~Queen Emeraldas~ My take on Leiji Matsumoto's redhead space pirate Emeraldas. She is the proud captain of the Queen Emeraldas space pirate ship, starting as a side character in "Galaxy Express 999" space opera. She has only showed twice on Harlock's saga, and once in Galaxy Express 999, so she didn't get much screen time until Matsumoto later made her own "Queen Emeraldas" OAVs in 1998. Her main weapon was the "gravity saber", which is a laser rifle in the shape of a retro-rapier sword. Emeraldas strongly opposed the plans of her mother, Queen Promethium, leading to a dramatic sequence of events that I will not spoil here. Her father, Dr. Ban was the scientist responsible for the creation of the "machine empire", but was considered a traitor for deflecting, and later causing its fall through one of his twin daughters. This probably explains why Emeraldas never spoke to him, since she hates the machines, especially after her mother was turned into one. She's quite a complex character with a fearsome reputation behind her name, being one of Harlock's most loyal friends. Her twin sister, Maetel, is her opposite - gentle, with a caring and kind personality, and was the star of the "Galaxy Express 999" saga. However, their differences go deeper than their twin faces, which keep them apart due to irreconcilable ideological differences. Emeraldas was sometimes depicted as a blonde, and sometimes as a redhead, so here I am going half-way. Conversely, her twin sister Maetel was always blonde. She married Tochiro Oyama, Captain Harlock's ship crew and best friend. Together, they have a daughter called Mayu Oyama, with whom Emeraldas has little to no contact after leaving her on Earth upon Tochiro's demise. It's worth mentioning that Tochiro was the main character in this saga, being frequently mentioned throughout the series even after his dramatic demise. You can kill a man, but not his ideals. As far as I know, Emeraldas never married again. Emeraldas (obviously) had a non-existent bond with her father, and a horrible relationship with her mother, living a solitary life as a space pirate. Despite her bloody murderous reputation, she followed a strict code of conduct where she only killed those who were cruel and unjust, much like Harlock. She is proud of her achievements, and also of her flaws, where her signature face scar is a lifetime reminder to never take her vulnerabilities for granted. Leiji Matsumoto's "Galaxy Express 999" had a strong influence on me from my early days, where my very first drawing was one of Captain Harlock. Imagine a retro-looking steam train flying out into space, and meeting a mysterious woman (Maetel) who would guide you through your journey to discover what it means to be human. Harlock and Emeraldas flew their retro-pirate ships into the sea of stars. Everything was very poetic and metaphoric, sprinkled with adventure and drama. Emeraldas has only played a small role in Galaxy Express 999, where the lead character was her sister, but she deserves a place in my gallery nonetheless. 3D pose and camera framing done in Poser with my OpenPose plugin, rendered in Stable Diffusion, postwork in PaintShop.