List of Battle Angel Alita characters

The Battle Angel Alita manga series features a cast of characters designed by Yukito Kishiro. The series takes place around the city of Scrapyard where residents, of whom many are heavily modified by cybernetics to better cope with the hard life, are forced to make a living.

The series focuses on Alita, the protagonist and title character, a young cyborg with amnesia struggling to uncover her forgotten past through the only thing she remembers from it: fighting. Early on in the story, Daisuke Ido, a bounty-hunting cybernetic doctor who finds and revives Alita plays a major role as well, but midway through the manga he becomes marginalized as focus begins to increasingly shift to Desty Nova, an eccentric nanotechnology scientist who has fled from Tiphares. Nova is the mastermind behind many of the enemies and trials that Alita faces, but does not make an actual appearance until more than two years into the story, although he is alluded to early on. Finally, Kaos, Desty Nova's son, a frail and troubled radio DJ with psychometric powers, also begins to play a crucial role after he comes in contact with Alita. He broadcasts his popular radio show from the wastelands outside the Scrapyard, staying away from the increasing conflict between Tiphares and the rebel army Barjack.

Protagonist

Gally/Alita

Alita, known in Japan as Gally (ガリィ, Garyi), is the main protagonist of Battle Angel Alita (she does not appear in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order), written by Yukito Kishiro. She is known for her fighting prowess as a practitioner of the powerful cyborg martial art Panzer Kunst and skill at the most popular sport in The Scrapyard, motorball. Alita is occasionally referred to as "octopus lips" due to her pouty expression. Alita's background and history were briefly hinted at in Battle Angel Alita, but were not fully explored until Last Order, which reveals that Alita was highly instrumental in creating the world within which both manga series are set.

Alita takes on a variety of roles through the manga, starting out as a hunter-warrior or licensed bounty hunter. She later becomes a motorball player, two years after which she is recruited by the Tipharean Ground Investigation Bureau to be an elite member of the TUNED, unknowingly serving as the basis for the development of their combat cyborgs known as the AR (Alita Replica) series which debut towards the end of Battle Angel Alita. In Last Order, a replica of her spearheads a team called the Space Angels which includes three other replicas that competes in the LADDER-sponsored Zenith of Things Tournament. Alita is voiced by Miki Itō in Japanese and Amanda Winn Lee in English.

The original Alita, known in Japan as Gally (ガリィ, Garyi), was Ido's black cat, who died a month before he found the remains of cyborg Gally/Alita in the Tiphares junkyard and is her namesake. Gally the cat was a male, and Ido's friend Gonzu comments that it is strange to name a girl after a male cat. The cat makes an appearance in the manga as part of a dream that Alita experiences while being trapped in Desty Nova's Ouroboros program. Interestingly, in the dream Alita is named "Gally" while the cat is named "Alita." Nova himself appears in this dream as "Uncle Nova," reflecting that he cannot get along with the cat. After Kaos in the guise of a dream Den attempts to rescue the real Alita from the Ouroboros and begins fighting with the giant Great Martian King dream robot, the dream Alita and dream Gally merge, appearing in the form of the real Alita. The side story "Seiyakyoku" reveals that Ido took the original Alita in shortly after he arrived in the Scrapyard, at least five years before he found Alita in the Tiphares junkyard.

Daisuke Ido

Daisuke Ido (イド・ダイスケ, Ido Daisuke) is a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro and its anime adaptation. Known as "Doc Ido", he is a cybernetics physician or cyberphysician, a doctor who specializes in operations on cyborgs who lives in The Scrapyard. He is responsible for restoring Alita after finding her in the Tiphares dump heap, a massive pile of garbage ejected from Tiphares. Ido also has a second line of work as a hunter-warrior. He is a former citizen of Tiphares, the great floating city suspended over The Scrapyard, as is indicated by the mark on his forehead, and is the first Tipharean introduced in Battle Angel Alita. After being expelled from Tiphares for unknown reasons, Ido trained as a cyberphysician and – five years before the main story starts – opened his own clinic.

Ido considers Alita to be like a daughter to him and their relationship progresses through several stages as Alita grows mentally and emotionally. As Ido wanted Alita to remain pure and unsullied, he is originally opposed to her becoming a hunter-warrior, but accepts her decision. He later accepts her decisions to play motorball and "leave the nest" after retiring from motorball. Ido is later nearly driven to madness and erases his own memory after learning the secret of Tiphares. Daisuke Ido has no role in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order besides appearing in Alita's thoughts. Daisuke Ido is voiced by Shunsuke Kariya in Japanese and Guil Lunde in English.

Desty Nova

Desty Nova, known in Japan as Desty Nove (ディスティ・ノヴァ, Disuti Nova), is a former citizen of Tiphares who has used his extensive scientific knowledge and expertise in nanotechnology to save Makaku and Jashugan, as well as resurrect Ido and Alita from states that would normally be classified as 'dead,' even in this world where cyborgs are commonplace. He fled Tiphares to obtain the freedom necessary to experiment with live humans, a component he deems necessary in his research of karma and psychological capacity. A dream sequence shows that had his situation been different, he could have easily been a loving, protective father figure for Alita. He has injected himself with nanomachines that can repair dismemberment and give him pseudo-immortality. Nova possesses knowledge of the secret of Tiphares, one that could drive its citizens mad if released. Nova has a perk for the dessert dish flan, and can often be seen eating it, boasting that he thinks better while enjoying it. His name is a reference to the song "Astronomy" by Blue Öyster Cult.

