Kō Honda was a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology who served as a technician for the U‑NASA BUGS‑2 project. During the mission period, he delivered public lectures on Mars terraformation while secretly managing the operation’s logistics and technical aspects. His work placed him at the heart of humanity’s second attempt to investigate and contain the mutated creatures known as Terraformars. After the tragic failure of the BUGS‑2 mission, in which most of the crew perished, Honda withdrew from the space program. Twenty years later, he had become a bartender at a small bar, leading a quiet life seemingly disconnected from his past.

In the live‑action film adaptation, Honda’s role differs: he commanded the surviving BUGS‑2 crew to return to Earth carrying a Terraformar egg. When the egg hatched during transit and the creatures developed wings, he ordered the ship back to Mars, demonstrating a willingness to confront the danger rather than risk bringing it to Earth. This version of the character takes a more direct, tactical role in the crisis.

Personality-wise, Honda comes across as a capable and knowledgeable scientist, but he is also shown to be burdened by the weight of the past. His decision to become a bartender suggests a desire to step away from the horrors he witnessed, though his continued connection to the surviving crew implies unresolved guilt or responsibility. He does not undergo genetic modification and possesses no superhuman abilities; his value lies in his intellect, engineering expertise, and prior experience with the Terraformar threat. His key relationships are with the BUGS‑2 mission members, to whom he acts as a support figure rather than a frontline fighter. Over the course of the story, he evolves from a dedicated technician into a disillusioned observer, yet his actions in the film indicate that he can still rise to the occasion when circumstances demand it.