The Reploid Research Lavatory

There are good cops, and there are bad cops… and then there’s Denise.

From page 20 of the Tron ni Kobun Secret Encyclopedia (the reverse section of the Tron ni Kobun Treasure-Trove Guide book), we present Gold City’s finest: the Ryship Police.

The Rookie Cop
Denise & Her Colleagues

The slightly timid policewoman

A member of the police force that protects the peace on Ryship Island. Her sense of justice is strong, and she’s always full of enthusiastic spirit. However, she’s still just a novice officer who has trouble getting to work on time, and she’s had her fair share of blunders already. She’s not very skilled at operating mecha, either.

Denise’s Expressions

(top right)
She has plenty of spirit, but not much composure.

(middle)
Tron is always getting the best of her, can you tell!?

(bottom left)
Her enthusiasm is sadly matched by her patheticness.

She looked like this at first!?

This was how Denise’s design first looked. Her expression is a bit scary compared to how Denise appears in the game now. Here she actually looks sort of haughty and self-important.

Denise’s Colleagues

The Police
Denise’s fellow officers. Though valiant and courageous, it seems they are simply no match for the likes of Tron.

The Captain
The female Police Captain. 46 years old, and a veteran on the force. She can be very stern with her subordinates, but the truth is it’s just because she always worries about them so much.

As a bungling and rather clueless cop who tries hard and fails even harder, Denise can really steal the show. In The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, her unlikely duties have pitted her (rather unfairly) against the forces of the Bonne family air pirates. And though she’s frequently out-matched and out-gunned, she refuses to give up time after time. Ever the ne’er do well, even Tron can’t help but feel a certain soft spot for her. After all, the Bonnes share the same tenacity!

Denise’s name is almost certainly a reference to food, since her last name is Marmalade and her first name in Japanese is the same pronunciation as the word “danish“. Interestingly, these foods have a more of a United Kingdom or European connotation, as do the style of uniforms and “bobby” hats worn by the other officers.

Capcom has shown off Denise’s early design a couple of times outside of this book. Like the alternate color scheme image from the old Official DASH site shown above. And more recently, we got another look at the design on the Legends 3 Devroom blog via Kinako’s Daily Report #92:

Her early version always seems to have a serious and slightly grumpy expression on her face, unlike the emotional range Denise shows in the game. Her final design is probably more appropriate for her character, though I do like the way those hair barrettes look. And the purple…

Denise has made a few other appearances, too. After Misadventures, she made a second game appearance in the Capcom mobile title Rockman DASH: Great Adventure on 5 Islands! You may have also seen her weather girl cameo in Hitoshi Ariga’s Mega Man Megamix, shown above. Will Denise be appearing in Legends 3, helping control the biker gang activity at the behest of Aero’s chief-of-police father?