HK-206 is a powerful hero featured in Gigantic.

Summary

HK-206 is a mysterious, silent, and powerful sentient being within a robot. Why he exists is almost as mysterious as what his goal is, as he seems to enter the fray for a hidden, personal reason.

Field notes, trial #88-34: Subject HK-206 scored 94 on the ballistics assessment and withstood the test-to-failure battery with no function loss. Overall trial grade is "incomplete," however, because subject destroyed the obstacle course barrier and hasn't been seen since...

What is HK-206?

HK-206's frame engaging enemies, protecting his internal core.

Contrary to first impression, HK-206 is not in fact a sentient robot war machine - he is in fact the core of that machine. In intercepted communications, affiliated scientists and researchers have stated that HK-206's real value lies not in his machine exoskeleton, his weapons, or his armor, but in his core - a core that, according to these communications, is an artifact. This artifact, said to be centuries old, seems to power HK-206, causing many of his personality traits.

The origin of this core is unknown, but it seems to have two pretty significant abilities. First and foremost, it gives HK-206 the ability to reason. While he was initially thought to be controlled via his programming, it was soon found that, in a hilarious but terrifying reversal, HK-206 was in fact controlling the programming. Secondly, the artifact seems to grant HK-206 a measure of intelligence. Beyond his ability to reason, HK-206 has demonstrated the ability to form plans and plot attacks, as evidenced by his random escape from the testing grounds where he was being pitted against various experiments.

Military Prowess

HK-206 as a turret, laying waste to his enemies.

His sentience is not to say, however, that HK-206 is not a war machine in essence - he absolutely is, and his power is terrifying to behold. During initial testing, HK-206 seemed to perform well, matching expectations given his firepower and his configuration. As time went on, though, his ability was only magnified by his increasing intelligence. When HK-206 was deployed to the field for combat testing, he was found to perform well above expectations.

When HK-206's outer shell was first attached to his core, workers found his eye to be "creepy". Upon further inspection, they discovered that HK-206's eye was always on, and whatever he looked at was entered into his database and targeted with live weapons. This was unnerving, though it must be said that HK-206 never fired on friendlies during this stage. Though he did fire on "friendlies" when they pursued him later during his escape from the training fields, he never fired on friendlies during this initial stage, and certainly never on unarmed entities. Whether this is because of morality or the fact that they did not pose a significant threat is questionable.

During an initial deployment test, HK-206 was attached to a company who was tasked with clearing a ridge occupied by bandits. In a single night, HK-206 managed to clear the entire ridge by himself. The commanding officer reported only a single problem - the ridge, which had been a tactical location, was now pockmarked by craters, with most of the ridge structurally unsound as a tactical location because of this. Soldiers in the company soon began to follow HK-206, leading the commanding officer to question how soldiers could follow a leader who never spoke.

Allegiance

HK-206 setting up to dominate the field, position himself in prime fire locatiom.

In the most basic terms, HK-206 is allied, or presumed to be allied, with House Tesserus. This is the house that created HK-206, according to quotes attributed to House members, but this may simply be war claims, unbacked and unmerited. In more complex terms, however, it is clear that HK-206 has a single allegiance - himself. Because HK-206 ran from testing, and actively resisted those who followed with the full arsenal available to him, it is clear he harbors no good will towards anyone other than those who benefit his escape and survival.

Therein lies his source of distrust, of course - there are many people in the wilds who are looking for HK-206, and not all for good reasons. There are scientists searching for him to gather data, generals looking to grab a monumentally powerful war machine, and unknown enemies seeking to rip HK-206 in core form from the suit that protects him. HK-206 has no friends, no allies, and no trusted partners besides those he chooses at the moment - this might explain his solitude and silence, and definitely explains his defensive behavior.

Videos