Mars: The Galactic Commander Who Never Questioned an Order

She never has doubts. Mars holds the rank of Commander in Team Galactic, on the same level as Jupiter, Saturn and Charon, and carries out Cyrus's orders without ever weighing them. The organization's project — giving birth to a new universe — is all the justification she needs, from the Valley Windworks near Floaroma Town all the way to the summit of Mt. Coronet.

Contents

• Four Commanders, a Single Authority
• Floaroma Town: Diverted Power and a Hostage
• Lake Verity, Then Spear Pillar
• In the Anime: The Adamant Orb and Iron Island
• In the Manga: Fun as a Motive
• Three Possible Endings, and a Career in Cards
• Mars at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Four Commanders, a Single Authority

She holds one of the Commander posts, alongside Jupiter, Saturn and Charon. What drives her comes down to a single name: that of Cyrus, the organization's boss, whom she admires without limit and whose goal she fully embraces — creating a new universe.

There's nothing resigned about this obedience. She takes it for granted that Team Galactic is working for the good of all and complains out loud about how little recognition her efforts get, a remark she slips in right before challenging the player to a battle.

Diamond, Pearl and Platinum credit her with five species: Bronzong, Bronzor, Purugly, Golbat and Zubat. Purugly is the one the adaptations feature most prominently, appearing alongside Bronzor in both the anime and the manga.

Floaroma Town: Diverted Power and a Hostage

The first encounter takes place at the Valley Windworks near Floaroma Town, which Mars takes over, flanked by a squad of Grunts. She holds a local scientist there, a little girl's father, long enough to divert the energy it produces to her organization's projects.

The episode lays out her method for the rest of the game: a material objective, a civilian victim, no hesitation. Mars doesn't negotiate: she occupies the building, takes what she came for and considers the operation perfectly legitimate.

Beaten by the player, she retreats, her Grunts trailing behind her. Nothing about this defeat leads her to rethink anything, and the character then disappears from the story for a long while.

Lake Verity, Then Spear Pillar

Her return comes during the assault on Lake Verity, with orders to seize Mesprit. The player steps in and battles her a second time, but arrives too late: the Legendary has already been captured.

Next comes the infiltration of the Team Galactic HQ in Veilstone City, where the boss's final plans at last become clear. The showdown then moves to the very top of Mt. Coronet, at Spear Pillar, where Mars and Jupiter team up as a duo the player faces in a Multi Battle, with their rival's help.

Diamond and Pearl close out her story with this two-on-two battle. She never shows up again after that, which leaves the character without an epilogue in those two versions.

🔥 A team to put on your shelf: check out the Pokémon figures.

In the Anime: The Adamant Orb and Iron Island

The anime introduces her right away at the head of a commando unit tasked with stealing the Adamant Orb. The mission succeeds, which immediately sets her apart from the long line of villains the hero foils in their very first scene.

She later comes back to scan Iron Island to locate the portal leading to the dimension where Dialga and Palkia reside. Her machine emits high-frequency vibrations that torment all the Steel-type Pokémon living there, until Ash and Pikachu put it out of commission.

In the anime, her Pokémon are used for sabotage more than for head-on battles. Her Bronzor puts the police guards to sleep; her Purugly smashes the ruins of Celestic Town to create the diversion that lets Saturn make off with the Lustrous Orb, then shows its true strength against the hero's team.

In the Manga: Fun as a Motive

The manga turns her into a far more disturbing character. Behind an innocent look, she's described as a tactician who's always a few steps ahead — cheerful, unable to sit still, mentally unstable, and on bad terms with Saturn.

Her cruelty gets an explicit motive: entertainment. She openly says she hurts a man because it amuses her, sets great store by her own definition of humor, and demands a better comedy routine from the heroes before leaving the Valley Windworks.

The stolen energy finally finds its purpose. It's used to build the Galactic Bomb, whose explosion at Lake Valor draws out Mesprit, which is immediately surrounded by a formation of Staravia and then captured in a net dropped from the airship.

At Spear Pillar, the three Commanders hold off six Gym Leaders; Mars takes on Gardenia and Crasher Wake, and the battle ends with her passed out on top of her Purugly. Later, in the Distortion World, she takes a shine to the Electric-type Gym Leader Volkner and seriously suggests taking him prisoner, on the grounds that she owns an Electivire too.

Three Possible Endings, and a Career in Cards

Platinum gives her the epilogue the first two versions lack. Turning up again at Stark Mountain with Jupiter and Charon, she challenges the player to a battle, hoping to find out what became of Cyrus; once beaten, she leaves Team Galactic to go back to a normal life.

The anime, for its part, goes with an arrest: Mars is taken into custody along with Saturn and Jupiter. Shaken by her boss's disappearance, she refuses to join him in the universe he has chosen for himself, and the trio's final scene shows them crushed by this betrayal.

The manga takes the exact opposite route. When Cyrus announces that Team Galactic is disbanded, he ends up taking his Commanders with him, and Mars seems happy to go — the opposite of the return to ordinary life that Platinum offers.

Finally, the character also exists outside the story. Mars appears in the Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders expansion, released in France on May 16, 2008; her Pokémon get their own cards a year later, with the Platinum expansion of August 18, 2009.

Mars at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Mars in Pokémon?
  One of Team Galactic's Commanders, alongside Jupiter, Saturn and Charon. She carries out Cyrus's orders without question and shares his plan to create a new universe.
• Where do you first battle Mars?
  At the Valley Windworks near Floaroma Town, which she occupies with a group of Grunts after taking a local scientist hostage to divert the energy it produces.
• Which Pokémon does Mars use?
  In Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, her roster includes Bronzong, Bronzor, Purugly, Golbat and Zubat, to which Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl add Raichu, Espeon, Togekiss and Crobat at the Battle Tower. Purugly is the one the adaptations feature most, in the anime as well as the manga.
• What happens to Mars in the end?
  It depends on the medium. In Platinum, she leaves the organization to go back to a normal life; the anime has her arrested along with Saturn and Jupiter; the manga sees her leave with Cyrus after Team Galactic is disbanded.
• Does Mars have Pokémon cards?
  She first appears in the Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders expansion, released in France on May 16, 2008. Cards of her own Pokémon arrive with the Platinum expansion on August 18, 2009.

In short

Mars is the portrait of a true-believer enforcer: she diverts power, holds a hostage and attacks a lake without ever questioning the order she's been given. What makes the character interesting is how each medium settles her case differently — a return to normal life, arrest, or leaving alongside her boss. Three readings of one and the same loyalty.