List of Battle Angel Alita characters
Encyclopedia
The Battle Angel Alita manga series features a cast of characters designed by Yukito Kishiro
. The series takes place around the city of Scrapyard where residents, of whom many are heavily modified by cybernetics to better cope with the hard life, are forced to make a living.
The series focuses on Alita, the protagonist
and title character, a young cyborg with amnesia struggling to uncover her forgotten past through the only thing she remembers from it: fighting. Early on in the story, Daisuke Ido, a bounty-hunting
cybernetic doctor who finds and revives Alita plays a major role as well, but midway through the manga he becomes marginalized as focus begins to increasingly shift to Desty Nova, an eccentric nanotechnology
scientist who has fled from Tiphares. Nova is the mastermind behind many of the enemies and trials that Alita faces, but does not make an actual appearance until more than two years into the story, although he is alluded to early on. Finally, Kaos, Desty Nova's son, a frail and troubled radio DJ with psychometric powers, also begins to play a crucial role after he comes in contact with Alita. He broadcasts his popular radio show from the wastelands outside the Scrapyard, staying away from the increasing conflict between Tiphares and the rebel army Barjack.
and its sequel, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
, both written by Yukito Kishiro
. She is known for her fighting prowess as a practitioner of the powerful cyborg martial art Panzer Kunst
and skill at the most popular sport in The Scrapyard, motorball
. Alita is occasionally referred to as "octopus lips" due to her pouty expression. Alita's background and history were briefly hinted at in Battle Angel Alita, but were not fully explored until Last Order, which reveals that Alita was highly instrumental in creating the world within which both manga series are set.
Alita takes on a variety of roles through the manga, starting out as a hunter-warrior or licensed bounty hunter
. She later becomes a motorball player, two years after which she is recruited by the Tipharean Ground Investigation Bureau to be an elite member of the TUNED, unknowingly serving as the basis for the development of their combat cyborgs known as the AR (Alita Replica) series which debut towards the end of Battle Angel Alita. In Last Order, she spearheads a team called the Space Angels which includes three of her replicas that competes in the LADDER-sponsored Zenith of Things Tournament.
The original Alita, known in Japan as , was Ido's black cat, who died a month before he found the remains of cyborg Gally/Alita in the Tiphares junkyard and is her namesake. Gally the cat was a male, and Ido's friend Gonzu comments that it is strange to name a girl after a male cat. The cat makes an appearance in the manga as part of a dream that Alita experiences while being trapped in Desty Nova's Ouroboros program. Interestingly, in the dream Alita is named "Gally" while the cat is named "Alita." Nova himself appears in this dream as "Uncle Nova," reflecting that he cannot get along with the cat. After Kaos in the guise of a dream Den attempts to rescue the real Alita from the Ouroboros and begins fighting with the giant Great Martian King dream robot, the dream Alita and dream Gally merge, appearing in the form of the real Alita. The side story "Seiyakyoku" reveals that Ido took the original Alita in shortly after he arrived in the Scrapyard, at least five years before he found Alita in the Tiphares junkyard.
manga
by Yukito Kishiro
and its anime adaptation
. Known as "Doc Ido", he is a cybernetics
physician
or cyberphysician, a doctor who specializes in operations on cyborgs who lives in The Scrapyard. He is responsible for restoring Alita after finding her in the Tiphares dump heap, a massive pile of garbage ejected from Tiphares. Ido also has a second line of work as a hunter-warrior. He is a former citizen of Tiphares, the great floating city suspended over The Scrapyard, as is indicated by the mark on his forehead, and is the first Tipharean introduced in Battle Angel Alita. After being expelled from Tiphares for unknown reasons, Ido trained as a cyberphysician and – five years before the main story starts – opened his own clinic.
Ido considers Alita to be like a daughter to him and their relationship progresses through several stages as Alita grows mentally and emotionally. As Ido wanted Alita to remain pure and unsullied, he is originally opposed to her becoming a hunter-warrior, but accepts her decision. He later accepts her decisions to play motorball and "leave the nest" after retiring from motorball. Ido is later nearly driven to madness and erases his own memory after learning the secret of Tiphares. Daisuke Ido has no role in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order besides appearing in Alita's thoughts.
and psychological capacity. A dream sequence shows that had his situation been different, he could have easily been a loving, protective father figure for Alita. He has injected himself with nanomachines that can repair dismemberment and give him pseudo-immortality. Nova possesses knowledge of the secret of Tiphares, one that could drive its citizens mad if released. Nova has a perk for the dessert dish flan
, and can often be seen eating it, boasting that he thinks better while enjoying it. His name is a reference to the song "Astronomy
" by Blue Öyster Cult
.
Although he is generally villainous in Battle Angel Alita, Nova exists as much more of a neutral, ambiguous figure in Last Order, where he is one of Alita's key allies. In the original manga, Nova has two assistants who do not appear in Last Order.
wavelengths and hears and speaks at radio wavelengths. Those that see him in person must use special transceivers for communication. Kaos is an expert of psychometry, a unique talent to read the memories of inanimate objects. For example, he can channel the memories of a katana to learn sword skills and the memories of a computer to hack it. He and his team of molemen dig up artifacts from the bygone era, and he uses the memories contained in these artifacts as the basis for his radio show. Kaos also has a dark side in the form of Den, a manifestation of uncontrollable rage that has been with him since he was a child. Although Den exists in a physical form, he and Kaos are linked by an EPR transmitter Nova installed in Kaos' chest.
Makaku's new cyborg body consisted of a large head attached to a long, maggot-like body, which allowed him a great deal of mobility. He was also characterized by his long tongue and tendency to slobber. A large spike on top of his head could be fired as a single use projectile weapon. However, Makaku's deadliest ability was being able to take over the bodies of other cyborgs by using his body to jack into their spinal columns and then remove their heads with his newly-won control. He would take over powerful cyborg bodies and use their strength to acquire brains (preferably human, but even dog) in order to eat them to satisfy his endorphin addiction. Makaku justified his existence in destruction, and despite a bounty being placed on him, was so formidable that no hunter-warrior dared go after him for years.
