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Ping Wu ( ピング・ウー Pingu Ū?), AKA the "Weasel" (ウィーゼル U~īzeru?), is the most notorious and wanted hacker in the Solar System. Along with his partner, Martin Tsang, AKA the "Skunk", the two were an unbeatable combination until Aga Mbadi, using the abilities of his three brain bio-chips, appeared on the net as "Trinidad" and forced Ping into hiding and Martin to retire from hacking and go straight.

Ping lived in exile in Robo-Asyl for a century, where he influenced the robots' culture and identity. After he rescued Alita and her companions, Ping partnered up with her to break into Ketheres during the Tenth Zenith of Things Tournament (ZOTT), becoming a key support member of the Space Angels.

Appearance[]

Characterized by his scruffy appearance, Ping has shoulder-length black hair and perpetual stubble on his chin. He typically wears a reversed baseball cap and black polo neck sweater, pants and shoes in addition to sunglasses and a light colored trench coat. Ping has worn a light colored space suit with a pair of additional arms, although when he was younger he was shown wearing a standard suit and was clean-shaven.[2] Due to a prior incident involving the man known as Trinidad, he has a prosthetic left forearm and hand. This hand was a semi-independent robot named Kale who assisted him with hacking and various tasks. Following his second confrontation with Trinidad in ES 591, Kale was destroyed by an Eclipse attack and Ping was forced to amputate both his right arm and left leg to thwart further uses of it against him. An illustration by Yukito Kishiro for the 2003 Ultra Jump calendar depicts Ping as being slightly tanned, wearing his space suit and a dark green baseball cap.[3]

When in cyberspace, Ping used two avatars. The first had a cylindrical body on top of which was Ping's head with a half-spherical hat. Galeed, his combat avatar, was a gigantic figure with a jester-like appearance. It had a dark body with pointed white feet and various light patterns all over in a manner similar to Tron.

Personality[]

As a hacker and criminal, Ping had become somewhat of a scoundrel following his defeat by Trinidad. However he followed his own values and was not deliberately exploitative, although he was sometimes unable to understand how his actions negatively impacted others. It is implied that he used to be a more idealistic person but became jaded through his experiences. After learning how the world had come to be and learning of Alita's role in it, Ping's outlook changed and he was willing to sacrifice himself in order to help her fulfill her goals, as he knew that doing so would help achieve his. This and his earlier determination to attempt to change the state of the world nearly singe-handedly despite the possible consequences suggest that he had developed a martyr complex.

Abilities[]

Ping was already an extremely talented hacker at a young age, at 21 stealing Methuselyzation from a Venusian lab and posting it on the interplanetary net in ES 386.[2] He could hack using what appeared to be a neural interface which allowed him to operate even if he were to lose his hands. Although overmatched by Trinidad, Ping's capabilities are more impressive when it is kept in mind that he did not have the support of three brain bio-chips and was just using his own brain. He was able to hack into the Ketheres surveillance network undetected and spy on LADDER sessions to keep himself abreast of developments.

Relationships[]

Rem Rei[]

Rem Rei and Ping met during his hacker days, and she was drawn to him because of his appeal as a hero in certain circles. She attempted to stop him from tackling Trinidad, but Ping forged ahead and because of Rem's actions, suffered a crushing defeat.[2] However the first thing he did on returning to Leviathan I was to seek Rem out and try to reconcile with her. The shock of seeing him again was initially too much for Rem, she had moved on and turned Ping down. After she later learned from him that he too had moved on from his former idealism, she said goodbye and walked away. However after Ping was attacked by High Order troops on Mbadi's orders, Porta-Nova contacted Rem to help Ping out and she rushed over to the Space Angels' base ship, taking charge of him from that point on.

