[Open Discussion] The Android Anatomy in NieR:Automata

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For the more sciencey people, the anatomy of an android in NieR:Automata has likely been a major mystery. The story indicates they are capable of many human like features such as pain perception, drinking or eating (possibly even digestion of some sort), and even showing emotion. This thread is an open discussion for exploring the anatomy of the android body.

[For people who want more info about the three features provided above]
Pain - this is a given. However, whether they feel pain or simply are told by their sensors that there is damage to their anatomy, this is a different topic.
Drinking and eating - Operator 6O stated she “asked someone out for lunch”...whatever “lunch” is for an android. Additionally, (minor spoiler, if it even is a spoiler), Devola is an alcoholic.
Emotion - this is also a given. However, how emotions are perceived by the characters specifically in comparison to human minds, similar to pain perception, deals with altered states of consciousness - a whole new topic.

Android by definition is a humanoid machine (tech/robotics/engineering specialists, help me out here if there are other details we can add). It seems to be the androids in the story are similar to the robots seen in classic films such as the Terminator series, just that in NieR, androids are much more advanced. The interpretation I offer specifically is about their cognitive ability and mental capacity. It seems to be that the androids in NieR:Automata are a result of a modern day project in the neuroscience field called The Connectome Project.

For those who have never heard of this project before, it is a neurological project currently in development that is attempting to map the entire human brain on a computer. The question then arises, if the neural pathways and features of the human brain are copied onto a computer in the form of digital data, does the computer become a human? It further extends into other debates such as whether consciousness or the soul are part of the brain or if they even exist at all.

In the world of Nier:Automata, it seems to be that projects such as The Connectome Project succeeded and served as the precursor to Project YoRHa. By copying the ability of the human brain into the form of digital data, computers could then, at the very least, act like people. To make androids, the brain data translated into digital data could have been placed into humanoid machines. Pain perception could also be simulated in a mechanical body, even if pain perception may have differed to how humans perceived it. Emotions could be displayed through the reaction the data is programmed to evoke when a certain stimulus is perceived by the programming in the android body.

By converting brain features into digital data, special ideas such as “the soul” ultimately seem to be neurons or matter in a special form to provide us with what is called self awareness or consciousness. Through the above interpretation, NieR:Automata’s world seems to be nihilistic to a whole new level. I am not sure how much Yoko Taro thought about the science behind the android anatomy. However, after thinking further about the way androids are built, it was fascinating and I kept prying further at what possibilities there were.

It would be extremely helpful if there were an official source from the publishers of the story to expand on this part of the lore. So far, there seems to be no written rule on how the android body functions. If someone does have any useful, official info, please comment below. Until then, this topic is open to discussion. Make sure however to backup ideas with at least some scientific basis. For info containing spoilers, please use the blackout formatting function. What do you think the android anatomy is like? What are some other major questions you had about the way the androids function?

Updates on community's analysis of the android anatomy

I have kept track and updated everything we have discussed as a community so far on the android anatomy. So far we have:

• The brain: Other than my original post, this part hasn't been touched on much, yet.
  
• Digestive system: Maybe?
  
  Clues
  • Devola is an alcoholic
    
  • Eating mackerel
    
  • Operator 6O inviting a coworker for "lunch"
• Circulatory system: Maybe? Possibly some form of hydraulic fluid.
  
  • Blood
• Reproductive system: [Confirmed by Yoko Taro] Androids can have genitalia if they decide to have such modifications. However, the genitalia will not be organic. One member has suggested the idea that maybe hacking is involved with the reproduction process (hack the egg cell like portion of a female genitalia in a female android).
  
• Speech Input and Output: Radio/transmission, "gibberish" language seen in the game, possibly even the use of digital telepathy.
  
• High heels: Not for practical combat use, but rather for appeal. Yoko Taro explained in an interview that he simply went wild with creativity. He said, "human civilizations thousands of years ago couldn't imagine what our civilization would be like, so I decided there would be no constraints to what 2B would be wearing." Not scientific, but an explanation we can remember.
  