Makaku is the first major adversary that Alita faces. In their first fight she succeeds in crippling the body he is then possessing as well as blinding him in his left eye by impaling it with one of her arms. However, her first cyborg body is destroyed in the process. Makaku survives the fight and almost kills Ido by impaling him with his head spike, swearing vengeance on both him and Alita before escaping. He seeks out the reigning champion of the coliseum, Kinuba, to take over his custom-built Power Body. Makaku then goes up against Alita in her new Berserker Body in the Scrapyard sewers. After a long fight, the Power Body is destroyed and Makaku nearly kills Alita in a plasma explosion that he triggers. However, she creates an electromagnetic barrier to shield them both, enabling her to talk with him. Makaku tells her his life story, revealing that she is the first person who seriously took notice of him by trying to stop him. For the first time in his life he is at peace as he is consumed by the plasma.
when he goes to Bar New Kansas in the Berserker Body in search of Alita. The side story "Seiyakyoku" reveals that six years before Ido found Alita, he saved Gonzu's life when he found him near death in the street. At this time, Gonzu's food shack was a cart that he pulled. Gonzu aids Ido, who has been rendered homeless, by hosting him and Carol and getting him in touch with the cyberphysician Gauss. Gonzu makes a brief appearance in the OVA, in which he is known as Gonz.
Alita meets Hugo during her hunt for Megil, and is impressed by his willingness to protect her even though he is grossly outmatched. The two then strike up a friendship which Alita makes clear she would like to take further, and she embarks on a bounty-hunting spree to help Hugo reach his 10 million chip mark. However Hugo is blinded by his obsession with Tiphares and does not realize that Alita is romantically interested in him. After his run in with Zapan
, Hugo becomes a marked bounty. Despite learning the truth about him, Alita is still willing to go with him to Tiphares. He is nearly killed by Clive Lee, and is only saved by Alita linking her life support to his brain. Transplanted into a cyborg body by Ido, Hugo learns the reality that a surface dweller such as himself has no hope of reaching Tiphares. After confronting Vector with this, who also confirms it, he attempts to climb one of the Factory tubes that connects Tiphares to the Scrapyard. He makes it up further than any previous person, but is crippled by a massive spiked ring dropped down the tube. Alita is able to reach him just before a second one is dropped, but cannot save him, as his torso is shredded. Hugo is able to share his last words with Alita before falling to his death. This subsequently leads Alita to quit being a hunter-warrior and turn to motorball
.
Hugo is a main character in the OVA
, where he is known as Yugo.
, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
and its anime adaptation
as a Scrapyard businessman—the top broker in illegal human body parts and organs—with a reputation for hiring powerful cyborg muscle to back him up. Vector furthermore supplies Tiphares, on a monthly basis, with one person’s worth of body parts and organs. Last Order reveals that Vector came from a poor village on the outskirts of the city, and due to the ability to instantly judge whether anyone was lying to him, became the most powerful person in the Scrapyard.
Battle Angel Alita
reveals that Vector is assisted by Myra, unnamed in the Japanese version, who works for Vector out of a mobile clinic. Vector buys stolen spinal columns from Hugo and—knowing that no-one can go to Tiphares—offered to send Hugo to Tiphares for 10 million chips. Although he used Hugo, Vector has some honor: he repeatedly protected Hugo by killing witnesses and hiding Hugo, and offered Hugo management of the supply routes (a highly lucrative position). Vector later sustains serious injury and escapes with his life after meeting with Den as the Barjack closed in on Tiphares, but is instrumental in bringing peace to the world when Tiphares almost collapses and the factories shut down.
Vector also appears in the OVA
where he has a stake in the Coliseum gladiators (in addition to his black market dealings). He also he has more control over exports to Zalem (Tiphares). He is killed in the OVA when he is impaled after being confronted by Ido over Hugo.
's somewhat naïve, but warm-hearted younger sister. She is saved from being raped by two thugs by Ido while he is searching for Alita a month after she ran away following Hugo's death. When he shows her a holographic image of Alita, Shumira recognizes her as a motorball player, taking Ido to a circuit where Alita is racing and introducing him to the sport. She hosts Ido at her apartment for a week, after which they watch Jashugan at a race where he suffers a flatline attack. Ido has to use her brainwaves in order to successfully resuscitate Jashugan. Shumira meets Alita in person when she, Jashugan and Ido come across Alita and Ed at a Scrapyard open air restaurant. She covets Kimji, and asks if she can have him if Alita loses to Jashugan in arm wrestling. As a precaution for the next flatline attack, Ido creates a direct interface that will allow him to transmit Shumira's brainwaves via radio to Jashugan's brain. Prior to his challenge race with Alita, Jashugan receives a good luck necklace from Shumira and tells her to marry Ido. He then sedates her, nullifying any effect to resuscitate him should he have another flatline attack. Shumira thus does not see her brother's final race and subsequent death.
Two years after Alita quits motorball, Shumira is working as a waitress at Bar New Kansas. She narrowly misses being killed by Zapan when he arrives in search of Alita, and survives the destruction of the bar. Along with the Bar New Kansas barkeep and Koyomi, she winds up at a refugee camp on the outskirts of the Scrapyard, where she meets her future husband. Shumira stays with the volunteer group and eventually she and her husband have eight children.
manga
and its sequel, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
. Koyomi takes on a variety of roles through the manga, starting out as an orphan, adopted by the bar Kansas barkeep, becoming a member of the Barjack, and a freelance photographer who publishes a bestselling photo-journal. The manga never reveals her family history nor her surname. Koyomi first appears as a baby when Daisuke Ido and Alita visits Bar Kansas, and is subsequently kidnapped by Makaku in order to lure Alita into a fight, only to be saved by her father's dog, Duke Fang. She later forms a bond with Fury, Murdock's dog and in turn softens Murdock himself. At age 13, Koyomi ran away from home with Fury, encountering Kaos and reaching the underground ruins of a city from the previous era and eventually, meeting Den. Convinced by what Den says about Tiphares’ evils, Koyomi joins the Barjack and participates their campaigns, drawing closer and closer to the Scrapyard where B.B. Buick gives her his camera just before he dies. A year after Den's defeat, Koyomi compiles Buick’s photos into a book titled Barjack War Chronicle that becomes the Scrapyard’s greatest bestseller on record.
Koyomi appears in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order as a 14-year-old boarding with her father in an antiques shop when she witnesses Kaos being run over by a taxi and subsequently helps him. She later witnesses Kaos's transformation (when he receives the paper airplane that Alita had thrown from Tiphares) and Vector’s subsequent agreement to fund the Tower of Tiphares. Koyomi is the focus of the side story "Bashaku Ondo", in which she acts on a tip that a resurrected Den has been ambushing Scrapyard supply convoys. As a result of her dealings with the eccentric Geriperi and the ambitious manager of Farm 3, Eakins, she eventually discovers a purpose in life. The side story further reveals that Koyomi a celebrity among the Barjack because of a photograph Buick took of her and Fury, which he subsequently sold.
manga
. The Barjack are regarded as bandits by residents of the Scrapyard who remain unaware of their motive: to destroy Tiphares and with it, the Factory and the Scrapyard. The Barjack is predominantly a well equipped mobile ground force and is formally organized into ranks and units, although there is no formal inclusion criteria for members. Barjack members include Den, the Barjack's charismatic founder; Koyomi K.; Knucklehead, a former bandit; B.B. Buick, a "special prisoner"; Colonel Bozzle, a former member of the Green Beret Tribe; and Kayna, a cyborg nurse.
