History Anime / GhostInTheShell

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''Ghost in the Shell'', Creator/MamoruOshii's 1995 animated film adaption of Creator/ShirowMasamune's [[Manga/GhostInTheShell classic manga]] about a cyborg policewoman in PostCyberpunk Japan, condenses the original manga's plot by focusing entirely on the "Puppet Master" story. It also takes a much, ''much'' more serious tone than the manga, focusing on the series's psychology over most action hijinks. The film's visuals, action sequences, and large amount of both [[ContemplateOurNavels philosophical ponderings]] and {{technobabble}} all but defined Western conceptions of {{anime}} for the better part of a decade.

The film's story takes place in a post-cyberpunk future where cybernetic bodies have become the norm and society conceptualizes a person's mind/soul as their "ghost". Major Motoko Kusanagi, a female cyborg and the leader of a covert government task-force specializing in cybercrime, leads her team on the hunt for a notorious hacker known only as "Puppet Master". The Puppet Master "cyber-hacks" the brains of innocent people and implants memories to turn them into his unwitting accomplices in various crimes.

The 2004 sequel, ''[=GiTS=] 2: Innocence'', revolves around Motoko's team working to solve a rash of murders involving berserk robots while dealing with her absence following the events of its predecessor. ''Innocence'' featured heavy usage of integrated CGI and cel animation -- and it explored the UncannyValley even further than the first film.

A remastered version of the first film, ''Ghost in the Shell 2.0'', saw the light of day in 2009; among other changes to the film, this version mixed in modern-day CGI with the original animation (in the vein of ''Innocence''), all under the supervision of Oshii. A high-definition transfer of the original version came with the Blu-ray version of ''2.0'', and a separate high-definition "remaster" release of the original version showed up a few years later. A [[Film/GhostInTheShell live-action American entry]] into the franchise that partially draws upon this film was released in 2017.

The Wachowskis cite the first film as a direct influence on the ''[[Franchise/TheMatrix Matrix]]'' films -- so much so that even the Wachowskis themselves think of ''Ghost in the Shell'' as ''The Matrix'''s spiritual predecessor.

This film has no relation to the TV/OVA series ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' or ''Anime/GhostInTheShellArise'' other than their shared source material.

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!! ''Ghost in the Shell'' contains examples of the following tropes:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Tropes common to both movies]]
* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects:
** In ''Innocence'', while the CGI and animated elements meld together, the transition between a fully CG landscape and one containing a mix of animation and CG is very apparent. According to Oshii, the CG sequences were supposed to tap into the UncannyValley.
** ''Ghost in the Shell 2.0'' likewise contains somewhat jarring bits of CGI. Far more jarring, since it constantly flips between early 90's style animation and 21st century CGI. They don't fit together very well, especially when occasionally even the characters are turned into CG.
* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: A lot, as this is an Oshii staple.
* ActionGirl: The Major.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: The Major is is a lot more downbeat and existential about her situation than she is in the manga.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Played to a extreme degree, and with several characters.
** The biggest change is Major Kusanagi herself. In the manga, she is an immature, juvenile hustler with a wild personal life and a great rapport with her underlings, while the movie makes her a depressive, introverted philosopher of few words who only seems to trust Batou (and not to a large degree). This resembles the CharacterDevelopment she receives later in the manga after her encounter with the Puppet Master, only that here it is shown to be her natural state, possibly caused by the experience of her cybernetization. Ironically enough, the first movie briefly reverses this evolution, as she behaves a bit more similar to her initial manga version when she is [[spoiler:given a child body]] after the encounter with the Puppet Master (although ''Innocence'' shows she has otherwise retained her stoic new personaliy).
** Batou is also turned into a quiet, bitter man with his own philosophical doubts, instead of the goofy, happy dumbass he was in the manga. His role in the movies is clearly associated to the more contemplative moments, while in the manga he is instead used as ComicRelief most the time.
** Togusa in the manga is cockier and more energetic than his movie self, as he is somewhat of a self-conscious ButtMonkey and whines sometimes about it. In stark contrast, even if he retains his role as the team rookie in the movies, the movies play it dead serious and make sure to give him a professional, collected demeanor.
* AdaptationDistillation: Both films combine elements from multiple arcs of the manga.
* AdaptedOut: The Fuchikomas are notoriously absent from the movies, making it a case of ArtifactTitle given that the original one, ''Mobile Armored Riot Police'', referenced directly the wide usage of Fuchikomas as mobile mechs by the Section 9. Paz and Borma also absent from both movies, while Saito is only mentioned in the first.
