What exactly is a Dominus?

I haven't been able to find this really addressed anywhere, so I'll stick it here: What exactly is a Dominus? Sure, it could just be a pilot who can operate a Big with a fair amount of skill; but the dividing line between a simple pilot and a true Dominus is blurry at best. I personally have a theory that perhaps only those who totally interface with the megadei (by getting those cables stuck in their backs) are Domini. I think I remember at some point somebody telling Roger that he really wasn't a Dominus of a Megadeus; if the cable thing is true, then he isn't, and Alex Rosewater is. This would also make R. Dorothy a Dominus of the Big O. It would follow, then, that the Big Duo tried to make Alan Gabriel its Dominus, but found him unacceptable and instead killed him. Of course this whole idea has a little problem with language (Domini don't dominate - rather, the systems to which they are attached dominate them). Ah, well, maybe I'm going nowhere. What do you all think? What separates a mere pilot from a Dominus, and who falls into what category?

A true Dominus is one who can pilot his or her Big effectively wothout needing to use the plugs or any other kind of system to help them in piloting their Megadeus. By that token only Roger Smith and Schwarzwald are true Dominuses. Big O only went to use its plugs on Roger as a last resort in order to try and save him. Schwarzwald never had the oppertunity to interface useing the plugs with Big Duo.
There is no doubt more to this than I have said, but I'm not sure of the proper wording to use.

A Dominus is chosen by his respective Big. Alex was not chosen by Big Fau, which is why it went berzerk in Act 21, and why Beck had to hack it to make Big Fau work.

Big Duo chose Schwarzwald as its Dominus, not Alan. He put up with Alan, perhaps because he absorbed some of ol' Crispy's hatred of Roger. But he realized that Alan only wanted to kill for the sake of killing, while Schwarzwald wished to show people the Truth. (which, to him, meant blowing them away. He was crazy, after all.)

Yeah I forgat that part about a Megadeus chooseing its Dominus. That is why the sea titan went around smashing things, it was looking for its lost Dominus (unfortunatly said DOminus was already dead).
Also I think that a Megadeus will choose another Dominus if the currect one dies (from natural causes) to replace him/her.
And of course there exceptions to every rule. The exception is Angel and Big Venus. Even the experts aren't sure about that connection yet.

BTW, GAT, ol' Crispy?

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Originally posted by Wingnut A true Dominus is one who can pilot his or her Big effectively wothout needing to use the plugs or any other kind of system to help them in piloting their Megadeus. By that token only Roger Smith and Schwarzwald are true Dominuses. Big O only went to use its plugs on Roger as a last resort in order to try and save him. Schwarzwald never had the oppertunity to interface useing the plugs with Big Duo. There is no doubt more to this than I have said, but I'm not sure of the proper wording to use.

I'd say that Bonnie Frazer is also a true Dominus, by that note. He and Osrail were so close that he could control it without even being within it, let alone having cables stuck into his back. It's kind of a shame that Big O trashed Osrail so badly, actually. Roger could've used it and Bonnie as backup. A true Dominus seems to have a partnership with his Megadeus. They respect each other's wishes and work well together. Their personalities reflect each other, and they have similar goals. Roger and Big O are both protectors of Paradigm's populace and wear black. Schwartzwald and Duo are both insane truth-seekers. Bonnie and Osrail were both out for revenge, but that need not have been the case. That was the Military Police's fault for doing what they did to Bonnie, but I digress.

I'd also say that neither Alex nor Alan were true Domini, or at least were the true Dominus of the Megadeus either of them piloted. Both had to go to extreme measures to make them work at all, and both paid dearly for it. Duo destroyed Gabriel and Fau tried to absorb Rosewater into itself.

As for Dorothy, I don't think she qualifies as a Dominus, being an android. More of a support unit that can aid a Dominus and Megadeus. She can interface directly with Big O without losing her individuality to it the way Roger wold.

If it helps to shed any light on the exact relationship between Dominus and Megadeus; dominus is the Latin word for "master"

*opens HUGE LatinIII text book*

*turns to glossary*

DOMINUS, Domini (m)- master (of the household)

Dominus is basic Latin (Roman Empire type Latin ) for a MASTER (as in a slave's master, and "master of the house"). It's masculine in that form but can also be used as "DOMINA" (feminine).


*closes HUGE LatinIII text book*


((Really...I'm in my third/forth year of Latin class It depends how you count it, I had one year in Middle school bbut 3 years in High School))

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Originally posted by The Shadow If it helps to shed any light on the exact relationship between Dominus and Megadeus; dominus is the Latin word for "master"

And presumably "megadeus" means "big god."

