Operator (Ghost in the Shell)

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An Operator is a fictional operator in Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series. The operators are an advanced line of gynoids designed to handle the day-to-day matters within Public Security Section 9 as well to assist its personnel in their missions, and wear office lady-style suits. In one episode, additional operators are seen coming out of the walls to replace disabled units during a particularly strenuous task, suggesting that Section 9 has many in backup and that the units are switched regularly.

[edit] Overview

Operator units are programmed with human-like emotions, including voice inflections, typically human reactions (one is quoted as saying "Huh?" and looking confused when it is told to pick up a person who has left the scene suddenly and is no longer in sight) and human-like body language. The Tachikoma units comment on these as looking "fake", especially a "thinking pose" one Operator assumes when trying to answer a question. Because of the operators' willingness to be put in danger by the members of Section 9 they receive quite a bit of scorn from the Tachikomas, who at that time were beginning to develop their own personalities and possibly even their own ghosts.

The units appear to have no combat capabilities of their own, though they are used as a diversion in the episode Cash Eye when two units are sent into the basement to distract the guards while a disk of knockout-gas is deployed from the elevator. They are equipped with a feature commonly-seen on work-centric cyborgs and machines; hands that can deploy a considerable number of internal rod-like "fingers", enabling them to operate computer keyboards many times faster than normal. This feature however only appears to be used during particularly-demanding tasks.

[edit] Problems

Despite being advanced AIs, they are unable to resolve simple paradoxes like the Tachikomas can. In particular, the classic liar paradox of What I am saying is a lie was used by the tachikomas (episode "Time of the Machines or MACHINES DÉSIRANTES"). The result was that the target Operator seized up, locked into an infinite loop while repeating "I.. Um" over and over. This is similar to the Star Trek episode, "I, Mudd", in which the robotic units are disabled by creating the same paradox.

Ghost in the Shell view • talk • edit
Manga:	Ghost in the Shell • Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface • Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human Error Processor
Film series:	Ghost in the Shell • Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence• Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society
Stand Alone Complex series:	S.A.C. (Season 1) • S.A.C. 2nd GiG (Season 2) • S.A.C. Solid State Society (Movie) • Tachikomatic Days (Omake) • List of episodes
Novels:	After the Long Goodbye • The Lost Memory • Revenge of the Cold Machines • White Maze
Video Games:	Ghost in the Shell • Stand Alone Complex
Music:	Megatech Body Co. • Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. • be Human • Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2 • Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3 • S.A.C. Solid State Society O.S.T.
Characters:	Daisuke Aramaki • Azuma • Batou • Borma • Kazundo Gouda • Ishikawa • Yoko Kayabuki • Motoko Kusanagi • Hideo Kuze • Laughing Man • Pazu • Project 2501 • Proto • Saito • Togusa • Yano • Kugutsu Mawashi
Technology:	Armed suit • Cyberbrain • Fuchikoma • Operator • Tachikoma • Think tank
Other:	Public Security Section 9 • List of organizations • Philosophy of Ghost in the Shell • Seburo • New Port City • American Empire • Masamune Shirow