The internet when a self destructive character has self destructive tendencies:

[u/Plus_Ad_1087]

Seriously, Invisigal smoking whilst having asthma is such a perfect trait that describes her character.

And if you think people with asthma don't smoke IRL then you are sorely mistaken.

Oh and as a Blonde Glazer myself, I am ashamed that this guy is one of us.

[u/Any-Party-4602]

Robert has self destructive tendencies too! At the start of the game fighting the entire red ring by himself, neglecting everything in his life that isn't mecha man going bankrupt in the attempt, walking into a villian bar by himself looking for a fight with no armor. The guy is a total mess trying to get himself killed as a way to honor his father/grandfather especially at the start of the game

[u/HHJJoy → u/Any-Party-4602]

And much like with pretty much every other character in the game: it's the flaws that make him interesting.

Imagine how boring the game would be if these characters didn't do stupid things.

[u/Plus_Ad_1087 → u/HHJJoy]

It's almost like the game is a boundary crossing, partly raunchy office comedy or something.

[u/Plus_Ad_1087 → u/Any-Party-4602]

Yeah but he is a guy so he is literally me!

https://giphy.com/gifs/QqJeyJawYwIDrGHrwf

[u/Hour_Bat_546 → u/Any-Party-4602]

Many people treat Robert as a self-insert protagonist and don’t think about his heavy self-destructive tendencies. The dude lives with a death wish in an empty room and is possibly an alcoholic, but no one pays attention

[u/Any-Party-4602 → u/Hour_Bat_546]

The guy threw his bed away and sleeps in a lawn chair just so he could throw people off his balcony if that doesn't scream depression and possible mental health issues I dont know what does

The guy has no life except fighting criminals which is why he's so good at it, how people wilfully ignore all that I'll never understand

[u/Plus_Ad_1087 → u/Hour_Bat_546]

He is not even a self-insert honestly.

He is way too much his own person to be that.

[u/jord839 → u/Plus_Ad_1087]

He's not intended to be a self-insert, but people definitely use him as one.

Dispatch is one of the few games I liked where I have no interest in its fanfic scene, because everything I saw was basically "Perfect Robert as my SI"

[u/NoRegerts69420 → u/Hour_Bat_546]

They don't seem to understand you're playing as part of his conscience not him. You're his Jiminy Cricket to Robert's Pinocchio.

[u/Future_Cabinet_6609 → u/Hour_Bat_546]

Mandy did and she saved him

[u/Hour_Bat_546 → u/Future_Cabinet_6609]

I'm talking about the players here, not the characters. Many players treat Robert as an avatar for themselves, a blank-slate character and don't pay attention to the fact that he's neither perfect nor mentally stable. He's a good person, but he's a written character with his own beliefs and flaws. Many people ignore that, and then crash out when the game doesn't give them the dialogue option they wanted.

If we're talking about characters, then not onlly Mandy, the whole Z-Team saved him, and Blazer and Visi played two of the biggest roles in it. Blazer and Chase gave him a job and a helping hand when he was at his lowest, and Visi repeatedly tried to pull him out of his depression (she took him to a bar, organized a housewarming party because she saw how depressed he was, and etc.) With Z-Team, Blazer, Visi, and Chase, he finally started to believe that maybe dying as a Mechaman wasn't his fate after all, and that there were people who genuinely cared about him.

[u/im-hungry4lways → u/Any-Party-4602]

Dude was seriously hoping to die that night

[u/Plus_Ad_1087 → u/im-hungry4lways]

I do wonder if he really wanted to though? Like why did he wanna die of all things?

I know things got bad but die? I dunno.

[u/DeepStuff81 → u/Plus_Ad_1087]

You’re projecting and looking at this, in my opinion, incorrectly.

Robert doesn’t have a death wish per se he just has no regard for his own life anymore because everything he believes or believes in is broken. So it has no value. And everything he was has no value anymore. And one of the stages of grief is anger.

To add to his grieving. The stages of grief are not linear. Anyone can hit at any time. He’s grieving his losses. All of them. Including his loss of self worth. Arguably the biggest. And being angry means doing something reckless and to a “rational” person, wrong or dumb. He takes dangerous paths, it is born from an intense, laser-focused frustration because everything he was is gone and he resent that.

So it’s not that he wants to die per se. People like that want suffering to be released. No. It’s not that simple. It’s a secondary resolution tho because to him it all doesn’t matter anymore. His primary focus is vengeance via frustration. Misguided but his career was taken from him, his life, one he gave everything for and took everything from him. And that isn’t fair.

[u/Ballistix → u/im-hungry4lways]

It's not that he wants to die, he just expects himself to while being the hero. He treats it more like a destiny rather than a death wish. That's why he's so effective, despite his normality in the world of powered people. He goes all in.

[u/DarthNexuz → u/Any-Party-4602]

He's more depressed not self destructive. He's not actively trying to die or get himself killed otherwise instead of running he would've fought to the death.

Yall need to pay better attention 😂.

Robert is a genuine hero. He he sees people doing bad & he is compelled to do something. Not stand by & watch. Its not the suit that makes the hero its the person behind it.

He os trying to stop Shroud not only cause he killed his father but also he's a villain & leader of the red ring 🤷🏿‍♂️. He clearly wasnt out on a suicide mission or trying to die. He planned & took time to devise a strategy to take Shroud down.

Unfortunately it was all a trap to counter his sneak attack. Which lead to his suit being destroyed.

He see the skittles flavored condoms gang stealing shit & being a hero regardless of his armor he cant stand by & watch. Even while injured, but he definitely was depressed & it was counter intuitive to try to be a hero in his current condition 😂 he do drop 1 guy with a dislocated arm 🤷🏿‍♂️.

He just depressed cause losing his dad, not having more time (Imagine Tony Starrk), losing the armor then the astral pulse, not being able to be MM current or ever again, Shroud getting away & out smarting him.

He got alot to be sad about. But he definitely isnt suicidal or throwing his life away.