- For other meanings of "Marlene" see "Marlene (disambiguation)"
- For the music used in Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles see "Ariel (Love Theme)"
Ariel, also known as Marlene, was an Invid simulagent based on the Invid Regess created in the form of a human to infiltrate Scott Bernard's rebel group. Ariel and Bernard would fall in love and she would remain behind on Earth when the rest of the Invid moved on after the end of the Third Robotech War.
She was named as a princess of the Invid race due to being specifically created by the Regess for transmutation into a humanoid form, a form she believed would become the future of the Invid race.
Biography[]
Background[]
Ariel was the first of the Invid that was transmutated into a humanoid form in April 2043. She was a Simulagent based on the Invid Regess sent to spy on Scott Bernard's group of freedom fighters, but she appeared to suffer amnesia when she was recovered by Scott's resistance group. In fact, Ariel was akin to a newly born human being due to the transmutation into human form and so her past life as an Invid had been irrelevant, so she had free will to live independently from the hive in this form, and this initially frightened her. The group took her in their company and Scott named her Marlene, after his fiancé who was killed by the Invid, Marlene Rush, for her strong resemblance. This may be explained because Ariel's form was modeled using a tissue sample recovered from a destroyed REF ship, which could have belonged to Marlene. (Metamorphosis (novel))
Third Robotech War[]
During their quest to the Reflex Point, Marlene became an integral part of the group as they fought the Invid. Initially, Marlene believed herself to be a human suffering from amnesia that can sense when the Invid were near. During the journey to Reflex Point, she developed feelings towards Scott Bernard. However, she was thrown into conflict when Sera confronted her in New York and revealed she was an Invid spy. When this was confirmed after a major battle near Reflex Point, she fled in tears, but Scott didn't gave up on her. He did, however, become more distant for a time and began referring to her by her given name: Ariel. (New Generation: "Reflex Point")
As the final assault by the Robotech Rebels began, the Invid, under the direct command of Corg, moved to engage them. However, Ariel stood in his way, trying to reason with him and convince the Invid to stand down peacefully, arguing that they had no right to do what the Children of the Shadow had done to the Invid. She also knew humanity was growing increasingly bold and would not stop until the Invid were destroyed, even if it cost them Earth. Corg ignored her pleas, not understanding the scale of the threat, and left. However, Ariel's pleas did reach Sera, who fell in love with Lancer Belmont, and helped them. Together with Scott and company they confronted the Invid Regess, her own mother, and tried to reach a peaceful settlement. During the negotiations, Corg interrupted and declared there would be no peace, and he would slaughter humanity to the last man. Scott rushed out in anger, determined to stop him, despite Ariel's pleas.
Any chance for peace was ruined when the REF, which had been massing an armada beyond the moon, started its final attack against the Invid. They were determined to retake Earth or destroy it so that the domination of the Invid threat would finally end. Launching Shadow Fighters, the Invid finally faced a true threat and were beaten back. The Regess stubbornly refused to surrender or retreat, declaring they would never be driven off again. During the fighting, Corg shot down Scott, and Ariel rushed out to help him. Restoring him back to health, she watched as he finally killed Corg. At the same time, the REF launched the Neutron-S Missiles. Deciding that things had finally been taken too far, the Regess relented and fled Earth. As she left, she disintegrated the Neutron-S Missiles. (New Generation: "Dark Finale," "Symphony of Light")
After the Third Robotech War[]
Ariel stayed on Earth, along with Sera. When Scott would leave to uncover the fate of Rick Hunter and the SDF-3, Ariel stayed with Jim "Lunk" Austin and Annie "Mint" LaBelle for the time being.
Fourth Robotech War[]

Following a vision sent from the Regess, Ariel began to investigate the origin of Shadow technology. After uncovering the fact that the REF's newfound allies, the Haydonites, were responsible for both the development of Shadow technology and the Neutron-S Missiles, she deduced that they were the "Children of the Shadow".
She went to warn Scott in Moon Base ALUCE, who was assisting the crew of the Icarus and ended up meeting Marcus Rush. Marcus had been the brother of the real Marlene and was visibly disturbed by Ariel's appearance. She showed Scott the same vision she had seen, and he recognized a station in the vision was Space Station Liberty. However, they were interrupted by Marcus, who recognized Ariel as an Invid and tried to kill her only for Scott to stop him, leading to his detainment for conspiring with the enemy.

During his interrogation, Scott convinced Captain Vince Grant to investigate the situation at Liberty, where they found the Haydonite armada waiting for them. Realizing that Shadow Technology was a trojan horse, the Icarus was abandoned, and they were forced to utilize the freighter Ark Angel to engage the enemy. Utilizing a Neutron-S Missile, they sacrificed Liberty to halt the Haydonite Invasion for the time being. During the maneuver, Ariel rescued Marcus, who was about to sacrifice himself to give them a chance to escape. In doing so, she was able to earn Marcus's begrudging trust. (Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles)
She went to Earth with Scott to find and recruit the former Robotech Rebels, with them reuniting with Lance Belmont and informing him of their preparations to rescue the SDF-3 from deep space. However, he declined to join the mission for personal reasons, leading to them departing without him. (Robotech: Love Live Alive!)
Behind the Scenes[]
Scott naming her Marlene was most likely because of a misunderstanding of Harmony Gold's translators who thought that Scott seeing flashes of the real Marlene when first seeing her meant that Ariel looked similar to Marlene, as in the original GENESIS Climber Mospeada Stick Bernard mentions that the girl (who would be named 'Aisha') reminded him of his deceased girlfriend rather than her looking like her.
The novel continuity would expand on the idea of Ariel looking like Marlene by implying that Ariel's transmutation used Marlene's DNA, thus explaining her appearance.
She was part of the short video Robotech UN Public Service Announcement.
Appearances[]
Sources[]
Roboverse bio on Robotech.com
- The Art of Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles
- Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Roleplaying Game
- Robotech Visual Archive: Genesis Climber MOSPEADA
- Robotech: Homefront
For the Mospedia equivalent, visit Aisha |