* ArcWords: "A whisper from my ghost" and its variants.
* [[ArtificialLimbs Artificial Bodies]]
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Quite a few times, especially in ''Innocence'' which uses a lot of Christian symbolism. The original movie quotes an entire passage from Literature/TheBible (''1 Corinthians'', specifically) [[ChekhovsGun which comes up twice]].
* AuthorAppeal: Mamoru Oshii is very fond of basset hounds, even expressing a desire to be reincarnated as one. During the SceneryPorn scene in the first movie, a basset hound is shown. In ''Innocence'', Batou has one as a pet.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Arguably much of the technology falls under this, but some of the less-justified examples are the androids at Section 6 with branching fingers for [[RapidFireTyping efficient data input]].
* {{BFG}}: Probably not the only occurrence, but in the climax of the first movie, Batou shows up with what amounts to a cross between an oversized shotgun loaded with (appropriately oversized) deer slugs and a shoulder-mounted ''artillery cannon''.
-->'''Major:''' "What'd you use?"\\
'''Batou:''' "Your standard-issue big gun."
** This example showcases the attention to guns as minor but significant characters in the movie. The irony of the "your regular old big gun" line is that the it's anything but: an obscure toggle-lock action turns it into an incredibly kinetic, clunky, dangerous, violently cycling beast that stops firing early when one of its oversized casings visibly jams the mechanism. Basically, it is a German Luger pistol upsized to become a mecha weapon — something a discerning gun nut would greatly appreciate.

* BottomlessMagazines: Averted. The characters are clearly shown stopping to reload frequently, and in the first movie, a thug being chased by Section 9 checks how many bullets he has left in his magazine. Motoko's strategy against the SpiderTank at the film's climax even involves waiting for its gun attachments to run out of ammo. Continued in ''Innocence'', with Batou frequently reloading during shootouts and almost running out of ammo [[spoiler:to hold off the rampaging gynoids while Kusanagi's borrowed body is immobilized]].
* BrainComputerInterface: The plug-ins that the characters have on the back of their necks, which directly inspired the similar technology in ''Film/TheMatrix''.
* ContemplateOurNavels: In both films, usually lead by Motoko and/or Batou.
* CowboyCop: In both films (''Innocence'' in particular) Batou is unafraid to ignore orders and take the law into his own hands. In ''Innocence'' this puts him (oftentimes humorously) at odds with cautious straight-man Togusa.
* {{Cyberpunk}} / PostCyberpunk
* CyberpunkIsTechno: Significantly averted; the soundtracks to both films (especially the first) consist of moody, haunting pieces featuring traditional chants and instruments.
* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: Even when it's not actually raining, the skies are always overcast.
* DeadpanSnarker: Batou. Togusa picks up a little bit of it too by the end of ''Innocence'' - as he says, "I learn from the best."
* DependingOnTheWriter: In the original manga the Major starts out as a wisecracking, [[SociopathicHero violence loving]], HardDrinkingPartyGirl but becomes more introspective after her encounter with the Puppet Master, whereas here she's like that from the beginning.
* ElectronicEyes: Batou has them.
* FanDisservice: In the first film, [[spoiler: Kusanagi's naked body being disintegrated]]. In the second, the host of nude, blank-faced, murderous gynoids.
* TheFutureIsNoir
* GirlsWithGuns
* GunPorn: Oh yeah. The movie's guns are so [[ShownTheirWork detailed and realistic]] that "Firearms consultant" even gets its own place in the credits. For a trip down that rabbit hole, look into the [[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_(1995) IMFBD page on the first film]] and [[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_2:_Innocence the second one]].
* JustAMachine: Questioned in both films.
* LaserSight: The snipers' targeting lasers are invisible except when viewed through Batou's eyes, presumably because his cybernetic eyes can see special frequencies and/or can intelligently amplify faint straight-line scatter. [[note]]Real snipers do not use laser sights.[[/note]]
* MatrixRainingCode: The inspiration. Used prominently in the title sequence and conspicuously replaced in ''2.0''.
* MindScrew: Both movies, but especially ''Innocence''.
* MsFanservice: The Major. Her "Thermoptic camouflage" suit in the first movie is basically a nude-colored skintight bodysuit that leaves very little to the imagination.
