Commander White

Automata
Render
Manga
Ver1.1a

Japanese:

ヨルハ司令官 (Yoruha shirei-kan)

Type:

NPC

Appears In:

YoRHa
NieR:Automata
YoRHa: Pearl Harbor Descent Record
NieR:Automata Ver1.1a

Data
Appearance
Voice

Known As:

Commander (by YoRHa Soldiers)
White

Occupation:

YoRHa Commander

Status:

Deceased

Alive

NieR:Automata - Endings A, B

Deceased

NieR:Automata - Endings C, D, E

Race:

Android

Sex:

Female

Hair Color:

Greenish blue^[1]^[2]

Eye Color:

Gold^[1]
Golden^[2]

Height:

175 cm (with heels and hair ornaments)^[1]^[2]

Weight:

166.8 kg^[1]^[2]

Bust:

92 cm^[1]^[2]

Waist:

61 cm^[1]^[2]

Hips:

94 cm^[1]^[2]

Commander White, also known as just the Commander, is a minor character in NieR:Automata. As the android commander of all YoRHa forces, she determines large-scale strategies as well as directs, deploys, and oversees all units from her station in the Bunker outpost in Earth's orbit.

Appearance

Commander White is a female android with blue-green eyes and long, wispy blonde hair styled into a large ponytail. She has large gold ornaments on both sides of her head.

Her clothing consists of a high-collared, high-slit, embroidered white dress with gold detailing, including the the YoRHa logo on both of her sleeves. She wears white gloves, white thigh high boots with black stockings and gold heels, as well as other golden accessories interspersed throughout the outfit. She notably carries a white and gold riding crop, and in NieR:Automata Ver1.1a it's revealed that she wears a white leotard underneath the dress.

Her white-themed clothing allows her to stand out amongst the other YoRHa androids, whose attire is primarily black.

Personality

Commander White is calm and composed, as well as quite stern.

Despite being called a "hardass" by 9S, it's revealed by Operator 6O that she actually leaves her clothes strewn all over her private quarters, and that she rarely does maintenance on her body. Supplemental material such as YoRHa: Pearl Harbor Descent Record also reveals that she cares deeply for the soldiers under her command, notably No.2.

Story

Early Life

At some point in the past, Commander White became friends with the Resistance member Jackass. In the Year 11940, she is recruited as the commander of the Bunker and the entirety of YoRHa's forces. She sends a transmission to Jackass, scolding her for experimenting on her fellow Resistance units, while informing her on her updates as YoRHa commander and expressing her concerns about Type E deployment. Sometime after November 15 11941, she informs No.2 of Seed's death after an experiment, unable to disclose any further details.

Pearl Harbor Descent

Years before the events of NieR:Automata, Commander White sent No.2 and her squad to lead an attack on a machine server in Mount Ka'ala. Knowing that they were a sacrificial squadron to be used for data collection to make more powerful YoRHa androids, she still sends them much to her pain and frustration. As the mission begins, Futaba asks the Commander who the Resistance are, who suggests Futaba get a checkup before sardonically laughing at herself, thinking she's the one who needs one.

She tells Futaba and Yotsuba to not report the Resistance for their desertion to the Council of Humanity, due to her knowing the truth about humanity's extinction. Futaba and Yotsuba report the teams have begun to approach Mount Ka'ala, and Commander White mutters that it'd be ideal if they could destroy the machine server, as it's a goliath-class server that commands every machine in the Pacific region. She notes this even if the mission itself fails, which Futaba and Yotsuba wonder the meaning of. They clash in their ideals, with the Commander continuing to hide the truth about the mission to them.

While they argue, Futaba is perplexed as to why they're even there if not to support the YoRHa team and ensure the mission's success. Commander White cryptically hints at the mission's true purpose before cutting away.

Meanwhile, Commander White recounts a memory she had of No.2, where she comforts No.2 and reassures her that she doesn't judge her or any of her teammates, and that she has great expectations for her.

It's revealed that Commander White submitted eight requests to alter the operation, with all of them denied by the Council of Humanity who threaten to remove her from her position. She agrees to this, given that they won't allow her to fulfill her responsibilities, though the Council then dismisses her by saying only they get to decide her position, and tell her that both their hands are dirty before ending the transmission.

Feeling guilt and bitterness due to feeling like she betrayed No.2, Commander White hysterically laughs and kicks away her surroundings in fury. Futaba informs her of No.16 and No.21's deaths, and Commander White tells her to continue supporting No.2 and No.4.

Although it was expected that none of the prototypes would survive, the mission ended in success, with No.2, later known as A2, surviving and being deemed by Command as a traitor. Commander White, in regret and resignation, realizes that Futaba and Yotsuba, who were now openly celebrating the mission's success to create new powerful models at the cost of their comrades, were forcibly reformatted. Swallowing her feelings, the Commander resolves herself to her fate and responsibilities, no matter how dirty her hands get.

