Atlas

Atlas' appearance in the 1960s anime.

This article is for the character "Atlas". For other uses, see Atlas (disambiguation)

Atlas (アトラス Atorasu) is a robot who appears in all of the Astro Boy series. He is a robot with the ability to defy the rules of robotics present in the Astro Boy universe and has the ability to hurt humans. While he only appeared in one episode in the original 1960s series, he plays a major role in the 1980s and 2003 series.

Manga

Chapter 57: "Atlas"

Atlas as he appears in Chapter 57

Creation

In the manga, Atlas was a robot built by Dr. Ram. Dr. Ram's ancestors were slaves, and he didn't like that, so he wanted to take revenge on the human race by creating Atlas.

Appearance and abilities

Atlas has a helmet on his head that resembles an Afro, and in his crotch area, there's a rocket that allows him to fly. He was given the Omega Factor so that he could hurt humans, which made him violent towards robots and humans alike.

History

After attacking and killing robots in a robot fighting coliseum Astro stepped up to try to fight him. Atlas ended up needing to settle it another day. After a while Atlas tried killing a whole village of humans only to be stopped by Astro, losing his head in the process. They did capture Astro Boy and imprisoned him in an electromagnetic field. Dr. Ram gave Atlas a copy of Astro's head, and he framed Astro Boy for a robbery using it, though it was quickly debunked by Dr. Ochanomizu after getting a signal from Astro Boy using a radio. Astro Boy escapes and has to fight Atlas, but Atlas is ultimately destroyed by the electromagnet field that Dr. Ram had set.

Chapter 85: "Astro VS Atlas"

Atlas being given his 8th power.

Creation

Another man by the name of Count Walpur Guiss, with the help of someone named Skunk Kusai, built a robot similar to Astro Boy also called Atlas. This Atlas resembles the version seen in the 1980s anime.

Appearance and abilities

Atlas strongly resembles Astro Boy, being a super-powered boy-robot, but his hair and clothing are a bit different, and he has a crystal on his head, which is enough for us to tell them apart. Atlas has all 7 of Astro Boys special powers, but also, to combat Astro Boy, Walpur Guiss gave Atlas an additional 8th power. The power to pee on his opponents. He can fly over his opponents and pee on them, and when the pee touches something, it explodes. "Gosh, sort of like a cicada", said Skunk Kusai.

History

After a rather short-lived and comedic fight with Astro Boy, Atlas helps Astro Boy catch Skunk and Count Walpur Guiss. Atlas ended up taking a liking to Astro, saying "I decided to help you Astro, I want to be cool like you."

1960s series

History

In the 1960's series, Atlas (Called Ferno) was created by a man named Don Tay, whose ancestors were slaves, Don Tay wanted revenge on the human race for enslaving his ancestors. Atlas and Astro Boy had sort of a rivalry, but it lasted only the one episode.

Atlas first appeared in episode 26 "Don Tay's Infernal Machine" (Japan: "Atlas" "アトラス" )

Abilities

Atlas is seen to have super strength and flight, he flies using two small jets that come from his ears. He can also heat up his body to extremely hot temperatures, so hot in fact that it could melt steel. This was useful for breaking into buildings.He was given the Omega Factor so that he could hurt humans, which made him violent towards robots and humans alike.

Appearance

Atlas has a gladiator-like appearance, having what looks like armor and a helmet that resembles that of an Afro.

1980s series

Conception

Atlas as a boy robot.

In the 1980s series, creator Osamu Tezuka chose to develop this character's role to be more involved in the story. Please note that this version of Atlas is based on the second version of Atlas in the manga.

Creation

Atlas was built by Count Wulper Guiss using the same blueprint for creating Astro Boy; these blueprints had been stolen by the criminal Skunk, another common antagonist of the more modern Astro Boy stories.

Appearance

Atlas' facial features resemble those of Astro, but his overall appearance varies greatly, with an orange body and gold hair.

