Jet Link, designated "Cyborg 002", is one of the nine protagonists of Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier.

Originally an Italian-American teenage delinquent, Jet became a cyborg when he encountered two Black Ghost operatives while on the run from the police. He escaped with their help, not knowing of their shady connections.

Jet has high-end boosters installed into his feet, enabling him to fly airborne at speeds recorded at Mach 5 and making him useful at both aerial rescue and offense, as well as being a scout for airborne enemies.

Appearance

Jet is a tall person with a lanky yet athletic build, and is most popularly characterized by both his long, bright red windswept hair, and his pointy nose.

He usually wears a red, double breasted military uniform worn by the 00 Cyborgs, with padded shoulders and black arm bands just beneath them. On his waist is a black belt with a holster for his weapon, a gun with three shooting modes. Jet also wears knee-high, black boots, which also hold aerial boosters in his feet that activate by will.

However, when he first started out as a Black Ghost cyborg in the early 1960's, his uniform was dark green and had a red scarf. Other than those details, the 1960's uniforms remained similar in the design to the later ones that were designed for the second generation of prototypes.

In the three-part OVA "Conclusion: GOD'S WAR", the Jet of that timeline wears a deep blue version of the uniform, and also bears a red scarf.

History

Jet Link was born in the West Side of New York City. However, a rough upbringing led to him turning to delinquency at a young age. During his time on the streets, he saw many local children do the same thing as he did, only for them to end up getting bullied by criminals. As he was focused on his own survival at the time, Jet never did anything to help, but the guilt he eventually developed because of it stayed with him for a very long time.

As a delinquent, Jet constantly fought with other boys. One fight in particular was broken up by the arrival of police, who began searching to arrest the delinquents that were involved in the scuffle. At that moment, a group of Black Ghost agents arrived and offered to help Jet elude his pursuers. Having no choice at the time, Jet decided to leave with them, only to wake up sometime later as a cyborg in a Black Ghost facility. With the realization of the trickery embedded deep into his mind, he developed a hatred towards Black Ghost for what they had done to him.

In his early days at the Black Ghost facility, he was given the codename of "D-6". Jet was later supposed to be the designated 001 Cyborg for Black Ghost's 00 line, but when Ivan Whisky, a psychic infant, showed more promise in his development process, he ended up as "002", with Ivan taking the "001" designation. Because of his early arrival, Jet became a part of the 00 Cyborgs' first generation, along with Ivan, Francoise Arnoul (003), and Albert Heinrich (004).

Jet later encountered Francoise and Albert in person during one of Black Ghost's test runs. Under Ivan's telepathic guidance, they conspired to escape from the facility they were kept in and resume their old lives. However, the plan quickly ran into problems - Jet's rocket boosters stopped working after a short period of time, while Albert suffered extreme pain from using his weaponized modifications.

Later on, it was discovered that Jet's rocket boosters consumed too little fuel, and his first prototype Acceleration module was too faulty to function properly. As a result, Jet along with the other first generation 00 Cyborgs were put into cryogenic sleep until more advanced technology and procedures were developed. It wasn't until after Chang, Geronimo, Jr., Pyunma, Great Britain, and Joe arrived that Black Ghost's scientists resumed operating on Jet.

However, the 00 Cyborgs were able to escape Black Ghost thanks to Ivan and a former Black Ghost scientist named Dr. Gilmore. By the time Joe awakened as "009", the 00 line was complete. Using his new flight abilities, Jet helped Dr. Gilmore and his fellow cyborgs break free from their "creators" and establish their freedom.

Abilities

Jet has high-quality jet boosters installed in his feet, allowing him to reach high altitudes up to 3000 meters and go as fast as Mach 5. He has an early version of Joe's Accelerator, which allows him to also move at the speed of light, albeit temporarily due to technical flaws. He is also strong enough to carry up to three people at a time while airborne.

002 painting The Dolphin in the style of a WWII aircraft.

He also has some artistic ability, as seen when he painted the front of their ship, The Dolphin. He is frustrated when Geronimo, Jr. paints over his work.

In the OVA "Conclusion: GOD'S WAR", Jet's abilities were upgraded by Ivan to the point where his body became extremely light, resulting in becoming fast enough for his boosters to leave a trail that sets anything caught in it on fire.

Gallery

Model Sheets

002's Model Sheet

002 (Jet Link) in his regular clothes

002 (Jet Link) in his regular clothes 2

Merchandise

Notes

• Jet's original past as a gang leader was omitted from the 2001 anime, due to its rather dark and violent nature, instead depicting him as an ordinary street delinquent.

• In initial settings for the series, as seen in Hobby Link Japan, Jet's origin was to originally have him attempt to infiltrate a drug ring in New York, after seeing how other children had fallen to corruption. It would wind up being a Black Ghost trap, and he would be captured. Jet's guilt over not being able to help others was retained to some extent in the Shinsuke Onishi-written "Little Visitors", with it perhaps referring back to the original concept.

• In the episode "The Fossils of Evil", it was revealed that as a child, he would sometimes look at the stars, but the night sky was often covered by the smoke of burning coal. This would imply that he was born and grew up during the 1920s. However, in "The Hero", Jet reminisces on his capture by Black Ghost being 40 years ago, which would put him as 18 in the early 1960s.

• Jet's 2001 incarnation as a hot-headed and rebellious fighter is one of the more well-known and popular incarnations, in contrast to his earlier incarnations where he was shown to be rather calm and emotionally supportive of his team.