TV-Series
Description
Jodie Saintemillion is the alias of Jodie Starling, a 28-year-old American FBI agent who appears in the manga and anime Detective Conan. Her real name and profession are initially concealed when she first arrives in Japan, where she takes on the role of an English teacher at Teitan High School. Her presence in Japan is not random; it is a cover for an undercover investigation, as she is secretly tracking a high-ranking member of the Black Organization known as Vermouth.
The driving force behind Jodie’s career and her personal vendetta stems from a tragic event in her childhood. Approximately twenty years before the main story, when she was just eight years old, Vermouth murdered her parents. Her father was an FBI agent investigating the Black Organization, and her mother was also killed in the incident. Vermouth set the family home on fire to destroy the evidence. Jodie survived only because she had left the house moments before to buy orange juice for her father. From this traumatic experience, she carries two lasting mementos: the phrase Vermouth left behind, A secret makes a woman woman, which she adopted as her own motto, and her father’s glasses, which she wears constantly. The fingerprint Vermouth left on those glasses would later serve as a critical clue for her identification. After the incident, she entered the FBI’s Witness Protection Program on the condition that she would be allowed to join the Bureau as an adult, setting her on the path to becoming an agent driven by a desire for revenge.
In terms of personality, Jodie is a complex character who presents different facades depending on the situation. As a teacher, she comes across as a somewhat quirky, fun-loving, and not particularly strict foreigner, which makes her popular among her students. She enjoys playing arcade shooting and racing video games and often appears carefree. However, this is a deliberate act to maintain her cover. In reality, as an FBI agent, she is serious, observant, and calculating. She is capable of keeping a cool head in a crisis, as demonstrated when a bus she was on was hijacked; she subtly disabled a criminal’s weapon without breaking her character as a civilian. Her grudge against Vermouth runs extremely deep, and she reacts very negatively to any suggestion that her nemesis might have a kind or redeeming side.
Jodie’s primary motivation for being in Japan is to capture or kill Vermouth. Her role in the story is that of a key ally to the protagonist, Conan Edogawa, in the fight against the Black Organization. She serves as a major link between Conan’s independent investigation and the resources of the FBI. Although she quickly recognizes Conan’s exceptional intelligence and deductive skills, addressing him as Cool Kid, she is initially unaware that he is actually the high school detective Shinichi Kudo. Despite this, she trusts his judgment and often collaborates with him, following his leads in many operations against the syndicate.
Her key relationships heavily define her character. Her professional partner and former romantic interest is Shuichi Akai, a legendary FBI sniper. The two were in a relationship, but Akai broke up with her approximately five years prior to the current timeline to go undercover within the Black Organization, where he began a relationship with Akemi Miyano for the sake of his mission. Despite the breakup, Jodie still holds strong, unresolved feelings for him. When she believes Akai has been killed, she is deeply grief-stricken. Her relationship with Vermouth is one of pure enmity, as she is the murderer of her parents. She also works closely with her superior, James Black, who has been a mentor and father figure to her since her childhood. She develops a protective and respectful relationship with Ai Haibara, seeing in the young girl a reflection of her own past self who refused to hide. She is also a trusted colleague of Andre Camel, whom she once suspected but later worked with extensively.
Jodie’s character undergoes notable development throughout the series. Initially, she is a mysterious figure whom Conan and his ally Heiji Hattori suspect might be a member of the Black Organization themselves. Her true identity as an FBI agent is dramatically revealed during a climactic confrontation with Vermouth on a full moon night. Following this, her character shifts from a mysterious suspect to a known and trusted ally. A significant part of her development involves her coping with the presumed death of Shuichi Akai, which forces her to confront her grief and personal feelings, eventually leading her to independently deduce the complicated truth behind his faked death. She also evolves from simply taking orders to being a more integral part of planning and executing strategies against the organization.
Jodie possesses a range of notable abilities that make her a formidable agent. She is highly skilled with firearms, able to draw and fire with incredible speed and accuracy, once shooting a gun out of Vermouth’s hand. Her hand-to-hand combat skills are also advanced; she can easily subdue armed criminals, even when her hands are tied and her eyes are covered. She has strong deductive reasoning and keen observational skills, though they are not quite on the same level as Conan’s or Akai’s. She is also fluent in English and, after practice, has become proficient in Japanese, though she initially pretended to be poor at it during her teaching cover. Her one notable weakness is her poor driving skills, a fact often remarked upon by her colleagues.
