A blueprint of the Conscience Circuit from the first episode of Kikiader: The Animation
The Conscience Circuit is a special component in the Kikaider metaseries, a core plot element in the titular protagonist. The device is used as sci-fi commentary throughout the franchise on the nature of free will, morality, and a minor analysis of the Asimovian concepts of artificial intelligence.
Background[]
The Conscience Circuit, also known as the Gemini System in the manga and anime, is a special circuit designed by Dr. Komyoji. When installed with a Conscience Circuit, a robot becomes programmed to have an "absolute" sense of justice upon activation; essentially being the polar opposite to DARK's Destructoids.
If Destructoids have a Conscience Circuit installed, their sense of morality is significantly altered, depending on how they were programmed beforehand[1][2]. As shown through Professor Gill's flute, an incomplete Conscience Circuit is susceptible to being hacked, unless the user has some means to protect themselves.
The protagonist of Android Kikaider, known as Jiro/Kikaider, possesses an incomplete Conscience Circuit. Alongside his crusade against DARK, much of Jiro's story centers around this aspect, though the details are significantly different from each adaptation.
Tokusatsu version[]
In the Tokusatsu version of Android Kikaider, Dr, Komyoji first placed an incomplete Conscience Circuit within Gold Wolf. This conflicted with his original programming as a Destructoid, giving Gold Wolf a split personality.
Some time later, Dr, Komyoji created a complete Conscience Circuit. Placing it into Ichiro/Kikaider 01, Dr. Komyoji initially intended for him to stop DARK. For some reason though, Dr. Komyoji ultimately decided against this idea, with Ichiro being sealed away inside a statue.
Later, Dr. Komyoji created Jiro/Kikaider, the latter being activated while his Conscience Circuit was still incomplete. Through some miracle, this gave Jiro full sentience, which serves as his greatest strength and weakness. Whenever Jiro is in human form, he is at risk of falling prey to Prof. Gill's flute, unless he can somehow drown out the noise. When transformed into Kikaider, Jiro is normally able to fully resist its effects, excluding certain cases. Notably, Jiro's incomplete Conscience Circuit develops through experience, allowing him to continue withstanding Gill's flute despite the improvements made by DARK's forces[3].
Recognizing how potent the Conscience Circuit is, Prof Gill ultimately decided to design a device intended as its antithesis, known as the Devil Circuit. After forcing Dr. Komyoji to invent one, Prof. Gill also had him create a technorganic known as Saburo/Hakaider. The Devil Circuit was then placed within Saburo, giving him more power and higher reasoning than DARK's Destructoids. However, this circuit also made Saburo obsessed with destroying Jiro, ultimately proving a double-edged blade for DARK.
In Kikaider 01, Ichiro was activated to fight the Hakaider Squad. Through his actions, much is revealed about how a complete Conscience Circuit operates. Notably, though Ichiro's base power is stronger than Jiro, he also possesses several self-imposed restrictions, to the point of being completely unable to harm a human. Furthermore, he cannot truly feel empathy in a sense, leading to his poor handlement of morally difficult situations[4].
When Ichiro installed an incomplete Conscience Circuit inside Mari/Bijinder, it synchronized with her programming to care for women and children, causing Mari to support Ichiro's crusade against SHADOW.
Manga and anime version[]
In the manga and anime, while captured by SHADOW organization (Gill-Hakaider in the manga) an Obedience Circuit is installed into Jiro. While the Obedience Circuit was meant to make him a slave to Gill-Hakaider, it instead conflicted with the Conscience Circuit and made Jiro insane to the point of trying to take an innocent human's (Saburo Kazeda) life. Although Jiro stated that having both Circuits made him have a human heart, the Conscience Circuit itself was shown (in the manga and anime) to give Robots a heart (a righteous one) rather than absolute good. It was only later that Jiro managed to turn back to his old self with help from Inazuman.
Kikaider 02[]
Kikaider Reboot[]
Trivia[]
- The only media to present a complete Conscience Circuit is in the manga Kikaider 02 and Kikaider 01 (tokusatsu).
- ↑ Gold Wolf Howls in Hell
- ↑ The Helpless Android Bijinder: Bomb Victim
- ↑ In Kikaider 01, Jiro resisted Gill's flute while in human form, despite Gill-Hakaider having raised its potency by 100 times.
- ↑ Heartless Child Taking Gorilla's Tears: It's Tearful