Mokka

"Found in a curiosity shop by Principal Biscotti, Mokka is a dry and deadpan robot who wields powerful earth magic."

Mokka (カフェラテ, Kaferate, Caffè Latte) is an ancient robot in Magical Starsign who commands Earth Magic, and is a student at Will-o'-Wisp Academy.

During the events of Magical Vacation over 800 years prior, his name was Latte Rustynail (カフェオレ・ラスティネイル, Kafeore Rasutineiru, Café au Lait Rustynail) and utilized Ancient Magic.

Personality
Mokka takes a very deadpan view to everything, though as the story progresses, he appears to have a strong desire to be in a romantic relationship. He is often portrayed as sarcastic, and rather uncaring in personality, while simultaneously taking the part of the logical member of the group. He can even be a bit stubborn and impatient. However, he is actually very kind and always works hard for his friends. If the protagonist is female in Magical Starsign, Mokka will confess that he has feelings for her during Paella's Starfall Festival. It is unknown if he still retains them afterwards.

In the Japanese versions of both games, his dialogue is written in wonky katakana to emulate robotic speech. He will sometimes employ kanji when necessary.

Appearance
Mokka's appearance remains consistent in both Magical Starsign and Magical Vacation. He is mainly composed of a brown lightweight metal called Karuikane, and has many screws around his body. There are exactly six small ones and two large ones on his chest, and five on his head. He also has quite a few "sectioned" parts where joints are, like on his legs and feet. He has three fingers on each hand, each composed of three silver joints, and are attached to a grey metal socket on each palm. Also on his arm are decorative indents in the metal plating.

Mokka has one singular orange eye that rests on his bucket-shaped head. Also on his head are three brass horn-like pieces, two on either side, and one that is more bell-shaped on the very top of his head. It is unknown what the purpose of these objects are, though they could possibly be exhaust funnels. On his back, Mokka has two cylindrical tanks that light up when casting magic.

Backstory


12000 years ago, a collective from Puffoon known as the Espressos desired to access Nova by piercing the Sun's plasma atmosphere. Since the yogart gurus of Erd could astral project their spirits to Nova, the Espressos arrived at the Earth Planet hoping the gurus possessed some sort of gate, but their efforts were futile. Their last resort was to construct hundreds of self-sufficient robots that could create gummies from organic matter; a process involving the compression of Light and Dark Magic. These gummies contained immense magical energy, and the Espressos planned on using them to tear through dimensions via a phenomenon called "etherealization", which would allow them to safely enter the Sun's atmosphere. A yogart guru named Craaken joined the lead Espresso mechanic, Dr. Calzone, and helped design the Kahve factory where the machines would be made.



The gummy-making robots were built en masse in Kahve and came to life with an artificial intelligence titled Ribbit Ribbit Alpha. This success was short-lived as RRα, while functional, caused the robots to act neglectful and reckless towards their creators. Realizing the flaws of his creation, Calzone and his technicians got to work on a second iteration of Ribbit Ribbit.

Some time later, following several rejections from the higher-ups, Latte was brought into the world with a test version of Ribbit Ribbit Beta installed. RRβ's programming limited Latte's emotional sensitivity by blocking out feelings such as "nihil" and "cool", but it gave him the power to alter psionic forces. Meanwhile, Calzone received multiple warnings from the local brownies for causing the rapid depletion of Erd's natural resources, threatening to declare war if the consumption did not subside. In preparation for the battle that was to come, Calzone's team hardwired a final command in Latte's AI, which was to destroy Erd's strongest protectors: the nine stone giants.

Everything ended in tragedy when the brownies gave their last warning, banding together with Erd's native species to drive the Espressos out for good. Latte's independent thinking was overrun by his final command, and he used his powers to kill eight of the stone giants. In addition to that, with Erd's fuel sources run completely dry, the Alpha robots took matters into their own hands by turning the remaining Espresso mechanics into gummies. A victim of this uprising was Applepie, whose final audio logs were archived in the Emerald Core of Rio Villa. Craaken was one of a few people who escaped the calamity, so he started a new life by flying to Cassia and became the founder of Ambergris Preparatory School. This is also where he published his chronicle that documented etherealization, as well as the Sun's inevitable fate.

By some unknown cause, Latte was sent from Erd to Kovomaka and landed in the Dark Realm, specifically Muy Mot Desert. A handful of Alpha robots departed from Erd as well, taking refuge in the Light Realm's Wetsomus Ruins.

