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My children, you have had the good fortune to be chosen as parasites. Your great predecessors defended out cities and our people, and they splendidly took flight as our representatives. Turn your life into a blaze of glory and shed every last drop of blood you have. I pray that you will become a shining ray of hope for humanity.
„
~ Papa justifying his sociopathic goals by lying to his subjects.
“
Damned human wannabes.
„
~ Klaxosaurs Princess about VIRM.
Papa is the main antagonist of the 2018 original anime television series, Darling In The FranXX and its manga adaptation.
He is a chairman of an organization known as APE that rules Earth in the distant post-apocalyptic future. At first, he was portrayed as a Big Good considered his seemingly benevolent nature towards the people that he ruled, The Parasites and tried to protect the Plantations from a hostile monstrous species called the Klaxosaurs, and in return, the Parasites religiously referred to him as a god who ruled the Plantations. Not only that, but he also ordered the FRANXX units to fight against the Klaxosaurs.
It's revealed near the end of the series; Papa was the real enemy of both Parasites and Klaxxosaurus alike and the main antagonist. It also turned out Papa and his Vice Chairman of APE were apart of a starfish-like creature known as "VIRM", an immortal parasitical alien lifeform who tried to assimilate other beings and do everything in its power to achieve their goals in order to destroy the universe.
He was voiced by Tessho Genda in Japanese (who voiced Kratos in God of War's Japanese dub), and Christopher Sabat in the English version (who voiced Roronoa Zoro and Vegeta in the Funimation dubs of One Piece and Dragon Ball Z).
Papa wears white robes embellished with golden detailing and a red interior. His masks are the most human of all the APE members compared to their mask who almost looks like primates, and his outfit has a striking similarity with an outfit that the Pope of the Catholic Church wears.
As VIRM however, Papa looks like a giant flying Starfish like creatures shined by white light and has two purple smaller faces that also looks like starfish for their eyes.
Personality
Papa and Vice Chairman in the Parasite Inauguration Ceremony
At first, Papa values the protection on both APE members and the parasites above anything else. However, he also has no qualms to use the Parasites as the troopers in opposition to the ravaging species on Earth known as Klaxosaurs and doesn't care if they're meet their demise or not. He also has no compunctions to go so far to achieve what he wants such as bombing the plantations that the Parasites live in order to defeat the Super-Lehman class Klaxosaurs. He also exhibits no mercy towards those who opposed him to the point that he would orders to mind-wipes some of the people who opposed him. Case in point, Hiro and Zero-Two brainwashing in their childhood days when they try to rebel against them in Episode 13.
Despite his merciless nature, he will also try to pay attention towards the wishes of the Parasites Children as when they completed their mission, Papa will routinely take care of their well-being and gives them with the rewards that they deserved after the Parasites complete their mission. Case in point, when Squad 13 finishes their mission, they were delivered to the beach to enjoy their vacation. He also promised Hiro to release the Squad 13 from their responsibilities as Parasites if they completed the missions and emerged victorious in the battle. Although at the end of the day, his love is mostly pretending due to the fact that he only saw the Parasites as a disposable tool for warfare that should worship him like the center of the universe.
As VIRM however, the true nature of Papa is revealed when the negotiations with the Klaxosaurs Princess regarding that they need to surrender against them failed big time. Any of the Well-intentioned goals that VIRM had in the past is severely undermined as VIRM is revealed to be a selfish and narcissistic life form because they think of themselves as a superior life-form and the most important ecosystem in the universe. They also believe that they are free to do anything as they please towards other life forms they come across when traversing the universe to the point that they brutally annihilate their species and their planet so that they could be forced to assimilate with them when they refuse the offer. Papa/VIRM shows no hesitation to brutally massacre the group that has been loyal to him from the start, The Nines, and fleeing from the great war against the Klaxosaurs even if he knew that doing so would probably resulting in the deaths of the people and the Klaxosaurs alike on their planet.
He also believes that emotions and interpersonal connections such as love, friendship and true bond to be futile as he saw it as nothing but an annoyance. He even mocks Hiro and Zero Two for believing that they will come back to destroy the VIRM as long as their souls exist to reincarnate after their sacrifice.
