Tima

> Kenichi...who am I?
>
> Tima's last words.

### Aliases

"Angel" - by Metropolis citizens "The Girl" - by Rock "Mechanical puppet" - By Rock "Guardian Deity" - by the Ziggurat scientists "My little Tima" - by Duke Red "My masterpiece" - by Dr. Laughton.

## Appearances

### Portrayed by

Rebecca ForstadtYuka Imoto

**Tima** is the main protagonist in the 2001 anime movie, *Metropolis*. She is a highly advanced android directly modeled and named after the deceased daughter of Duke Red, the most powerful man in the city of Metropolis. She is unique in that she appears human, a trait that no other robot on the planet shares. She was created by Dr. Laughton, a well renowned scientist, at the request of Duke Red.

She was designed to serve as a key to the secret superweapon hidden inside of the Ziggurat, a massive skyscraper created by Duke Red to supposedly help mankind achieve a higher power. She has no recollection of who or what she is and believes herself to be a human. Duke Red's adopted son Rock Holmes is hateful and jealous of Tima, stopping at nothing to track her down and kill her.

She befriends Kenichi Shikishima, as she escapes the pursuit of Rock and makes her way through the city.

## Appearance

Tima is an android, a robot completely indistinguishable from a human. Her appearance is directly modeled after Duke Red's dead daughter. She has short blonde hair and large green eyes. She is initially naked, save for an oversized plaid jacket which covers most of her body. She later wears a pinkish-white shirt and light green pants, which were donated to her by rebel laborers, and as such are also oversized.

The craftsmanship on her appearance is so advanced and convincing, that even Rock, someone who detests robots, comments on how sophisticated and well designed of a robot she is.

## Personality

Tima is initially unaware of what she is, where she is, who she is, or what even what her name is. She understands language but not proper grammar, so she had to be taught by Kenichi how to refer to herself and people around her. She is a very fast learner, and quickly picks up on the world and things she is surrounded by. She slowly develops a sense of self, believing herself to simply be a lost human child.

She is highly compassionate and has a strong set of morals. Upon witnessing the laborer insurrection, and the mangled corpse of a robot in the aftermath, she questions why humans are so quick to resort to violence and barbaric actions. She even shows a humorous side as she laughs about her clothes being way too oversized.

Her personality takes an extremely dark turn when she finally discovers her true identity and reason for creation. She is unable to accept the reality of being a war machine, and beings crying, apparently suffering from a psychotic breakdown. She attempts a genocide against humanity, and even attempts to strangle Kenichi to death, despite their very close friendship. Upon nearing her death, she accepts her identity as a robot.

## Biography

Tima was the young daughter of Duke Red, the most powerful, wealthy, and influential man in Metropolis. She died in an unspecified incident (likely related to a previous war) leaving Duke Red heartbroken and in a state of severe depression.

Many years later, Duke Red unveils a massive skyscraper and secret weapon known as the Ziggurat. While the Ziggurat was under construction, Red ordered the scientist Dr. Laughton to begin creation on Tima. While under construction, she was housed in Laughton's remote laboratory in the lower levels of the city.

Nearing Tima's completion, Laughton was on wanted charges for human trafficking, being tracked by Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi, two private detectives from Japan. Before Shunsaku could arrest him however, Laughton's lab was attacked by Rock Holmes, the adopted son of Duke Red, and leader of the Marduk Party, a political group and paramilitary organization that targets robots.

Upon discovering Tima, Rock became intensely jealous of her, worrying that she will steal his father's heart, as well as fearful for his father's safety, and the future of humanity where Tima would be it's ruler. Rock shoots Laughton to death, and destroys his lab, hoping that Tima will die in the process. Instead she is activated and manages to wander outside.

She is rescued from oncoming debris by Kenichi, causing them to fall into the very bottom level of the city. Alone in the sewers together, Kenichi tries to ask Tima for her name and who she is, but she simply repeats what he says. Believing her to be an amnesiac, Kenichi teachers Tima how to properly speak, and what words such as "who, me, and I" mean. They begin making their way back to the surface, but are intercepted by Rock, who discovered Tima survived. Rock tries killing them, but they manage to evade him. While hiding from Rock, Tima comes across a small red radio which she decides to keep with her.

They are eventually taken in by a group of laborers led by a rebel freedom fighter named Atlas. The laborers are aware of Rock's desire to kill them, and as such become suspicious of who they really are. One of the rebels threatens to kill them both, but Atlas prevents him from doing so. Kenichi claims to be a journalist, and gains Atlas' trust, letting him and Tima stay with them. During this time, Tima remembers her name and learns how to spell. She thanks Kenichi for teaching him everything and writes his name down so she won't forget him.

Atlas and his laborers stage a revolution against Duke Red. Tima and Kenichi bear witness to the attack, as well as the slaughter of many robots and humans alike. Tima questions why humans resort so quickly to violence and aggression. Meanwhile Duke Red uses the attack to his advantage, assassinating President Boone to become the official leader of Metropolis.

Tima and Kenichi return to the surface, where they meet with Shunsaku. Rock abruptly appears, drawing his gun at Kenichi, and commanding him to hand Tima over. Shunsaku tries to intervene, but Rock shoots him in the arm. Kenichi attacks Rock, which makes him drop his weapon, and he yells to Tima to pick the gun up. As Kenichi is beat up by Rock, Tima aims the gun at him. He mocks her, encouraging her to shoot him, as he believes a human cannot be harmed by a robot.

Duke Red arrives on the scene and scolds Rock for his disappearance. He then notices Tima standing nearby, who he believed to be dead after Laughton's lab was destroyed. Red questions Rock on how he knows of Tima's existence, to which Rock proclaims that they cannot hand the future of Metropolis over to a robot. This causes much shock for Tima, and she is sent into an existential crisis. Duke Red realizes Rock's actions, disowns him, and strips him of any command he has, ordering him to leave his sight forever.

