| Tachikoma | |
|---|---|
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex character | |
 Tachikoma model for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex | |
| First appearance | Ghost in the Shell |
| Created by | Masamune Shirow |
| Voiced by | Sakiko Tamagawa |
Tachikoma (Japanese: タチコマ) are fictional walker robots endowed with artificial intelligence (AI) that are featured in the Ghost in the Shell universe. They appear in the manga created by Masamune Shirow (as Fuchikoma) and in the Stand Alone Complex sub-universe. Nine of them are initially deployed to Section 9.[1] They are spider-like, multi-legged combat vehicles, and are equipped with adaptive artificial intelligence. The spider design appears in other places in Shirow's work such as the Appleseed manga. Shirow is noted to keep numerous spiders as pets.[2]
Production I.G was unable to use the Fuchikoma design in the 2002 Stand Alone Complex anime television series due to copyright conflicts.[3] However, Masamune Shirow was able to design a legally safe equivalent to the spider-tanks for the new show, which he named the "Tachikoma". There are distinct differences in the design, most significantly in the eye-equivalents and the vertically oriented abdomen. Still, the tanks are easily recognizable as descendants of the original Fuchikoma. Their AI personalities and roles in the SAC series are indistinguishable from their predecessors in the manga.[3]
- ^ Official Log, page 28.
- ^ Short biography included in the Ghost in the Shell manga published by Dark Horse Comics, p 349. ISBN 1-56971-081-3
- ^ a b "Ghost in the Shell - Characters". Retrieved 2009-12-01.