History
Prelude to the Main Story
The Klaxosapien's advanced civilization before the assault of VIRM
60 million years ago, a species called Klaxosapiens inhabited a planet that will be known as Earth with their advanced civilization. However, VIRM came to Earth and tried to invade it. At first, VIRM tries to negotiate with Klaxosapiens in peace so that they could assimilate with them and obtain the greatest pleasures. However, the Klaxosapiens refused VIRM's offer and as a result, VIRM tries to annihilate their species and their planet when the Klaxosapiens refused to subjugate and as a result, a war has erupted between the two. Despite the VIRM has a larger army due to the amount of the life forms they assimilate with VIRM, Klaxxosaurus won the battle against them due to the advanced technology that they had and also using their ultimate weapon to win the battle, Star Entity. Even if the Klaxosapiens is seemingly won against the VIRM after centuries of bloodshed, they were in a brink of extinction and as a result, they try to hibernate in the deepest parts of the Earth and absorbed an energy known as Magma to enhance their evolution so that they could fight against VIRM in case they're coming back in the future.
Disguising as Humans
Unfortunately, some of the members of VIRM survive the battle and come back in later future disguising as humans so that they could blend in with human society. After they disguised as a human, they formed a group known as APE which is consisted of scientists with unknown origins and nationalities and it operates with the Lamarck Club at its core. It was also revealed that APE themselves introduce new energy that could benefit the human race known as Magma Energy which is mined from the underground. Said energy was actually low-cost and could appeal to everyone. As a result, humanity then sped up to the apex of its civilization while APE ended up influencing international politics and economy thanks to the energy that they had invented.
The Infamous Magma Energy
In 2025, APE tries to hire a professor named Werner Frank by sending one of his men to them because they were intrigued by the illegal experiments such as cloning that he committed. Werner then accepts APE's offer after the man gave him a huge amount of funding for his project and they also hired a scientist named Karina Milsa. Together, they tried to fulfill APE's wishes by making immortality a reality by extracting Magma energy.
The desertification of certain areas after humans extracting too much Magma Energy
5 years later in 2030, the two scientists test the magma energy and find no signs of aging. While Karina is happy with the results, she also said that the human race will lose its reproductive functions in exchange for immortality. However, what Karina said was true. A lot of human tries to become immortal by undergoing a treatment which resulted in the loss of their reproductive organs. However, as a result of the treatment, the social class is severely divided because the people who only benefit from immortality treatment were rich people while the poor were left to dust. Due to the population explosions that occur years later, a law was passed in East Asia by heavily taxing people who had a childbirth while at the same time, a rapid desertification began to occur in southern parts of North America due to the huge amount of extraction of Magma Energy from underground but the problem got ignored including the ones who work on mass media.
A treatment to immortality from Magma Energy
6 years later in 2036, humanity's immortality rate become much common to the point it raises its bar into 70%. Despite Karina and Dr. Frank were scheduled to complete the procedure, the latter refuses to do so and prefers to be mechanically modified considered that he doesn't like his body being messed with someone. By that time, desertification of the lands had become pressing issues across the world and as a result, Papa and his cohorts from APE introduce the nations about a new project known as "Plantation Project" which is considered to be the last hope of humanity after severe amounts of desertification due to overuse of Magma Energy. As a result, APE becomes the leader of humanity itself.
One of the Klaxosaurs Attacking the Magma Energy's refinery
1 year later in 2037, a strange creature known as Klaxosaur (They were called that because it means screaming reptiles) appeared at the offshore magma energy refinery and destroyed the facility by making a landfall. Only to be stopped after several nuclear missiles hit the Klaxosaur. However, even if one of them is defeated, several of them began to appear everywhere in the world and is attracted to the magma energy that humans extract from the ground. As a result, APE turned the plantations as a fortress to fight against Klaxosaurs. However, cities that humans inhabited were deserted and mankind is nowhere to be seen in the surface.
One of the Klaxosaurs Corpse found in Alaska
Around 2042, when trying to researching one of the Klaxosaurs corpses that were found in Alaska, it was revealed that the bodies of the Klaxosaurs were made from organic and mechanical material which is beautiful and it was also revealed that the corpse contained the XX chromosome that could be seen in female humans. As a result, Papa and his cohorts from APE appointed Dr. Frank to spearhead the project for making a weapon that could be used to fight against the rampaging Klaxosaurs, the FRANXX.