Although he is generally villainous in Battle Angel Alita, Nova exists as much more of a neutral, ambiguous figure in Last Order, where he is one of Alita's key allies. In the original manga, Nova has two assistants who do not appear in Last Order.

Kaos

Kaos (ケイオス, Keiosu) is Desty Nova's son and a popular late-night radio host. He is extremely fragile. Kaos only sees in infrared wavelengths and hears and speaks at radio wavelengths. Those that see him in person must use special transceivers for communication. Kaos is an expert of psychometry, a unique talent to read the memories of inanimate objects. For example, he can channel the memories of a katana to learn sword skills and the memories of a computer to hack it. He and his team of molemen dig up artifacts from the bygone era, and he uses the memories contained in these artifacts as the basis for his radio show. Kaos also has a dark side in the form of Den, a manifestation of uncontrollable rage that has been with him since he was a child. Although Den exists in a physical form, he and Kaos are linked by an EPR transmitter Nova installed in Kaos' chest.

Antagonists

Jashugan

Main article: Jashugan

Jashugan's unnamed master is an old cyborg who resides in an automobile junkyard. Jashugan visits him before his challenge race with Alita, and faces his master in a test of his ability to manipulate chi. The old cyborg succumbs to Jashugan's mastery of reflective resonance, an ability to match an opponent's chi and inflict a destructive vibratory feedback upon them, that leaves him mortally wounded. He views cyborgs as more machines than human, believing that they do not need love, nor should they fear death, advising Jashugan to kill Shumira as she is the cause of his self-doubt.

Makaku

Born as a human, Makaku (マカク, also written as 魔角) spent his entire life in the sewers of the Scrapyard, captivated by the life he could see outside. Three years before the beginning of the main story, Makaku was burned with a flamethrower by a pair of Scrapyarders while looking at the goings on through a sewer grate. He survived the attack, but his body began to rot and he nearly died. Desty Nova found Makaku and offered to give him a new, personalized body reflecting his innermost desires.

Makaku's new cyborg body consisted of a large head attached to a long, maggot-like body, which allowed him a great deal of mobility. He was also characterized by his long tongue and tendency to slobber. A large spike on top of his head could be fired as a single use projectile weapon. However, Makaku's deadliest ability was being able to take over the bodies of other cyborgs by using his body to jack into their spinal columns and then remove their heads with his newly-won control. He would take over powerful cyborg bodies and use their strength to acquire brains (preferably human, but even dog) in order to eat them to satisfy his endorphin addiction. Makaku justified his existence in destruction, and despite a bounty being placed on him, was so formidable that no hunter-warrior dared go after him for years.

Makaku is the first major adversary that Alita faces. In their first fight she succeeds in crippling the body he is then possessing as well as blinding him in his left eye by impaling it with one of her arms. However, her first cyborg body is destroyed in the process. Makaku survives the fight and almost kills Ido by impaling him with his head spike, swearing vengeance on both him and Alita before escaping. He seeks out the reigning champion of the coliseum, Kinuba, to take over his custom-built Power Body. Makaku then goes up against Alita in her new Berserker Body in the Scrapyard sewers. After a long fight, the Power Body is destroyed and Makaku nearly kills Alita in a plasma explosion that he triggers. However, she creates an electromagnetic barrier to shield them both, enabling her to talk with him. Makaku tells her his life story, revealing that she is the first person who seriously took notice of him by trying to stop him. For the first time in his life he is at peace as he is consumed by the plasma.

Zapan

Zapan (ザパン, Zapan) was a hunter-warrior who became embittered against Alita after she questioned his bravery in front of the other hunter-warriors at Bar Kansas and defeated him and a large number of them in a brawl. Since this incident he nursed a grudge against her but did not try to confront her directly. He noticed that Alita had taken an interest in Hugo as well as the latter's connection to Vector, who was the top dealer in the Scrapyard's black market parts. Zapan uncovered Hugo and his accomplices as criminals engaged in cyborg spinal column theft and nearly captured him. He reported Hugo to the Factory when he went to collect the bounties on Hugo’s accomplices, informing Alita, who was also there, what had happened to Hugo. Deducing that she would attempt to flee with Hugo, Zapan took Daisuke Ido hostage and rounded up numerous hunter-warriors and a netman. He confronted Alita when she was on her way back to Ido’s clinic with Hugo’s body, but his plan was foiled when it appeared that she had taken Hugo’s head. However upon closer investigation he saw that she had connected her life support system to it, keeping his brain alive. When he tried to get the head, the netman warned him that stealing another hunter’s bounty was illegal, allowing Alita to attack him and shear his face off. Zapan fell off the high rise they were on, but survived. He later obtained a new face and began working in a soup kitchen with Sara, the daughter of Murdock. Sara accepted Zapan and became his lover despite her father’s opposition. The night of Alita’s challenge race against Jashugan, Zapan saw the broadcast and was struck by a sudden fear that resulted in him clawing off his second face. He accidentally killed Sara when she tried to stop him and thus became a bounty, being hunted by Murdock for three years.

