♥ About Io ♥ (Spoilers)

[Daddy Kaneki]

Io is definitely the most refreshing, interesting, and charming character in the game.

A lot of people like her, and most of them for reasons that they can't fully articulate outside of "lul tits."

Hopefully I can articulate those reasons here for you. Unless of course you have no reasons for liking her other than "lul tits" in which case, go ahead.

But anyway...

Io is drawn to you initially because she feels the need to do so, due to her nature as your Attendant. She is bound to you - sworn to you. She takes care of you initially simply because she feels that is what she must do and it makes her feel complete when she takes care of you.

The fact that she is a construct that is devoted to your wellbeing and safekeeping is a big part of her charm. She's a gorgeous doll, an android, designed especially for you.

However, the more you play with her and go through the story, the closer she becomes with you and the rest of the team. The more she becomes in control of the strings that control the puppet that she is.

When you reach the final few levels, if you talk to her in the base (as well as a couple of cutscenes) she states several times about how badly she wants you to bring her along for those last couple of levels. And in those levels, some of her companion dialog talks about how much she appreciates the time that the two of you have spent together thus far and how happy she is for the memories that you have made with her - and all of it is with a romantic undertone. It's not all formal or friendly - she's clearly being affectionate with the way she says these things. If you doubt me, simply play the last few levels with Io as companion and listen to what she says as you move through.

If you give her a Bugarally doll, she ends up getting really shy and starts to ask you if you'd like to sit down and watch the show with her some time "when this is all over." Again, it wasn't a mere friendly suggestion - she was shy and hesitant, the type of "poke your fingers together and look away while blushing" kind of hesitation. It's very clear that she eventually has a deep romantic interest in the main character.

This emotional attraction towards the main character also incidentally and unintentionally serves to fulfill her desire to become different from the other Attendants. Because ALL of the Eos vestiges you give her are tragic. Every single other Attendant's memories are tragedy. Losing their Successor, or losing themselves, turning to ash because they failed their duties, being cut off form their Successors, etc. they are all tragic and sad. Io said she doesn't want to be mindless like them, she doesn't want to fail like them.

But how can she be different? She was made with the same exact purpose

Has the same exact face

Same exact body

Same exact objective. So how?

She didn't even know until it already happened - falling in love with you

Fighting alongside you, making memories with you, loving you - these are what set her apart from the other Attendants, and why she is so happily doing the duty she was born with.

She would die for you again and again, she would take every bullet for you, and help take care of the bullets that did hit you, and never leave you until you say you're okay. All of this not just simply because she's your protector, but because she's also your lover. Different from the other Attendant-Successor relationships.

She is also the ONLY Attendant that fulfills Cruz's wish upon her birth - to ease people's pain. The other Attendants tried, and succeeded, but eventually always ended up in tragedy - turning to ash, losing their Successor, etc. Io is the only one that doesn't fail in her mission to keep you happy and safe (unless you get the bad ending.) Cruz made the Attendants to atone for what she had done as the Queen, and Io was the most successful one.

There are also personal reasons why I love Io so much too. I've had a lot of deep, fulfilling, happy relationships with a lot of women. There isn't a single relationship I've had so far that I regret in any way. But the thought of falling in love with a construct, a doll with a heart, who was made purely for you, is a really romantic and enticing thought to me.

When I say that, I don't mean to imply that the real women I've been in love with have been a waste of time or anything. They weren't, they haven't been, and they never will be a waste. But right now, my dream girl would be a construct like Io, a specially designed and created woman for my sake, not just for love but to have the love be an INCIDENTAL result of the relationship. Like a bonus that wasn't intentional but isn't disallowed either. So, not a toy made just to be loved, but an Attendant like Io - a protector, bodyguard, keeper - but with love eventually being built up to naturally. Right now, that would be my dream relationship. A construct made just for me, with a heart that she never knew she had until we both found it within her...together.

That's the biggest reason why I love the "neutral" ending so much and why I have it as my "personal canon." I have the neutral ending as my personal canon because you can still wake Io up later on from her petrification if you collected her vestiges. And I love the way she holds your hand and places herself beneath it before she turns to stone. In that moment, she is not only symbolizing herself as your right hand, but she's also taking a very pet-like position. On her knees, next to me, my hand in her hair, looking up at me with a smile. Turning to stone, to be patient for me - if it is forever then so it may be. My pet. My protector. My doll.

It is for all of these reasons that the neutral ending is the "true" ending for me.

My pet, my construct, my protector, my love.