The film is loosely based upon Osamu Tezuka's 1949 manga of the same name. In Metropolis, humans co-exist with robot laborers in the lower levels of the city. Duke Red, Metropolis's wealthiest citizen, builds a highly advanced android named after his deceased daughter Tima. He plans to use her as the central control unit for a powerful nuclear superweapon hidden at the top of the Ziggurat, which he will use to conquer the world.