Metropolis tells the story of a monopolizing empire building business man who's daughter was killed long ago. In an attempt to recreate her, he hires a mad scientist Dr. Laughton to build a robot version of her as the headpiece to his newly completed Ziggurat building. This new robot will control all the machines in the world. The Evil Duke Red plans to rule the world from the Ziggurat. Japanese detective Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi arrive in Metropolis in pursuit of Dr. Laughton and are plunged into Duke Red's plot. When the duke's maniacal adopted son Rock attacks Dr. Laughton's hidden lab, Kenichi and the waiflike android Tima flee into the city's subterranean slums and fall in love.