Work Text:
Ok! So I was analyzing the many merits of Genos’ character among friends, and sure, while it’s a given his character’s initial archetype and backstory WERE parodies of the whole ‘serious revenge’ story common in shonen mangas, the person he BECOMES over the course of the story – thanks to character development and Saitama’s influence, precisely fulfils one of our fav tropes: the whole ‘robotic (cyborg) character learns the value of human compassion/how to cry/how to love.’ The type of emotional journey that happens independently of the reasons they’d been created for, which in this case, is Genos’ pursuit of power and primary quest of revenge against the Mad Cyborg.
He is a character who was once a regular human, survived a
traumatic event, and after suffering abject powerlessness, chose to forsake the
‘weak’ remnants of his humanity – by literally steeling himself (his body and his emotions) in exchange for
power, and becoming a weaponized cyborg for the sake of avenging his dead family. But
after meeting Saitama (a character who inversely began losing parts of his humanity
after acquiring power) Genos changes; he warms considerably after learning the value
of humility and true heroics; he emotes passionately (even cries) on Saitama’s
behalf; and above all else, falls for Saitama’s genuine merits as a person. And THAT narrative development is completely serious. The humanity he once thought had died after becoming a
weapon in exchange for power, has been healing ever since living with Saitama, and
reviving even further with newfound flame. It’s absolutely beautiful and one of
the many reasons why we love both him and their dynamic.
But HOLD ON! Upon questioning if there have been any other
characters like Genos (cause we like him a lot and want to see more), it hit us
extremely hard: so many other robotic characters in media who’ve had similar
narrative roles as his have been FEMALE.
That role being: a cold (often emotionless), serious, weaponized solider, who warms
to gain feelings of empathy/compassion, emotes to the point of shedding tears, explores
the general themes of humanity, or learns to understand what it means to love. All
of that, often developing inexplicably or autonomously separate from their prime directive.
Genos is one of those
rare character subversions, not from the parody archetype he WAS before the story began, but because of the kind of character he BECOMES thanks to his character
development.
Look at his change from before (ep2) and after (ep12) meeting Saitama:
And after researching other characters with similar emotional developments, it’s refreshingly AWESOME that ONE decided NOT to write him as female.
Just take a look; with some help from friends, I compiled a list of other robotic/cyborg/android characters in media who share similar developments and themes of humanity similar
to his. The results are quite surprising!
First up, the girls (disclaimer: in no way is this list comprehensive; it’s just a sample size):
Eastern examples
- Tima from Metropolis
- Matoko from GitS
- Alita/Gally from Battle Angel Alita/Gunnm
- Naomi from Armitage III
- Sylvie from Bubblegum Crisis (implied GL)
- Android 18 from Dbz
- Chise from Saikano
- Triela (and the other cyborg girls) from Gunslinger Girl
- Francoise (003) from Cyborg 009
- Chi from Chobits
- Odette from Karakuri Odette
- Alpha from Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
- Melfina from Outlaw Star
- Dorothy from The Big O
- Lyuze from Casshern Sins
- Chachamaru from Mahou Sensei Negima!
- P-01s/Horizon from Kyoukai Senjou No Horizon
- Multi Hmx-12 from To Heart
- Ryuzu from Clockwork Planet
- Mahoro from Mahoromatic
- Praha/Hiro from Tonari no Robot (GL)
- Aigis from Persona 3
- Tio from Grandia II
- Emeralda from Xenogears
- KOS-MOS and MOMO from Xenosaga
- Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles
Western
examples
- Rachael from Blade Runner
- Eve from Wall-E
- Jenny from My Life as a Teenage Robot
- Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager
- Yori from Tron
- Samantha from Her (a virtual OS)
- Cortana from Halo (an AI)
- EDI from Mass Effect
- Subversion: Ava from Ex Machina, (fully equipped and intended for THAT purpose, but…TWIST!)
Do any of their roles seem peculiar? Many of these girls just so happen to involve/develop feelings of romantic love in their stories, or are usually the designated love interests of the protagonist if they are a secondary character. (It’s also common for many of them to be sexualized with revealing outfits and/or plenty of visual fanservice.) HMMM?!
Ok, so what about the list of other robotic boys like Genos? Again to clarify, specifically characters who deal with/come to terms with their developing emotions and humanity as part of the story’s narrative, NOT just any existing augmented warrior or humanlike robotic character.
Like the partners to the above girls: Casshern, Joe (Cyborg 009), Wall-E and Tron, more boys that actively develop similar emotions, particularly regarding the feelings of love include:
Eastern
examples
- Jiro from Kikaider, complete with Pinocchio themes, tears and a human girl love interest!!
- Briareos from Appleseed, mentor and lover to his female partner
- Night from Zettai Kareshi, though he was created for that purpose…
- Clear from DMMD (BL)
- Charles “Cherry” from Vassalord (BL)
- Subversion: Hal (AYASE Umi), deals with robotic love and grieving the dead, but with a twist!
