Public Security Section 9 (organization)

Public Security Section 9, also referred to as Public Safety Section 9 in some translations, is an intelligence department under the Ministry of Home Affairs from Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell anime and manga series. In the original movie, it is known as the Shell Squad or Security Police Section 9.

Its operatives are trained in various methods ranging from investigations to cyberwarfare, as their structure was based on the German GSG-9. They had cross-training exercises in the past with the British SAS's 22nd Regiment.

History

Public Security Section 9 was established as a search and rescue organization. Officially billed as an international organization, it is actually a counter-terrorist network and anti-crime unit operating in the Japanese National Public Safety Commission. Its operatives are allowed to act with or without government consent as they are almost unknown to the public eye. In particular, Section 9 and its members are among the best cyber warfare operatives in the country, and as a result usually end up involved in case relating to the internet, such as hacking and cyberterrorism.

Ghost in the Shell

Major Motoko Kusanagi was dispatched by Section 9 to spy on a building in New Port City. A foreign power is conspiring to recruit a domestic engineer to fix the Project 2501 "bug". The team moves in while Major activates her therm-optic camouflage. The foreign official refuses to return the engineer, while Kusanagi moves in and kills him.

Stand Alone Complex

During the investigation of the Laughing Man case, Major Kusanagi posed as the Laughing Man in order to uncover a conspiracy held against the Micro Machine company by the Japanese government. After higher-ranking government officials uncovered information about the investigation conducted by Section 9, the government disbanded the agency and declared war on them.

In preparation for an attack on their headquarters by the Umibozu's shock troopers and their Type 303 Armed Suit robots, all remaining Section 9 members barricaded themselves into the building and fought the invaders with all the heavy weaponry they could muster. Failing that, they assembled a diversion and escaped through a passage located in the sewers of New Port City They are all eventually captured, with the Major apparently killed.

Togusa spent the next three months wondering what happened to the rest, before suddenly meeting up with Batou. The whole thing turned out to be one of Aramaki's brilliant plans, sacrificing Section 9 in order to leave the prime suspect wide-open to arrest, investigation and prosecution. Everyone, including the Major, is perfectly fine, and Aramaki is in the process of rebuilding and securing funding for the newly-reborn Section 9, which does not happen until 2nd GIG.

2nd GIG

The 2nd season starts with Section 9 still not existing in an official capacity because of an amendment to the Special Forces Bill. The first episode involves a hostage situation in which eleven terrorists, who call themselves the Individual Eleven, hold up the Chinese Embassy demanding a swift change in the Refugee Action Policy. In other words, they demand the freedom of the refugees from the stand point that refugees drain the country. The previous PM of Japan issued a temporary bill that allowed for the entrance of refugees into certain zones, but the bill was never repealed. Because the new PM, Kayabuki, planned to repeal the policy soon, she had to act quickly on the terrorists before their demands became known in order to make sure it didn't seem like she was caving in to terrorist pressure.

Section 9 is promised full reestablishment, and the approval of their new budget proposal that includes the reinstatement of think tanks (Tachikomas), on the condition that there are no hostage casualties in the process of stopping the terrorists before the press blackout runs out. From this point on the 2nd season goes on to focus on the refugee issue from multiple perspectives, along with providing missing background information on almost all of the characters.

Visible signs of stand alone complex crimes focused on Japanese refugee policies start occurring that seem to be influenced by a third party.

Solid State Society

Section 9 has been radically reformed after the Major leaves in order to pursue investigations of her own. The section has increased in size, and is now run by Togusa, because Batou declined the position. Solid State Society starts off by focusing on the cyberbrain suicides of members of a terrorist organization that gained asylum in Japan. This case leads into the finding that around twenty thousand children may have been abducted. The mastermind behind the crimes is known as "The Puppeteer," and is classified as a Wizard Class Hacker.

Location

Public Security Section 9 is located in the Japanese city of Niihama-shi (also known as New Port City). The exact location of Section 9's headquarters is held as top-secret and is only known by the Japanese government and Section 9 employees. Their building is known to the public as a false security company.

Section 9 Headquarters facilities include a rooftop helipad, underground car park, Operator-managed control room, cyber-warfare and information gathering room, holding cells, meeting rooms and Tachikoma/Fuchikoma/Uchikoma workshop.

Members

Section 9 operatives as seen from the OP of 2nd GiG. From left to right: Boma, Ishikawa, Batou, Motoko Kusanagi, Togusa, Saito, Pazu. Yano and Azuma are not present.