Martin Tsang[]

Martin was Ping's partner in crime for years and the two were unstoppable until the arrival of Trinidad. Martin was in on Ping's plan to attack the first ZOTT in ES 491, but at some point cut and run, leaving Ping to face Trinidad alone. He survived, but lost his left forearm in the process to escape Trinidad's counter-hacking.[4][2] Ping felt betrayed at being left in the lurch and nursed his grudge for a century while in exile. When he returned to Leviathan I, he proceeded to beat up on Martin, who felt so guilty at what he had done to Ping that he tolerated this at first. However when Ping claimed that what Martin owned was his for having created the world that now existed, Martin began to fight back, with the two pounding each other until they were exhausted. However after Ping vowed to storm Ketheres again, this time prepared to die, the two reconciled and began cooperating again. Although Martin had retired from hacking, he played a key support role by acting as the Space Angels' sponsor and providing a cargo ship, Martin Company Cargo 502 that served as their base during the ZOTT. The ship was outfitted with a sophisticated computer terminal and workstation for Ping's use.

Aga Mbadi[]

It is unclear what caused him to resent Aga Mbadi, but Ping harbored a grudge against him. This would be reciprocated and the two would become embroiled in a feud that lasted for many years, with Ping only surviving the attempt on his life by amputating one of his arms. Hundreds of years later, he was not surprised that Mbadi was the man known as Trinidad and was still nursing a grudge.

Kale[]

Ping created Kale to act as both his prosthetic hand and partner. The two worked well together and Kale always deferred to Ping regardless of what was happening, calling him "Boss".

Landa Nam Nam[]

During the century that he spent in Robo-Asyl, Ping formed a friendship with Landa Nam Nam, the leader of the robots and the most intelligent. Besides naming Landa, Ping also passed on his beliefs, both good and bad, creating a culture for the robots. Things came to a head when Landa tried to re-evict Alita and her companions after they had been cast out and rescued by Ping. After confronting Landa, Ping decided to leave Robo-Asyl and returned to the human world once again. Out of consideration for their friendship, Landa shut himself off for 24 hours to give Ping a window in which to act. When Alita returned two months later during Round 2 of the ZOTT, Landa denied Ping access to the robot entrance that he had planned to have her use and firmly refused to aid Ping again since their friendship was now over. However following Ping's second battle with Trinidad, which Landa witnessed, he was moved to help Ping in whatever way he could, and had his robots recover Alita's remains. After her bio-chip was fused with the Fata Morgana by Melchizedek, the robots delivered her reconstituted brain and the F-Box to Deckman 100.

Alita[]

Alita's spirited, but futile stand against Mbadi got Ping's notice and he decided to help her when she and the others were tossed into space as he saw a chance to fulfill his long time goal of striking at Mbadi. Although their alliance was entered into reluctantly by Alita as she had no other choice or hope of repair, the two got on well together as they did not interfere with each other's areas of expertise. Ping and Alita also share similar viewpoints and out of the Space Angels her goals were the closest in alignment to Ping's.

Porta-Nova[]

Ping created Porta-Nova from the one brain bio-chip of Desty Nova that he had received as partial payment for his help. He brought this new incarnation of Nova up to speed and enlisted his support, gaining a valuable new ally who could also help him with his hacking. During Alita's infiltration of Ketheres Porta-Nova helped to counterbalance Ping's worries given his prior knowledge of Alita. He contacted Rem Rei for help after Ping was attacked by three New Order troops and regretfully told Alita that Ping's brain had been fried by Trinidad's Eclipse attack.

Space Angels[]

With the possible exception of Sechs, it is believed that Ping got along well with the other members of the Space Angels.[5]

History[]

BAALO10 55 Ping

Ping as a young man in Phase 58.

