User blog comment:Schiffy/BG9: Man, Machine, or Something Else Entirely?/@comment-1904799-20130918223414

I'm not sure what Asimov's Laws really have to do with any sort of constraints that BG9 might be under; if he really is cybernetic in some way, chances are he's been programmed or otherwise manipulated by Yhwach or another member of the Wandenreich to obey a set of orders that most likely involve death and destruction in and around the Seireitei/Wandenreich compound. Additionally, if we're getting really technical, Mareyo isn't human, she's a spirit, and therefore Asimov's Laws wouldn't apply. But I digress.

Kubo seems to generally have an aversion to technologically-inclined characters. Sure the Gotei 13 has a division dedicated to research and science, but most of their "technology" ultimately relies on Kido or some other spiritual source to draw their energy from. With that in mind, I think it would be a startlingly unusual choice for Kubo to make BG9 a fully-blown cyborg. The idea of a robot being involved in the story seems completely contradictory to the series' tone up to this point. That being said, BG9 is most certainly not a typical Quincy. I suspect that the tendrils under his cloak are in place of proper limbs rather than in addition to them; we never do see any semblance of hands or other normal appendages in any of BG9's appearances. My suspicion is that BG9 is a Quincy, but an inhuman one predisposed to only seeing things in terms of facts and statistical gains and losses rather than having any sort of emotion. This might explain why his dialogue is presented in boxes, as it may be a means of making him seem more cold and distant. As for the tendrils, they may be replacements for limbs that were lost, or possibly his actual body is too weak for combat and the tendrils allow him to still pose a threat.