• Blindfold - most of us already know what it is and that it isn't a "blindfold" but that it is instead a standard issue military visor.

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Yuuki eredeti hozzászólása:

like i menetioned one human created android from drakongard can do so too and she seems to come from around the same time. http://drakengard.wikia.com/wiki/Accord.
why do they do this do they try to find a way revive their master? after all the illness that let to the whole down fall came from the drakengard universe

Yes, Accord. I've heard of an explanation on this character. She had the role of a recorder (hence her name), and more specifically, to record the character Zero in the Drakengard series. Apparently, this android was sent back in time by someone unknown.

If Accord was made by humans, and was possibly sent back in time from the days when androids were made by humans, such as the days of Devola and Popola, not only would it mean androids can hop through dimensions, it would mean time travel exists in the world of NieR:Automata and the worlds of the previous games.

The explanation I found for Accord's role also brought up a major question regarding the difference between Accord, Devola and Popola models, and YoRHa models regarding emotion, which all goes back to the few posts before. It suggested that maybe the YoRHa models, unlike the others, were combat models which convinced humans no emotion would make it all the more efficient for battle.

The explanation stating humans made YoRHa models, especially the more recent ones such as 2B and 9S, would go against what I suggested regarding the use of machine cores. Granted, this explanation was provided before the game was released (it was a speculation that was formed back when only the demo was out), so the author was not yet aware of the details on the YoRHa project provided in game. If my speculations are correct, it would not have been the humans who decided that the YoRHa models should lack emotion, but rather the androids who were left behind after humanity's extinction who forged the massive YoRHa conspiracy who decided there should be no emotions in combat models, or the entire legion itself.

The question exists however, why then couldn't the creators just simply program the androids to have no emotion? This question convinces me that it is even more likely that the brains of androids in both NieR:Gestalt and Replicant along with NieR:Automata were created by something similar to the Connectome Project. When anything is "mapped" in science, some people usually rejoice thinking that it means we now know everything there is to know about said something that has been mapped. This isn't necessarily true. A good example would be projects in our world such as the Human Genome Project or the completion of mapping the Drosophila genome. We know what the DNA is composed of, but it doesn't mean we understand what each segment is actually reponsible for.

If we think about how the android brain may have been made through something similar to the Connectome Project, the creators of androids may have initially decided to take emotion out somehow for all androids. However, in reality, there are numerous portions of the brain that deal with emotion, it isn't just one or several section. Even if one can determine the general location of where the brain is responsible for emotions, it would be risky to simply delete that general region as it may interfere with other mechanisms and actions. Imagine if for example, deleting the general region that is predicted to be responsible for fear also disabled evade functions and instinct. NieR:Automata, as a game and as a story, would be unplayable.

Instead of programming emotions out of the brain that was mapped, the creators (both humans and androids before YoRHa) may have decided it was easier to keep the emotions in the android brain. In addition, they decided that they could simply enforce a sort of regulation and hope YoRHa would start to lose emotion or ignore emotion through nurture and social influences rather than nature and programming. The story however seems to show that this was almost impossible to do since emotions were part of the android's instinct which can't simply be erased by nurture and upbringing alone.

This might be starting to be confirmation bias, but all of this above just feels like it reinforces the possibility that the tower girls were indeed responsible for the creation of YoRHa. Maybe this is why Adam and Eve, more specifically Adam, were vital characters. They were supposed to show that machines were obsessed with humanity through its remnants, and one of the parts they were obsessed with is the human mind, emotion likely being one out of many areas of study. Emotion is also prevalent in many other machines as well. But ultimately, the machines we typically see in game along with more unique ones such as Simone, Adam, and Eve were simply a foreshadowing of what was to come. They all served as a precursor to the motivations of the AI girls in the Tower.