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous
** Section 9 is named after real-life German counter-terrorism unit GSG 9 (Border Guard, Unit 9).
** Despite the barrage of literary and philosophical references in ''Innocence'', the only character who actually falls under this trope is the forensics inspector Haraway, named after scholar Donna Haraway.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent: A person's consciousness, or their "ghost", is unique and impossible to replicate. It's also thought that machines cannot spontaneously generate one – until the Puppet Master proves this wrong.
* ReferenceOverdosed: While the first film doesn't slack in making references, ''Innocence'' goes above and beyond in being a highly intertextual work chock full of direct quotations from other works, casually dropped names, and visual references. Its characters having external memory devices certainly helps.
* RoboticAssemblyLines: The title sequence of the original movie shows Kusanagi's body being assembled in a factory. This is repeated in the opening of ''Innocence'' with the construction of a Locus Solus gynoid.
* SceneryGorn: There are montages of polluted rivers, rundown buildings and garbage heaps. Could double as GaiasLament in this case.
* SceneryPorn: ''At least'' one scene in each of Mamoru Oshii's films exists for this purpose and this purpose alone. ''Ghost in the Shell'' is no different.
* SherlockScan: Batou does this in several scenes with his [[GogglesDoSomethingUnusual cybernetic eyes]]. In the first movie, they allow him to scan a crowded marketplace and instantly pick out the criminal he's pursuing.
* ShoutOut:
** The film contains numerous homages to ''Film/BladeRunner'', the franchise's primary visual and thematic inspiration. In one scene in ''Innocence'', for example, Togusa asks Batou if his dog is "real" or a clone, since "originals are expensive".
** The thermoptic camouflage also resembles the scramble suits seen in ''Literature/AScannerDarkly'' by Creator/PhilipKDick, who also wrote the novel that ''Blade Runner'' is based on.
** ''Innocence'' opens with a quote from ''Literature/TheFutureEve''. "Hadaly" was also the name of the android in this book.
* ShownTheirWork: Batou's weapons handling is just what the military teaches -- weapon at the shoulder and fire short, controlled bursts. He does hold the trigger down on his SAW in ''Innocence,'' but presumably the enhanced strength of his cybernetic body allows him to better control the recoil (which was confirmed in the manga); he certainly succeeds at clearing the room with it.
* SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence
* StraightMan: Togusa, particularly to Motoko and Batou's [[CowboyCop eccentric methods]] and [[DeadpanSnarker sense of humor]].
* TechnologyPorn: Both films have lots of it. The gynoid assembly sequences at the beginning of both films, for example.
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The setting is around 2030.
* UncannyValley: Both films play with this InUniverse.
** The original tapped into this with the Major, as she never blinks, and especially with the Puppet Master's male voice coming from a female body. Fans weren't happy when a female voice was used in ''2.0''.
** ''Innocence'' goes even further, with those eerie geisha robots, [[spoiler:Haraway the forensics scientist]], [[spoiler:Kim]] and the [[spoiler:really creepy-looking doll Togusa brings home to his daughter at the end]]. The trope is even {{discussed|Trope}} at one point:
--->It's the uncertainty that perhaps something that appears to be alive actually isn't. On the other hand, it might be the uncertainty that what doesn't appear to be alive actually ''is''.
* UnusualUserInterface: The jacks used to access the network and the keyboards so complex they require artificial hands with numerous telescopable digits to use.
* UsedFuture: Cities are crowded, dirty and run-down, and high technology doesn't stop people from polluting or spraying graffiti everywhere.
* VagueAge: In the movies, at least. But Kusanagi especially. She suggests that if she were to retire from the service, she would have to give back her cybernetic body parts. "Which wouldn't leave much", in her case. This could mean that she has had a long career, she is chronologically older than she looks, or both. In any normal case, the rank of Major in an outfit like Section 9, seems like a rather high rank for a young woman who appears not much older than thirty.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: Most of the themes, allegories and nods will fly over the head of most viewers.
* YourHeadASplode: The animation crew seemed to have liked these quite a bit; there's a head asploding in some form or fashion at the beginning and end of each movie. It also quite handily shows audiences that [[RRatedOpening this ain't no kid's show they're dealing with here]]. To quote IGN:
--> "''Ghost in the Shell'' opens with what might be the most technically impressive rendition of an exploding head in the history of Japanese animation, and if you know your Japanese cartoons, you know that's a hell of an accolade."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes Specific to ''GITS'' and ''GITS 2.0'']]
* ActionPrologue: The assassination of a skilled hacker provides the film's ColdOpen.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: The last we see of the garbageman whose wife and daughter were just FakeMemories is him crying as he's confronted with the truth (in the manga, he appears back at his job and clearly over the whole ordeal).
