Maromi

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Maromi (マロミ, Maromi^?) is a fictional character in Paranoia Agent.

Maromi is a dog-like creature created by Tsukiko Sagi. It has a popularity within the series akin to Pikachu from the Pokémon franchise, or Hello Kitty. Tsukiko Sagi keeps a doll that, in her mind, occasionally comes to life. Maromi always tries to assure Tsukiko that she will protect her. Maromi's design was most likely taken off the popular Tarepanda.

A giant version of Maromi seen in the center of a question mark formed by the show's cast.

[edit] Final episode explanations

In the final episode of Paranoia Agent, It turns out that Tsukiko had created Maromi and Lil' Slugger, who is the boy on inline skates known for many attacks throughout Tokyo in this anime. Also, Maromi was an actual dog owned by Tsukiko that was hit by a car when she was a little girl, and Tsukiko had been so paranoid that she had created a new Maromi, the most familiar one.

Maromi's Identity

Given the ambiguous, possibly supernatural nature of the series, the talking Maromi doll and the forces it seems to represent are left up to interpretation. The doll is often seen propegating the denial that gave birth to Lil' Slugger, and the two are referred to as "the same thing." This would lead one to believe that Maromi represents something no less evil than Lil' Slugger himself, but in the Final Episode, it is shown repeatedly protecting Tsukiko. One theory from this would be that the force Maromi represents is a sort of defence mechanism, protecting the psyche from a certain event or memory, but which causes further damage itself. Therefore, those who bought into the "Maromi Madness" in Tokyo were buying into this unhealthy practice, and were vulnerable to Lil' Slugger.

Maromi could be the embodiment of Tsukiko's paranoia and anxiety - always there to protect her from memories and anything harmful but while trying to help Tsukiko is actually harming her. It should be noted that Maromi prevents Tsukiko from advancing in her already made career by deleting a newly made character in the second-to-last episode, simply stating "go away!". Maromi is highly aggressive and could also be another side to Tsukiko - which is aggressive and both passive at times.