Frequently asked question?
Okay, maybe not frequently. But I know I’ve seen it asked.
“Why do the Hunters keep rebuilding Zero?”
They don’t.
I can think of only three occasions when major changes/repairs are made to Zero. The Hunters don’t do any of them.
1. Red Irregular to Hunter. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll repeat it for this topic. The Compendium says when Sigma brought him in, he showed no sign of being Irregular. It doesn’t say the Hunters did anything to him. He was simply sane by the time he got there. (Or not just sane; the standard description of Zero is that he has a strong sense of justice.)
Why Sigma brought him back alive at all is a slightly different question. It’s a case of Sigma’s personal preferences, not organizational bias.
2. X1 to X2. After Zero blows himself up in X1, he’s rebuilt by Sagess. X captures the pieces from the Counter Hunters, and by the time the Hunters get the parts, there’s only minor assembly required.
3. X5 to X6. (Being asked for my X6 notes is what made me think of this topic.) It’s not clear how Zero recovers from being blown in half at the end of X6. He says himself he doesn’t know if it was auto repair or someone else’s doing. I would guess it was probably Isoc. But it certainly wasn’t the Hunters.
Asking why only Zero gets rebuilt is like asking why only X gets parts. Yes, he has an unfair advantage, but it’s not within the Hunters.
“Why do the Hunters keep rebuilding Zero?”
They don’t.
I can think of only three occasions when major changes/repairs are made to Zero. The Hunters don’t do any of them.
1. Red Irregular to Hunter. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll repeat it for this topic. The Compendium says when Sigma brought him in, he showed no sign of being Irregular. It doesn’t say the Hunters did anything to him. He was simply sane by the time he got there. (Or not just sane; the standard description of Zero is that he has a strong sense of justice.)
Why Sigma brought him back alive at all is a slightly different question. It’s a case of Sigma’s personal preferences, not organizational bias.
2. X1 to X2. After Zero blows himself up in X1, he’s rebuilt by Sagess. X captures the pieces from the Counter Hunters, and by the time the Hunters get the parts, there’s only minor assembly required.
3. X5 to X6. (Being asked for my X6 notes is what made me think of this topic.) It’s not clear how Zero recovers from being blown in half at the end of X6. He says himself he doesn’t know if it was auto repair or someone else’s doing. I would guess it was probably Isoc. But it certainly wasn’t the Hunters.
Asking why only Zero gets rebuilt is like asking why only X gets parts. Yes, he has an unfair advantage, but it’s not within the Hunters.
"Why is that robot, who can't be analyzed, not destroyed?" is the essential question people keep asking, after all. Never mind that Gate was biased, and we don't know Lifesavor's real story yet.
And I have to agree with him there, I don't understand it either. His creations hadn't malfunctioned before they were destroyed, so why do it? I don't think we can even blame human fear of the unknown this time. It looks like Repliroids are in charge of the whole process, designing or destroying other Repliroids.
What I'd really like to know is who keeps rebuilding Vava?!
(raises the question of what is a 'true' Reploid if their DNA can be perfectly duplicated by newgens... if a newgen gets X's DNA, is he a true X?)
Since X and Zero famously can't be analyzed, they must not be in the mix the Newgens come preloaded with. Otherwise the X8 Irregulars would have had a field day forcing them to fight 'themselves' or 'each other'. I don't know if Newgens copy perfectly in the first place, but even if they did, I think there's more to identity than just DNA. Maybe, because they can't be analyzed, if a Newgen tries to copy one of them it crashes immediately? The X8 Newgens didn't use copy ability much at all...
X and Zero may not be in the mix, but how about Axl? Could a Newgen sneak in impersonating him? I hope not, enough fans seem to dislike Axl already, making him the Hunters' security weakness sure wouldn't help.
Isoc couldn't have rebuilt Zero. He tells Gate he was still LOOKING for Zero, and if they had him, wouldn't they just have continued to use him- especially if Isoc is powerful enough/skilled enough in knowing Zero to control him at any time? They would have completely used Zero if they had rebuilt him- why do that and then let him go?
I wonder if Wily's spirit didn't intervene in he same way that Light's did, and it was Wily's spirit that 'erased' Isoc and spoke to Zero after he discovered the body.
Or you could say Isoc is not a reliable source. Maybe he's just saying that because he doesn't want to lead Gate to the real Zero. As for letting Zero go, Isoc does it during the game. He seems to want to see what Zero will do if left to his own devices.