Ma

 "I forgot a point. "Don't trust what people say in this forest.""

- Ma to an intruder in Evil's Forest

Ma, later dubbed the Gardener, and the Sorceress of Time, was a mage and playwright of the Union State of Evillious. Befriending Gallerian Marlon, Ma manipulated the judge into collecting the Seven Deadly Sins after the death of his family and served as his sole confidant. After his untimely death, she began manipulating the inhabitants of Evil's Theater, claiming that Utopia would result from collecting the sins.

Sin Fragments
"The film and the story about the vessels of sin... If you've changed your mind, then tell me right now."

- Ma to Gallerian Marlon

In the EC 900s, Ma became a playwright in the Union State of Evillious and later met with Chief Justice Gallerian Marlon. In EC 978, Ma told Gallerian that she wanted to create a film adaptation of the "Daughter of Evil" written by Yukina Freesis and lent him the novel to read during his holiday. While the judge's family was away, Ma visited Gallerian and was escorted by his butler, Rennert, to his study. Noticing he had already read the book, she asked about his impression of the novel. After Gallerian explained he knew of a different account of the tale and questioned which was true, Ma pointed to the book and assured him it was the real story.

Once the judge returned the book and inquired about her film adaptation, the playwright joyfully grabbed his arm, saying she would need a sponsor. Gallerian declined due to the cost and shook her off; saddened, Ma lit her pipe and began to smoke. Calling him stingy, she walked around the room before taking a picture of the judge with his family from a cabinet. After staring intently at the image, she whispered that his wife would return the next day, prompting Gallerian to ask if she was threatening him. Before he finished warning her, Ma laughed and told him she had no intention to harm his family, claiming it wasn't her style.

Putting the picture back, there was a long silence before Gallerian asked if there was more about the characters. The playwright responded that she did have notes and said she would bring them next time. They then continued discussing the novel’s characters and their relationship to later historical figures such as "Lemy the Ripper" and Julia Abelard. In response to Gallerian’s question of why Abyss I.R. was collecting the vessels of sin, the enchanting playwright told him it was because the one who collected the vessels would have their wish granted.

After a short pause, she excitedly asked if he was interested in finding them together but was cut off. Asked if money was necessary, the playwright indifferently admitted it to the judge. After Gallerian refused, saying he didn't need the vessels, Ma noted his words and returned the burnt out pipe to her sleeve. Promising to return later, she began to leave when Gallerian told her to stop. Reminding her for his family's sake, Ma said she was aware he didn't want his daughter in trouble. At the door, Ma gave him another chance to change his mind about the film and searching for the vessels of sin but was ignored by the judge.

Dark Star Scandal
Not long after she left, Gallerian received news that his wife and daughter were in an accident caused by the bizarre attack of a giant octopus. In EC 980, Ma approached Gallerian and spoke to him about the vessels of sin. The judge reconsidered Ma's earlier offer and the two began collecting the vessels of sins together. Some time later, Ma arrived at Gallerian's home to collect the recently acquired Venom Sword from him, joining the Clockworker's Doll Gallerian believed to be his deceased child in "her" room. When Gallerian arrived in the room, Ma welcomed him, offering the judge food and bath. He responded she didn't have to do that, even though his wife was no longer around.

The playwright then told him "Michelle" had been hesitant and that she couldn't allow that as her "mother". Peeved, Gallerian said he would become angry if she continued such jokes, ordering the playwright to leave. Ma remarked she would once she took what she needed; the judge complied, bringing her the weapon to inspect it. When asked if there was any doubt about it's identity, Ma confirmed it was the vessel. Accidentally saying there were only four left, she corrected herself to "five" and encouraged him to continue collecting them. When Gallerian began asking if doing so would heal his daughter, she assured him it was true. Gallerian then cautioned her of trouble if he was discovered removing evidence. Ma responded she would try to be discreet, but that it might be best to protect the weapon at a place away from human eyes and the judge told her he would think about it. As she left, Ma stopped to remind him to not lose the spoon he collected, telling him that he couldn't speak to his "daughter" without it. Gallerian assured her he always had it, removing it from his breast pocket to show her. Satisfied, Ma left but lingered to overhear Gallerian speak to the doll, noting his odd conversations with it even though she only heard him speaking. Amused, Ma left Gallerian's home, silently wishing him well playing the "doll game".

