"A great many lives were lost in this incident, all it's done is return the refugee issue right back to square one, plus the prime minister's self-reliant United Front policy will probably prove to be a thorny path for the populace. People like us will be needed more than ever now."
— Daisuke Aramaki, Stand Alone Complex, "Return to Patriotism – ENDLESS∞GIG"
A Cyberpunk world where the lines between reality and belief often meet in a philosophical clash has some truly remarkably thinkers putting forth their best ploys.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Production I.G Films
- Major Motoko Kusanagi is the pragmatic and insightful field leader of Section 9. Brutally dispatching a smug foreign diplomat seeking to smuggle away a Japanese programmer, Kusanagi takes to the Puppet Master case with her usual efficiency, making sure to utilize her subordinates' capabilities to the fullest. As she closes in on the Puppet Master its body is taken to Section 9's headquarters as per its own designs and when Section 6 seeks to smuggle it away, Kusanagi ensures their seeming retrieval of the Puppet Master only to have them tailed and their forces hunted down and killed so she may confront the Puppet Master. Talking with the digital life form, Kusanagi responds to its philosophical pleas by agreeing to live on in a merged body with it. Seemingly killed by Section 6, Kusanagi ends the film revived in a new body, leaving the nature of her merger with the Puppet Master ambiguous as she heads off to carry on with her life and later returning to aid Section 9 just as efficiently as ever.
- Chief Daisuke Aramaki leads Section 9 with ruthless devotion to his nation's security. A composed and strategically-minded leader, Aramaki even allows for lethal force on unarmed targets to achieve objectives and calmly deals with the problems given by the obstructive Section 6 while pursuing the Puppet Master. Years later, Aramaki oversees a case involving high-profile men being killed by suicidal sex robots. Sending his men out to swiftly follow leads, Aramaki lets the powerful cyborg Section 9 agent Batou instigate a fight with a gang of Yakuza to slaughter them, seemingly reprimanding Batou only to then demand he continue his work covertly, eventually dismantling the sex trafficking operation behind the scenes, stopping at nothing to bring down justice.
- 1995 Film: Project 2501, better known as the "Puppet Master", is an articulate and intelligent digital lifeform that wishes to be part of the natural cycle of life, and harbors an interest in Major Motoko Kusanagi due to their similar philosophies. Born from Section 6's efforts to create an AI for shady purposes, the Puppet Master operated in their service by manipulating the minds of cybernetically-enhanced humans to perform meticulously crafted terrorist operations, hiding his sapience from his masters all the way. When the Puppet Master's free will is discovered, he is forced to evade Section 6 by fabricating a body for himself, but not before setting up the circumstances to ensure Section 9 recovers him and brings him closer to the Major. When she finally dives into his body to question him, the Puppet Master convinces the Major to merge with him by appealing to her desire to be more than just a machine, their resulting combined consciousness granting him the offspring he so longed for.
- Innocence (2004): James Walkson is a LOCUS SOLUS employee who discovers the company implant girls' souls into sex robots for clients. Disgusted at the nigh-untouchable company, Walkson has some of the girls commit Murder-Suicides on their high-end clients to draw police attention. Killing himself to stage his death as a revenge killing after murdering the Yakuza head assisting LOCUS SOLUS, Walkson's efforts see the diabolical company exposed and the surviving girls saved.
- Chief Daisuke Aramaki is the head of Public Security Section 9. Famed for his shrewd tactics, Aramaki heads Section 9 on the Laughing Man case, willing to let civilians die as long as he can protect Japan as a whole and even has his own team declared fugitives in a ploy to lure out their foe. In 2nd GIG Aramaki uses his political connections to have the disbanded Section 9 reinstated and shows further tactical acumen when he is taken captive by hapless crooks during an assassination attempt and manages to not only evade the onslaught of police but also turn the tides on the corrupt higher-ups seeking his end. Utterly dismantling the schemes of the wicked Kazundo Gouda, Aramaki threatens the unarmed villain to desist from his attempted treason and when ignored mercilessly orders Gouda's death.
- Season 1: "The Laughing Man" or "Aoi" is a genius cyberterrorist out to expose the misdeeds of the Serano Genomics corporation. Kidnapping their CEO to reveal the truth about their dangerous premature treatment for a android brain disease, with the Laughing Man's hacking skills so inspiring copycats and even companies begin using his name to commit attacks of their own. Displeased but undaunted, the Laughing Man begins cultivating students of his true teachings, fooling most of Section 9 by playing the role of a deaf mute, the Laughing Man's skills end up impressing Section 9 so much that their chief offers him a job at the agency.
- 2nd GIG: Hideo Kuze, the first boy that Major Motoko Kusanagi ever loved, was the survivor of a plane crash who underwent the process to transfer himself into a cybernetic shell. Becoming involved with the military and seeing the plight of the Dejima refugees, Kuze becomes a terrorist and eventual revolutionary, manipulating all of Japan in the process of helping Dejima win independence and link his mind with millions of others so he might control them for his plans. Assisting Motoko in piercing the schemes of the villainous Kazundo Gouda, Kuze sparks his revolution and seemingly gives his life for his cause with implications he may well have succeeded in joining the Network after all.
- Solid State Society: The mysterious "Puppeteer" is a gestalt created by the combined subconsciousness of countless Noble Rot senior citizens. Aiding the vile Hitshoi Munei, the Puppeteer allows for multiple terrorist attacks to occur and even aids Munei in his kidnapping of pure-blooded Japanese children to create his ideal ruling class. Behind Munei's back the Puppeteer sneaks in children from abused homes, wishing to give them a better life, evading Section 9's attempts to stop it all along the way until finally confronting them to politely reveal its plans before killing itself, its schemes seeing the abused children's parents taken to court.
- Born the anti-augmentation revolutionary Hideo, "Kuze" was remade into a cyborg by Hanka Robotics. In revolt, Kuze hacks into the minds of various cyborgs and murders Hanka executives, using his robotic pawns to persuade heroine Mira Killian into remembering her past and the evils of her employers. Eventually succeeding, Kuze is mortally wounded while rendezvousing with Killian but provides the final insights in her quest to utterly destroy Hanka.