* AdaptationalModesty: Inverted with the thermoptic camouflage suit used by Kusanagi. The film makes it skintight and flesh-colored, making the Major look naked while wearing it, whereas in the manga it was blue and bulky and didn't really differ from her usual combat uniform.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: The Puppet Master here is much more cerebral and speaks in an emotionless, machine-like SpockSpeak. In contrast, his manga version behaved much more humanlike and could even be humorous at times.
* AnArmAndALeg:
** The Puppet Master's humanoid body has all four limbs completely wrecked by collision with a truck.
** At the climax of the movie, Kusanagi is under attack from a huge SpiderTank. She tries to wrench open the tank's access hatch, and instead rips her own arms off at mid-bicep.
** Batou also loses half his arm when shot by a sniper rifle.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: The ending implies this when [[spoiler: the Major/Puppetmaster leave Batou's home to face an unknown future]].
-->''And where does the newborn go from here? The Net is vast and infinite.''
* AntiVillain: The Puppet Master: wanted cybercriminal, or [[spoiler: sentient being that just wants to be treated the same as everyone else]]?
* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: The original (1995) film's dub: During Major Kusanagi's battle with the tank, just before the helicopter pilot covering her departs he says "Over and out" to her. To end a conversation, he should have simply said "Out."
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: Motoko/the Puppet Master.]]
* AssInAmbassador: Chief Nakamura of Section 6. For such an important diplomat, he sure is tactless.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Starting at the slight weirdness of seeing two cars in the parking garage for two guests who arrived together, Togusa is able to investigate from his car and deduce [[spoiler:the presence of two thermoptic camo-cloaked operatives in Section 9.]]
* BadassLongcoat: Batou wears a trenchcoat frequently, as does Kusanagi at times.
* BarbieDollAnatomy: [[NippleAndDimed The occasional nipple or two are shown]], but the downstairs always stay barbie. Potentially justified, given the only naked bodies we see are of full prosthetic ones. Nipples would be purely cosmetic, but there's no need for genitalia if the body is not meant for sexual activity. The Major in particular is usually remarked upon as having a body that looks "stock" but is actually packed with military-grade hardware.
* BattleStrip: Motoko has to strip down to only her thermoptic camo suit to use it; this is shown at the start of the movie and, briefly, just before she tries to tear the hatch off the tank in the climax.
* BigDamnHeroes: Batou saving Kusanagi from the SpiderTank.
* BlackHelicopter: Section 6 comes after the Puppet Master with snipers in helicopters at the climax of the film.
* BloodFromTheMouth: The criminal that Kusanagi beats up, who turns out to be ghost-hacked.
* BlueOrangeContrast: Occurs in the diving scene as the Major rises from the water.
* BoomHeadshot:
** The diplomat in the opening scene. It isn't pretty.
** [[spoiler: The Puppet Master's borrowed body]] at the end.
* BrainUploading: The Puppet Master installs its own ghost into an empty body. [[spoiler:And at the end of the film, into Kusanagi's when the body is destroyed.]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The sanitation worker who's trying to hack into a government official's brain turns out to have been under the control of the Puppet Master and has no recollection of anything (see MindRape).
* BriefcaseBlaster: The bodyguards in the ColdOpen pull hidden submachine guns out of their briefcases.
* ByTheBookCop: Batou, in contrast to Kusanagi. Of course, he's practically a CowboyCop by anyone else's standards. Togusa is the most straightlaced of the team.
* ChaseSceneObstacleCourse: Batou pursues an optic-camo user through a market. His invisible quarry shoves customers aside and plows through a pile of melons, which Batou then shoots to disrupt his camo.
* TheCityNarrows: [[UrbanSegregation Rundown ghettos exist alongside gleaming office towers]]. An entire part of town is mentioned to be flooded.
* CityOfCanals
* CloningBlues: Kusanagi, when she sees how similar she is to the Puppet Master's "shell" (they were made by the same MegaCorp). In one scene, she [[AloneInACrowd wanders around the city alone]] and notices just how many people look like her, including a mannequin.
* CoolCar: Several.
* CoolGuns: Many. For example, the thug the Major chases down carries a Micro Uzi while she uses a fictional submachine gun conceptually based on the FN-P90.[[superscript:[[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_(1995)]]]] The animators [[ShownTheirWork worked hard to get the details right]].
* CoolShades: The Major often wears them, as do quite a few of the government's {{mooks}}. Batou's artificial eyes give off this effect as well.