Sometime later, Ma heard rumors of the celebrity Gallerian recently acquitted, Scherzer, being involved in a recent string of women disappearances in the area, though media coverage was suppressed. She then visited Gallerian and, while smoking her pipe, asked if had heard the rumors, revealing the media control and seeming whistleblower in the case as well as Scherzer's potential involvement. When the judge asked if the information was true, Ma noted that the women could have been sold into slavery, remarking that, despite being a gaudy and unlikeable fop, it seemed unlikely that Scherzer would commit such a crime. Surprised to see Gallerian's bitter reaction to the news, she watched as the judge left to investigate.

Sometime after, Ma convinced Gallerian to build a small theater in the middle of the Millennium Tree Forest to store the vessels of sin he collected in EC 982. At some point, Ma promised to continue the judge’s quest should he perish.

Evil’s Theater
"Quite a place, eh?"

- Ma

After Gallerian’s death during the Levianta Civil War in EC 983, Ma, his only friend, inherited the judge's collection. A few days later, she disappeared into the Millennium Tree Forest and stored the vessels of sin in Evil's Theater. Taking on the name as the Gardener, Ma attached the burned Clockworker's Doll to the inner workings of Heartbeat Clocktower to sustain her life, having the awakened vessel of Greed, Gear, maintain the tower. As more of the vessels began to awaken, Ma began writing about their actions; around this time, she obtained the allegiance of the Master of the Graveyard, tasking her with guarding the theater from intruders.

Around the time the Doll began to sing, Ma was wandering through the woods; with rumors of Gallerian's fortune being hidden in the theater, Ma witnessed visitors to the forest being captured and eaten by the Master of the Graveyard for their intrusion. Sometime after the forest earned the name "Evil's Forest", Ma happened upon a greedy intruder while wandering the forest. Welcoming the visitor, the Gardener questioned what greeting was best before deciding either was fine.

Once she explained her current and previous identity, the playwright offered to teach the "rules" of the forest to the intruder. Listing off some random rules, as well as to flee from bother the Master of the Graveyard and her servants and stay away from the demon nest of a theater, Ma remarked about how odd the forest was. She then told the intruder not worry about remembering the rules, since they would change the next day anyhow. Noting she forgot a rule, she told the greedy visitor not to trust what people said in the forest.

After the Clockworker's Doll was revitalized and took on the name "Master of the Court", Ma promised that Gallerian’s vision of Utopia would come true if all the vessels of sin were collected, pushing the doll to continue her “father's” quest and grant his wish. Afterwards, Ma penned several screenplays regarding Evillious and the Seven Deadly Sins and had them adapted as films for the theater. After an intruder had entered the theater, the playwright had the visitor watch some films with her and explained the story behind each of them. After the fifteen films were finished, Ma offered to play a word game with the visitor before they were put on trial and sentenced to death by the Master of the Court.

Later, one of the intruders, Gammon Octo, was made a chore guy for the theater; with Gammon becoming the new Gardener, Ma took on the name of "Sorceress of Time". Due to the vessel of Envy failing to awaken, Ma became the replacement for the dormant pair of scissors. Becoming acquainted with Gammon, Ma used his Purple Dream ability to assist her in writing her screenplays. When Gammon submitted a "motion" to review the script regarding his vision for the Director Doll's utopia, Ma was visibly irritated by his action.

In EC 998, she along with the other awakened vessels of sin attended the "trial" meeting called by the Master of the Court. While there, she was asked by the Judicial Doll if she knew the location of the vessel of Wrath. Ma responded that, because its form and owners changed over time, she did not know its current location. Qualifying her statement, she mentioned that it was probably in "her" hands.

Personality and Traits
Ma was a deceptive and awful woman, using others to achieve her personal goals. She was very expressive and often swung moods depending on how someone answered her. When amused, she chuckled more often and was always smiling; when denied what she wanted, she became visibly sullen and sometimes argumentative. To some extent, Ma showed signs of malicious intentions, giving off a threatening tone towards Gallerian's family when he initially refused to help her, although claiming that harming his family to get what she wanted wasn't her "style".

