Rock from Osamu Tezuka's ... everything.
He was very prone to reusing a common character set. You should go to my sister's site, or at the very least this page to prove the point.
LOL oh no! The Rock Shrine!
Yes, Tezuka's characters were like actors (and he saw them as such).
So, if you read Tezuka's stuff his characters are assigned roles in different stories. It's quite fun and unique ^_^ So, all his popular characters appear over and over again in various situations under slightly different names or just as themselves.
Some of his most famous actors are:
Shunsaku Ban (Mustachio or Higeoyaji)*
Duke Red*
Atom
Kenichi Shikishima*
Rock Homes*
Dr. Hanamaru
Dr. Saruta
Acetylene Lamp*
Ham Egg*
Sapphire
Black Jack
Marukubi Boon*
Skunk Kusai*
Police Inspector Tawashi
Notaarin*
Butamo Makeru*
Hyoutan-Tsugi* (Gourd Creatures)
Mitchy
Dr. Tenma
Tezuka Osamu (yes he puts himself in many of his stories)
As far as who appeared in the movie Metropolis, the ones marked with an * were in the movie. However, the movie differs vastly from the orginal manga. For one, Rock isn't in the original story at all and Tima was played by Mitchy... and in that story Mitchy was both male and female.
However, throwing Rock into the story was an interesting twist ^_^ I SWEAR the writers put him in because someone just liked him and thought it would be amusing... He was in perfect form though... That's usually how he acts...
Rock started out as a child actor in Tezuka's mangas. So in some stories he's a fairly generic little kid. However, unlike Kenichi, Rock grew up and became an sociopath. (Could be due to all the head injuries he sustained while he was a child actor... he gets beat over the head in nearly every story he's in).
Rock, as an adult, often portrays the darker side of human nature. He has the ability to be both good and evil, though he often makes poor, selfish decisions that usually lead to him getting killed by the end of the story. In fact, a story where Rock actually survives is a rare treat ^_^ But, he usually has it coming. If you pick up a story with adult Rock in it you are usually guaranteed:
1. Rock will pick a fight somewhere in the story, beat the guy up for a few panels... then he'll just stop fighting... get his ass kicked royally... and come out smiling O_O; I think he likes it.
2. Rock will smack some woman around.
3. Rock will die.
If you wanna see a very SCARY Rock... he's pretty damned evil in "Alabaster"... I also just ordered all 4 volumes of "The Vampires" in which he plays a demon named Makube Rokuro.
In a few old anime movies Rock plays a halfway NORMAL role... These are, "Undersea Supertrain Marine Express" (where he is actually the star and HERO) and "Fumoon" which is an anime version of "Next World." However, Rock is more... umm... himself in the manga version "Next World." He's actually strangely NICE in the anime. Maybe because the pseudo-Russian communists didn't make him work in an underground factory and put him in solitary confinement for a month in the movie O_O;
This picture:
is from "Undersea Supertrain Marine Express" That is Rock and Sapphire near the end of the movie.
This picture:
is from Fumoon (the anime version of "Next World").
He's pretty weird in the anime movie "Phoenix 2772" also... He plays a somewhat evil scientist/politician (but he's not THAT evil in that story-- just umm somewhat "misguided" maybe)?
Manga that I have with him in it include:
Random appearances in Astro Boy
Random appearances in Black Jack
Rock's Adventure
Fossil Island
Alabaster
Next World
Phoenix: Chapter of the Future
And as I said I just ordered "The Vampires" from Japan.
Movies I have:
Undersea Supertrain Marine Express
Fumoon
Phoenix 2772
Metropolis
LOL Oh Bob! On a random note: here is a "Back to the Future" history reference on the official Tezuka website!
http://en.tezuka.co.jp/studio/character/c006/c006.html