The self-created personal name of an elite net-diver from Earth, hacker "Radical Edward" is a peculiar and somewhat androgynous teenage girl, presumed to be around 13 years old. She exhibits feral characteristics in her behavior, barefootedness, odd postures, and gangly walk.
Ed can be described as a "free spirit"; she enjoys silly exclamations and childish rhymes, is easily distracted, and serves as the show's primary source of physical humor.
Throughout the series, Ed rarely walks anywhere, preferring instead to run, crawl, flip, roll, walk on her hands, or saunter. She is always barefoot. In one episode, she considers putting on socks and shoes but quickly removes them because even wearing socks hampers her, causing her to fall over shortly after putting them on. She also appears to be exceptionally strong and flexible, capable of supporting her weight on her arms for several minutes and scratching her nose with her toe.
In the English version, she almost always refers to herself in the third person.
Little is known about her origins, except that she spent part of her early childhood in an orphanage after being left there by her father, a man named Afedersiniz Hesap Lütfen (he calls Ed "Françoise," and may be of Turkish origin as his name translates to "excuse me, check please" in Turkish). The manga reveals that she was friends with a shy young boy in the orphanage known simply as "Tomato" (which is also the brand name scrawled in katakana on her PC). Like Ed, he had extensive knowledge about computers and the net, and it's likely that his friendship helped shape her into the genius hacker she is today.
Ed's main role within the Bebop crew is as a hacker; she is widely recognized as a whiz kid behind a computer. Her preferred computer is a portable Tomato desktop, paying homage to the Apple IIc from the 80s, which she balances on her head when traveling by foot.
Ed has a strong bond with Jet, who acts as a surrogate father, and Faye, who serves as something of a big sister (much to Faye's annoyance). Ed also seems to be the only person who can understand Ein, though there are a few instances where Jet could understand Ein as well.
