| Deputy commander | |
|---|---|
 The deputy commander in Episode 5. | |
| Status | Deceased |
| Origin | Certain West Asian country |
| Affiliations | Certain West Asian country's army |
| Occupation | Army officer |
| Weapons | AK-47 Pistol |
| Manga debut | Chapter 12 |
| Anime debut | Episode 5 |
| Japanese voice | Yukio Hirota |
The unnamed deputy commander (副司令 Fuku Shirei?) was the second in command of a military base in a certain West Asian country where Jonah launched his rebellion and eventually met Kasper Hekmatyar.
Appearance[]
A portly, fair skinned man with narrow eyes and short dark hair, the deputy commander wore a medium coloured uniform and cap, unlike the other soldiers stationed at the garrison as well as his commander, who wore camouflage uniforms. In the anime his uniform is a dark green.
Personality[]
The deputy commander was motivated by greed and was looking to collaborate with Kasper Hekmatyar to fulfill his ambition. He did not hesitate to betray the commander when confronted by his superior and ruthlessly decided to use Malka and Maurice to help clear a path through a minefield to reach Yusuf Gasud's shipment.
Relationships[]
Feeling that his commander had become unhinged due to the amount of action that he had seen, the deputy had no qualms about betraying him when he became an obstacle. Despite agreeing to work together, the trust between him and Yusuf began to fray after they were both injured by a bounding mine.
History[]
Yusuf meets with the deputy commander in Episode 5.
Three months before Jonah began working for Koko Hekmatyar, the deputy commander met with Yusuf, who had brought in a shipment of American arms which had to leave by a minefield. After Yusuf noticed Jonah, the deputy explained that he came from the Mountain Division and that the rest of the children at the base were orphans who the commander had taken in, which he disapproved of. Continuing, he asked to be counted in as part of Yusuf's plan, admitting that due to national policies they would be forced to supply themselves with Western arms. However he was only in because Yusuf worked for Kasper. Yusuf agreed and they left to pick up the shipment.
The deputy commander then confronted Jonah and the rest of the children, smelling the food that they had hurriedly hidden. Ordering Malka and Maurice to come with him, he then beat Jonah for insubordination when he tried to intervene. When the party arrived in the woods on the outskirts of the minefield the deputy allowed Yusuf to use Malka to clear a path for them. While making their way along, the group was spotted by the commander and a patrol he was leading which had discovered the shipment and killed its guards. When they neared the shipment, the commander burst from hiding, yelling at Malka and Maurice to stop. Although he was radioed that his men had a clear shot, he ordered them not to fire as a falling body would trigger any nearby mines and endanger the children. The deputy commander ordered his men to shoot his superior and the commander realised that he was being betrayed. When he tried to argue that the children be moved to safety first before they talked, an enraged Yusuf triggered a bounding mine. He quickly grabbed Malka and pulled her over him as a shield as the mine exploded, killing her and the commander. Despite this, he and the deputy commander were injured by the mine and after returning to the base the two argued.
The deputy commander's death in Episode 5.
Meanwhile Jonah, who had been deeply shocked at the discovery of Malka's death, had Maurice take the other orphans and hide as he prepared to exact his revenge by going after Yusuf. The sounds of gunfire broke up the argument and the deputy commander tried to bring the situation under control but his men were completely taken by surprise and unable to properly identify the attacker. The deputy commander and Yusuf sought refuge in a warehouse where the former realised that the base had been wiped out when he was unable to reach anyone. Jonah suddenly appeared and took him out with a burst of gunfire that blew his head off.
Anime and manga differences[]
The deputy and Yusuf toasting their new partnership in Episode 5.
- The commander does not appear in the anime, giving the deputy commander more of an antagonistic role and changing the outcome of the retrieval of Yusuf's arms shipment. It was retrieved without any problems and thus the deputy and Yusuf did not argue when they returned to the base, toasting an agreement that they had just signed when Jonah launched his rebellion.
- His death is less explicit in the anime as his cap obscures the injuries sustained when Jonah shoots him. In the manga his head is shown to be missing.
- In the anime Jonah recalled how he became suspicious of Yusuf when Malka was taken away by the deputy commander as well as his subsequent rebellion while Koko's Squad was en route to Japan.[1]
Trivia[]
- The deputy commander placed second to last (61st) in a character poll conducted by Sunday GX which ran from June through September 2012, although he received the same number of votes (2) as Yusuf, who placed last.[2]