President Rag is the elected leader of a country called Guravia. He is the first robot to lead a nation, and is overall quite popular among his citizens. However, Rag's good nature and optimism have made numerous anti-robot resistors want him dead.
Appearance[]
Rag is a humanoid robot who resembles a teenage boy. He has light brown hair (blonde in the manga) with thick bangs, green eyes, and two antennae that point out from the top of his head. Rag's antennae are special energy converters that turn positive emotional energy into light. This allows him to literally read the room around him, assessing his public approval rating wherever he goes.
At all times, Rag is dressed in formal clothing. He takes his role as a politician seriously, and always wears an off-white three piece suit with a large bow tie. He wears an orange and red electoral sash over his suit whenever he makes public appearances.
Personality[]
Rag's antennae glow whenever they detect good vibes
Rag is a kind, personable leader. He is very professional and serious, but talks to Astro like an old friend, recognizing them as both being robots. He is dedicated to his role as a public leader, which has put his own life on the line. Rag is aware many anti-robot individuals want him dead, but refuses to leave his people without a leader, and he invites Astro to Guravia to ask for his protection.
As Astro's group finds out, Rag was actually built by Deadcross years before. Rag was meant to be an informational source to help the latter run for president, but Rag begun to develop his own point of view after hours researching, reading, and studying. Rag could no longer stand to think about the inequalities between robots and humans, and decided to run for president himself.
Story[]
Rag exclusively appears in the Astro Boy canon. He originally debuted in the manga chapter "His Highness Deadcross", which was serialized between September and December 1960. This chapter has been faithfully adapted over many series, much like the story of Astro's birth and the Robot Land chapter.
Manga[]
In the chapter "His Highness Deadcross", Rag was built by a mysterious creator who wanted to become the president of their country, Guravia. He created Rag and sent him to university. However, Rag competed against his creator as the opposing candidate in the presidential race. In the end, Rag won the election and was named president. After winning office, Rag was constantly attacked by a mysterious terrorist known as Lord Deadcross who wanted him step down from office. Rag's secretary, Half'n, is sent to Japan to ask Astro for his help in stopping these terrorist attacks. Astro's homeroom teacher Higeoyaji observes this encounter by accident, but he goes with Astro to Guravia, providing backup muscle.
Astro and Higeoyaji search for the kidnapped Rag on their way to Guravia. While in captivity, Rag is forced by Deadcross to have his artificial intelligence removed in exchange for Astro and Higeoyaji's safety. This unfortunately left Rag to be remotely controlled by Deadcross. Astro catches on that Deadcross wants to make Rag publicly step down as president, so Astro disguises himself as the robot president by swapping heads with Rag.
At the attempted public resignation, Deadcross and his motivations are officially revealed. Deadcross was Rag's creator who grew bitter after Rag "stole" the presidency. Deadcross is unmasked after jumping off a building, and his face is identical to Rag's. While Astro leaves, Rag promises him that he'll be a good president.
Anime[]
Rag in the 1980 series
In the 1963 series, Rag appears in episode 43, in a faithful adaptation of the original manga chapter. In the 1980 series, Rag appears in episode 11, "The Robot President". The plot goes through a number of changes, adding extra peril and more development to Rag's personality.
In the 1980 episode, Rag invites Astro to Guravia, with Higeoyaji accompanying Astro as his guardian. Rag tells Astro about his political troubles and how much he wants robots and humans to become equals. Lord Deadcross listens in remotely through a robot bug recording Rag's office. Later on, Rag and Astro take a walk through Guravia's capital, but it is interrupted when a giant mecha attempts to attack Rag. Higeoyaji and Rag are kidnapped by Lord Deadcross while Rag's assistant Sir Half'n Hamper goes to get Astro for help.
When Astro finds Deadcross's lair, he is electrocuted, and Rag is deactivated soon after. Higeoyaji calls Professor Ochanomizu via his communicator watch, and is able to reactivate Astro just in time. At a public event, Deadcross is secretly controlling Rag with an EMP that targets his electronic brain; Astro and Higeoyaji are able to get at the controls and help snap Rag out of it. The newly-awakened Rag reaffirms his political belief: "Dear humans, we robots cannot live without you. But the same goes for the humans. We want to build a world where we can share suffering and happiness. As humans have hearts, robots have hearts, too. We can understand each other. We can live together as good friends."[1]
Much to Deadcross's disgust, this makes Rag more popular than ever. Deadcross attempts to launch a missile from his lair to Rag's presidential quarters, but this only blows the lair up once and for all. Rag and Sir Hamper gratefully thank Higeoyaji and Astro, and see them off on their flight home.
Astro Boy: Omega Factor[]
Rag also has a major role in Astro Boy: Omega Factor for the Game Boy Advance, released in 2003. Rag appears older in this game and with an altered design, more closely resembling Rock Holmes. Likewise, Rock plays Lord Deadcross via the Osamu Tezuka Star System in this game. Rock created Rag to be his vice president and source of knowledge, slacking off while Rag studied. Rag, of course, exceeds Rock's expectations and later wins the presidency over him. This causes Rock to become resentful and assume the identity of Lord Deadcross.
In the new timeline, Rag is assassinated allowing Rock to become president. Dr. Tenma repaired him and he became the Blue Knight.
References[]
- ↑ "The Robot President". Astro Boy, episode 11 (JPN broadcast order), 1980.