| Cyborg 003 | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Full Name |
Françoise Arnoul |
|
Designated No. |
003 |
|
Origin |
France |
|
Abilities |
Enhanced hearing |
|
Occupation |
Intelligence agent for France |
|
Seiyuu |
Chiwa Saito |
|
English VA |
Erin Fitzgerald |
Françoise Arnoul, aka "Cyborg 003", is one of the nine protagonists of the 2012 CGI film 009 Re:Cyborg.
Appearance[]
Françoise Arnoul is a slender woman with green eyes; shoulder-length, light orange hair; and a somewhat large bust. She's never seen without her iconic red headband.
For a majority of the film, she is first seen wearing a white suit jacket with a dark gray, laced collar; a white pencil skirt. and dark leg stockings with a black flower motif. She later wears a red dress with a high collar and lace-like cut-out exposing her chest.
Later on, she starts wearing a modern version of the iconic 00 Cyborg outfit, a militaristic, double-breasted uniform with a bright yellow scarf. Unlike her male teammates, her uniform is a brighter red, and it opens from the opposite side (reflecting how differently mens' and womens' jackets are designed to open).
Abilities[]
Similar to her previous incarnations, Françoise has enhanced hearing and sight, allowing her to detect enemies from miles away, even through "perfect" defenses. With the aid of a special chair and a pair of advanced binoculars, she can locate anyone she wishes from any place in the world.
It is implied that she has technopathic abilities as well, as she can gather information through contact with any piece of technology. When using this power, one of her eyes lights up in a neon green shade.
History[]
Françoise's history prior to becoming 003 remains vague in this incarnation. It is known that she and the other cyborgs rebelled against Black Ghost, and had various battles and adventures until 1986, when the team was disbanded.
27 years later, Françoise would be called back into action to locate Joe Shimamura, who had been routinely mindwiped by Dr. Gilmore to believe that he was a normal high school student. When Joe had undergone the mindwiping, Françoise opted to implant an A.I. construct known as Tomoe inside his mind, as a substitute for herself that would accompany him and act as his girlfriend. This addition to Joe's "augmented reality" would not be known by Dr. Gilmore or anyone else.
At some point, she had also discovered the fossil of an angel, which she kept stored in an apartment in Venice without informing the rest of the team of her finding.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- "009 RE: Cyborg" marks the second instance Françoise has gained a new power in addition to her hearing and sight; in the anime adaptation of "Conclusion: GOD'S War" (which had some of its details sourced from Shotaro Ishinomori's development notes), she gains precognitive abilities as well as an enhanced version of her main powers.
- While Françoise appeared to have blonde hair in early concept art for the film and still appears blonde in her very first scene, the decision was made to give her red hair for whatever reason. Her dress and business suit also originally appeared as black in concept art (see Gallery), but had their colors tweaked as well. Interestingly enough, her hair remains blonde in artwork for Gato Asou's manga tie-in to the film.
- An early developmental design of Françoise, seen in Mamoru Oshii's 2010 CGI short Cyborg 009: The REopening, had her lacking her signature headband and had her hair depicted as being in a blonde bob cut. She also spoke some brief lines of French, with the voice actress Karen Strassman providing them.
- In the earliest concept of the film, Françoise's chronological age was stated to be 58 years old, and Oshii's initial vision was for her to also have physically aged. The middle-aged idea was thrown out for Cyborg 009: The REOpening, and Kenji Kamiyama opted to entirely discard her being 58, allowing for her chronological age to be more ambiguous.
- While the film goes with the idea of 1986 being the team's last adventure, the short manga "Setting Off" conflicts with this some, having it appear to take place in the early 1990s (due to a comment made by 004 about Germany being reunified), which might bring it closer in line in taking place after "Emergency Simulation 1992" than after "The People Drifting Between Space and Time".
- Françoise's exact connection to the Tomoe character is only revealed in supplemental interviews by Kenji Kamiyama. In some tie-in adaptations, Tomoe is excised, allowing Françoise's role to be more straightforward.