After the 13th startup trial for the FRANXX prototype hit a roadblock and after the amount of testing, it was revealed that the pilot needed to possess reproductive functions and as a result, Karina volunteered to become a pilot. Unfortunately, she dies during the test and APE still continues the experimentation which resulted in the loss of many lives. To prevent it, the test subjects were injected with a substance known as yellow blood cells that could act as a passage for the FRANXX and have the test-subject ride in both male and female pairs to make the weapon functional. Not only that, Papa and his cohorts from APE create the children that will be known as "Parasites" after mankind lost its reproductive functions. And as a result, Papa and his cohorts were referred to as adults by the children.
After massive sacrifices from test subjects of the FRANXX as they developed the weapons that could work against the Klaxosaurs, Papa and his cohorts then builds a facility known as "The Garden" so that they could store the children for the upcoming battles and the plantations ended up becoming a quarantine zone for them. Due to the fact that Parasites needs emotions to live, Papa and his cohorts try to raise them in an old fashioned way such as their conditions were almost checked every day so that they could keep them healthy in the best possible shape.
Papa and Dr. Frank interact with each other regarding new mission that he will be given.
However, as a result of some of the adults tries to raise the children, some of them forgot the Klaxosaurs even existed and reach their state of boredom. At the same time, a strange rumor
about Klaxosaurs has a leader or "Queen-Bee" of some sorts began to spread in the plantations and as a result, Papa and his cohorts discovered where it was hiding and orders Dr. Frank to bring back the sample of the Klaxosaurs DNA to them. However, as they found the Klaxosaurs leader hideout (which is revealed to be the remains of an advanced civilization), a lot of people that were sent by APE with the exception of Dr. Frank was killed by the Klaxosaurs Princess and he was brought in the hospital bed.
As The Plantations Ruler
The Children/Parasites at the Inauguration Ceremony.
Despite portraying himself as a benevolent figure towards the people that he rules such as praising them in inauguration ceremony and telling them that they could become a ray of hope of humanity or sometimes giving them good care towards the subjects that he ruled or reward for them to those who succeeded their mission. In reality, Papa rules the plantation with an iron fist. Anyone who defies him will either have their memory erased or forcibly placed in a cryo-storage in "The Garden". One of the known victims of Papa's iron-fist control over the parasites in the past were Hiro and Zero Two.
Once upon a time, Hiro used to be a sweet, optimistic and hopeful kid to the point that the kid ended up liking him and saw him as a role model on becoming the best pilot after he gives them names because he felt it was unique. However, Hiro is also a curious child that wanted to know everything surrounding the world itself. As a result, Hiro then had a fateful encounter with a humanoid girl with red skin that looks like a Red Oni called Code 002.
Code 002 (Better known as Zero-Two), being tortured.
Code 002 herself has a troubled childhood as she is a victim of torture thanks to Papa's orders. Some of the scientists, including Dr. Frank (Now named Dr. Franxx), were torturing her with inhumane experiments so that they could test her special abilities. After Hiro had witnessed her suffering several times, he pleaded to the adults to stop the inhumane experiments that they had committed. However, the adults refused to do so.
Unable to see Code 002 suffer any longer, Hiro tries to rescue her and teach her some new things while she was outside. Hiro then reads a book that Code 002 gave called "The Beast and the Prince" which Code 002 showed to him, Hiro promises to protect her. He also gave Code 002 a name: "Zero Two"
Unfortunately, Papa discovered that both Hiro and Zero Two escaped the plantations and as a result, he sends the adults to capture them. When Hiro tries to read a book and adults tried to approach them, Hiro and Zero-Two then fled to a nearby mistletoe. After Hiro finishes reading the book that Zero Two give, Hiro then teaches Zero Two a word "darling". Unfortunately, the adults manage to capture her and despite Hiro's efforts to protect her, he was shot by one of the adults while Zero Two cried and shouted for her "darling".
Hiro and Zero Two's memory being erased by the scientist due to Papa's Orders.
After they got captured, Papa then orders Dr. Franxx to erase the two's memories together. As a result, Hiro becomes an antithesis compared to what he was in childhood: a stoic, gloomy and pessimistic person who is obedient towards his superior and his skills of piloting the Franxx began to dip thanks to the incident while Zero-Two was placed in a special squad known as The Nines.
Overtaking Gran Crevasse
Gran Crevasse
Several years later, Papa and his cohorts from APE tries to overtake an area as their new target known as Gran Crevasse--an abandoned plantation that was infested by Klaxosaurs--so that they could free themselves from the shackles of humanity. To this end, he sends all of the children, including Hiro's squad (Squad 13), to fight against the Klaxosaurs that plagued Gran Crevasse.
