Duke Red

Duke Red (レッド公爵) is a reoccurring character in the Osamu Tezuka Star System. He is one of Tezuka's first characters, an arrogant and stylish man of shady authority. Duke Red often appears in various Astro Boy series as bureaucrats, military men, or politicians.

Appearance
Red's character design is very distinct; he has an arched nose that takes up a large portion of his face, a strong chin, and short but fluffy sweeping hair. His age varies quite often; he is portrayed anywhere between being a fresh-faced middle-aged man to a very old man with a bushy mustache. Duke Red first appeared as the lead villain in Tezuka's original Metropolis manga, where he is the head of an underground criminal group. He is responsible for commissioning an artificial human, and uses robot slave labor to develop weapons of chemical warfare. Since this, he has appeared most often as antagonist throughout Tezuka's works. Usually, he is also a misguided father with best intentions; one particular example of this is his appearance in the 2001 film version of Metropolis. He is the adopted father of Marduk leader Rock, but neglects him in favour of the robotic reconstruction of his deceased daughter Tima.

2003 series
Duke Red appears as a robot-hating high level general. When his daughter Hannah becomes close friends with his GP4 service robot Jake, Red becomes disgusted with Jake and plans to have him transferred to harder labor. That night, Hannah falls down the stairs, and General Red immediately assumes Jake pushed her down the stairs. His ensuing court case against Jake causes a panic between humans and GP4 robots.

While Red loves his daughter and is extremely protective of her, he is so set in his hatred of robots that he doesn't believe Hannah that Jake is innocent. Red is a key player in the The Robotonia Incident, where he leads a siege of troops against Robotonia and the Blue Knight.

Astro Boy: Omega Factor
In the video game Astro Boy: Omega Factor, Duke Red appears as a pro-robot rights politician, counter to his role in the 2003 series. His beloved daughter Nuka is secretly a robot with a secret connection to the Death Mask orbital platform. He is an ally of Astro, and the polar opposite of Acetylene Lamp.

NOW! Comics series
Duke Red also appears in the 1987 comic series as Taz Tamil, a member of the Institute of Science's board of directors. He is secretly conspiring with General Hawkins in an attempt to make himself the leader of the Institute. Tamil differs greatly from Red in personality; Tamil is skittish and cowardly, and sometimes too meek to take initiative.

In issue #6, it is shown that Tamil is married, and with two twin sons that look exactly like him.