Abilities

Atlas is shown to have all seven of Astro Boys special powers, however, after rebuilding himself to appear more warrior-like, he is only shown to be able to fly on his horse, and shoot electric beams out of his sword. Also, much like Astro Boys brother in the manga, Cobalt, the radars in both Astro Boy and Atlas' chest can attract each other.

Personality

Rather than simply being a confused robot who carried out the commands of his human creator with no knowledge of the repercussions of his actions, he was given what was known as the Omega Factor, a device that allowed him the ability to hurt humans, and make his own decisions, even if it's against the robot laws.

History

Early in the series, Atlas' body was severely damaged, along with that of his beloved robotic caretaker, Livian. It was after this event that Atlas rebuilt his and Livian's bodies into the adult, warrior-like appearances that they remained in for the rest of the series. In Atlas' last appearance in the series (Atlas Forever), Astro Boy found out that he was Atlas' brother. At the end of the episode, Atlas gave up his evil ways and sacrificed himself to save the world.

2003 series

Atlas is a robot in the 2003 anime version of Astro Boy. He's a robot with Kokoro, a program that gives robots free will and emotions. Atlas was built by Dr. Tenma by request of Mr. Tokugawa. Atlas can be considered as Astro Boys brother since he was built by Dr. Tenma. Atlas was built after Mr. Tokugawa's son had died. Atlas was modeled to look like Daichi. He serves as a temporary villain and eventually helps Astro stop the fighting between humans and robots.

Early Concept

Early concept of Atlas that appeared in the pilot.

Atlas' early concept was much closer to his original design as shown in the original manga and 1960s anime.  In the pilot trailer, Atlas is said to be a robot based on a 14-year-old human boy, which differs from the final Atlas being based on an 18-year-old boy.

Early Life

Daichi excited over receiving his present from his father.

Daichi was the son of Mr. Tokugawa, a wealthy man who was CEO of his own company. When he was very young, his father gave him an atlas as a present and promising him that one day they would go to the moon and look back at the Earth together. On a future birthday, Daichi's father was away at work. He tried to call his father to show him a drawing he had made of them but was instead yelled at for calling him while he was at work. Mr. Tokugawa hung up, leaving Daichi upset.

Daichi after being pushed to the ground by his father.

Years later, Daichi has the dream of being a painter. His father finds out and disapproves. Tokugawa throws Daichi's paintings into the fireplace. When Daichi protests, his father pushes him to the ground and says being a painter is a useless dream and that Daichi's only concern is to train to be the next CEO.

Death and Rebirth

Daichi's memories being implanted into a robot body.

Daichi and his air bike gang went to the spaceport one night so Daichi could hijack a shuttle to the moon. Something went wrong, resulting in Daichi's death. His father went to Dr. Tenma, begging him to remake Daichi in a robot body. Dr. Tenma built a robot like Mr. Tokugawa asked, inserting all of Daichi's memories into his electronic brain.

Daichi's gang rejecting him.

Daichi shortly went to meet up with his gang to inform them he was back. However, once they learned he was a robot, they talked to him like he wasn't Daichi and teased him for being a robot. Daichi realized they were only hanging out with him because of his father's wealth. Enraged, Daichi unintentionally activated his transformation into an armored battle mode he wasn't aware he had. With his new powers, Daichi attacked his now former gang and then declared he was Atlas, the strongest robot on earth. He decided he would use his powers to attack Tokugawa's power plants.

Atlas later came across some kids that were picking on a few robots. He demonstrated his power by attacking a nearby power plant. When they ran scared, he chased after them. That's when Astro showed up to intervene. He tried to talk Atlas out of wanting to harm humans but failed. Atlas attacked him and nearly defeated him. Instead of just finishing him off, Atlas left him alive and flew off.

Atlas, as Daichi, went to a meeting that was meant to unveil him as the next in line for Tokugawa Conglomerate's

Daichi about to reveal himself as Atlas.