However, it was revealed that Gran Crevasse is also a hideout of a Super Lehmann-Class Klaxosaurs which is a huge Klaxosaurs that almost resembles a titanic. When APE and the parasites were in the state of peril when fighting against the Super Lehmann-Class Klaxosaurs and the swarm of other smaller Klaxosaurs, Papa then orders squad 26 to act as suicide bombers and tries to defeat the Super Lehmann-Class Klaxosaurs by sending plantations towards it and detonates most of them. After the Super Lehmann-Class Klaxosaurs were defeated thanks to the efforts of Hiro and Zero-Two who were reconciled together, it was revealed that the core of said Klaxosaurs is a collective mass of cores that almost shaped like humans. It was also revealed that a giant hand appears out of nowhere and tries to squash the Parasites and the plantation. But fortunately, they were left unharmed and only left Mistleteinn as it's sole plantation.
Post Gran Crevasse Incident
Several months after the Gran Crevasse incident passes, APE ordered the parasites to survive in the remaining plantation, Mistleteinn. However, there has been no communication from the adults and the supervisors alike and as a result, Mistleteinn itself has environmental problems and the children can't live a good live as they are in the past. However, despite this, they try to find new and creative ways to survive in Mistleteinn.
Beneath the mask of one of the APE members after getting defeated by Klaxosaurs Princess
Until it was revealed that in the same episode, APE was discussing the deterioration of the Parasite Reserve down to 60%. However, both Papa and the Chairman doesn't care about it as they took the control of Gran Crevasse and says that their ultimate weapon, known as the Hringhorni's, construction has entered the final phase. APE then has some further discussion regarding how to deal with the Klaxosaurs Princess and as a result, Papa sent some of his messengers into Klaxosaurs Princess hideout so that they could negotiate to surrender against them and says that there is no need for two keys. However, Klaxosaurs Princess rejects Papa's offer and kills one of the messengers which is revealed to be nothing once the Klaxosaurs Princess uncover the messenger's mask and thus calling them "Damned Human Wannabes".
Crashing a Wedding
The Happy Couple, Mitsuru and Kokoro, who got their lives ruined due to the leader of the 9s and Papa's Intervention.
In Episode 18, one of the Mistleteinn supervisors, Hachi, told the leader of Squad 13, Ichigo, to abandon the Mistleteinn. Before they leave, Hiro wants to conduct a ceremony marriage for one of his friends in Squad 13, Mitsuru and Kokoro, so that they could share wonderful memories together.
Unfortunately, one of the members of Papa's special squad, the 9s, discovers Mitsuru and Kokoro's wedding in secret and as a result, give a report for Papa regarding the wedding. When Mitsuru and Kokoro try to exchange vows and kiss with each other, Papa then sends his soldiers to Plantation 13 and then capture Mitsuru and Kokoro for extreme indoctrination by wiping their memories together. The reason why Papa and his cohorts of APE did this is that they want to get rid of unnecessary emotion and feelings such as love that could hinder their plans to fruition.
Hiro and Dr.Franxx interacting with APE
Because of this, Hiro then demanded Papa and his cohorts from APE to return Mitsuru and Kokoro's memories immediately. Papa refuses and his Vice-Chairman said that what they had done was against their protocol and normally would be punished. One of Hiro's friends, Futoshi demanded to apologize towards Mitsuru and Kokoro about the thing that they had done while another friend's of Hiro, Zorome, asks on how many Klaxosaurs they should have killed before becoming an adult in which Papa and his cohorts of APE refuse to answer. Hiro also figured out that it was them who erased his and Zero Two's memories in the past and as a result, his point of view of Papa and APE almost began to change and asks them to be freed once the battle is over. Papa seemingly agrees about it as long as they complete their final mission.
Star Entity and the Revelation
Klaxosaurs Princess Hijacking Strelizia
In Episode 20, Papa then commands the Parasites, including the ones who were on Squad 13, and the 9s to go for the final battle against Klaxosaurs and control a massive weapon that was stored in Gran Crevasse known as the "Star Entity" so that they could implement Strelizia on Star Entity's core. At first, Zero Two and Hiro were skeptical with the former being uninterested about defeating Klaxosaurs. However, Papa manages to trick them under the pretense that they will control their destiny and the future will be on the humanity side after they defeated Klaxosaurs once and for all.