Over a decem millennium later, a dwarven excavation team lead by Bruschetta retrieved Latte in the ruins of Garam Masala, buried far underneath Opopmat Cave. Although the dwarves were happy with their findings, they would find themselves heavily in debt. To pay back their loans, Latte and the digging equipment were put up for sale at a curiosity shop. Principal Biscotti came by to see the ancient robot with Ribbit Ribbit Beta still in tact, so he happily purchased Latte for 200 bira and brought him to Will-o'-Wisp Academy.

Prologue
After the protagonist is ordered to rally up the remaining classmates for the Magic Bus, Latte bursts out of the Music Room in a panic. He tells Peche and the protagonist that some students in the Music Room are telling scary stories, then retreats to the bus.

On the ride to Valencia Beach, Latte gloats about his 12000-year-long life and enrollment into Will-o'-Wisp, but Blueberry calls him out by mentioning his cheap price. For the duration of his stay on the beach, he looks out to the coast and asks the protagonist if they know why God made the sea salty. Later that night, Latte is taken to the Light Realm by an Enigma with the rest of his classmates.

Light Realm
Latte's whereabouts remain unknown until the protagonist, Kirsche, Pistachio, and Arancia find the Magic Bus at Ricebird Fields with Balsamico on board. According to Balsamico, the bus broke down after falling into the Light Realm and wanted to use Latte's mechanisms to power it up again. The ancient robot was accompanied by Lemon, Blueberry, and Peche at the time, but was too scared of Balsamico's procedure and ran away. The three girls left to search for Latte by passing through Cold Honey Palace, so the party does the same.

After successfully reuniting with Blueberry, Lemon, and Peche at the abandoned palace, the students bump into Cassis at Rekcarc Quarry. He tells his classmates that the souris of Ville de Souris purchased Latte and retooled him into a cheesecake oven for their tower. Peche asks why the Blade mage could not save his classmate, to which he explains how annoying the tower was to scale. Cassis rudely flirts with Blueberry before leaving to search for Chocolat, whom he and Cider lost track of some time ago.

The protagonist does an illegal business practice in Ville de Souris to enter Tour de la Roche, where Latte is being held to make cheesecakes for Parmesan, the souris oyabun. By trading stickers with many sneaky souris, the party makes it up to the highest floor where their mechanical classmate is stationed. Parmesan is willing to hand over Latte at the cost of 10 Blue Frogs, so by talking to the tower's inhabitants, the kids manage to rack up enough to make a deal. The souris lets go of his rusty oven, and Latte anxiously races back to the Magic Bus, now less cowardly after experiencing what it is like to be retooled.

Back at the Ricebird Fields, Balsamico has a hard time disassembling Latte and using his parts for the bus. He sends the students out on another quest, in which they will take the ancient robot to Iko Domnag in Ufot Village so he can be upgraded with a Magic Power Generator. Having Latte on the team proves to be useful, as his mere presence is enough to get guarding dwarves to give the kids access past Rekcarc Quarry.

The students pass by many dwarven workers in Iko Domnag, all of whom praise Latte and express their itching desires to retool him. They traverse through the factory, fighting scrap machines and Dab Hasnel (disguised as Quattro Formaggi) along the way until they reach Grenadine's workshop. In order to convince Grenadine to upgrade Latte, they must endure his painfully long questionnaire and fight his Tarter Terrier.

Once the robotic Cerberus is turned to scrap, Grenadine applauds the students and installs a Magic Power Generator within Latte. They return to Balsamico and the Magic Bus, using Grenadine's generator to get the vehicle up and running. While successful in their mission, Balsamico warns that his bus can only warp once in its current state, meaning the group will not be able to return home from the Dark Realm if they go there first. Everyone agrees that if they warp to Will-o'-Wisp in the Material Realm, Balsamico can fix the Magic Bus while the students find another way to enter the Dark Realm. It is a rough decision for them to make, since returning to the academy may result in their expulsion, but they are prepared for the consequences to save Ganache and the other students, who were taken to the Dark Realm moments earlier.

Balsamico brings everyone back to the Material Realm in Will-o'-Wisp's courtyard where they brainstorm their next course of action. The amphibious bus driver suggests they use the school's summoning machine, which is a device used to summon monsters from foreign realms. By having some students enter the machine with Latte, the Magic Power Generator will counter its magical turbine pulses and reverse-summon them into the Dark Realm. The protagonist, Latte, and a third student (of the player's choosing) bid farewell to their friends as they step inside the summoning machine, ready to take on the Dark Realm to find the remaining students.

