Editing Battle Angel Alita (section)

==Plot==
''Battle Angel Alita'' tells the story of [[Alita (Battle Angel Alita)|Alita]], an [[amnesia]]c female [[cyborg]]. Her intact head and chest, in [[suspended animation]], are found by cyber medic expert Daisuke Ido in the local garbage dump. Ido manages to revive her, and finding she has lost her memory, names her Alita after his recently deceased cat. The rebuilt Alita soon discovers that she instinctively remembers the legendary martial art, Panzer Kunst, although she does not recall anything else. Alita uses her Panzer Kunst to first become a [[bounty hunter]], killing cyborg criminals in the Scrapyard, and then as a star player in the brutal gladiator sport of Motorball. While in combat, Alita awakens memories of her earlier life on Mars. She becomes involved with the floating city of Zalem (Tiphares in some older translations) as one of their agents and is sent to hunt down criminals. Foremost is the mad genius Desty Nova, who has a complex, ever-changing relationship with Alita.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tieryas|first=Peter|date=18 February 2019|title=The Battle Angel Alita Manga Is An Essential Read|url=https://kotaku.com/the-battle-angel-alita-manga-is-an-essential-read-1832627887|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218232815/https://kotaku.com/the-battle-angel-alita-manga-is-an-essential-read-1832627887|archive-date=2019-02-18|access-date=2021-02-03|website=Kotaku|language=en-us}}</ref>

The futuristic [[dystopian]] world of ''Battle Angel Alita'' revolves around the city of Scrapyard (Kuzutetsu in the Japanese and various other versions), which has grown up around a massive scrap heap that rains down from Zalem. Ground dwellers have no access to Zalem and are forced to make a living in the sprawl below. Many are heavily modified by cybernetics to better cope with their hard life.

Zalem exploits the Scrapyard and surrounding farms, paying bounty hunters (called Hunter-Warriors) to hunt criminals and arranging violent sports to keep the population entertained. Massive tubes connect the Scrapyard to Zalem, and the city uses robots for carrying out errands and providing security on the ground. Occasionally, Zalemites (such as Daisuke Ido and Desty Nova) are exiled and sent to the ground. Aside from the robots and exiles, there is little contact between the two cities.

The story takes place in the former United States. According to a map, printed in the eighth volume, Scrapyard/Zalem is near [[Kansas City, Missouri]], and the Necropolis is [[Colorado Springs, Colorado]]. Radio KAOS is at [[Dallas, Texas]]. Figure's coastal hometown is [[Alhambra, California]]. Desty Nova's Granite Inn is built out of a military base—[[NORAD]] at [[Cheyenne Mountain Complex]], [[Colorado]].<ref name="kudoslist">{{cite web|url=http://www.nick15.com/kudos.html|title=The KUDOS! List – Culture References Within Battle Angel Alita|publisher=Nick15.com|access-date=2012-09-20|archive-date=2018-02-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210160906/http://www.nick15.com/kudos.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Battle Angel Alita'' is eventually revealed to take place in the 26th century. The sequel ''Battle Angel Alita: Last Order'' introduces a [[calendar era]] called "Era [[Sputnik 1|Sputnik]]" which has an [[epoch (reference date)|epoch]] of AD 1957. The original ''Battle Angel Alita'' series begins in ES 577 (AD 2533) and ends in ES 590 (AD 2546), ''Battle Angel Alita: Last Order'' is mostly set roughly in ES 591 (AD 2547), and ''Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle'' alternates between ES 373–374 (AD 2329–2330) and ES 594 (AD 2550).