Astro Boy HC: Tenmas drive to build a god
Reupload of of my personal explanation/hc how Tenmas drive to build a god formed and evolved over the years. Feel free to discuss. It is always stated Umataro Tenma wants to build a god. How did that wish arise? What is a god? Why does he want to build a god?I want to begin with his view on robots as a child and how it evolved over the years. The youngest we see him, next to Atom: The Beginning, is in one episode of Astro Boy 2003 where he has created a Teddybear-Robot to have someone to talk to. Tenma asks him "Little Bear, you're my Friend, right?". At this moment in the story Tenma & Ochan still view robots as friends. We can assume that Tenma has no friends nor family member he can talk to so he is pretty lonely. Being a genius and thus different from the norm increases the feeling of isolation because you aren't able to connect with your agegroup as well since your interest and development simply differ a lot. Being mixed race (OG Manga) isn't easy in japan as well. The bear also agrees with everything he says, maybe giving him the needed approval, someone he can vent to. A kind of substitude for a feeling no one in his surrounding gave him. At this point we have a little timeskip right to the tragedy which cost his parents lifes. If my calculations are correct he was 14 years old when it took place. We see him running towards the burning building, screaming at a fire fighter while grabbing his collar that his parents are still in there. The man is telling Umataro that they'd need a superman to get inside and save them. Umataro is helpless, he can only watch his parents die. Him reacting agressivly back then and throughout the series, trying to keep everything together, gives me the impression that he avoids showing vulnerability in form of emotions besides anger, even when he is sad, overwhelmed etc. and tries to keep himself together or shuts down. The classic "Boys don't cry" attitude. It was most likely, next to socienty, enforced by a person whose opinion he valued. Maybe by one of his parents. Him screaming at the fire fighter is just him feeling helpless and expressing it through anger. A trait he still has as an adult. He was probably rediculed for showing weakness in the past, feels ashamed of it now and has not developed healthy coping mechanisms. As a side note: While charcteristics of ones personality are inherited (nature) they get suppressed, enforced and formed by the outside world (nurture). Both play a large role when it comes to character development.
The firefighter mentioning they'd need a superman to save his parents gives him the idea to build a powerful robot who could prevent tragedies.Shortly afterwards he was placed in an orphanage. Imagine losing your parents at that age, moving in a home with complete strangers, not having any friends or family to lean on. He was basically powerless and vulnerable, something he detested. He had zero control over what happened to him. How could he be strong (or cover his weakness up and regain a feeling of control)? With a powerful robot. At the same time he built walls around him so he wouldn't have to watch anyone leaving him alone. According to the OG manga he even associated with bad people at this time. Why? I can only speculate. Maybe he was looking for anyone he could hold onto, maybe they could use his genius brain and he let them use him so he had someone. I don't think it filled the void in him.
Anyhow he has to deal with his grief by himself and starts to view people who need others as weak. I think this is the foundation that leads to his view on friendship he expresses in the micro bear episode in AB 03. Him not getting attached to other people or brushing A106 off as trash when he fails at sth help him keeping a distance between them and him so he can't lose anyone again as well. We saw how much Hiroshis nearly fatal injury impacted him.
He said to Ochan that a strong robot is cool. Strong regarding brute force. Yes, it is childish, but if you think about it, it's a visible demonstration of how he defines strength: defeating others, achieving what average humans can't, being surperior, being in control. The mix of 1.000 Horsepowers and the ability to think for himself, analyzeing and preventing the assault in the 1st Episode of Atom: The Beginning was the first step of A106 to become superman. A type of god, if you want to call him that. He doesn't lust for Power for the sake of power but rather to be in control.
A view years later we see him further developing robots with kokoro, but, while he is the minister of science, his colleagues call his work blasphemy (03 Manga) and some citizens riot against the development of more robots. Him being rude and overbearing doesn't help fostering a good relationship with the public. In the og manga he can't stand that he is the minister while Ochan is the more popular one, which, to me, is an indicator that he wants to be accepted by others and, while probalby not wanting to accept it, yearns for other people to understand and appreciate him. He is defining popularity via surperiority, academic success and achievements. He also wanted to impress Dr. Lolo by destroying her robot to prove he is worthy, he is strong. It is possible that is parents were strict and cared more about his achievments than him as a person. He looked for their approval e. g by being extremely good at school and now for others approval by being an overachiever at his job. He is frustrated and questions himself why he is the better scientist yet Ochan is admired more.
Anyway, him being a genius, getting more about robots than they, these average people, can even dream of, is beneficial when it comes to inflating ones ego. A mix between this and bitterness is highly toxic. At first he is scared of Atom because he is not under his control but when he sees how Ochan raises him he sees the potential he has to cooperate with him, being "his" again and loses his fear. He views people so far beneath him that robots should rule over them and be their "gods". At the same time he just wants his son back, even if it means deleting or supressing parts of Atoms memories again. Forced recognition, admiration, acceptance and control. Atom was in his hands after he wiped his memories in episode 49. He could have easily continued his plan to rule the world but as soon as he had him back he just lived with him in his old place. In the Anime, especially in the end, he always goes back and forth between Atom being his son and govering the world with him which gives me the impression that he himself has hasn’t got a clear idea of what he wants nor understands what he needs, while his needs come thourgh as feelings. When Atom dies he falls to his knees whispering that Tobio died again. I feel like he wants to govern over people, but only with Atom so he is his priority.
Finally, his drive on the surface level, him wanting to build a god, being powerful and ruling over others with him, has to be considered insane and is dangerous. Looking a bit deeper however it's clear that there is something else which drives him and that is a deeply rooted need for approval and creating safety through control. While an explanation doesn't excuse any of his deeds, inside he is a traumatized man and grieving father who lost everything, never developed a healthy coping mechanism, escaping into illusions and abusing his talents to somehow deal with the hand he has been dealt.
I would have made a character ask Umataro at different stages what he defines as a god and associates with the term.There are gods of destruction, those who forgive and save people etc. Many differnt words are assigned to gods. Wrath, Glory, Wisdom, Love, just to name a view. Are we talking about a type of god in religion or of the mythological type? Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines a god to be: "Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped (as in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism) as creator and ruler of the universe"
In the end Umataro Tenma did create a robot with characteristics we could assign to a god. With 100.000 Horsepowers Atom surely is powerful, could rule over Metro City but instead he uses his power to protect it as a citizen who simply has some special skills. While not being wise, depending on how you define it, he surely is good to the bone, never provoking conflicts, peacefully resolving them, should they arise. He is trying to reach everyone through his words and deeds. In the last episode of the 03 Anime he forgives Tenma, huggs him, accepts him as his father and begs that he doesn't die by s*ic*ide. Atom recognizes the damage Tenma has done but he still cares deeply about him.
While Tenma called Atom a failure in some adaptions such as Pluto, he is probably exactly what Tenmas child-self would have loved to develop. A robot with a conscience, a kind person wanting to be your friend, rescueing people in need out of his own free will because he cares.
