Elro

Elro, holding his vintage sword

"I'm just... happy you're... still alive, Robin..." - Elro

"I see you all again! Even you, Elro. But I'm not surprised. Cowards excel at staying alive." - General Chrome

Elro is Robin's brother and a playable character. He and Robin are Polro's two children. Elro lives in Blockrock in Settlement 17 House 05 with his Wife Henetta and daughter Ella. Right up until the events of the story, he is a ChemiCo Chemist working for the One Concern, though he is secretly also a member of the ChemiCo Contra society. Elro is a bitter person, despising the Concern. The only thing that seems to bring him any joy is his family.

Official Bio

Elro
Age 26 - From: Settlement 17 - Likes: Unsure

He is Robin's big brother, their father having recently passed via circumstance they're both trying to deal with. Elro believes his sister is taking it harder than she is, it is rather him that has a hard time dealing with his life.
-Limited Run Iconoclasts Classic Edition manual

Abilities

Elro is a talented ChemiCo Chemist who knows a lot about Ivory's chemical properties, and he used that knowledge to create Elro's Compound. He keeps an antique sword on the mantle in his home, and picks it up when his family comes under threat. He is perfectly capable of wielding the weapon one-handed and also has a talent for throwing his sword. In his playable segment, he is able to use the sword to both attack and parry projectiles. However, by that time, his running and jumping abilities have become significantly weaker than Robin's and Mina's.

Story

Pre-Game

Elro is one of Polro's two children. He is Robin's brother. His father, a licensed Mechanic, wanted his children to have free and simple lives as far from the One Concern as possible, and encouraged them to learn to be farmers. But Elro rejected this, wanting to be close to the danger as an insider rather than far from it hoping he could live life in peace. He was eventually granted a position as a ChemiCo Chemist. He was talented, able to solve problems that the rest of the Concern could not, and he hid some of his discoveries. While a chemist, he joined the ChemiCo Contra, a secret nonviolent society of Concern chemists that opposed the Concern's use of the control of the planet's energy supply to control the population. But Elro wasn't content to try and secretly develop new unapproved energy sources to improve the lives and independence of the people. He wanted to actively fight the Concern.

Elro eventually discovered a compound that could be used as a weapon against the Concern's Transcendents. One day while at work at the One Concern HQ, he assassinates Agent Grey in the presence of Agent Black as a solo-operating vigilante. The ChemiCo Contra do not approve of violence, but they still help him escape the Concern Headquarters afterwards. Immediately after his escape, with Agent Black still pursuing him, the main events of the game begin.

Fixing House 05

As soon as he escapes, Elro runs home to his house in Settlement 17 to check on his family and make sure their immediate needs are met, presumably before he goes back into hiding. Elro does not tell Robin or his family what has happened or that he is on the run, dodging questions from his wife, Henetta, when she asks why he has come home early and why he is in such a rush to leave again. Elro first asks Robin to retrieve an Ivory Battery from the Church. He can't go himself lest he risk being identified and captured by the Progenarian there. Afterwards, he has Robin fix the house. An argument breaks out between Elro an Henetta while Robin is fixing the house as Elro refuses to explain his unusual behavior. It is interrupted by Agent Black barging in suddenly. She catches Elro and witnesses Robin performing mechanical work on the house, which is also a sin.

Black arrests the entire family, having Robin locked away in the Community Centre while Elro and his family are sealed in their home to face Penance. That night, the Concern uses a Spine Controller to destroy Elro's house with him and his family inside. He tries to defend them with his sword, but is unsuccessful. Henetta and Ella die in the attack. Unknown to Robin, Elro was able to escape underground using the tunnel that the Controller dug to get to the house.

Searching for Pontus

Elro hides in various places while Robin flees to Shard Wastelands and Isilugar. He says in hiding for a full day and night, using the nighttime to sneak into the rubble of his own house. He finds his sword. It is broken, but he takes it with him. Pontus saw him, and tried to follow him to ask about Ella. Eventually he is distracted by a Hazard Armor he finds in Blockrock and follows after it instead, thinking it is a "spaceman". Elro later stumbles upon Robin and Mina trying to save Pontus from the Gerrie under House 01. He drops into the cave and lands next to it. He then swings his sword at it, knocking the helmet off. The Pupil inside does not realize that the air outside is breathable, and flees in a panic. The three of them take Pontus back to his mother Petra in Blockrock.

Later that night, Elro meets privately with Mina in that Community Centre. He still has not told anyone that he is a fugitive for killing Grey. He explains to Mina that he wants to take Robin into hiding with him since the Concern will have them both killed for the forbidden mechanic work Robin did with Elro. He also alludes to the fact that he is wanted by Black for committing another crime, but insists that Robin not know why for her own protection. Elro thinks of his sister as a child, not able to handle such a painful reality. Mina explains that if Robin doesn't know the truth, then Robin will probably think that it was her fault that Black killed Elro's family, when in reality it was Elro's assassination of Grey that started the whole chain of events. Mina tries to ask Elro what he did, but their conversation is interrupted as Robin walks in.

