Dispatch Reddit Posts Compilation
The following is a compilation of my Reddit posts on the video game Dispatch, here for archival purposes. I originally planned to put this at the bottom of my big Easter Sunday blog post, but I realized it would be better to keep that article and this separate.
Links to each original post attached:
Mecha Man || Somebody Save Me! (Dispatch x Smallville Edit by JB Video Arts) - (also, Robert = Clark, Mandy = Lana, Courtney = Lois, more in description/comment)
This awesome edit using the opening song of the Smallville TV series by JB Video Arts made me realize something as a Superman fan.
For those who aren't Superman or Smallville fans:
Smallville is a 10 season live-action TV series about Clark Kent before he became Superman, growing up in Smallville, Kansas before moving to Metropolis. He doesn't become Superman until literally the final episode and spends most of it as an anonymous superhero named "The Blur". Here's a great tribute video covering the whole show.
Lana Lang is Clark Kent's first love. The nice, sweet girl next door he's had a crush on since he was a kid. But she also has her own hidden insecurities. She was also a popular girl and cheerleader in a relationship with someone else, a football quarterback at their high school, at the start of the show. She was the first and main love interest for Clark for most of the show until towards the end.
Lois Lane is, well, obviously The iconic Superman love interest, and the one he's normally fated to work with, marry and have kids with like in comics and the more recent Superman & Lois TV show. Unlike Lana, she's a rebellious, snarky, cynical city girl. In this show, she comes in later and they don't have this love at first sight or instant infatuation thing Clark and Lana have. Instead they have this back and forth banter and bickering, a natural chemistry masked by sarcasm and wit. Lois realizes her feelings first and is jealous of Lana for a while. But in the end, Clark ends up loving her back too and they're endgame just like usual. Here's another video focused on Clark and Lois' arc throughout the show. Edit: Here's another one compiling their matching chemistry and banter lol.
Any of that sound familiar?
Basically, Robert is Clark, Mandy is Lana and Courtney is Lois.
All due respect to BB fans, there are a decent amount of Smallville fans who prefer Lana still, this isn't a pro Invisimech post necessarily (though yes I do prefer them). But it is an interesting parallel.
To add:
Laura Bailey (Invisigal) voiced Lois Lane in the Super Sons animated movie alongside her husband Travis Willingham (Phenomaman) as Superman, a movie starring their son Jonathan and Batman/Bruce Wayne's son and fifth Robin, Damian Wayne. Here's two interviews on them (1 , 2) lol.
In the recent My Adventures with Superman animated series, Lois is reimagined as a short-haired, tanned Asian-American tomboy. Her romance with Clark is a strong focus of the show.
In this year's Superman movie by James Gunn, Clark and Lois pretend to have their usual banter at work and make out when no one else is looking (Jimmy and Perry see right through it though). When they have a rough patch, Lois describes their differences by calling herself a cynical punk rock girl while Clark sees the good in everyone too much, to which he famously replies "maybe that's the real punk rock".
It's just too perfect lol.
But yeah, absolutely loved Dispatch as a Superman fan. No matter who you choose romance-wise, being a good inspiring hero and mentor, sparing Shroud, redeeming and forgiving people, that's real Punk Rock stuff right there.
A lot of us in this sub have talked about the strong parallels between Dispatch and Telltale's Batman. Decided to make a post dedicated to it with this. Basically:
Bruce & Robert are powerless superheroes driven by the desire to live up to their dead fathers' legacy. Unfortunately, the truth is that their fathers are not who they thought they were. Season 1 of Batman Telltale was all about uncovering the truth behind Thomas Wayne's criminal past, his tainted legacy, and how Bruce handles it and continues being Batman despite of it. Meanwhile Dispatch hints at the neglect, absence and tough love Robert II gave, but the DLC comics have explicitly shown he was a terrible mentor that drove Elliot Conners to become Shroud, which Chase/Track Star himself witnessed. Similar to Alfred with Batman, Chase has also expressed hope that Robert not die in the Mecha Man suit. Oh and depending on your choices, Bruce can have a similar ear scar.