Agent	Speciality	Description
Daisuke Aramaki	Lieutenant Colonel Section Chief	Head of Section 9 and advisor to Prime Minister Yoko Kayabuki. He and two other friends he served with under Colonel Tonouda were known as the Tonouda Three. Aramaki also has a brother that he has not seen in years.
Motoko Kusanagi	Major Field Commander	Female cyborg and squad leader. She is a highly skilled melee fighter and one of the world's most skilled hackers and net divers. She is also the tactical leader of Section 9. When describing her, the Chief said her abilities are rarer than ESP. She has a lot of military connections, and is the kind of person that sections of the government hire to assassinate without leaving a trace. She can control two prosthetic bodies at once.
Ishikawa	Covert Intelligence and Technology Executive Officer	Ishikawa is the covert intelligence and technology specialist. Like Togusa and Saito, he has a low prosthetic percentage. Ishikawa is a master at recognizing data manipulation, along with being highly skilled at hacking in general.
Batou	Lead Investigator	Batou is an ex-ranger. Although not officially stated, he seems to jointly hold the position of 3rd in command with Ishikawa. He served in the military with Motoko and Ishikawa (under both of them), and has visibly cybernetic eyes that are used by rangers, improved strength from cybernetic arms, legs, and also contains other unlisted parts (these parts are not stated, but they can be implied). He primarily does field work with Togusa, and takes point for the major on serious occasions.
Togusa	Investigator/2nd Field Commander	Togusa is mostly human, having only cybernetic memory upgrades and other small brain implants. To Section 9, Togusa is a reminder to them all of true humanity, because he is the most like a normal person compared to the rest of Section 9. He has a family, and strong moral beliefs that visibly get in his way. He primarily does work with Batou, but also investigates on his own at times. Togusa often plays the role of the idealist in Ghost in the Shell, and could easily be said to be the least likely to win in a fight against anyone else in Section 9.
Pazu	Investigator	Before joining the Public Security Commission, Pazu was rumored to have been involved with several yakuza gangs. He usually teams up with Borma. Pazu seems like a superficial character, but you find that there is truly more to him. He is the kind of person that says "I never sleep with the same woman twice," but his basis for such is later found to be that he does not want to pull others into the world he lives in.
Borma	Spotter, Investigator, and bomb specialist	Borma usually handles rear support for the rest of the unit and handles heavy weaponry during assignments. Borma does field work with Pazu, and information gathering with Ishikawa. Borma's character easily gets the least attention of any member of Section 9.
Saito	Tactical Sniper	Saito is Section 9's primary tactical sniper, and also a class A super sniper, known to have been a mercenary in the South American campaign. Saito possesses a long-range cybernetic eye called a Hawkeye that can be used for extreme accuracy by making use of satellite linked imaging data. Saito was recruited by the Major while they were on opposing sides. Saito has the second lowest prosthetic percentage in Section 9, but later starts getting new parts due to the requirements of his line of work.
Azuma	Recruit/Field Agent	One of Section 9's newly recruited field operatives from JGSDF intelligence. He was advised to the chief through a friend.
Yano	Recruit	One of Section 9's newly recruited rookie and field operatives alongside Azuma.
Tech Specialists	Tachikoma Maintenance Technological forensics and observation	These guys do Tachikoma maintenance and overall oversight of them. They also provide forensic data, and overall observations on technology.

AI Personnel

Unit	Specialty	Description
Fuchikoma	Think Tanks	A 1-man tank (walker/roller) used by members of Section 9 of the National Public Safety Commission in Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell. They have four legs and two simple hands with three fingers on extensible arms which double as machine guns. Additional armament consists of either a grenade launcher or heavy machine gun mounted in the tanks "mouth" under its large optical sensor. They possess a simple artificial intelligence and can act independently to support their user in combat. When not in use, they exhibit a childlike personality and provide much of the humor in the series, while also being used to elaborate on Shirow's philosophy and ideas. Fuchikomas were replaced with Tachikoma's in the Stand Alone Complex anime due to copyright problems.
Tachikoma	Think Tanks	These experimental tanks are used during combat missions and are equipped with a 7.62x51mm light machine gun built into the right arm and an optional 50mm grenade launcher or 12.7mm rotary cannon mounted on a central hardpoint. They can be ridden in like a vehicle and controlled from inside, or remotely through the net. Their systems are universally linked through a central satellite where they develop AI traits similar to young girls.
Uchikoma	Think Tanks	These tanks are covered with ultra-heavy armor (unlike the Tachikoma units) in the Stand Alone Complex anime, in which they appear at the end of the second season and during the Solid State Society film. Uchikoma's also appear in the last scene of 2nd Gig. Uchikoma's never reach a state similar to Tachikomas, because the surroundings that they exist in do not provide the requirements for an advancement from AI to individual.
Operators	Operators	Are an advanced line of gynoids designed to handle the day-to-day matters within Section 9. Although they look human, Their AI operating systems are not sophisticated enough to process complex logical problems. The Tachikomas demonstrated their own superiority by causing an Operator to experience a crash using the Liar paradox. Operators confirm commands by repeating them back to humans. Operators can act together as a parallel processor network.
Proto	Tachikoma's Maintenance Technician /Field Agent in Solid State Society	Proto can also be used as an Operator. It is later discovered that he is in fact an experimental bioroid, and Proto stands for prototype. He holds a higher position than operators and provides a position similar to assistant to the Chief late into 2nd Gig, and also during Solid State Society.