Murdock finally confronted Zapan in the sewers with his four cyborg dogs, but Alita intervened and gave Zapan the opportunity to attack her while her back was turned and she played a song on a portable keyboard. Zapan could not bring himself to attack and was torn to pieces by Murdock’s dogs. However his head survived and was recovered by Barzarld. Desty Nova was able to partially restore Zapan’s brain and in response to its deepest desire for revenge, released the safety lock on the Berserker Body to allow the brain to merge with it. However the body went out of control and after fusing with Zapan’s brain destroyed Nova’s lab and manor, killing Ido who had been there in an attempt to recover the Berserker Body from Nova. Zapan tracked Alita to Bar New Kansas but when he found that she was not there he killed Gonzu and the hunter-warriors who attacked him. Murdock faced him and allowed Shumira and Master to escape, destroying the bar and dying in the process, but Zapan survived. He then went on a rampage through the Scrapyard which the Factory Army was powerless to stop. Alita confronted him the following day armed with a revolver equipped with bullets tipped with collapser nanomachines that Nova had developed to destroy the Berserker Body at the molecular level. Despite a close, tough fight, she was able to fire two rounds into Zapan, which caused the Berserker Body to break down. Zapan made a last ditch attempt to absorb Alita which she thwarted by swallowing some of the collapser. Prior to his death Alita saw a vision of him and Sara together in which Zapan expressed regret for what he had done and was forgiven and accepted by Sara. Before hitting the ground his last act was to form a pair of wings to break Alita’s fall. Despite surviving the fight and defeating Zapan Alita was sentenced to death by the Factory for the Class A crime of using a firearm.

Supporting characters

Scrapyard residents

Gonzu

A former cyber veterinarian who now runs a Japanese food shack, Gonzu (ゴンズ) is the closest friend that Ido has in the Scrapyard and is shown visiting Ido at his clinic. He saves Ido after the latter is almost killed by Makaku, and under Ido's direction, transfers Alita from her first cyborg body into the Berserker Body. Gonzu also helps Ido transplant Hugo's head onto a cyborg body. A regular at Bar Kansas, Gonzu is the first person killed by Zapan when he goes to Bar New Kansas in the Berserker Body in search of Alita. The side story "Seiyakyoku" reveals that six years before Ido found Alita, he saved Gonzu's life when he found him near death in the street. At this time, Gonzu's food shack was a cart that he pulled. Gonzu aids Ido, who has been rendered homeless, by hosting him and Carol and getting him in touch with the cyberphysician Gauss. Gonzu makes a brief appearance in the OVA, in which he is known as Gonz.

Hugo

Hugo, known in Japan as Yugo (ユーゴ, Yūgo), is an orphaned teenager who was raised by his much older brother and his wife Nana. He ran away from home after Nana betrayed his brother to the hunter-warrior Clive Lee for building an illegal airship to attempt to fly to Tiphares. Since then he has inherited a burning desire to go to the floating city himself. He first encountered Vector three years before the start of the main story, when he recognized his brother's hand being sold by one of the latter's dealers, and impressed Vector by voluntarily trading his hand for his brother's. Believing that Vector could access Tiphares because of his pull in the Scrapyard, he fell for Vector's offer to get him there if he could bring him 10 million chips. Hugo ostensibly performs odd maintenance jobs for Scrapyard residents such as Ido, but has taken to illegally supplementing his income by posing along with his accomplices Tanji and Van, as a lubrication crew for cyborgs. They then paralyze their victims and steal their spinal columns, as these fetch the highest prices on the black market for body parts.

Alita meets Hugo during her hunt for Megil, and is impressed by his willingness to protect her even though he is grossly outmatched. The two then strike up a friendship which Alita makes clear she would like to take further, and she embarks on a bounty-hunting spree to help Hugo reach his 10 million chip mark. However Hugo is blinded by his obsession with Tiphares and does not realize that Alita is romantically interested in him. After his run in with Zapan, Hugo becomes a marked bounty. Despite learning the truth about him, Alita is still willing to go with him to Tiphares. He is nearly killed by Clive Lee, and is only saved by Alita linking her life support to his brain. Transplanted into a cyborg body by Ido, Hugo learns the reality that a surface dweller such as himself has no hope of reaching Tiphares. After confronting Vector with this, who also confirms it, he attempts to climb one of the Factory tubes that connects Tiphares to the Scrapyard. He makes it up further than any previous person, but is crippled by a massive spiked ring dropped down the tube. Alita is able to reach him just before a second one is dropped, but cannot save him, as his torso is shredded. Hugo is able to share his last words with Alita before falling to his death. This subsequently leads Alita to quit being a hunter-warrior and turn to motorball.

Hugo is a main character in the OVA, where he is known as Yugo.

Vector

Vector (ベクター, Bekutā) appears in Battle Angel Alita, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order and its anime adaptation as a Scrapyard businessman—the top broker in illegal human body parts and organs—with a reputation for hiring powerful cyborg muscle to back him up. Vector furthermore supplies Tiphares, on a monthly basis, with one person’s worth of body parts and organs. Last Order reveals that Vector came from a poor village on the outskirts of the city, and due to the ability to instantly judge whether anyone was lying to him, became the most powerful person in the Scrapyard.

