Skunk Kusai is a thief and mob leader who frequently clashes with Astro Boy. He is sleazy, confident, and eager for money and power. Skunk appears in almost every Astro Boy series, and throughout Osamu Tezuka’s works.
Appearance[]
Osamu Tezuka originally modeled Skunk Kusai's design after the American actor Richard Widmark, particularly Widmark's character Tommy Udo in the 1947 film Kiss of Death. This led to Skunk's exaggerated character design of a long forehead and sunken eyes.
He is a lanky, strong, and odd-looking man in his 30s-40s. He is blonde, usually appearing with short hair and bangs, or a chin-length bob cut, and noticeably lacks any eyebrows. In later appearances, Skunk is coloured to have deathly-pale or outright blue skin to make him look ethereal and sickly, though he is occasionally depicted with more natural skintones. His face was noticeably thin and somewhat gaunt in his earlier appearances, but later ones often thickened his face to make him appear more thuggish.
Personality[]
The very model of a gangster, Skunk is cruel, greedy, unscrupulous and doesn't care who he has to step on to get his way. All of these traits grossly pale in comparison to his ambition, which ranges from petty theft to political sabotage via extortion. While not a scientific genius or mechanically inclined by any means, Skunk can always worm his way into the graces of those he can take advantage of, willingly or otherwise.
Skunk is best known for his trademark cackle, which has been compared to that of a hyena's laugh.
1963 series[]
Skunk from the '63 series
Skunk initially appears in the episode "Zero the Invisible Robot", where he is bailed out of prison and rejoins his gang. He then abducts the robot Zero and begins to use him for criminal activity.
In the English dub, he is renamed "Fearless" Fred Fink. While he does appear as a secondary villain in several other episodes, only this episode appears in the English dub lineup.
1980 series[]
Skunk initially appears in the 1980 series as an associate of Count Walpur Guiss. He builds their idea for the Omega Factor device and pitches it to Dr. Tenma. When turned down, Skunk and Guiss steal a copy of Astro's robot body blueprints and build the child version of Atlas. This endeavor goes horribly wrong, as Atlas rebels after Skunk mistreats him and Guiss kills Livian. Leaving Guiss for dead, Skunk flees to the city.
Skunk is reunited with Atlas only briefly, when Atlas comes across Skunk and his sidekick Pilat fleeing the police. Skunk attempts to use Atlas as a crime tool, which backfires once more.
Skunk appears throughout the first half of the 1980 series as Astro's regular adversary, each time with a larger gang of men. He is responsible for rigging a race, hijacking a robotic Frankenstein's monster, and stealing a laser-pointed robot head from a black market auction, among other heists. In the 1985 Canadian dub, Skunk is renamed as "Slippery".
2003 series[]
Skunk's mugshot card
Skunk first appears in the episode "Into Thin Air", where he steals the robot Denkou to use them for covert robberies. He at first seems to be raising them as a paternal figure, but easily abandons Denkou after they become hunted by the police. He has a much smaller gang in the 2003 series, assisted only by Jazz, a paunchy mechanic, and Blues, a tall computer hacker. The three of them are known for kidnapping a scientist and using her shape-shifting robot to rob safes, and for hijacking the giant robot Jumbo to break Skunk out of jail.
Other Appearances[]
Skunk from Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis
- Skunk appears briefly in the 2001 film Metropolis, as a general and advisor to Mayor Boon.
- He is also a reoccurring enemy in the manga Atom: The Beginning, much younger and a high-ranking member of a robot-using criminal organization.
- Skunk appears in one episode of the 1993 Ambassador Magma OVA. He appears as a nameless humanoid alien who stalks the main character, Mamoru. Skunk corners Mamoru, begins to transform into his alien form, but is shot in the chest and killed by a robot boy named Gam.