Noé is a tank in essence. He was created along a dozen of brothers to try and help fix a problem humans could no longer ignore.
He was created as a replacement for the bull in bullfights, for that way the human would not do any more harm to the animal for the cold metal seem like a good idea, and for a long time it worked.
They were mere entertainment and with the human design a bull was the tip of the iceberg, why not fight a mythological creature? why not go big instead.
The problem was that they were still sentiens beings, every punch, stab and wound would still hurt Noé, he had seen countless deaths of himself at hands of humans and their "entertainment"
His hands were not his, his chestplate,legs and every single bit of his body were replacements, his brothers and sisters attached to him as spare parts and nothing more.
Am I the only one who sees 001 as a pretty straightforward evil guy and not so manipulative? I mean sure, he poses as Peter the orderly but that, I assume, is Dr. Brenner's doing.
To me, he seems like a(n admittedly unhinged or probably sociopathic) guy who plays nice because his situation is hopeless, who finally finds someone like him who he takes pity on and decides to save, who takes revenge against his oppressors once his shackles are broken, who then lashes out (at Eleven specifically), feeling hurt because the first person he's felt a real connection to rejects him.
He says so himself, that he doesn't want to pretend to be something he isn't, like his parents always did.
He's not completely manipulative. Just lonely in a world that doesn't make sense to him. Still evil. But more straightforward.
Edit: I love a healthy, friendly debate so I'll elaborate on a couple of bits to give my reasoning. I'm not saying I'm correct, but it's how I see it:
001 was always a lonely kid who didn't hang around children his age. There is a theme of bullying in s4 so perhaps he was bullied for being 'different' which caused him to isolate from others he couldn't connect with.
Then come age 12, he's locked in a lab and, unless we find out otherwise in s4pt2, he stayed there. He had no chance to form attachments or mature socially.
So many years later when El shows up, there's a chance his stunted development still makes him think "ooo finally, someone like me. FRIEND." and so he connects with this little kid who 'can't be controlled like the others' like him.
Without feeling a connection to the other children in the programme, he sees them as nothing more than the animals he butchered as a kid and ends them all when he punishes the lab for what it did to him.
So now he's free, and he's got El, his new companion, with him. Time to start this new grand adventure. Only, she says no. And suddenly he realises that he misjudged her. She's not like him and doesn't see the world the same way he does.
If he truly didn't care for El, he could have butchered her alongside everyone else once the chip was removed. But actually he dragged her to safety when the guards attacked. He only attacked her once he realised they didn't share the same ideals.
Sure, he mighty have had future nefarious plans that included her because she was ‘the strongest’, but then he clearly didn’t need her all that much if he was willing to end her once she rejected him.
“Tricked you? No, I saved you. You are a prisoner here, just like me.” - 001, Episode 7.