Hringhorni, the Ultimate Weapon that APE created
At the same time, the construction of a weapon known as Hringhorni is also completed so that they could use the two weapons to combat against the Klaxosaurs. However, the Klaxosaurs Princess notices APE's plan and then tries to follow Hiro and Zero-Two while they're in Gran Crevasse. When the two heroes are unable to enter the room that contains Star Entity, Klaxosaurs Princess then sneaks into the security room and injures Zero-Two while forcing Hiro to link with her so that she could take control of Strelizia.
However, thanks to the Klaxosaurs Princess trying to implanting herself on the Star Entity, Papa and the Vice Chairman reveals themselves to be an alien species that has been plaguing the universe a long time ago known as VIRM and reveals that VIRM had manipulated APE all along and using mankind as tools to fight against the Klaxosaurs. And not only that, but VIRM also absorbs the consciousness of the rest of the APE members who are humans. It was also revealed that the Star Entity itself is a thing that could disturb universal peace and because of Klaxosaurs refused to subjugate against VIRM, VIRM then implanted a self-destruction mechanism on the Star Entity that could destroy the planet.
Battle Against VIRM (Part 1)
After Hiro and Zero Two reconcile together, the mecha, Strelizia, become Strelizia Apus.
Because of the VIRM's insistence on destroying the Earth, Klaxosaurs Princess then tells Hiro about the story regarding VIRM annihilates her home sixty-million years ago in the past and lets Hiro and Zero Two take control of the Star Entity with Strelizia so that they could save the human race while the Klaxosaurs Princess ended up dying due to the wounds that she received.
Zero Two become unconscious while merging with Star Entity and had her horns broke.
When Hiro and Zero Two takes the control of Star Entity by kissing with each other while the latter's skin turns red, Strelizia suddenly changes its form into "Strelizia Apus" and then began fighting against VIRM while the bomb that will try to self-destruct the earth began to disintegrate. As a result, VIRM then brings the Hringhorni towards space while promising them that they would return again with a huge fleet to destroy the Earth. After VIRM seemingly retreated to space, some of the Klaxosaurs also flying towards it to battle against VIRM and so does Strelizia Apus. However, Zero-Two's body ended up becoming lifeless while her last horns crumbled.
Battle Against VIRM (Part 2)
Hiro's Friends helping Hiro going into Space
As a result of Zero-Two merging her consciousness with Strelizia Apus, Hiro still took care of her. However, he notices the blood that was bleeding through her clothes and receives a mysterious cut on her body. Until it was revealed that Strelizia Apus, along with the army of Klaxosaurs, fighting against the VIRM in space.
Trying to stop her suffering, Hiro tries to go into space. However, some of his friends arguing about Hiro's safety and the latter being apathetic towards everyone's surrounding with the exception of Zero Two. However, as time went by, they make amends and then goes to space to save Zero Two along with the redeemed 9s.
Hiro and the leader of the Nines, Nine Alpha, battling together.
During the battle in space, they spot VIRM armies battling against Strelizia Apus and the army of Klaxosaurs while Strelizia Apus creates a shield against VIRM. Hiro and the leader of the 9s, Nine Alpha, try to reach Strelizia with everyone as a backup in battle. However, VIRM blocks their attack and unable to land on Strelizia. Due to the lack of magma energy, Nine Alpha launches Hiro into Strelizia Apus and have a realization of becoming human while saying that this is as far as he can go and saying that his home is the Battlefield. After this, then Nine Alpha kills himself by self-destructing his mecha which in turn, kills some of VIRM's fleet.
During the battle, A VIRM fires an attack on a certain ship and as a result, it began to crumble while the Parasites supervisor, Nana, and Hachi were still on the ship. Fortunately, Hachi tries to rescue Nana however, he was injured to do so and while he tells Nana to go alone, she refuses and she wants to protect the children as it's their responsibility. As the battle continues, VIRM tells the children to surrender against them, claiming that they will end the cycle of hatred and discrimination. However, they simply refuse as the children try to choose their own destiny.
Kokoro tries to bring Zero Two inside during the storm
Due to the heated battle against VIRM, a horrible storm then plagues the Earth. And when Kokoro tries to protect Zero Two, Mitsuru asks her to go inside which Kokoro refuses because protecting Zero Two is the only thing that she could do right now as she was pregnant with Mitsuru's baby. Although Mitsuru thinks of himself as a weakling and doesn't understand what love is, he then tries at his best to protect both Kokoro, Zero Two and his baby and believes that they could keep going forward together in the same path. Both Kokoro and Mitsuru reconcile with each other after they showed their wedding ring to each other.
