is a character from Masamune Shirow

Masamune Shirow

is an internationally renowned manga artist, born on November 23, 1961.Masamune Shirow is a pen name, based on a famous swordsmith, Masamune. He is best known for the manga Ghost in the Shell, which has since been turned into two theatrical anime movies, two anime TV series, an anime TV movie, and...

's Appleseed manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 and its adaptations in anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

. He is one of the two protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

s of the series, the other being Deunan Knute

Deunan Knute

is a character and the main protagonist from the science fiction manga Appleseed and its adaptations in anime. Along with her partner Briareos Hecatonchires, she is one of ESWAT's most important members. Known for her tendency to anger and lack of patience, Deunan is still widely appreciated by her...

. Briareos is a trained ESWAT

ESWAT

ESWAT may refer to:*ESWAT Cyber Police , a 1989 scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Sega*ESWAT: City Under Siege, a 1990 side scrolling platform video game for the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis video game console...

 officer, his point man is Deunan. They met in her father's SWAT unit before World War III

World War III

World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....

 broke out. Briareos and Deunan are lovers and have been involved since before the war. Since moving to Olympus with Deunan, they have joined the ESWAT unit (Extra Special Weapons And Tactics). He is named after Briareus the Vigorous, one of the Hecatonchires (hundred-armed giants) of Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

. In the Japanese media, he is voiced by Yoshisada Sakaguchi

Yoshisada Sakaguchi

is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Tokyo. He is a professor at Obirin University, and is affiliated with Bungakuza.-Television drama:*Aoi Tokugawa Sandai *Katsu Kaishū *Kōmyō Gatsuji...

 in the Appleseed OVA, Jūrōta Kosugi

Jurota Kosugi

is a Japanese voice actor. His deep voice is often used for rough and imposing characters. He is well known for playing the role of Sukashii from Kyattou Ninden Teyandee and Asuma Sarutobi from Naruto....

 in the Appleseed film, and Kōichi Yamadera

Koichi Yamadera

is a Japanese voice actor, actor, tarento, narrator, master of ceremonies and impressionist from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He graduated from Tohoku Gakuin University's economics school, and is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment. Before that, he was affiliated with the Tokyo Actor's...

 in Appleseed Ex Machina. He is voiced by Sean Barrett, Jamieson Price

Jamieson Price

Jamieson Kent Price is an American voice actor.Price was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is most well known for his deep and booming voice and can be heard in numerous anime shows and video games. He is also known as Taylor Henry and James Lyon...

, and David Matranga in the English dubs of the respective productions.

Cybernetics

Briareos is a prime example of the technology of cybernetic

Cyborg

A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...

 implants in Appleseed. Although his body is almost completely artificial, he suffers little loss in humanity. His outer skin is elastic, capable of feeling sensation, and the temperature can be adjusted to the cyborg's preferences. He has eight eyes mounted on his head, four in his face (The large sensor in the middle is actually his nose) two at the bases of his "rabbit ear" sensors, and two at the tips, which allow him to safely look around corners. His human brain is augmented by an auxiliary "brain" that acts as an information processor, and is capable of handling information in a conceptual format rather than hard numerical data. His cybernetics controller, the Hecatonchires system, is named after the same 100 handed giants from Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

. It is capable of controlling dozens of limbs or other cyborg bodies independently from one another, with no additional strain on the user. In the manga, it is pointed out that a cyborg equipped with the Hecatonchires system is able to fully control an entire aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

on his own. This ability to process multiple limbs at once is seen in the film when he is seen using one rifle in his Landmate's arms, and another in the control arms.