Why did Mewtwo kill Dr. Fuji?

It's been a while since I last sat down and watched the first film...but iirc, Mewtwo turned against Fuji and his underlings because he resented that they saw him as nothing more than a successful scientific achievement on their part, not a creature to be respected in his own right.
 
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Gamefreak & Shopro would appreciate it if you just forgot that little incident.

"Mewtwo committed mass murder? Really? When?"
 
Mewtwo may be very intelligent, but the fact remains that he isn't human, and he was barely coming to terms with his own existence and the sheer magnitude of his powers at the time. His treatment of Fuji was certainly vicious and unnecessary, but I would question whether it can really be judged in terms of human morality.
 
I honestly can't be too sure that Mewtwo was actually aiming to destroy Dr. Fuji or any of the other scientists, but rather, the laboratory itself in his frustration... and of course, Fuji was a casualty of Mewtwo's destruction. *shrugs*
 
It's more or less in line with every work of fiction where scientists play God...their own creation inevitably destroys them.

Plus it was kickin' rad to open up the first theatrical film with an act of violence you'd never see in the television series.
 
I hope that this will not go unmentioned in Movie 16. No redemption arc is complete without atoning for murder.
 
They could also easily pull a "they actually all survived!" or "Mewtwo rewound time and changed that!" too, lol.
 
Mewtwo was clearly angry at the fact that he was seen as nothing more than an experiment, and I assume that everything was destroyed in a fit of rage and his inability to properly control his powers at the time. If Mewtwo was simply a cold-blooded killer, he could probably kill everyone in the lab without all the theatrical explosions. He was angry, and he lashed out against everything around him.
 
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picture from Sea & Stars

I think that Mewtwo's story can be read as an Existentialist narrative.

I imagine that if an individual was born into the world with the mental capabilities of a grown person (as Mewtwo was) they would immediately begin asking themselves existential questions, which Mewtwo asked: Who? What? When? Where? And the question which originated, among other forms of human expression, philosophy and science, why?

As it is, an individual growing up in the world today is surrounded, before he has the words to ask themselves these questions, by the voices of social institutions (e.g school) and vested interests (e.g advertisers, mass culture), all -falsely- assuming the child to be empty and clamoring to be fill him up with THEIR answers, such as:

Who the child is - a consumer, or a Year 3 schoolchild, then, later on, an 'accountant', or an 'actor', or a 'doctor' - always a 'template identity', never simply themselves. In Mewtwo's case, the identity forced on him by society (Fuji, then Giovanni) was 'our successful experiment created for our own ends', then, 'a weapon of Team Rocket'.

What to do, buy, or learn (Do your homework! Gotta catch em all!). In Mewtwo's case, do what Giovanni tells you.

Where to work and play (in the classroom and the playground, in the Team Rocket headquarters!). When to do it (when the school bell goes off, when I let you move in your armour!).

'Why' is almost never sincerely given. If it was, it would be revealed as being irrelevant to or against the individual's self-determined interests (yes, we know you don't want to do/be/learn X, but we think X is 'for your own good, and we are ignoring your ideas to the contrary!), or, it would reveal the intentional manipulation (nice going, Giovanni - "You're using me to take over the world??!") Who was ever given a satisfactory answer in school as to why they 'HAD to' learn something they saw no value or interest in learning?

Unlike a baby, Mewtwo is born into the world with fully developed physical and cognitive powers. He is able to understand Fuji's stated answers to his questions, and to compare them with his own intention of self-preservation. He is able to see that Fuji's answers are completely unsatisfactory.

However, he lacks the KNOWLEDGE of his own capacities that would allow him to see a peaceful way out of the situation. His destruction of the lab seems to be a basic, reactionary lashing-out (like the enraged writhings of a trapped animal, the crying of a baby) against Fuji and his scientists, people whom his freakishly advanced reasoning powers have deduced to be a threat to his free will/individual consciousness.

Later on, this scenario (Mewtwo wants to understand himself and the world, then an external mind tries to pressure a 'template identity'/ideas onto him, then Mewtwo lashes out) is repeated in more detail with Giovanni.

Here is some more in this vein which I wrote about Mewtwo a while ago:

I think Mewtwo’s birth from Mew’s DNA can be intrepreted as Will/Mind/Consciousness arising from Nature or God and trying to figure itself out.