The Barjack switches to guerilla warfare after five years of fighting when their railway gun
, Heng, fails to destroy Tiphares. The deployment of 11 TUNED AR units against the Barjack leaves the fate of the remaining Barjack forces uncertain in Battle Angel Alita, although the Last Order side story "Bashaku Ondo" reveals that substantial numbers of Barjack survived and are willing to take up the cause.
The side story Bashaku Ondo, reveals that two more remote-controlled bipedal bodies of Den exists: one was found by Eakins, the manager for Farm 3, who plans to revive the Barjack as a bandit organization, and the other is in the care of Geriperi, an old eccentric. These two Dens duel each other at the Barjack revival meeting, in which the second Den (operated by Geriperi) triumphs and leaves after ordering the remaining Barjack to assist in the construction of the Tower of Tiphares.
Lou has saved Alita's life on two occasions, the first occurring while Alita was dueling Den and was almost impaled by his yari. The second time occurred when Alita was fighting AR-2. As Alita was about to lose the fight and be finished off, Lou destroyed AR-2's control terminal, freezing AR-2. She also placed a gun to the head of AR-2's operator. Lou is consequently dismissed from the GIB and sent to the Medical Inspection Bureau (MIB). The knowledge of Lou's sacrifice and Bigott's promise to let her go free after apprehending Desty Nova motivate Alita to complete her original mission. When she is brought to Tiphares by Nova in her new Imaginos Body, she finds out that Lou is to be cast out for forming a friendship with a surface dweller, and manages to save her just in time. Lou is the least traumatically affected by having the secret of Tiphares unveiled to her, the only side effect she suffers being the cessation of her hiccups. She accompanies Alita and Nova to Melchizedek and witnesses the result of Alita's injecting her Imaginos Body with a trigger given to her by Nova enabling her to go through a transmutation, creating the Life-Tree and preventing Tiphares from crashing into the Scrapyard. Subsequently, Lou eventually marries Kaos.
More than a week after Alita duels Den, Bigott dismisses Dr. Russell for his opposition to replacing Alita with the TUNED AR series. When AR-2 confronts Alita, he reveals that her value to the GIB was never more than a sample for creating the perfect series of combat androids that would be totally obedient. After Alita defeats AR-2, he has her continue with her original mission of apprehending Desty Nova with the promise that she can leave the TUNED after its completion. Bigott meanwhile has the rest of the AR series conduct anti-Barjack operations, and uses the Tipharean superweapon Abaddon to destroy the Barjack's giant railway gun Heng. After Alita infiltrates the Granite Inn but gets trapped by Nova's Ouroboros program, Bigott sells her out, offering her to Nova and inviting him back to Tiphares with Melchizedek and the Ladder's approval. When the secret of Tiphares is revealed to Bigott, he slices off the top of his own head to see for himself. Seeing his own bio-chip brain, he goes insane, and is shortly after killed along with the rest of the GIB by the MIB. Bigott makes a brief appearance in the side story "Furusato" in which Alita is still a member of the TUNED.
In all, 12 TUNED replicas were produced, each designated as AR, i.e., "Alita Replicas" (GR in the Japanese version, i.e., "Gally Replicas") 1-12, whereas Alita herself was designated as A-1 (G-1). All TUNED replicas have or had knowledge of basic Panzer Kunst and are able to use special attacks like the Hertza Haeon (Sechs used it in a puppet body as well as in his Fizziroy Body) and Einzug Rüstungen (AR-2 used it against Alita). The following replicas have appeared as characters in Battle Angel Alita and Battle Angel Alita: Last Order.
s in the Scrapyard who are registered with the Factory. This makes them eligible to pursue wanted criminals and collect the bounties on them. Because there is no formal criminal justice
system or police
force in the Scrapyard, hunter-warriors function as the primary means of enforcing Factory Law. However, they themselves are still subject to Factory Law, and can become wanted criminals when they step outside its boundaries.
Figure Four, known in Japan as , is a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita
manga by Yukito Kishiro
and is known for his mastery of koppo, a form of martial arts
that emphasizes bypassing a cyborg's armor to inflict internal damage. Originally a fisherman, Figure traveled east in order to see Tiphares, staying in the Scrapyard for a year, before signed up as a rail mercenary on Factory Train 12 where he befriended Yolg and became intrigued by Alita. Figure Four questions Alita's bloodlust and desire for battle only to realize that she cannot choose not to fight and decides to help her in her fight against the Barjack. Figure Four realizes that Alita likes him when he saves Alita from Knucklehead, and later admits that he loves her. Figure Four later returns to his previous life as a fisherman. Figure Four has no role in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order besides appearing in Alita's thoughts.
is one of Murdock the Dog Master's cyborg dogs, and appears to be modeled along the lines of a bloodhound
. He is the only dog whom a 2 year old Koyomi latches onto as "Doo Fan", what she calls all dogs she comes across after Duke Fang. He is assigned by Murdock to protect Koyomi and Shumira when Zapan wreaks havoc on Bar New Kansas in the Berserker Body, and is thus the only one of the four dogs to escape alive. Fury stays with Koyomi and her father, joining her when she runs away at age 13 to see Kaos by hitching a ride with a caravan. Fury now spends much of his time sleeping, but he still possesses some of his old instincts, as he quickly kills one of Sentinel's bandits who is threatening Koyomi. Fury recognizes Alita when she saves Koyomi from the bandits, even though he has not seen her in 11 years. He accompanies Koyomi when she joins the Barjack, and is with her and the Heng when it fires on on Tiphares. Fury realizes that AR-10 is not Alita, and after the Heng is destroyed by the Tipharean superweapon Abaddon, destroys a flock of missile bees unleashed by AR-10 on the survivors. His first attack on AR-10 when she threatens Koyomi fails, but while AR-10 is distracted by asking the GIB to switch her ammunition over to anti-personnel rounds to deal with Buick, Fury is able to grab her around the neck and use his weight to throw her into a pile of molten metal, killing her but also dying in the process.
Yukito Kishiro
is a Japanese manga artist, born March 20, 1967 in Tokyo, Japan.-Works:*Hito **Kikai **Kaiousei **Hito **Dai-Majin **Mirai Tokyo Headman **Uchukaizokushonendai...
