Movie
Description
Tachikoma are spider-type, multi-legged combat vehicles equipped with artificial intelligence, serving as personnel transports and mobile weapons platforms. Approximately the size of a small car and typically blue, they feature four expressive eyes: three on the head and one beneath the abdomen. Their design incorporates four legs with omnidirectional wheeled footpads, enabling high-speed holonomic movement in any direction, jumping, adhesion to vertical surfaces, and thermoptic camouflage. Standard armament includes a 7.62×51mm light machine gun in the right arm, a secondary weapon hardpoint (often a 50mm grenade launcher or Gatling gun), and a universal cyberconnector on a prehensile cable in the left arm. A cockpit within the abdomen allows direct piloting by human operators.
These AI units develop distinct personalities despite nightly synchronization merging collective experiences. Individual traits manifested include a hyperactive, curious unit (favored by Batou), a logical counterpart, a slower unit struggling with complex topics, and an intellectual bookworm. These personalities arise from accumulated experiences and deviations, such as Batou's use of natural oil instead of synthetic lubricant, which dissolved proteins in their neurochips, catalyzing unexpected sapience. This development prompted their decommissioning and analysis due to combat readiness concerns.
Earlier, three surviving units—Batou's blue, a yellow, and a silver—abandoned civilian assignments to aid Section 9 operatives. The silver unit was destroyed during rescue operations, while the blue and yellow units sacrificed themselves in a suicidal attack protecting allies. Post-deactivation, their AI backups were restored and upgraded for a new fleet. Subsequent iterations retained individual personalities, limiting synchronization to essential data only. They gained advanced networking capabilities, operating in cyberspace with representational avatars, though this prevented simultaneous physical body control. During a refugee crisis, they prioritized securing their own memories in netspace and sacrificed an AI satellite to prevent a nuclear detonation; a fellow AI suggested this act confirmed the presence of "ghosts".
In later continuity, the units returned to active service with Section 9. They featured enhanced physical designs, including interchangeable manipulator fingers, optional tires for high-speed movement, and posable eyes. Their roles expanded to include complex net-diving operations countering emerging Post-Human threats. They participated in Section 9's reunion during a global economic crisis, operating as both field combatants and cybernavigators.
These AI units develop distinct personalities despite nightly synchronization merging collective experiences. Individual traits manifested include a hyperactive, curious unit (favored by Batou), a logical counterpart, a slower unit struggling with complex topics, and an intellectual bookworm. These personalities arise from accumulated experiences and deviations, such as Batou's use of natural oil instead of synthetic lubricant, which dissolved proteins in their neurochips, catalyzing unexpected sapience. This development prompted their decommissioning and analysis due to combat readiness concerns.
Earlier, three surviving units—Batou's blue, a yellow, and a silver—abandoned civilian assignments to aid Section 9 operatives. The silver unit was destroyed during rescue operations, while the blue and yellow units sacrificed themselves in a suicidal attack protecting allies. Post-deactivation, their AI backups were restored and upgraded for a new fleet. Subsequent iterations retained individual personalities, limiting synchronization to essential data only. They gained advanced networking capabilities, operating in cyberspace with representational avatars, though this prevented simultaneous physical body control. During a refugee crisis, they prioritized securing their own memories in netspace and sacrificed an AI satellite to prevent a nuclear detonation; a fellow AI suggested this act confirmed the presence of "ghosts".
In later continuity, the units returned to active service with Section 9. They featured enhanced physical designs, including interchangeable manipulator fingers, optional tires for high-speed movement, and posable eyes. Their roles expanded to include complex net-diving operations countering emerging Post-Human threats. They participated in Section 9's reunion during a global economic crisis, operating as both field combatants and cybernavigators.