Battle Angel Alita reveals that Vector is assisted by Myra, unnamed in the Japanese version, who works for Vector out of a mobile clinic. Vector buys stolen spinal columns from Hugo and—knowing that no-one can go to Tiphares—offered to send Hugo to Tiphares for 10 million chips. Although he used Hugo, Vector has some honor: he repeatedly protected Hugo by killing witnesses and hiding Hugo, and offered Hugo management of the supply routes (a highly lucrative position). Vector later sustains serious injury and escapes with his life after meeting with Den as the Barjack closed in on Tiphares, but is instrumental in bringing peace to the world when Tiphares almost collapses and the factories shut down.

Vector also appears in the OVA where he has a stake in the Coliseum gladiators (in addition to his black market dealings). He also he has more control over exports to Zalem (Tiphares). He is killed in the OVA when he is impaled after being confronted by Ido over Hugo. Vector is voiced by Shigeru Chiba in Japanese and Tristan MacAver in English.

Shumira

Shumira (シュミラ) is Jashugan's somewhat naïve, but warm-hearted younger sister. She is saved from being raped by two thugs by Ido while he is searching for Alita a month after she ran away following Hugo's death. When he shows her a holographic image of Alita, Shumira recognizes her as a motorball player, taking Ido to a circuit where Alita is racing and introducing him to the sport. She hosts Ido at her apartment for a week, after which they watch Jashugan at a race where he suffers a flatline attack. Ido has to use her brainwaves in order to successfully resuscitate Jashugan. Shumira meets Alita in person when she, Jashugan and Ido come across Alita and Ed at a Scrapyard open air restaurant. She covets Kimji, and asks if she can have him if Alita loses to Jashugan in arm wrestling. As a precaution for the next flatline attack, Ido creates a direct interface that will allow him to transmit Shumira's brainwaves via radio to Jashugan's brain. Prior to his challenge race with Alita, Jashugan receives a good luck necklace from Shumira and tells her to marry Ido. He then sedates her, nullifying any effect to resuscitate him should he have another flatline attack. Shumira thus does not see her brother's final race and subsequent death.

Two years after Alita quits motorball, Shumira is working as a waitress at Bar New Kansas. She narrowly misses being killed by Zapan when he arrives in search of Alita, and survives the destruction of the bar. Along with the Bar New Kansas barkeep and Koyomi, she winds up at a refugee camp on the outskirts of the Scrapyard, where she meets her future husband. Shumira stays with the volunteer group and eventually she and her husband have eight children.

Koyomi K.

Koyomi (コヨミ) is a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita manga and its sequel, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order. Koyomi takes on a variety of roles through the manga, starting out as an orphan, adopted by the bar Kansas barkeep, becoming a member of the Barjack, and a freelance photographer who publishes a bestselling photo-journal. The manga never reveals her family history nor her surname. Koyomi first appears as a baby when Daisuke Ido and Alita visits Bar Kansas, and is subsequently kidnapped by Makaku in order to lure Alita into a fight, only to be saved by her father's dog, Duke Fang. She later forms a bond with Fury, Murdock's dog and in turn softens Murdock himself. At age 13, Koyomi ran away from home with Fury, encountering Kaos and reaching the underground ruins of a city from the previous era and eventually, meeting Den. Convinced by what Den says about Tiphares’ evils, Koyomi joins the Barjack and participates their campaigns, drawing closer and closer to the Scrapyard where B.B. Buick gives her his camera just before he dies. A year after Den's defeat, Koyomi compiles Buick’s photos into a book titled Barjack War Chronicle that becomes the Scrapyard’s greatest bestseller on record.

Koyomi appears in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order as a 14-year-old boarding with her father in an antiques shop when she witnesses Kaos being run over by a taxi and subsequently helps him. She later witnesses Kaos's transformation (when he receives the paper airplane that Alita had thrown from Tiphares) and Vector’s subsequent agreement to fund the Tower of Tiphares. Koyomi is the focus of the side story "Bashaku Ondo", in which she acts on a tip that a resurrected Den has been ambushing Scrapyard supply convoys. As a result of her dealings with the eccentric Geriperi and the ambitious manager of Farm 3, Eakins, she eventually discovers a purpose in life. The side story further reveals that Koyomi a celebrity among the Barjack because of a photograph Buick took of her and Fury, which he subsequently sold.

Motorball-affiliated

The following fictional characters are affiliated with the sport of motorball in the Battle Angel Alita manga.

Alita

League: Third/Second

Player Number: 99

Nickname: "Killing Angel"

Main article: Alita

After Hugo's death, Alita ran away from Ido. She was shortly afterwards found in a bar by Ed, who recruited her to become a motorball player and signed her to a 12 race contract. When Ido finds out that she has become a motorball player a month later, Alita has already become a well-known and popular player, going on to win five straight races in the Third League before moving up to the Second League and picking up a sponsor, Mr. Thompson. She successfully defeats Ajakutty in a practice match over the number 99, earning the right to wear the number in the Second League and Ajakutty's respect. After directly challenging Jashugan, Alita is only shown competing in her debut race in the Second League, from which she determines who will make up her five-man challenge team. Against Ed's wishes, she plans to quit motorball after the challenge race with Jashugan, having completed her racing contract. In the challenge race, Jashugan successfully defeats Alita's teammates, leaving the two of them alone to duel. Forced to fight harder than she ever has before, Alita is severely damaged by Jashugan's final attack, but manages to kill him. She carries out her promise and retires from motorball afterwards.