. The series takes place around the city of Scrapyard where residents, of whom many are heavily modified by cybernetics to better cope with the hard life, are forced to make a living.
The series focuses on Alita, the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
and title character, a young cyborg with amnesia struggling to uncover her forgotten past through the only thing she remembers from it: fighting. Early on in the story, Daisuke Ido, a bounty-hunting
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
cybernetic doctor who finds and revives Alita plays a major role as well, but midway through the manga he becomes marginalized as focus begins to increasingly shift to Desty Nova, an eccentric nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
scientist who has fled from Tiphares. Nova is the mastermind behind many of the enemies and trials that Alita faces, but does not make an actual appearance until more than two years into the story, although he is alluded to early on. Finally, Kaos, Desty Nova's son, a frail and troubled radio DJ with psychometric powers, also begins to play a crucial role after he comes in contact with Alita. He broadcasts his popular radio show from the wastelands outside the Scrapyard, staying away from the increasing conflict between Tiphares and the rebel army Barjack.
Gally/Alita
Alita, known in Japan as , is the protagonist of Battle Angel AlitaBattle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
and its sequel, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, known in Japan as , is the continuation of the manga series Battle Angel Alita. It is created by Yukito Kishiro and tells the story of Alita continuing her quest to uncover her mysterious past.-Premise:Last Order continues from Volume 9 of Battle Angel Alita, but...
, both written by Yukito Kishiro
Yukito Kishiro
is a Japanese manga artist, born March 20, 1967 in Tokyo, Japan.-Works:*Hito **Kikai **Kaiousei **Hito **Dai-Majin **Mirai Tokyo Headman **Uchukaizokushonendai...
. She is known for her fighting prowess as a practitioner of the powerful cyborg martial art Panzer Kunst
Panzer Kunst
is a fictional martial art for cyborgs from Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita and Battle Angel Alita: Last Order manga. It is the fighting style used by the titular heroine Alita and, later on by her replicas. The names of all Panzer Kunst moves and disciplines are in German...
and skill at the most popular sport in The Scrapyard, motorball
Motorball
Motorball, a fictional sport played in Battle Angel Alita and Ashen Victor, and the favorite pastime of the citizens of the Scrapyard. Functionally, it serves an important role in society as it allows viewers to temporarily forget the despair of their situation...
. Alita is occasionally referred to as "octopus lips" due to her pouty expression. Alita's background and history were briefly hinted at in Battle Angel Alita, but were not fully explored until Last Order, which reveals that Alita was highly instrumental in creating the world within which both manga series are set.
Alita takes on a variety of roles through the manga, starting out as a hunter-warrior or licensed bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
. She later becomes a motorball player, two years after which she is recruited by the Tipharean Ground Investigation Bureau to be an elite member of the TUNED, unknowingly serving as the basis for the development of their combat cyborgs known as the AR (Alita Replica) series which debut towards the end of Battle Angel Alita. In Last Order, she spearheads a team called the Space Angels which includes three of her replicas that competes in the LADDER-sponsored Zenith of Things Tournament.
The original Alita, known in Japan as , was Ido's black cat, who died a month before he found the remains of cyborg Gally/Alita in the Tiphares junkyard and is her namesake. Gally the cat was a male, and Ido's friend Gonzu comments that it is strange to name a girl after a male cat. The cat makes an appearance in the manga as part of a dream that Alita experiences while being trapped in Desty Nova's Ouroboros program. Interestingly, in the dream Alita is named "Gally" while the cat is named "Alita." Nova himself appears in this dream as "Uncle Nova," reflecting that he cannot get along with the cat. After Kaos in the guise of a dream Den attempts to rescue the real Alita from the Ouroboros and begins fighting with the giant Great Martian King dream robot, the dream Alita and dream Gally merge, appearing in the form of the real Alita. The side story "Seiyakyoku" reveals that Ido took the original Alita in shortly after he arrived in the Scrapyard, at least five years before he found Alita in the Tiphares junkyard.
Daisuke Ido
is a fictional character in the Battle Angel AlitaBattle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
by Yukito Kishiro
Yukito Kishiro
is a Japanese manga artist, born March 20, 1967 in Tokyo, Japan.-Works:*Hito **Kikai **Kaiousei **Hito **Dai-Majin **Mirai Tokyo Headman **Uchukaizokushonendai...
and its anime adaptation
Battle Angel OVA
Battle Angel, known in Japan as , is an original video animation based on the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro. The OVA comprises two episodes, Rusty Angel and Tears Sign, that serve as a compressed preview for the manga. They correspond respectively to volumes 1 and 2 of the manga,...
. Known as "Doc Ido", he is a cybernetics
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
or cyberphysician, a doctor who specializes in operations on cyborgs who lives in The Scrapyard. He is responsible for restoring Alita after finding her in the Tiphares dump heap, a massive pile of garbage ejected from Tiphares. Ido also has a second line of work as a hunter-warrior. He is a former citizen of Tiphares, the great floating city suspended over The Scrapyard, as is indicated by the mark on his forehead, and is the first Tipharean introduced in Battle Angel Alita. After being expelled from Tiphares for unknown reasons, Ido trained as a cyberphysician and – five years before the main story starts – opened his own clinic.
Ido considers Alita to be like a daughter to him and their relationship progresses through several stages as Alita grows mentally and emotionally. As Ido wanted Alita to remain pure and unsullied, he is originally opposed to her becoming a hunter-warrior, but accepts her decision. He later accepts her decisions to play motorball and "leave the nest" after retiring from motorball. Ido is later nearly driven to madness and erases his own memory after learning the secret of Tiphares. Daisuke Ido has no role in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order besides appearing in Alita's thoughts.
Desty Nova
Desty Nova, known in Japan as , is a former citizen of Tiphares who has used his extensive scientific knowledge and expertise in nanotechnology to save Makaku and Jashugan, as well as resurrect Ido and Alita from states that would normally be classified as 'dead,' even in this world where cyborgs are commonplace. He fled Tiphares to obtain the freedom necessary to experiment with live humans, a component he deems necessary in his research of karmaKarma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
and psychological capacity. A dream sequence shows that had his situation been different, he could have easily been a loving, protective father figure for Alita. He has injected himself with nanomachines that can repair dismemberment and give him pseudo-immortality. Nova possesses knowledge of the secret of Tiphares, one that could drive its citizens mad if released. Nova has a perk for the dessert dish flan
Flan
Crème caramel , flan , or caramel custard is a custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, as opposed to crème brûlée, which is custard with a hard caramel top...
