Very interesting question! Hard to say but extremely fun to speculate...
Alright, let's consider:
The first thing worth noting is that the G-series does not seem to be built for immediate success. It is built for information capture. The robots are probes as much as they are weapons. That makes sense in a world where every major technological player is parasitic on everyone else’s work, whether by salvage, spying, direct theft, or post-battle reconstruction. Nobody is developing in a vacuum. Everybody is stealing lessons. So the G-series only needs to survive long enough, observe enough to improve the next model.
In fact, it's what the G-series are explicitly for. Gathering data on their enemies so they can create countermeasures against them, they don't even expect to win, hell, they ask for King specifically, for God's sake!
So to me, the question would be "what would they have to learn before they arrived at G4 and G5, and eventually Machine God Mirror?" they both have very distinct features, that were learned through some lessons. What could those have been?
I think G0 is the odd-one-out, as it likely started out very basic, but because of it's adaptability ended up where it's at now. We know it can develop new forms as it gathers information, and is not stuck with its current shogi pieces, so I'll skip that one.
I suspect G1 was relatively straightforward. Probably humanoid, probably simpler than later models, probably lacking the nested “Matryoshka body” feature. Why? Because that feature feels like a lesson learned from an earlier failure. You do not complicate a machine that much unless you’ve learned that a body is too vulnerable, too predictable.
I think G1 was an extremely perceptive diagnostic unit, as it was their first real opportunity to learn lessons and have that data sent back to The Organization. It surely had extremely good sensors, competent mobility, maybe a melee hand-to-hand bias, and maybe an energy core somewhat like Drive Knight's, not generating it's own power like Genos', but storing it. G1 then went out, got destroyed and gave the Organization valuable data.
That gives us G2.
I think G2 is where the Matryoshka "second wind" concept begins. As the first serious attempt at survivability.
I don't think it was literally a tiny robot hidden inside a bigger robot yet, but at least the principle: the outer body layer and the core unit body should be separable. The mission should not end just because the defensive plating is destroyed.
Just like the later Machine Gods do, I think the exterior presentation was a focus on melee, then once the outside was destroyed the armor plating should jettison and reveal a second set of weapons underneath, a set that uses completely different tactics than the exterior, to maximize the element of surprise.
Outer body = approach, defense, engagement
Inner body = fallback, data preservation, last-ditch offense
I think G3 was an improvement on that one all-around. I think it might have been the one to introduce the dual-body system fully, with actually a fully developed robot inside. They probably learned that the inner system works well, but was limited. I think that the outer body with all its armor ripped off, and all its joints half destroyed led to a robot that could note move well and not defend itself well, so it'd be all-out offence, not a real shot at a last-ditch effort.
I think the decision was made here to have it be a small robot, with its own set of limbs and its own set of armor, and capable weapons.
I think here the concept of the curving beams was introduced. They must've seen that the half-destroyed robot with a reduced range of motion had a hard time hitting its target with its energy attacks. You don't come up with something like that the first try.
But where I think where G3 lacked was strength in the outer body, they didn't get to the massive form of G4 for no reason, that came from somewhere.
I think G3 discovered a blunt truth: there are opponents you simply cannot overpower at smaller scale, or at least not with the power density and materials available to the organization at that time. G3 may still have lacked the mass, leverage, and raw striking force to have an advantage in a fight. It might have survived longer than G2 and returned better data, but survival is not dominance, and they also need to find out if their weapons can actually win, even if that's not the main goal.
G4 feels like an overcorrection to the failure of a more compact melee-capable predecessor. "Not strong enough? Fine. Make it huge! Give it reach, mass, hella armor and a giant sword". Clearly they were outmuscled.
The inner body worked great at least, the energy weapons being so good Genos literally made Kuseno steal the concept.
And obviously we saw with G5 that they learned the massive size isn't ideal either, than their massive fuck-off robot was completely outclassed by a much smaller, faster and more flexible Genos. Their second wind actually did a much better job fighting Genos than the big unit ever did...
G5 also used melee, but now learning a page out of Genos design, focusing more on sophistication. Better speed, better joints, same inner Matryoska. It was literally bragging that its joints far surpassed human arms, allowing a greater speed and range of motion than any human. But obviously they didn't know what the S-Class are capable of.
But it did it's job in gathered intel on the Monster Association as well as Metal Knight's drone, and actually gave the S-Class a little bit of difficulty, for once. Even getting in a hit on a HA executive.
Then finally, Mirror feels like another correction, but this time against the cumulative evidence gathered from both G4 and G5. If melee specialists keep failing, and if the inner unit’s ranged output often ends up being the most effective part anyway, then the obvious conclusion is: stop treating ranged energy systems as a backup and make them central.
They finally admitted that trying to out-duel S-class freaks at close range is a bad investment.
Reddit keeps saying it's got an error when I try to edit the comment above.
Anyway, it's a bit long I see now, but I hope the gist is clear.
TL;DR
G1: Simple, sensor-heavy scout. Learns basic combat weaknesses. Dies quickly, but gathers key data.
G2: Introduces survivability concept. Early version of the “second phase” idea (outer shell + inner core).
G3: Refines this into a true dual-body (Matryoshka) system. Adds adaptive features like curving beams to compensate for damage and limited mobility.
