Summary
The Fuchikoma serves as a one-person mobile tank, operating as either a walker or roller, and is primarily utilized by Section 9 of the National Public Safety Commission. These units appear in a modified form known as Tachikoma within the anime series. Equipped with basic artificial intelligence, they can operate independently to assist their pilots in combat situations. When not engaged in duty, they display a childlike demeanor that provides comic relief and facilitates the exploration of Shirow’s philosophical concepts. Although they lack standard safety protocols due to their military classification, their capacity for emotion necessitates close monitoring for signs of instability. Members of Section 9 synchronize their systems nightly or after missions to share experiences, allowing the collective group to learn from individual encounters. Physically, these machines feature four legs and two simple hands with three fingers on extendable arms that also function as machine guns. Their facial structure includes a large main lens, two smaller sensors, and a mouth area that typically houses a grenade launcher, though sometimes a heavier machine gun. Pilots control the unit from a hunched position within a rear pod, connecting via interface cables to ports in the user’s neck for direct operation, although the Fuchikoma can also execute orders autonomously. They are highly versatile, capable of traversing various terrains by walking, rappelling, climbing walls, or extending wheels from their feet for driving, and they are also submersible. Although Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell film omitted the Fuchikoma, featuring a larger relative called a "think tank" instead, the TV series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex introduced the Tachikoma. These units resemble the Fuchikoma but stand taller and feature four independent rotating sensor pods with three sensors each, rather than a single large eye. Their AI is significantly more advanced. At the conclusion of Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG, the Tachikomas sacrifice their AI systems to avert a nuclear detonation. They are subsequently replaced by hybrid units known as Uchikoma.
