Cyborg 009
Cyborg 009 is a Japanese science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Shotaro Ishinomori, first serialized on July 19, 1964, in Weekly Shōnen King published by Shōnen Gahōsha.[1] The narrative follows nine humans of varied nationalities kidnapped by the terrorist organization Black Ghost, who forcibly augment them into cyborgs with specialized superhuman capabilities for use as weapons in international conflicts; the protagonists, led by the ninth cyborg Joe Shimamura (designated 009), escape during their activation ceremony and dedicate themselves to thwarting Black Ghost's schemes and averting global war.[2][3] The series spanned multiple magazines, including Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Shōnen Big Comic, with irregular serialization continuing until 1981 due to Ishinomori's commitments to other projects, encompassing various story arcs that explored themes of humanity, technology, and Cold War-era tensions.[4] Adaptations proliferated, including animated television series in 1968 and 1979, a 2001 retelling titled Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier, theatrical films such as the 1966 feature and 2012 CGI trilogy Cyborg 009: Call of Justice, and a forthcoming anime Cyborg 009 Nemesis announced in 2025 to commemorate the manga's 61st anniversary.[1] Ishinomori's work in Cyborg 009 pioneered elements of the cyborg superhero genre in manga, influencing subsequent franchises like his own [Kamen Rider](/page/Kamen Rider) tokusatsu series and establishing a template for team-based action narratives amid ethical dilemmas of augmentation.[2]Creation and Publication
Conception and Development
Shotaro Ishinomori developed Cyborg 009 in the early 1960s, influenced by his apprenticeship under Osamu Tezuka on Astro Boy and the era's technological optimism alongside Cold War anxieties.[5] The core concept centered on nine humans forcibly transformed into cyborgs by the Black Ghost organization, a war-profiteering syndicate, who then unite to thwart global conflict and reclaim their humanity.[5] This narrative marked Japan's inaugural superhero team manga, emphasizing diverse international origins for the protagonists to symbolize unity against mechanized oppression.[5] Ishinomori incorporated spy thriller elements, explicitly referencing James Bond in character naming and espionage motifs, such as the gadget-reliant operative Great Britain (007).[6] Thematically, the series explored human identity amid augmentation, portraying cyborgs as a potential "new race" navigating peace versus programmed violence, a reflection of 1960s debates on technology's dual potential.[6] Initial serialization began on July 19, 1964, in Weekly Shōnen King, launching with the "Birth" arc detailing the cyborgs' origins and escape.[5] [7] Development proceeded under Ishinomori Productions, with the story's open-ended structure allowing intermittent publication across magazines due to sustained reader demand, though Ishinomori envisioned an original conclusion where the heroes avert apocalypse at personal cost.[5] Early adaptations, including Toei's 1966 film and 1968 TV series, influenced revisions but retained the manga's foundational anti-war ethos.[5]Manga Serialization History
Cyborg 009 began serialization on July 19, 1964, in Weekly Shōnen King, a weekly manga magazine published by Shōnen Gahōsha.[1][8] This initial phase covered the series' origin story, known as the "Birth" arc, and continued until late 1965, when the run ended amid scheduling shifts.[9][10] After a short break, the manga resumed in Weekly Shōnen Magazine, published by Kodansha, from 1966 to 1967, coinciding with the launch of tankōbon collections by Akita Shoten in July 1966.[10][11] Serialization then proceeded irregularly across multiple outlets due to creator Shotaro Ishinomori's concurrent projects, such as Kamen Rider.[4] Subsequent periods included runs in Monthly Shōnen King (Akita Shoten), COM (Manga King), Shōnen Big Comic (Shogakukan), and Shōjo Comic (Shogakukan), reflecting adaptations to different demographics and formats.[12] The original manga's regular serialization concluded in 1981, spanning 17 years with over 1,000 pages across these venues.[9][13]Spin-off and Continuation Works
