10 Best Anime Androids

Summary Androids in anime explore complex themes like identity and societal integration.

Characters like Chi in Chobits and Reg in Made in Abyss blur lines between human and Android.

Android characters, such as 18 in Dragon Ball Z, showcase depth and evolution in unique ways.

Androids are a perfect story piece in anime. They're a great way of tackling a handful of unique and otherwise complicated topics head on, including trans-humanism, identity, and even good, old-fashioned power struggles. Androids can be some of the simplest characters in anime, with a single-minded goal like killing Goku, or some of the most complex, with backstories so rich you have a hard time distinguishing them from their human counterparts.

No matter what an Android's motivation, they're probably just trying to fit into the world they've been created in. Androids usually feel unwelcome by the very society that built them and spend their existences wrestling with these feelings. If they're lucky, they can hide the fact that they're unlike their human counterparts and blend right into society. Unless they want to use their Android status and stand out, that is.

10 Gesicht - Pluto

A Noir Detective Takes On The World Of Astro Boy

Pluto is an incredible anime that is adapted almost entirely from the original Astro Boy manga and anime, specifically the "The Greatest Robot on Earth" arc. It's a noir-style detective twist on the original series that portays the characters and story itself in an entirely different light. Gesicht, also known as Gerhart in the manga and Zeron in the 1980s anime, is the lead detective investigating a string of brutal murders happening to a very specific group - the strongest robots on earth.

Gesicht is an interesting character and the fact that he's an Android only adds to it. He's made out of an incredibly durable metal alloy called "Zeronium" that makes him nearly indestructible and immune to electricity. He spends most of the series with memories locked deep inside his head and feelings of immense remorse, two factors usually alien to Androids, giving him depth most of his metal compatriots can't even imagine.

9 Chi - Chobits

Chi Is As Curious As It Gets

Chi is a persocom, or person-like computer, that craves knowledge and the affection of her boyfriend/owner Hideki Motosuwa. In Chobits, Chi is also a Chobit. She's a legendary personal computer that can feel emotions just like a human and can even love. But how real is love from a personal computer anyway? Chobits explores this theme with depth and grace, showing that Chi can feel just as much as her human friends. Chi is even capable of deep, seemingly human moments, questioning what being human really is.

Chi has a natural curiousity for the world around her and strives to understand it better. This can lead to very funny moments, like when Chi finds Hideki's PlayBoy magazines and recreates the poses. Towards the end of the series, once Chi has had a chance to learn about the world around her, it's hard to distinguish her from any other real person walking around.

8 Pino - Ergo Proxy

Pino Realizes She's Been A Real Girl All This Time

At the start of Ergo Proxy, Pino is left with a cruel fate. She's an AutoReiv bought by Raul Creed and Samantha Ross to compensate for the fact that they weren't allowed to have a real child. When the series begins, however, Raul earns the family the right to have a real child, making his wife want to get rid of their mechanical-daughter. Before they have a chance, Pino gets infected with the Cogito Virus, giving her a new awareness.

It's ironic that Pino's awareness comes from a 'virus'. Awareness is a key trope related to Androids, and gaining it isn't always a good thing. Luckily, Pino meets with two great partners in Vincent Law and Re-l Mayer, who allow her to be the child she thinks she is. Or the child she really is, depending on the perspective.

7 2B and 9S - Nier: Automata Ver1.1a

What Is Life If Not An Accumulation Of Memories?

Nier: Automata Ver1.1a adapts the video game Nier: Automata wonderfully. It captures the game's themes of identity, purpose, and nihilism succinctly and even adds beautiful set pieces just for the anime. 2B and 9S are the protagonists of both iterations, serving two brutal lives over and over again. 9S is a scanner-type Android who might be a little too curious for his own good, as he keeps finding The Bunker's secrets. 2B, also known as 2E, is an executioner-type model tasked with destroying her partner again and again.

Nier: Automata Ver1.1a tells one of the most twisted love stories in anime. 2B constantly falls in love with 9S only to be tasked with killing him. He is then restored to a previous version of himself with no memory of the secrets he found, his own death, or even his love for 2B.

