Tachikoma Varieties

Major Motoko Kusanagi and Batou standing on or near a red Fuchikoma mobile combat unit from Shirow Masamune's original Ghost in the Shell manga

Tachikoma are based off the Fuchikoma that appeared in the original Ghost in the Shell manga by Shirow Masamune. However, they are not the same type of mobile combat support units. Rather, the Tachikoma are a bit taller, and have multiple lenses, while the Fuchikoma from the manga only had one lens.

A blue Tachikoma unit from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, holding two fans with the Japanese flag emblem on them. This amusing behavior is characteristic of the AI-enabled mobile combat units.

As far as the Artificial Intelligence goes, some fans have observed that the Tachikoma seem more human-like, and thus more willing to defend their human counterparts in Section 9, while the Fuchikoma were more serious.

Most of the Tachikoma that appeared in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and 2nd Gig are painted blue, but a few get repainted silver and yellow. They are sometimes equipped with different weapons to suit their purpose, such as a Gatling gun.

A model kit for an Uchikoma mobile combat unit from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, featuring character Batou leaning on the Ucikoma's bodyThe subsequent series of AI-equipped combat support vehicles are the Uchikoma. They appear to be a hybrid between the manga’s Fuchikoma and the anime’s Tachikoma, utilizing a horizontal “body” and a single lens (from the Fuchikoma) and the four legs (from the Tachikoma). The Uchikoma is painted a standard military green.