The driving force behind Jodie’s career and her personal vendetta stems from a tragic event in her childhood. Approximately twenty years before the main story, when she was just eight years old, Vermouth murdered her parents. Her father was an FBI agent investigating the Black Organization, and her mother was also killed in the incident. Vermouth set the family home on fire to destroy the evidence. Jodie survived only because she had left the house moments before to buy orange juice for her father. From this traumatic experience, she carries two lasting mementos: the phrase Vermouth left behind, A secret makes a woman woman, which she adopted as her own motto, and her father’s glasses, which she wears constantly. The fingerprint Vermouth left on those glasses would later serve as a critical clue for her identification. After the incident, she entered the FBI’s Witness Protection Program on the condition that she would be allowed to join the Bureau as an adult, setting her on the path to becoming an agent driven by a desire for revenge.
In terms of personality, Jodie is a complex character who presents different facades depending on the situation. As a teacher, she comes across as a somewhat quirky, fun-loving, and not particularly strict foreigner, which makes her popular among her students. She enjoys playing arcade shooting and racing video games and often appears carefree. However, this is a deliberate act to maintain her cover. In reality, as an FBI agent, she is serious, observant, and calculating. She is capable of keeping a cool head in a crisis, as demonstrated when a bus she was on was hijacked; she subtly disabled a criminal’s weapon without breaking her character as a civilian. Her grudge against Vermouth runs extremely deep, and she reacts very negatively to any suggestion that her nemesis might have a kind or redeeming side.
Jodie’s primary motivation for being in Japan is to capture or kill Vermouth. Her role in the story is that of a key ally to the protagonist, Conan Edogawa, in the fight against the Black Organization. She serves as a major link between Conan’s independent investigation and the resources of the FBI. Although she quickly recognizes Conan’s exceptional intelligence and deductive skills, addressing him as Cool Kid, she is initially unaware that he is actually the high school detective Shinichi Kudo. Despite this, she trusts his judgment and often collaborates with him, following his leads in many operations against the syndicate.
Her key relationships heavily define her character. Her professional partner and former romantic interest is Shuichi Akai, a legendary FBI sniper. The two were in a relationship, but Akai broke up with her approximately five years prior to the current timeline to go undercover within the Black Organization, where he began a relationship with Akemi Miyano for the sake of his mission. Despite the breakup, Jodie still holds strong, unresolved feelings for him. When she believes Akai has been killed, she is deeply grief-stricken. Her relationship with Vermouth is one of pure enmity, as she is the murderer of her parents. She also works closely with her superior, James Black, who has been a mentor and father figure to her since her childhood. She develops a protective and respectful relationship with Ai Haibara, seeing in the young girl a reflection of her own past self who refused to hide. She is also a trusted colleague of Andre Camel, whom she once suspected but later worked with extensively.
Jodie’s character undergoes notable development throughout the series. Initially, she is a mysterious figure whom Conan and his ally Heiji Hattori suspect might be a member of the Black Organization themselves. Her true identity as an FBI agent is dramatically revealed during a climactic confrontation with Vermouth on a full moon night. Following this, her character shifts from a mysterious suspect to a known and trusted ally. A significant part of her development involves her coping with the presumed death of Shuichi Akai, which forces her to confront her grief and personal feelings, eventually leading her to independently deduce the complicated truth behind his faked death. She also evolves from simply taking orders to being a more integral part of planning and executing strategies against the organization.
Jodie possesses a range of notable abilities that make her a formidable agent. She is highly skilled with firearms, able to draw and fire with incredible speed and accuracy, once shooting a gun out of Vermouth’s hand. Her hand-to-hand combat skills are also advanced; she can easily subdue armed criminals, even when her hands are tied and her eyes are covered. She has strong deductive reasoning and keen observational skills, though they are not quite on the same level as Conan’s or Akai’s. She is also fluent in English and, after practice, has become proficient in Japanese, though she initially pretended to be poor at it during her teaching cover. Her one notable weakness is her poor driving skills, a fact often remarked upon by her colleagues.