Prairie

Prairie (プレリー) is a character in the Mega Man ZX video game. She is the current leader of the Guardians, having the position since the original leader disappeared. The Guardians take in people on a voluntary basis to defend "Frontier" areas from Mavericks and discover what causes these outbreaks. They are considered an unofficial part of Slither Inc. and their headquarters is the giant airship known as "Guardian HQ".

History
Prairie took command of the Guardians after the original leader (who was revealed as Ciel) went missing after an investigation of an "Outlands" area involving the appearing Maverick attacks. At the start of Mega Man ZX, she hired the Giro Express to transport the Biometals "Model X" and "Model Z".

It is revealed in the game that Prairie is over 100 years old (yet she looks like she's only 13–14 years old), as she was present when she saw Ragnarok breaking apart in the atmosphere or when she sees Zero and Ciel going to fight a swarm of Mavericks, and later during the time of the Models' first discovery. It is also hinted that Prairie may be Alouette from the original Mega Man Zero games herself (due to her stuffed doll, which Alouette always carried, and her reference to the original leader as 'Sis', which Alouette always used for Ciel). Also, after defeating Prometheus when he and Pandora attack Guardian HQ in Mega Man ZX, he says "Oh, you know her? Well then you must not be of this time either... Haha... What an interesting little connection you two have!" when she reveals that she knew the woman who created the Biometals. This adds more support to the theory that she may be Alouette.

Mega Man ZX
In Aile's storyline, Prairie is hinted to have fallen in love with Girouette, being said that Giro reminded her of someone she knew before (an obvious reference to Zero), while in Vent's, it has been hinted that she starts to like Vent a bit also. Also, in Aile's storyline, players can see Ciel once they have finished eight missions.

Mega Man ZX Advent
In Advent, Vent/Aile bring the Guardian HQ in to invade Ouroboros, calling it their airship. Prairie does not appear. It isn't explained what happened to her, but Vent/Aile mentions losing a lot of friends fighting Model W, possibly suggesting Prairie went missing, leaving the Guardian HQ to them.

A bonus chapter of the manga set during the plot of Advent featured an older Prairie, still active in the Guardians.

Trivia

 * Her name means "meadow" in French.


 * Prairie's Japanese voice actor, Ryō Hirohashi, also voiced Alouette.


 * If Prairie is really Alouette, then she is the only surviving Mega Man Zero character to be left with an actual physical body (Zero, X, Dr. Weil and the Four Guardians are Biometals, and Omega is a memory file in Area N-1). This excludes Ciel, as she has disappeared. It would also mean that she is over 200 years old, because the ZX series is set 200 years after the Mega Man Zero series.


 * In Prairie's room, there's Ciel's winter coat, pictures of Zero, Ciel and Alouette, and dolls of every Cyber-elf. Also, the video screen in her room depicts a scene from Mega Man Zero 2 when Zero and Ciel talk.


 * When a Pseudoroid is defeated with a Level 4 victory, a doll of that Pseudoroid will appear hanging from the ceiling in Prairie's room.