Mako Mori Test
Updated 2026-08-03
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A criterion proposed by fans and named after the character Mako Mori in Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim. It requires three things: at least one female character, an arc of her own, and an arc that is not there solely to support the male protagonist's story. It was formulated as an alternative to the Bechdel test, which measures presence and conversation rather than narrative agency. The test is a minimal screen rather than a measure of quality, and passing it does not guarantee a well-told story. Some readings extend it to any test that discriminates a capacity by interaction rather than by declared credentials.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Agency check: ask whether a collaborator's goals exist independently of your own project. - Casting review: check whether supporting figures have their own direction rather than only serving the lead. - Blind judgment: assess capability through interaction rather than through titles and claims.
Anchor fast decisions
Surface presence is easy to satisfy and therefore uninformative, so a useful test must target the property that actually matters. Asking whether a character's arc would survive the removal of the protagonist isolates narrative agency from screen time. Applied more generally, judging by interaction rather than by declared credentials forces the assessor to observe behavior, which is harder to fake than a stated answer. The test works by choosing a discriminating criterion that the surface cannot satisfy cheaply.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mako_Mori_testverified
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