CEO. Instead of the planned speech, Atlas revealed that he would not be the next CEO because the Tokugawa Conglomerate would not exist by the end of the day. When Tokugawa questioned what he was doing and why, Atlas revealed his battle mode and his identity as Atlas. Atlas then caused destruction to the surrounding buildings. The police showed up to stop him, but he fought them back. Astro interfered to save the police but refused to fight Atlas. To get Astro to fight him, Atlas started to attack the city. Atlas was winning until Astro discovered an arm cannon and defeated Atlas with it.

Atlas being damaged.

Damaged, Atlas found Tenma's secret laboratory and busted down his door, demanding repairs and upgrades. Tenma warned him that his body may not be able to handle too many upgrades, but Atlas didn't care. He had unfinished business. While being repaired, Atlas asked Tenma about why he decided to build him. Atlas told him he knew about Astro; that he had built him because he also wanted a successor but he didn't follow orders when Tenma needed him to. Angry, Tenma told him to shut up because he was disturbing his work. Atlas was then jolted by high amounts of energy and blacked out. Repaired and upgraded with a new arm cannon, Atlas hijacked another shuttle and went to the moon to destroy the plant there. Astro followed him and they fought until Astro's arm cannon ran out of energy. That's when Mr. Tokugawa increased the gravity and tried to kill Atlas by shooting him with a plasma gun Dr. Tenma gave him. Atlas was hit a few times on the back, destroying one of his jets. Atlas forced himself to stand up and blast the controls to set the gravity back to normal. Then he flew up to where Mr. Tokugawa was and attempted to shoot him. However, a cannon on his leg exploded and the shot missed, instead blowing a hole in the wall. The decompression began to suck Mr. Tokugawa out. Astro tried to save him but he was stuck in some of the railings from Atlas flinging him off his back when Astro tried to stop him from shooting his father.

Atlas floating off into space.

Through the hole, Atlas could see the earth and remember back when his father promised to take him to the moon. Having a change of heart, Atlas pulled his father back in and handed him to Astro. Astro offered to pull Atlas in, but Atlas refused. He told Astro that it was hard for humans and robots to get along, but he could do it. Then as the jets on his back exploded, he drifted off into space.

Pavlos' Puppet

Atlas found encased in rock in space.

Atlas was later found in the asteroid belt encased in rock by a private salvager. He was brought to the anti-robot group headed by Mr. Drake and given to Dr. Pavlos, who inserted his Nexus Chip into his electronic brain. The chip disabled his Kokoro and allowed him to be remotely controlled by Dr. Pavlos. He was sent to capture Astro so that a nexus chip could be placed in him too. That failed and Atlas was forced to fight him again. The battle took them to a cliff over the waterfall. The chip deactivated before Atlas could blast Astro off the cliff. Then the signal came back again and the

Altas regulating the core temp. of Pavlos' air ship.

shock caused Atlas to stumble backward off the cliff. Luckily, Astro grabbed him and pulled him back up. Noticing Dr. Pavlos' ship was damaged, Astro flew off to save him. After a few moments thought, Atlas followed. He briefly saw his father in another ship on the way there. Atlas hooked himself up to the ship to keep the core temperature down long enough for Astro to escape with Dr. Pavlos. He took the ship up into space so that no one would be hurt when it exploded.

Robotonia

Main article: Robotonia

Atlas protecting Astro from the Blue Knight.

Atlas appeared later at Robotonia to fight Duke Red's army in defense of all robots after the human leaders had passed a law to destroy all thinking robots. While initially fighting on Blue Knight's side, Atlas later joined Astro's side to stop the fighting. After a truce was called, Atlas and Pluto went to join Astro's other allies. He later witnessed Astro being shot out of the sky and essentially die. Atlas was visibly distraught as Astro was his only friend.

What happened to him after that is unknown.

Dub Differences

In the English dub, Daichi was said to always be a robot and was built by Dr. Tenma at Mr. Tokugawa's request because he wanted an heir.  He will sometimes refer to Astro as his brother since they were both built by Dr. Tenma, a relationship not present in the sub.

"Astro Boy": PS2 Video Game

Atlas' bio from the instruction book.

