The Maud Missionary

The Missionary Sisters of the Office have such a widespread colonial presence that they've become a stock character of their own, as recognized as the Great White Hunter. Or, at least, the fully-ordained Sister has become a stock character, the Maud Missionary - inevitably a white-hat character.

Unlike other female stock characters, the Maud Missionary is universally acceptable. Her vow of celibacy desexualizes her even as it locks her into the traditional femininity of a woman religious, and her vow of obedience puts no stress on Andalusada's glass ceiling. Those same vows that establish her femininity, however, also make her a Missionary, a daughter of Holy Mother Church whose job is to go to exotic, dangerous non-Western places and prevent folk Catholicism from forming. Even in environments where proper women have no business appearing, the Maud Missionary not only has an excuse to show up - she isn't necessarily a burden on the men. This ability to go anywhere, and thus fill "feminine" roles anywhere, is a big part of what's established the Maud Missionaries in popular fiction.

Characterization of the Maud Missionary

The Missionary Sisters of the Office are a congregation, not an order, so in principle the Missionary Sisters could be any kind of woman religious. It doesn't matter: almost without exception, the Maud Missionary is Gonzalan, if not explicitly Matildan. That means black habit and all, even and especially in places where this would be totally inappropriate (the veldt, for instance.) That, aside from her Horary, is the mark of the Maud Missionary.

• If the author knows a bit more about Catholic orders, this may be subverted. Expect that subversion to tie into colonial politics later in the story.

Like other well-traveled civilized characters, the Maud Missionary has a past worth talking about. Unlike other well-traveled civilized sorts, there's no guarantee that talk will happen: the Maud Missionary belongs where she is, and her presence alone is all it takes to establish that. If she talks, at least half her lines will be not just fluff but filler: cute girly anecdotes about her novitiate, her sisters in the convent, stuff like that. Feel free to skip those parts, because their point (aside from padding out the pages for authors paid by the word) is to convince the audience that she's a Simple Pious Woman. If a character is fated to dislike the Maud Missionary, expect them to say as much.

Expect them to be wrong. Under that vapid exterior lies a mind that could sell the filioque to the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople. (And yes, she speaks Greek. Too.) Her time in the field has taught her all manner of skills that will be immediately relevant to the plot, like how to survive in whatever Godforsaken wasteland Our Heroes find themselves in now - and what parts of what animals are safe to eat, and how they're most delicious when prepared just so. Despite this knowledge, the Maud Missionary usually won't actually demonstrate any skills that would let her apply this knowledge. Whether she doesn't have those skills, or is simply letting the men do the work, is anyone's guess.

Between her oaths as a Matildine and a Missionary, she has at least one vow of poverty that precludes owning plot coupons like, say, a bespoke double rifle in .600 Nitro Express. Don't hold your breath waiting for that to matter. She has a special dispensation from the author to ignore them.

On occasion, a Maud Missionary may actually become part of a cast ensemble alongside people she should by all rights clash with - a Heretical Hero, for instance, or a Taiping Princess. In this environment, the Maud Missionary will become the voice of reason (and possibly the butt of jokes.)