Jodie Starling

Jodie Starling
Profile
Age:	28-29
Gender:	Female
Aliases:	Jodie Santemillion
Statistics
First appearance:	Manga: Chapter 270 Anime: Episode 226
Appearances:	Chapters: 86 Chapters: 1 Episodes: 54 Movies: 5 OVAs: 0 Specials: 0 Openings: 22 Closings: 2
Actors
Japanese voice:	Miyuki Ichijo

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. Originally visiting Japan on the basis of being Ran's english teacher at Teitan High School, we later learn that Jodie is an FBI agent that is hot on the trail of Sharon Vineyard, a Black Organization member with the code name, Vermouth. Vermouth killed Jodie's father when she was younger, and even tried to burn down Jodie's home, with the death father and Jodie still inside. Jodie managed to escape due to a grocery store visit, and wears her father's old fashioned glasses as a keepsake of his memory. Jodie has a very close relationship with James Black, her superior, as well as fellow agent Shuichi Akai, who she refers to as "Shu". Jodie is incredibly saddened when Akai dies, knowing that he had believed that a bad thing was going to happen on the day he died. Jodie considers Conan her "favorite detective," knowing that he is no ordinary boy. She always takes him seriously, and lets him help her in figuring out plans.

Recent flashbacks have implied that Jodie and Akai were actually lovers, as Jodie remembers Akai telling her of Akemi Miyano and saying how hard it was to love two women at the same time.

Background

In episode 345, when Jodie confronts Vermouth, it is learned that Vermouth killed her father twenty years ago when Jodie was still just a little girl. At that time, she did not realize what had happened, and thought her father was sleeping. 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 Jodie's father and his records about her and tha 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 protention by the FBI, although she declined the Witness Protection Program, and eventually became an FBI agent herself. Jodie realizes that Vermouth does not seem to have aged since she saw her as a little girl, but does not know why.

Jodie appears around the same time as Vermouth as Ran's new English teacher under the name of "Jodie Saintemillion". She comes off as somewhat strange, and refers to Conan as "Cool Kid", 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".

In episode 230-231, 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 appears to know they are both detectives despite being foreign to Japan, and even helps them solve a cese in the same episode.

It is not until episode 345 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 ahe's looking for. She is trackong down Vermouth, and after a brief confrontation woth her, Jodie is rescued by Conan and her colleague Shuuich Akai. In episodes 346-347 she offers Ai a place in the Witness Protection Program but she declines. She does not appear again until her next major appearance in episode 425, when she helps Conan prevent an assassination plot of a politician orchestrated by the Black Organization. She makes another appearance in episode 462 discussing 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, appears to take 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 Mihano, with whom he eventually became more intensely involved. Still, despite their breakup Jodie does maintain strong feelings for him.

Jodie must find a way to protect Ai from a new member of the Black Organization known as Bourbon, mentioned to her by Rena Mizunashi. When a man who looks like Shuichi Akai appears, Jodie is convinced that the stranger is her partner who has lost his memory. She searched for him desparately to the point of tracking down the shop that sells the hat she had seen him wearing.

Personality

She has a very playful personality when she is Ran's english teacher, but somewhat becomes more serene when she becomes Jodie Starling again. She often says "just like in the movies", to imply that she is in fact American and watches a lot of movies.

Name origin

Jodie Starling was named after both Clarisse 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.