YoRHa No.9 Type S, or just 9S, is one of the protagonists of NieR:Automata. He is the main character of Branches B and D, as well as one of the main antagonists and final boss of Branch C S9 game.
9S is a scanner-type android who served during the 14th Machine War. He has an attack function, but is overall an investigative android—a member of the YoRHa automated infantry unit, which excels in hacking intelligence gathering.
9S was born on January 30th, 11942, having been deployed at 4:25 am, Bunker time. He was a newly manufactured Scanner model. It is revealed that after detonating the black box, both 2B and 9S’s data are uploaded back to The Bunker, where they are transferred to new bodies. But because there wasn’t enough bandwidth and time, 9S chose to send 2B’s memories back instead of his, causing him to forget everything about the previous battle with 2B (However, it is implied later that 9S only pretends to forget, as his memory is shown during the fight with the Soul Box boss. Among the various pictures there are those that depict his time with 2B before his black box detonation). 9S is next seen taking care of the boot sequence for 2B (which serves as an introduction to the game setting menu). Having been put in charge of her maintenance, he becomes 2B’s partner and follows her to take care of the missions on Earth.
9S supports 2B in the Abandoned Factory to eliminate their target. After supporting her as she made her way through the facility, 2B escapes without having found her target. 9S informs her that there is another facility across the bridge, but that it’s unusual for command to get the location of a target wrong. 2B then tells him that they weren’t wrong, as she is attacked by two Marx-type units. A fight ensues, leading to 9S joining the fight, only to be slammed off his flight unit by the Engels unit that had finally emerged. When Engels is down, 2B makes her way to the top of him to find a mortally wounded 9S. He implores 2B to leave him to finish the mission and destroy the target. 2B hesitantly complies and takes his flight unit to defeat Engels. After the target is destroyed, 2B and 9S reunite, only for three more Engels to appear and attack them. 2B and 9S are forced to detonate their black boxes in order to destroy the Engels, but their fates are left unknown.
or not to [B]e
the [E]nd of YoRHa
The Memories of Puppets
During the NieR Music Concert: The Memories of Puppets, according to the Automata Concert Script 5 “Farewell” the epilogue for Route E’s ending, it is revealed that 2B and 9S have been completely reconstructed by Pod 153 and Pod 042. 2B is able to reboot normally but 9S is unable to be reactivated because his memory has become corrupted, with the data unable to be recovered. 2B decides to search for a way to reboot 9S properly. After a time, Jackass mails 2B about finding a hint to repair 9S`s memory storage in the collapsed Ark’s Tower. When she reaches the collapsed Ark’s Tower, 2B is able to retrieve the remnant machine lifeforms’ communication protocol. In the end, 2B with the Pods’ help is able to awaken 9S with his complete memory.
During the events of the NieR:Orchestra Concert 12024 [ the end of data ], after the E ending, 9S arrives sometime after 2B repairs him. Since the Bunker is destroyed, they are unable to source additional replacement parts, and the resistance is also unable to help as their parts are incompatible with YoRHa androids. The two set off, heading for transporters in the hope that they might contain materials for use. However, they only find strange images, memories of the old world.
They traverse cities and deserts, leaving the nearby machine lifeforms alone. As they travel, 2B realizes that her black box is damaged and failing, likely from when A2 killed her to prevent her from fully succumbing to the logic virus. 9S independently figures this out as well, but keeps quiet and continues with 2B in the hopes of finding repairs. As they access more transporters, they realize that the memories create a cipher planted by an unknown party, leading to a secret YoRHa facility known as “Eden”. Eden houses the latest research and technology, and potentially the key to saving 2B.
As they approach Eden, they find that it is an alien ship over 3 kilometers long. They enter, seeing patterns pulse on the walls as if they were alive. They soon encounter what look like trees, but are actually aliens, speared to the walls and floor in a macabre display. At the end of their path lies another transporter. But this time, it opens to reveal a ruined city of old, colored stark white.
2B and 9S enter, and are assaulted by a multitude of machine lifeforms. After they defeat the horde, they wander further into the city. Many buildings are collapsed, but the ones still standing have no roofs, resembling gravestones. Transporters mark their progress, with more memories of the old world. Project Gestalt, White Chlorination Syndrome, Yonah, The Red Dragon. They don’t know the meaning behind the words, but hear them regardless. The path grows narrower, and narrower, until it ends at a circular door. The door opens to reveal…The Bunker.
This copy Bunker only somewhat resembles the original. It is in disarray, with cables snaking throughout it almost like a forest of wires. 2B and 9S follow deeper into the forest, and note additional heavy damage from claws and teeth. They soon encounter their source: more memories of the old world, but in the form of Shades. These memories are from Louise, the powerful artificial Gestalt who yearned to be human, yet was rejected and met with tragedy.
The two soon enter a hangar, containing a plaster replica of a Flight Unit with cables snaking into it. A voice emanates from the unit, saying, “Repent. Repent for your sins.” The cables twist into a colossus implied to resemble the massive Shade known as Jack of Hearts, all the while as it cries “Repent” and machine lifeforms emerge to attack.