Sometime after the Pearl Harbor Descent Operation, Commander White felt extreme guilt over Futaba and Yotsuba's forced reformatting such that she dismissed them from the Bunker and sent them to Earth.^[3]

YoRHa Boys

Commander White was said to have pushed against the formation of the experimental all-male M Squadron. However, the Council proceeds with it as planned, leading her to promote Black to instructor of the new squadron. Though she has the final say in their operations, she delegates all responsibility of them to Black, telling him she won't interfere with his business, when in reality she is acting in self-defense in case things go awry. She frequently gets into arguments with Black over their treatment during missions, turning down his requests each time for support, and telling him their sacrifices will help prosper the nameless thousands of YoRHa androids in the future.

NieR:Automata

During the events of Automata, Commander White was directly responsible for overseeing 2B and 9S's orders, including ordering 2B, who in truth was 2E, to always accompany 9S and execute him when he inevitably learns the truth about humanity. Though she was one of the few among YoRHa staff aware that humanity was already extinct following the failure of Project Gestalt, she was willing to go along with it for the sake of the androids.

However, she was not aware of Project YoRHa's final stages requiring the destruction of YoRHa via a backdoor in the Bunker for the machines to infect all YoRHa personnel with a Logic Virus.^[4] She was also not aware of YoRHa black boxes being repurposed machine cores.^[5]

Sometime before the fight with Adam and Eve in the City Ruins, she asks Jackass to build an Access Point for fast-travel. She tells 2B and 9S to keep knowledge of the aliens' extinction to themselves, while assigning them to investigate special machine units like Pascal and to hunt down A2.

Endings

A
B
C
D
E
U

flowers for m[A]chines

Commander White is not seen during Ending A.

or not to [B]e

Instead of ordering his execution again after discovering his recent attempt in hacking YoRHa's main server, Commander White decides to disclose to 9S the truth about humanity's extinction and the Council of Humanity's creation. She hands him a chip containing an overview of Project YoRHa before telling him that everyone needs a reason to fight and a "god" worth dying for. She entrusts him to determine his own path as she departs.

meaningless [C]ode

After the deaths of Adam and Eve, she commands an all-out YoRHa assault against the machine lifeforms to reclaim the Earth. However, following the Logic Virus infecting most YoRHa androids, Commander White attempts to detain 2B and 9S after not having received any reports of said outbreak and finding them suspicious until all personnel in the Bunker attack them and they try to escape.

Before the three of them are able to leave, the Commander chooses to stay behind after revealing that she is also infected. She orders 2B and 9S to survive before the Bunker is destroyed with her in it.

Following this point, Jackass mourns White's death after learning that she was one of the casualties.

chil[D]hood's end

After the deaths of Adam and Eve, she commands an all-out YoRHa assault against the machine lifeforms to reclaim the Earth. However, following the Logic Virus infecting most YoRHa androids, Commander White attempts to detain 2B and 9S after not having received any reports of said outbreak and finding them suspicious until all personnel in the Bunker attack them and they try to escape.

Before the three of them are able to leave, the Commander chooses to stay behind after revealing that she is also infected. She orders 2B and 9S to survive before the Bunker is destroyed with her in it.

Following this point, Jackass mourns White's death after learning that she was one of the casualties.

the [E]nd of YoRHa

By Ending E, Commander White is deceased.

deb[U]nked

While she isn't seen, the game humorously states that the Commander still floats about in space with a stern look on her face after the Bunker's destruction as a result of 2B or 9S self-destructing in it.

NieR:Automata Ver1.1a

After the deaths of Adam and Eve, Commander White remarks the time being near for the war and for A2, 2B, and 9S's pain to be over. When all personnel in the Bunker get infected with a Logic Virus, she initially attempts to evacuate with 2B and 9S. Operator 6O, who is also infected, attempts to kill them, forcing Commander White to personally kill her before hugging her and apologizing.

She then decides to stay behind for the Bunker's destruction, having been infected, and entrusts everything to 2B and 9S.

Appearances

Commander White appears in the following episodes of NieR:Automata Ver1.1a:

Episode 2, city e[S]cape (appears)
Episode 3, break ti[M]e (appears)
Episode 4, a mountain too [H]igh (appears)
Episode 6, [L]one wolf (appears)
Episode 8, aji wo [K]utta? (voice only)
Episode 9, hun[G]ry for knowledge (appears)
Episode 10, over[Z]ealous (appears)
Episode 11, head[Y] battle (appears)
Episode 12, flowers for m[A]chines (appears)
Episode 13, reckless bra[V]ery (appears)
Episode 14, mission [F]ailed (appears)
Episode 15, no [I] in team (appears)
Episode 16, broken [W]ings (flashback)
Episode 17, bad [J]udgment (flashback)

Trivia

The riding crop Commander White carries is likely a reference to how officers in some modern militaries also do so as a badge of authority, particularly in units that were once horse cavalry.
Akeha's "Mechanical Assassin" costume in NieR Reincarnation is based on Commander White.
In Episode 15 of NieR:Automata Ver1.1a, it is revealed that Commander White has a weapon similar to a light dagger, which is activated through the brooch on her dress.
The NieR: Automata Black Box Edition Artbook contains a letter between Commander White and Jackass, where she scolds Jackass for combining two androids into one unit. There is also another letter from Jackass, who laments Commander White's death.