Astro's abilities

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Throughout the various versions of the Manga and Animes, Astro's abilities have varied quite a bit. I've also imagined some other abilities that he ought to have, (some of which Tezuka might have included if the technology had been known to him at the time), and I've included them in a few of my own stories. Anyway, here is my list, feel free to add to it...

Power: Astro is usually quoted as having 100,000 HP. In the Manga he was upgraded by Dr. Tenma to 1,000,000 HP just prior to his encounter with Pluto. In the 1980 and 2003 Anime this never happened, but I'm not sure about the 1963 version (That was among the missing '89). I don't think his power rating was ever mentioned in the movie.

Rockets and Jets: Astro has air breathing Jet engines in his arms and legs that can also operate in rocket mode (not needing any external oxidizer). I don't think the arm jets were present in the 2003 Anime or the Movie, they were shown in the Manga and the 1963 and 1980 versions of the Anime (though they never appeared in any of the episodes translated by Ladd). In actuality Astro's body could not contain a large enough fuel tank to support his flying ability, but we can grant Tezuka an artist's license on this and assume that some new super fuel was developed for him.

Fanny guns: Tezuka could never seem to make up his mind exactly what kind of weapons Astro had buried in his rear end. Most of the time they were machine guns that shot some kind of armor piercing shells, but sometimes they appeared to be lasers or lighting guns. This reminds me of one Star Trek episode where the special effects crew goofed and showed the Enterprise's Phasers shooting Photon Torpedoes!

Finger Lasers: These were added in the 1980 anime, I don't remember if they were also present in the 2003 version or in the Movie.

Arm Canon: This was added in the 2003 anime and also appeared in the movie. I think he only had the arm cannon in his left arm in the anime, they were in both arms in the movie.

Electro-Shock: Astro had the ability to zap bad guys by delivering them a shock. He did that though his teeth in at least one episode of the 1963 anime (the last one), and though his hands in several of the latter 'missing 89'.

Search Light eyes: These were present in all of the various Astro media from the Manga though all of the Animes and the movie.

Image Projector: Astro had the ability to project an image of his thoughts onto a wall or blank screen in the 2003 episode "Eternal Boy".

Radio: Tezuka often had Astro carry a small microwave transceiver to communicate with Ochanomizu or Tawashi. Sometimes he had a microphone hidden inside his chest and would extract it to communicate. In one episode of the missing '89 (I don't remember which one) he even had a pair of headphones hidden in there and was using both while flying. I imagine him as having a built in software defined radio that can operate on ANY frequency using ANY mode of modulation. This radio is internally connected to his electronic brain so he doesn't need an external microphone or headset to use it, and doesn't even need to speak, just THINK what he wants to send. (Why would you build a robot any other way?).

Computer Network: In some of my stories I had Astro physically connect himself to a computer, or computer network via a built in Ethernet connection to his electronic brain. He'd open his chest panel to access the built in socket, perhaps even have a length of cable stowed in there. (Cobalt and Uran would have the same ability). Look out, they are the world's greatest hackers!

Thermal Power: In the 1963 Anime story 'Don Tay's Inferno" Astro was given Ferno's (Atlas) thermal power module that enabled him to glow white hot. While he gave the gizmo back to Don Tay in the story, I imagined that he kept it (it might come in handy some day, and once it did!).

ESP: In one story I gave Astro the ability to sort of read minds, and be able to meld his consciousness with a human, much like Mr. Spock's mind meld technique. This was a logical extension of Astro's ability to tell if a person was good or evil.

Lightning Bolts: Astro never did this, but Cobalt had the ability to deliver lighting bolts through his hair spikes in some of the missing '89 episodes.

[FelicityRedbarrow]

If I remember correctly, Atom used both his arm jets and his finger laser in the 2003 episode Atom in Space/ Destination Deimos. Ochanomizu, at least in the English Dub, excitedly pointed them out (to which my little sister remarked something to the effect of: "The big-nosed guy didn't build Astro, did he.") And later on, he used the finger laser (the "digi-beam") to free the trapped entity from the center of Deimos.

