Summary
Yugo, a resident of Scrap Iron City, endured the most tragic narrative arc of the series. Orphaned early, he found fleeting happiness living with his older brother and sister-in-law. His brother, an engineer for 'The Factory' that processed Zalum’s waste, secretly built a hot-air balloon to reach the floating city, a forbidden act punishable by death. This dream ended violently when the cyborg hunter Gime attacked, beheading the brother and amputating Yugo’s right hand out of malice. Yugo later discovered his sister-in-law had betrayed them, fearing abandonment; her fate remains unknown. Yugo kept the scar on his wrist as a reminder of his brother and his own goal to reach Zalum. For three years, Yugo worked various jobs in Scrap Iron City, viewing its inhabitants with disdain as scavengers. Desperate for funds, he approached the corrupt businessman Vector, who demanded 10,000,000 credit chips for passage. Yugo saved this amount in three years through frugality but grew impatient. Alongside his friend Taji, he turned to stealing and selling cyborg spines to Vector. During this time, Yugo befriended Gally, sharing his dreams and his contempt for their surroundings. Gally found him intriguing and eventually fell in love with him. The friendship ended in disaster when Yugo and Taji attempted to ambush a cyborg for its spine. The target was actually a hunter/warrior who trapped Yugo, injuring his shoulder. Taji intervened to save him but was decapitated. Yugo escaped, but a bounty was placed on his head. Gally, now a hunter/warrior herself, confronted him. After Yugo explained his backstory, Gally, who also wanted to go to Zalum, offered her savings to help him go first. On his way to retrieve the credits, Yugo was killed by Gime. Gally avenged him by killing Gime but felt powerless to save Yugo. Chiren, who had witnessed the events, intervened by connecting Gally’s life-support systems to Yugo’s severed head to keep his brain oxygenated. Gally took Yugo to Daisuke Ito, who constructed a cyborg body for him. Vector later killed Chiren to harvest her organs for Zalum, breaking his promise to return her, and was subsequently killed by Ito. While recovering, Yugo overheard Ito tell Gally that passage to Zalum was impossible and that one must be born there to live there. Refusing to believe it, Yugo fled Ito’s office and climbed the transit tubes connecting Scrap Iron City to Zalum. His metal feet were damaged by rings designed to stop "vermin" from climbing. As he neared his goal, Gally called out, confessing her love and asking him to return. A ring crushed him, and though Gally caught him, his arm broke under the strain. Yugo fell to his death, smiling peacefully.