Alex presumably doesn't like Roger's attitude because Roger is ignoring his religious duty to set himself up as a god in partnership with his Megadeus. We see Alex apparently praying to Big Fau in STRIPES and everything. Roger is very consistent in seeing himself as just a man and refusing to use Big O except to protect Paradigm. Apparently there's a school of thought that says the whole point of Megadeuses is to lord it over mere mortals.

A dominus is a pilot chosen by the megadeus itself, as GAT said.

The best analogy I can think of right now is that the megadei are like wolves. They will follow their alpha to the death, but the alpha must be deemed worthy to lead them first.

Dominuce of Megadeuce
Translation: Master of Megagod
Dominuce is latin for “master.” Basically if u can pilot the megadeuce with confidence (not too much or u’ll end up like alex) and with skill, u r a true dominuce. I’ll use an example such as pokemon. (y did I use that? *sighs* )
Anywayz, if ur a pokemon master, then ur excellent in training pokemon. U know there strengths and weakness. U know how to bring out their inner strength and u no how to use their most powerful attacks. U raise them carefully to see what their personalities r. u don’t rush the processes of evolution. U treat them with respect. U care about them even though u know there not real. U treat them as one of ur own children. U only put them in battles if there strong enough to face a certain level of pokemon. Get what I’m hitting at?
Now lets convert it to the Big O. Roger knows Big O strengths and weakness. (refer to act 12 where Big O let’s Duo get away, but starts thinking about the disadvantages Duo has.) He knows how to use his inner strength and his most powerful attack. (refer to act 26 where he uses the Final Stage) he knows about Big O’s personality. (refer to act 23 when Big O protects Dorothy) He doesn’t use all of Big O’s attacks on 1 monster and instead uses in separate acts. (act 3 chromebuster, act 4 missile compartment, etc.) Big O get’s awesome care service by Norman and sometimes Roger and Dorothy. (act 15 where Norman repairs Big O’s arm) Roger cares about Big O (refer to act 18 where beck says Big O is gonna sink in the ocean and roger is like “Big…..O. “ Roger treats Big O as he were his child. (refer to act 4 where say Big O shouldn’t hold back against archeptype) Roger also knows that he’ll call Big O if he can handle the enemy. (refer to act 12 where Roger calls Big O to face Duo a 2nd time)
Schwarzwald possessed these qualities too. But alen and alex did not. They were too over confident about their skills. They didn’t treat their megadeuces with respect and in the end in bit them in the @$$. Duo rejected alen because he was using the power of “god” as schwarzy put it. Sorta like he wasn’t using the god for a certain purpose. Duo, fearing the samething might happen again, flew up to the stage lights and blew himself up. Big Fau on the other hand well he rejected alex because he was too arrogant and was too confident in his skills. Alex tries again with the core memories only to disappear to oblivia or only god knows where he went.
Big Venus is what I call the main dominuce or the main master of the megagods. He chooses who stays in Paradigm City and who leaves. Apparently since Big O has stand for justice and stuff, Big Venus spared him and Roger. Now after giving u this long and usless explaination I hope this answers ur question thoroughly!

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Originally posted by evanASF27 DOMINUS, Domini (m)- master (of the household) Dominus is basic Latin (Roman Empire type Latin ) for a MASTER (as in a slave's master, and "master of the house"). It's masculine in that form but can also be used as "DOMINA" (feminine).

I believe only two characters ever used the term Dominus. Alex and Beck. Beck in reference to Roger, and Alex about himself(and half-assed towards Roger). Alex saw himself as the master.

Then you have the "true Dominuses": Roger and Schwarzwald. Both never saw themselves as a megadeus master. Roger worked with Big O, and Schwarzwald thought he did the bidding of Big Duo. Something to think about.

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Originally posted by OMGWTF quote: Originally posted by evanASF27 DOMINUS, Domini (m)- master (of the household) Dominus is basic Latin (Roman Empire type Latin ) for a MASTER (as in a slave's master, and "master of the house"). It's masculine in that form but can also be used as "DOMINA" (feminine). I believe only two characters ever used the term Dominus. Alex and Beck. Beck in reference to Roger, and Alex about himself(and half-assed towards Roger). Alex saw himself as the master. Then you have the "true Dominuses": Roger and Schwarzwald. Both never saw themselves as a megadeus master. Roger worked with Big O, and Schwarzwald thought he did the bidding of Big Duo. Something to think about.

Roger also uses it, referring to himself during the battle with Bonaparte in Act 21: The Third Big. I think...