[Little Brown Fox]

Finger lasers and arm jets are both present in the 2003 series. While they never made an appearance in the movie, the movie's licensed games made use of the finger lasers, I think. I do know that they seemed to originally be considering only one cannon for the movie; that brief clip of animation from early development (a.k.a. the version of the movie we never got to see) proves this.

If I recall correctly, it was Ochanomizu that gave him the rear-mounted machine guns, which is what I think they were originally. It was part of the original version of one of the manga stories; Jeffbert posted it, I think. They originally had visible ports, at least when they debuted (meaning he had a couple of spots on his butt). In addition to that, Ochanomizu gave him some kind of radio that was in his nose; when the antenna extended, his nose stretched out and generally looked weird. It was these new features that enabled him to figure out that Ochanomizu also gave him the ability to cry: he became very upset, believing himself to be a freak (and he wasn't entirely wrong; I'm pretty glad that the nose-thing never seemed to make an appearance after that- or maybe it was just more subtle?). Like, wow, Ochanomizu. Rude much?

You referenced his ability to tell whether someone is good or bad, or has good or ill intentions, which also extends to gauging their honesty, if I recall correctly. This was possible thanks to his "electro-heart", although it's not clear how, and this particularly strange of his abilities seems to have been scrapped since the 1960's.

He also had some kind of global-translator in his head, or brain, or whatever (I still find it a little too bizarre that his brain wouldn't be in his head). And he had a kind of Geiger counter, or some such.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

That may be the only episode in the 2003 Anime that has him using the arm jet/rockets.

[Little Brown Fox]

Oh no, it's not the only one. He uses them to go faster, or, in the above case, to avoid an imminent collision. He also uses them when he's lifting things, I think; he'll have all his jets going, and pushes/lifts with his back.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

In the '63 anime he only used the arm jets like a vacuum cleaner in reverse to blow stuff away, or to dig himself out of a hole. I think there were 3 or 4 episodes in the missing '89 that showed him using them. He pulls the same stunt with his leg jets often enough too.

[Little Brown Fox]

In the manga he could somewhat weaponize his arm jets. He did as much during the Hot Dog Corp. arc, when he was fending off... uh... 49? Was that was what he was called? I can't remember; I don't like that arc very much, anyway... Anyhow, in that same fight, he contracted damage to both his arm jets and his machine guns. He seemed to have been able to withdraw his guns with no problem, but his arms stayed stuck in the jet position (albeit non-functioning) for a while; even later, when they appeared to have morphed back without any outside assistance, I think that was more likely an illustration error. Or one of those things that was edited, though it is unlikely. It could simply mean that Tezuka needed him to have hands, or forgot that he didn't during that time.

The same could be said for the damaged machine guns; realistically, he would probably have trouble withdrawing these if they were damaged as such in the story. It probably would not do to draw him with his guns sticking out, though.

[Fauna]

I can also add that in the French pocket books, Astro has the following additional powers:

• Radio communication with other robots. He could even tell robots of limited AI what to do
• Magnets in his hands, for wall-gripping as a safety device
• Sensing materials (like chemical composition) through sensors in his fingers
• Running speed

There's probably a bunch more that I've yet to see in the other four books in the series. In the book series canon, Astro was developed by Tenma as a superweapon for taking over the world, and Ochanomizu/O'Shay modified his powers to be used for good and at a level suitable for a 9 year old boy.

In the NOW! Comics series, Astro had a special super mode when he was angry, and became pretty aggressive and strong during this. He also receives from Boynton/Tenma a super battery boost that can only be used for thirty seconds; any use after that will cause it to explode (which it does.)

[jeffbert]

In the reprints of the original manga, there are several panels showing his 7 powers, I have noted changes, but not actually kept track of them. I would say more, but my book will cover this thoroughly.

[Little Brown Fox]

That's interesting; I hadn't been paying attention to that, as I had not seen the topic for the first one. They should be pretty short, though, right...? Maybe I'll pop in whenever I find I have the time (which is technically always, but shh), and happen to be bored enough to engage.