this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2025
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In my imagination, Murderbot looked kinda like the player character from the game 'Citizen Sleeper', pictured below.
Which is to say, very androgynous and very obviously cybernetic.
There's quite a bit of character similarity between them too, because the titular Sleeper is a human consciousness in a cybernetic body that has a lot of biological parts, and they are kept loyal to the company who owns them by a drug that will cause their body to break down if they stop taking it. Same intent as the governor module, but a different approach.
I found Murderbot's physical appearance an important aspect of the books, not just for surface plot reasons (everyone knows they are a bot etc) but because it's a large part of what people need to overcome from the perspective of seeing past their prejudices.
Not quite as I saw them, but I certainly saw it clearly not human. A composite of plastic, metal and flesh. Comfortable with the label it.
Though the counter to that, I'm sure the books mentions sexbots basically being the same platform as secunits, only with a gender and without built in weapons. With a combatunit being the same again, but with even more weapons (including cyber). Which does say maybe Martha Wells had the platform, without armour, as maybe more fleshly than we are thinking.
The TV series is good, but it's not as I saw in my head. Other than "Sanctuary Moon", which nails it.
I am surprised there hasn't been real unset by fans by giving Murderbot gender. They could have at least picked someone who didn't look binary. But Skarsgård has got the right character if not the right face.
Yeah, I agree the bots are genuinely "more fleshy"and with skin and such - just saying where my imagination was at - which thanks to the wonder of books can be quite different for different people.
I wish we knew what the motivation was for choosing the actor. The cynic in me thinks they opted obviously male lead to reduce friction and claims of "wokeness" but without some inside insight we can't know.
I think commercially, they needed a known actor and who can not only look genderless, but sound it? It is easier in books.