Pluto (Astro Boy)

nihongo|"Pluto"|プルートウ|Purūtō is a fictional character created by Osamu Tezuka, introduced in nihongo|"The World's Strongest Robot"|地上最大のロボット|Chijō saidai no ROBOTTO story arc of the "Astro Boy" manga. He is sometimes known as "Bruton", his name in the English dub of the 1980 "Astro Boy" television series.

He is a giant horned robot created to be the world's most powerful. He is ordered by his master, a fallen sultan called Chochi Chochi Ababa the Third, to fight and destroy Earth's mightiest robots them so it could become "king of the robot world". The original manga story served as the basis for two-episode story arcs in both the 1960s "Astro Boy" television series and the 1980s color remake. In the 2003 "Astro Boy" anime series, Pluto's origin was changed, making him the creation of Shadow, a robot built by Astro's creator Dr. Tenma.

Interestingly, Pluto/Bruton was dark blue in the 1980 series but dark green in the 2003 series.

The "World's Strongest Robot" story arc was remade by Naoki Urasawa in 2003's "Pluto".

Confrontations

Pluto shows no joy or sadness in destroying his enemies, claiming to be obeying his master. Pluto gets particularly attached to Uran, Astro Boy's sister, who senses that the giant horned robot is not evil, despite his deeds. Pluto was sent to confront:
*Mont-Blanc, a Swiss mountain robot with 135,000 horsepower (100 MW). He received an unnamed cameo in the 2003 version as a minion of Grudon, an evil TV reporter based on Ham Egg.
*North #2, a Scottish butler robot with six mechanical armed arms. He was named "Molnar" in the 1980s English dub. Like Mont-Blanc, he received an unnamed cameo in the 2003 version as a minion of Grudon. In the 2003 series, his design was pointedly more beetle-like than before. In the Shin Tetsuwan Atom anime, he is voiced by Hirotaka Suzuoki.
*Brando, a Turkish robot wrestler. He was named "Brondo" in the 1980s English dub. Like Mont-Blanc and North #2, he received an unnamed cameo in the 2003 version as a minion of Grudon.
*Gerhardt, a German robot inspector covered with a protective gold-like alloy called "Zeronium". He was named "Zeron" in the 1980s English dub. His role was effectively taken over by a character named "Delta" in the 2003 version. In Naoki Urasawa's version his name is Gesicht (German for face).
*Hercules, a Greek gladiator robot with high sense of honour and bravery. In Naoki Urasawa's version his name is Heracles.
*Epsilon, an Australian light-powered effeminate and sensitive robot who looks after local children and dislikes fighting. He was named "Photar" in the 1980s English dub. The character's gender became female in the 2003 version.
*Astro Boy, a Japanese boy robot with 100,000 horsepower (75 MW). During this encounter, Astro finds out he is too weak for Pluto, so he has Dr. Tenma increase his power tenfold. "(This event does not occur in either the 1980 or 2003 animated versions.)"
*Bora, a mysterious and extremely strong robot with 2,000,000 horsepower (1500 MW) who can launch a destructive katabatic wind by screaming his name. He is the robot who finally defeats Pluto. In the 2003 version, Bora was effectively replaced in the story by a duplicate of Pluto named Acheron.

Other appearances

Naoki Urasawa's "Pluto"

"Pluto" is a modern interpretation of "The World's Strongest Robot". The series follows robot detective Gesicht as he investigates the deaths of various pro-robot humans and robots across the globe.

Urasawa's Pluto is significantly darker, capable of murdering humans and robots (or so it would seem...). It has manifested itself so far in the story as: a derelict homeless man, as which he makes friends with Uran; the towering, destructive horned robot from the original; and Sahad, a young Persian robot resembling a man.

Omega Factor

Pluto appears as a boss in the "Omega Factor" videogame for the Game Boy Advance, based on the "Astro Boy" 2003 TV series.