Editing Battle Angel Alita (section)

==Production==
Alita was originally a female cyborg police officer named Gally in an unpublished comic called ''Rainmaker''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jajatom.moo.jp/y-shosai/cn8/chronicle_1980_32.html|title=ゆきとクロニクル 絵コンテ「RAINMAKER」(2)〜1989年|access-date=28 August 2021|archive-date=28 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828121734/http://jajatom.moo.jp/y-shosai/cn8/chronicle_1980_32.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Publishers at [[Shueisha]] liked her and asked Kishiro to make a new story with her as the main character. After he had come up with the plot for a storyline he was commissioned to make it a long-running series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.star2.com/culture/2019/02/12/who-is-alita-battle-angel-manga/|title=Who is Alita? The Manga Origins Of A Cyberpunk Icon|date=12 February 2019|access-date=22 February 2019|archive-date=22 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222204755/https://www.star2.com/culture/2019/02/12/who-is-alita-battle-angel-manga/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Besides renaming ''Gally'' to ''Alita'', older North American versions of the manga also changed the city of ''Zalem'' (from Biblical Hebrew שָׁלֵם ''šālēm'', "peace") to ''Tiphares'' (after ''[[Tiferet (Kabbalah)|Tiferet]]''). Since Kishiro also used the name ''Jeru'' (after ''[[Jerusalem]]'') for the facility atop ''Zalem'', ''Jeru'' was renamed ''Ketheres'' in the translation (after ''[[Keter]]''). More recent versions reverted the cities' names back to Zalem and Jeru. To further develop the [[Jewish bible|Biblical]] theme in the original series, ''Zalem''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s main computer was named ''[[Melchizedek]]'', "the king of Salem" and "priest to the Most High God".<ref>[[Bible|Genesis 14:18]]; Melchizedek was renamed "''David''" in the first North American release of ''Battle Angel Alita''. Subsequent releases retain the original name.</ref>