Catwoman/Selina Kyle & Invisigal/Courtney are (former) supervillain thieves with the same signature color and voiced by Laura Bailey. Both are sarcastic and closed off on the surface but deep down are hopeless romantics (Visi likes rom coms, Selina likes romance novels). Bruce and Robert can help them see the good themselves and redeem them, and in turn that leads the women to fall in love with the heroes. Whether it's another woman, a desire to keep things professional or to keep things safe and uncomplicated, the heroes can break their hearts and reject them. Kept this as the first/main images to show because man the scenes actually match really, really well. Especially in the variation where Bruce/Robert rejects them (both sets of screenshots from my No Romance runs).
Two-Face/Harvey Dent & Phenomaman/Katon-Ur are both voiced by Travis Willingham (husband of Laura Bailey IRL). The latter having been in a relationship with other love interest Blonde Blazer from episodes 1-2, and her dumping him after, leading to depression. For me and many players, it felt less than noble as Robert to empathize and motivate him to move on from her only to date and kiss his ex that very night. Felt too close to violating the bro code for me to be honest. Well, truth is Telltale Harvey had it way, way worse. Long story short: Bruce and Harvey are best friends, Selina and Harvey were dating, but she didn't see it as serious and is attracted to Bruce. Bruce has the option of accepting her advances in season 1 behind Harvey's back. Whether he does or not, Harvey thinks he did and it only makes his psychotic fall to Two-Face worse.
Joker/John Doe also has a similar arc and divergent endings as Visi. The final episode of season 2 is almost completely different depending on Bruce's mentorship of him. As Vigilante Joker, he tries but ultimately fails to follow Batman's footsteps as a hero (Bruce has the option to reaffirm their friendship however). As Villain Joker, he falls to villainy straight away and his friendship with Bruce is forever destroyed. It's basically the opposite of Dispatch's themes on Redemption. "I really wanted to be a hero you know. But I just can't!"
Superman & Dispatch - The Best Superhero Media of 2025 (Parallels and Themes)
My two favorite pieces of superhero media (outside of comics as a comic book reader) of this year are easily the new Superman film and Dispatch. I did my best to make the images speak for themselves but just to discuss each of them in text briefly:
1: Legacy
Of course Jor-El in this version did not send his son for purely altruistic reasons after all and as the game hints and DLC comics confirm, Robert II was far from a perfect hero, dad or person. In the end, both had to learn to not be imprisoned by their legacy.
Also, originally Superman '25 was titled "Superman: Legacy".
2: Fate vs Free Will: Your Choices, Your Actions
Robert had to teach Invisigal that being a villain didn't need to be her fate, that she could choose to make her own destiny. A lesson Robert needed to learn himself. Dying alone in the Mecha Man suit need not be his fate. He could choose otherwise.
This is one of the most important themes of both the film and the game.
3. What is the "Real Punk Rock"?
Everyone always says "kindness is the real punk rock" is the message of the movie, and that's not wrong, but it's not specific as the movie shows.
Superman is defined by his rebellion against cynicism, by his choice to believe in the goodness and beauty of all things and all people. Not because he's delusional or naive, but because he believes it can lead to bringing those things out more than being pessimistic. He chooses hope, mercy, compassion, trust and love above all else.
Somehow, this hopeful optimistic farm boy fell in love with a punk rock city girl army brat. They contrast and clash but also clearly are drawn together, in a way that helps challenge each other for mutual growth. She helps keep him grounded and he helps her see the good in things, including herself. Sound familiar? In many ways, Robert and Courtney parallel Clark and Lois.
4. Personhood
As James Gunn noted, Superman being an alien was always an application or "allegory" of his creators (Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster) being children of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Ukraine. Deeper than that there's a biblical aspect of Moses being a Hebrew refugee. More on that in this blog post I made here.
Point is "alien" isn't just a word for extraterrestrial, it's a word for anything "other". The outsider. The foreigner. Superman is both an insider and an outsider. Phenomaman leans mostly on the latter. But just because they're not from here doesn't mean they're not persons. Something a lot of us IRL need to keep in mind in general.
5. Humanity and Choice
More on the Superman-Phenomaman parallels with the "Being Human" monologue, and also the importance of choices once again.
