Hi all!
Since I don't know when I'll get more free time, I figured I had better go back a week and tackle Katse while I could.
The planning for Gatchaman did not get into Katse all that much. Honestly, the only character that they describe there as the five Ninja Team members. Katse is mentioned mostly in conjunction with his connection to Governor X (Which you can find in the thread centering on him). About the only other reference to Katse come is the following:
"The Structure of Gallactor
Their headquarters is hidden deep underground within the Himalayan mountains. From here, they give orders to their cells in other nations. At the heart of the headquarters is Berg Katse, the man claiming to be the leader, as well as several hundred of his subordinates. The headquarters is completely automated. But, Berg Katse is only seen as the leader on the orders from the enigmatic Governor, who actually gives Berg Katse his orders. No one except Berg Katse is allowed to see the appearance of this Governor."
They also reference Katse in a section explaining the terms and phrases that are unusual or unique to the series, explaining that Berg Katse means "A wildcat" (Which, in German, would be a "bergkatze." Katse's name would likely we "Berg Katze" if Tatsunoko hadn't used "Berg Katse" in so many places. Getting technical, phonetically from Japanese, his name is "Berukku Kattsue," which is part of why I've been seen people spell his name as "Berk Katze" and "Velk Katze" on various occasions. So, yes, the spelling we use is actually not correct, but it is the accepted norm, as per Tatsunoko.
Anyway, the initial character profiles done up for the cast of the series had more information on Katse. Not a lot, since these were brief outlines, but still more. Heres what they had there:
"Berg Katse
Nationality: Unknown
Present Address: Uncertain
Age: 29-year-old man
Family: Orphan
Academic Record: Science, medicine, abundant other scientific achievements
Licenses: Unlicensed for what he operates
Specialties: Disguising as anyone, male and female equally
Hobbies: Raises ferocious animals
Distinctive Feature: A beauty
Goals: Achieving world conquest
Personality: Cruel expression
Model: Kim Novak"
Much of this actually remained intact as the series went into production. Katse's age was changed to 30-years-old when the Gatchaman movie was produced, and we never saw Katse with any ferocious pets, but the rest of it fits pretty well. I'm sure that Kim Novak would be thrilled to know that Katse looks similar to her if she wore a "cruel expression" on her face.
Like the other Gallactor leaders, Katse was fleshed out more during the run of the series than he was before the show began. Like I did with Gel Sadra, here's an excerpt from the article I wrote on the Gallactor leaders, listing the known facts regarding Berg Katse:
"Berg Katse
(Character Voice: As Katse - Mikio Terashima; As the Lady Captain - Shima Sakai (#28), Hiroko Mori (#31), Toshiko Sawada (#'s 32, 33, 46, 70), Aiko Konoshima (#102))
Governor X may have been the leader of Gallactor, but it was Berg Katse that oversaw the day-to-day business of running the organization as Gallactor furthered its plans for world conquest. As a result, it was Katse who often found himself leading Gallactor troops in confrontations with the Science Ninja Team. When Gallactor first attacked publicly, Katse wore a variety of mission-specific uniforms (#'s 7, 10) or disguises (#3) during their attacks. As a result, the Science Ninja Team did not see Katse in his usual garb until their third encounter with him (#8).
While Katse usually relied on his troops to do his fighting for him, he was not without skill in hand-to-hand combat (#3). He also carried a pistol (#'s 21, 53, 70, among others), which he could shoot with deadly accuracy (#53). As a last ditch escape tool, Katse also carried a small explosive hidden in his mouth (#'s 53, 93). When all else failed, Katse showed great skill in finding his way to a handy escape hatch (#'s 8, 22, 93, among others) or escape craft (#'s 16, 22, 45, 63, 76, 100, among numerous others). Over time, Katse managed to escape seemingly inescapable traps (#28) and survived the unsurvivable (#'s 35, 94).
Not all of Katses talents were related to combat or survival. Katse possessed surgical skills, which he put to use creating Gallactor's "remodeled humans" (#14). Katse had some musical ability as well, as he has been seen playing the flute (#24). He also demonstrated an interest in chess (#92), and partook of the occasional glass of wine (#'s 64, 92, 93), and of the occasional cigarette (#'s 46, 70, 99).
