Robot Prejudice: Has this been explored in the X series?

[Reimu Hakurei]

A recurring theme in the series is that Reploids are striving for independence or to be at least be recognized as equals but the humans see the Reploids as nothing more than tools. The Mavericks are Reploid criminals who wreak havoc on humans and other Reploids for no other reason than to cause trouble, making it difficult for Reploids to be taken seriously. Are Reploids in the series discriminated against? I know that world may have still had old wounds from the Wily Incidents that reopened when the Mavericks attacked and the humans may even to this day despise all robots because of it. Has this theme of prejudice, distrust and political implications of free thinking Reploids has been explored in the X series?

[Solar]

I don't remember anything like that in X series, only Zero and ZX in a way have the whole robot racism thing AFAIK.

[RMZX Harmony]

I don't even remember if there were humans in the X series, except for Cain.

[Gaia]

The only ones that went AWOL, were the ones were infected with malaware or "the dreaded" Sigma Virus, or influinced by Sigma during meetings. He was the "first" to see the error of humanity with a will to exterminate them. game plot. 

[Hypershell]

I don't even remember if there were humans in the X series, except for Cain.

There weren't.  But the thing is, Zero-series is all about human prejudice against Reploids, and yet the only human featured on-screen before Z4 was on the Reploids' side.  They general public does not have to be physically present for their views to be expressed through the plot.

Repliforce and Rebellion both claimed to be victims of human prejudice, that is the tendency to call one Maverick without just cause.  On the other hand Rebellion WAS trying to launch a radioactive nuke on the world to further "evolution" knowing full well the risks of Maverick behavior that Force Metal carried.  The racist attitude seemed to be returned as Epsilon banished humans from Giga City, also.  If he wasn't Maverick, he was certainly borderline.

Repliforce is perhaps the most valid scenario for being victims of prejudice during the X-series, although their own attitude didn't help matters.  Lack of diplomacy being their own failing, the fact that they responded to accusations with threats, aggression, and building massive weapons, is what lead to their downfall.  Even though the accusations were unfounded, Repliforce's response could easily have been seen as justifying them.  Whereas Ciel's Resistance organized merely to defend themselves (and are barely able to at that), Repliforce effectively held the planet at gunpoint.

[RMZX Harmony]

Right, point taken. It just seems to have been a growing issue that evolves in the Zero Series and concludes before ZX starts.

[Bolt Crank]

The way I see Epsilon is more an extremist. Not a maverick, but an extremist. After all, he made sure to not harm civilians in Giga city, only his attackers, and We can assume tht the humans were banished without harm, since the sole reason X was sent was because of the rebellion itself, the idea... Nothing of Mavericks was really mentioned... Plus, the fact that they were simply "banished" as opposed to outright tossed off or killed says something. X himself did not seem to think Epsilon was maverick, (or entirely one) as when he talks to Redips, stating that at least epsilon understood the risks of his actions, "at least he wasnt  maverick from the start". Plus his Maverick Status was deferred due to Redips.

[Jericho]

The way I see Epsilon is more an extremist. Not a maverick, but an extremist. After all, he made sure to not harm civilians in Giga city, only his attackers, and We can assume tht the humans were banished without harm, since the sole reason X was sent was because of the rebellion itself, the idea... Nothing of Mavericks was really mentioned... Plus, the fact that they were simply "banished" as opposed to outright tossed off or killed says something. X himself did not seem to think Epsilon was maverick, (or entirely one) as when he talks to Redips, stating that at least epsilon understood the risks of his actions, "at least he wasnt  maverick from the start". Plus his Maverick Status was deferred due to Redips.

This entire post made me realize that Command Mission had a really interesting but concise storyline. I wish if there'd be another one soonish.

[Bolt Crank]

Yeah. CM 2 would be greatly appreciated.

[Hypershell]

The way I see Epsilon is more an extremist. Not a maverick, but an extremist. After all, he made sure to not harm civilians in Giga city, only his attackers, and We can assume tht the humans were banished without harm, since the sole reason X was sent was because of the rebellion itself, the idea... Nothing of Mavericks was really mentioned... Plus, the fact that they were simply "banished" as opposed to outright tossed off or killed says something. X himself did not seem to think Epsilon was maverick, (or entirely one) as when he talks to Redips, stating that at least epsilon understood the risks of his actions, "at least he wasnt  maverick from the start". Plus his Maverick Status was deferred due to Redips.