Again, both Kal-El and Katon-Ur have emotions, desires, choices and mistakes. Unfortunately, while Clark was raised here, "Dumpy" is mega culture shocked in just about everything. May or may not be on the spectrum as speculated too. Overall, he means well but makes mistakes, and is really depressed. He's not from Earth but he's as "human" as anyone.
This time we also have Robert and Elliot/Shroud, who when defeated by being given the Astral Pulse, is shown the importance of humility, humanity and free will. Making choices not knowing whether you'll be right or not.
6. Compassion for the Villain
Here, Clark also never dehumanizes Lex like Lex does him, and ends his monologue expressing the humanity they share. The next Superman film, Man of Tomorrow (2027), is confirmed to star both teaming up against a greater threat (hopefully Brainiac). Many Superman stories show the potential for redemption and friendship with even someone as far gone as Lex Luthor.
7. The Justice Gang and Z-Team
SDN's team of mostly ex-villains for their Phoenix Program resembles the Justice Gang to a point. They're mostly very different, but they play similar roles as less than ideal corporate heroes who learn to be better from the protagonists.
8. Waterboy and Jimmy Olsen
\For those who don't know much, Jimmy is Superman's Pal and Clark Kent's best friend. But he was also once just a lonely intern who no one noticed and almost quit. Clark was the first person to stand up for him, befriend him, and help him get his first shot. Not unlike Robert and Herm. In this movie though, after 3 years, we unfortunately skipped most of that to when he's already good friends and equals with both Clark and Lois. Still, he's very much the underdog.
9,10,11. Excerpts from Superman: Secret Origin
For more context on Jimmy and how he parallels Herm.
12. Clark and Lois; Rob and Courtney
13. The Punchline
\Just a funny parallel with Jimmy and Herm not really surprised at the relationship. Jimmy accurately knows Clark and Lois have been dating for 3 months, probably knows Clark's identity too. Herm was in the bathroom to interrupt Robert and Visi so he knew there was something going on and was more confused with everyone's reactions than surprised at the couple.
(Song: “Broken Heart of Gold” by ONE OK ROCK for Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning)
This edit sums up how I played Robert and saw his character arc throughout the game, which also explains my choices. It's technically not my first time making edits like this but it's been a long time since I've shared any, and definitely the first I'm posting a video here on Reddit. It's a bit rough and rushed, amateur job that I've done in my free time I admit, but I'm pretty satisfied with it. But besides the edit, I do want to talk about it in relation to how I played the game.
Dispatch’s primary protagonist and player character ...
...is not a blank canvas for the player to self-insert onto. His final character and arc are malleable, but we roleplay off of constants: a broken, lonely, depressed, self-destructive hero with a death wish. Someone who thought he was fated to die in the suit like his father and grandfather. Because he wanted them and his brother/uncle-figure to be proud, he did his best to be a superhero (from my choice, a True Hero at that) for 15 years, sacrificing everything for nothing in return.
How and why depends on our choices, but a true hero Robert does so partly because he loves helping people and did it all selflessly. The one person he can’t seem to help, is himself. His father named him after himself and his own father, neglected him outside of tough love and almost certainly raised him expecting him to be like him. So a large part of his character is his desire to make his murdered absentee father proud.
In a way I saw him a lot like Batman. Bruce Wayne is also often portrayed as self-destructive, borderline suicidal, with a constant habit of pushing people away, an obsession with his crusade and struggling with being the man he thought his parents wanted to be, the crusader he vowed to be at their graves. The movie Batman Mask of the Phantasm famously tackles how this conflicts with his human desire for love and happiness. The Waynes almost certainly wouldn’t have wanted this for him, but he doesn’t know that, and it’s tormented him in many great stories, pushed him into being who he is.
Point is: Robert has a heart of gold…but it’s broken…
…and to him “Robert” isn’t real. “Mecha Man” is …but does it have to be?
There’s plenty of Batman stories where Bruce also believes the same thing at first (who is the mask and who is the real person?), but has to learn how unhealthy and untrue that actually is. Often with help from people like Robin/Nightwing, Catwoman, and his newfound Batfamily in general (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). They help him learn that the part of him that makes him a real hero and human being is the real Bruce, and that his parents wouldn’t have wanted him to die alone. Finding a new family is what really fills the hole in his heart.
