answers she's looking for, she's in tears, and cries out, "That's not what I wanted to hear." (To which I say, what we want to hear and what we need to hear are often two very different things.) It's also evident again after Dr. Leingod's death and before the party transports over to The Aquaelie. I realize that she wants answers, but she doesn't give Fayt a moment's reprieve after his father's death, and she's doing so for a selfish reason, really. She wants the truth, and, at that point, she's got no remorse over bullying (for lack of a better) Fayt into getting over his grief in the span of minutes. After a while, that would become friction between the two of them, especially since she's had the opportunity to mourn, and Fayt doesn't really get that chance (as far as we can see when playing the game or reading the manga).
One problem, aside from how Maria behaves in those two moments, is her lack of honesty when it comes to her emotions. It's one of those, is she doing what she's going because she wants people to know the truth for sure, or because she has a crush on Fayt? If you talk to Lieber before heading to the bridge of The Diplo, he starts to make a remark about Fayt and Maria's interest in him. In fact, it takes the Fayt/Maria ending for her to finally hint at that she might have romantic feelings towards him, which I think is very dangerous, given her limited emotional capabilities. Honesty and integrity don't necessarily mean she's ready for the emotional turbulence that's a relationship. She has her own baggage, as does Fayt, and the kind of baggage each possesses would be the death knell for a long-term relationship.
Finally, there is an issue of leadership. I don't believe Maria would ever abuse her power as leader of Quark. The search for Robert Leingod in the game is actually one of great importance since he is being held captive by the Vendeeni, and he does have a great deal of knowledge. That, I find no fault in whatsoever. But it's something that's in her inventor's profile (wasn't kidding in the Ask the Star Ocean Character segment about what that says about her) that gives me reason to believe Maria doesn't like to be called a follower nor does she ever want to be a follower ever again. She's tasted leadership, she enjoys it, and I do believe she'd have a very hard time walking away (despite what her solo ending might indicate). We don't get to see it in the game, but I wonder how many arguments she and Fayt actually did have in the course of their journey (if you were to think of it as an epic science fiction adventure novel over an RPG).
It's fodder for fanfiction, that's for sure.