Inside Zero Two's Consciousness
Meanwhile, in space, Hiro and Zero Two reunite together with the former entering Zero Two's consciousness while her mind is filled with images of the story about the Beast and the Prince which Hiro read to Zero Two on their childhood days. Zero Two then orders Hiro to stay away from her but Hiro refuses because he wants to be with her forever and ever which Zero Two responded that they can't be together because she wants Hiro to live as a human and insist that she love being alone.
Zero Two turns into stone after changing to her true form.
However, Hiro stated that Zero Two is lying as he saw the blank space that the book Zero Two drew. Hiro offers his hand towards Zero Two and demanded to stay with her so that they could finish the story altogether. He also embraces Zero-Two and promised that he would never let her go alone. Meanwhile, on Earth, Zero Two simply smiled about it and her body suddenly turned into a stone. As a result of both Hiro and Zero Two reconcile with each other, Strelizia Apus then shows it true form: Strelizia True Apus which resembles Zero Two wearing a white wedding dress.
Strelizia's True Form: Strelizia True Apus
Strelizia True Apus then annihilates the remaining VIRM fleets and then creating a warp gate. As a result, VIRM then retreats to other solar systems while Hiro and Zero Two decides to enter the warp to leave the solar system so that they could finish the battle once and for all along with the Klaxosaurs fleet. Their friends refused to let both Hiro and Zero Two go and demanded both of them return to Earth.
Strelizia True Apus prepares to enter the warp
However, Hiro says that Strelizia is connected with the warp and it will close soon anyway while they can't stop it. One of Hiro's friends, Ichigo, suggested that they go along together but Hiro stated that only Strelizia can go through and as a result, Ichigo has no choice but returning to Earth safety along with the rest of Hiro's friends but she also made a promise towards Hiro and Zero Two to return to Earth so that they could build their home altogether. After this, Strelizia True Apus then enters the warp so that they could track the rest of VIRM fleet and destroyed them with their trump card: A bomb that was made by the Klaxosaurs.
Final Battle
Strelizia True Apus Wandering Through Universe
2 months after Hiro and Zero Two went into the portal and travel through the distant part of the space, Hiro notices that they neither feel sleepy nor hungry ever since both of them leave the Earth and wonders if he turned into a full Klaxosaurs. Zero Two then simply asks about Hiro being scared or not which Hiro says no because of Zero Two always on his side. However, a swarm of VIRM soldiers then came to attack them and both Hiro and Zero Two prepared to annihilate them.
2 years later after Hiro and Zero Two went into the portal, they arrived on the planet where VIRM lives and then prepares themselves to fight against them in the final battle. After attacking several of VIRM's armada, VIRM then asks Hiro and Zero Two to join them. However, Zero Two simply refuses VIRM's offers and as a result, VIRM attacks Zero Two and while she tries to counterattack against VIRM, she doesn't move because her connections with Hiro was cut off. VIRM then began to mock Zero Two about anything with emotions are truly worthless and said that eliminating Hiro and Zero Two's bonds were an easy task because of the incompatibility between regular human and a Klaxosaurs. As a result, VIRM then began to brutally attack Zero Two mercilessly that ended up making Hiro's consciousness began to even more detached from reality with VIRM ended up almost impaling Zero Two. She then screams for help towards everyone so that she could save Hiro.
Strelizia transform into its Golden Form Thanks to the people from Earth
Fortunately, the people of Earth hears Zero Two's pleads after Mitsuru and Kokoro's child, Ai, plays near the statue of Zero Two and saying "Darling" in front of it. As a result, both of the earthlings, including Hiro's friends, form a bond together and gave them their thoughts and encouragement to fight the final battle. And as a result, Ichigo and her partner, Goro, still have faith on both Hiro and Zero Two return to Earth while one of Hiro's friends said that the squad won't be the same without Hiro and Zero Two around. And not only that, Mitsuru and Kokoro named their daughter because of the strong bond that Hiro and Zero Two had so they want them to return after the battle is over.
Both Hiro and Zero Two Reunite Together As Red Oni and Blue Oni.
Due to the voices from the Earthlings that helped both Hiro and Zero Two, Hiro then suddenly woke up from the temporary slumber that he had as the wedding picture floats in front of him. As a result, both Hiro and Zero Two remembered their memories together that resulted from their meeting and how strong their bond is since their meeting. As a result, Strelizia then transforms into its Golden Maiden Iron Form and both Hiro and Zero Two forces themselves to thrust the bomb into the VIRM's planet as a bird called Jian and vowing to rewrite their own story. Knowing that they will die, both Hiro and Zero Two declare their strong love together and promises that they will meet again at a later future as long as their soul exists.
