Information AboutTachikoma |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT TACHIKOMA | |
| fictional robots | |
| ghost in the shell technology | |
| mecha | |
| fictional tanks | |
| voice actors | |
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A Tachikoma (タチコマ) is a fictional AI Walker Tank in the Ghost In The Shell universe. DESIGN AND AI that mimics hand-drawn art. This method simplified the task of animating detailed robotic characters. The right-most image is a Wireframe of the 3D model; the middle image is the Tachikoma model rendered with generic materials and lighting; the left-most image is the character as it appears in the series.]] Tachikoma are as large as an average Sedan , are painted Blue and have four "eyes" fitted on the surface of their bodies. They are controlled by individual AI s, are capable of speech and generally exhibit a childish, curious, joyful and active personality, although they are consummate professionals in the field. They normally operate as independent units and receive orders from human agents, but they can also be directly piloted from a cockpit in their Abdomen . Tachikoma have four legs and two arms. They can move by walking, or they can drive at high speed by using their wheeled footpads, and are apparently Street Legal . Other abilities of the Tachikoma include jumping great distances, sticking to vertical or inverted surfaces, and grappling/rappelling using their adhesive string launchers. Their movements when walking and jumping were modeled off of a Jumping Spider . Standard Tachikoma equipment includes a light machine gun mounted in the right arm, a secondary weapon in the "snout" (either a Rocket-propelled Grenade launcher or a six-barreled Minigun ), and a built-in Optical Camouflage device. Though they possess individual Artificial Intelligence , every night they are synchronised, so they start the next day with identical conciousnesses that are each the Sum of their total collective experience & development. This leads to identity confusion, since each Tachikoma has the same memories. A notable paradox arises from this synchronisation, however. Though the Tachikomas have identical memories, their personalities and opinions are distinct. During the Stand Alone Complex series, a few episodes are entirely devoted to discussions among them. These separate personalities reveal three 'main' Tachikomas, with the main voice acting. The first one is Batou's Blue Tachikoma, which has a personality of a hyperactive child. It is curious, inquisitive, and tends to get many 'bright' ideas. Unfortunately, these ideas seem bright only to itself. Then again, it did manage to provide a rather interesting definition of God. The second major Tachikoma is possibly the Major's. This Tachikoma is logical, and tends to be the one who points out the flaws in the thinking of Batou's Tachikoma. In other words, it's the Straight Man to the Blue Tachikoma. The third Tachikoma is simply there and really doesn't do much, other than complete the trio. There is also a fourth Tachikoma with a distinctive personality, who is a bookworm and an intellectual. Its body was taken apart during the experimentation incident, but its AI has presumably been saved for further analysis. VOICE TALENT The voices of the Tachikomas in the American dub are provided by a number of well-known voice actresses who specialize in high-pitched, child-like voices. Among them:
BACKGROUND Tachikoma were introduced in the '''' TV Series . In episode 12 of the first season, one slightly-malfunctioning Tachikoma goes on a joy-ride through the city where it meets a young girl named Miki who is looking for a lost dog. The episode is mostly comedy but turns serious, with the Tachikoma attempting to understand sadness and death. In a later episode, the Tachikomas argue among themselves over which met Miki, since they all have the same memory. Batou has the most affection for the tanks, picking out one tank as "his" and spoiling it with natural oil instead of synthetic. This is what causes his to go haywire later. On the other hand, Togusa, the least cyberized of the Section 9 staff, holds a more dim view: "they're just machines." Aside from leading to an indignant outburst from the Tachikomas, it sets up something of an antagonistic relationship between Togusa and the tanks, which is revisted in an episode in season two. The Tachikomas also show a slightly mischievous side in episode 15, '' Time Of The Machines ''. They confuse a Section 9 Operator with a logic conundrum right out of Star Trek . In the episode '' I, Mudd '', Kirk and company escape from the planet by confusing an android with the statement along the lines of "The next thing I say is a lie. I am lying." The admin drone, which has a much simpler AI, is utterly confused and left stymied, allowing the Tachikomas to steal a piece of equipment left in the drone's care and ridicule the drone for being fooled. Interestingly enough, the drone does not completely malfunction. She simply sits down and keeps thinking, apparently stuck in a logic loop. By the end of the series, the Tachikoma fleet start approaching sentience; all are sent back to the lab for dissection, amidst fears that they are no longer fit for combat duty. It is the use of natural oil in Batou 's personal Tachikoma (all other units used synthetic lubricant) that acted as a catalyst for the behavorial anomalies that began to manifest as Sentience . The Major ( Motoko Kusanagi ) subsequently bans the use of natural oil prior to the later decision to halt deployment of Tachikomas in field ops. Three Tachikoma survive the lab analysis, (one blue, calling itself " Batou 's Personal Tachikoma", and two others, repainted yellow and silver) and prove their worth when they abandon their new civilian jobs to save their imperiled comrades, without explicit orders to do so. The silver Tachikoma is destroyed on sight when it finds Batou under attack by an Armed Suit , a bipedal power-actuated armored Exoskeleton . The blue and yellow Tachikoma combine their efforts to save him, and perform a successful Suicide Attack against the Suit. This selfless act is the last thing they ever do. Because of their devotion, the collective Tachikoma consciousness is restored from the backups made during the dissection process and loaded into a new fleet, which appears in the second season. .]] In the second season, '''', the enforced synchronizations among Tachikomas are halted, since Motoko Kusanagi allows them to preserve their own personality after acquiring sentience in the first season. They can still share information and sensation with synchronization if they want to, and also specify which area to share. The Tachikomas are also outfitted to perform complex networking tasks, including netdiving, to aid Section 9 . It is possible that Tachikoma units developed ghosts. During the finale of ''2nd GIG'', while ordered to create a repository in cyberspace for the memories (and hopefully, ghosts) of all refugees of Dejima , they secured instead their own memories within the netspace and selflessly sacrificed their AI satellite to prevent a Nuclear Explosion . This resulted in them being permanently destroyed and replaced by the Fuchikoma /Tachikoma hybrid, Uchikoma. Whether or not their memories will resurface in a future season (if indeed, there is one) is pure speculation. Each Tachikoma that appears and is voiced has a certain personality. The blue one at the end of season one, "Batou's personal Tachikoma", has the silliest personality. It often comes up with stupid plans or ideas, including attempting to play fetch or frisbee with a data disk. Another Tachikoma serves as its Foil . Another Tachikoma is an intellectual, with a love of books. It only appears in a few scenes, and it does not appear in the 'sacrifice' scene, since it is mentioned that it was dismantled at an earlier time. |
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