If the YoRHa units had no emotion, they would have not been a sufficient adversary or rival to the AI girls. At best, the YoRHa would help hone combat abilities of the AI girls through the confrontations against the machines lifeforms that were connected the machine network. That was not their only objective, however. It seemed the AI girls were also as obsessed with humanity, in fact, the most obsessed to the point they wanted to surpass it. In order to evolve through conflict, primitive battle was not enough. Thread such as this one[www.neogaf.com] suggest that the game stated the AI girls in the Tower were able to use info from projects such as the Gestalt Project to understand humans and how past civilizations functioned. This is confirmed when A2 enters the library in the Tower and reads the records inside. They needed sophistication and they decided to use humans as a preference. To do so, their enemies needed to be as human as possible.

For such enemies however, emotions would be a vital component for completing the picture. In other words, the reason why the androids, YoRHa in particular, had emotions was because it was supposed to help with the evolution of the AI girls in the Tower, the evolution of the machine lifeforms. It even makes more sense when thinking about human history in our context. Human civilizations make the most progress in times of distress, such as war. Technological development skyrockets, not because they want to promote luxurious prosperity, but instead because they want to survive. As a result, development, or evolution of sophistication, is catalysed. The AI girls may have been going for this same picture by developing an arms race between the YoRHa units/android race and the machines. Sure, the AI girls could have simply used the info from the remnants of humanity, but experience is the ultimately the best teacher. YoRHa was that experience.

[Prolixus]

Yuuki eredeti hozzászólása:

Intangible is true in a word through. We havent find out what it is what resulted in human to develop a sense of selves so to say. is it the brain size? Unlikely several Animals including horses have bigger brains then humans yet they dont seem to have a as build out sense as self as humans to. So until , if ever, we can explain this sense of selves it will be difictult to pinpoint what makes a human a human. So in a way the soul is just a concept that explains that difference. If it is true and what exactly a soul is if it exist at all will be answered as soon as we find out the reason for our sense of self.

This particular topic doesn't seem to be very relevant here in this thread, regardless, I just wanted to add that to my knowledge, size isn't very important on its own. The number of neurons and the number of connections between them is what matters. Elephants or whales have much bigger brain than humans and they are clearly less intlelligent. But do they have more neurons and synapses than humans? I haven't checked upon this, but probably not. This seemingly contradictory statement could be explained by the size of the respective neurons...although humans probably have more neurons and synapses, but our neurons must be smaller in sheer size compared to that of elephants or whales.

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Prolixus eredeti hozzászólása:

Yuuki eredeti hozzászólása:

Intangible is true in a word through. We havent find out what it is what resulted in human to develop a sense of selves so to say. is it the brain size? Unlikely several Animals including horses have bigger brains then humans yet they dont seem to have a as build out sense as self as humans to. So until , if ever, we can explain this sense of selves it will be difictult to pinpoint what makes a human a human. So in a way the soul is just a concept that explains that difference. If it is true and what exactly a soul is if it exist at all will be answered as soon as we find out the reason for our sense of self.

This particular topic doesn't seem to be very relevant here in this thread, regardless, I just wanted to add that to my knowledge, size isn't very important on its own. The number of neurons and the number of connections between them is what matters. Elephants or whales have much bigger brain than humans and they are clearly less intlelligent. But do they have more neurons and synapses than humans? I haven't checked upon this, but probably not. This seemingly contradictory statement could be explained by the size of the respective neurons...although humans probably have more neurons and synapses, but our neurons must be smaller in sheer size compared to that of elephants or whales.

Prolixus is correct. Variation in neurons, neuron combinations of pathways are the greater indicators. At times however, brain size could be correlated to brain capacity, but not necessarily a causation.

[Prolixus]

AF eredeti hozzászólása:

I really wonder what they meant by "the soul" in the game universe when the Gestalts/Shades were created. I never played the previous games, I have only read up on the lore in detail, so I never really observed it with my own eyes. For those who played the previous games, what were the Replicants (the counterparts of the Gestalts) like? The Replicants might be a useful indicator, at least in the game universe, to see how a sentient organism without a soul would behave.

I haven't played the previous game either, but I watched a couple of 'in depth analysis' like youtube videos so I might as well mention what I gathered.

