Taroimo

(タロイモ, Taroimo?, lit. Taroimo) aka. Tarokichi

AKA. Taro

Original

“THANK YOU, KAORI...
”

—Taroimo`s thoughts upon being saved.

**Taroimo**, originally known as **Tarokichi**, is a party member from the Near Future chapter, The Outsider. Once a pet turtle owned by Kaori, Doc Tobei turned him into a robot through organic liquefaction, whereupon he begins to follow Akira.

## Profile

### Appearance

Taroimo is a large, green robot resembling a turtle, merged with elements of a sumo wrestler. His robotic body has beady black dot eyes, a red mawashi embroidered with a single kanji for clothing, and iron balls for hands. His cybernetic body is both taller and girthier than Akira or Lawless.

### Personality

Possessing the intellect of a turtle, Taroimo doesn't show much in personality or intelligence, but he is steadfastly grateful and loyal towards those he cares about. He is also very slow on the uptake, tending not to react while major events unfold around him. It can be inferred that despite his powerful body, much of what he does is still based on his old animal instinct.

## History

### The Near Future: The Outsider

Before being drawn into the world of psychokinesis, Tarokichi was only a regular turtle. He was caught by Kazu, who gave him to Kaori to keep as a pet.

Tarokichi is first seen in Kaori´s room at the Bright Sparks Orphanage as an ordinary turtle, having recently fallen ill and nearing death. As Kaori despairs for him, Akira visits the laboratory of Doc Tobei to request his assistance. The old doctor demonstrates the process of liquefaction on Tarokichi, melting him down to amplify his latent psychic energy and transferring him into a large robotic body, saving his life. During the process, Tobei mistakenly calls the turtle "Taroimo"; the name sticks.

From there, Taroimo chooses to constantly follow Akira, joining him on his journey and helping out during battles. Steadily growing stronger thanks to upgrades from Tobei, Taroimo becomes a reliable ally to Akira, assisting in rescuing Kazu from the Crusaders, participating in the storming of the facility, and braving the burning orphanage to save Kaori. When Akira demands everyone to leave the Steel Titan after Matsu's death, Taroimo still refuses to leave his side, needing to be dragged out by Tobei. In the chapter's credit sequence, Taroimo is seen in Kaori's room, remaining by her bedside.

### Final Chapter: The Dominion of Hate

In the game's true ending, Taroimo is seen accompanying the other children of the orphanage in Doc Tobei's lab. He is used as a test subject for Tobei's matter transmitter, but it malfunctions and explodes, leaving him blanketed in soot.

## Gameplay

### Strategy

As an inorganic being, Taroimo cannot gain experience from battles. As a result, he cannot level up and his stats do not increase naturally. Instead, Taroimo gains strength mainly through his equipment; new weapons and armor are the only way to increase most of his stats

Taroimo's starting abilities are few and fairly weak. To obtain new abilities, Taroimo has access to special robot weapons. Equipping these weapons in one of Taroimo's five Accessories slots provides him with a new, powerful attack, allowing the player to customize Taroimo's moveset. New equipment can be found dropped by enemies, or refined by Doc Tobei from other items or equipment.

Tariomo's stats can also be increased via Robotic Enhancements. Consuming an Enhancement will raise Taroimo's HP by 10, and in the remake, both his Agility and Evasion by 1.

### Stats

* **HP:** 240
* **Physical Attack:** 48
* **Physical Defense:** 64
* **Special Attack:** 22
* **Special Defense:** 26
* **Speed**: 32
* **Accuracy:** 14
* **Evasion:** 14
* **Status Immunities:** Sleep, Poison
* **Damage Resistances:** Spirit, Divine, Demonic
* **HP:** 240
* **Power:** 48
* **Speed:** 32
* **Vitality:** 32
* **IQ:** 24
* **Evades:** Evil
* **Immunities:** Sleep and Poison

## Etymology

Taroimo is named after the *taro imo*, also known as the *satoimo*, a species of taro vegetable native to Japan.

Tarokichi may be derived from Seki Tarōkichi, the birth name of Raiden Tameemon, who is considered one of the greatest sumo wrestlers in history.

## Trivia

* The kanji on Taroimo's loincloth reads "kotobuki", translating to "Congratulations!", or "Long Life!".
* Taroimo's special weapons can be found in the final chapter as equipment for Cube. If the player desires, they may save these items during The Outsider to take them into the final chapter early. In the Super Famicom version, the player would need to equip the weapons in Akira's Accessories slots to carry them over.
* In the remake, Taroimo has voice clips for leveling up in the game's data, even though he cannot do so ingame.

## Gallery

Artwork for Taroimo (SFC)Taroimo with Akira (SFC)Taroimo expresses his gratitude (SFC)Promo art depicting The Outsider for the remakeLINE sticker for remake (Thank you...)Artwork counting down 3 days to the Playstation/Steam release