Jodie Starling
Anime: Episode 226
Jodie Starling (ジョディ・スターリング Jodi Sutaaringu), referred to in earlier episodes as Jodie Santemillion (ジョディ・サンテミリオン Jodi Santemirion), is a character in the manga and anime franchise Detective Conan.
Background
Some twenty years ago, when Jodie was still just a little girl, Vermouth killed her parents, who had been working on the Black Organization for the FBI. Vermouth was surprised to find her in her house, and after Jodie had asked what was going on, Vermouth told her to wait by her father until he woke up, and that "a secret makes a woman woman". She then set the house ablaze, thus destroying any evidence that she had been there, along with the corpses of Jodie's parents and any records about the Black Organization.
Fortunately, Jodie had decided to run down the street to the store to buy her father some orange juice, and had thus survived. She was put under protection by the FBI, although she declined the Witness Protection Program, and eventually became an FBI agent herself under the tutelage and patronage of James Black. The only remaining memento from her past is the set of glasses she wears, which had originally belonged to her father.
Personality
Jodie usually is a very serious person, but also has demonstrated a very playful and carefree side (as it is seen when she is Ran's English teacher). She seems to like movies (especially mystery and action-oriented films), and enjoys action videogames.
Impressed by his intelligence, deductionary abilities and knowledge, Jodie considers Conan her "favorite detective". She always takes him seriously, and lets him help her in figuring out plans.
Appellations
| Picture | Name | What they call Jodie | What Jodie calls them |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
James Black | Jodie-kun | ??? |
 |
Shuichi Akai | ??? | Shuu |
 |
Andre Camel | ??? | Agent Camel |
| Picture | Name | What they call Jodie | What Jodie calls them |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Conan Edogawa | Jodie-sensei | Cool Kid, Conan-kun, Boss |
 |
Ran Mouri | Jodie-sensei, Sensei | Mouri-san |
 |
Ai Haibara | N/A | "Little Red Riding Hood" |
 |
Sonoko Suzuki | Jodie-sensei | Suzuki-san, Sonoko |
 |
Juzo Megure | Jodie-sensei | N/A |
 |
Tomoaki Araide | Jodie, Jodie-sensei | Doctor Araide |
Plot overview
Plot Timeline
Jodie appears around the same time as Vermouth as Ran's new English teacher at Teitan High under the name of "Jodie Saintemillion". She comes off as somewhat strange, and refers to Conan as "Cool Guy", which caused fans to believe that she knew his secret. (In fact, she now knows he's an incredible detective, but it is unclear if she knows his true identity). She is noted for often using the phrase of her enemy, Vermouth ('A secret makes a woman woman'). In episode 226-227 Jodie, after watching Conan suspiciously, informs someone over the phone that she has found their target, whom she refers to as "Rotten Apple".
First indications of Jodie's FBI training are shown during the confrontation with the bus hijackers. She stealthily turns on the safety to one of the hijacker's guns, while knocking him down thus he cannot shoot it when he attempts to fire at her. She appears later in 271-272 and gives Conan information that allows him to solve the case. In episodes 277-278, she is investigated by Conan and Heiji, both believing her to be Vermouth in disguise, as she pretends to not know japanese despite being perfectly fluent, and even helps them solve a case in the same episode.
It is not until her personal confrontation with Vermouth that Jodie's past and true identity as an FBI agent is revealed, as well as the real reason she's in Japan and the person she's looking for. She is tracking down Vermouth, and after a brief confrontation with her, Jodie is rescued by Conan and her colleague Shuichi Akai. Following this, she offers Ai a place in the Witness Protection Program, but Ai declines. She does not appear again until when she helps Conan prevent an assassination plot of a politician orchestrated by the Black Organization and the subsequent capture and hospitalization of the BO member Kir.
Jodie has been heavily involved in the BO arc episodes 492-504, which has involved the BO and the FBI. The death of her partner, Akai, takes a very emotional toll on her. As it later turns out, they used to be lovers before Akai infiltrated the Black Organization by dating Akemi Miyano, with whom he eventually became more intensely involved. Still, despite their breakup Jodie does maintain strong feelings for him.[1]. When a man who looks like Shuichi Akai appears, Jodie is convinced that the stranger is her partner who has lost his memory, but he is gone before she can affirm her suspicion.
Hints that Jodie was not Vermouth, but an FBI agent
- The records of Kogoro Mouri's cases that Vermouth stole did not contain any cases involving Jodie Saintemillion, but did the contain the murder case Tomoaki Araide was involved in. This was the clue that allowed Conan to deduce Araide was Vermouth and not Jodie.
- Jodie's copies of the pictures of Ran and Conan on Vermouth's dartboard have irregular borders indicating they were photographs of Vermouth's pictures.[2] This detail was overlooked in the anime. Also Jodie has a picture of Dr. Araide.
- Jodie calls Conan "cool guy" after the first time they meet in reference to the caption on Vermouth's photo of Conan, but she switches to to "cool kid" after that. This showed that Jodie did not know Conan was Shinichi, unlike Vermouth who was grateful to Conan (and thus trying not to target him) after Shinichi saved her in the New York case.
- Jodie mentions the nickname for the FBI is "The Bureau".
Relationships analysis
- Shuichi Akai
- Vermouth
Character popularity
- eBookJapan held a character popularity poll from April 12, 2011 to May 12, 2011 in which readers of Detective Conan (international included) could vote for their favorite character. Jodie placed 17th in the poll with 37 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.[3]
Name origin
- Jodie Starling was named after both Clarice Starling, one of the main protagonists in Silence of the Lambs, and actress Jodie Foster who performed Starling's role in the movie adaptation of the same name. Her fake name Saintemillion was from Saint-Émilion, a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in south-western France.
Quotes
In other languages
| Language | Given Name | Family Name |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
ジョディ Jodi | スターリング Sutaaringu |
 French |
Jodie | Sterling |
 Spanish |
Jodie | Starling |
 German |
Jodie | Starling |
 Vietnamese |
Jodie | Starling |
 Arabic |
جودي Judi | سيمون Simon |
Trivia
- As a kid, Jodie's hairstyle looks similar to Haibara's.
- According to Akai, Jodie has no driving skills, however, she was perfectly capable of performing a skidding about face with her car when being followed by Vermouth.
See also
References
- ^ Manga Chapter 677: The Fated Individual
- ^ Volume 34, File 343, page 18: "Who Are You?"
- ^ "『名探偵コナン』 人気投票結". eBookJapan. 2011-05-12. http://www.ebookjapan.jp/ebj/special/conan/vote_kekka2.asp. Retrieved on 2011-05-15.