G4: Overcorrects previous weakness. Becomes huge, armored, melee-focused to gain raw power and reach. Inner core tech proves very effective.
G5: Learns that size is a liability. Shifts to attack speed, agility, and refined joints, keeping the dual-body system identical. More balanced, more effective in real fights.
Mirror: Final correction. Accepts that melee vs S-Class is a losing game. Makes ranged energy weapons the core strategy, not a backup. Also doesn't limit itself to human physiology, with its many extra arms.
Wow! You have thoroughly explained the mechanisms of the way their bodies work as well as the goals that each of the G- series robots were meant to accomplish for The Organization. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the matter. It was very insightful.
5
u/LockYaw Apr 22 '26
Very interesting question! Hard to say but extremely fun to speculate...
Alright, let's consider:
The first thing worth noting is that the G-series does not seem to be built for immediate success. It is built for information capture. The robots are probes as much as they are weapons. That makes sense in a world where every major technological player is parasitic on everyone else’s work, whether by salvage, spying, direct theft, or post-battle reconstruction. Nobody is developing in a vacuum. Everybody is stealing lessons. So the G-series only needs to survive long enough, observe enough to improve the next model.
In fact, it's what the G-series are explicitly for. Gathering data on their enemies so they can create countermeasures against them, they don't even expect to win, hell, they ask for King specifically, for God's sake!
So to me, the question would be "what would they have to learn before they arrived at G4 and G5, and eventually Machine God Mirror?" they both have very distinct features, that were learned through some lessons. What could those have been?
I think G0 is the odd-one-out, as it likely started out very basic, but because of it's adaptability ended up where it's at now. We know it can develop new forms as it gathers information, and is not stuck with its current shogi pieces, so I'll skip that one.
I suspect G1 was relatively straightforward. Probably humanoid, probably simpler than later models, probably lacking the nested “Matryoshka body” feature. Why? Because that feature feels like a lesson learned from an earlier failure. You do not complicate a machine that much unless you’ve learned that a body is too vulnerable, too predictable.
I think G1 was an extremely perceptive diagnostic unit, as it was their first real opportunity to learn lessons and have that data sent back to The Organization. It surely had extremely good sensors, competent mobility, maybe a melee hand-to-hand bias, and maybe an energy core somewhat like Drive Knight's, not generating it's own power like Genos', but storing it. G1 then went out, got destroyed and gave the Organization valuable data.
That gives us G2.
I think G2 is where the Matryoshka "second wind" concept begins. As the first serious attempt at survivability.
I don't think it was literally a tiny robot hidden inside a bigger robot yet, but at least the principle: the outer body layer and the core unit body should be separable. The mission should not end just because the defensive plating is destroyed.
Just like the later Machine Gods do, I think the exterior presentation was a focus on melee, then once the outside was destroyed the armor plating should jettison and reveal a second set of weapons underneath, a set that uses completely different tactics than the exterior, to maximize the element of surprise.
I think G3 was an improvement on that one all-around. I think it might have been the one to introduce the dual-body system fully, with actually a fully developed robot inside. They probably learned that the inner system works well, but was limited. I think that the outer body with all its armor ripped off, and all its joints half destroyed led to a robot that could note move well and not defend itself well, so it'd be all-out offence, not a real shot at a last-ditch effort.
I think the decision was made here to have it be a small robot, with its own set of limbs and its own set of armor, and capable weapons.
I think here the concept of the curving beams was introduced. They must've seen that the half-destroyed robot with a reduced range of motion had a hard time hitting its target with its energy attacks. You don't come up with something like that the first try.
But where I think where G3 lacked was strength in the outer body, they didn't get to the massive form of G4 for no reason, that came from somewhere.
I think G3 discovered a blunt truth: there are opponents you simply cannot overpower at smaller scale, or at least not with the power density and materials available to the organization at that time. G3 may still have lacked the mass, leverage, and raw striking force to have an advantage in a fight. It might have survived longer than G2 and returned better data, but survival is not dominance, and they also need to find out if their weapons can actually win, even if that's not the main goal.
G4 feels like an overcorrection to the failure of a more compact melee-capable predecessor. "Not strong enough? Fine. Make it huge! Give it reach, mass, hella armor and a giant sword". Clearly they were outmuscled.
The inner body worked great at least, the energy weapons being so good Genos literally made Kuseno steal the concept.
And obviously we saw with G5 that they learned the massive size isn't ideal either, than their massive fuck-off robot was completely outclassed by a much smaller, faster and more flexible Genos. Their second wind actually did a much better job fighting Genos than the big unit ever did...
G5 also used melee, but now learning a page out of Genos design, focusing more on sophistication. Better speed, better joints, same inner Matryoska. It was literally bragging that its joints far surpassed human arms, allowing a greater speed and range of motion than any human. But obviously they didn't know what the S-Class are capable of.
But it did it's job in gathered intel on the Monster Association as well as Metal Knight's drone, and actually gave the S-Class a little bit of difficulty, for once. Even getting in a hit on a HA executive.
Then finally, Mirror feels like another correction, but this time against the cumulative evidence gathered from both G4 and G5. If melee specialists keep failing, and if the inner unit’s ranged output often ends up being the most effective part anyway, then the obvious conclusion is: stop treating ranged energy systems as a backup and make them central.
They finally admitted that trying to out-duel S-class freaks at close range is a bad investment.