Lordgenome

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"In his hand was hope. The hope of evolution. With enormous strength, the man fought..."

"...and learned of despair."
 * -Lordgenome and The Anti-Spiral, narrating the prologue of Childhood's End

Lordgenome is a character from the anime and manga series Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann. He is a seemingly cruel and ruthless tyrant who employs legions of creatures known as Beastmen to systemically eradicate all human-kind on the planet surface, commanding his armies from a gigantic funnel-shaped castle called Teppelin. Lordgenome is the main antagonist for the first half of the anime, but becomes an important supporting character in the second half.

Etymology
Lordgenome's name comes from the English "lord" (a male noble) and "genome", the blueprint for an organism found in its DNA. The name is meant to tie in with the theme of biology for Lordgenome's inner circle with each of his generals getting his/her name from one of the nitrogen bases that make up DNA, as well as reflecting upon his position as a king on Planet Earth. Lordgenome's name was combined by Gainax to reduce confusion among Japanese readers about "lord" being a title, rather than a part of the character's first name. In Part III, he is referred to as the "bio-computer" by Rossiu and his staff.

Description
In contrast to most of the antagonists in Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, Lordgenome is a full-blooded human being, though his spiral energy signature is red rather than the usual green. His precise age is not stated, though Guame estimates him to be over 1,000 years old. He is typically a very somber character, but can throw himself into a frenzy during a battle, displaying superhuman feats of strength, agility, and endurance. In Parts III and IV, he acquires a cynical wit, which he believes comes from his change of environment. Lordgenome is a large, bearded and muscle-bound man towering at over seven feet tall. His bearish figure is further emphasized by robust patches of hair, which take the shape of a spiral galaxy on his chest. He is usually bald, though in the heat of battle a red fire (presumably a visible form of his spiral energy) can erupt from his scalp. He has red irises that resemble a concentric set of spirals. Lordgenome's normal garb appears to be Arabian in origin.

Lordgenome originally owned all of the Gunmen in the series, save Simon's Lagann, but over the course of the story many are stolen from his subordinates or destroyed. On hand, he possesses a Personal-class, Gurren-Lagann-type Gunmen known as Lazengann, which controls a grounded Space Gunmen known as Dekabutsu, ostensibly referred to as "Teppelin". He also controls a Space Dai-Gun (later renamed to "Arc Gurren") that sleeps below Teppelin's site, and is the owner of the moon-sized galactic battleship Cathedral Terra (later renamed to "Chouginga Dai-Gurren").

First Anti Spiral War


In the distant past, Lordgenome was part of a previous human civilization that lived on the surface of Planet Earth, and it is implied that he was mostly a loner, his only company being a small group of animals that he took care of, one of which was Guame in his original form. When the Anti-Spirals, a group of aliens bent on suppressing the Spiral culture, attacked Earth, Lordgenome, armed with a Lagann he found, joined the ranks of the Spiral Warriors, eventually becoming a Spiral General. In his time, Lordgenome was known as a renaissance man, famous not only as a powerful warrior but a brilliant scientist who made many breakthroughs in the field of genetic engineering through his experiments with cloning technology. His perfection of this process would allow for many miracles, such as a human body in biological stasis which he applied to both himself and Guame, a self-replicating asexual food supply through the various animals that populated Earth, and humanoid warriors (the Beastmen) who would not emit spiral energy.

Lordgenome and the Spiral Warriors valiantly resisted the powerful Anti-Spirals, but they were ultimately unable to discern the location of their enemy’s home world and were thus unable to make any permanent progress in the war. In time, nearly all of the Spiral Warriors were slain, worn down by years of attrition against endless waves of opponents. It was at this time that the Anti-Spiral himself appeared directly to Lordgenome in an attempt to fully thrust him into despair, beating down his valiant urges to continue resistance by revealing to him the Spiral Nemesis. Defeated and spiritually broken, Lordgenome attempted to stop his comrades from continuing their futile conflict, however, even though proceeding would either lead to their complete annihilation at the hands of the Anti-Spirals or the realization of the Spiral Nemesis, Lordgenome's allies refused to listen, and, in fury, Lordgenome eliminated any Spiral Warrior who disagreed with him. Utterly immersed in the despair the Anti-Spiral had instilled within him, Lordgenome activated his most powerful weapon, the Cathedral Lazengann, and pushed humanity back to Planet Earth, determined to preserve the remaining spiral population by conceding to any demands the Anti-Spiral had. He constructed an imposing castle fortress called Teppelin, and created the Beastmen as enforcers to slaughter human beings living on the planet surface, driving them underground in hope their fear would keep them there along with burying the Lagann in the depths of the Earth's crust. He compromised with the victorious Anti-Spirals who allowed the Spirals to continue their existence as long as only a small population of humans were allowed to survive within subterranean communities. He then further organized the Beastmen into a military body known as the "Human Eradication Army," arming them with Gunmen and ordering them to patrol the world's surface and slay any human who emerged from the ground.

