Can a machine become a Man?
This is the question Robo, a byproduct of a genocidal A.I. in a ruined future, asks of himself and of which the time travelers, barring Lucca, leave unanswered. While the time travelers may include members who are Frog-men and cave women, the former was once a man and the latter is (as Marle jealously notes) all woman. Robo, however, was born in a scrap heap and whose grandmother was a toaster: what claim to humanity can he have?
What techno sorcery is required to change a homunculus to a human? Are the fundamental components of humanity proprietary, or are they interchangeable with any knockoff model? What does Chrono Trigger have to say about the nature of robotics and artificial intelligence, how such creatures exist in and of themselves and amongst the wider world?
------ From Dreams Of A Distant Planet: Chrono Trigger and the World Revolution of Video Games
One of the chapters that was most enjoyable writing in my forthcoming book, Dreams Of A Distant Planet: Chrono Trigger and the World Revolution of Video Games was the chapter titled "I, Robo." Video games themselves are a technological product. Many of the well-known names in the industry got their start from individuals or groups of talented and curious people wanting to know more about and push the limits of what technology is capable of. For one generation of creators, video games were the rock and roll of their era: a way to unleash the creative spirit and express themselves in a way the world had never seen.
That same maverick spirit is found in the way video games approach questions of ethics and morality through non-human playable characters: since these characters are literally non-human, they provide a means to explore issues from the perspective of one outside the culture or society where those issues are discussed and debated, a way to create a dialogue with the audience without having a character and their viewpoint defined by the limits of culture.
These characters are able to share what can be quite the unflattering portrait of humanity (HK-47 from "Knights of the Old Republic" being a prime example). Sometimes they just look damn fine. (KOSMOS and Nei say hi. Maybe Terra, since she's a halfling, I guess.)
Originally she was blonde, but to make her more distinguishable from Celes, Terra was given green hair. Either way, she's the "hottest" fire mage in Final Fantasy.
Writing these characters and integrating them into the story and amongst a human cast can be tricky. Not too alien to make them unfathomable to the audience, but not too human or else they're nothing more than an anthropomorphic Saturday morning cartoon character, the best of these characters can leave the audience quietly unsettled through exploring just how flawed humanity can be.
Returning to Terra, this half-Esper, half-human character inquires about the nature of love throughout Final Fantasy 6: mind-controlled practically since birth, raised as a tool of slaughter and war, viewed by a cowering public as "The Witch of the Empire", Terra is a pitiable character exemplifying the human condition when one isn't capable of loving oneself, or being loved by others, and the often narrow range of what humanity is willing to accept as being worthy of love.
She looks human. She yearns to be human. Yet after coming into her heritage as an Esper, Terra transforms into an otherworldly being, the gulf between her and her companions shown in-game by both the continents which divide them and the emotional walls erected by the halfling girl, and as Terra continues her journey the question remains as to whether or not she will ultimately abandon her humanity and her friends.
Robotic and non-human characters aren't often included in video games, but when they do, and when they are done well, they elevate those games to something memorable.
.......And of course, sometimes it's just fun to play as a 40-foot tall mech with missile arms.