, and can often be seen eating it, boasting that he thinks better while enjoying it. His name is a reference to the song "Astronomy
Astronomy (song)
"Astronomy" is a rock song by Blue Öyster Cult that has appeared on several of the band's albums. It was first published on their 1974 album Secret Treaties...
" by Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
.
Although he is generally villainous in Battle Angel Alita, Nova exists as much more of a neutral, ambiguous figure in Last Order, where he is one of Alita's key allies. In the original manga, Nova has two assistants who do not appear in Last Order.
Kaos
is Desty Nova's son and a popular late-night radio host. He is extremely fragile. Kaos only sees in infraredInfrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
wavelengths and hears and speaks at radio wavelengths. Those that see him in person must use special transceivers for communication. Kaos is an expert of psychometry, a unique talent to read the memories of inanimate objects. For example, he can channel the memories of a katana to learn sword skills and the memories of a computer to hack it. He and his team of molemen dig up artifacts from the bygone era, and he uses the memories contained in these artifacts as the basis for his radio show. Kaos also has a dark side in the form of Den, a manifestation of uncontrollable rage that has been with him since he was a child. Although Den exists in a physical form, he and Kaos are linked by an EPR transmitter Nova installed in Kaos' chest.
Jashugan
Jashugan's unnamed master is an old cyborg who resides in an automobile junkyard. Jashugan visits him before his challenge race with Alita, and faces his master in a test of his ability to manipulate chi. The old cyborg succumbs to Jashugan's mastery of reflective resonance, an ability to match an opponent's chi and inflict a destructive vibratory feedback upon them, that leaves him mortally wounded. He views cyborgs as more machines than human, believing that they do not need love, nor should they fear death, advising Jashugan to kill Shumira as she is the cause of his self-doubt.Makaku
Born as a human, spent his entire life in the sewers of the Scrapyard, captivated by the life he could see outside. Three years before the beginning of the main story, Makaku was burned with a flamethrower by a pair of Scrapyarders while looking at the goings on through a sewer grate. He survived the attack, but his body began to rot and he nearly died. Desty Nova found Makaku and offered to give him a new, personalized body reflecting his innermost desires.Makaku's new cyborg body consisted of a large head attached to a long, maggot-like body, which allowed him a great deal of mobility. He was also characterized by his long tongue and tendency to slobber. A large spike on top of his head could be fired as a single use projectile weapon. However, Makaku's deadliest ability was being able to take over the bodies of other cyborgs by using his body to jack into their spinal columns and then remove their heads with his newly-won control. He would take over powerful cyborg bodies and use their strength to acquire brains (preferably human, but even dog) in order to eat them to satisfy his endorphin addiction. Makaku justified his existence in destruction, and despite a bounty being placed on him, was so formidable that no hunter-warrior dared go after him for years.
Makaku is the first major adversary that Alita faces. In their first fight she succeeds in crippling the body he is then possessing as well as blinding him in his left eye by impaling it with one of her arms. However, her first cyborg body is destroyed in the process. Makaku survives the fight and almost kills Ido by impaling him with his head spike, swearing vengeance on both him and Alita before escaping. He seeks out the reigning champion of the coliseum, Kinuba, to take over his custom-built Power Body. Makaku then goes up against Alita in her new Berserker Body in the Scrapyard sewers. After a long fight, the Power Body is destroyed and Makaku nearly kills Alita in a plasma explosion that he triggers. However, she creates an electromagnetic barrier to shield them both, enabling her to talk with him. Makaku tells her his life story, revealing that she is the first person who seriously took notice of him by trying to stop him. For the first time in his life he is at peace as he is consumed by the plasma.
Zapan
was Murdock the Dog Master's daughter and Zapan's lover who worked at a soup kitchen. She took Zapan in after his original face was destroyed by Alita and accepted him for what he was, trying to reform him as she believed that no one ever truly won in the Scrapyard. Zapan kills her when he is driven mad by seeing Alita's face on a TV announcement of her upcoming challenge race with Jashugan. Sara's head is preserved in a jar and carried around by Zapan for two years while he is on the run. After Murdock's dogs apparently kill Zapan in the sewers, it is recovered by Murdock and buried in the courtyard of Bar New Kansas. After Alita swallows some collapser in order to stop Zapan from absorbing her with the Bersker Body, Sara appears again in a vision that both of them witness because they are almost one, just before Zapan dies and Alita is able to break free of the Berserker Body.Gonzu
A former cyber veterinarian who now runs a Japanese food shack, is the closest friend that Ido has in the Scrapyard and is shown visiting Ido at his clinic. He saves Ido after the latter is almost killed by Makaku, and under Ido's direction, transfers Alita from her first cyborg body into the Berserker Body. Gonzu also helps Ido transplant Hugo's head onto a cyborg body. A regular at Bar Kansas, Gonzu is the first person killed by ZapanZapan
is a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro and its anime adaptation. He is a hunter-warrior or bounty hunter registered with the Factory in the Scrapyard and with the exception of his brain, is a full cyborg. Zapan is named after one of the seven kings who ruled...
when he goes to Bar New Kansas in the Berserker Body in search of Alita. The side story "Seiyakyoku" reveals that six years before Ido found Alita, he saved Gonzu's life when he found him near death in the street. At this time, Gonzu's food shack was a cart that he pulled. Gonzu aids Ido, who has been rendered homeless, by hosting him and Carol and getting him in touch with the cyberphysician Gauss. Gonzu makes a brief appearance in the OVA, in which he is known as Gonz.
Hugo
Hugo, known in Japan as , is an orphaned teenager who was raised by his much older brother and his wife Nana. He ran away from home after Nana betrayed his brother to the hunter-warrior Clive Lee for building an illegal airship to attempt to fly to Tiphares. Since then he has inherited a burning desire to go to the floating city himself. He first encountered Vector three years before the start of the main story, when he recognized his brother's hand being sold by one of the latter's dealers, and impressed Vector by voluntarily trading his hand for his brother's. Believing that Vector could access Tiphares because of his pull in the Scrapyard, he fell for Vector's offer to get him there if he could bring him 10 million chips. Hugo ostensibly performs odd maintenance jobs for Scrapyard residents such as Ido, but has taken to illegally supplementing his income by posing along with his accomplices Tanji and Van, as a lubrication crew for cyborgs. They then paralyze their victims and steal their spinal columns, as these fetch the highest prices on the black market for body parts.Alita meets Hugo during her hunt for Megil, and is impressed by his willingness to protect her even though he is grossly outmatched. The two then strike up a friendship which Alita makes clear she would like to take further, and she embarks on a bounty-hunting spree to help Hugo reach his 10 million chip mark. However Hugo is blinded by his obsession with Tiphares and does not realize that Alita is romantically interested in him. After his run in with Zapan
Zapan
is a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro and its anime adaptation. He is a hunter-warrior or bounty hunter registered with the Factory in the Scrapyard and with the exception of his brain, is a full cyborg. Zapan is named after one of the seven kings who ruled...
