Mistral

Mistral is a female Cyborg Ninja and a member of Desperado Enforcement LLC. She is one of the Winds of Destruction alongside Sundowner and Monsoon, and is named after the dry northern winds that blow from the Alps to the Mediterranean. Mistral uses weapons called “Etrangers” in many ways such as whips and rods. When not undergoing combat operations, she wears a violet coat with paudrons, which she removes in a suggestive manner when about to fight an enemy. Her serial number is 977-AZQEE.

During the events of 2018, Mistral was assigned command of the Desperado forces that were aiding a military coup against the parliamentary government of Abkhazia. She later encountered Raiden at the Desperado's base of operations, a refinery plant located near the coastline. After dropping her coat off, she taunted him by revealing all she knew about him, including his former nickname from the Liberian Civil War, "Jack the Ripper." At first, she has her Dwarf Gekko fight Raiden, although they eventually fight on the rooftops. Eventually, their fight comes down to the main level of the plant. Raiden manages to disarm her of the Etranger, backing her into a corner where she is then doused in liquid nitrogen, freezing her and resulting in Raiden finishing her off. Afterwards, her Pole-Arm weapon was later copied after a careful analysis of her battle data.

Mistral has the ability to take the arms of Dwarf Gekko and attach them to her body, also using them as weapons.

She can attach up to 14 arms of Dwarf Gekko/Scarabs into her body, 7 arms on each of the two sides of her body.

Behind the scenes
Mistral's multiple arms give her a slight resemblance to Screaming Mantis. They also give her a similar appearance to many Hindu-Buddhist deities, such as Durga, Kali, and Asura. It's also similar to the Chinese play "The Hundred-handed Bodhisattva."

Her arms are called Etrangers, a reference to the novel L’Étranger by Albert Camus. The novel's protagonist is a French-Algerian man named Meursault.

Full details of Mistral's battle were leaked in UK Official PlayStation Magazine 's coverage of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

At one point in the TGS trailer, Mistral's right eye glowed red, hinting that, similar to Raiden, she possessed optical implants.

In concept artist Yong-Hee Cho's official blog on Platinum Games' website, he explained that he was tasked to create Mistral by director Kenji Saito, as he wanted "tendril like objects to come out of this girl [Mistral]." It eventually resulted in the concept of her fusing with Dwarf Gekko. Cho also implied that, similar to other female boss characters in the Metal Gear series such as Sniper Wolf, Fortune, The Boss, and the Beauty and the Beast Unit, he was going to make her a femme fatale with a tragic backstory. He also wanted to make her sick and perverse looking initially. He also wanted to place a helmet on her, although this ended up cut.

Mistral's boss theme is called "A Stranger I Remain." It's lyrics talk about a constant stranger who can only consider the battlefield her home.

She shares the same serial number as Samuel Rodriguez.