The events of Dispatch is this for Robert. He joins SDN from the promise that they can help him rebuild his Mech Suit and be a hero again, his main goal for being there. A second chance, a rebirth of a hero. Even in episode 2, Blazer promises his success with his other job won’t impact the repair of his suit. Then it finally seemed like it won’t happen, just before the house-party. Before and after that, Chase himself expressed that he doesn’t need to be Mecha Man to be a hero, that he was proud of him. As others also note, a lot like Alfred with Bruce.
So will Robert choose to be Mecha Man, the “real” him?
Or maybe Robert can be real now too? Can he find new family that gives him the light and love he’s lacked and pushed away all this time?
In the mean time, he got a job dispatching, mentoring and rehabilitating ex-villains trying to be heroes through the “Phoenix Program”. Including one that’s also a broken, lonely, self-destructive, self-loathing, guarded person who needs him the most. Deep inside he sees he and this other broken person are kindred spirits. Because she feels like she’s trapped by destiny too, fated to be a villain alone, even though she so desperately wishes she could be a hero and finally achieve the potential good inside her. No matter what choices the player makes, Robert would always empathize with her, as evident when talking about her with Chase after the party and their relationship to fate.
Not 1, but 2 Broken Hearts of Gold
In my mind, this game isn’t a dating sim. My goal wasn’t to choose “the best girl”.
I chose to have him go to the movies with Invisigal as an act of compassion and extend friendship (“Do you want to be friends” “that wasn’t a date”). In fact I committed originally to keep it platonic in my original run. Played it less like Batman and Catwoman, and more like Batman & Robin. Bruce Wayne’s true healing and growth started with his mentor-mentee and father-son relationship with a kindred spirit like Richard Grayson (another young boy orphaned by crime), who he opened up to long before Selina Kyle (1, 2, 3). Same goes for Jason Todd, the second Robin, and all his kids really. It also reminds me of “It’s a Wonderful Life”, where George Bailey was about to jump off a bridge to commit suicide, but he saw someone else fall into the water so his hero instincts took over and he dived down to save them instead, which was the first step in him re-embracing life and seeing the good he’s done.
I almost made this a No Romance edit and for my fellow minority 5% of the player base, because it’s so underrepresented and I mistakenly thought any romance distracted from this dimension to Robert’s arc. But as I realized in my next runs, the romance does not taint it (nor does it taint Visi’s, but that’s another topic on her and the classic theme of Redemptive Love), but actually adds to it. Especailly the Invisimech one. Here, Robert very slowly lets his walls eventually break, learning to love himself and then someone else with similar burdens. Courtney in turn helps him back, recognizing his own struggles, grounding him, giving him his first real sense of purpose and satisfaction as a dispatcher and mentor in episode 3, helping him open up to his new family in episode 5, and finally being honest and vulnerable to him by taking the initiative to give him her love, so he realizes it’s not wrong for him to accept it.
Robert’s initial hesitation and gentle push against the kiss parallels his potential choice to let the moment pass with Blazer (despite clearly being attracted to her too) and previous choices to keep things platonic and deny his feelings for her to Chase. Because for so long he was a dead-inside, overly-selfless hero who won’t so easily choose love for himself. But in that moment, he can finally choose to let his heart rule over his head, and be human. Which in the end is a lot like what happens with Bruce and Selina after all (see this excellent scene from Heart of Hush). From there, he can have life and happiness outside of Mecha Man, and she can receive the forgiveness, help and love she dreamed of having and desperately needed.
Still, I ended the edit on a less romantic and more haunting note...
..because the main question is still unanswered. Will Robert let himself be real? Or will he regress now that the suit is back up and running? He saved someone else from their fate. Can anyone save him from his? Will he learn more about the truth behind his father? Or will he end up alone, dying as Mecha Man like he thought he would. This is what I hope season 2 can cover. Overall, I find this the most compelling and coherent arc for Robert, and I hope that even if you don’t see him the same way you can appreciate me sharing.
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