What is Mekkatorque classed as now?

as that artificial heart/powercore seems to be some ironman-style life support, is he to be considered a mechagnome now then?

The first Mechagon outsider to be converted?

If I remember the short comic a while ago, Mekkatorque is not the first, Kervo Cogpipe was mechanized before him. (That didn’t go too well, mind you…)

Yeah sorry with the exception of Kervo (who would have been nice to see in Mechagon, nobody knows where he went after he was mechanized it seems).

Ironman is not a cyborg.

I never said he was, but… thanks I guess?

Okay, I thought my point was clear. Gelbin did not get anything more than a power core implanted that was somehow needed to keep him alive. That’s exactly the Ironman situation. One implant doesn’t make you a cyborg. Or a Mechagnome, as they are called in WoW.

Ok I see where you’re coming from now. Let me throw this in though, at what point do you deem them to be a mechagnome? Is there a percentage?

As Gelbin seems to rely on being kept alive by this particular part, you could argue it’s a part of him. Does that not warrant the mechagnome treatment?

He’s a gnome.

Not an easy question. But I would really equate it with the question when you would call a human a cyborg. When he supports and makes succsessful moves towards cutting off all the human parts that he thinks can be optimized as an implant? Certainly. When my grandpa gets a pacemaker? No, as cool as a cyborg grandpa might be, that’s not it. And I am quite certain in which ballpark I count Mekkatorque’s implant.

Probably, though I couldn’t say which. If you had a terrible accident and only your brain could be transplanted in a robot body, I would be willing to call that a cyborg, even if you never wanted that. If a person only replaced their fingernails with claws, because they believe everything else is perfect, I wouldn’t call him a cyborg, even if he has the sincere conviction that technology should be used to optimize the human in every way possible. But I would take percentage as well as conviction into account when making my judgement.

How many grains of wheat does it take to make a heap? Clear definitions can be tricky. But that doesn’t prevent us from using the terms.

There might be borderline cases. But a medically proscribed high-tech pacemaker isn’t even close to the border for me, nor is an electromagnet that keeps shrapnel from reaching the heart, like in Ironman’s case, though both of these machines are a necessary part of their subject’s survival.

Nice post. I’ll take that as good enough for me. Thanks!

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