* CreepyMonotone: The Puppet Master sounds like this at times.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Discussed. When Togusa asks the Major why she brought him along on a mission, she replies that his different skill set as an organic will balance out the team. [[spoiler: This foreshadows the Puppet Master's reasons for wanting to merge with her.]]
* CutAndPasteTranslation: In the Japanese original voice-track, Kusanagi had "noise in her brain" because of her monthlies (just like in the [[Manga/GhostInTheShell manga]]). In the English dub, it was "a loose wire".
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Mostly averted, since the characters are treated like regular people most of the time. However, they still wonder if they're [[AmbiguouslyHuman really human or not]].
* DarkenedBuildingShootout: The climax of the film, which appears to be set in a museum of some sort.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to the [[Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex series]] and to a lesser extent, the manga. Most of the comic relief is dropped, and what little remains is much [[BlackComedy darker in nature]]. The characters, all of whom are quite goofy and talkative in the manga, become morose and introspective. The visuals are very dark as well, with most outdoor scenes taking place either at night or under [[CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain overcast skies]], while the manga has many missions be at daylight.
* {{Depower}}: [[spoiler:Subverted; Kusanagi may be in a child's cyborg body at the end of the film, but mentally...]]
* DigitizedHacker: The Puppet Master is a variation on the trope. He ''is'' technically digitized, but [[spoiler:only because he was never human to begin with]].
* DoAndroidsDream
* EinsteinHair: Chief Aramaki has it.
* EmotionlessGirl: Kusanagi comes across this way at first, but she's really more of a [[SugarAndIceGirl Sugar and Ice Girl]].
* EtherealChoir: The film's recurring theme, which plays over the opening credits, is sung ''a capella'' over percussion. The lyrics are in archaic Japanese and are derived from a wedding chant, which ties into a theme (the marriage of humans and machines) of the film.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Kusanagi is still called "Major," despite not holding that rank at the time of the film, out of respect.
* EverythingIsOnline: Even garbage trucks.
* EvilSoundsDeep: The Puppet Master. [[spoiler: Although he's not [[AntiVillain strictly speaking evil.]] ]]
* EvolutionaryLevels: Hinted by the mural showing humanity's evolutionary heritage. It also implies that cyborgs occupy the next level.
* ExplosiveInstrumentation: Subverted. It seems like the Puppet Master makes the computer banks explode when it's recovered from Section 9 headquarters, but it's actually Section 6 {{mooks}} using thermoptic camouflage.
* ExplosiveOverclocking: The high-velocity rounds used by a criminal overload the firing mechanism of his gun, ruining the barrel.
* FaceNodAction: The ambassador's two guards, just before firing on the police.
* FakeMemories: A man's entire past (including his family) is revealed to have been implanted by hackers. He's grief-stricken when he finds out.
* FalseCameraEffects: There are a lot of horizontal LensFlare effects, especially from red warning lights. And then there's the DollyZoom during the Major's post-diving [[ContemplateOurNavels navel contemplation]].
* FantasticNuke: A talented computer programmer is considered to be almost like a WeaponOfMassDestruction in this setting. They're even subject to ''arms treaties''.
* FantasticRacism: When the Puppet Master requests asylum, the response of the government officials is to [[spoiler: deny it's a sentient being, though it clearly is]]. Interestingly, cyborgs seem to suffer no such discrimination, only androids (most likely because cyborgs are human in spite of their modifications, but androids are artificial).
* FastRoping: The Major uses this to get to the museum during the film's climax.
* FriendlyLocalChinatown: A chase scene is set in one, compete with the obligatory knocking over of a FruitCart.
* FullFrontalAssault: The opening scene and others in which the Major wears an InvisibilityCloak.
* GasMaskMooks: Section 6 uses them liberally.
* AGlitchInTheMatrix
* {{Gorn}}: Lots of it, including people being shot with high-powered sniper rifles and [[spoiler: Kusanagi's body being torn to shreds]].
* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: Section 6, Section 9 and others.
* GutFeeling
-->'''Motoko:''' "My ghost is whispering to me."
* HannibalLecture: The Puppet Master gives one to Nakamura when captured by Section 6, coupled with a MotiveRant.
-->'''Puppet Master''': [[ContemplateOurNavels And can you offer me proof of your existence?]] How can you, when neither modern science nor philosophy can explain what life is?
* HearingVoices: When both Motoko and Batou hear the voice of the Puppet Master reciting the passage from Literature/TheBible, "But for now we see through a glass darkly." He uneasily asks her if she's the one who said it.