Replicants appeared to be very human, flesh and bone creatures with self-awarenes/having consciousness and human-like intelligence. However there was something very obscure about their reproduction, because the didn't father children (not in the generic meaning of the term, anyway), their offsprings were created with the help of a system created by the original humans, and basically the Devola&Popola models made it possible for them to have children...somehow. Because how all of this worked and what was the extent of the replicants' knowledge regarding the matter was never really explained in detail. I guess this is among those things that Yoko Taro left unexplained on purpose, he only provided little tidbits for the fans to chew on.

Gestalts appeared to be the materialised form of the human psyche, so designating those things merely 'souls' always felt a bit misleading, to me at least. Of course this could bring us back to the topic of 'what souls exactly are' etc but I don't want to get into that. Point is, if we consider souls as intangiblae but separate parts of the human consciousness/human mind then gestals were more than souls, they represented the complete human mind instead.

My opinion: As soon as the replicants 'developed' self-awereness, they develpoed their own souls/gestalts as weel. Imo, this is exactly why the original gestalts were unable to return to thier intended replicant bodies, because those bodies were already 'inhabited" by other gestalts...the gestalts of the replicants.

Do you feel confused? Well, I guess Mr. Taro extends a warm welcome to you. :)

[Prolixus]

Johnny eredeti hozzászólása:

...and then when replicants were made, they also developed emotions, intentions and "heart" example Debora and Barbara (LOL i like to call them that). Then come YoRHa androids, we can see 2B developed sense of guilt and sympathy, 9S's infatuation and Anger, A2's resentment, and longing for death.

and then the Machine, we now have 2 type of machines, typical ones like Pascal, King of the Forest and the rest, and also the advanced machines like Adam and Eve, they all possess the same sentiments and "heart" ( Adam being fascinated by human behavior, Eve being playful and clingy )

i think having a feeling doesn't require the brain, in Nier universe, the androids and machines have a common origin : the machine core, that is how they met the requirement.

my conclusion is : although human race is long gone, there is no difference at all, because just like humanity, the androids fight themselves like human. (in my view, the machines also belongs to the same species as androids, they have the same common ancesters : Human / Alien that was organic in nature)

I think there is a small error in your reasoning: The machine cores aren't really needed to develop intentions, emotions or 'hearts' as you put it. The first androids, like Devola&Popola (although Debora and Barbara sound more classy lol) can't have machine cores inside them (they were created before the alien invasion, thus the first appearance of the machines), and yet they are just as any other androids when it comes to emotions. I'm not even sure whether the androids before Project YoRHa had machine cores...the cores were used to create black boxes, so this raises the question whether Anemone and her companions had black boxes or not. If not, then they probably didn't have machine cores either.

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Prolixus eredeti hozzászólása:

My opinion: As soon as the replicants 'developed' self-awereness, they develpoed their own souls/gestalts as weel. Imo, this is exactly why the original gestalts were unable to return to thier intended replicant bodies, because those bodies were already 'inhabited" by other gestalts...the gestalts of the replicants.

Do you feel confused? Well, I guess Mr. Taro extends a warm welcome to you. :)

I'm not even sure whether the androids before Project YoRHa had machine cores...the cores were used to create black boxes, so this raises the question whether Anemone and her companions has/had black boxes or not. If not, then they probably didn't have machine cores either.

It makes complete sense, it is what I hypothesised as well. It seems then that organisms in the world of NieR that are sentient are capable of creating their own "psyche" as we saw Replicants form their own self awareness, leaving the original Gestalts stranded.

What I am more confused about it is how this keeps on prying at the most recent thread I've posted. YoRHa is such a complex investment. I honestly can't believe the top echelon/conspirator of the past androids that created YoRHa would have gone this far to create an advanced military organization to perpetrate a lie that would have had to continue forever. It seems illogical and impractical. There must have been other solutions, or other reasons.

