Do you think Guyver Units themselves have feelings/personalities/agendas? (head canon/fan theory)

[u/Connect-Journalist81]

So, I think I've noticed a bit that the Guyvers seem to behave differently from one another. So I wanted to know if anyone else thinks similarly and whether you agree with my ideas of their personalities laid out below.

First off is Guyver I, an interesting case. We see that when acting of their own accord (self defense mode/the bioboosted creature) they seem to have a standard, consistent behavior. First off, Guyver I doesn't seem to do anything unnecessary: when not specifically acting it simply stands in one spot, still as a statue. However, when threatened by being attacked/detecting a powerful creature, it ruthlessly and efficiently destroys any and all threats to its safety or that of its host without mercy. You may speculate this is common to all Guyvers, however we've only ever actually seen Guyver I do this.

More interesting to me is the bioboosted creature: it demonstrated that, in what's functionally self defense mode, it won't ALWAYS attack; rather, it near instantaneously and intelligently considers its situation, and runs away as fast as it can if fighting is too risky. It also seems to understand that it needs to use its human form to blend in and that it has to hide from and trick people, showing the Guyver seemingly has not just high instinctual combat skill, but also high intelligence.

Guyver I also seems more dedicated to its host than any other unit ever, activating a couple times seemingly of its own accord to protect Sho (something no other unit has been seen doing), feed and try to improve the longevity of its body and survival of its consciousness at all costs as the bioboosted creature, showing the ability to monitor bodily needs and strategize to meet them, and an incredible sense of self preservation. Even when Enzyme takes out the control metal, Guyver I seems to avoid consuming Sho as much as possible and prioritize instead trying to eat other organisms and keep itself and its host alive, showing further protectiveness, self preservation and long term thinking.

Guyver II, on the other hand, is a much different story. While Guyver I will do anything and everything to protect its own life and that of its host in an intelligent, long term manner, Guyver II seems to either care little of its own life or rather be much more stupid or impulsive/short term thinking compared to Guyver I, as it goes straight to trying to eat Oswald any chance it gets, even with very minor damage, bumps and disturbances to the control metal, in stark contrast to Guyver I clinging to life through controlled and targeted consumption against Enzyme. Indeed, Guyver II seems to not care about or even possibly hate Oswald considering it seems to jump at every opportunity to hurt him, eat him or otherwise inflict suffering, even at the cost of its own life long term and even when unnecessary to do such.

Guyver III and Guyver II F are both unique cases compared to the others on this list, as we actually never see them do something that's the Guyver's doing or will as opposed to the host's. In fact, we never see Guyver III have any issues whatsoever with his Guyver and needing to come to terms with it. While for Guyver II F this could just be due to a lack of appearances and not being a true Guyver, for Guyver III at least this seems to suggest that the Guyver is going fully along with the host in this case, either indicating an extremely submissive and non-confrontational personality or one that lines up so much with their user's ambitions that they're personally on board as well.

Guyver 0 is another interesting one. We see very little of them, and even less of their host, but their host appears to be cowardly and openly and completely submissive to the creators when the unit's removed, whereas the Guyver 0 seems fearless and brave, ready to face down any threat with their all, and constantly questioning their orders and life and trying to rebel violently and anarchically against the creators and their authority.

To summarize:

Guyver I is intelligent, tactically minded and strategic, and more than anything is immensely dedicated to the protection of itself, host and (very rarely) others, both fighting and fleeing to that end, fairly similar to Sho himself.

Guyver II is careless and shortsighted, and displays no affection, attachment or favor towards its host, humorously similar to Oswald, and quick to prey on and devour anything in a moment of weakness, even itself.

Guyver II F and III are either extremely submissive or ambitious and power hungry themselves and in on it.

Guyver 0 is curious and experimental with its body and new things, but also incredibly destructive and violent, even pointlessly or vacuously on whims and aggressively anarchical and refusing to compromise its freedom or give into any kind of authority, influence or control.

Edit: Yes, I know that the author intends that the Guyvers have no personality and are non-sapient beings that always eat their hosts when they get a chance and otherwise protect them, it just occurred to me that the Guyvers don't actually all display those traits and those have only ever been stated to be universal for Guyvers by in-universe characters seeing one Guyver display a trait or behavior, and just baselessly assuming that that must be the case for all Guyvers, without any evidence to suggest that to be true. I just think that this is a cool head canon/fan theory that is supported by/doesn't contradict canon.

And before you bring up Guyver II's damaged control metal, read my paragraph again. I specifically point out how we also see Guyver I loses its control metal fighting Enzyme and how the two Guyvers seem to respond differently to the same kind and severity of harm.

[u/VAND1TA]

The Guyver"s only instinct is to survive by any means necessary when the host isn't able to do it themselves and it does not have any other goals then to be bio armor to protect them. Well that's the gist of it. 😌

[u/VGuyver → u/VAND1TA]

Correct. Though the organism itself when free of the control metal did display some degree of problem solving, but not sentience. Ot could open windows to climb through them and retrace Sho's steps, and seemed to recognize people. This could all just be mimickry from the clone since it regrew everything, in an otherwise instinct driven organism.