* HeroicRROD: See AnArmAndALeg above.
* HeroTrackingFailure: The SpiderTank keeps firing behind Major Kusanagi as she runs along a wall and backflips up a flight of stairs.
* IKEAWeaponry: Motoko assembles a more powerful rifle from a suitcase to take on the SpiderTank -- for all the good it does.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Not that much, but there are a few examples, such as shooting out a car's tires or being able to hit a moving vehicle in the license plate. Some feats are due to cybernetically augmented reflexes.
* InfraredXrayCamera: Both types show up in the film.
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Major Kusanagi seems to get (nearly) naked quite a lot while she's on the job. As a RobotGirl, she doesn't have any inhibitions about it either.
* InstantAIJustAddWater: [[spoiler: The Puppet Master is a government experiment in strong AI that became sentient on its own.]]
* InterserviceRivalry: Section 6 (foreign relations) vs. Section 9 (counter-terrorism).
* InvisibilityFlicker: The Major's cloaking device briefly displays her when attacking, a concept that was borrowed by ''VideoGame/PerfectDark''.
* KubrickStare: The Major fixes her gaze on Batou in that manner while talking to him on the boat. Accentuated by a [[VertigoEffect dolly zoom effect]]. Project 2501 breaks one out when they request political asylum. [[spoiler: The product of the Major and Project 2501 fusing]] does this as they look out over the city.
* LudicrousGibs: The foreign diplomat shot by Kusanagi in the opening scene practically explodes. His spine can be seen for a brief moment.
* MegaCorp: Several. The one that made Section 9's cyborg bodies is even called Megatech.
* MentalFusion: [[spoiler:Kusanagi and Project 2501]].
* MindRape: "Ghost-hacking", or essentially hacking into a person's brain in order to force them to commit crimes. Some sequences indicate just how it looks to the hijacked individual - it's chillingly unclear where the individual's true perception ends and the hack begins until the connection breaks down.
* MoreDakka: All over the place. There are the submachine guns that Section 9 carries, the SpiderTank's [[GatlingGood miniguns]], and a criminal who uses armor-piercing bullets in a Micro Uzi.
* MrExposition: Batou usually fills this role.
* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: "Just a feeling. A whisper from my ghost."
* NeuralImplanting
* NeverGetsDrunk: During the diving scene, when Motoko starts [[ContemplateOurNavels getting philosophical]] about herself, Batou asks her if she's drunk. She responds that as a cyborg, their bodies can fully process alcohol in less than 10 seconds when ordered to do so, so they could even be drunk while waiting for contact from work but respond to the call fully sober.
* NippleAndDimed: We see the occasional uncensored nipples, but no genitals are drawn.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: Motoko joking about being on her period was censored out of the English dub.
* NoWaterProofingInTheFuture: The cloaking devices also don't work when in contact with water, even when the user steps in a puddle.
* OlderThanTheyLook:
** At the end of the first film [[spoiler:Batou puts the Major combined with Project 2501]] into the body of a child. She asks if he goes for that sort of thing. He reminds her that he had to go to the black market - they didn't allow him the luxury to choose.
** Also, Director Mamoru Oshi, in toning down Kusanagi's very ebullient manga persona, envisioned her as a mature woman, hence her more soft spoken demeanor in the film. He speculated that she was older than the young woman that even her regular adult body suggested. Given her rank (unusually high for a woman who appears physically to be only about thirty), she may very well have been at least well into middle age.
* [[OneManArmy One-Woman Army]]: Kusanagi is easily the most badass member of Section 9, taking on (and almost defeating) a giant robotic tank all on her own.
* OurGraphicsWillSuckInTheFuture: Kind of. Although there are very advanced-looking 3D monitors, the GPS system that Section 9 uses to track criminals is like a bare-bones Google Maps.
%%** Overlaps with TechnologyMarchesOn.
* ParkingGarage: Togusa is in one when he notices that a cloaked person or persons has snuck in behind the minister. [[spoiler: It's a team sent to capture the Puppet Master.]]
* PlatonicLifePartners:
** Motoko and Batou are close friends as well as coworkers, and in her case, perhaps her only real friend. In addition, there are very subtle implications, such as the way Batou looks away when Kusanagi undresses and covers her with his jacket, that he may have some unrequited feelings for her.
** Some of Kusanagi's dialogue in both movies suggests that she may have feelings towards Batou that border on "motherly". Especially, given that Mamoru Oshi likes to suggest a VagueAge for the characters, given their nature as cyborgs, and especially given that Kusanagi's body (except for her brain) are completely artificial.
