<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

A Tachikoma is an AI-controlled light tank/walker in the Ghost in the Shell series, used by Public Security Section 9.

Resembling large spiders, tachikoma are car-sized robot walkers with 4 legs and two "arms" which have self-contained weapons. Tachikoma are essentially a walking swiss-army knife, containing a large degree of equipment for use in support roles for government counter-terrorism units. Tachikoma can walk using their four legs but can also move using wheels at the tip of each leg. They are surprisingly agile, capable of jumping between skyscrapers very nimblely. They are outfited with grappling hooks, glue-guns, etc. allowing them a great degree of motion.

Tachikoma weapon systems include chainguns, RPG-launchers, and thermoptic camouflage to render them invisible. They are also useful at electronic infiltration.

Although tachikomas can be piloted directly by a human in their internal cockpit, they can just as easily operate independently of human control. Tachikomas are capable of speaking, usually in excited child-like voices, and are roughly as emotionally mature as children.

However, tachikoma AI are among the most advanced in the world. While humanoid androids have become commonplace in Japan by the 2030's, none of them are truly sentient and can be made to crash using simple logic loops ("I always say the truth; the preceding statement was a lie", etc.). Tachikoma, meanwhile, stand on the verge of true human-level sapience. In addittion to their original advanced design, the tachikomas have been allowed a large degree of operational freedom while working for Section 9. Arguably, allowing them to have so much real-world life experience and unrestricted action eventually allowed the tachikomas to achieve true sapience and "free will".

During the middle of the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Major Kusanagi became increasingly concerned at the growth of the tachikomas' AI level. Kusanagi soon discovered that when the tachikomas sensed that she was upset with them, they began actively bugging Section 9's entire base, because they were worried that she was planning to have them all scrapped and wanted news about whether she would deactivate them or not. This independent action only alarmed Kusanagi even more, and after tricking the tachikomas into inaction, had them all shipped back to the lab and disassembled (even though they had not turned against Section 9 and were still ardently loyal to them with their new-found free-wills). However, when Section 9 later came under attack from corrupt elements of their own government, the Major and Batou's lives were saved by some tachikomas that sacrificed themselves to protect them. Because of this, in season 2 (2nd GIG) the Major had the remaining tachikomas reassembled and reinstated as members of Section 9.

At the end of Season 2, the entire tachikoma squad sacrificed itself to save Nagasaki from a nuclear blast during an armed uprising, and were replaced by the fuchikomas. Fuchikomas do not have AI that is anywhere near as advanced as that of the independently-minded tachikomas.

However, during Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society it is revealed that the AI of the tachikomas survived by downloading themselves into cyberspace, thus outlasting the destruction of their physical bodies.