Well, this is why I said "borderline".  It is true that Epsilon is a lot less aggressive than your regular Maverick.  But at his core there is still the dismissal of humans and the obsession with Reploid evolution, regardless of risk, or for that matter, the will of those affected.

Even if Epsilon himself tried to keep it clean compared to the likes of, say, Lumine, the core philosophy still attracts a lot of scum.  Once you have labeled a group as inferior and/or irrelevant, disposing of them as opposed to herding them is only a small leap.  It's a leap that Epsilon himself didn't want to make, but can we say the same of his henchman?  Whatever code of honor he held pretty much ends once you get past Ferham and Scarface.  And it's not as if there was not aggressive action taken within Giga City; Lagrano was destroyed and Jango attempted to blow up the Central Tower.  If you spread that same influence that's affecting his henchmen across the world, it's pretty much asking for hell.  I think that started to dawn on Ferham when she decided to abandon the "ideal" and destroy the remaining Supra Force Metal rather than risk it being abused by someone like Redips again.

All of this demonstrates why Epsilon was still dangerous.  Where you draw the line in defining "Maverick" is beside the point after that.  Whether or not he himself will attack humanity, his idea of evolution still encourages it, and he was utterly determined to force it upon the rest of the world.

"Deferred" doesn't mean he wasn't Maverick.  It means the people who have to make that call were not confident enough to pass judgment either way.  Hence, borderline.  Redips was effectively the scapegoat that allowed them to dodge the issue.  In reality he was not responsible for Rebellion, but he was the biggest threat in the end, so blaming it all on him was the easy way out.

[Zan]

How the Rebellion took care of prisoners of war also left something to be desired. Silver Horned's treatment of Nana alone deserved him Irregular status.

[Saber]

There weren't. 

Actually, there is. There's some random human dude greeting a Repliroid in the beginning cutscene of Irregular Hunter X before the bomb goes off, the bridge blows up and the bus comes down.

Silver Horned's treatment of Nana alone deserved him Irregular status.

What did he do to her anyway, aside from strapping her into that chair, leaving all possible accounts of sexual harassment out of the discussion for the moment. Did it serve any purpose?

[Hypershell]

some random human dude greeting a Repliroid in the beginning cutscene of Irregular Hunter X

You know, when *I* consider something to be nitpicky, that's pretty bad.

You know what I mean.  If you're going to go so far as to point out what is effectively scenery, you could just site the original X1, unless you believe those cars in the opening were driving themselves.

[Zan]

Reploids can drive too! Talk about prejudice, Hypershell.

What did he do to her anyway, aside from strapping her into that chair, leaving all possible accounts of sexual harassment out of the discussion for the moment. Did it serve any purpose?

They were forcedly putting her abilities as a navigator to good use. Information extraction and making her do her job for them.

[Hypershell]

Reploids can drive too! Talk about prejudice, Hypershell.

Take Roll Caskett, subtract 3000+ years of technology.  Would you trust that behind the wheel?

Maverick Hunters aren't helping that image much, either; how often do they not crash whatever they're driving?

[Zan]

You forget, Robots had proven themselves to be great drivers a century earlier; Battle and Chase.

In my opinion, humans are much less trustworthy behind the wheel than robots, and Roll Caskett is more human than your classical robot.

As for the Hunters, they abide by law of cool and are equipped with self exploding bikes that have no brakes.

[Saber]

As for the Hunters, they abide by law of cool and are equipped with self exploding bikes that have no brakes.

Good one.

Well, the Hunters actually had bikes with brakes during Sigma's rebellion, but apparently the maintance for those things were too high which is why they removed the brakes from the Ride Chasers after IHX.

[Blackhook]

Good one.

Well, the Hunters actually had bikes with brakes during Sigma's rebellion, but apparently the maintance for those things were too high which is why they removed the brakes from the Ride Chasers after IHX.

