We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Riker, the second Bob clone created (Bob-2), is the first to establish a distinct identity, choosing his name in a nod to the Star Trek: The Next Generation character Commander William Riker, who was known as “Number One.” This choice of name is fitting, as Bob-Riker quickly adopts a leadership role, characterized by a pragmatic, serious, and duty-oriented personality. He embodies the aspect of Bob’s original character that is focused on responsibility and problem solving, but with less of the original’s reliance on humor as a coping mechanism. His VR environment, the bridge of a starship, is a direct reflection of his chosen persona as a leader and explorer in a more structured, mission-focused sense than his progenitor. This seriousness often puts Riker in direct contrast with the more whimsical or self-interested clones, particularly Homer.

Riker’s character arc is central to exploring Tension Between the Individual and the Collective. While he shares Bob’s core memories and skills, his experiences in the Sol system, where he must anchor a diplomatic solution between hostile groups of humans, shape him into a more authoritative figure. He is the one who volunteers for the dangerous and emotionally fraught mission of returning to the Sol system to assess the aftermath of the war. This decision highlights his strong sense of obligation to humanity, a trait that he prioritizes over personal exploration or research. His interactions with other Bobs, especially his frustration with Milo’s refusal to help and his strained relationship with his jocular clone, Homer, reveal the challenges of forging a collective from individualistic minds. Riker is a dynamic character who grapples his flaws as a leader when tasked with supporting the survival of the human race.

Bill (Bob-3) represents the scientific and intellectual curiosity of the original Bob, distilled into a more focused and contemplative personality. He is the first Bob to voluntarily diverge from the primary mission of interstellar exploration, choosing instead to remain in the Epsilon Eridani system. His decision is motivated by a desire to pursue pure research into subspace theory and to undertake the long term project of terraforming the planet he names Ragnarök. This choice establishes him as a builder within the Bob collective, prioritizing creation and understanding over wandering.

Bill becomes the stable anchor of the burgeoning Bobiverse, transforming Epsilon Eridani into a “Bob factory” and a central communications hub. His work on developing faster than light communication via the SCUT is a pivotal technological advancement that allows the scattered Bobs to form a true community, reinforcing the idea of a collective composed of unique, specialized individuals. Bill’s personality is closer to the original Bob’s, displaying a calm demeanor and a dry wit; he is less confrontational than Riker and less whimsical than Milo. Bill’s VR environment, an Adirondack chair in a peaceful park, reflects his contemplative and patient nature. As a character, Bill demonstrates how a shared consciousness can diversify into specialized roles, with his scientific pursuits becoming as vital to the Bobs’ collective mission as Riker’s military leadership or Bob’s direct exploration.

Milo (Bob-4) personifies the pure, unadulterated wanderlust that was a core part of the original Bob’s character, as referenced in the novel’s epigraph about the “itch for things remote” (xiii). More than any other clone, Milo prioritizes personal adventure and the thrill of discovery over any sense of duty or collective mission. His decision to travel to the Omicron2 Eridani system is based not on strategic value but on his geeky desire to visit the fictional home of the Vulcans from Star Trek, a move that exemplifies his individualistic and somewhat whimsical nature.

Milo’s character is crucial for illustrating the theme of tension between the individual and the collective. His outright refusal to assist Riker with the mission back to Sol creates the first significant conflict within the Bob collective, proving that seemingly perfect copies with shared memories can and will develop conflicting priorities. Milo’s act of self-determination establishes that the Bobs are not a monolithic hive mind but a society of individuals. Though his actions are selfish, they are also a valid expression of his emergent personality. His VR, a Flash Gordon-style floating airship, captures his identity as a free-roaming explorer, untethered by obligation. Milo is a dynamic character whose journey leads to one of the most significant discoveries in the novel: a system with two habitable planets, which he names Vulcan and Romulus, ironically fulfilling the mission’s goals to find a new home for humans through his own idiosyncratic path.

Mario (Bob-5) is a minor but significant character who represents the extreme end of the original Bob’s loner tendencies. Of the first cohort of clones, Mario is the most taciturn and antisocial, rarely speaking unless prompted and offering minimal contributions to group discussions. His chosen name references a pixilated video game character with little personality or back story, and his VR is a plain gray background, suggesting a lack of interest in the sensory comforts and identity-building exercises that the other Bobs engage in.

Mario’s primary role in the narrative is to demonstrate the sheer breadth of personality divergence possible within the Bob collective. While other Bobs represent aspects like leadership, science, or adventure, Mario embodies an amplified introversion. He chooses to travel to the distant star Beta Hydri with the explicit goal of getting “outside the sphere early” (110) and avoiding the growing community of Bobs. Though his time in the narrative is brief, it is incredibly important: He discovers evidence of a probably hostile, scavenger alien species that will become a key antagonist in future installments of the series. Mario’s existence thus reinforces an extreme version of The Humanist Drive for Exploration and Progress, showing that even a withdrawn being intent on becoming a hermit on a galactic scale contributes to the broader intention of seeking out the unknown. Mario is a flat and static character within this novel, serving as a marker for the potential of the Bobs’ psychological evolution.

Serving as an early mentor figure and guide, Dr. Landers is the first human Bob interacts with after being reawakened as a replicant. Dr. Landers is a scientist working for Applied Synergetics Inc. under the oppressive FAITH regime. His primary role is to orient Bob to his new reality, providing crucial exposition about the past century and the political landscape of the 22nd century. Despite the cold, clinical nature of his job, Dr. Landers displays genuine empathy and patience, helping Bob to navigate the psychological trauma of his transformation.

Dr. Landers is a round and pragmatic character who carefully balances the demands of his superiors with his scientific ethics and a subtle, dissenting humanism. He is candid with Bob about the dangers replicants face, from the 80% failure rate of reawakened humans, many of whom experience severe mental health crises, to the political factions that want the project terminated and view replicants as objects to be disposed of. Dr. Landers also quickly recognizes Bob’s potential and makes the critical decision to give him access to libraries and, eventually, to remove the constraints on his software, trusting that Bob will fulfill his mission of his own free will. This act of trust is pivotal, setting Bob on the path to becoming an independent entity rather than just a “good servant of the state” (18). Landers functions as Bob’s first ally in the future, a bridge to a world Bob no longer recognizes and a voice of reason within an irrational theocracy.

Major Ernesto Medeiros is the primary antagonist and a direct foil to Bob. A replicant created by the Brazilian Empire, Medeiros is a career military officer whose personality is defined by aggression, nationalism, and a belief in conquest. Where Bob is a collaborative and humanistic engineer who resorts to violence only in self defense, Medeiros is belligerent and views interstellar exploration as a zero sum conflict for the sake of conquest. His dialogue is characterized by insults and threats, immediately establishing him as a hostile force.

Medeiros and his clones are flat and static characters, serving to represent the destructive and competitive ideologies that stand in contrast to Bob’s drive for peaceful discovery and development. Medeiros’s singular focus on eliminating competition and serving his homeland, even a homeland that may no longer exist, highlights the dangers of rigid, militaristic thinking. He and his clones function as the main source of external conflict for the Bobs; the battles the Bobs fight against Medeiros forces prompt the Bobs to develop defensive capabilities and grapple with the ethics of war. Medeiros’s presence highlights that the Bobs’ mission is one of both discovery and of survival against hostile elements of a fractured humanity.