Astro Boy (character)

''This article is for the character. For other uses, see here.''

Astro Boy (アトム Atomu?), known in Japan as "Mighty Atom", "Iron Arm Atom", or just "Atom", is a fictional character created by Osamu Tezuka and the peace-loving main protagonist of every series in the Astro Boy franchise.

Astro is a robot male with human emotions created by former Science Ministry director Umataro Tenma. Astro is (or initially was) the robotic reincarnation of Tobio Tenma, created in the boy's image. Despite his rough upbringing, comprised of being rejected by his creator and sold to a robot circus where he was forced to fight other robots before being rescued by Hiroshi Ochanomizu, Astro is embodiment of a hero, having a strong sense of justice and is always willing to defend the helpless. Despite his numerous amazing powers, Astro is a natural pacifist, usually attempting to solve problems in a diplomatic matter. He only resorts to fighting as an absolute last resort, and very rarely does he ever go past that point. Much like his real-life creator, Osamu Tezuka, Astro has a love for those who're living and wishes to protect those he loves.

Design
Tezuka was a lifelong fan of Disney and he drew many of his early characters with the overall style in mind. Astro, of course, was one of said characters with the simplistic 'cartoony' designs akin to the producer's works. An example of this would be the two spikes on his head going in alternating directions that don't change, regardless of any camera angle, similarly to the ears of Disney's most popular character, Mickey Mouse.

One of Astro's most defining features are his eyes, especially in the anime series due to the use of limited animation. His eyes were designed to be fully reactive to light and feel dynamic. This would become a very common design aspect in anime and manga characters that would follow. The use of the eyes in this manner allowed the facial expressions to use less animation yet seem more real.

Additionally, he has a simplistic set of eyelashes, drawn as 5 short lines coming out of his eyelids. In some iterations, they tends to alternate between the simple and more realistic-looking lashes.

Classic Design
Although a robot, Astro was intended to look indistinguishable from a human being as he was designed to resemble Tobio Tenma. He was given many of the similar distinguishing attributes: his large innocent eyes, jet-black spiky hair and light skin tone. In official artwork he is occasionally depicted as possessing doll-like segments on his limbs, though this detail is often omitted. His hair has two spikes, one on the the left of his head pointing directly upwards and the other on the right side just above his ear pointing out to the side, and a widow's peak. Since Astro is a robot and doesn't function like a biological being, the height of his body, his weight, and the length of his hair never changes.

Astro was created with what appears to be black athletic shorts and a metallic grey or green belt. He typically wears red knee-length boots, though in some appearances he may be seen wearing a pair of small, lace-less shoes instead. Whenever he isn't wearing some kind of outfit, such as his school uniform, this is usually how he looks.

1980 Anime Design
Astro's design in the 1980 anime retains all of the core elements of the classic design, but with a number of changes. He is portrayed as much shorter and younger-looking, with a larger head in proportion to his body and shorter arms and legs. Unlike his classical counterpart, he is consistently depicted with visible joints on his limbs. His belt is consistently portrayed as being green, and his boots are removable, revealing rather human-like feminine feet underneath.

2003 Anime Design
In the 2003 anime, Astro is given a more polished and modernized interpretation of his iconic design. His proportions are much leaner, with longer limbs and larger hands and feet. His facial features have also received slight changes, with a slightly larger nose and eyes with visible, brown irises. Unlike previous interpretations, the doll-like joints are omitted entirely in favor of smooth skin, and his boots are a part of his body as opposed to an article of clothing. His expressions and poses are noticeably more dynamic than those of his predecessors, with a stronger emphasis on depth and perspective. He is sometimes depicted as having fingernails.

2009 CGI Movie Design
In the 2009 CGI animated movie, he is given a significant makeover for his very first portrayal in CGI. His eyes are smaller and his eyelashes are less defined, and his hair is made up of smooth and fine fibers. His boots are segmented with a metallic finish, and his belt has a visible buckle. In place of his black, shiny shorts, he wears a pair of black boxer briefs that appear to be made of some kind of fabric. Unlike all of his other incarnations, he portrayed as being in his early teens, and is fully clothed for the majority of his screen time, wearing long black pants, a white t-shirt, and a blue V-neck sweater with a red collar.

