Gesicht is one of the main characters in Netflix’s latest sci-fi mystery anime, Pluto. The character is voiced by
A highly elusive killer is targeting humans and the world’s most advanced robots one by one. Gesicht, a detective, gets on the case and begins by hypothesizing that the killer must be an advanced AI robot himself.
He’s right too, and it is these skills as a detective that make him one of the mightiest opponents of the forces working to rid the world of its most advanced AI marvels as well as humans who created or rallied for them.
Europol’s finest
Gesicht is Europol’s finest detective. He’s also a robot, but not just that, he’s one of the seven most advanced AI robots that humanity has ever produced, at least the seven that the world at large knows about.
He’s a serious man and treats most with respect. It’s rare that he loses candor and composure, but losing them makes for the rarest instance in his life where he gives in to emotions that AI robots are supposed to never exhibit.
His detective work is bar none. While human authorities are all working hard to track down the elusive serial killer, it is Gesicht who’s at the forefront of this investigation and eventually manages to track him down and even defeat him in a certain way.
The lapse in Gesicht’s memory
Gesicht has been having nightmares, something that may seem peculiar for robots to be capable of, but it is explained in the show that they have a subconscious.
Soon, it is revealed that there is a brief period of time from a couple of years ago, which has been wiped off his brain by external forces. These forces are Europol’s top hierarchy.
Dr. Hoffman, who created Gesicht, finds out later on himself, that the President of Europol got the memories taken out of Gesicht and put some other fabricated ones inside his data.
The truth
A major theme in the show deals with what it means to be human.
Dr. Emma, creator of two of the most advanced AI robots — Atom and Goji — is of the opinion that hatred, sorrow, and other such emotions are what makes an AI most advanced because it gets the closest to what it means to be human, who often have these negative emotions.
Gesicht, who’s not made by Dr. Enma, becomes capable of hatred by himself. It begins with a small child robot who’s on the verge of a shutdown when the detective finds him at a junkyard.
He takes him home and with his wife Helena, begins raising him as their own son. The couple is really happy and there is this surreal sequence of AI robots exhibiting behavior and emotions that only humans are supposed to exhibit.
However, Gesicht’s world comes crashing down when his investigation into a serial killer hunting child robots ends with him finding out that one of the victims is his own son Robito.
He’s overcome with pure, blinding hatred, and he corners the serial killer, who cries begging for his life. Gesicht can’t stop himself and shoots him with a canon, brutally killing him.
This dark portion was eventually removed from his brain by Europol. This was done in order to evade any public meltdown or fear that one of the world’s most advanced AI robots is capable of the cold-blooded murder of a human.
So not only he but also his wife Helena was deprived of the memories from this precious and dark period of their lives. Gesicht eventually regains his memories on his own, and before his death at the hands of a child robot programmed by Dr. Abullah to kill him, he remembers Robito.
As he falls down to his death, he’s not filled with hatred but the realization that hatred begets more hatred. As he dies, he’s done a tremendous amount for the investigations and defeating the AI robot serial killer.
Also Read: Pluto summary and ending explained