Osamu Tezuka

The author avatar of Osamu Tezuka.

Tezuka often inserted himself into his stories, in a variety of roles. Sometimes, the manga Tezuka would be a direct representation of the author Tezuka: in Metamorphose, he shows up to abruptly re-write the story, in response to "reader" complaints; in Nanairo Inko, he directly interacts with the fictional characters; and in the collected editions of Astro Boy, he appears in prefaces to introduce chapters and explain their publication history. Other times, Tezuka would appear in the story as a simple cameo, as a background character or in a bit part, as a gag for astute readers.

Occasionally, Osamu Tezuka would be a character in his own right— still modelled after the real-world Tezuka, but a part of the narrative like any other character and with no power to affect it. In Vampire, Tezuka is an ally of the protagonist, Toppei, and works with him to stop the vampires' plans. In Black Jack, he appears as "Dr. Tezuka", a friend of Black Jack who occasionally calls him for help with his own patients.