Jashugan

Main article: Jashugan

Alita's Challenge Team

The following players were selected by Alita to be the members of her five-man team to challenge Jashugan.

Ajakutty

League: Second

Player Number: 99/88

Nicknames: “King Crusher,” “The Crownless King”

The original player wearing number 99 in the Second League before Alita qualified for it, Ajakutty refuses to relinquish the number to Alita, who wore it in the Third League and is determined to continue wearing it, without a fight. In a best of three rounds practice match, he wins the first round but loses the second. Recognizing Alita’s superior abilities, Ajakutty forfeits the third match and relinquishes the number to Alita. She earns his respect and he becomes her closest ally in motorball. Ajakutty calls Alita “Sister” instead of by her name, and she in turn calls him “Ajy.”

Ajakutty is a player who relishes the fight more than the win. His ranking of 23rd is thus deceptive, and he has crashed over 200 players. His fighting style is what he calls the “Asian Arts,” with an emphasis on kicks. Three other players, Balgerald, Skaramasakus, and Halberd, are Ajakutty’s disciples, and each specializes in a particular discipline. In his first race with Alita, Ajakutty takes on the Second League champion Armblessed for the first time after the latter has dispatched two of his students, and barely escapes with his life. He is the third member of the challenge team to be dispatched by Jashugan. Like Armblessed, he survives the encounter and is recovered from the track. Alita’s decision to quit motorball after the match with Jashugan leads him to label her as an outsider, as he realizes that she is not in it for the game.

Armblessed

League: Second

Player Number: 1

Nickname: “Caligula”

The arrogant, brutal Second League champion, Armblessed is renowned for his cruelty and commands a fanatical following among his fans, who willingly offer their hands to be cut off by him and placed on his horns (the “Hands of Victory”) as part of his pre-win ritual during races. His weapons are diamond-edged chain blades built into his arms and legs that can cut through any other player’s armor. Armblessed uses his blades to deliver devastating cuts that slice his opponents vertically and horizontally.

During Alita’s Second League race debut, Armblessed makes short work of both Halberd and Bargerald, provoking a fight with Ajakutty. Letting the latter take his right leg, he extends a spike from his body that he uses as the basis for his Gushiken (the “Taiwanese Spin"), which makes him spin like a top along the track and slice whoever is in his way to pieces with his chain blades. After crippling Ajakutty, Armblessed gets into a fight with Alita in which his chain blades are matched up against her Damascus blades, with Alita coming out on top and Armblessed flying off the track and out of the race. Still arrogant in defeat, Armblessed is nonetheless chosen against his will to be a member of Alita’s challenge team. He is the first player to be taken on by Jashugan, who, impervious to his chain blades, uses his arm rotors to tear Armblessed’s body to shreds. Jashugan then uses one of Armblessed's chain blades that has been severed from him to slice Zafal Takie in two and prevent her from securing the motorball. Armblessed’s head survives and he is picked up off the track along with Ajakutty by a recovery team.

Zafal Takie

League: Second

Player Number: 7

Nickname: "Crimson Wind"

Zafal Takie is the only other female motorball player shown besides Alita. She relies on her speed and technique as opposed to fighting prowess to win, being skilled enough to get within speaking distance of Alita without the latter noticing until the last minute. Since her debut, she has won three straight races. In her fourth race she succeeded in maneuvering Skaramasakus off the track and into the crash area, claiming the motorball. She then challenged Alita, winning their initial confrontation and forcing Alita to pit. However, Takie lost their second confrontation when Alita returned to the track. Her performance earns her a spot on Alita’s challenge team. During the challenge race, she is sliced in two by one of Armblessed’s chain blades wielded by Jashugan while reaching for the motorball. It is implied that she survived because her brain remained intact, although she is not explicitly shown being picked up by a recovery crew.

Tiegel

League: Second

Player Number: 50

Nicknames: “The Shame of the Second,” “Walking Last Place”

Holding the lowest average in the Second League, Tiegel is the largest motorball player seen. Heavily armored and nearly impervious to attack, his bulk also makes him ponderously slow. Tiegel does not have any special abilities, but is very persistent. He is in love with Alita, and begs her to let him join her challenge team both on and off the track. Alita’s duel with Zafal Takie during her Second League debut gives Tiegel an unexpected victory during the race, provoking a riot among the spectators and earning him a spot on the team. During the challenge race with Jashugan, he attempts to ram the champion but crashes into a wall. When pulled out by a recovery team, he revives, intervening in the fight between Jashugan and Alita just in time to prevent the former from finishing her off. This time Tiegel succeeds in slamming Jashugan into a wall, but Jashugan’s attacks break through his armor, triggering a series of explosions and setting his body ablaze. His final act is to ram Jashugan into another section of the wall, expressing his lack of regret over not quitting motorball because he had the chance to fight the champion.

