A Tachikoma (タチコマ) is a fictional AI walker/roller in the Ghost in the Shell universe, appearing in the manga created by Masamune Shirow and the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex sub-universe. Nine of them are assigned to Section 9's use originally. They are best described as a "spider type multi leg combat vehicle equipped with artificial intelligence". The spider design appears in other places in Shirow's other work, like the Appleseed manga. Shirow is noted to keep numerous spiders as pets.
Production IG was unable to use the Fuchikoma design in the 2002 Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV anime series due to copyright conflicts. However, Masamune Shirow was able to design a legally safe equivalent to the spider-tanks for the new show, which he named the Tachikoma. There are distinct differences in the design, most significantly in the 'eyes' and the vertically-oriented abdomen. Still, the tanks are easily recognizable as descendants of the original Fuchikoma. Their AI 'personalities' and roles in the new series are indistinguishable from their predecessors in the manga.