Albert Heinrich

Albert was originally from Germany. He and his fiancée Hilda attempted to escape to West Berlin in the guise of circus members (Albert drove a truck with an animal cage; Hilda dressed up in a lioness costume and stayed in the cage with an actual lion; this is in the manga, since in the 1980 movie and the 2001 series Hilda was Albert's co-pilot). However, because Albert forgot to retrieve his forged identification from a guard, he panicked and sped off. The border guards opened fire on the truck, injuring Albert and killing Hilda in the process. Black Ghost agents arrived on the scene and lied that they would take Albert to a hospital. In the 2001 series, upon waking up as a cyborg, Albert was stricken with despair and developed suicidal tendencies, worsened by the side effects of his modifications which caused him additional physical pain and strain. This ultimately forced Black Ghost to halt the cyborg program for decades, and put the existing cyborgs in suspended animation until technology developed far enough to make future cyborg soldiers more stable. Of the first 4 00 Cyborgs, Albert has had the most cybernetic modifications; his right fingertips contain small machine guns, his left hand has razor-sharp edges, and he has missiles hidden in his knees. 004 often has a gruff exterior which belies his friendly personality and disgust with war. (In the 2001 series, he has to fight a robotic version of himself in a castle. He is losing until the robot predicts that he will jump in a certain direction to save himself, but he then jumps in a different direction to save some birds caught up in their battle. The confusion of the robot underscores 004's humanity.) He was the last of the 00 Cyborgs who were frozen until more advanced technology and procedures were made and is chronologically the oldest of the group, being already 30 years old when captured.