I heard Robo-Ky was technically around in older Guilty Gear games under different names, as an alternate form of Ky. Can you explain the history of this if it's true? Also, one thing that I always wondered was why the PWAB sought out to make copies of Ky over Sol. Isn't Sol far more powerful? Or were they unable to acquire his data (hence stopping their research on him)?
Regarding Sol, part of the reason they couldn't build a robotic version of him was probably due in part to the man's mystical arts and physical strength being off the charts! They probably couldn't get an accurate reading! The closest they managed was a Physical Holographic Record of Sol when he was still in the Sacred Order, but Dizzy was able to trash that rather easily (to give you an idea of how strong Dizzy is when she's motivated!).
They opted on a Robo-Tempkin model because of the expectancy that these robots would express loyalty in their native programming and wouldn't betray their masters as easily as the Robo-Ky series did.
As for Robo-Ky himself, I've already given a rough summary of Robo-Ky's history, but suffice to say, back in Guilty Gear X, we didn't exactly know what to call him.
Some of us called him "Gear Ky".
The Japanese fanbase called him "Kuro Ky" [Black Ky] based on his Black, Yellow, and Brown palette (even "Sin Ky" before Sin existed!).
I and a small collective of people personally called him "Darkside Ky", named after the Darkside (Black Characters) you fight in Survival Mode.
The concept more or less lends itself to the likes of "Riot of the Blood Iori" and "Rasetsumaru" from older SNK games where a character would gain a new moveset and an alternate stance (such as Slash/Bust or Power/Speed).
Keep in mind EX Mode (or BlazBlue's Unlimited Mode) wasn't introduced until Guilty Gear X Plus (and not seen at large until Guilty Gear XX), so at the time this 'alternate' Ky's movelist was largely unknown.
Peculiar to this version of Ky was his 'broken up' combo-tree, where only a few moves cancelled in to one another, but the few that did (Forward Punch, close Slash) could be cancelled infinitely, creating a semi-gatling infinite.
He also had the unique ability to walk under projectiles and had a flying ground dash that made him much faster than other characters. Add to the fact he was already in "GG Mode" and he could also perform low-airdashes and jump cancel off practically anything, so he wasn't exactly balanced (imagine his matchup versus Kliff Undersn or Justice before GGXX and you'd actually think it was one-sided in HIS favor!).
I've already listed his moves in part with Ky's bio, but for the purposes of this topic I'll list them separately.
———————————SpecialsStun Edge (Also Aerial)Ray DividerReverse CrescentImpala Hunt———————————Overdrive/Chaos AttacksRide the Lightning (Single Hit Vers.)Aces High*Sacred Edge Laser (GGXX Only)———————————Instant KillRising Force———————————
*Because of a flub on the part of Takeshi Kusao, many players assumed the move was called "Aegis High", but officially the Katakana is "Eishizu Hai" (エイシズ・ハイ), though the way he said it sounded more like "Agevis Heit". (lol) Aces High is its official name.
In some ways Sin inherited this Ky's version of Ride the Lightning (he has a red version called R.T.L. that does single hits in quick short bursts), not to mention Sin's erm...dark persona. (Fans call him Devil Sin, though I call him Darkside Sin...old habit I guess). I should also mention that BlazBlue's Tsubaki Yayoi underwent a "Darkside" transformation of sorts, since her outfit went from a light beige color to black (though the explanation is that because the Izayoi 'eats light' that no light can be seen coming off her body).
I'm a long-time fan of him as a character. To this day, Takeshi Kusao's voice samples contain those unique movesets though the current Robo-Ky doesn't use them, merely shadows of his older self, though technically Ky got a short stint with those moves in his "awakened form" Kakusei-Ky in Guilty Gear Isuka.
It's an ongoing project of mine to put together a more interesting vision of "Darkside Ky" in the easily modded fighting game engine M.U.G.E.N.
Maybe someday I'll finish him and you'll be able to play as him in a fighting game, though his style is closer to that of a 'berserker' Kakusei-Ky, I'm trying to make him balanced according to Guilty Gear's standards.