Dr. Noele Lalinde

Dr. Noele Lalinde is a character originating from the Mega Man comic series by Archie Comics. She first appears in issue 13, in the fourth story arc, Spiritus Ex Machina at the A.R.T.S. Convention along with her creation, Quake Woman. She appears to be a love interest for Dr. Light and is presented as being a former colleague and working for "Geoworks International." It is soon revealed that she is debating Dr.Light against the development of Advanced A.I. using the logic that robots are tools with no need to think or feel and that there is no need to develop unnecessary emotional attachments to them. Not long into the debate, the convention center is attacked by the anti-robot terrorist group Emerald Spears who hold her, along with Dr. Cossack and Dr. Light, hostage.

While Mega Man, Pharaoh Man, and Quake Woman rush to disarm the bombs set by the Emerald Spears, the three doctors debate with the Emerald Spear's leader, Xander Payne. It is during the course of this debate that Lalinde's reason for opposing advanced A.I. is revealed; her own creation, Quake Woman, suffered extreme damage during the course of her work. Lalinde, much like her colleague Dr. Light, viewed Quake Woman as a child and seeing her "daughter" being hurt caused her much pain. Believing that her pain would be eased if Quake Woman acted more like a machine, Lalinde removed her personality, reasoning that it would be more like using a tool than dealing with a child. However, she states that even without her personality, Quake Woman/Tempo is still her daughter and she cares for her all the same.

Near the end of the Spiritus Ex Machina story arc, Lalinde promises to restore Tempo's personality.

She also appears in the story arc Rock of Ages. In the Proto-Type story arc, Dr. Light conversed with Lalinde about whether it was the right thing to do to give Blues a free will when discussing how to fix his defective solar core. She also appeared in Issue 19, where she was helping Dr. Light improve upon Mega Man's slide ability, with much difficulty regarding Modes 9 and 10. It is also implied that she lived up to her promise and restored Tempo's personality when she did the repair work on Tempo from the latter being damaged during the events of the A.R.T.S. Convention.

Lalinde also appears in Issue 21, celebrating the new year with Quake Woman.

Lalinde also appears in Issue 22, where she and Dr. Light join Agents Stern And Kranz for a meal.

She was also affected by the blackout during the Blackout arc, with Quake Woman shutting down. However, she managed to implement the coating on Quake Woman, presumably receiving it from Dr. Light and Dr. Pedro Astil. In issue 34, she and Quake Woman were at their headquarters bringing in rock samples. She decided to call it a night and continue in the morning and told Quake Woman as much. Unknown to Lalinde, Break Man had been nearby, and proceeded to encounter Quake Woman asking what family meant. She later eavesdropped on Quake Woman and Break Man's discussion relating to their personalities being altered, although she was relieved that Quake Woman did not harbor any anger for her personality being altered.

Trivia

 * Writer Ian Flynn named Dr. Lalinde after two women he knew, one of who was also previously used as an inspiration for the creation of another Archie comics character.
 * A comment in Ian Flynn's forum states that Dr. Lalinde is Filipino.