Jeez, I laxed in watching this thread...
(though it seems a lot of fans forget that Iris, despite hints that she still cared for Zero somewhat, tried to murder his ass dead, and have her come back as if she didn't and everything's all sunshine and rainbows)
It's not exactly a "hint" when she spends her entire deathbed telling Zero how badly she wanted to live with him.
Upon installing Colonel's chip Iris triggered "rejection symptoms" within herself, and is described as "out of control" (both quotes from Servbot20's collected info). Now the finer details of what those statements mean are up to debate, I suppose, but suffice to say there is a reason she and Colonel were not the same Reploid to begin with. Their personality traits are not compatible and in trying to merge them she was no longer able to function properly. Iris's body had only a few scuffs; her death is "internal" because she corrupted her own systems. And, as I often point out, the perceived direct conflict between her and Zero is actually the result of the player; Iris ejects the crystal on her own if Zero's in critical condition, so you don't really have to attack her to win that fight. It still ends with the same result.
If they must have DNA, then might they not also have an epidermis with hair and blood vessels surrounding a titanium endoskeleton?
Again, this is all a matter of "when" not of "if", but in the Classic/X context, we see many robots with faces of comparable expression and elasticity to a human's, so...yeah, not sure where your point is on that one.
Even assuming literal use of the term "DNA", nucleic acid as a storage medium does not necessitate the presence of protein, cell structure, capillaries, etc. We merely associate those with it because it's the "biological" application. But once we've crossed the bridge of manipulating it for a new application, we are in no way obligated to direct it towards the construction of those same structures. That's about as logical as claiming that because you have an SD card in your digital camera, anyone who has an SD card must also be using it for photography.
Just because computer viruses are a legit thing doesn't mean "Reploid DNA" or "DNA Souls" are too.
I feel the need to point out that the "soul" is NOT a biological term, but a philosophical one, and it is not clearly defined. Depending on who you ask, a "soul" may be considered by definition part of any self-aware entity. To say this term is not to apply to Reploids is to say that Reploids are not permitted their own sense of philosophy, which is to say they are incapable of thinking independently. We know this is not the case.
This is another one of my problems with the Maverick Virus: what makes a Reploid a Maverick? Is it the fundamental capacity for free will they've been programmed with, or free-floating viral code they can't defend against and makes them go all mad-cow and stuff? The answer could be either one, which turns this into a socio-political propaganda scare incident not unlike the McCarthy Red Scare. Unfortunately, the accepted narrative just became the latter and eventually led to magical Cyber Elves curing everything oh for [tornado fang]'s sake forget this I'm outta here
Anyone who has played X8 or MHX ought to know that the answer is both. The only excuse to not pick that up is failure to think through a story that is presented in the context of an action game; similar to how everyone ignores Zero's capsule dialogue when criticizing his account of his return in X6. Many players, unfortunately, have a tendency to look no deeper than the surface. "If a virus makes Reploids go Maverick then it MUST be the only reason they go Maverick." Such a statement is justified only by naivety. The unknowns of the possible causes of Maverick behavior have been touched upon in MHX, X4, X8, and XCM. All of these titles make it clear that "Maverick" is in fact a label, well before it became as loosely used as it was in the Zero series.
With DNA, you're describing an acid
The same acid you're describing with a virus before computers were invented. Repurposing terms for new technology is a very real practice in the world.
But again, even assuming literal use, this is an acid that is the oldest known storage medium in existence, to which man-made analogues actually exist in the real world. I'm sorry, Treleus, but I can't see that as anything but nitpicking. Besides, I've always seen the theme of how Reploids compare and contrast to humanity as being more a matter of mentality than anatomy. Especially because X's (known) anatomy is a step BACKWARDS from Rock in terms of how closely they match humans.
The Carbons could've had a hand in it too, but from what I heard, Capcom was once vague about Legends being the distant future or past, so they could've settled on "past" if they felt they'd written themselves into a corner...though that'd open up another can of worms regarding "humans" and robots, methinks.
I've not heard that one, but if there is any merit to it, it would apply only to the early segment of the Legends series' life. When the Zero series was up and coming, Legends was described as "thousands of years after the X-series."
Im just gonna guess that since X was built primarily as a battle robot, Light just never really bothered to give him a civilian form, and instead concentrated on making him tougher, stronger, and more advanced in AI.
I sincerely doubt Light wanted X to be anymore "primarily a battle robot" than Rock was. Obviously he made sure he was well prepared, his experience giving him plenty of reason to do so, but I'm sure Light would have been ecstatic had X been able to live a peaceful life.
I guess if I had to come up with some justification, one might be able to argue that the first independent artificial life form being "too human" in appearance would create a greater degree of skepticism and unease among people who are already slow to accept him. That's kinda scraping the bottom of the barrel, though.