, Hugo becomes a marked bounty. Despite learning the truth about him, Alita is still willing to go with him to Tiphares. He is nearly killed by Clive Lee, and is only saved by Alita linking her life support to his brain. Transplanted into a cyborg body by Ido, Hugo learns the reality that a surface dweller such as himself has no hope of reaching Tiphares. After confronting Vector with this, who also confirms it, he attempts to climb one of the Factory tubes that connects Tiphares to the Scrapyard. He makes it up further than any previous person, but is crippled by a massive spiked ring dropped down the tube. Alita is able to reach him just before a second one is dropped, but cannot save him, as his torso is shredded. Hugo is able to share his last words with Alita before falling to his death. This subsequently leads Alita to quit being a hunter-warrior and turn to motorball
Motorball
Motorball, a fictional sport played in Battle Angel Alita and Ashen Victor, and the favorite pastime of the citizens of the Scrapyard. Functionally, it serves an important role in society as it allows viewers to temporarily forget the despair of their situation...
.
Hugo is a main character in the OVA
Battle Angel OVA
Battle Angel, known in Japan as , is an original video animation based on the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro. The OVA comprises two episodes, Rusty Angel and Tears Sign, that serve as a compressed preview for the manga. They correspond respectively to volumes 1 and 2 of the manga,...
, where he is known as Yugo.
Vector
appears in Battle Angel AlitaBattle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, known in Japan as , is the continuation of the manga series Battle Angel Alita. It is created by Yukito Kishiro and tells the story of Alita continuing her quest to uncover her mysterious past.-Premise:Last Order continues from Volume 9 of Battle Angel Alita, but...
and its anime adaptation
Battle Angel OVA
Battle Angel, known in Japan as , is an original video animation based on the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro. The OVA comprises two episodes, Rusty Angel and Tears Sign, that serve as a compressed preview for the manga. They correspond respectively to volumes 1 and 2 of the manga,...
as a Scrapyard businessman—the top broker in illegal human body parts and organs—with a reputation for hiring powerful cyborg muscle to back him up. Vector furthermore supplies Tiphares, on a monthly basis, with one person’s worth of body parts and organs. Last Order reveals that Vector came from a poor village on the outskirts of the city, and due to the ability to instantly judge whether anyone was lying to him, became the most powerful person in the Scrapyard.
Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
reveals that Vector is assisted by Myra, unnamed in the Japanese version, who works for Vector out of a mobile clinic. Vector buys stolen spinal columns from Hugo and—knowing that no-one can go to Tiphares—offered to send Hugo to Tiphares for 10 million chips. Although he used Hugo, Vector has some honor: he repeatedly protected Hugo by killing witnesses and hiding Hugo, and offered Hugo management of the supply routes (a highly lucrative position). Vector later sustains serious injury and escapes with his life after meeting with Den as the Barjack closed in on Tiphares, but is instrumental in bringing peace to the world when Tiphares almost collapses and the factories shut down.
Vector also appears in the OVA
Battle Angel OVA
Battle Angel, known in Japan as , is an original video animation based on the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro. The OVA comprises two episodes, Rusty Angel and Tears Sign, that serve as a compressed preview for the manga. They correspond respectively to volumes 1 and 2 of the manga,...
where he has a stake in the Coliseum gladiators (in addition to his black market dealings). He also he has more control over exports to Zalem (Tiphares). He is killed in the OVA when he is impaled after being confronted by Ido over Hugo.
Shumira
is JashuganJashugan
Jashugan, known in Japan as , is a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro. He is the current reigning champion of the most popular sport in the Scrapyard, motorball, a cross between Ancient Roman gladiatoral combat and speed skating...
's somewhat naïve, but warm-hearted younger sister. She is saved from being raped by two thugs by Ido while he is searching for Alita a month after she ran away following Hugo's death. When he shows her a holographic image of Alita, Shumira recognizes her as a motorball player, taking Ido to a circuit where Alita is racing and introducing him to the sport. She hosts Ido at her apartment for a week, after which they watch Jashugan at a race where he suffers a flatline attack. Ido has to use her brainwaves in order to successfully resuscitate Jashugan. Shumira meets Alita in person when she, Jashugan and Ido come across Alita and Ed at a Scrapyard open air restaurant. She covets Kimji, and asks if she can have him if Alita loses to Jashugan in arm wrestling. As a precaution for the next flatline attack, Ido creates a direct interface that will allow him to transmit Shumira's brainwaves via radio to Jashugan's brain. Prior to his challenge race with Alita, Jashugan receives a good luck necklace from Shumira and tells her to marry Ido. He then sedates her, nullifying any effect to resuscitate him should he have another flatline attack. Shumira thus does not see her brother's final race and subsequent death.
Two years after Alita quits motorball, Shumira is working as a waitress at Bar New Kansas. She narrowly misses being killed by Zapan when he arrives in search of Alita, and survives the destruction of the bar. Along with the Bar New Kansas barkeep and Koyomi, she winds up at a refugee camp on the outskirts of the Scrapyard, where she meets her future husband. Shumira stays with the volunteer group and eventually she and her husband have eight children.
Koyomi K.
is a fictional character in the Battle Angel AlitaBattle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and its sequel, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, known in Japan as , is the continuation of the manga series Battle Angel Alita. It is created by Yukito Kishiro and tells the story of Alita continuing her quest to uncover her mysterious past.-Premise:Last Order continues from Volume 9 of Battle Angel Alita, but...
. Koyomi takes on a variety of roles through the manga, starting out as an orphan, adopted by the bar Kansas barkeep, becoming a member of the Barjack, and a freelance photographer who publishes a bestselling photo-journal. The manga never reveals her family history nor her surname. Koyomi first appears as a baby when Daisuke Ido and Alita visits Bar Kansas, and is subsequently kidnapped by Makaku in order to lure Alita into a fight, only to be saved by her father's dog, Duke Fang. She later forms a bond with Fury, Murdock's dog and in turn softens Murdock himself. At age 13, Koyomi ran away from home with Fury, encountering Kaos and reaching the underground ruins of a city from the previous era and eventually, meeting Den. Convinced by what Den says about Tiphares’ evils, Koyomi joins the Barjack and participates their campaigns, drawing closer and closer to the Scrapyard where B.B. Buick gives her his camera just before he dies. A year after Den's defeat, Koyomi compiles Buick’s photos into a book titled Barjack War Chronicle that becomes the Scrapyard’s greatest bestseller on record.