Despite this, she played around with the impending demise of intruders to Evil's Theater, even stating she looked forward to their next meeting before the visitor was put on trial by the Master of the Court. She similarly manipulated both Gallerian and his "daughter" to aid her in collecting the vessels of sin, showing no signs of remorse for lying to them. The vessels themselves were extremely important to her and she became bothered when Gallerian's plan for Utopia via the vessels was put into doubt.

The playwright acted whimsy, lackadaisical, and playful towards Gallerian Marlon. Since meeting the judge, Ma would always become angry with him over little things and get into huge arguments over them. In spite of this, she openly referred to him as her friend. Like a child, she acted visibly excited when bringing up the vessels of sin or her "Daughter of Evil" film adaptation to him, and was intent to earn his support for both endeavors. After Gallerian lost his family, Ma supported Gallerian and encouraged him to collect the vessels for his daughter, albeit knowing that Michelle was dead and that he was under the delusion that the Clockworker's Doll was her. Similarly, she treated the Doll like it was alive and called herself its "mother", earning Gallerian's anger.

She appeared to like her work as a playwright and wrote numerous screenplays while in Evil's Theater. After Gammon Octo joined their ranks, Ma collaborated with the man to create them, using his Purple Dream ability to great effect. She also was dedicated to writing down what transpired with the awakened vessels and considered each of them to have a "starring role", regardless of how big or small it really was. Ma had a smoking habit and usually kept a pipe in her sleeves for the occasion. Although repeatedly told by Gallerian not to smoke in his home, she ignored him and would smoke anyway.

Skills and Abilities
"For them, I keep writing the story intently."

- Ma regarding the "collectables"

Known as the "Sorceress of Time", Ma was a powerful mage with strong magic. Her authority was great enough that the Master of the Graveyard openly obeyed her. She was also an experienced penman, adapting many historical events from the Evillious' history into features reenacted at Evil's Theater. Partially because of her obsession with them, Ma was extremely knowledgeable about the vessels of sin and the events surrounding them that were unknown to the general public. Despite her plethora of information, she was sometimes inaccurate or misportraying how events exactly occurred, although largely reliable in identifying a vessel of sin and its previous owners. She was similarly very privy to the lives and motivations of both Elluka and Irina Clockworker, claiming the latter wished to collect the vessels to grant a wish.

Character Connections
Gallerian Marlon: Ma's partner. Ma considered Gallerian a useful benefactor as well as a close friend, sometimes giving him aid in his court cases; despite this, she was frustrated with his stingy nature and thus willing to manipulate him to fulfill her aims. Ma often enjoyed teasing Gallerian and later became amused with his obsessive love for the Clockworker's Doll, though she found his corrupt court tactics distasteful.

Gammon Octo: A fellow member of Evil's Theater and the Gardener after her. Ma got along with Gammon well enough to let him tend to her garden and let him help her write screenplays for the cinema, seeing his clairvoyant "Purple Dream" ability as useful. Despite this, she was disturbed by his visions predicting the world as ending when the sins are gathered.

Master of the Graveyard: A fellow member of Evil's Theater. Ma viewed the Master of the Graveyard as a useful ally when gathering the other vessels of sin, relying on her insatiable hunger to keep away potential thieves away from the theater.

Master of the Court: A fellow member of Evil's Theater. Ma saw the Master of the Court, as director of Evil's Theater, useful for fulfilling her goals. She became a primary influence on her actions as a means to control the whole theater.

Kayo Sudou: The physical body of Ma. It is unknown how Ma obtained Kayo's body following the tailor's possession.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * Ma appears to be an abridged form of the word Magician, the “gician” part of her name missing is taken from one letter in the Latin names of the Seven Deadly Sins collected by Gallerian.
 * It also shares the same letters as Project 'Ma' (Mem Aleph) and was a title bestowed upon the one who successfully birthed the twin gods and became the ruler of the Magic Kingdom.

Curiosities

 * In Capriccio Farce, Ma's profile states that her identity is that of Kayo Sudou; her design in the song PV resembles a similar design seen in Chrono Story, alongside Elluka's first and second bodies.
 * When asked in an interview who Ma really was, mothy said she seemed to have been living for a very long time and wondered if she was one of the similarly long-living people that had appeared in the story; he then answered that the matter didn't seem to be so simple.

Gallery
Song Apparitions=