Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Minna Dietlinde Wilcke is a veteran Witch of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing originating from Karlsland and attached with the Karlsland Air Force.

She is one of the main characters of the Strike Witches series.

She became renowned as the Ace of Spades, although some also call her by the pet name of Fürstin, meaning 'Princess'.

Her familiar is a Gray Wolf called Krawatte, possibly in reference to her archetype's name, Wolf.

In the AWA fics, Minna is a student at the AWA Academy.

Appearance
She had a shoulder-length red hair and red eyes. She wears a dark green military jacket and brown shoes. Like most Strike Witches, she wears no pants.

Personality
She is skilled at leading operations and squad management and, rather than pursuing her own individual military gains, she focus on the efficient military performance of the squad as a whole. She also has a tendency to look after her subordinates, which causes some to have a motherly impression about her.

Maybe due coming from a family that produced musicians for generations, Minna's demeanor is graceful and gentle, overflowing with elegance. She seldom gets angry, but possesses the backbone to stand in direct opposition in face of unreasonableness no matter who the adversary is. Although blessed with resourcefulness and flexible thinking, she is fragile once that last line in her heart is crossed and also has an inflexible side that relies on the rules to maintain her mental balance. If peace happens to come, her dream for the future is to become a singer.

Minna has been portrayed as harboring special feelings that surpass friendship towards Squadron Leader Sakamoto, a comrade in arms from since before the 501st Joint Fighter Wing's formation who often works together with her from a squad management standpoint. This is to the point that she worried about the relationship that Sakamoto - who was then working as an instructor at a training school in Yokosuka - had with her students. Also, because Squadron Leader Sakamoto and Sergeant Miyafuji from her unit often display an extremely unprecedented behavior, she has some degree of prejudice similar to resignation towards Fuso Witches in general.

She also has a good relationship with Flight Lieutenant Barkhorn and Flying Officer Hartmann. She knows them during a lot of time, especially Barkhorn, and has a best friends relationship with them. She actuates like a mother with the rookies, like Miyafuji Yoshika, Lynette Bishop and Francesca Lucchini.

As someone who prefers showers, Minna is self-conscious about having a hard time dealing with the Fuso-style of baths, in which many go in together. On that note, it seems that she purposely chooses a timing when she can bathe alone. She also seems to have a liking for foods and drinks with an extremely strong taste.

Abilities
Minna's inherent magic is called Three Dimensional Space Understanding Ability. Classified in the perception-lineage, it makes possible to perceive and discern all nearby targets in every direction, sorting out their position, number and classification. It also serves her well as a commander, being useful for noticing small details about others and maintaining unit cohesion (such as appearing suddenly to diffuse arguments). This ability assisted her in performing air-to-air bombing missions. Also thanks to the power of her inherent magic, she can make her subordinates sortie from an aircraft carrier and then reliably bring them back even from a place above the ocean with no landmarks.

Minna is also very skilled in battle, and her leadership in combat is very good. The care she shows to her Captains, and the attributes necessary for a Commander, she has everything that a unit leader needs. On top of that, she is an excellent soldier in an air battle.

Regarding Minna's Messerscharf Bf 109K-4, that was a new model that arrived from Neue Karlsland while she was stationed in a base at Belgica, after the liberation of Gallia.

Trivia

 * Her ace archetype is Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke. Similar to Minna, Wolf-Dietrich bore the nickname "Fürst" amongst his friends and squadmates.
 * In the AWA fics, Minna is roommates with Mio Sakamoto and Kyou Fujibayashi.