In the PS2 game, no references to Atlas' past as Daichi or relation to Dr. Tokugawa are made.  He's simply a robot that hates humans and their "puppets".  This is why he fought Astro.  In the first fight, Atlas had some other robots on air bikes fight with him.  After he was defeated, Atlas left on his air bike.  He later returned, disguised as Astro with some other dopplegangers.  After some fighting, Atlas revealed himself and continued fighting Astro.  This time, when he was defeated, Atlas exploded.

Astro Boy:  Omega Factor

Main Article: Astro Boy: Omega Factor

In Omega Factor, Atlas is again a robot made with the memories of Mr. Tokugawa's deceased son Daichi.  This time he was lost on the moon and Astro was sent to find him.  When Astro found him, Daichi revealed his armor form and declared himself as Atlas.  They fought until the battle caused a capsule with a young woman to come into view and seeing this caused Atlas pain but he couldn't understand why.  It's later revealed that the woman, Prime Rose, is Daich's girlfriend who had a disease, explaining why she was in the capsule.  Daichi wanted to take her to the moon but became ill from the radiation of Death Mask and died. That's when Mr. Tokugawa had Tenma build him a new body.  Astro also learns that Prime Rose is Drake's daughter and that her disappearance at the hand of a robot (he assumed; it was actually Daichi in disguise) was the cause of his anti-robot attacks. Because of this,  Astro brought Black Jack to the moon to operate on Prime Rose.  Astro had to fight Atlas while this was happening, keeping him away from the oxygen tent.  After Prime Rose's operation was done and Atlas' memories of her returned, they contacted Drake to let him know his daughter was okay.

Manga

Main article: Astro Boy (Akira Himekawa manga)

Daichi with his parents.

In the 2004 manga by Akira Himekawa, young Daichi received the atlas as a present from both his father and his mother.  Mr. Tokugawa again began neglecting Daichi.  Daichi's mother fell ill and was in the hospital for a while.  She eventually died, which devastated Daichi.  Worse, his father wouldn't even show up when he was called because he was in a meeting.

Daichi again formed a gang and eventually rebelled.  He left on his air bike.  Katari went after him and ran him over the edge of the highway.  Daichi fell down and was mortally injured.  Dr. Tenma showed up, offering him a new body.

With his new body, Atlas began a quest to take revenge on humans.  He fought Astro on several occasions, their last battle being at a Tokugawa plant.  Atlas had Astro defeated and was about to finish him off when his arm cannon locked up.  A message popped up telling him that Astro was Tobio, then his arm cannon exploded.  Tenma showed up to take Astro and left Atlas behind.

Atlas hijacked a shuttle and went to the moon.  There he ran into his father and Katari.  His father was shocked to learn what had happened to Daichi and that Katari had killed him.  When Tokugawa was almost sucked out of a hole in the wall, Atlas saved him.  Tokugawa apologized for his actions.  Dr. O'Shay came and fixed Atlas' arm.  Learning of a bomb planted by Kato, Atlas went off to help Astro stop it.  Atlas eventually took the bomb and flew into space to destroy it.  He was shortly found encased in rock and later repaired.

Atlas, resuming the name of Daichi, became the president of Tokugawa Conglomerate.

Trivia:

• Atlas appears in Tetsuwan Atom for Super Famicom in his child form, despite being based on the 1980 version. His adult form was cut out from the game.
• Atlas appears in Tetsuwan Atom: Tap Tap Rush as a boss in his adult form based in his 1980 version.
• The 1980's Atlas seems more similar to the 1960's Blue Knight due to their similar roles and backstories, with the exception that Atlas was made with stolen blueprints. It's worth of note that 1980 Atlas can be nicknamed as "Red Knight".

  

  Atlas' design in Astro Boy Reboot

• Atlas in the 2003 version is based more off his original 1960's counterpart, however with a new body armor and jets located on his back instead of being located in the middle of his crotch (1950's manga) or ears (1963's anime series).
• Due to the recasting of Atlas as Atom's brother, Cobalt who was Atom's brother in the original series was removed since his role would be redundant.
• Atlas is confirmed to appear in the upcoming 2019 series Astro Boy Reboot.