Other players

Esdoc (“Ed”)

A former motorball player, Ed's racing team is named Esdoc Motors, and he is Alita’s manager. In his prime, his blade techniques were as good as Jashugan’s Maschine Klatsch and they were rivals. However, both were severely injured in an accident, from which Ed had to resort to acceleration drug injections to stay competitive. His abuse of the drug resulted in a permanent condition called “Terminal Frost,” which forced him to retire from motorball and makes his hands shake uncontrollably at unpredictable times, although it can be controlled with medications.

Ed recruited Alita shortly after she ran away from Ido following Hugo’s death, and has dreams of getting her into the top league, so he can vicariously fulfill his dream of challenging and eventually surpassing Jashugan. He is violently opposed to Alita’s plans to quit motorball after her match with Jashugan, when she will have fulfilled her 12 race contract, and plans to have her contract renewed. When a junky with a homemade gun tries to kill Alita, Ed shields her, taking a fatal shot that blows off the top of his head. His last act is to give Alita her Damascus Blades that he had reforged into a single blade. Unbeknownst to Alita, he sold her Berserker Body which had been in storage while she was fitted out with her motorball body in an attempt to keep her on the circuit.

Ed's mask bears a resemblance to that worn by the character Frankenstein in the film Death Race 2000, which was about a similarly bloody gladiatorial sport.

Umba

A fat, very short cyborg, Umba is an ace mechanic, responsible for repairing Alita’s motorball body as well as tuning and upgrading it. He uses a tracked harness from which he hangs suspended for increased mobility and height. When Alita is damaged following her confrontation with Takie, Umba proves that he is skilled enough to be able to absorb enough information from 15 sensors in order to control a 20 arm “octopus” exoskeleton, in effect performing the work of ten engineers and getting Alita back onto the track in less than six minutes. Umba has agoraphobia, and is no fun on an outing according to Esdoc. Devastated following Esdoc’s death, he nevertheless does not try to dissuade Alita from her decision to quit motorball after the match with Jashugan. Two years later, Umba starts a successful engineering company with Mr. Thompson and writes to Alita about her Berserker Body, which he has managed to track down to Desty Nova after Ed sold it.

Barjack

The Barjack (バージャック, Bājakku, also written as 馬借) is a fictional, conventional military force depicted in the Battle Angel Alita manga. The Barjack are regarded as bandits by residents of the Scrapyard who remain unaware of their motive: to destroy Tiphares and with it, the Factory and the Scrapyard. The Barjack is predominantly a well equipped mobile ground force and is formally organized into ranks and units, although there is no formal inclusion criteria for members. Barjack members include Den, the Barjack's charismatic founder; Koyomi K.; Knucklehead, a former bandit; B.B. Buick, a "special prisoner"; Colonel Bozzle, a former member of the Green Beret Tribe; and Kayna, a cyborg nurse.

The Barjack switches to guerilla warfare after five years of fighting when their railway gun, Heng, fails to destroy Tiphares. The deployment of 11 TUNED AR units against the Barjack leaves the fate of the remaining Barjack forces uncertain in Battle Angel Alita, although the Last Order side story "Bashaku Ondo" reveals that substantial numbers of Barjack survived and are willing to take up the cause.

Den

Den (電) is Kaos's alternate personality and appears as a giant remote-controlled slave unit run from a transmitter embedded in Kaos’ chest. Den was within Kaos since he was young, and whenever this rage manifested itself, Kaos became homicidal but had no memories of what happened to him when this part of his psyche took over: Nova learned of Den when Den burst forth, nearly resulting in Nova and Bazarld's deaths, and installed a transmitter into Kaos’ heart and nervous system, to make him independent of Kaos’ body by providing him with a slave body (He can however, use the transmitter to take control of Kaos' body without his knowledge, and the death of Kaos will mean the death for both of them). After being created by Nova, Den went to the wasteland to find himself and train as a warrior, and found his purpose to find a suitable body to contain his rage and rule the desert. The story reveals that Den developed the firm belief that Tiphares is the source of the surface dwellers' pain and misery, and that anyone associated with Tiphares, the Factory, or the Scrapyard is corrupt, and formed the Barjack to wage war against Tiphares. He later gets fatally wounded by Factory ground forces when he charges the Scrapyard in a last attempt to attack Tiphares after the Barjack's railway gun, Heng, fails to destroy it.

The side story Bashaku Ondo, reveals that two more remote-controlled bipedal bodies of Den exists: one was found by Eakins, the manager for Farm 3, who plans to revive the Barjack as a bandit organization, and the other is in the care of Geriperi, an old eccentric. These two Dens duel each other at the Barjack revival meeting, in which the second Den (operated by Geriperi) triumphs and leaves after ordering the remaining Barjack to assist in the construction of the Tower of Tiphares.

