Squall Meusel is a former US Special Forces pilot, the leader of Phantom Task's Monochrome Avatar direct action cell[1], and is one of the main antagonists of the series, along with Madoka Orimura and Autumn.
Appearance[]
Squall is a beautiful young-looking woman, with long blonde hair, red eyes with a mole under her left eye, a beautiful face, a voluptuous body, and a large bust that has been described as very attractive by both Ran and Ichika. She often wears expensive high-class dresses and clothes when in public.
Her right arm and right eye are artificial. Squall lost them in an accident of maneuverability when she was in the US Army, making her a cyborg.[2]
Personality[]
Squall usually displays herself as mature, polite, level-headed, and ladylike in front of others, be they friend or foe. While she can be very ruthless when she wants to be and doesn't mind using force, Squall prefers to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, having once ordered M not to kill the soldiers at the American base. Suggesting that either she doesn't like needless overdoing things when it's unnecessary, or perhaps she has some other reason. She is also very cautious and calculating, preferring to avoid taking dangerous risks that could cost Phantom Task its combatants and their IS, even if it means losing a chance to get more IS than planned.[3][4]
While Squall is the leader of one of Phantom Task's squads, she does have a good side to her. Compared to the cold-hearted Madoka and aggressive Autumn, Squall is willing to help someone in need because she feels satisfied from doing so, even if there's nothing gained from it.[5] She doesn't mix her work with her personal life and can be surprisingly causal with those who know who she really is. She also cares about her comrades and will go save them if she needs to.[6][7] Squall shares a homosexual relationship with Autumn.[8]
Infinite Stratos & Abilities[]
As the leader of a Phantom Task squad and a former member of the US special forces, Squall is a highly trained and dangerous combatant. She has incredible reflexes, being able to deploy her IS and subdue M with it when she tried to attack her with her own IS. Squall has enough confidence in her IS and skills as she believes she can match Tatenashi Sarashiki, the strongest student in the IS Academy and the IS Representative of Russia, something she later proved. In fact, she would have beaten Tatenashi if Kanzashi hadn't arrived in time with the Haute Couture packages for the Mysterious Lady.[9]
Squall also has a lot of connections. She was able to invite Tabane Shinonono, someone who has been able to avoid all the countries of the world, to an underground restaurant. She is most likely a capable strategist given her position and the number of IS her squad has. She is also a skilled negotiator, having managed to convince Alicia Jiosestaf to join Phantom Task so that she could get her rematch with Chifuyu, but nothing else aside from that, thus she did have to agree to Alicia's condition.[10]
Being a cyborg, Squall's artificial limbs are likely stronger and more durable than normal limbs. She can also replace them if they're destroyed, allowing her to use them as shields if she has to.[11] However, as a downside, it's harder for her to recover from injuries.[12]
Squall pilots the Golden Dawn IS, a 3rd-generation that possesses both strong offense and defense capabilities and has the ability to generate flame-like energy.
History[]
Squall was once a member of the US special forces. 12 years before the story timeline, she was said to be KIA. However, she survived and was turned into a cyborg. At some point, she joined Phantom Task and eventually became the squad leader of Monochrome Avatar direct action cell.
Plot[]
Shortly after Autumn fails to steal Byakushiki from Ichika Orimura and gets into an argument with M, Squall arrives and dispels the argument easily, revealing herself to be Autumn's lover.
During the CannonBall Fast, Squall accidentally bumps into Ran Gotanda. She is later shown commenting on M's abilities to hold off all six personal IS users effortlessly, before getting into a skirmish with Tatenashi Sarashiki. She is shown to be skilled enough to hold off Tatenashi with partial deployment and block all her bullets with a yellow cocoon-like shield. She confidently tells Tatenashi that the Mysterious Lady would not break through her IS but chooses to escape from the Academy instead.
After M's attack on Ichika, she talks to her about maintaining her identity and about her getting revenge on Chifuyu Orimura. A few days later when Ichika goes to a high-class restaurant for a dinner with Houki, Squall shows up and helps Ichika by buying him a suit to enter the restaurant. When he leaves, she introduces herself to him while saying his name (confusing him since he never introduced himself).
Thus unknown means, Squall manages to invite Tabane Shinonono to dinner. Squall requests Tabane to make ISs with cores for Phantom Task, which Tabane refused. When Squall tries to force Tabane to agree (in the LN Autumn held Choloe Chronicle hostage and in the anime, Autumn pointed a gun at her head), Tabane easily overpowered the two. M tries to intervene, but Tabane just disables her IS. Everyone is shocked to see that Tabane knew M was Madoka Orimura and that she was willing to make her a new IS but had to come with her.
Quotes[]
Squall: "Hey, M. Whether you're Orimura Madoka or not, I don't really care, but please maintain your identity as M while being a member of Phantom Task."
Madoka: "...I intend to do so until I settle the score."
Squall: "Settle the score...with Orimura Ichika?"
Madoka: "Humph...he's not a threat at all. I can kill him whenever I want to."
Squall: "So that means, with Orimura Chifuyu...right? - Orimura Chifuyu, is it? She doesn't have an IS, so I don't think she's much of a threat."
Madoka: "Don't you ever humiliate her...Someone like you will never be a match for nee-san..."
Squall: "Okay okay, I got it. So M', don't throw the knife. You'll damage the wallpaper."
Madoka: "Humph..."
Squall: "I'll go sleep for a while. Ah, M? There's still some time until the next mission, so please control yourself a bit."
Madoka: "Got it."
Squall: "I like honest kids. Bye then, M." - Squall to Madoka [13]
References[]