Before Beastmen War Arc
Assuming the identity of the Spiral King, humanity's one guardian, he divided the Human Eradication Army into four branches, each headed by a Supreme General modeled after the Spiral General system of antiquity. Guame came to be the leader of the Supreme Generals, having attained a vaguely human form after centuries of absorbing Lordgenome's weakening spiral energy. Later, Lordgenome ordered Guame to monitor the "Beauty Village," a village made up of young, beautiful girls abducted from other villages that Lordgenome deduced as having the highest chance of producing humans with an artificial dummy gene, which, upon detection of high amounts of spiral energy, would trigger a transformation into an Anti-Spiral scout. Over the years, he would select girls from this village to sexually satisfy him, producing thousands of children who he summarily executed before they could mature into a powerful enemy. This purpose was kept a personal secret so that even Guame misunderstood the meaning; he had thought Lordgenome killed his children out of a disgust for self-awareness. Meanwhile, the Anti-Spirals configured Lordgenome’s old flagship, the Cathedral Terra, to assume the shape of the moon so that they could use it as an ultimate destructive tool against humanity should their numbers become too large, hiding the actual moon in a pocket dimension, thus preventing adverse effects from the two large celestial bodies acting on the magnetic fields of Earth. As the centuries passed, Lordgenome grew mentally and physically weary, a side effect of the very Spiral Power within him acting against him as more humans are starting to surface and challenging his armies.

Beastmen War Arc
Lordgenome first appears some time after Kamina's death. After gathering the three remaining generals, he informs them of Thymiplhs death. Adiane leaves to take care of it and later, Guame decides to take matters into his own hands, an act which causes slight annoyance in Lordgenome. When Simon and Dai-Gurren finally reach Tepplin, Lordgenome reveals himself to Simon. Lordgenome activates Dekabutsu's battle mode and it forces Team-Dai Gurren to sacrifice Dai-Gurren to destroy the Dekabutsu's large iron hammer. Simon, Nia and Rossiu are able to infiltrate Lordgenome's throne room and confront the Spiral King directly. Lordgenome first attempts to stab Nia by remotely manipulating one of Lazengann's extendable drills, then powering up Lazengann and engaging Gurren-Lagann in battle. Though Gurren-Lagann puts up an admirable fight, it is overwhelmed by Lazengann's maneuverability and speed, forcing Simon to detach Lagann and face Lordgenome without Rossiu's help. Lagann is able to destroy Lazengann, but before the Gunmen falls apart Lordgenome tears off Lazengann's hatch and walks over to the implanted Lagann, punching it into the head of Dekabutsu. Lordgenome then engages Lagann in physical combat, overpowering it and ultimately shattering its arms. As the excited Spiral King gloats in victory, Simon plunges his Core Drill into Lordgenome's chest, twisting it and sending a surge of spiral energy into Lordgenome's body that explodes his torso. With his dying breath, Lordgenome warns Simon that "When the land overflows with a million apes, the moon shall become Hell's messenger and completely destroy the world of the spiral." He then smiles without any further explanation, allowing his lifeless body to fall off of Dekabutsu into the ground below.

Anti Spiral War Arc
Seven years later, Rossiu manages to recover Lordgenome's brain and regrows the likeness of Lordgenome's head from a tissue sample collected from the Spiral King's corpse.

This is done because Lordgenome's memories could not be accessed directly from a normal computer, so a special "Bio-Computer" had to be built to allow Lordgenome to relay his memories personally to the curious. Once activated, the bemused Bio-Computer explains the existence of the Anti-Spirals to Rossiu,and later serves as a power source for Arc Gurren when the Mugann have overrun Kamina City. The Bio-Computer's information later proves invaluable, helping to prevent the moon drop and provide the means to reach the Anti-Spiral's pocket dimension. However, though programmed without a personality, Lordgenome eventually regains self-awareness and assumes the identity of the man he used to be, joining as navigator of the newly recommissioned Super-Galaxy Dai-Gurren just to finally come face to face with the Anti Spiral.

Once Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann is formed, Lordgenome uses the Super Spiral Space's power to temporarily recreate his body to serve as one of the thirteen key pilots. He then later detaches a reborn Lazengann to block the Grand Zamboa's Infinity Big Bang Storm and willfully sacrifices himself to convert the massive attack and himself into a galaxy-sized drill of Spiral Energy that Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann absorbs to ensure Lordgenome's intent of paving a path for the spiral beings of future generations.

Powers and abilities
"Gunmen are nothing but trash!"
 * -Lordgenome, abandoning Lazengann after its defeat and engaging Lagann by himself
 * Spiral Power: Lordgenome has a large amount of spiral power. During his battle with Simon, it manifests as a red flame from his scalp.
 * Skilled Gunmen pilot: Lordgenome was able to overpower and defeat Gurren Lagann and nearly destroy Gurren. He comments, though, that he hates using Gunmen showing that despite being skilled, it is by necessity rather than choice.
 * Immense Physical Strength: Lordgenome defeated Simon who was using Lagann with his bare hands.

Trivia

 * Lordgenome has been alive for over 1000 years.
 * As a boy, Lordgenome resembled Nia. It is unknown as to why his appearance changed so drastically (from pale skinned and blonde, to rather darker skin and black hair).
 * Guame was originally Lordgenome's pet that, over the years, evolved by absorbing Lordgenome's spiral energy (similar to Boota and Simon).
 * Lordgenome is the only spiral warrior with red spiral energy instead of the common spiral energy, the green spiral energy.
 * Also, Lordgenome's drills aren't bulky like other spiral drills, but instead narrow and can bend in mid-air (something only he has been seen to do).
 * Sushio, one of the creators of the show, said his personal favorite character was Lordgenome.
 * Simon never referred to Lordgenome as "Father". but Gainax stated "In the Spiral King's last moment, Simon did think of him as a father figure".
 * Lordgenome is the only character to ever defeat Simon in a battle between Gunmen. He was also the first character to defeat a gunmen alone and barehanded. Also, the first time a drill breaks off of Gurren Lagann is when Simon uses Giga Drill Break on Lazengann.