* PoweredArmor: The Section 9 members' enhanced bodies are more or less this, allowing them to perform all sorts of feats beyond normal human endurance.
* PragmaticAdaptation: This is a Mamoru Oshi film, so everyone is very serious and no character banter.
* PrecisionFStrike: The producers of the English dub find the word "fuck" less offensive then mentioning a women's monthlies.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Chief Aramaki of Section 9.
* RepeatCut: The Major's knockout roundhouse kick at the red shirt-wearing thug during the garbage truck chase scene is shown three times in quick succession.
* ResearchInc: Many companies, as it takes place TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture.
* RevolversAreJustBetter: [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece As Togusa finds out]]. Apparently an entire clip from a 9mm can't pierce a car's frame, but a single slug from a revolver can. Justified in that the trace slug was meant for the far softer license plate.
--> "With an automatic, you could have buried two trackers."
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Cyborg bodies can do practically anything human bodies can (including drinking alcohol and having sex) but are much stronger.
* RomanticFusion: The goal of the BigBad, Puppet Master, is to merge with Major Kusanagi. This is referred to at various points as "mating" between the two machines. When it happens at the end, the new entity has a child-like body and is comparable to the "offspring" of the two original beings.
* {{Roofhopping}}: Section 9 does quite a bit of it, augmented by their cyborg bodies.
* RuleOfCool / {{Stripperiffic}}: Kusanagi goes into battle three times using her thermoptic camouflage bodysuit, which is tight enough to leave very little to the imagination. At the climax, it's revealed that she's not wearing anything underneath it.
* RunningOverThePlot: A truck driver runs over a naked woman on a rainy freeway. It turns out to be [[spoiler:Project 2501 escaping in a cyborg body]].
* SayMyName: Batou, when Kusanagi [[spoiler: is shot by the police helicopter]].
* StalkerWithACrush: The Puppet Master towards Motoko. It's joked about that he/it may be in love with her.
* SuperDrowningSkills: Kusanagi enjoys diving, a risky hobby for cyborgs (as they are extremely heavy). She has to rely on the floaters as a skydiver would their parachute.
* SymbolicSereneSubmersion: The diving scene. The Major comments to Batou that that the ballast tanks keeping her heavy cyborg body from sinking into the depths provides her with a calmness that tells her that she's still a human inside.
* ThreePointLanding: The Major does a series of jumps to scale a building, and lands like this on the final jump with enough force to crumple the roof she lands on.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Kusanagi is motivated by a need to come to terms with her own humanity as a cyborg who must hunt down an artificial lifeform.
* TrackingDevice: Togusa implants one in a car with a TrickBullet (see RevolversAreJustBetter).
* TrustPassword: At the end of the film, just before Major Kusanagi leaves Batou, she tells him that 2501 (the code number of the Puppetmaster project) will be their password so he can identify her when they meet again.
* VisibleInvisibility: The cloaking devices leave a faint outline of the wearer visible (see InvisibilityFlicker as well).
* WetwareBody: See MindRape.
* WetwareCPU: The Section 9 cyborgs have data input jacks in the backs of their necks which connect to their brains.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: A central theme of the film.
* WhoWatchesTheWatchmen: Batou questions at one point how reliable the technicians who maintain their cyber-brains really are, which Aramaki dismisses.
* ZeeRust: Sentient AI and full-body replacements exist alongside satellite phones.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tropes Specific to ''Innocence'']]
* AdaptationExpansion: The movie is a ''very'' loose adaptation of the chapter "Robot Rondo" from the original manga. In particular, the PoweredByAForsakenChild robots were used to make hundreds of robots who all went berserk rather than just sexbots, hence Batou's angry reaction.
* ArcNumber: "2501." Batou knows [[spoiler: he's safe]] whenever he sees it. See DeusExMachina below.
* CallBack: Numerous references to the first movie:
** The opening credits sequence visually and musically echoes the "Making of A Cyborg" sequence from the first film, as does the mid-film montage of scenes in the city set to a reiterated version of the opening theme.
** The password to Batou's car is "2501", just like he said it was at the end of the first movie.
** During a conversation with Ishikawa, Batou remarks that "I liked you better when you were the quiet type", a humorous LampshadeHanging on the fact that Ishikawa only had a few lines of dialogue (most of them exposition) in the first film.