I also feel it would be illogical if androids outside of Project YoRHa had machine cores in their system and the ethical implications behind it. It would completely go against the reasoning provided in game as to why they were used in the first place; because YoRHa androids were to be deemed the "sub humans" of the android society by their creators since they were planned for inevitable destruction. If other androids had machine cores, these ethical protocols would have been meaningless.

[Prolixus]

Thanks for bringing forth the linked thread, it slipped my attention somewhow, I'm going to dive into it when I have the spare time.

Since Accord was mentioned, I just want to add that Accord might have originated from a world that is completely different from NieR's (another dimension, reality, whatever). Since dimension hopping most definitely exists, we can't rule out this possibilty...thus she may have nothing to do with the androids of NieR's world.

AF eredeti hozzászólása:

What I am more confused about it is how this keeps on prying at the most recent thread I've posted. YoRHa is such a complex investment. I honestly can't believe the top echelon/conspirator of the past androids that created YoRHa would have gone this far to create an advanced military organization to perpetrate a lie that would have had to continue forever. It seems illogical and impractical. There must have been other solutions, or other reasons.

Aren't you mixing up things here a bit? (of course, it could be a misinterpretation on my end, idk)

I mean YoRHa wasn't creacted to perpetrate a lie. Sure, if I recall correctly, the council of humanity servers were installed after Project YoRHa was launched, but the Project's ultimate goals was to improve androids and develop better and more efficient models. Keeping up the moral was a necessity at that point, but I always got the feeling that keeping up the moral would have been necessary to any organized android operation regardless of the operation's goal. So whoever created YoRHa invented the lie about humanity's survival in order to make YoRHa even possible, but not the other way around.

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Sir Noble eredeti hozzászólása:

Please read this first info.

It has been confirmed by taro :
Android blood is oil coloured red to mimic humans.
(Basically everything is to mimic humans, with no real function)

They are created without genitals but can grow the ones if their choice and produce liquids that look like sequel fluid but serve no purpose.

Being able to feel the affects of alcohol likely has something to do with the way they metabolise fuel via some sort of process like photosynthesis and firmentation - that one is a guess

Note: you die if you eat a mackerel because the oil from the fish gets all in your circuits . Says so in the game, ending K

Androids are pretty because the creator wanted to show humnauty at its peak.In short androids are close to human body as possible as intended by the creator. Anatomy likely involves some magic

Did you use the updated information in the original post only as a basis for this reply? If so, please remember that every single one of these points was updated in the original post because everyone here has given insight and in the previous pages about these said points, it was not just a speculation by one person.

And no, we are not going to consider magic unless you are implying there are elements we will never understand (which I feel everyone has already assumed including myself). There is a reason why I addressed "sciencey" in the original post - because we wanted to focus on what seems theoretically or even realistically possible.

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Prolixus eredeti hozzászólása:

Since Accord was mentioned, I just want to add that Accord might have originated from a world that is completely different from NieR's (another dimension, reality, whatever). Since dimension hopping most definitely exists, we can't rule out this possibilty...thus she may have nothing to do with the androids of NieR's world.

I agree. It was what I also suggested. We can't assume androids don't exist in the future of the Drakengard dimension. In fact, we can't assume there aren't some other dimensions other than the two we are currently dealing with. But that's a realm of possibility we probably can't really lay our hands on. For now, we can only know that Accord was an android in the series, but only as a means for possible future reference.

Prolixus eredeti hozzászólása:

Aren't you mixing up things here a bit? (of course, it could be a misinterpretation on my end, idk)

I mean YoRHa wasn't creacted to perpetrate a lie. Sure, if I recall correctly, the council of humanity servers were installed after Project YoRHa was launched, but the Project's ultimate goals was to improve androids and develop better and more efficient models. Keeping up the moral was a necessity at that point, but I always got the feeling that keeping up the moral would have been necessary to any organized android operation regardless of the operation's goal. So whoever created YoRHa invented the lie about humanity's survival in order to make YoRHa even possible, but not the other way around.