Western
examples
- Andrew from Bicentennial Man
- David from A.I (familial love)
- Vision from Marvel
And then there’s a different set of boys, with character types that explore the value of humanity/emotions in a broader, general sense:
- Astro Boy / Mega Man
- Iron giant
- T-800 (Arnie) from Terminator 2 (except Cameron, the female from the tv series, DOES cry)
- Murphy from RoboCop
- Johnny Five from Short Circuit
- Tin Man from Wizard of Oz
- Cyborg from Teen Titans
- Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation (except Lal, his ‘daughter,’ DOES figure familial love out – and dies)
- Dorian from Almost Human
- Legion from Mass Effect
- Robo from Chrono Trigger
(I could include Bender from Futurama, and Marvin from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but that’s continuing off-tangent into the humanlike robots category…)
HEYYY, but while we’re at it, how ‘bout non-binary examples? C’mon we’re dealing with robotics here, there’s gotta be at least SOME:
- Sechs from Battle Angel Alita (FTM clone of Alita, tho all he cares about is becoming a true warrior separate from her)
- Tachikomas from GitS (philosophical and self-sacrificing, but very child/puppy-like)
- Laputa’s war sentinels? Gentle nature-loving caretakers when left to their own devices??
HMMM!!! I could dig deeper for more examples, but there’s a limit to their obscurity in mainstream media and the results so far are already quite telling. Especially the contrast between the girls and boys groups!
Generally, when a female robotic character discovers more about her emotions and humanity, those feelings are VERY often tied to romantic love (and she’s often the designated love interest), as she defrosts from a cold, emotionless doll into someone more compassionate and warm (prevalent fanservice notwithstanding). Conversely when a male robotic character explores his humanity, it is often in a much broader scope with considerably more ‘childlike innocence’ and Pinocchio themes; the few that DO manage to understand romantic love are MUCH rarer than the girl examples. (And there needs to be WAY more representations of non-binary robotic characters dealing with their feelings!! This actually surprised me – like WHY is this not a more common thing, if emotions don’t require any gender?!) It seems the whole trope of ‘robotic character who learns the value of human compassion/how to cry/how to love’ seems to scale more heavily in the girls’ favor. (Meanwhile, for Monsters learning about humanity, it’s more common for them to be male instead, which was another interesting trend I noticed...)
Which category seems to fit Genos best?
Unlike most of the robotic girl examples, Genos does NOT start out emotionless and cold; in fact he starts out hotly ANGRY with an overabundance of misguided emotions and internalized grief, channeled in unhealthy (death-seeking) ways. And unlike the boy example group, who are often their story’s protagonists and typically not even human to begin with, Genos is still VERY much human and not even the main character (Saitama is), and while many of his teen years have been robbed from him, he is neither an innocent child (yet he’s still a dork) with Pinocchio-like aspirations of becoming a ‘real boy’ either (quite the opposite actually, yet he still has his regrets giving up his fleshy body, for potentially limiting his strength). If anything, after coming to live and bond with Saitama as a person, his aspirations changed from wanting to know the secret of his power, to genuinely wanting to remain (live!) by his side and doing anything he can to let Saitama feel happy and appreciated. Developing feelings of deep, unconditional love (platonic at LEAST) and complete loyalty for Saitama.
And if I were to analyze further, the type of character Genos
grows into most suspiciously coincides with that of a love interest. And it could
have been so EASY, so OBVIOUS for ONE to write him as female in this role (heck
he even practiced writing a similar robotically-armed girl with Murata in Dangan
Tenshi Fanclub)!! And his visual design has been purposefully intended to be considerably more appealing/attractive than most other existing robotic boy characters (thanks in part to Murata)! Just LOOK at all the ways ONE plays around with Genos’ character
type: he wears a pink apron, volunteers to do most of the chores, has ‘housewife
arms’ and has been equated to a ‘wife’ so many times, is expressed with ‘shoujo circles’ when thinking of Saitama, often gets into compromising situations rife with clothing/bodily damage and gratuitous fanservice, and heck even ONE drew
him in a sailor fuku!! Clearly, ONE’s aware of exactly what he’s doing (the irony play for him must be a riot), and churns
up all those preconceived gender roles with the malleability of Genos’ character.
But in the end, ONE didn’t make
him a girl. And that’s SO DAMN REFRESHING because it subverts such common tropey expectations of his character
(as the lists above show)!
Because Genos coming to terms with his emotions (and feelings for Saitama), processing healthier ways to
channel his grief, and finding new inspiration to live for are definitely NOT just
problems inherent to girls: it’s important for EVERYONE to be able to learn how
to deal with these things in life, and it’s NOT just girls who are capable of
love either! (So WHY aren’t there as many other male/non-binary robots/cyborgs/androids who develop romantic feelings too?) Considering Opm’s seinen demographic, it’s actually really
cool that ONE wrote Genos this way with these traits - as a character who can be relatable to many
readers who are similarly
internalizing their grief
or struggling to come to terms with their own emotions in that age group and beyond (along with Saitama’s
relatable character type too).
All these things make Genos such a GREAT, unique and complex character, with plenty of reasons to love him (and headcanon him). And I’m just DAMN thankful to ONE for creating him!