Reboot Design
In early iterations, Astro is shown to have proportions similar to his 2003 incarnation, though with a slightly darker skin complexion and green eyes. He dons a simple green (later turned red) t-shirt with some black pants that his red boots stick out of. Seen both in the shirt and boots is an array of cyan lines that make up the collar, sleeves, and a square shape on the insides of the boots.

It is currently unknown if he, or anyone seen in any promotional material are to keep these designs.

Biography
On his 9th birthday, a young Tobio Tenma collided with a speeding vehicle and died. Devastated by this loss, Tobio's father, Dr. Umataro Tenma, used his position as the minister of science to build a powerful android with artificial emotions, one which was to be a direct replacement to his dead son. Not long after the robot's creation, Dr. Tenma started to feel disappointed by the robot boy's actions. He took the robot to the place where he had last seen Tobio: Plant 7 of the ministry of science, where old, inefficient robots were broken down to be later used as spare parts for newer models. Much like Tobio (who was upset at his father deactivating his robot nanny, who he considered a friend), the robot boy was upset at Dr. Tenma for 'hating' robots, and lashed out towards his 'father'. Having been rejected twice by both of his 'sons', Dr. Tenma shuts off the robot with a heart. Fearing that robots with emotions could take over the human race, Tenma soon destroys the previous prototypes of the robot Tobio as well.

Birth of Astro Boy, the Mighty Atom
Soon after its deactivation, the robot 'Tobio' was found and reactivated by the newly instated minister of science, Dr. Hiroshi Ochanumizu, Having nearly no recollection of his past, the rebooted android was christened as 'Atom', and soon went on many adventures to save his city, Metro City, and developed a close father-son relationship with Ochanumizu, who even builds him a robot sister, Uran.

Personality
Astro was created in the image of Tobio Tenma therefore he inherited his basic personality traits. Due to Tobio being a child when he died, Astro has inherited his same childlike innocence including his childlike naivety, Astro by nature has a strong sense of justice and for deciding what is right and wrong. Mostly a pacifist, Astro will not stray from using force if he has no choice, although he always tries to solve situations diplomatically. Astro is incredibly protective of family and friends and will often risk his own life to protect them from harm.

Astro is selfless, brave and kindhearted. He has a deep love for humanity, in spite of the many hardships he may face. At the end of both the 1960s anime series and Astro Boy: Omega Factor, he willingly sacrificed himself in order to save humanity from certain doom (although in the latter, he was brought back to life).

Astro's most complicated relationship is with his own creator Umataro Tenma. Although, he was treated with love and care by Tenma in the beginning, the grief left over after the death of his son Tobio took control causing Tenma to accept that a robot could not be an adequate replacement for his flesh and blood human child. Due to this realization, Tenma slowly begins to lose his sanity and in some adaptations resorts to drinking, he begins to treat Astro poorly and even becomes outright hostile towards him leaving him stuck in dangerous situations. In most adaptations Astro is eventually sold to Hamegg's Robot Circus by Tenma and although Tenma feels legitimate remorse for his actions, fails to reconnect with Astro who mostly tries to avoid him however, in some instances tries to forgive him which results in Ochanomizu typically going out of his way to stop such a reunion.

Movies

 * 28 Days (2000) Sandra Bullock's character wears an Astro Boy hoodie in some scenes
 * Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) Scott wears an Astro Boy shirt in some scenes
 * Think Like a Man (2012) Jerry Ferrara's character wears an Astro Boy T-shirt
 * Ready Player One (2018) Astro's head appears in James Halliday's archives

Television

 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1997) in the Season 2 Episode "The Mean Machine" a Flying Robot kid can be briefly seen on the Television before being switched to another Program,
 * Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-1999) in the Season 3 episode "Cave Dwellers", Dr. Clayton Forrester says to Joel, "Enjoy it while it lasts, Astro Boy-Toy."
 * Freakazoid! (1995-1997) A fictitious character named "Hero Boy" appears in 2 Episodes
 * Farscape (1999-2003) in the Episode "…Different Destinations" Crichton calls Stark "Astro boy"
 * Arrested Development (1999-Present) in the episode "Mr. F" George states "life isn't a Japanese movie where the hero puts on jet pants, like Astro Boy, and saves the day."
 * I Love Toys (2006) Astro Boy was showcased in Part 1 in the segment "Big in Japan"
 * South Park (1997-Present) Astro Boy appears as a background character in the Imagination Land episodes.
 * The Toys That Made Us (2017-2019) In the Season 2 episode of The Toys That Made Us about Transformers, Astro Boy was used as an example of Japanese pop culture.
 * OK K.O.: Let's Be Heroes (2017-2019) A character based on Astro Boy named Combo Breaker appears in episode 27 of it's second season.
 * DuckTales (2017 - 2021) A character based on Astro Boy named B.O.Y.D. appears in episode 18 of it's second season.