VIRM's planet exploded due to the bomb.
Both Hiro and Zero Two then detonates the bomb into the planet while liberating the souls that VIRM has captured. However, both Hiro and Zero Two die during the explosion and VIRM is still alive and mocking Hiro and Zero Two about them going to face VIRM again. VIRM promises that they will fight them again at the apex of human evolution and says that they will never die as they're still roaming through the universe.
Powers and Abilities
As the leader of APE and the ringleader of Hive Mind known as VIRM, Papa/VIRM has a lot of powers on his disposal such as:
Huge Resources and Vast Amount of Technology: As an alien, it is rather expected that they have such powers in terms of resource and technology. Some of the standouts of their technology are consisted of:
Magma Energy: This is perhaps one of the infamous things that Papa and his cohorts of APE have invented. Both APE and Papa claim that this new energy will bring something meaningful to Human Race and is rather cheap and eco-friendly compared to the rest of other energies. Not only that, the energy could make someone becoming an immortal with the cost of their reproductive organ and as a result, the stratification between the rich and the poor is severely high while the poor people were laid down to waste without the immortal treatment. However, due to the excessive amount of mining, the planet then faces rapid desertification and as a result, some of the Klaxosaurs went berserk thanks to the mining of Magma. Not only that, but some of the scientists in APE used it to create Parasite/Children with Klaxosaurs DNA. This was shown when Dr. Franxx creating Zero-Two with the aforementioned energy or the scientist in APE creating the 9s with the Magma Energy. And due to Magma being important to the 9s, without it, their energies will become more and more depleted. Not only that, but they also used Magma Energy to power up their plantations, especially in the Inner City.
One of the most famous Plantations in the show, Cerasus.
Plantation: One of Papa and his cohorts of APE inventions. Originally, they were created as the Ark of Humanity so that they could save the human from severe desertification. However, due to the numerous amounts of Klaxosaurs that invaded the Earth, the plantation itself becomes its last bastion on Earth to protect themselves from the plantation. Inside the plantation, there is an inner-city shined with golden lights. Papa uses the plantations to rule the people in there and has no compunctions to destroy the plantations on a whim when fighting against the Super Lehman-Class Klaxosaurs that tries to attack them.
Franxx: Papa and his cohorts of APE are also the ones who came with the idea to build a weapon known as Franxx to combat against the Klaxosaurs. A mecha that could be used to combat against Klaxosaurs. However, to activate the mecha, it requires both male and female pilots to make it functional. The female ones become a pistil, the person who becomes the mecha itself while the male ones become a stamen, the ones who will take care of the control of the ship. However, when they receive damage to a certain enemy, the Pistil is the ones who will suffer the most. When the para capacity for Franxx is low, the pistil will get exhausted and as a result, both stamen and pistils need better synchronization by building trust towards each other. However, as time went by due to riding the Franxx, some of the parasites will receive a physical and mental illness which is mostly fevers and headaches. However, some of them also suffered accelerated aging that will cause them to age faster than a normal human. The Franxx from Cerasus is completely different because it was ridden by the 9s and they have a special privilege to drive with the same gender (Justified as most of them were also made by the cells of Zero Two). And due to them only used for combat, Papa forbids any kind of sentimental relationship such as wanting to get married and will be punished by erasing their memories.
Hringhorni: Based on the spear of Nordic Mythology, it was described by Dr. Franxx as "a massive spear built using Klaxosaurs cores". Papa used this weapon to store Star Entity and claims that this weapon could defeat the Klaxosaurs and it will save humanity. However, it was revealed that Papa also infected the spear with a nasty virus that almost kills the Klaxosaurs Princess and when Papa is revealed as VIRM, he then used it as a self-destruction bomb to destroy Earth so that they could assimilate with both human race and Klaxosaurs altogether.
Master of Propaganda: As the totalitarian ruler of Plantations. Papa manages to trick everyone that he rules under a benevolent guise and his own charisma. He also claims that under his rule, everyone will have a better future and becoming a shining hope of humanity. However, it turns out that behind the scenes, Papa will punish anyone who defies him with a brainwashing machine or forcibly put into a cryostorage. One of the victims of Papa's iron fisted control was Hiro and Zero Two who got their minds wiped because the former tries to save the latter from the torture that she endured and another victim from the brainwashing is Mitsuru and Kokoro who got brainwashed after they celebrating their marriage.