That...may actually change a lot. It's a good point. I'm going to ponder about this and come back with a reply once I have an answer.

[Luminous White]

I'm late to the party but here is an explanation I posted about the same topic in another thread. My analaysis is that they are even closer to human than most has previously discussed. I find almost everything about their bodies to be a purposeful both in form and function replication of the human body. All the way from their blood, brains, emotions, consciousness, skeletal, muscular systems, digestive systems, etc... All of it. Now follows my original post from that other thread.

Now then, after having completed two whole play throughs of the game including all side quests and optional dialogues I have learned just about everything we can about the anatomy and physiology of the androids. In my opinion "android" was the wrong word for them. They are fully bio-mechanical not just a machine. A better term would have been artificial person. First piece of evidence are the corpses we see in the game. They are not fully "terminator like" as in all metal frame, wiring, hydraulic/pneumatic actuators all driven by an advanced microprocessor based AI. We can observe what looks like a ceramic coated metal frame (this metal is maybe titanium or the memory alloy found in the game, which is used to repair the damaged leg of another android in a side quest suggesting it's overall use in their construction, who knows what other special properties it may have) covered in artificial muscle. Most likely made of carbon nanotubes, as it has even been theorized even here in the real word that it would be ideal material for such a thing and could be around 100 times stronger than human muscle, fiber for fiber also it wouldn't atrophy or produce latic acid when used avoiding fatigue. However this is not the whole story had we know that from overhearing a conversation between an Operator and B-Type that one of them has been working out in an effort to look better. This would suggest that much like us their body can self improve as their muscles can grow. This would require a biological element or something at least mimics that process near perfectly such as nano machines or artificial cells, and would also explain the need for blood, as well as explaining why 2B, 9S, and A2's stats are going up as they level up. They are literally getting stronger with work and experience. Moving on let's talk about android brains. When you complete Jackass' "science experiment" you learn that androids can experience an affectionate feeling towards battle that is much like the feelings of romance that humans could feel. This was built into them to make them better fighters by mimicking the human brains own reward system that is facilitated by dopamine. Well Jackass discovers that android brains secrete a chemical that does exactly that, and there is the evidence we need. Android brains are not just special microprocessors and data storage drives. In fact in order for chemicals to be involved their brains must virtually be artificial recreations of our own. An electrochemical nervous system. That means they are so very much like us save for the fact that their brains can also interface with and function much like computers when need be. Elon Musk (founder of Tesla and Space X) wants to start working on a project to fully integrate a human brain with a computer. If that is ever successful, then there would be even less difference between our brains and theirs as that interface would probably work in a very similar way, and very well could be used to save memory data just like 2B and 9S when they back up heir consciousness. Finally let's talk about their blood and first connect it with their brain function. If their brains are electrochemical just like our own as I mentioned above which seems to be the case then blood loss to the brain would kill them. Blood is necessary for the production and usage of chemical neurotransmitters. Completely explaining why strangling 9S worked either by cutting off his air supply as it explained they do need at least some air and water or by crushing his blood vessels. Again I think there is at least something semi organic going on up there since it is electrochemical. Also if we go back to the original NieR, when the first Devola is killed by NieR, Popola rushes to her side in a futile attempt to save as she exclaims "I can't stop the bleeding! Please don't Devola!" Confirming that an Android can die from blood loss. Also if you have completed Route C and also achieved ending D, you'll see some serious blood loss lol. Blood would also allow for the use of the most human like skin but being that the skin is artificial it could even be an improvement over human skin while retaining all the positives. Those improvements could be biostatis, (halting bacterial growth, they don't need to bathe and this is why we do), increased durability, and the fact that it does not easily die or necrotize when damaged such as in A2's case. As for 2B's tears while strange for a combat model all these still androids strive to be as human like as can be as they are happily made in man's image and that is a fact they are very proud of and so they didn't want to ultimately take away from that regardless of the emotions rules, besides tear serve the practical purpose of keeping the eyes clean too. They may be ordered to not entertain emotion but so are human soldiers who have to make difficult decisions and steel themselves to accomplish what is necessary no matter how much it may emotional wound them. Same for the androids.

