Skunk Kusai is one of Tezuka's least savoury characters, and often the perfect choice to play any number of thugs, thieves, kidnappers and other criminals. While Kin Sankaku, Acetylene Lamp and Hamegg, each have a certain foolishness that makes them impossible to truly hate, Skunk's slimy expression behaviour is so loathsome it's almost impressive.
Shunsaku Ban is, without a doubt, one of Tezuka's most important Stars. He takes the prize in practically every category, earliest appearances, longest serving, most appearances, etc. However, despite all those appearances, he is, almost without exception, true to his core. Most often cast in the role of a spirited, if not particularly sophisticated, middle-aged man, who is also warm-hearted with a burning sense of justice.
Amongst the pantheon of evil-doers in the Star System, Satan holds a unique position. He is the very epitome of all the personal characteristics that Osamu Tezuka himself found frightening as a child.
Dr. Ochanomizu is the most beloved of Tezuka’s many mad scientist/doctor characters. While he dabbles with powers beyond his control as much as the next mad scientist, Dr. Ochanomizu is almost unfailingly an ally of mankind and of universal peace and friendship. Sometimes he may be a robotocist, sometimes a medical doctor, sometimes as a simple face in a crowd of scientists, but when he does appear, he is almost always a trusted father figure with the best interests of the world at heart.
Mitchy was Tezuka's earliest important female star, and is one of the women who appears in the greatest variety of roles in Tezuka's work. Although she monopolized many of Tezuka's early female roles, she was a true student of her craft and proved early on that she was more than just a pretty face - leaving all the "cutey girl" roles instead for Riiko.
Kenichi is the earliest and one of Tezuka’s most frequently cast boy heroes. The eternal optimist, he possesses an unshakable faith in the inherent goodness in the world and human nature. Basically, he's the number one boy scout!
An advanced robot with powerful combat capacity and a flying robotic horse, the Blue Knight is a champion of robot rights and has the capacity to enable other robots to rebel against human commands.
Atlas in his primary role is Astro Boy’s younger brother, created by Dr. Tenma, the same scientist who created Astro. Although the origin stories of both Astro Boy and of Atlas vary, generally speaking, Atlas is created by Dr. Tenma after his disappointment in Astro.
In a future where robot technology is rapidly transforming the economic and social face of the earth, the 100,000 horsepower Astro Boy is the most powerful robot in the world, and the first robot with a true human-like artificial brain.
Ongoing Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is connected from chapter to chapter and must be read in chronological order for it to be understood properly.
Chapter Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is self-contained to a single chapter. There may be an overarching plot, but the stories can generally be read in any order and be understood
Book: an all-in-one self contained story published as a one-off.
Supplement: an an all-in-one self contained story published as a stand-alone supplement to a regular weekly/monthly periodical.
Short Story: an all-in-one, self contained story that was published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical
Anthology: a collection of all-in-one, self contained stories that were published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical but are generally grouped together.