Koyomi appears in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order as a 14-year-old boarding with her father in an antiques shop when she witnesses Kaos being run over by a taxi and subsequently helps him. She later witnesses Kaos's transformation (when he receives the paper airplane that Alita had thrown from Tiphares) and Vector’s subsequent agreement to fund the Tower of Tiphares. Koyomi is the focus of the side story "Bashaku Ondo", in which she acts on a tip that a resurrected Den has been ambushing Scrapyard supply convoys. As a result of her dealings with the eccentric Geriperi and the ambitious manager of Farm 3, Eakins, she eventually discovers a purpose in life. The side story further reveals that Koyomi a celebrity among the Barjack because of a photograph Buick took of her and Fury, which he subsequently sold.
Barjack
The is a fictional, conventional military force depicted in the Battle Angel AlitaBattle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
. The Barjack are regarded as bandits by residents of the Scrapyard who remain unaware of their motive: to destroy Tiphares and with it, the Factory and the Scrapyard. The Barjack is predominantly a well equipped mobile ground force and is formally organized into ranks and units, although there is no formal inclusion criteria for members. Barjack members include Den, the Barjack's charismatic founder; Koyomi K.; Knucklehead, a former bandit; B.B. Buick, a "special prisoner"; Colonel Bozzle, a former member of the Green Beret Tribe; and Kayna, a cyborg nurse.
The Barjack switches to guerilla warfare after five years of fighting when their railway gun
Railway gun
A railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval ordnance, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best known are the large Krupp-built pieces used by Germany in World...
, Heng, fails to destroy Tiphares. The deployment of 11 TUNED AR units against the Barjack leaves the fate of the remaining Barjack forces uncertain in Battle Angel Alita, although the Last Order side story "Bashaku Ondo" reveals that substantial numbers of Barjack survived and are willing to take up the cause.
Den
is Kaos's alternate personality and appears as a giant remote-controlled slave unit run from a transmitter embedded in Kaos’ chest. Den was within Kaos since he was young, and whenever this rage manifested itself, Kaos became homicidal but had no memories of what happed to him when this part of his psyche took over: Nova learned of Den when Den burst forth, nearly resulting in Nova and Bazarld's deaths, and installed a transmitter into Kaos’ heart and nervous system, to make him independent of Kaos’ body by providing him with a slave body (He can however, use the transmitter to take control of Kaos' body without his knowledge, and the death of Kaos will mean the death for both of them). After being created by Nova, Den went to the wasteland to find himself and train as a warrior, and found his purpose to find a suitable body to contain his rage and rule the desert. The story reveals that Den developed the firm belief that Tiphares is the source of the surface dwellers' pain and misery, and that anyone associated with Tiphares, the Factory, or the Scrapyard is corrupt, and formed the Barjack to wage war against Tiphares. He later gets fatally wounded by Factory ground forces when he charges the Scrapyard in a last attempt to attack Tiphares after the Barjack's railway gun, Heng, fails to destroy it.The side story Bashaku Ondo, reveals that two more remote-controlled bipedal bodies of Den exists: one was found by Eakins, the manager for Farm 3, who plans to revive the Barjack as a bandit organization, and the other is in the care of Geriperi, an old eccentric. These two Dens duel each other at the Barjack revival meeting, in which the second Den (operated by Geriperi) triumphs and leaves after ordering the remaining Barjack to assist in the construction of the Tower of Tiphares.
Lou Collins
Lou Collins, known in Japan as , is Alita's operator who is brought in after Alita and Figure part ways. She is a bit clumsy and often gets overwhelmed by work. On her first day, she makes a bad first impression on Chief Bigott by pulling a gun on him in self-defense because she thought that he planned to do what he would with her by leading her down an obscure back stairway to the GIB. Unbeknownst to Lou, she along with Dr. Russell was brought in by Bigott in an attempt to curb Alita's intransigence. Somewhat ditzy, Lou nevertheless has a good heart. She is a new at her job, having placed first in her class in simulations, and tries to get along with Alita. Lou provides Alita with intelligence, logistical, technical, and combat support. She can also remote control the mobile unit, a single wheeled motorcycle that is issued to Alita, as well as broadcast her voice from it. Through Alita's experiences, Lou eventually becomes her friend, and starts to develop a more sympathetic view of the world below Tiphares. She gives Kaos plans for the "Tower of Tiphares," a 2,500 meter tower connecting Tiphares to the Scrapyard that can be constructed with the existing scrap on the surface. She also agrees to help Alita by deleting the information regarding Den and Kaos from the GIB's systems.Lou has saved Alita's life on two occasions, the first occurring while Alita was dueling Den and was almost impaled by his yari. The second time occurred when Alita was fighting AR-2. As Alita was about to lose the fight and be finished off, Lou destroyed AR-2's control terminal, freezing AR-2. She also placed a gun to the head of AR-2's operator. Lou is consequently dismissed from the GIB and sent to the Medical Inspection Bureau (MIB). The knowledge of Lou's sacrifice and Bigott's promise to let her go free after apprehending Desty Nova motivate Alita to complete her original mission. When she is brought to Tiphares by Nova in her new Imaginos Body, she finds out that Lou is to be cast out for forming a friendship with a surface dweller, and manages to save her just in time. Lou is the least traumatically affected by having the secret of Tiphares unveiled to her, the only side effect she suffers being the cessation of her hiccups. She accompanies Alita and Nova to Melchizedek and witnesses the result of Alita's injecting her Imaginos Body with a trigger given to her by Nova enabling her to go through a transmutation, creating the Life-Tree and preventing Tiphares from crashing into the Scrapyard. Subsequently, Lou eventually marries Kaos.