Cyborg 009: Conclusion GOD'S WAR, published from April 2012 to February 2014, serves as an official continuation of the unfinished "God's War" arc from Ishinomori's original serialization. The story was adapted from Ishinomori's 1997 concept notes by his son Joe Onodera, with artwork provided by Masato Hayase for the initial chapters and Sugar Sato for the remainder; it was serialized digitally on Shogakukan's Club Sunday platform and compiled into five volumes between October 2012 and April 2014. This work fulfills Ishinomori's stated intention, expressed before his 1998 death, to resume and conclude the series around the year 2000 with a culminating three-part arc involving angels, devils, and gods, set against an apocalyptic battle where the 00 Cyborgs unlock enhanced powers to avert global destruction.[14] In 2019, Tsuguo Okazaki launched Cyborg 009 BGOOParts Delete as a spin-off manga in Akita Shoten's Champion RED magazine, running until 2022 and exploring a parallel-world narrative that extends the original "Mythos" arc toward an impending final confrontation with ancient forces. The series reimagines the cyborgs' encounters with mythological entities, incorporating elements of cybernetic evolution and existential threats not fully resolved in Ishinomori's era.[15][16] A more recent spin-off, Cyborg 009: Ghost of the Pacific (Cyborg 009 Taiheiyō no Bōrei), debuted in April 2024, scripted by Masaki Tsuji and illustrated by Masato Hayase; it expands upon a 1968 anime episode original to the adaptation, depicting the cyborgs clashing with spectral remnants of imperial Japanese naval forces amid Pacific warfare themes. Serialized as a one-volume work released on August 20, 2024, with 240 pages, it updates historical and supernatural elements for contemporary audiences while homage-ing early franchise lore.[16][17] Crossovers and one-shots, such as 8Man vs. Cyborg 009 (2020–2023) by Kyoichi Nanatsuki and Masato Hayase in Champion RED, blend the Cyborg 009 universe with Ishinomori's earlier 8Man series, featuring interdimensional team-ups against shared adversaries. These works, produced under Ishinomori Productions oversight, maintain canonical ties but diverge into alternate scenarios, reflecting ongoing efforts to extend the franchise without altering core narratives.[15]Plot Overview
Core Narrative Arc
The Cyborg 009 manga centers on the formation of a team of nine cybernetically enhanced humans, designated Cyborgs 001 through 009, who were abducted and transformed by the secretive terrorist organization Black Ghost. Black Ghost, driven by ambitions to incite global conflict for arms profiteering, kidnapped individuals from diverse nationalities and backgrounds, subjecting them to invasive surgical procedures that replaced much of their organic bodies with machinery granting specialized abilities: psychic precognition for 001 (Ivan Whisky), accelerated flight for 002 (Jet Link), enhanced sensory perception for 003 (Francoise Arnoul), integrated weaponry for 004 (Albert Heinrich), immense strength for 005 (Gerhard Kaiser), pyrokinesis for 006 (Chang Chang-ku), shapeshifting for 007 (Great Britain), underwater adaptation for 008 (Pyunma), and superhuman acceleration for 009 (Joe Shimamura).[13][9] These enhancements were intended to create prototype super-soldiers for sale to warring factions or deployment in engineered conflicts, with the cyborgs' free will suppressed via control devices.[18] The narrative arc pivots on the cyborgs' rebellion, initiated when 009, the most advanced prototype, overrides his restraint during a live demonstration of Black Ghost's capabilities to potential buyers. Activating his full acceleration mode, 009 escapes confinement, systematically frees his fellow cyborgs by destroying their control mechanisms, and allies with Dr. Isaac Gilmore, the project's remorseful chief scientist who provides logistical support and medical aid. United under 009's leadership, the group—now self-identifying as the 00-Cyborg team—declares war on Black Ghost, rejecting their weaponized existence and seeking to dismantle the organization's infrastructure to prevent its catastrophic plans for world domination. This escape and unification occur early in the manga's 1964 serialization in Weekly Shōnen King, establishing the team's multinational camaraderie and ethical commitment to protecting humanity despite their dehumanizing transformations.