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Originally posted by Mega Dominus quote: Originally posted by OMGWTF I believe only two characters ever used the term Dominus. Alex and Beck. Beck in reference to Roger, and Alex about himself(and half-assed towards Roger). Alex saw himself as the master. Then you have the "true Dominuses": Roger and Schwarzwald. Both never saw themselves as a megadeus master. Roger worked with Big O, and Schwarzwald thought he did the bidding of Big Duo. Something to think about. Roger also uses it, referring to himself during the battle with Bonaparte in Act 21: The Third Big. I think...

Angel also uses it in a conversation with Roger in "Stripes": "What if your destiny is to be the dominus of Megadeus?"

I don't think Big O ever shose Roger. Roger just woke up in the bank and Norman said "Hey, Big O is downstairs. Wanna pilot it?"

Maybe Norman was the original pilot...

I'm starting to think that the phrase "Dominus" doesn't exactly match up literally with what the word represents. Obviously, Roger doesn't dominate Big O, and it was Alex who got owned by the Big Fau. It could still contribute to the theory that Alex and Alan were Domini: to be the master of a mega-god doesn't make sense because gods don't have masters. Therefore it would be foolish to attempt to become a Dominus and such an attempt should be punished by the god. Alex was trying to become Paradigm City's lord by becoming the Dominus of Big Fau, whom he considered the most powerful creature in existence. Since he tried to become the master of a god, it was forced to either destroy him or absorb him. Absorbtion, of course, was the most logical path to take in this case, though not with Alan [see almost-digressing side-note below].

[With reference to BigPrime], mentioning Bonnie Frazer is a good and interesting point; I'd forgotten about him. If he's a Dominus, it would add to the idea that Megadei have some kind of special connexion to their Domini, and choose them voluntarily.

Erm, of course a Dominus could be (and actually probably is) a pilot with a very special connexion to a Megadeus that doesn't require any kind of interceding parties (like a mass of cables or a core memory-hack). I'm just trying to throw a different light on it.

[With reference to Wazpy]: That thing about Norman being a former pilot of the Big O is something that's been sitting in a dark corner of my head for a while. Maybe he was one of the older Roger Smiths?

[side-note] I had read at some time or another that when an ancient and powerful civilization (either Greek or Roman, I think) conquered another civilization, they took the beliefs of those who were conquered, and integrated them into their own beliefs. It was best to simply add-on the other beliefs, rather than crush them, because then the original believers would be more apt to accept the new ruling society. So in that case, like with Big Fau and Alex, it was better for Big Fau to have absorbed Alex, rather than to simply destroy him, probably because of his strength as a pilot. Now with Alan, it was a different story, most likely because Alan and Big Duo were so different and incompatible. Methinks Big Duo absorbing Alan would be like trying to get an organ transplant that you know your body would reject. Or something equally gory.

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Originally posted by Penny Century quote: Originally posted by Mega Dominus quote: Originally posted by OMGWTF I believe only two characters ever used the term Dominus. Alex and Beck. Beck in reference to Roger, and Alex about himself(and half-assed towards Roger). Alex saw himself as the master. Then you have the "true Dominuses": Roger and Schwarzwald. Both never saw themselves as a megadeus master. Roger worked with Big O, and Schwarzwald thought he did the bidding of Big Duo. Something to think about. Roger also uses it, referring to himself during the battle with Bonaparte in Act 21: The Third Big. I think... Angel also uses it in a conversation with Roger in "Stripes": "What if your destiny is to be the dominus of Megadeus?"

He said it too in Act 20 when he was being pummeled after Big O refused to finish off Boniparte with the cromebuster, just before the episode ended.
And as you will see tonight Normon had the oppertunity to pilot Big O, but for whatever reason chose not to.

Ouch. I just got PWNED(<--what the hell does that mean anyway?)

My point, though, is that Alex is the only person who really sees himself as the master(Dominus) of a megadeus, whereas Roger and Schwarzwald sees themselves as equal or servant.

What exactly separates a giant robot from a Megadeus?

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Originally posted by JMA What exactly separates a giant robot from a Megadeus?

The Megadeus is alive, using a similar technology to that in androids.

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Originally posted by OMGWTF Then you have the "true Dominuses": Roger and Schwarzwald. Both never saw themselves as a megadeus master. Roger worked with Big O, and Schwarzwald thought he did the bidding of Big Duo. Something to think about.

This could put Michael Seebach's name change into an interesting new light. In the Catholic church, those who take holy orders frequently change their names (to a saint's name or some other name that has special meaning to the individual). It's emblematic of leaving behind a previous life and beginning a new one in God's service. Could this have been what motivated Schwarzwald?