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Pluto (プルートウ Purūtō) (also known as Bruton in the english dub of the 1980's version) is the secondary antagonist of The World's Strongest Robot arc in the classic manga Astro Boy, and the titular secondary antagonist of Naoki Urasawa's reimagining manga series Pluto and its 2023 anime adaptation.
He is a giant fighting robot with horns and red stripes on his face and a power level of one million horsepower. A power hungry sultan built him to murder the strongest robots in the world, including Astro. At first, he wants nothing more than to fulfill his duty but soon he realized that strength isn't everything and befriended Astro before meeting his tragic demise.
Biography[]
Astro Boy[]
A Sultan named Chochi Chochi Ababa the Third wants to be the ultimate authority in the robot world, so he hires a scientist to build a giant robot with the amazing power level of 1.000.000 horsepower, plus various powers in order for it to become the "Strongest Robot in the World". Named Pluto, his first target is a Swiss mountain robot with 135,000 horsepower named Montblanc, which was an easy victim as Pluto was a complete stranger to him and he was unprepared for the attack. With Montblanc finished, Pluto then goes on to fight Astro, who was not at home, plus Professor Ochanomizu insisted on Astro not fighting, much to the annoyance of his sister Uran). As Astro himself does not engage in battle, Uran disguises herself as Astro in order to fight Pluto, however, she is no match for Pluto's horsepower and strength. Overcome, Pluto holds Uran captive as a way of forcing Astro to fight. Enraged, Astro follows in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Pluto then goes to fight North MK II, a cutting edge battle robot that was reprogrammed as a butler. North is no match for Pluto's strength, being defeated almost instantly.
Seeking Astro, he and Astro again meet (which so happens to be in Turkey) which by chance is the residence of the next robot victim, Brando. Sharing similar strengths and weaknesses, Brando turns out to be a more difficult opponent for Pluto and as a consequence, he was heavily damaged and could die if his masters do not come instantly. In order for them to come, a button on his chest has to be pushed which sends a distress signal. However, as there is no-one else nearby and he himself is unable to move, the only way for the button to be pushed is if Astro pushes it. Pluto quickly hands over Uran and begs Astro to push the button. After much thought and consideration, Astro agrees. The sultan comes to recover Pluto and plant a suicide bomb in his chest; should someone defeat him, that someone would also be destroyed. Pluto then faces his next target, a German robot detective named Gesicht, made out of a unique material named "Zeronium", which takes the form of a protective metal alloy. Gesicht's weapons prove ineffective against Pluto's armor, and he is also destroyed.
Now, Astro knows Pluto is coming after him, so he demands that Prof. Ochanomizu upgrade his output from 100,000 horsepower to 1,000,001 horsepower so he can defeat Pluto. In a twist, Ochanomizu refuses to do that for two reasons: one, Astro was never meant to be a fighting robot, and he refuses to upgrade Astro in a way meant almost exclusively for combat and violence. Two, because he believes that raw power wasn't everything in a fight.
So when Astro and Pluto have their final duel, the sultan reveals he had another super robot built; an even bigger one called Bora, who has two million horsepower. And this new robot destroys Pluto in a tragic scene. But Astro manages to defeat this big robot because he's so small, he could pry his way into the giant robot's armor and dismantle him from the inside. A 100,000 horsepower naked robot kid beats a death machine with extreme power by using creativity.
Pluto[]
Pluto by Urasawa is a darker and modernized re-telling of the World's Strongest Robot story told through the point of view of the robot detective Gesicht. Pluto is more monstrous and violent and extremely powerful, capable of turning into a giant tornado. He goes around the world killing the robots who used to be part of the Bora Investigation Squad, always leaving behind a piece of the victim with horn-like constructs next to it.
This version of Pluto was originally Sahad, a kind-hearted gardener robot who wished to grow flowers all over his desolated country of Persia, a fictional middle eastern country. He was created by the Persian Minister of Science, Professor Abullah. Devastated by the Middle-East War, with his homeland left in shambles and his family dead, Abullah came to harbor an intense hatred and vowed revenge against mankind. He died during the war as a result of a bombing, but before dying, he left the genius Japanese scientist, Dr. Tenma (creator of Atom, the story's version of Astroboy), with a chip containing his brain patterns, and full of Abullah's hatred towards the world. Tenma used the chip to awaken the perfect AI he and Abullah had been working on. Due to being programmed with 6 billion personalities (9 billion in the anime), the new robot would take an infinite amount of time to simulate all the possibilities and would never awaken; Tenma had theorized that this could be overcome by programming intense, polarizing emotions into it, such as hatred, rage, and despair. The robot awoke, and despite believing itself to be the real Professor Abullah, it also created a second personality called Goji.
The new Professor Abullah proceeded to build Pluto and uploaded Sahad's AI into the giant monstrous body of Pluto. Meanwhile the Goji personality created a bigger and more powerful robot called Bora and planned to use it to dig a tunnel underground, causing an enormous erruption that would have devastated the world.
Atom, who had been left in a comatose state due to an attack by Pluto, is reawakened by Tenma, who inserts a chip containing Gesicht's hatred and a recording of his moment of death (as he was defeated and then destroyed by Dr. Roseevelt). Initially, he behaves oddly, but after some time seemingly reverts back to his former self. After learning the whole truth behind Gesicht's investigation, he heads to the source of the cataclysmic erruption in hopes of stopping it. He comes face to face with Pluto, who attacks him. At first, Atom is overcome by Gesicht's hatred and attempts to destroy Pluto, citing all the robots he'd killed did not want or deserve death and rips off Pluto's horns and one of his arms in the process. However, he then hears Gesicht's last words in his mind: "Nothing comes from hatred". Suddenly full of understanding, Atom and Pluto cease their attack on another and proceed to lie down for a few moments. Soon afterward, Atom goes to disarm Bora, with Pluto (whom Astro has begun referring to as Sahad) at his side. Bora attempts to dissuade Sahad, who rejects him, stating that his father has long been dead, and the AI controlling Bora is nothing more than a fake. He ends up sacrificing himself, saving Atom and the world from the disaster in the process.
Trivia[]
- Pluto appears as a boss in the videogames Tetsuwan Atom for the Super Famicom and Astroboy: Omega Factor.
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 Villains
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Manga Anime
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| Naoki Urasawa's Villains | ||
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Kinderheim 511  | ||
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Professor Abullah | Pluto | Dr. Roosevelt | President Alexander | Brau-1589 | Adolf Haas | Adolf Haas' Brother | Anti-Robot Hate Group | Darius XIV  | ||
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Billy Bat | ||