Ground Investigation Bureau (GIB)

Lou Collins

Lou Collins, known in Japan as Ruw Colins (ルウ・コリンズ, Ruu Korinzu), is Alita's operator who is brought in after Alita and Figure part ways. She is a bit clumsy and often gets overwhelmed by work. On her first day, she makes a bad first impression on Chief Bigott by pulling a gun on him in self-defense because she thought that he planned to do what he would with her by leading her down an obscure back stairway to the GIB. Unbeknownst to Lou, she along with Dr. Russell was brought in by Bigott in an attempt to curb Alita's intransigence. Somewhat ditzy, Lou nevertheless has a good heart. She is a new at her job, having placed first in her class in simulations, and tries to get along with Alita. Lou provides Alita with intelligence, logistical, technical, and combat support. She can also remote control the mobile unit, a single wheeled motorcycle that is issued to Alita, as well as broadcast her voice from it. Through Alita's experiences, Lou eventually becomes her friend, and starts to develop a more sympathetic view of the world below Tiphares. She gives Kaos plans for the "Tower of Tiphares," a 2,500 meter tower connecting Tiphares to the Scrapyard that can be constructed with the existing scrap on the surface. She also agrees to help Alita by deleting the information regarding Den and Kaos from the GIB's systems.

Lou has saved Alita's life on two occasions, the first occurring while Alita was dueling Den and was almost impaled by his yari. The second time occurred when Alita was fighting AR-2. As Alita was about to lose the fight and be finished off, Lou destroyed AR-2's control terminal, freezing AR-2. She also placed a gun to the head of AR-2's operator. Lou is consequently dismissed from the GIB and sent to the Medical Inspection Bureau (MIB). The knowledge of Lou's sacrifice and Bigott's promise to let her go free after apprehending Desty Nova motivate Alita to complete her original mission. When she is brought to Tiphares by Nova in her new Imaginos Body, she finds out that Lou is to be cast out for forming a friendship with a surface dweller, and manages to save her just in time. Lou is the least traumatically affected by having the secret of Tiphares unveiled to her, the only side effect she suffers being the cessation of her hiccups. She accompanies Alita and Nova to Melchizedek and witnesses the result of Alita's injecting her Imaginos Body with a trigger given to her by Nova enabling her to go through a transmutation, creating the Life-Tree and preventing Tiphares from crashing into the Scrapyard. Subsequently, Lou eventually marries Kaos.

Bigott Eizenburg

The stern, no-nonsense chief of the GIB, Bigott Eizenburg (ビゴット・アイゼンバーグ, Bigotto Aizenbāgu) intervenes just before Alita's brain is destroyed for committing a Class A offense to recruit her for the TUNED project. Although the GIB has a team of operators who provide logistical, intelligence, and technical support, he personally monitors and oversees Alita's operations and actions. Alita's independent attitude and willingness to disobey orders frustrate Bigott. In order to reduce her rebelliousness, he brings in Dr. Russell and Lou Collins as people whom she can warm up to. While escorting Lou to the GIB on her first day through a back stairwell, she pulls a gun on him as she thinks that he plans to force himself on her, but Bigott reveals that he is homosexual and has no interest in her.

More than a week after Alita duels Den, Bigott dismisses Dr. Russell for his opposition to replacing Alita with the TUNED AR series. When AR-2 confronts Alita, he reveals that her value to the GIB was never more than a sample for creating the perfect series of combat androids that would be totally obedient. After Alita defeats AR-2, he has her continue with her original mission of apprehending Desty Nova with the promise that she can leave the TUNED after its completion. Bigott meanwhile has the rest of the AR series conduct anti-Barjack operations, and uses the Tipharean superweapon Abaddon to destroy the Barjack's giant railway gun Heng. After Alita infiltrates the Granite Inn but gets trapped by Nova's Ouroboros program, Bigott sells her out, offering her to Nova and inviting him back to Tiphares with Melchizedek and the Ladder's approval. When the secret of Tiphares is revealed to Bigott, he slices off the top of his own head to see for himself. Seeing his own bio-chip brain, he goes insane, and is shortly after killed along with the rest of the GIB by the MIB. Bigott makes a brief appearance in the side story "Furusato" in which Alita is still a member of the TUNED.

TUNED AR Series (Alita Replicas)

During her time as agent of GIB, the organization documented all of Alita's combat experiences including the Panzer Kunst techniques. This was done without Alita's knowledge, as part of a plan to create a series of mass produced TUNED replicas all with the abilities of Alita but fully loyal to GIB and Tiphares. Their very existence is a result of the Secret of Tiphares, as their solid-state brains are the same bio-chips that are used in Tipharean citizens.

In all, 12 TUNED replicas were produced, each designated as AR, i.e., "Alita Replicas" (GR in the Japanese version, i.e., "Gally Replicas") 1-12, whereas Alita herself was designated as A-1 (G-1). All TUNED replicas have or had knowledge of basic Panzer Kunst and are able to use special attacks like the Hertza Haeon (Sechs used it in a puppet body as well as in his Fizziroy Body) and Einzug Rüstungen (AR-2 used it against Alita). The following replicas have appeared as characters in Battle Angel Alita and Battle Angel Alita: Last Order.