Much of Ping's early life remains unknown. Born in ES 365, when he was 21 he dramatically changed the course of human history by making Methuselyzation publicly available to the rest of the Solar System. The Terraforming Wars ended a year later and Ping believed that he had played a role in bringing this about. He was also shown working in space at an unspecified location, but eventually became known in the underworld as the hacker known as the Weasel and partnered up with Martin Tsang, who was known as the Skunk.[2]

According to Rem Rei, Ping and Martin were practically unstoppable as hackers. Although they would steal to survive, they were more idealistic and tried to change the state that the world had fallen into after the Terraforming Wars and Methuselyzation made children redundant. When Trinidad appeared and began to kill Ping's fellow hackers, he refused to hide but instead tried to take Trinidad on by himself in cyberspace. Ping and Martin attempted to hack into the First Z.O.T.T., but were thwarted by Trinidad. Martin fled and Ping lost his left forearm before he was able to escape and seek refuge in Robo-Asyl. He was taken in by Landa Nam Nam on Melchizedk's directive and eventually created Kale to function as a prosthetic left forearm and partner. He also passed on his worldview and what he knew to the robots, creating their culture. Although exiled, Ping was able to keep tabs on what was happening in the world by hacking into the Ketheres surveillance system and spying on LADDER undetected.

Plot[]

Ketheres Arc[]

One day, Ping noticed activity coming from the city of Tiphares; hacking in, he learned about the presence of scientist Desty Nova and several cyborgs that were accompanying him. Listening in, he learned of their encounter with Aga Mbadi and noticed the cyborgs getting ejected into space.[6] Knowing that he could be useful in their efforts, he decided to save them from re-entering Earth's atmosphere; bringing them into Robo-Asyl, he freed the leader of them, Alita and introduced himself. Offering his services to assist in their attempt to break into Melchizedek, he requests the two brain bio chips that Deckman 100 confiscated as a form of payment. After some back and forth negotiations, Alita gives one of the bio chips to him while holding onto the other until the job is finished; Ping agrees to the terms and they shake hands. As they traverse through Robo-Asyl, he mentions how he taught the robots all the human traits observed, including gambling and theology. The latter revelation causes his friendship with Landa Nam Nam to be severed upon it being revealed in the main chamber. Despite this, the latter allows Ping to leave unharmed within the next twenty four hours and will reboot, signaling that Ping will no longer be welcome there; Ping tearfully bids Landa goodbye before leaving with the cyborgs. He goes with Alita to sneak aboard a departing ship but are discovered and nearly killed by Zazie.

Leviathan I Arc[]

Upon arriving on Leviathan, Ping leads Alita and the other cyborgs to his former lover Rem Rei; the latter reacts coolly towards Ping due to him becoming disenchanted over the years but agrees to take them to Ping's former friend and associate Martin Tsang. After greeting him with a hug, Ping begins punching Martin for betraying him 100 years earlier. Later that night, Ping drinks a beer with Martin and a disagreement leads them to trade blows once again; Ping eventually reveals to Martin that he will be returning to Ketheres and will likely not be coming back. He begins to put his plan into action that would enable Alita to secure her friend's brain bio-chip; he decides to form a team that will take part in the upcoming Zenith of Things Tournament in Ketheres while himself and Alita sneak into the Melchizedek Brain incubator. He goes on to inform Combat TV that the members of his team are strong enough to win the tournament, much to the intrigue of reporter Jack Gerambo (and the ire of Alita and Zazie.) Eventually, the application is accepted with Martin sponsoring them, and Ping becomes one of the pit crew of the newly dubbed 'Space Angels'.

Guntroll Arc[]

Just prior to the start of the Zenith of Things Tournament, Ping met up with the rest of his team; when Alita expresses some concern that he may be recognized, Ping assures her that he is using a facsimile of Martin which shows up in his place on all camera and surveillance systems.

Starship Cult Arc[]

To be added...

Super Nova Arc[]

To be added...

Tenth Z.O.T.T. Finals Arc[]

To be added...

References[]

  1. Gunnm: Another Stories - Gunnm LO History timeline.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Phase 58
  3. "Calendar of GLO"
  4. Phase 18 - Ping mentions that he got Kale when Martin betrayed him.
  5. Phase 25
  6. Phase 14

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