BATOU
BA
Batou is a former Ranger and one of Section 9's strongest field operatives. His heavily cyberized body, distinctive artificial eyes and raw physical strength make him the person the team sends when subtlety has stopped being useful.
He is also one of the warmest people in the unit.
Batou becomes attached to the Tachikomas long before Section 9 is willing to treat their growing individuality seriously, even buying natural oil for the unit he considers his own. He keeps a basset hound, carries old loyalties hard and reacts badly when people he respects betray what he thought they stood for.
His partnership with Motoko is built on trust rather than explanation. He follows her into extremely dangerous situations because he knows what she can do, but he is also one of the few people willing to challenge her when he thinks she is pushing too far.
Batou works because SAC never treats emotional investment as the opposite of professionalism. He can care deeply and still be terrifyingly good at his job.
He is also one of the warmest people in the unit.
Batou becomes attached to the Tachikomas long before Section 9 is willing to treat their growing individuality seriously, even buying natural oil for the unit he considers his own. He keeps a basset hound, carries old loyalties hard and reacts badly when people he respects betray what he thought they stood for.
His partnership with Motoko is built on trust rather than explanation. He follows her into extremely dangerous situations because he knows what she can do, but he is also one of the few people willing to challenge her when he thinks she is pushing too far.
Batou works because SAC never treats emotional investment as the opposite of professionalism. He can care deeply and still be terrifyingly good at his job.
BATOU THROUGH THE ARCHIVE //
SECTION 9 & CYBERWARE //
Open page →Batou & Togusa: Two Kinds of Field Operative
Open →Heavy Cyberization · Detective Instinct
Batou and Togusa show why Section 9 does not build its team around a single model of the perfect operative.
Batou is a former Ranger with extensive cybernetic augmentation, enormous physical strength and military experience. Togusa comes from ordinary police work, has a cyberbrain but otherwise retains most of his natural body, and approaches cases like a detective before he approaches them like a soldier.
Neither method replaces the other.
Batou is invaluable when an operation becomes violent or requires military instincts. Togusa is often the person who notices the human inconsistency, witness statement or paper trail that a more technical investigation could overlook.
Batou is a former Ranger with extensive cybernetic augmentation, enormous physical strength and military experience. Togusa comes from ordinary police work, has a cyberbrain but otherwise retains most of his natural body, and approaches cases like a detective before he approaches them like a soldier.
Neither method replaces the other.
Batou is invaluable when an operation becomes violent or requires military instincts. Togusa is often the person who notices the human inconsistency, witness statement or paper trail that a more technical investigation could overlook.
Why it worked
Aramaki recruited for difference. Section 9 is harder to fool because its members do not all look at evidence the same way.
Natural Oil · Favoritism · Experience Becomes Identity
Batou treats the Tachikomas personally long before the rest of Section 9 agrees that there may be persons there to treat personally.
His habit of giving natural oil to a favored unit looks trivial at first. It becomes important because unequal experience is one of the things pushing supposedly identical Tachikomas apart.
Batou does not set out to teach an AI individuality. He simply behaves as though one machine can matter to him differently from another.
His habit of giving natural oil to a favored unit looks trivial at first. It becomes important because unequal experience is one of the things pushing supposedly identical Tachikomas apart.
Batou does not set out to teach an AI individuality. He simply behaves as though one machine can matter to him differently from another.
Why it matters
The Tachikomas do not develop individuality in isolation from people. Batou gives one of them an experience the others do not share, and the difference becomes part of the evidence that synchronized memory is not enough to make them the same being.
LAUGHING MAN & COMPLEX //
Open page →Episodes 24–25 · Umibozu Raid · The Team Disappears
Once Section 9 reaches the political interests protecting the Laughing Man cover-up, the response is no longer an attempt to mislead the investigation.
The unit itself becomes the target.
Umibozu forces attack Section 9, the operatives scatter and the government is allowed to believe the organization has been successfully dismantled.
Aramaki accepts that appearance because survival is more useful than a public last stand.
The unit itself becomes the target.
Umibozu forces attack Section 9, the operatives scatter and the government is allowed to believe the organization has been successfully dismantled.
Aramaki accepts that appearance because survival is more useful than a public last stand.
What changed
The Laughing Man case stops being something Section 9 investigates from outside. Solving it now requires the team to survive the people who need the truth buried.
SAC MASTER COMBAT LEDGER //
Open page →Section 9 vs. the HAW-206
Open →Episode 2 · Runaway Multiped Tank · Section 9 Victory
The prototype HAW-206 escapes with the cyberbrain of its deceased designer inside it and begins moving toward the designer's destination while conventional forces struggle to stop the machine.
Section 9 has to disable the tank without treating it like an ordinary unmanned weapons malfunction.
Section 9 has to disable the tank without treating it like an ordinary unmanned weapons malfunction.
The Breakdown
Batou and the others attack the HAW-206's mobility while Motoko closes directly on the machine. She physically forces the hatch mechanism far enough to push her prosthetic body to its limit, buying the team the chance to stop the vehicle and uncover the human intention driving it.
Episode 24 · Section 9 Headquarters · Forced Dispersal
Once Section 9 gets too close to the political core of the Laughing Man case, Umibozu commandos are deployed to dismantle the unit.
The goal is not a normal arrest. Section 9 is being erased as an organization.
The goal is not a normal arrest. Section 9 is being erased as an organization.
The Breakdown
Aramaki's team uses its own headquarters defensively long enough to destroy sensitive material and scatter. Saito provides covering fire while the other operatives use the building, heavy weapons and prepared escape routes to deny Umibozu a clean capture.
Section 9 does not win the battle. It survives long enough for Aramaki's larger plan to keep working.
Section 9 does not win the battle. It survives long enough for Aramaki's larger plan to keep working.