Katse held no sympathy for those working under him, and he would readily sacrifice any of them without a second thought (#'s 53, 60, 65, 91, 97, among others). He strictly enforced Gallactor's prime rules: that no one can fail Gallactor, leave Gallactor, or betray Gallactor without death as their punishment (#'s 2, 6, 27, 46, 70, among others). As a result, it was Katse who ordered Guiseppe Asakura and his family killed (#81).
Katse's personal vehicle was the starfish-shaped mecha, "Devil Star." This vehicle and its attached jet craft were utilized as a launching point for Gallactor missions (#'s 31, 39), a means of transportation (#'s 67, 99), and as a means of escape (#'s 19, 68, 85, 97, 101), depending on the need of the moment.
Exactly where Berg Katse was born is unknown, only that it was a neutral country, uninvolved with war. Berg Katse was supposed to be born as male and female twins. This was changed when Governor X used his power to merge them into one being, so that a single mutant was born instead of normal twins. Because of the merging of two sets of brain cells, the child had a genius IQ of 280. A side-effect was that the child would uncontrollably change genders, male-to-female, female-to-male, once a year. Fearing that this situation would be discovered by the outside world, Berg Katse was forced to move every year to a new location and a new school (#102). Katse's father was involved in the import/export business, which provided an excuse for these frequent moves (#88).
As a young adult, the female Katse attended college at the St. Louis School. While there, her intelligence made a lasting impression on one of her teachers, Professor Howard. At a conference, Professor Howard met Professor Hume, an instructor from the school Katse attended as a male. Professor Howard was surprised when Professor Hume described his student as a below average student, and as a male. Professor Howard dismissed the incident, not realizing the secret he had stumbled upon. After Katse finished school, fires destroyed almost all of Katse's records at both schools (#88).
Exactly when Katse first encountered Governor X and joined Gallactor was not revealed. He was 30-years-old ("Gatchaman" feature film), and had been part of the organization for at least 10 years (#81). X thought of Katse as his "dear subordinate," and needed Katse to act as his arms and legs (#102). There were several occasions where X took steps to insure that Katse was not captured by the Science Ninja Team (#'s 71, 73, 102). Katse constantly sought approval from Governor X, though X would rarely give Katse praise, even when his missions met with success (#'s 54, 93).
Katse finally gained control over his gender switches (#102), and this ability became invaluable in helping Katse become a master of disguise. Using this talent, Katse could disguise himself to look like anyone, young or old, male or female. He was so skilled that he could easily fool the closest friends and families of those he was disguised as (#'s 3, 43, 61, 68, 97, among others). One of Katse's most frequent guises was that of Gallactor's Lady Captain. As this lady, Katse could move unmasked on missions (#'s 29, 31, 70, 102, among others). Despite numerous encounters between the Science Ninja Team and the Lady Captain, they did not quite realize the connection between her and Katse for quite some time (#88). Despite his obvious loyalty to Governor X, when Katse found out that X had betrayed him and was intending to destroy the Earth, Katse's final words to X were his wish that he had been born a normal human instead of a mutant. Assuming that the end of the world was at hand, Katse opted to end his own life, and committed suicide by leaping into a pool of lava (#105)."
One other item of note regarding Katse is his uniform. As I've mentioned in the past, the uniform worn by the Gallactor Commander from the first two episodes of the series was originally designed for Berg Katse. For unknown reasons, this uniform was changed fairly close to the start of production, and there are several model sheets and design drawings of that costume with Katses name on them. To help promote and generate interest in the premiere of the series, a number of Gatchaman comic stories appeared in various comics published by Shogakukan. In several of the earliest stories, they also show Katse in that costume, showing that the change was done too late to be reflected in the comics.
Anyway, I hope this satisfies your Katse cravings.
James
This post has been edited 4 time(s), it was last edited by tatsunokofan on 02-10-2008 at 20:35.
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