AR-6/Sechs

Sechs (ゼクス, Zekusu, six in German) appears in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order: Angel Reborn as the sixth Alita replica. Skilled in Panzer Kunst and her own fighting style, Sechster Angriff (lit. "Sixth attack"), Sechs dreams of becoming an original in her own way by showing that she was not like the original, but stronger: Sechs hopes that by defeating Alita she will earn the right to exist. The series shows Sechs searched out and defeated the remaining TUNED Replicas after the shutdown of the GIB, after which she searches out Alita, only to be defeated. Sechs eventually enters the Zenith of Things Tournament (Z.O.T.T.) as a member of the Space Angels team (also consisting of Alita, Elf and Zwölf), proving to be a key member. The relationship between Sechs and Alita becoming less hostile throughout the series, and by Volume 5 Alita shows great respect for Sechs, however Sechs always harbors the fear of being seen as Alita's copy, as shown in volume 7. To further solidify her own identity, Sechs has her body changed to that of a male, continuing to develop original and devastatingly powerful attacks of his own throughout the tournament. During one confrontation, martial artist Zekka comments that Sechs is developing "at the speed of light".

AR-11/Elf and AR-12/Zwölf

Elf (エルフ, Erufu, Eleven in German) and Zwölf (ツヴェルフ, Tsuverufu, Twelve in German) appears in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order: Angel Reborn as the only two TUNED units to escape Sechs' killing spree. Throughout the series they appear as cuter twin versions of Alita, supplying comic relief and craziness through personality, dress styles and fighting styles. They are seen together, acting like twins, although they call each other best friends. At first they worked as singers in Barjack City before they becoming Desty Nova's bodyguards, and eventually they enter the Zenith of Things Tournament (Z.O.T.T.) as "Dark Alita" (Zwölf) and "White Alita" (Elf) of the Space Angels team.

Other

Hunter-warriors are bounty hunters in the Scrapyard who are registered with the Factory. This makes them eligible to pursue wanted criminals and collect the bounties on them. Because there is no formal criminal justice system or police force in the Scrapyard, hunter-warriors function as the primary means of enforcing Factory Law. However, they themselves are still subject to Factory Law, and can become wanted criminals when they step outside its boundaries.

Figure Four, known in Japan as Fogir Fore (フォギア・フォア, Fogia Foa), is a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro and is known for his mastery of koppo, a form of martial arts that emphasizes bypassing a cyborg's armor to inflict internal damage. Originally a fisherman, Figure traveled east in order to see Tiphares, staying in the Scrapyard for a year, before signed up as a rail mercenary on Factory Train 12 where he befriended Yolg and became intrigued by Alita. Figure Four questions Alita's bloodlust and desire for battle only to realize that she cannot choose not to fight and decides to help her in her fight against the Barjack. Figure Four realizes that Alita likes him when he saves Alita from Knucklehead, and later admits that he loves her. Figure Four later returns to his previous life as a fisherman. Figure Four has no role in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order besides appearing in Alita's thoughts.

Fury (フューリー, Fyūrī) is one of Murdock the Dog Master's cyborg dogs, and appears to be modeled along the lines of a bloodhound. He is the only dog whom a 2 year old Koyomi latches onto as "Doo Fan", what she calls all dogs she comes across after Duke Fang. He is assigned by Murdock to protect Koyomi and Shumira when Zapan wreaks havoc on Bar New Kansas in the Berserker Body, and is thus the only one of the four dogs to escape alive. Fury stays with Koyomi and her father, joining her when she runs away at age 13 to see Kaos by hitching a ride with a caravan. Fury now spends much of his time sleeping, but he still possesses some of his old instincts, as he quickly kills one of Sentinel's bandits who is threatening Koyomi. Fury recognizes Alita when she saves Koyomi from the bandits, even though he has not seen her in 11 years. He accompanies Koyomi when she joins the Barjack, and is with her and the Heng when it fires on on Tiphares. Fury realizes that AR-10 is not Alita, and after the Heng is destroyed by the Tipharean superweapon Abaddon, destroys a flock of missile bees unleashed by AR-10 on the survivors. His first attack on AR-10 when she threatens Koyomi fails, but while AR-10 is distracted by asking the GIB to switch her ammunition over to anti-personnel rounds to deal with Buick, Fury is able to grab her around the neck and use his weight to throw her into a pile of molten metal, killing her but also dying in the process.

References

• Kishiro, Yukito (October 2000). Battle Angel Alita (11th ed. ed.). San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-003-3. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

• Kishiro, Yukito (1994). Battle Angel Alita: Tears of an Angel (1st ed. ed.). San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-049-1. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

• Kishiro, Yukito (May 2000). Battle Angel Alita: Angel of Chaos (5th ed. ed.). San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-178-1. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

• Kishiro, Yukito (September 1996). Battle Angel Alita: Angel of Death (1st ed. ed.). San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-127-7. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

• Kishiro, Yukito (March 1996). Battle Angel Alita: Angel of Redemption (1st ed. ed.). San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-053-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

• Kishiro, Yukito (November 1997). Battle Angel Alita: Fallen Angel (1st ed. ed.). San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-243-5. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

• Kishiro, Yukito (June 2001). Battle Angel Alita: Angel's Ascension (4th ed. ed.). San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-293-1. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

• Kishiro, Yukito (June 1995). Battle Angel Alita: Killing Angel (1st ed. ed.). San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-092-0. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Kishiro, Yukito (August 1995). Battle Angel Alita: Angel of Victory (1st ed. ed.). San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-082-3. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Kishiro, Yukito (January 10, 2001). Gunnm. 3 (Nouv. éd. ed.). Glénat. ISBN 978-2723434775.