Darling in the FranXX has been quite an interesting mecha show this winter 2018 season. From the very first episode to the current episode—this series is presently airing as of writing this article—we have seen mystery after mystery pop up in the form of the children pilots and the world of Darling in the FranXX. However, one of the more alluding mysterious and the topic of today’s discussion obviously, is Zero Two. Episode one had Hiro literally walk into a forest and see Zero Two naked and from that very strange moment we truly meet the mysterious beauty for the first time. Zero Two has a ton of moments that leave us here at Honey’s Anime HQ wondering more about Zero Two and what she truly is, but let’s discuss some moments that really stand out to us that make us ponder what is Zero Two.

We’ll skip the obvious episode 1 and 2 introductions of Zero Two as they are pretty obvious moments of mystery as she barely talks much in these episodes and all we know is that anyone who partners with her dies. Episode 5 and 6 are where we really see the mystery behind Zero Two become more prominent. For example, why is it when Zero Two loses her headband after one of the girls—Ichigo—removes it do we then see her eyes change color and she almost seems to produce a strange aura? More so in episode 6, when Hiro is down for the count, we see Zero Two almost go into a berserker form and seems to become almost bestial. There are dozens of mysteries surrounding Zero Two but for us here at Honey’s Anime that makes her that much more attractive. We don’t understand Zero Two as a whole yet, but we find her air of mystery truly appealing and we doubt we’re alone in that train of thought.

Zero Two has proven to be mysterious sure, but one thing that isn’t a mystery is how powerful she is as a pilot. With a FranXX that only needs her to technically pilot it, Zero Two alone is a strong warrior. Later when Zero Two gets Hiro as her partner, her skills almost triple as the FranXX loses its animal look and becomes more similar to the other FranXX designs. Zero Two might need to rely on Hiro to improve the power of the mech but as we see in episode 6 when Hiro is nearly dead, Zero Two alone takes dozens of hits by a gigantic Klaxosaur and yet continues to growl and moremain unfazed. Needless to say, Zero Two is easily the strongest girl pilot of the team and we don’t think anyone wants to argue against that.

While the numerous girls of Darling in the FranXX are pretty loyal to their partners—which is necessary seeing as how they are compatible as pilots after all—Zero Two’s loyalty is on a whole other level. Zero Two strives to make it apparent that Hiro—aka her darling—is the only one able to truly ride with her in her unique FranXX. Episode 3 is when we see one of the male children—Mitsuru—try to prove he’s more powerful than Hiro and teams up with Zero Two with the end result being quite bad. Mitsuru nearly dies from one ride as Zero Two’s partner and this makes Zero Two proclaim that only her darling is worthy of riding with her. Hiro is either very lucky Zero Two adores him so much, or has some really bad luck.

Now, many fans of Darling in the FranXX have found themselves gawking at Zero Two for numerous reasons. Besides the beautiful looks and amazing figure, there is something else that just pops at the audience and makes you stare in wonder and awe. That’s right folks, Zero Two’s horns are what we are referring to. What is Zero Two? Is it possible this femme fettle isn’t human or is a hybrid of Klaxosaur and human DNA? Darling in the FranXX hasn’t revealed that bit of information just yet, but we think this non-human nature might be a good thing in one way and a bad thing in another.

As a solo pilot—which we seen in the early 3 episodes as Zero Two is the only one able to pilot a FranXX alone—Zero Two is a beast. Quite literally, Zero Two’s mech changes into a beast-like form when she doesn’t rely on a male pilot like Hiro or the partners before. This leads us to believe that Zero Two is quite powerful due to her possible non-human blood but as we know this also leads to a dilemma of sorts. Zero Two’s energy or body seems to have negative ramifications for most pilots—even Hiro in episodes 5 and 6 as his body goes through a strange event—which means that not just anyone can pilot alongside her. Hiro hopefully can continue being Zero Two’s partner otherwise we might see her get enraged and do something that confirms she is far from human.

For the most part, we have talked about Zero Two to death at this point and are quite willing to continue talking about her for pages more. While she might be deadly and maybe isn’t fully human—though that could also be said of the children in Darling in the FranXX—we think Zero Two just needs to be loved to be truly happy. As we mentioned earlier, Zero Two seems happiest when she is with her partner Hiro and that leads us to believe she just doesn’t want to be alone. We have further evidence that what we’re saying might be legitimately the truth behind Zero Two and its shown specifically in one of the earlier episodes.

Episode 4 is where Hiro and Zero Two officially unite as a FranXX team. When Zero Two was being moved to another area, Hiro ran after her to apologize for his indecisive behavior and to beg her to be his partner. Here Zero Two goes from being dark and brooding to quite lively as she beats up the guards and runs to her darling Hiro. Zero Two makes a joke here—which we won’t write as it’s a bit dirty—but you can tell she is quite happy to have someone chase after her. Needless to say, there are several episodes beyond 4 that show Zero Two reacting more with smiles once Hiro shows up or talks to her and that makes us think she just wants a little bit of love and attention. What girl—or guy for that matter—doesn’t appreciate that from time to time?