[9][13] The core conflict unfolds through escalating confrontations, including battles against Black Ghost's elite assassin cyborgs and secondary prototypes, as the team tracks leads across continents to disrupt weapons shipments and expose the syndicate's operations. Culminating in the "Underground Empire Yomi" arc (serialized 1966–1967), the 00-Cyborgs infiltrate Black Ghost's subterranean headquarters, confronting the enigmatic leader Skull and his inner circle of biomechanical entities known as the Three Brains. In a decisive assault, the team overloads the facility's core systems, effectively obliterating Black Ghost's primary command structure and halting its immediate threat of engineered global warfare; however, Skull's survival hints at lingering remnants, though the arc resolves the organization's foundational menace. This resolution, drawn from Ishinomori's initial publication run ending in March 1967, underscores the cyborgs' victory through coordinated use of their abilities and moral resolve, though it prompted narrative adjustments in subsequent stories due to reader feedback on character fates.[9][4]Key Story Arcs and Resolutions
The original serialization of Cyborg 009 begins with the "Birth" arc in 1964, in which nine individuals from diverse backgrounds are kidnapped and surgically transformed into experimental cyborgs by the criminal syndicate Black Ghost, granting each unique abilities such as accelerated speed for 009 (Joe Shimamura) and telepathy for 001 (Ivan Whisky). The cyborgs rebel during a demonstration, escape with the aid of sympathetic scientist Isaac Gilmore, and destroy a Black Ghost facility, marking the start of their ongoing resistance against the organization.[19] This arc resolves with the team's formation and relocation to safety, though Black Ghost persists as a threat. Subsequent early arcs, including the "Assassins" arc (serialized 1964–1965), pit the cyborgs against waves of specialized robotic assassins dispatched by Black Ghost, such as laser-wielding killers and shape-shifters, testing the team's coordination and individual powers in episodic confrontations. These battles culminate in incremental victories that weaken Black Ghost's operational capacity but leave the syndicate's leadership intact. The "Deep Sea Wanderer" and "Vietnam" arcs (1965–1966) expand the scope to global threats, involving underwater mutants and war profiteers exploiting conflict zones, resolved through direct interventions that neutralize immediate dangers without eradicating the root causes.[19][11] The "Mythos Cyborgs" arc (1966) introduces supernatural elements, with the team battling ancient, god-like cyborgs awakened from myth, including figures evoking Apollo and Poseidon, who seek to dominate humanity through elemental powers. This arc resolves ambiguously, with the cyborgs defeating the mythical foes but questioning the boundaries between technology and divinity, foreshadowing later existential themes. The pivotal "Underground Empire of Yomi" arc (1966–1967) sees the team infiltrate Black Ghost's subterranean headquarters, confronting the hooded leader Skull and mind-controlling devices; it ends in the organization's apparent destruction via self-destruct sequence, but at the cost of 002 (Jet Link) and 009's lives—later retconned in the 1967 "Monster Island" arc, where 001's precognition saves them, allowing the defeat of surviving Black Ghost remnants on a remote island.[19][13] Later phases feature fragmented arcs amid serialization hiatuses, such as the "Angel" arc (1970s, serialized in Adventure King), involving winged extraterrestrial beings claiming to be humanity's creators who dispatch flying saucers toward Earth, ending on a cliffhanger due to abrupt cancellation. Ishinomori revisited similar motifs in the unfinished "Battle of the Gods" arc (1977–1978, in COM), where divine entities psychologically torment the cyborgs with visions of human depravity to deem them unworthy of existence, left unresolved amid reader backlash and magazine changes. The "Neo Black Ghost" arc (1979–1981) revives the syndicate under new leadership, incorporating personal backstories and threats like the "Golden Triangle" opium schemes and Arctic experiments, but concludes without full closure as serialization halted.[13][20] A posthumous finale, Cyborg 009: Conclusion GOD'S WAR (2012–2014), drawn from Ishinomori's notes by Masato Ishinomori and others, synthesizes the "Angel" and "Battle of the Gods" concepts into a cosmic confrontation with god-like aliens judging Earth's worthiness. The cyborgs perish in the conflict but are reborn as ordinary humans in a utopian alternate reality, providing thematic resolution to the series' anti-war and humanistic inquiries while affirming their sacrifices. This arc, published by Shogakukan, effectively ends the manga's narrative after decades of intermittency.[19][13]Characters