TL;DR
So to summarize while they have metal and circuitry and other components clearly more mechanical, they have plenty of other features in that body much closer to being counted as biological. Bio-mechanical, not just a machine, but something more in between, a true artificially made person.

[Luminous White]

As for sexuality I think you guys got that covered. Apparently it is a possibly for them if desired. I cannot imagine it's too difficult to fashion said anatomy out of synth skin just as they do the rest of their flesh. Also as for Adam and Eve, who's to say they didn't modify their bodies after becoming fully intelligent and obsessed with humans. I'd even err on the side that Adam at least probably did most likely.

[DeadByLag]

Paragraphs saves lives.

[Hued]

riotangel eredeti hozzászólása:

Paragraphs saves lives.

Please. I had to stop reading that large post due to no indentation.

[Aemony]

Luminous White eredeti hozzászólása:

I'm late to the party but here is an explanation I posted about the same topic in another thread. My analaysis is that they are even closer to human than most has previously discussed. I find almost everything about their bodies to be a purposeful both in form and function replication of the human body. All the way from their blood, brains, emotions, consciousness, skeletal, muscular systems, digestive systems, etc... All of it. Now follows my original post from that other thread.

Now then, after having completed two whole play throughs of the game including all side quests and optional dialogues I have learned just about everything we can about the anatomy and physiology of the androids. In my opinion "android" was the wrong word for them. They are fully bio-mechanical not just a machine. A better term would have been artificial person.

First piece of evidence are the corpses we see in the game. They are not fully "terminator like" as in all metal frame, wiring, hydraulic/pneumatic actuators all driven by an advanced microprocessor based AI. We can observe what looks like a ceramic coated metal frame (this metal is maybe titanium or the memory alloy found in the game, which is used to repair the damaged leg of another android in a side quest suggesting it's overall use in their construction, who knows what other special properties it may have) covered in artificial muscle. Most likely made of carbon nanotubes, as it has even been theorized even here in the real word that it would be ideal material for such a thing and could be around 100 times stronger than human muscle, fiber for fiber also it wouldn't atrophy or produce latic acid when used avoiding fatigue.

However this is not the whole story had we know that from overhearing a conversation between an Operator and B-Type that one of them has been working out in an effort to look better. This would suggest that much like us their body can self improve as their muscles can grow. This would require a biological element or something at least mimics that process near perfectly such as nano machines or artificial cells, and would also explain the need for blood, as well as explaining why 2B, 9S, and A2's stats are going up as they level up. They are literally getting stronger with work and experience.

Moving on let's talk about android brains. When you complete Jackass' "science experiment" you learn that androids can experience an affectionate feeling towards battle that is much like the feelings of romance that humans could feel. This was built into them to make them better fighters by mimicking the human brains own reward system that is facilitated by dopamine. Well Jackass discovers that android brains secrete a chemical that does exactly that, and there is the evidence we need. Android brains are not just special microprocessors and data storage drives. In fact in order for chemicals to be involved their brains must virtually be artificial recreations of our own. An electrochemical nervous system.

That means they are so very much like us save for the fact that their brains can also interface with and function much like computers when need be. Elon Musk (founder of Tesla and Space X) wants to start working on a project to fully integrate a human brain with a computer. If that is ever successful, then there would be even less difference between our brains and theirs as that interface would probably work in a very similar way, and very well could be used to save memory data just like 2B and 9S when they back up heir consciousness.

Finally let's talk about their blood and first connect it with their brain function. If their brains are electrochemical just like our own as I mentioned above which seems to be the case then blood loss to the brain would kill them. Blood is necessary for the production and usage of chemical neurotransmitters. Completely explaining why strangling 9S worked either by cutting off his air supply as it explained they do need at least some air and water or by crushing his blood vessels. Again I think there is at least something semi organic going on up there since it is electrochemical.

