Favorite Minor Characters

[Earthshine]

I'm about 95% certain that his name was True in the dub as well, and it makes sense considering how the Japanese would pronounce "Thor". It would sound like 'to-ru' which also sounds like "true".

I won't get into gender expression and identity here in the forum (it's my major and main social issue) but I do agree with you as a whole Sporkia.

[tailz]

I was most fond of him in his incarnation during Metropolis, both the animated movie and manga.

Actually, metropolis was the first tezuka film I ever saw when I was about 7.

As for me, I liked mustachio in the jungle emperor leo movie.

[Earthshine]

Metropolis is my most favorite animated film of all time. Very fond of that one.

[tailz]

I'm thinking of watching it again. I don't remember it too well.(I only remember bits and peices of it.)

[Earthshine]

You should. You won't regret it. I think I may go ahead and watch it today myself.

[jeffbert]

The liar robot's name is True.

Anyway, it is a bit late to ask, but what do you consider 'minor'? There are secondary characters who appear throughout the series. Some are minor in that they do little to add to the story. Then, there are others, such as Skunk, whose appearances, though infrequent, are significant. There are important characters who appear in only 1 or 2 episodes. So, Earthshine, as you started this thread, you should clarify this issue.

[Earthshine]

Ah you're absolutely right. What I mean by minor character is any character that is not a constant reoccurring character with plot specific additions and adds character development to Atom. Thus Ochanomizu would be considered (obviously) as a major character while Chief McLaw would not even though he shows up relatively frequently.

It can get a little blurry though with Astro Boy due to the wonders of Tezuka's writing though, sometimes his individual stories can highlight a minor character in such a way that they impact the story and Atom's growth at the same time making them incredibly important (such as Tawashi).

So... it's a little difficult to outright define a minor character in regards specifically to Astro Boy. I would say that Cobalt would be a minor character but others might flat out argue against that.

For the sake of this thread perhaps we should consider a minor character to be any character that is not involved directly to Atom on a more or less everyday basis, and is not one of the primary important 'villains' that was more than 'just a punching bag' such as Pluto.

I hope this is clear. So far we've all been doing pretty good I think.

[jeffbert]

So, as a few examples, though Atom's parents were the title characters of what has since become the 2nd 1/2 of GAS PEOPLE (IN THE MANGA), once they were established as regular characters, their contribution to the stories is rather small. * ON THE OTHER HAND, Cobalt sacrifices himself in Midoro Swamp; in the B&W, Cobalt & Uran have adventures after their introductory episodes, as does Chitan. Yet, for the most part, they are minor characters. So, evaluating them on an overall basis is a bit difficult.



*Though MAMA & PAPA impersonated Tawashi & Higeoyaji in the original version of ROBOT LAND!

[Little Brown Fox]

Hey, if Cobalt counts as "minor" in this discussion, then add him to my list, too. And I like the name Thor better. That's what it sounds like to me, and I don't care if it was his dub name and ultimately makes more sense (albeit in a sort of roundabout way, as he was a weather-monitoring robot, wasn't he? he at least had something to do with seismology... "Thor" makes slightly more sense for the former occupation, though...).

[Windswept Cloak]

In that case I'm adding Cobalt and Chi-tan to my list. X3