How old are Atom/Uran/Cobalt created to look?

[Shiyonasan]

Atom was created to look like Tobio. Obviously, age factors into that. Tobio was 9 (not sure exactly where his age is stated, but many sources list his age as being 9), so many fans have probably assumed that Atom was created to look 9 years old as well.

On one hand, there is an official piece of merchandise that lists Atom's age as being 10 years old:



On the other hand, they also list Cobalt as being Atom's younger brother on this merchandise, which I'm 99% sure is a mistake. I've never seen any of the 1960s episodes with Cobalt, so I can't confirm or deny whether Cobalt is technically supposed to be Atom's older brother (according to the Astro Boy wiki, the anime says that he was created before Atom as a prototype, while the manga says that he was created as a copy of Atom).

I've always assumed that Atom is created to look 9 years old because of Tobio being 9 when he died, but honestly, the 10 year old claim sounds plausible as well in my mind.

Uran and Cobalt are never given a specific age that they're supposed to look like (as far as I know), but I think I've assumed that Uran is supposed to look 7 or 8 years old, and Cobalt is supposed to look 11 or 12 years old.

Regardless, it seems correct in my mind to put about 2 years between each sibling. So, either, it could be...

#1:

• Uran = 7
• Atom = 9
• Cobalt = 11

or

#2:

• Uran = 8
• Atom = 10
• Cobalt = 12

I like #1 a little more, but #2 is also plausible in my opinion.

Anyway, I'd like to know if there's any official source that states how old Atom and his siblings are supposed to look (beyond Tobio being stated to be 9 years old).

Otherwise, I'd like to know if anyone else has thought about how old Atom, Uran, and Cobalt are supposed to look, and if you have, how old do you think they look?

Also, if you're wondering, I left out Chi-tan because I think it's assumed that he's supposed to look less than 2 years old.

[YJ_Doodle]

Well wasn't Cobalt a prototype of Atom? So shouldn't they be modeled to be the same age?

And for Uran, I'm not sure if she went to school or not, but if she did, then your age speculation should probably be right(7-8) and if not, then I think it's safe to say she's around 5. I do think she looks a lot like the five year old kids on Google images, but that's just my viewpoint.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

That box also lists Atoms height as 135 cm and weight as 30kg (about 4.4 feet tall and 66 lbs). Of those two figures, his weight seems to have always been stated at 66 lbs, but his height has been quoted as anywhere between 4 and 5 feet tall.

Cobalt was drawn taller that Atom in the 1963 Anime, and he also looks thinner and his hair spikes are different. OTHO, he was usually drawn identical to Atom in most of the manga stories he was in. In the manga, he was created by Dr. Ochanomizu, but in the Anime (at least in the English Language dub) he was Atom's prototype, created by Dr. Tenma. Also, Cobalt was created TWICE in the manga, as he was destroyed in the episode where he and Atom were fighting the swamp monsters. I think in the manga he was created as Atom's brother at the same time as Uran. (This episode was NOT in the Dark Horse collection AFAIK).

If anyone has the Japanese language DVD containing "brother Jetto" story, and can translate the dialog, what was Cobalt's back story there?

[The Boeing Kid]

Ages (in chronological order)
Astro: 13, 9, 13
Uran: 12, 7, 11
Jetto: 16

[Fauna]

Uran is in kindergarten in the 1980 series and the manga. In the same manga story, I remember Astro being in 4th grade and Cobalt being in 2nd grade.

I remember this so vividly because I originally read this chapter when I was in 8th grade, and my brother was excited that he and my sister were in the same grades as Astro and Uran.

[Shiyonasan]

Uran is in kindergarten in the 1980 series and the manga. In the same manga story, I remember Astro being in 4th grade and Cobalt being in 2nd grade.

I remember this so vividly because I originally read this chapter when I was in 8th grade, and my brother was excited that he and my sister were in the same grades as Astro and Uran.

Good to get confirmation of some kind!

So, then in the 1980 series, we can definitely say that Uran is 5 or 6.

Then there's the manga, where we can definitely say that Uran is 5 or 6, Cobalt is 7 or 8, and Atom is 9 or 10. This is kind of strange to me, because I always figured that Cobalt was older, but that's not the case in the manga! Perhaps manga Atom and manga Cobalt are like Mario and Luigi in some ways, such as height (Mario and Atom being older and shorter, Luigi and Cobalt being younger and taller), and looking similar in appearance.

One other thing I hadn't considered when I made my original post was the fact that Atom, Uran, and Cobalt could be different ages between each series and/or the manga. I know that Cobalt is older than Atom in the anime and younger than Atom in the manga, but perhaps Atom and Uran could be slightly older or younger between each series? For now, I'll assume that Atom is 9 or 10 and Uran is 5 or 6 in all the series pre-LAB.

Then you have the 2009 movie and Little Astro Boy to consider. I've always thought that Atom is about the same age as the target audience for LAB: about 4 or 5.

I think this is how the ages probably are between each series (specifically how old they're supposed to look, not when they were created):

Manga:

• Atom: 9-10
• Cobalt: 7-8
• Uran: 5-6

1963 series:

• Cobalt: 11-12
• Atom: 9-10
• Uran: 5-6

1980 series:

• Atom: 9-10
• Uran: 5-6

2003 series:

• Atom: 9-10
• Uran: 5-6

Little Astro Boy:

• Atom: 4-5

[Firelord Zuko]

I assumed 2009 Astro was designed to be around 13 or so.

[Rejoyce]

I had a book with character bios for the 2009 movie and it said that Astro was meant to look 13.

[jeffbert]

As I recall, Ochanomizu built Cobalt using Atom's specifications, though given the limited time involved, & the fact that only * could even repair Atom (when severely damaged), Cobalt just was not anywhere near as well-made as atom. Thus, Atom & Cobalt should be the same age in physical appearance. Granted, Cobalt is depicted as taller in some versions; perhaps to make them easy to distinguish from one another.

*Yet, bad guys did build evil Atoms.