The Issue With Space Mums in Warframe
It seems like we have a lot of problems with parental figures in Warframe. None of them seem to treat the Tenno as they really are. Every single Tenno is a child. Okay, sure, said child was forcibly grown up and trained to pilot a walking genocide machine. Sure, all the Tenno are basically immortal. And not all the Tenno are accounted for. But it’s definitely true that the Tenno are kids. Although they are growing up at a weird pace.
However, the way they are growing up is being fundamentally altered by the multitude of parental figures wandering around the solar system. And all of them are… well, using the Tenno.
Our actual parents are dead. So is our first foster parent.
The Tenno are all orphans. They weren’t alone on the Zariman Ten-Zero. The ship was officially transporting soldiers and stuff, but there were tons and tons of families on board. This ship was meant to be sending families to a freshly terraformed and rebuilt world. But the Void did what it did and got in the way, apparently turning all the adults into monsters. That the kids had to kill in order to not be killed themselves.
When they were found, no one knew what to do. But thankfully Margulis, an Orokin scientist, was there to treat them and act as a mother figure… Only to be disintegrated when she opposed to using these orphans as weapons.
Somewhere along the way,Natah came along, became the Lotus and ended up being a new mother for the Tenno.
The Lotus was kinda using us all along.
When you start playing, the Lotus does seem genuinely concerned for you. She saved you from Captain Vor and is always telling you how dangerous everything is. The Lotus can be overeager to pull you out of what she considers dangerous settings.
As time goes along though, whether the Lotus actually cared or not becomes harder and harder to discern. Did she genuinely care about you? Or were you a useful tool in her arsenal? Heck, did she even care? After all, when we find out she’s a Sentient, she fucking runs away and abandons us. Okay, sure, Lotus apologises and does try to protect us, but it’s mostly for her own benefit.
But then the Lotus buggers off. And then starts actively trying to kill us.
Eudico does care but she ain’t a parent.
Calling us Sparky all the time, Eudico’s a boss, not a family member. She’s definitely good at her job and Eudico does try. However, the relationship between Solaris and Tenno is more of a friendship and a business partnership.
That being said, Eudico and the other Solaris United fighters do value your life. They seem concerned and do try to talk you out of dangerous tasks, often wanting to find a different way. Still, Eudico is no mother and probably doesn’t want to be one either.
Mother is just using us as well.
Sure, we have a spot at the family dinner table, but we’re just useful. Out of the whole Entrati family, Mother is in fact the most likely to just use the Tenno as tools. Any emotion she shows towards us is fleeting, a small thank you for our hard work. She’s not even a good mother towards her own, actual kids!
And don’t get me started with Grandmother. She put us in huge danger just to get her family back together.
The only vaguely good parental figure is Father.
Okay, to be fair, Father does use us, but he also worries about us and treats us as, well, human beings. Half his dialogue is concern about us while doing our missions.
Frankly though, it’s a very, very low bar that Father has set for us.
And it’s only slightly higher than the one set by Teshin. Teshin is a horrible father figure and a liar. The old Dax knew he was compromised and said nothing, allowing us to fall into the Queens’ trap.
At least we have Ordis.
Ordis cares the most about us errant space kids. He puts up with us and cleans up after our messes, especially when we come home, covered in blood. However, Ordis is programmed to look after us. He has no choice but to put up with us.
Then again, it’s possible that Ordis might snap one day as well.
Really, when it comes to parental figures, we’re kinda screwed.