Astro Boy (film)/Characters

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This character sheet is for Astro Boy.

Robots

Tetsuwan Atomu / Mighty Atom / Astro Boy

A robot boy built to replace his creator's deceased son. He possesses the strength of 100,000 horsepower (later 1,000,000) and a heart of gold. He possesses what's referred to as the Omega Factor / Kokoro, which allows him to feel emotions and thought processes identical to that of humans (and in the 2003 anime, to modify his body as he grows mentally). His ultimate wish is to create a world where humans and robots live and work as equals -- sort of like a tin-can Martin Luther King Jr. His powers include super-strength, rocket-propelled flight, universal translation, super senses, a laser finger/arm canon, and machine guns in his butt. No, we're not making that last part up.

Uran / Astro Girl / Zoran

Astro's "sister". Much brattier than her brother, she has fewer compunctions about using her abilities for personal gain & sometimes shows less regard for human life, or at least human values as well, which would be kind of scary if she weren't so darned cute. Though she is less interested in humans than her brother, she has a fondness for other living things & in some versions is able to communicate with animals. In her debut story she also gained the power to split herself in two, but due to her strength being halved it is never used again. Uran's origins are somewhat vague, as Tezuka sometimes stated she was created by Ochanomizu & at other times by Tenma as a failed prototype.

Cobalt / Jetto

Astro's younger brother. He is omitted from most adaptations of the series, but can be seen in the original manga and the 1960's anime. In the manga, he was originally created to replace Astro - who'd gone missing - during a crisis. When the crisis ended and both robots met each other, it was decided that they would live as brothers together. As Cobalt was not created by Tenma, he lacks the power and capabilities that Astro has. While similar in appearance, Cobalt is taller than Astro and his hair spikes are longer.

Pluto / Bruton

"The World's Strongest Robot". A giant monster of a machine with the sole purpose of hunting down & killing all the world's most powerful robots, a job which he has no particular enthusiasm for, but feels is the only thing he is capable of doing. Originally this was simply so that his selfish owner could boast that he had the greatest robot on Earth, but later versions usually assign deeper & more sinister motives for his killing spree. The title character of an Ultimate Universe remake by Naoki Urasawa, acclaimed creator of Monster & 20th Century Boys.

The Blue Knight

A robot revolutionary who wants to create a nation where androids can live freely, no matter what the cost. Think of him as Malcolm X to Astro's Dr. King & you're not too far off.

Shadow

Appearing only in the 2003 series, Shadow was created by Dr. Tenma to construct powerful robots that would test Astro's power. His electronic brain contains all of Dr. Tenma's memories and an equal - if not superior - intellect.

Atlas

A robot built with similar capabilities to Astro. Often regarded as his "brother" (in the 80s series he was built from the same blueprints, in the 2000s series he was actually created by Dr. Tenma himself). While Astro chose to help humans, Atlas believes that robots must rise up and destroy them. He has an inferiority complex and anger issues both due to mistreatment from humans and constantly losing to Astro.

Zero / Elec / Denkou

A stealth robot that was stolen by Skunk and used to commit crimes. He's incredibly naive and doesn't understand the concept of theft. He's tragically destroyed in the manga and original anime but made much cuter in the 2003 series and survives.

Photar / Epsilon

One of the seven most powerful robots in the world that Pluto targeted.

  • Gender Flip - Originally a male. In the 2003 series, Epsilon is shown to be a female instead.

Humans

Dr. Umatarō Tenma / Dr. Boynton / Dr. Balthus

Once a kindly robotics scientist and the head of the ministry of science till his son was killed in a car accident. He went off the deep end and built Astro Boy to replace him, but his unstable mind led them to being separated. Is both a villain and a mentor to Astro, and comes to believe Astro Boy will grow up to lead all robots in the future.

Professor Ochanomizu / Dr. Packerdermus J. Elefun / Dr. O'Shay

The kindly successor to Dr. Tenma as the head of the Ministry of Science and an advocate for human rights. He rescues Astro Boy and raises him as his son. Ridiculously knowledgeable and dependable.

Shunsaku Ban / Albert Duncan / Hector / Pompous / Mr. Mustachio / Higeoyaji / Daddy Walrus

An eccentric old man who has an extensive occupational past, having seemingly tons of jobs at once. Chiefly seen as a teacher and private investigator. Though gruff and short-tempered, he loves mentoring children, especially Astro. He tends to brag too much about his abilities, but can back them up - to an extent.

Police Inspector Tawashi / Inspector Gumshoe

A detective who is distrustful of robots and androids. Due to his position and opinions, he frequently butts heads with Ochanomizu and Astro because his style of work when it comes to robot criminals is to shoot first and ask questions later. He eventually comes around to respect and appreciate Astro Boy. Often forms half of a Good Cop, Bad Cop act with fellow recurring policeman Inspector Nakamura.


Hamegg / The Great Katchitori

A shady man who often tries to steal money. In most incarnations he first appears as the owner of a robot circus and obtains Astro Boy shortly after Tenma disowns him.

  • Cheshire Cat Grin
  • Beware the Nice Ones: In the 2009 film.
  • Friend to All Living Things: He appears as this in the movie, adopting orphaned children and repairing broken robots. Subverted in that he repairs them for combat in a gladiator tournament and thinks lowly of robots, just like in prior adaptations.
  • Reused Character Design: In the 60's anime, Hamegg was an recurring villain. All but two appearances were treated as separate characters.
    • Hamegg himself was a villain from Tezuka's earlier works, such as Angel Gunfighter and Kimba the White Lion.

Skunk Kusai / Fearless Fred Fenk

A gangster who manipulates robots to do crimes. Portrayed as one of the few totally unambiguously evil characters in the Astro Boy series, but not much of a threat by himself.

Ken'ichi

A description of the character goes here.

  • Those Two Guys - him and Tamao, though mostly averted in the 2003 series.

Tamao

A description of the character goes here.


Shibugaki / Abercrombie

One of Astro's classmates. He tends to be a bully sometimes.

Tobio / Toby

Dr. Tenma's deceased son. If it were not for Tobio's premature death in a traffic accident, Astro Boy would not have been created.

Rock Holmes

One of Osamu Tezuka's more famous recurring characters. Rock is always portrayed as a young man who starts off decent but becomes more and more dark and evil as he grows up, going from troubled child to delinquent and eventually turning into a homicidal villainous cross-dressing rapist near the end of Tezuka's career. Rock takes several roles throughout Astro Boy, nearly all of them unrelated - but still with more or less the same personality. In his most important appearance in the series, he's a corrupt young politician running for president who creates a robot duplicate of himself to help run at politics, only to be hung by his own petard when his cruel treatment of robots causes his robot duplicate to run against him and win the election.

  1. ↑ originally they were lasers, but this was ditched later down the road
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