6 Nano Shinonome - Nichijou

Androids Don't Have To Be Serious

Nichijou is an adorable slice-of-life anime that features a wide cast of characters living their best lives. Nano Shinomone is one of the main characters in Nichijou and certainly one of the most unique. Nano looks like a regular girl, but she's actually a 2-year-old Android. She does everything she can to hide her more robotic side from the world, but its not always that easy. She has some of the most interesting Android abilities on this list, including her rollcake dispenser, sweetbun dispenser, and removable toes.

Nano Shinonome might be one of the only Androids around with 1GB of data storage in her feet. She also might be one of the only Androids to be able to shoot the toes off of her foot. At the end of the day, however, she really just wants to be a normal girl like her friends.

5 Reg - Made in Abyss

An Android With A Mysterious Past

Made in Abyss is a pretty bleak anime with light enough tones to keep the story progressing. While the main characters are faced with the daunting task of heading down into The Abyss, they don't let it affect their mood. Reg is always trying his best to keep his cool. He likes Riko and wants to protect her no matter the dangers they come across. Reg's ability to try his hardest even during the scariest situations makes him a dependable friend, and the Incinerator attached to his arm makes him an even better Android.

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While Reg has extendable arms, increased awareness and durability, and a host of other Android-esque abilities, his greatest qualities are human. He's brave, dependable, and willing to go to incredible lengths for his friends. Those are three great signs for anyone, metal or not.

4 Genos - One Punch Man

Saitama's Disciple Is Also One Of The Strongest

Custom image by J.R. Waugh

Genos is one of the most fun Androids in anime because of his absurd power and one-track-mindedness to follow Saitama. All Genos wants to do is get stronger and who better to learn from than the man who can destroy anything with a single punch? While Genos is technically a cyborg, he has the personality and build of a human with the machinery of a robot, granting him temporary Android status for this list. His machinery is impressive too, as he's seen obliterating some of the strongest monsters in One Punch Man.

3 Cell - Dragon Ball Z

The Bio-Android Who Just Won't Quit

Cell is one of the most interesting villains in anime. He started out as an incredibly weak, vulnerable pest before turning into the greatest threat the world ever faced, not once, but twice. As the creation of Dr. Gero, Cell is a mixture of Android machinery and biomechanical life, giving him the moniker "Bio-Android". Unlike his siblings Android 16, 17, and 18, Cell never comes around to the good side and remains a problem the entire series.

In Dragon Ball Z, Cell consumes his sibling Androids to evolve into the ultimate threat. It takes Gohan going Super Saiyan 2 for the first time to stop him, and even then, Goku has to sacrifice himself just to stop Cell from destroying the Earth. In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Gohan yet again needed to unlock an even deeper level of his power to stop Cell MAX, entering the Gohan Beast form for the first time and dispatching his foe yet again.

2 Astro Boy (Mighty Atom) - Astro Boy

The Grandfather Of Animated Androids

Before there was Cell to worry about, or Genos to defeat bad guys, there was Astro. The Mighty Atom (as the Japanese name of the series translates) has one of the most tragic backstories in anime. He was initially created by Dr. Umataro Tenma to replace his dead son, Tobio Tenma. When Dr. Umataro realized that an Android couldn't replace his son, he got rid of the robot, selling him to a robot circus where he fought other robots.

Astro was eventually saved by Dr. Hiroshi Ochanomizu, leading to a wonderful life as a hero saving the people he cares about. Astro was one of the first characters on screen to question what a person is made of. He's brave, deeply caring, and appreciates humanity even after everything they've done to him. Without Astro, there might not be as many Androids on-screen as there are now.

1 Android 18 - Dragon Ball Z

The Cool and Ruthless Android Icon

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Android 18 is smart, confident, and above all else, deadly. When the Z Fighters first met her, she's a wild killing machine with no real goal other than killing Goku. After she gets rid of her old master, Dr. Gero, fights Cell, and marries the love of her life in Krillin, her personality changes completely. Well, not completely, as there's no No. 18 without a biting, witty sense of humor.

In Dragon Ball Super, Android 18's evolution is complete as she's constantly seen doting on her daughter (and more rarely on her husband too). Her face even blushes when Krillen admits that she and their daughter Marron are the greatest treasures he could ever hope for. Android 18 was deadly when she first appeared in Dragon Ball Z, and has since had one of the greatest character arcs in anime. Her ability to be ruthlessly cold and humanly warm at the same time gives her a level of depth most other characters don't have, Android or not.