Assimilation: As an alien life-form who seeks to assimilate, Papa/VIRM has an unbridled thirst on domination over others so they decided to assimilate with other species by sucking their souls dry or committing a planetary genocide when the species refused to subjugate against the VIRM. The former was shown when VIRM suck the souls of the rest of the APE members dry and the latter was shown when VIRM annihilates all of the Klaxosapiens when they refuse to subjugate and doing it again in later future by trying to annihilate humans and Klaxosaurs alike with a self destruct bombs that could annihilate the life on Earth. They had been doing this for sixty million years.
The Spaceship Armada: Due to the numerous amounts of the victims that VIRM had assimilated over centuries and trapped them in their bodies, VIRM builds an enormous spaceship armada so that they could combat against the people who opposed VIRM. And needless to say, their souls are trapped by VIRM themselves.
Virus Infection: A minor one but it was revealed that in Episode 21, Papa/VIRM infected the Hringhorni with a nasty virus so when Klaxosaur Princess tries to take the control over the Star Entity, she would be killed by said virus and needless to say, they had been succeeded in doing so when she hijacks the spaceship.
Gallery
The Organization that Papa Leads: APE's Insigna.
APE Higher Council. Papa being in the center of them. From Left to Right: Gorilla, Marmoset, Vice Chairman, Papa himself, Lemur, Baboon and Tarsier
Papa and the rest of the APE council in the Inauguration Ceremony
Papa with his hands raised
Papa in APE Strategic Headquarters
Papa in APE's Strategic HQ with the rest of APE members Part 1
Papa in APE's Strategic HQ with the rest of APE members Part 2
The exterior of Papa's Strategic HQ. Located in Outer-Space
APE members along with possibly Papa influencing the politics
One of Papa's underlings, the Seven Sages that hired Dr. FranXX to do Papa's bidding
Papa's private squad, the 9s
VIRM Spaceship
Papa's True Form
Papa/VIRM Revealing their true form to the rest of the APE members before they being absorbed by VIRM itself
APE Members after being sucked by VIRM
Strelizia Apus tries to stop VIRM running away
VIRM and their huge armada
VIRM vs Strelizia Apus in Space
VIRM surrounding Strelizia Apus
One of Darling In The FranXX concept art featuring Papa and the rest of the APE members
Trivia
It's possibly implied that the magma used by APE in the anime was actually the volcanic magma that got extracted from Earth's core which makes sense a little bit as the energy that Papa/VIRM extracted making the world experience accelerating desertification which leaves the Earth as nothing but a barren-wasteland and the humans were forced to live in the Plantations to survive.
Papa/VIRM were influenced by the villains of Studio Trigger/Gainax's previous works with SEELE and Anti-Spiral being the most prevalent with shades of Ragyō Kiryūin in the mix.
To put it simply, SEELE are the nebulous evil organization from Neon Genesis Evangelion who is truly responsible for most of the bad things happen in said anime such as the Second Impact and has the influence of the leaders of the world including United Nations. And Papa/VIRM almost have the same abilities with SEELE by influencing the whole world in terms of politics or science with their new technology that can be the new savior of humanity although both Papa/VIRM and SEELE has a hidden-agenda to do so.
Anti-Spiral is also another major influence for the creation of Papa/VIRM with notable differences. Anti-Spiral is the mysterious species who tries to prevent the spiral-nemesis, a universal disaster if the Spiral Energy is not kept in check and they were also obtained perfect knowledge of the laws of the universe, which allowed them to manipulate it. Papa/VIRM also has the similarities with Anti-Spiral as they were also a bunch of Collective Minds that resided in one individual and both of them were a cosmic being that roams the universe for dozens of centuries. Although despite Anti-Spiral's end goal is rather well-intentioned because they were trying to prevent the universal disaster, Papa/VIRM is rather egotistical with their end goal because they wanted to forcefully assimilate with other beings in the universe and anyone who refuses to subjugate will have their planets or realms utterly destroyed and having their consciousness to be assimilated.
The rest of the members of APE, an organization Papa/VIRM leads, have primate names for their codenames such as Gorilla, Marmoset, Lemur, Baboon, and Tarsier which makes sense because the organization is APE and Apes are considered to be primates.