Abilities and Powers

 * Horsepower: Astro was designed with a 100,000 horsepower engine, making him among the most powerful robots. In some adaptations he is upgraded to 1,000,000 horsepower.
 * Jet-powered Flight: Astro's most commonly used power is his flight ability. He achieves this by retracting his feet into his legs and blowing exhaust out. He is also shown to have Jets in his arms as well.
 * Digit Beams: In later manga and the 1980 and 2003 series he has lasers in his fingers.
 * Intellect: He also has useful tools such as a brain that can speak more than 100 languages and solve tough math problems in seconds.
 * Laser Cannon Arm: In the 2003 anime he gains a powerful new weapon, a cannon in his arm which he uses in escape from volcano island to create a huge tornado of laser to save a ship from a exploding volcano. This was likely added to give Astro a big appeal to viewers of a new generation.
 * Posterior Mounted Machine Guns: Astro has a pair of backward-facing machine guns that emerge from his hips, which he uses both for offense and self-defense when an enemy tries to attack from behind. He has this ability in the original manga and the 1963 and 1980 anime adaptations, but lacks it in the 2003 anime as well as most other adaptations from the 2000's onwards. The ability does make a comeback in the 2009 film, though it is used only once for comedic effect.
 * Hyper Adaptive/G&E: Body increases in power to match and then exceed the capabilities of stronger combatants. Astro has a intent deferent between good and evil.
 * Hyper Sensitive Hearing: Astro's hearing can be amplified by 1000 times.
 * Searchlight Eyes: Astro's eyes can turn into very bright searchlights to enable him to see in dark areas

Reception and Legacy
Astro's character proved such a success that it launched into an international franchise of anime, manga, films and video games. Tezuka, originally designed after traditional Disney characters of the time, Astro's style reflects that of Mickey Mouse. A simple cartoon style of character, although Tezuka would implement some of his own styles into the drawings that would become commonplace for most anime and manga that came after. Astro would also inspire the creation of the character Mega Man.

Astro was listed on Empire magazine's 50 Greatest Comic Characters list ranking forty third, making Astro the only manga character on the list. Astro was placed tenth Mania Entertainment's 10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes written by Thomas Zoth who commented that "he was Japan's first great modern cartoon hero, on the printed page and the TV screen". In 2014, IGN ranked him as the fourth greatest anime character of all time. Astro appeared in Screwattack's Death Battle!, where he faced another fictional robot, Mega Man in battle and won.

Even decades after his initial appearances Astro remains a cultural impact in Japan and is among the most celebrated figures in popular culture. On April 7, 2003 Japan celebrated the official date of birth for Astro, people from all over Japan participated. In 2004 Astro was accepted as an honorary citizen of the city of Niiza in Japan and was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame. Multiple statues of the character have been erected in Japan, most prominently is a statue immediately outside of the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka. Mostly due to his numerous appearances on syndication Astro has become well known in Europe and Australia and with the mainstream success of the 1963 series and the 2009 feature film Astro Boy has built a presence in the United States.

Astro Boy was one of the first manga characters to embrace mass merchandising including action figures, collectible figurines, food products, clothing, stamps and trading cards. The franchise has earned 3 billion dollars.

Gallery
Astro Boy (Character)/Gallery

Trivia

 * Akin to Mickey Mouse, no matter which direction Astro faces, the spikes atop his head are always in the same place.
 * Astro Boy's color spin-off that came out in the 1980s was originally meant to come out during 1977, but changes in plans resulted in that series changing into an anime called Jetter Mars.
 * Astro appears as a Star System character in many manga Tezuka series.
 * Astro is the mascot for a series of children's traffic safety videos.
 * His character has also shown up in video game crossovers alongside Tezuka's other works, including the 2012 Android and iOS mobile game Great Battle! Tezuka All Stars. Astro Boy also appears as a playable character in the crossover puzzle game Crystal Crisis, released by Nicalis in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.