The Mysterious Boat

The three discuss what to do next. Elro wants to hide, possibly in Isilugar, and Mina wants to chase down Agent Black, who kidnapped Samba from Isilugar. Elro insists he will not contribute to something that will put his family in danger, but after Robin and Mina leave the Community Centre, Elro heads towards Ferrier Shockwood to accompany them so he can protect Robin. Elro joins the party at the western edge of Blockrock, and they enter the woods using the key that Robin and Mina stole from Captain Myron's Mysterious Boat.

Chasing Agent Black

While traveling through the Ferrier Shockwood, the party stop in House 01 to rest. Elro wants to leave immediately because it is marked for destruction by the Concern, meaning Penance could hit it at any moment, despite nobody living in it. Nearly as soon as he says so, the house is struck. Elro pulls Robin out just in time, but Mina disappears in the rubble. This further traumatizes Elro, who has now narrowly escaped death with Robin twice. Before they continue, he remarks that Mina may be alive and underground, implying she may have escaped the Penance the same way he did.

Later on, Elro and Robin fight the Carver. He foolishly tries to slash the giant machine with his sword at first, but later starts jamming the circular blade by tossing the sword into it just right. As the Carver gets blown into a pit, Mina appears up through the hole it fell into and rejoins them.

Upon reaching the Tower, they find they cannot get in. Royal encounters them, and Elro meets him for the first time. He also observes Royal's medium powers, terrified at the abilities that the Concern has. Royal demonstrates that he is friendly to Robin and offers to show the party in. Immediately after entering, the Bastion Elites inside arrest them on behalf of Mother for their crimes, defying Royal's commands to be hospitable to his guests.

Escaping The Tower

Elro, Mina, and Robin are locked in the basement cells. Elro talks with Mina while Robin searches for the Tower Cell Key to rescue them. Elro tries to convince Robin again that she doesn't owe it to anyone to rescue Samba, but the main exit to the Tower is still blocked off, so they have no choice but to explore the Tower further. Elro witnesses The Show with Mina and Robin but says nothing.

At the top of the tower, the party find Black interrogating Samba in a holding room behind a double door. He tricks Robin and Mina into backing away from the door while he rushes between them, opens the first door using his One Concern East key, and locks the first door behind him so they can't follow. Then he enters the second door alone to confront Agent Black, who thought Elro died in his house from Penance. Black is surprised and furious to see him alive. Elro readies his sword and starts monologue to Black. Before he finishes, Black shoots him with her handgun, incapacitating him on the floor. She rips his right arm off, and is about to break his neck when General Chrome and the One Concern Army interrupt, stopping her from killing him. Chrome chastises Black for attempting to kill Elro in a manner not aligned with Tri religion, saying that to kill him like this would be murder. Black tries to shoot Robin, but she is saved by the Silver Watchman who tackles her out of the room, falling with her into the Dark Cave. Mina and Samba escape in the confusion, and Elro still incapacitated, is taken captive and moved to the One Concern HQ.

One Concern East

Elro is taken to a locked medical room in the One Concern East where he is stabilized, but still weak and missing an arm. He manages to escape his hospital bed, disable two guards watching him, but isn't able to get past the locked door. He crawls through a duct to the east, and stumbles his way to a room below where a Transcender is being built. Robin, Mina, and Royal find him there, and Royal promises that Mother would heal him if he takes him to her. Since the way to the west would lead them back into the One Concern Army and nearly certain death, they decide to go with Royal east to City One, where Mother is.

Getting to Mother

At City One, Royal reveals that Mother would only heal Elro of his sin, not physically heal him. But Mother rejects Royal for his sins against the Concern, and attacks the party. Elro is not able to assist Robin and Mina when they defend themselves from Mother. Elro waits at the bottom of the Bastion with Mina and Royal while Robin climbs to the top, but decides to follow her up later. When he reaches the top, he arrives to the scene of Chrome telling Robin of his intent to kill her and himself, lest either of them become new figures of worship. Elro casually defies Chrome. Chrome, believing himself to be invincible due to His blessing, allows Elro to take his anger out on him if he wishes. Elro walks up to him, and injects the other syringe of his compound into Chrome, killing him.

Trivia

• As with all characters, his sprite is reversed when changing directions. This means that even though Agent Black is shown to tear off his right arm, the arm that is shown to be missing changes throughout the game.
• Because Elro uses his sword to attack, unlike Robin who only uses a stun weapon, Elro's playable segment is one of the few instances when the player can actually kill humans other than with Isi Seeds in cut scenes. Elro can kill One Concern Attackers and kills Lawrence in a cut scene. Robin's, which are used for most of the game, are not capable of killing human enemies and only knock them out. (Mina can also use her shotgun to kill several soldiers in the Ferrier Shockwood.)