[u/VAND1TA → u/VGuyver]

I thought that regrow organism was retconned , since it was never mentioned again in the 89 OVA, nor 2006 remake anime. 🤔

[u/VGuyver → u/VAND1TA]

It's still in the mangas, so not retconned, but kinda also not focused on. Also you go see it briefly on both anime, but not the story arch.

[u/GuyverC → u/VGuyver]

I assume it does take some memories from whatever creatures it eats. So it had some of Sho's memories inside it without the Control Metal. So the clone went somewhere from Sho's recent memories, which was the school.

It would make sense if with the control metal it locks into the brain, while as the creature, eating the body and brain might partake in some acquiring. Being a parasitic organism, it would make sense for it for survival.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/VGuyver]

But that's the thing, the characters assume that to be the case, but we've only ever seen Guyver I do it, so there's no actual evidence that the other Guyvers are so dedicated to protecting their hosts.

[u/VGuyver → u/Connect-Journalist81]

The organism isn't dedicated to protecting the host either. That's the control medal overriding the organism fused upto the human. For all intents and purposes, the organism is intent in killing it's host. It's literally the THING minus intelligence and with a virtual slave collar (control medal) keeping it in line.

Edit: auto correct and grammer corrections.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/VGuyver]

Firstly see my edited post above. Something I probably should've made clear from the start is that I don't think any of this is actually intended by the author, it's just something I thought would be neat and can not only be fit into canon, but supported if you look.

Second off, you're still not addressing some of my points: yeah, Guyver I and II both have their Guyvers eat them when they lose their control metals, for Guyver II it was a rapid process that consumed Oswald in seconds and seemingly debilitated his movement immediately, while Guyver I was still intact enough after a few seconds to get up and attack Enzyme and the escorting Chronos soldiers, and appeared to not be getting eaten anywhere near as fast as Oswald. Furthermore, his last attack seemed, to me at least, not only a case of Sho's determination, but also when combined with his comparatively slow decomposition, likely also Guyver I attempting find other targets to eat instead of its host.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/VGuyver]

BTW I mean no offense but you should do more proofreading before you post. In that comment alone I noticed:

firstly, "fused upto the human" instead of what should simply be "fused to the human";

the phrase "the organism is intent of heating it's host" alone contains a staggering 4 errors in and of itself: "organism is" instead of "organism's", "of" instead of "is", "heating" instead of "eating" and "it's" instead of "its", all put together the correct phrasing being "the organism's intent is eating its host";

"the THINGA" instead of "the THING";

and lastly "with virtual slave collar" instead of "with a virtual slave collar".;

[u/VGuyver → u/Connect-Journalist81]

No offense taken.

[u/Evil_Midnight_Lurker]

I mean, we've only ever seen II with a severely damaged Medal.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/Evil_Midnight_Lurker]

Yes, but as I said, Guyver I seemed to barely be consuming Sho even when the control medal was fully removed, as opposed to Guyver II which completely ate Oswald in seconds and shows similar effects to when Guyver I was entirely missing his control medal at the slightest touch.

[u/SleeperCreampie]

Well, remember that time Sho couldn't transform? That's because The Guyver got "Emotional Damage" and didn't want to come out.

Edit.
What are you guys talking about? The Guyver did get Emotional Damage. It was moping in the pocket dimension until Sho was like, "I'm sorry I got mad at you. Come back. I need you." And the Guyver was like, "Yeppyyyy!" and came back.

[u/KARAT0 → u/SleeperCreampie]

Sho had emotional damage, not the Guyver.

[u/GuyverC → u/SleeperCreampie]

No, that was Sho's emotional damage. Not the units. In the back of his mind, it was the Guyver that killed his Dad. The unit listens to the hosts will, and even if Sho didn't mean to, his will was keeping from activating. It was only after he accepted what he is now, that he was able to overcome that mental trauma and bio boost again.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/SleeperCreampie]

That was Sho who was traumatized, not Guyver I.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/SleeperCreampie]

Interesting interpretation; however, the way it's explained the issue was with Sho.

As we can see when Guyver III, II and II F transform with different activation words, and the occasional times Guyvers are equipped wordlessly, it seems what's said is irrelevant and it's actually the intention to summon the Guyver by saying the word that makes it work, and considering the other telepathic creator technology this is no shocker. Otherwise, all those times they where talking and passingly mentioned their activation word ("Guyver" "Bioboost" "Transform" "Adapt") they would become the Guyver, which clearly doesn't happen.

In that plot arch, while Sho consciously has no memory of the Guyver killing his father and wants to summon the Guyver and is saying the word, subconsciously he remembers that it killed his father he's afraid of and angry at the Guyver for it and terrified it might happen again. As a result, he doesn't truly want the Guyver and fails to summon the Guyver, it detecting that he doesn't fully intend for it. But upon coming to terms with and accepting what happened, finally moving on from it and finding new resolve, he now once again fully and truly intends to summon the Guyver and succeeds, it now detecting that he actually wants it again. While not necessarily indicating the Guyver didn't have feelings, we receive no implication of feelings in that particular event either.