Bigott Eizenburg
The stern, no-nonsense chief of the GIB, intervenes just before Alita's brain is destroyed for committing a Class A offense to recruit her for the TUNED project. Although the GIB has a team of operators who provide logistical, intelligence, and technical support, he personally monitors and oversees Alita's operations and actions. Alita's independent attitude and willingness to disobey orders frustrate Bigott. In order to reduce her rebelliousness, he brings in Dr. Russell and Lou Collins as people whom she can warm up to. While escorting Lou to the GIB on her first day through a back stairwell, she pulls a gun on him as she thinks that he plans to force himself on her, but Bigott reveals that he is homosexual and has no interest in her.More than a week after Alita duels Den, Bigott dismisses Dr. Russell for his opposition to replacing Alita with the TUNED AR series. When AR-2 confronts Alita, he reveals that her value to the GIB was never more than a sample for creating the perfect series of combat androids that would be totally obedient. After Alita defeats AR-2, he has her continue with her original mission of apprehending Desty Nova with the promise that she can leave the TUNED after its completion. Bigott meanwhile has the rest of the AR series conduct anti-Barjack operations, and uses the Tipharean superweapon Abaddon to destroy the Barjack's giant railway gun Heng. After Alita infiltrates the Granite Inn but gets trapped by Nova's Ouroboros program, Bigott sells her out, offering her to Nova and inviting him back to Tiphares with Melchizedek and the Ladder's approval. When the secret of Tiphares is revealed to Bigott, he slices off the top of his own head to see for himself. Seeing his own bio-chip brain, he goes insane, and is shortly after killed along with the rest of the GIB by the MIB. Bigott makes a brief appearance in the side story "Furusato" in which Alita is still a member of the TUNED.
TUNED AR Series (Alita Replicas)
During her time as agent of GIB, the organization documented all of Alita's combat experiences including the Panzer Kunst techniques. This was done without Alita's knowledge, as part of a plan to create a series of mass produced TUNED replicas all with the abilities of Alita but fully loyal to GIB and Tiphares. Their very existence is a result of the Secret of Tiphares, as their solid-state brains are the same bio-chips that are used in Tipharean citizens.In all, 12 TUNED replicas were produced, each designated as AR, i.e., "Alita Replicas" (GR in the Japanese version, i.e., "Gally Replicas") 1-12, whereas Alita herself was designated as A-1 (G-1). All TUNED replicas have or had knowledge of basic Panzer Kunst and are able to use special attacks like the Hertza Haeon (Sechs used it in a puppet body as well as in his Fizziroy Body) and Einzug Rüstungen (AR-2 used it against Alita). The following replicas have appeared as characters in Battle Angel Alita and Battle Angel Alita: Last Order.
AR-6/Sechs
appears in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order: Angel Reborn as the sixth Alita replica. Skilled in Panzer Kunst and her own fighting style, Sechster Angriff (lit. "Sixth attack"), Sechs dreams of becoming an original in her own way by showing that she was not like the original, but stronger: Sechs hopes that by defeating Alita she will earn the right to exist. The series shows Sechs searched out and defeated the remaining TUNED Replicas after the shutdown of the GIB, after which she searches out Alita, only to be defeated. Sechs eventually enters the Zenith of Things Tournament (Z.O.T.T.) as a member of the Space Angels team (also consisting of Alita, Elf and Zwölf), proving to be a key member. The relationship between Sechs and Alita becoming less hostile throughout the series, and by Volume 5 Alita shows great respect for Sechs, however Sechs always harbors the fear of being seen as Alita's copy, as shown in volume 7. To further solidify her own identity, Sechs has her body changed to that of a taller, male version of Alita, continuing to develop original and devastatingly powerful attacks of his own throughout the tournament. During one confrontation, martial artist Zekka comments that Sechs is developing "at the speed of light".AR-11/Elf and AR-12/Zwölf
and appears in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order: Angel Reborn as the only two TUNED units to escape Sechs' killing spree. Throughout the series they appear as cuter twin versions of Alita, supplying comic relief and craziness through personality, dress styles and fighting styles. They are seen together, acting like twins, although they call each other best friends. At first they worked as singers in Barjack City before they becoming Desty Nova's bodyguards, and eventually they enter the Zenith of Things Tournament (Z.O.T.T.) as "Dark Alita" (Zwölf) and "White Alita" (Elf) of the Space Angels team.Other
Hunter-warriors are bounty hunterBounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
s in the Scrapyard who are registered with the Factory. This makes them eligible to pursue wanted criminals and collect the bounties on them. Because there is no formal criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
system or police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
force in the Scrapyard, hunter-warriors function as the primary means of enforcing Factory Law. However, they themselves are still subject to Factory Law, and can become wanted criminals when they step outside its boundaries.
Figure Four, known in Japan as , is a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
manga by Yukito Kishiro
Yukito Kishiro
is a Japanese manga artist, born March 20, 1967 in Tokyo, Japan.-Works:*Hito **Kikai **Kaiousei **Hito **Dai-Majin **Mirai Tokyo Headman **Uchukaizokushonendai...
and is known for his mastery of koppo, a form of martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
that emphasizes bypassing a cyborg's armor to inflict internal damage. Originally a fisherman, Figure traveled east in order to see Tiphares, staying in the Scrapyard for a year, before signed up as a rail mercenary on Factory Train 12 where he befriended Yolg and became intrigued by Alita. Figure Four questions Alita's bloodlust and desire for battle only to realize that she cannot choose not to fight and decides to help her in her fight against the Barjack. Figure Four realizes that Alita likes him when he saves Alita from Knucklehead, and later admits that he loves her. Figure Four later returns to his previous life as a fisherman. Figure Four has no role in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order besides appearing in Alita's thoughts.
is one of Murdock the Dog Master's cyborg dogs, and appears to be modeled along the lines of a bloodhound
Bloodhound
The Bloodhound is a large breed of dog which, while originally bred to hunt deer and wild boar, was later bred specifically to track human beings. It is a scenthound, tracking by smell, as opposed to a sighthound, which tracks using vision. It is famed for its ability to discern human odors even...
. He is the only dog whom a 2 year old Koyomi latches onto as "Doo Fan", what she calls all dogs she comes across after Duke Fang. He is assigned by Murdock to protect Koyomi and Shumira when Zapan wreaks havoc on Bar New Kansas in the Berserker Body, and is thus the only one of the four dogs to escape alive. Fury stays with Koyomi and her father, joining her when she runs away at age 13 to see Kaos by hitching a ride with a caravan. Fury now spends much of his time sleeping, but he still possesses some of his old instincts, as he quickly kills one of Sentinel's bandits who is threatening Koyomi. Fury recognizes Alita when she saves Koyomi from the bandits, even though he has not seen her in 11 years. He accompanies Koyomi when she joins the Barjack, and is with her and the Heng when it fires on on Tiphares. Fury realizes that AR-10 is not Alita, and after the Heng is destroyed by the Tipharean superweapon Abaddon, destroys a flock of missile bees unleashed by AR-10 on the survivors. His first attack on AR-10 when she threatens Koyomi fails, but while AR-10 is distracted by asking the GIB to switch her ammunition over to anti-personnel rounds to deal with Buick, Fury is able to grab her around the neck and use his weight to throw her into a pile of molten metal, killing her but also dying in the process.