Daisuke Aramaki

A partial cyborg whose only artificial component is his cyberbrain, Aramaki stands notably short at just over five feet and keeps a full head of white hair. His features, drawn in the manga to look part man and part ape, earned him the affectionate label of old ape among his subordinates. A running gag even has him lifting that hair to reveal the metal beneath, a sight that badly unsettles Batou.

Aramaki runs Section 9 with a firm, exacting hand, yet his sternness masks a deep loyalty to his people. He will stake his own career to keep the team alive and out of harm's way. Officials across the government, Kubota among them, respect his cunning and his talent for negotiation, gifts he turns against conspiracies and institutional rot at every opportunity.

Throughout Stand Alone Complex he guards the unit against cover-ups and crooked authorities. In 2nd GIG he leans on his connections and bargains with the incoming prime minister, Yoko Kayabuki, to see Section 9 reinstated, then oversees the pursuit of Kazundo Gouda and the Cabinet Intelligence Service while tracking Hideo Kuze's refugee uprising. His personal life carries old wounds: he once helped put his mentor, Colonel Tonoda, behind bars, and his estranged brother Yousuke later surfaces alongside Kuze. Accounts across the series note several marriages and even grandchildren. In Rupert Sanders' 2017 adaptation, Takeshi Kitano takes the role, helping Mira Killian search for her past and, unusually for the character, stepping into actual combat.