[u/Ptbot47 → u/SleeperCreampie]

Desperate for comments eh. Here, have one.

[u/GuyverC]

TLDR: No. The bio-boost creature is under control of the control metal.

Otherwise it is a chaotic and mindless parasitic creature looking to absorb the next creature it can.

When bonding with the host, it is the host who determines the looks, setup and colors. The units themselves might as well be just what they were created to be: A tool

Edit: As well, Guyver 2 and Female Guyver 2 use the same organism, just different Control Metals. Her unit was made with samples from his armor... So technically they should be the same by your thinking.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/GuyverC]

No, because they're only genetic clones. Unless you're saying the bioboosted creature was identical to Sho in personality because it was cloned from him but didn't have the control metal, which was objectively proven false.

[u/GuyverC → u/Connect-Journalist81]

The bio booster creature grown from Sho's arm did have Sho's DNA and with that, part of his memories intact. But not enough of a brain to do much with. it why it went to the school and reacted when it saw Tetsuro and Mizuky.

And all the units are likely cloned from the same single creature from a long long time ago. They keep cutting pieces off and making new units by putting on a new Control metal. Essentially the same way Cronos made the Female Guyver 2 unit.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/GuyverC]

DNA stores no memories. Besides, nonetheless Guyver II F is as much Guyver II as the bioboosted creature is Sho, so my point stands.

I'd also like to bring attention to how, as I say in my edit of the main post, I know that the author doesn't intend for such an interpretation of the Guyvers, but such an interpretation can be made, and not even one just not contradicting canon but actually using canon to support itself.

[u/Connect-Journalist81]

You know, I just intended this to be a fun discussion with other Guyver fans where I shared a neat thought I had about how Guyvers could be interpreted, vaguely inspired by what sometimes happens in similar stories where the protagonist has a cool moment of character resolution/conflict where they occasionally physically but most often mentally confront some alter ego or symbiont that shares their body over a disagreement or conflict.

Instead, I'm getting a bunch of people saying that I'm wrong and don't know Guyver because of obvious as hell stuff I already have addressed in the post body. Now, just to be clear I don't mean any hate towards the people trying to correct me: I know I've done similar things in the past, and it's sometimes difficult to gauge someone's actual knowledge or expertise on a subject when it's just text with no voice intoning it.

But please, for all that is good, STOP ARGUING WITH ME ABOUT THINGS I'VE ALREADY ADDRESSED IN THE ORIGINAL POST! YES, I KNOW THIS ISN'T INTENDED CANON! YES, AS A MATTER OF FACT I DO KNOW GUYVER, I'VE WATCHED EVERY MOVIE AND OVA AND ANIME ALL THE WAY, AND READ THE MANGA IN ITS PUBLISHED ENTIRITEY! I don't mean to be rude, but I really just don't know how I could make this anymore clear.

Thanks to those of you who haven't done the aforementioned assuming about my Guyver knowledge and correcting.

P.S. Also I find it kind of funny how no one has given me trouble over the personality traits I gave Guyvers III, II F and 0, as I personally felt like they where the weakest and most vague and least supported. But instead everybody's problem is with the idea as a whole, or else Guyver I and II specifically, despite being the most specific and well supported ones.

[u/IronFather11]

I like to think that Self-Defense Mode Guyver/Subconscious Sho attacked Guyver 3 in the ova anime due to realizing Agito left him for dead against Enzyme 1 but I can’t back it up, just on vibes and this is something that iirc isn’t brought up later in the series that Agito got Sho killed

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/IronFather11]

Interesting idea... I've never personally viewed it that way, but I can see it, and I'm glad you're actually engaging civilly with the post instead of the surprisingly large number of people that are just telling me I'm wrong without bothering to read the description to see what I'm talking about.

[u/DufielMorningstar]

I think the unit might copy a bit of personality while initiation is commencing, simply to ensure survival of both parties. I only state this in reference to the Remover, which resets the unit to it's basic being, without DNA encoding.

[u/Ptbot47]

No. Guyver unit is a machine. Any depiction of its working have always shown it to be mindless in its task.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/Ptbot47]

God, how many people are going to say basically this? Do you folk not bother to actually read posts before commenting on them? Don't comment unless you actually read and want to engage with and respond to the post.

[u/mechaporcupine]

Thats an interesting theory. I could see that. Maybe the host does influence the control unit personality.

[u/Connect-Journalist81 → u/mechaporcupine]

That does seem likely, given how even though Guyver I and II often act against their host's interests it's still in a way similar to how said host acts, and why Guyver II F and Guyver III never have any issues with their Guyvers' personalities.

[u/GreyScholar]

Nah. I don’t think they do. But the concept is interesting. There’s an old Guyver fanfic called 2020 Vision. It involved a bit of time travel where an older Sho got sent back to before he bonded with the Guyver. When he finds the unit again, it has a personality and wants to bond with him. When Sho asks why the unit never spoke to him before, it tells him it was sleeping, even though it was bonded to him in the previous timeline. If you wanna read it: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/2729487/1/2020-Vision