So Mew is the blankly curious one, the cut-off parent figure, who has no conflicts to resolve because she is eternal and unpredictable as the wind and weather. Supposedly Mew’s essence, her DNA, lives inside all Pokemon - as it is supposed that the Kingdom of God lives within all people. Supposedly she is the ancestor of all Pokemon. But she is not called “The Phantom Pokemon” for nothing: some people swear by her existence, others renounce her as merely a mirage.

Mewtwo represents an individual mind of a human or an animal in our world, a Psyche.. He was born as cut off from his parent as he could possibly be - cloned from Mew’s DNA in a tank. It’s not enough for Mewtwo to merely break out of his physical tank; without knowing or understanding where he came from, Mewtwo struggles to find a reason to live. He grasps for meaning in his confusing world as chance throws him into different situations. He believes he has no control over his life until a cruel man (Giovanni) abuses his naive trust. Then, he retreats into nihilism until he is ready to begin asking himself his questions again.

However, in order to gain a true sense of control over his own destiny, and a true sense of identity, Mewtwo needs to reconcile with Mew/God/the way things are/the world/his parent.
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Alot of people have put some deep thought into this.

My opinion

They ticked him off and he did it because he could do it.
 
He did it because they viewed him as less-than-life, but more as an object created for their own selfish reasons.


I think this should be considered along with the telepathy dream Mewtwo had with Ai-two. She taught Mewtwo on what life meant in an indirect way, and Mewtwo somewhat already had a vague idea on what emotions are and how it can define him as a living being. Thus, when the scientists considered him as less-than-life, he probably got pretty angry for Ai-two's sake.

Speaking of Ai-two, I wish she would make a cameo of some sort as well. She is part of the reason Dr. Fuji started his experiments on Mewtwo after all...
 
Silktree said:
I hope that this will not go unmentioned in Movie 16. No redemption arc is complete without atoning for murder.
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I know, right? If they want to make Mewtwo a superhero, they better deal with him seemingly killing a bunch of people as his first act as a sentient being.

Quattro ~ Bajeena said:
They could also easily pull a "they actually all survived!" or "Mewtwo rewound time and changed that!" too, lol.
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That sounds cheap. Though now that you mention it, I'm surprised 4Kids didn't say that
 
Mewtwo is more of an antihero.

Basically if he wants to blow up a lab and kill some morally questionable noobs he can do so.
 
Dark Blueberry said:
Thus, when the scientists considered him as less-than-life, he probably got pretty angry for Ai-two's sake.
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But the scientists were mostly just excited about continuing their research in order to find a way to clone humans, as well. Dr. Fuji obviously didn't consider Ambertwo as an inferior being, or he wouldn't have bothered with the experiment at all. He desperately wanted to revive his daughter, but Mewtwo was obviously not aware of that.
 
One thing to consider is the fact that the entire prologue with Ai-two wasn't there in the original theatrical Japanese version. The movie soundtrack that included the "Birth of Myuutwo" radio drama wasn't released until February 1999, and the animated counterpart (what I think most of us consider to be the first ten minutes or so of the movie) wasn't actually released until the movie went to DVD in Japan in June 2000.

The original theatrical version of the movie (July 1998) started without any of the Ai-two backstory.
 
Dogasu said:
One thing to consider is the fact that the entire prologue with Ai-two wasn't there in the original theatrical Japanese version. The movie soundtrack that included the "Birth of Myuutwo" radio drama wasn't released until February 1999, and the animated counterpart (what I think most of us consider to be the first ten minutes or so of the movie) wasn't actually released until the movie went to DVD in Japan in June 2000.

The original theatrical version of the movie (July 1998) started without any of the Ai-two backstory.
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Ambertwo had a big role in the radio drama (one of the chapters was called "Mewtwo and Ai"), which was broadcast as a prequel to the movie between June 7 and July 12, 1998. I don't see how it is relevant that Ambertwo wasn't seen in the actual movie.
 
Because only the few fans who listened to that supplemental radio program (which aired all of...one time?) would have known that backstory.

The overwhelming majority of the kids / parents who went to see the movie in July 1998 wouldn't have had any reason to know about Ai or her connection to Myuutwo.
 
I agree, I always just thought it was like a case of "you abuse the dog, they will bite you". I don't remember myself (though I watched the Japanese one, too, and am pretty sure he killed them), but didn't they also run painful experiments on him? I'd be pretty mad, too. Mewtwo, however, I never saw as a murderer. I just saw him as oppressed and killing his oppressors was a necessity in order to be free and live a life of his own.

Speculation time. Dudududu
 
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