When the pair overcome the onslaught, they arrive at what appears to be a church. On the ground are the bodies of machine lifeforms, and further in, the corpses of YoRHa androids. The dead androids surround a large cracked black orb in the center of the chapel, possibly a power source for the surrounding alien ship. 2B and 9S realize that the androids created this area as a place of worship and faith in their last hours. 9S remarks that they likely won’t find repairs for 2B here, and 2B thinks of how her last moments would be in a warm place like this, as her black box finally gives out and she collapses.
9S rushes to her, but is powerless. He wonders why he wasn’t taken instead of her, and questions if this is some kind of punishment. He curses—and prays.
The black boxes of the dead androids rise, and fragment into points of light. These lights form a halo around 2B, and enter her black box, fixing it. The black orb finally crumbles into a pile of rubble on the ground. They don’t truly understand what occurred, but 2B surmises that since black boxes were derived from machine lifeform cores, perhaps they activated a protocol that healed her. Nevertheless, the two continue on, vowing to survive and embrace the world they live in.
9S is fought a single time as A2 at the end of Route C. He has Cruel Oath equipped during this fight, but prefers to fight from a distance using hacking and pod fire. His three pods have Gatling, Hammer, and Gravity equipped and he will swap between them throughout the fight. He hacks the player in two ways: one that disrupts the HUD and one that sends the player into a hacking game. Hacks that disrupt the HUD work the same as if the player was hit by an EMP attack; that is HUD elements may be disrupted such as not being able to attack, use pod fire, or have the player’s vision disrupted. The hacking game is standard and can be countered by counter-hacking 9S in the same way players have hacked machines throughout the game.
This unit’s official title is Model S, Number 9. While this YoRHa member possessed offensive abilities, he specialized skilled at information gathering and hacking. While 9S normally had a kind personality, he began to exhibit hatred for A2 when she killed 2B-for whom he possessed an unusually deep affection. In a cruel twist, he also met end at the hands of A2.
As a scanner model, 9S is naturally curious about the world around him – especially the machine lifeforms. Usually working alone, he is deployed on the front lines with other S-type models, acting as YoRHa’s main intelligence gatherer. According to A2, 9S is a “high-end model”, meaning that he is one of the newest scanner types. As the newest model, he tends to dig deeper into YoRHa’s secrets than his peers, often asking questions that those around him think he shouldn’t be asking.
As a member of YoRHa, he has a deep distrust of the machine lifeforms now inhabiting the planet, which is fully revealed when an emissary from Pascal’s village confronts him and 2B in the abandoned amusement park. Although he does not trust the supposed peace treaty, his overwhelming curiosity leads him to agree to follow the machine to its home. As time goes by, 9S’s opinion of the machines changes as he learns more about them, and he ends up genuinely caring for Pascal and his villagers. In Routes A and B, as he competes in the colosseum in the Flooded City, he expresses his disgust at the Resistance androids in their treatment of the machines, which rivals the cruelty he thought only humans were capable of. However, he cannot help but wonder if there is a part of him capable of such depravity.
In Routes C and D, his opinion of the machines changes drastically. After the Bunker collapse, and witnessing the death of 2B as a direct result, 9S goes on a warpath to kill every last machine. Blinded by grief and hatred, he tells himself that there is no meaning to anything the machines do as he goes through the Resource Recovery Units, despite knowing the opposite. This cognitive dissonance becomes even more pronounced when he discovers that the YoRHa black boxes are made from the cores of machine lifeforms – something he denies outright. His hatred of the machines is so great that he destroys a helpless child core without hesitation, despite the meek protest of Pod 153.
Despite all this, however, he still seems to regard Pascal in at least a somewhat positive light – albeit mostly non-verbally, 9S seems mourn the loss of the village and seems concerned for Pascal after the machine has formatted his memories.
When interacting with other androids – be they Resistance or YoRHa – 9S is generally cheerful, optimistic, understanding and helpful. 9S is also somewhat playful, as evidenced by the way he fist-bumps Pod 153 to show affection. By his own admission, 9S isn’t known for his modesty, as evidenced by the “Not That I Mind…” achievement/trophy. He also admits that he’s not very good at adhering to YoRHa’s protocol of forbidding emotions. He tends to speak informally to those he knows well, such as being rather dismissive of 21O, with a tendency to wave her off with “yeah, yeah” or “fiiiiiiine”. That’s not to say he’s informal with everyone; he calls 2B “ma’am” until she asks him to stop, and shows respect for those who command it, such as Commander White and the Council of Humanity (although he finds the Council’s broadcasts “stiff”).
When 9S is held captive by Adam after the fall of Grün, it is suggested for the first time that 9S has a darker side than he lets on. Adam goads him on, saying that 9S wants to hate, tear and destroy those around him. As a final taunt, Adam asks, “You’re thinking about how much you want to **** 2B, aren’t you?” with the censor being deliberately ambiguous, with the words “kill” and “fuck” being the most likely fill-ins. This darker side of 9S is also seen in NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020, where he has a hallucination of himself killing 2B, which is referred to as a “twisted desire”. Knowing 2B’s true designation as an E-type heightens these complicated feelings towards her, but he refuses to act on them due to his close bond with her.
After the death of 2B at the hands of the logic virus and A2, 9S’s darker side