Using the brakes isn´t a good Idea...Ask GBD

[Bolt Crank]

Well, this is why I said "borderline".  It is true that Epsilon is a lot less aggressive than your regular Maverick.  But at his core there is still the dismissal of humans and the obsession with Reploid evolution, regardless of risk, or for that matter, the will of those affected.

Even if Epsilon himself tried to keep it clean compared to the likes of, say, Lumine, the core philosophy still attracts a lot of scum.  Once you have labeled a group as inferior and/or irrelevant, disposing of them as opposed to herding them is only a small leap.  It's a leap that Epsilon himself didn't want to make, but can we say the same of his henchman?  Whatever code of honor he held pretty much ends once you get past Ferham and Scarface.  And it's not as if there was not aggressive action taken within Giga City; Lagrano was destroyed and Jango attempted to blow up the Central Tower.  If you spread that same influence that's affecting his henchmen across the world, it's pretty much asking for hell.  I think that started to dawn on Ferham when she decided to abandon the "ideal" and destroy the remaining Supra Force Metal rather than risk it being abused by someone like Redips again.

All of this demonstrates why Epsilon was still dangerous.  Where you draw the line in defining "Maverick" is beside the point after that.  Whether or not he himself will attack humanity, his idea of evolution still encourages it, and he was utterly determined to force it upon the rest of the world.

"Deferred" doesn't mean he wasn't Maverick.  It means the people who have to make that call were not confident enough to pass judgment either way.  Hence, borderline.  Redips was effectively the scapegoat that allowed them to dodge the issue.  In reality he was not responsible for Rebellion, but he was the biggest threat in the end, so blaming it all on him was the easy way out.

Thats true... While Epsilon and his 2 right hands Ferham and Scarface were clean, so to speak, (ferham was even willing to help out the hunters by removing one of the SFM fragments, and later, deciding to get rid of it since it was too dangerous to leave lying around when the rebellion was all killed.)  the rest were pretty much your average aggressive maverick. Especially Silverhorn, and Botos, who really only cared for his own power. I still like to view Epsilon in a different light, borderline, like you said. It really gives meaning to his thing on "only future generations can judge" I mean, any reploid could really do what he did, out of free will, since they have it, if they so decided to.

What did he do to her anyway, aside from strapping her into that chair, leaving all possible accounts of sexual harassment out of the discussion for the moment. Did it serve any purpose?

Well he also stepped on her.

You forget, Robots had proven themselves to be great drivers a century earlier; Battle and Chase.

In my opinion, humans are much less trustworthy behind the wheel than robots, and Roll Caskett is more human than your classical robot.

As for the Hunters, they abide by law of cool and are equipped with self exploding bikes that have no brakes.

I seriously dont think ALL the car had reploids in them though. Its likely a few were humans.
and in any case, for the majority of the X series, we have not been shown humans to any large extent outside of Cain.

[Zan]

I seriously dont think ALL the car had reploids in them though. Its likely a few were humans.

There really weren't that many cars. They could easily have all been driven by civilian Repliroids fleeing the scene. We simply do not know.

If anything, the humans shown fleeing from the Mechaniroids in Day of Sigma are a much more clear cut example of their presence.

[Bolt Crank]

Yeah. we aren't shown drivers, so we cant say

[Gotham Ranger]

This topic needs more robotic racist slang

[Keno]

Did it ever occur to anyone that in the year 21XX they might have I, Robot style self-driven cars?

I would consider X6 to be a good example of racism. Alia & X discuss how Gate's creations weren't really dangerous when they were disposed. I can't believe I'm mentioning this before Hypershell.

[Reimu Hakurei]

How about in Mega Man X5 when the Mavericks themselves attack the Maverick Hunters for being a facist organization who wouldn't hesitate to kill those who don't agree with their policies?

[Zan]

I would consider X6 to be a good example of racism. Alia & X discuss how Gate's creations weren't really dangerous when they were disposed. I can't believe I'm mentioning this before Hypershell.

They were disposed of because they were unanalyzable and potentially dangerous. That and they just didn't like that snobby Gate.

How about in Mega Man X5 when the Mavericks themselves attack the Maverick Hunters for being a facist organization who wouldn't hesitate to kill those who don't agree with their policies?

That never happened, and certainly not in X5.