Epilogue
"Latte, after being modified into a rocket, shot off from Valencia Beach to parts unknown..."

Magical Starsign
The story opens with Mokka and friends in class waiting for their teacher, Miss Madeleine, who has been showing up late for the past few days. After her arrival, members of her class become suspicious of her recent behavior and decide to listen in on a conversation between her and Principal Biscotti, in which she announces that it is her duty to travel to Puffoon, the Wind Planet.

After her leave to Puffoon, the class begins to catch word of a rocket hidden in the school, and decide to follow her to the wind planet. Upon discovery of the rockets however, Lassi accidentally takes off in one, crashing on Erd. Mokka and the class decide to go after her.



After setting out to help Lassi, Mokka crashlands on Cassia, the water planet. He is then confronted by an unnamed assailant who supposedly knocked him unconscious and stealing his Battery Pack, or head, thus rendering him unable to function. It is up to the player to retrieve his battery pack from the otter who stole it in order to keep his house warm. After confronting the otter though, he claims he will return the battery pack if his toolbox key is returned to him.

After having the battery pack returned to him, Mokka is revived and joins the player on their quest to find Miss Madeleine.

Later during the course of the game, Mokka begins to malfunction. It is revealed that this is because his battery core has begun to run dry, and it needs to be recharged or else he will die.

Changes and Tune-ups
Mokka forgoes many changes and tune-ups throughout the Magical series, starting when Madeleine uses spare parts from eight other robots for repairs. He later ends up getting repurposed as an oven in the Tour de la Roche, and soon later relinquishes some of his own parts to help get the Magic Bus up and running. In Magical Starsign he is beheaded by an otter for his battery back, and in the end he is repurposed into a Rocket ship by Lassi.

Epilogue
"Mokka tried to help Lassi build her rocket. Finally, he literally gave his all to her, offering his own body to finish her rocket. Lassi tearfully accepted his sacrifice. The Rocket Mokka was born, and the two friends left Baklava in search of new worlds."

Wild Magic

 * Mokka can use his Wild Earth Magic to summon earthquakes, mainly for story purposes. Otherwise, he can use them to topple Gummy Frogs over.

Stats
Mokka has horrendous MP stats and speed compared to the rest of the team, but he dishes and takes damage like a tank. It gets even better if you optimize him with the right equipment. Because he can shield weaker characters, dish out some heavy physical attacks and can occasionally get a good earth spell in, Mokka is best suited for the front row.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Mokka appears in the game as a trophy and as sticker #629, using his art from Magical Starsign. Like other Magical Vacation series trophies, Magical Vacation is omitted in his appearances.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Mokka appears in the game as spirit no. 1178. In his spirit battle, he is portrayed by R.O.B. on the Great Plateau Tower stage.

Name origin
Café au Lait means "coffee with milk" in French, which is where his name in the English fan translation, Latte, comes from. Rustynail is also the name of a cocktail made with Scotch whiskey and Drambuie.

Mokka is the German word for "mocha", a mixture of coffee and chocolate. Despite having a name of German origin (in Magical Starsign 's English localization at least), the theme of Mokka's spells having German names did not carry over from the Japanese version of the game.

His Japanese name in Magical Starsign, Caffè Latte, means "espresso with milk" in Italian, possibly alluding to his creation by the Espresso civilization.

Trivia

 * If the protagonist in Magical Starsign is female, Mokka will confess he has feelings for her during the Starfall Festival on Razen.
 * His head seems to be where his battery source is located, and is quite powerful. It is used to power Mick's furnace in Pescato, and later on to power Lassi's rocket in the epilogue.
 * He is made from a super lightweight metal, which is why he weighs only 20 kilograms.

Quotes
"I'm the same, you know. I was built 12000 years ago, but Principal Biscotti hand-picked me and taught me magic."

"If the sea weren't salty, everyone would drink it until it's gone. We would be in trouble if the ocean disappeared. That's why God made the sea salty."

"Let me return to the bus first. If I think... of the Magic Bus... I’ll imagine it... as part of myself... Farewell!"

"No one else can [be retooled], so I'm happy to. Yes. Too bad I won't be able to make my meat pie specialty anymore."

"I'm the hero, and you guys are the sidekicks, okay? I rock, you suck."

"Maybe [Miss Madeleine] is getting fired for being late to class 30 times in a row? Just a guess."

"My circuits are frozen. Is that why the air tastes like peanut butter and engine coolant?"