Is Vision too artificial to be counted a part of the living population?
I understand
he's dead but assuming he was alive,
is he eligible for the snap?
Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityIs Vision too artificial to be counted a part of the living population?
I understand
he's dead but assuming he was alive,
is he eligible for the snap?
I think the most important bit of information we want is "does Vision need resources to exist?". Sadly I could only find an answer in the comics (so it's unclear regarding the cinematic version).
According to this, he gets his energy from "ambient solar radiation", meaning he is basically a walking solar panel. This solar energy is created by the sun regardless of whether Vision is alive or not, so I think we can safely say he does not cause an increase in used resources, meaning there is no reason for Thanos to snap him.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say no. Whilst we don't know for sure it seems likely he would survive as he is the only one of his kind and killing off an entire species doesn't really match with what Thanos is trying to do. He is trying to kill half of all life so that life can continue but with a species wiped out life can't continue for that species.
Gamora: The entire time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal: To bring balance to the Universe by wiping out half of all life. He used to kill people planet by planet, massacre by massacre...
Avengers: Infinity War
Thanos: Going to bed hungry, scrounging for scraps. Your planet was on the brink of collapse. I'm the one who stopped that. Do you know what's happened since then? The children born have known nothing but full bellies and clear skies. It's a paradise.
Gamora: Because you murdered half the planet.
Thanos: A small price to pay for salvation.
Gamora: You're insane.
Thanos: Little one, it's a simple calculus. This universe is finite, its resources finite. If life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. It needs correction.
Avengers: Infinity War
Now lets assume there were multiple Visions, would he be eligible? I think the answer is probably and that answer comes from Vision himself and Steve.
Vision: No, we have to destroy it. I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head, about its nature. But also, its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something, very similar to its own signature, perhaps... Its molecular integrity could fail.
Wanda Maximoff: And you, with it. We're not having this conversation.
Vision: Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it.
Wanda Maximoff: That's too high a price.
Vision: Only you have the power to pay it. Thanos threatens half the Universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him.
Steve Rogers: But it should. We don't trade lives, Vision.
Vision: Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people. Tell me, why is this any different?
Avengers: Infinity War
Both Vision and Steve refer to Vision as a life which to me implies he's a living creature rather than just a robot. And this makes sense considering he is made of Vibranium and the living tissue that Helen creates, in fact he even has a physical brain.
Dr. Helen Cho: Cellular cohesion will take a few hours, but we can initiate the consciousness stream. We're uploading your cerebral matrix... now.
Wanda Maximoff: I can read him. He is dreaming.
Dr. Helen Cho: I wouldn't call it dreams. It's Ultron's base consciousness, informational noise. Soon...
Ultron: How soon? I'm not being pushy.
Dr. Helen Cho: We're imprinting a physical brain. There are no shortcuts. Even if your magic gem is...
Avengers: Age of Ultron
The above notes that he "isn't dreaming" which could state he's more of an android at this point but this is before Tony and Banner get involved when he's solely Ultron so things changed later on.