The 00 Cyborg Team
The 00 Cyborg Team consists of nine individuals kidnapped and involuntarily cybernetically enhanced by the Black Ghost organization, a shadowy syndicate aiming to profit from superhuman weapons in global conflicts. Transformed into the "00" series prototypes, the cyborgs possess specialized augmentations designed for combat superiority, including reinforced physiology, integrated weaponry, and unique abilities tailored to their pre-existing traits or strategic needs. Despite their origins as tools of war, the team unites as found family, operating autonomously to thwart Black Ghost's remnants and similar threats, emphasizing themes of human resilience and collective defiance. Their escape occurred during a buyer demonstration on December 25, 1964 (in narrative chronology), when Cyborg 009 activated his accelerator device, enabling a coordinated rebellion that destroyed the facility and allowed their flight.[21][22] The team's multinational composition—spanning Russia, the United States, France, Germany, Native American heritage, China, the United Kingdom, Africa, and Japan—highlights diverse human experiences forcibly converged through technology. Each member's enhancements were developed by Dr. Isaac Gilmore, Black Ghost's lead scientist, who later defected due to ethical remorse and provided ongoing support. While individually formidable, their strength lies in synergy: reconnaissance via sensory cyborgs, heavy assault from durable units, and rapid intervention from speedsters, forming a balanced tactical unit against mechanized foes.[21][22]| Cyborg Number | Name | Nationality/Origin | Key Abilities | Background |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Ivan Whisky | Russian | Telepathy, psychokinesis, teleportation; cycles 15 days asleep/awake due to brain overload | Infant genius subjected to experimental brain surgery by his father; abducted and further enhanced by Black Ghost for command potential.[21][22] |
| 002 | Jet Link | American (Italian-American descent) | High-speed flight via rocket-propelled feet; prototype acceleration for bursts | Teenage delinquent from New York who killed a gang leader in self-defense; coerced into Black Ghost custody post-trouble.[21][22] |
| 003 | Françoise Arnoul | French | Enhanced vision and hearing for long-range detection; vulnerable to overload | Aspiring ballerina abducted en route to audition; serves as team scout and emotional anchor.[21][22] |
| 004 | Albert Heinrich | German | Full-body cybernetic replacement with arm-mounted machine guns, knee missiles, and defensive plating; limited mobility from pain circuits | East German defector critically injured losing fiancée Hilda during border escape; rebuilt as a walking arsenal.[21][22] |
| 005 | Geronimo Junior | Native American (U.S.) | Superhuman strength, armored skin, endurance; later affinity for nature spirits | Unemployed laborer deceived by false job promise; embodies raw power as the team's frontline tank.[21][22] |
| 006 | Chang Changku | Chinese | High-temperature flame emission (up to 3,000°C) from mouth; later pyrokinesis control | Despairing chef or farmer rescued from suicide attempt; provides area-denial firepower.[21][22] |
| 007 | Great Britain (G.B.) | British | Shapeshifting for infiltration and disguise; later astral projection | Fallen Shakespearean actor lured by false opportunity; excels in espionage and versatility.[21][22] |
| 008 | Pyunma | African | Amphibious adaptations for underwater propulsion, gill-like breathing, high-speed swimming; later hydrokinesis | Former guerrilla fighter or escaped slave captured in conflict; handles aquatic and submerged operations.[21][22] |
| 009 | Joe Shimamura | Japanese (biracial) | Full-spectrum enhancements including super-speed via dental accelerator switch, strength, invulnerability, self-contained life support | Orphaned 18-year-old racer or delinquent framed for crime; most advanced model, natural leader who triggered the mass escape.[21][22] |