Also if we go back to the original NieR, when the first Devola is killed by NieR, Popola rushes to her side in a futile attempt to save as she exclaims "I can't stop the bleeding! Please don't Devola!" Confirming that an Android can die from blood loss. Also if you have completed Route C and also achieved ending D, you'll see some serious blood loss lol. Blood would also allow for the use of the most human like skin but being that the skin is artificial it could even be an improvement over human skin while retaining all the positives. Those improvements could be biostatis, (halting bacterial growth, they don't need to bathe and this is why we do), increased durability, and the fact that it does not easily die or necrotize when damaged such as in A2's case.

As for 2B's tears while strange for a combat model all these still androids strive to be as human like as can be as they are happily made in man's image and that is a fact they are very proud of and so they didn't want to ultimately take away from that regardless of the emotions rules, besides tear serve the practical purpose of keeping the eyes clean too. They may be ordered to not entertain emotion but so are human soldiers who have to make difficult decisions and steel themselves to accomplish what is necessary no matter how much it may emotional wound them. Same for the androids.

TL;DR
So to summarize while they have metal and circuitry and other components clearly more mechanical, they have plenty of other features in that body much closer to being counted as biological. Bio-mechanical, not just a machine, but something more in between, a true artificially made person.

ing christ, man. Paragraphs! I've gone ahead and done your work for you, but the caveat is that I can't really be bothered responding to it. It took all my willpower just to make it through the text.

[af]

I apologize in advance for bringing back this thread, but I had to post this update, at least for my own sake.

I just learned that the original post where I suggested the binary nature of the human brain (neurons either on or off) could be completely disapproved by the concept of our brains being quantum computing mechanisms. If interested, please keep reading my findings below.


In short, I suggested in the original post of the thread that the brains/personalities of the androids may have been a result of projects such as the connectome project. The concept relies on the logic of neurons being in one of two states, on (firing) or off (resting). This binary mechanism is parallel to the mechanism of the typical computer which uses 0 or 1. By substituting the on and off with 0 and 1, this could have meant that during the events of NieR Replicant and Gestalt, the androids that were created develop minds so similar to humans by the translation of the physical human brain into a digital one through a binary method.

I have recently discovered that this may not necessarily be the case because of major flaw: our brains may not be binary. It is instead, quantum. In this context, quantum would mean that our brain's neurons individually can take on the state of "0," "1," or "0" and "1" at the same time. How is this possible? The charges which pass through neurons are actually a gradient rather than an instantaneous on or off. In other words, the 0 or 1 is not necessarily the smallest unit of measurement of the activity of each of our neuron cells.

Imagine if we stopped time and saw the firing of a neuron while it was firing. We could see that the molecules that cause the one and off are activating to form a gradient that goes from one end of the neuron to another rather than all of them activating at the same time. This would mean that while a portion of the neuron is activated, the rest of the neuron cell is unactivated. This is a combination of 1 and 0, and if the gradient itself is crucial to create a brain identical (or even identical enough to ours), the classical binary system is not enough to explain the function of the brain, even with neurons as the smallest unit of measurement.

You may have noticed or heard of recent news talking about, for example, how scientists have begun to place the brain of the C. elegans into robots and have seen that the brain does react to walls and manages a sense of direction, a beginning to the concept of mind uploading and digital brains from ours. However, the C. elegans is a much simpler organism, and even then there are many other behaviors it has that has yet to be replicated by artificial or digital means. Due to this update, if the YoRHa units and legion are to ever be a reality in any way, whether it be as androids to blend in to our everyday lives or be super soldiers in an apocalyptic event, the creation of these androids seems much further away.

Granted, we do have quantum computers now that could truly create the ultimate digital brain and help with mind uploading or complete cognitive brain technology. But the question still remains, would such technology really be the smallest unit of our brains to completely replicate the human brain and all of its functions? This is why some programmers are focusing on the concept of "Pure AI," an AI which has the ultimate grasp on what truly lies at the foundation of what we call "sentience," "intelligence," and possibly even "consciousness."