2 Type B,[a] commonly known as 2B,[b] is a fictional android from the 2017 video game Nier: Automata, a spin-off of the Drakengard series developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix.

One of the game's three protagonists, 2B is a soldier for YoRHa, an android task force fighting a proxy war with alien-created Machine Lifeforms.

She is voiced by Kira Buckland in English, and Yui Ishikawa in Japanese; her motion capture actress is Kaori Kawabuchi.

Reception of the character has been generally positive, with some journalists noting her design as a prominent example of haute couture, while being controversial for its overt sexualization and fetish wear-like clothing.

Her doll-like artificial beauty contrasts with the simplistic designs of the enemies she faces, a narrative element that is later subverted for dramatic effect.

[1] She is presented as a "B" (Battler) combat android for YoRHa, a newly created squadron dedicated to reclaiming Earth from invading aliens and allowing humanity to return.

Her orders are to kill the scanner android 9S, deleting his memories, whenever he learns too much about the true purpose of the YoRHa project and the extinction of humanity – which she is completely aware of.

Upon starting the third route, YoRHa launches an assault on the Machines following Adam and Eve's deaths, but succumbs to a logic virus attack that eventually infects 2B.

Upon meeting up with 9S on the tower's roof, she informs him on her findings, which makes the already demented scanner android even angrier and crazier at 2B, both for her function to kill him so many times before this point and for keeping her knowledge on both YoRHa's founding and humanity's deaths all a secret from him until now.

[5][6][7] 2B is also a lead character in the 2023 anime adaptation Nier: Automata Ver1.1a, which features an alternate story supervised by Yoko to fit the new medium.

[26] 2B's signature costume makes a cameo appearance in a number of third-party titles, such as Gravity Rush 2 (2017),[27] PUBG: Battlegrounds (2017),[28] Star Ocean: Anamnesis (2018),[29] Phantasy Star Online 2 (2020),[30] Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (2020),[31] Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege (2022),[32] Goddess of Victory: Nikke (2023),[33] Naraka: Bladepoint (2023)[34] and Stellar Blade (2024).

[36] The game's entire cast are either androids or alien-crafted machines, with the narrative focusing on the flaws of humanity through the actions of artificial beings who look up to them.

[38] In contrast to the darker narrative of Drakengard, Yoko decided that 2B and 9S deserved a happy ending, due to his belief that their experiences in Automata had "cleansed" the androids of their transgressions.

He created the initial model in two weeks, drawing inspiration from the in-game characters of Yoshida's Final Fantasy XII designs.

While generally playing her as cool and distant, 2B had moments of high emotion where Ishikawa could act out, though she was sometimes told to tone down her performance.

Club stated that her "Hamlet-sourced name" was indicative of Nier: Automata's "obsession with classic existentialist philosophy", noting that she was disturbed by her partner's repeated deaths and memory wipes.

He drew a contrast between 2B's "bottled-up" sadness and 9S's reaction at 2B's death, in which he "lets his emotions boil over" while fighting impostors of 2B.

She also stated that 2B's beauty was "purely superficial", a piece of "visual design trickery" that makes the player believe she is different from her "ugly", "expendable" Machine counterparts.

[57] Kimberley Ballard of PC Gamer described 2B as a "draped and ruffled china doll", also noting her outfit's connection to fetish wear due to the "prevalence of blindfolds, collars and black materials".

Prior to the game's release, a Twitter user posted a screenshot supposedly showing that 2B's in-game model had explicit details beneath her skirt.

In response, Yoko jokingly asked for the art to be collected and sent to him "in a Zip file", expressing surprise when fans complied with the request.