Duke Red then takes Tima to his car, causing Tima to question if Kenichi can come with them, but the Duke simply tells her she will have a chance to see him again. Tima is then taken to a room in the Ziggurat, where she sits alone and hopes to see Kenichi again. She writes his name all over the walls and furniture of the room. A maid then enters and tells Tima that Kenichi is waiting to see her in the hallway.

She goes to see Kenichi outside, but is instead met with Rock, who has lost all power, no longer leading the Marduks. Tima confronts Rock on why he manipulated her to come see him, and asks to be taken to Kenichi. Rock simply berates her, mocking her on being a robot, to which she rebukes. Rock creepily lunges at her, and begins circling her, commenting on the craftsmanship on her appearance. Rock asks her who her father is, to which she responds Kenichi, causing Rock to burst out laughing at her.

Tima says that if he won't take her to Kenichi, then she is leaving. She begins walking away from him, causing Rock's demeanor to sharply change. He takes a device out of his pocket and grabs Tima from behind, stabbing the device into her throat, which deactivates her. The unconscious Tima is then taken to a bar and placed onto a pool table. Rock prepares to slice her head open, but he is ambushed from behind by Shunsaku, who uses a notebook he obtained from Dr. Laughton to reactivate Tima.

Shunsaku explains that Kenichi is being held somewhere, and asks Tima to put her hand out over a machine. This activates Tima's powers, and she taps into the cities powergrid, locating Kenichi, who is inside the Ziggurat. This gives away their position to Duke Red. This event causes Tima to become extremely confused about who she is, and outright asks Shunsaku if she is a robot, who gives an unclear answer. She then stares at her reflection and proclaims that she is a human, just like Kenichi is.

Tima and Shunsaku are captured by Duke Red and taken to the top of the Ziggurat. While Rock arms himself and stalks them along the way. Duke Red begins explaining Tima's purpose, and what she must do to become the guardian deity of humanity. Tima asks Red if she is a robot, to which Red replies that she is a superhuman, and that she's unlike anything else in the world. Red urges her to sit on the throne, but Shunsaku objects, stating that she will lose her human emotion and memories if she does so. Tima also objects, stating that, she cannot be what Red imagines, as she has all the emotions and compassion that this supposed deity shouldn't have.

Rock enters the room disguised as one of the Ziggurat's maids, and reveals himself. He tries to reason with his father one final time, stating that he should be the one to rule humanity from the throne, and that no robot should ever reign superiority over humans, but Duke Red refuses to listen to him. Rock, fed up and devoid of hope, draws his gun and shoots Tima in the chest, before being shot by the guards. Tima is knocked to the ground but stands back up. She then reaches down and feels the circuitry inside bullet wound on her chest.

Now realizing her true identity and purpose, Tima begins to cry and suffers a psychotic break. She tries to reach Kenichi but is overtaken by emotion and her internal functions. She sits on the throne and activates the superweapons, beginning a genocidal attack against humanity as revenge for the treatment of robots, to which she estimates only a 30% survival rate for humanity. All Robots throughout Metropolis are brought under her command and begin attacking everyone.

As everyone else runs away, Kenichi tries to reach Tima and pull her out of the throne. As the superweapon charges, mechanisms come down and begin surrounding her, cables being grafted into her back. Rock reawakens as his father is surrounded by robots. He refuses to allow his father to die at the hand of machines, and overloads the Ziggurat's weapon, which releases an explosion that kills himself, his father, and all surrounding robots. The overload causes Ziggurat to begin falling apart and collapsing.

Kenichi finally manages to pull Tima out of the throne, but her mind has been transformed by a combination of insanity and the workings of the Ziggurat. She begins attacking him, to which Kenichi flees outside. She corners him and strangles him, but her internal mechanisms overload and shutdown, causing her and Kenichi to fall to the metal beams below. Tima hangs unconscious, still grafted to the beams above. Kenichi reaches her and begins pulling her up as the cables slowly tear apart under tension. Kenichi manages to grab her hand just as the cable breaks. He tells her to grab on, as she begins to reactivate. She thinks back to the time Kenichi taught her how to speak, and asks him, "Who am I?" before falling to her death as the rest of the Ziggurat is destroyed. Below the surface of the city, the small red radio plays her voice again a final time.

Kenichi later opens a workshop named after Tima, and it is hinted at that she might've been rebuilt.

## Gallery

Tima opening her eyes for the first time.Tima is fully activated.Tima poster.Tima glowing with energy, after escaping Laughton's now destroyed lab.Tima seeing sunlight for the first time.Tima and Kenichi running through the city.Tima and Kenichi bid a dangerous and hasty escape from Rock and his Marduks.Tima sees the sun begin to rise.Tima stares at the rising sun.Tima remembers her name and thanks Kenichi.Tima pointing the gun at Rock.Rock mocks Tima on being a robot, which she does not believe.Rock shuts Tima down.Tima uses her powers to find Kenichi being held in the Ziggurat.Duke Red and Tima atop the Ziggurat." I don't understand, you have to tell me if I'm human or not. "A traumatized Tima learns the truth about her identity.Tima gone mad, corrupted by the Ziggurat and vowing revenge against the humans.The Ziggurat's power tears Tima's face apart.The halfway wrecked, vengeful Tima chases Kenichi to the roof of the Ziggurat.Kenichi pleads with Tima, but the newly crowned goddess attacks him.Tima nearing her death.A still from the end of the film, showing "Kenichi and Tima" A workshop where an incomplete Tima stands in the window, being repaired by Kenichi. Interestingly, this frame was omitted from the North American release.Kenichi repairing Tima.