** The "BAJIDU" brand dog food that appears briefly in the first film shows up again as Batou's brand of choice for Gabriel, even retaining the exact same package design.
** When Motoko first appears to Batou in Kim's mansion, she assumes the form of the child's body she had at the end of the first movie.
** After he's brain-hacked, Batou asks Togusa how he knows his wife and child aren't simulated experiences and he isn't just a bachelor living in an empty apartment, a reference to the experience of the Puppet Master victim whom Togusa had interrogated in the first film.
** When Batou dives underwater to infiltrate the Locus Solus factory, he remarks that he used to know a cyborg who went scuba diving in her spare time.
** After Kusanagi enters one of the gynoids and they take down the swarm of attackers together, Batou places his vest on the gynoid's naked body, just like he covered the nude Kusanagi with his jacket in the first film.
** During the climax of the film Motoko destroys the arms of the body she's occupying attempting to open a hatch. Just to cement the homage, the music in this scene briefly adopts the theme used at the climax of the first movie.
%%* DesignStudentsOrgasm:
* DeusExMachina: Averted. The Major coming back from {{Cyberspace}} to save Batou might appear to be one, but if you pay attention it's obvious that she's been watching him at least since [[spoiler:the convenience store; her voice warns him that he's on a kill-zone]]. Also, [[spoiler:the little girl sitting on the floor in Kim's mansion is the artificial body that Batou placed the melded Puppet Master/Major in at the end of the first movie, and her final comments imply that she is everywhere, and always looking after Batou]].
* DreamWithinADream: Togusa repeating the same scene thanks to a [[MindRape brain hack]].
* FanOfThePast: People in the future's obsession with the past is a recurring motif in the film, as demonstrated by the constant quotation of classic philosophy and literature and the striking festival sequence. In addition, there appears to be a popular market for 50's-style carshells constructed around modern electric vehicles.
* FateWorseThanDeath: The killer {{Fembot}} SexBot {{Geisha}} hookers are revealed to be [[spoiler: hosting copies of the ghosts of kidnapped young girls, in order to make them behave more like humans. Geez, no wonder they went berserk.]]
* FreezeFrameBonus: It's just for a second, but when Batou confronts the mob boss after having murdered a dozen thugs and defeated the cyborg with the "crab claw", the latter appears to have [[BringMyBrownPants crapped his pants]]!
* MobileFactory: The ship building {{gynoid}} [[SexBot geishas]] [[spoiler: that are actually cyborg {{Sex Slave}}s]].
* MoralityPet: Batou may be a cold, hardened antihero, but the innocent Gabriel brings out his humanity.
* OneLastJob: After getting brain hacked, Togusa declares that he's done and is gonna quit to spend time with his family. All the same, he refuses to do so until after he helps Batou pull off his raid on the gynoid factory.
* PetTheDog: Batou has an entire scene dedicated to this, quite literally.
* ShutUpHannibal: Togusa's response to a creepy cyborg dressed like him ranting about the UncannyValley is violence. The final scene of the movie implies that Togusa is resisting a valid but uncomfortable moral.
* ThreeLawsCompliant: The {{gynoid}} [[SexBot geishas]]...[[spoiler:at least, until a shipping inspector trying to free Locus Solus's imprisoned girls tampers with their "ethics code", leaving them free to kill others and themselves]].
* TrunkShot: Used before Batou and Togusa raid a {{Yakuza}} office.
* UniformityException: Batou invades a manufactory ship that is making illicit gynoids. When the gynoids swarm him, Major Kusanagi takes over one of them to lend a hand. He puts his jacket on her shoulders, a technically pointless gesture that serves both as a CallBack to the previous film and to easily distinguish Kusanagi from the dozens of gynoids that she is fighting.
* VomitingCop:
-->'''Ishikawa:''' Toga got reacquainted with the tuna sandwich he had for dinner and headed on back with the corpse.
-->'''Batou:''' Maybe he should have had the chicken.
* {{Yakuza}}: Batou and Togusa raid an office of theirs.
[[/folder]]

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->''"And where does the newborn go from here? The Net is vast and infinite."''
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** This example showcases the attention to guns as minor but significant characters in the movie. The irony of the "your regular old big gun" line is that the it's anything but: an obscure toggle-lock action turns it into an incredibly kinetic, clunky, dangerous, violently cycling beast. Basically, it is a German Luger pistol upsized to become a mecha weapon — something a discerning gun nut would greatly appreciate.

* ZettaiRyouiki: At the beginning of the movie, the Major wears thigh-high stockings under her cloak.