A to Z Challenge: Exedore and Emil Lang

The Zentraedi were a race bred for war--except for Exedore.  Though by our standards he's a giant, by Zentraedi standards he's pretty much a dwarf at only about 30 feet tall.  In the Macross Saga he's the adviser to Breetai and the one most knowledgeable about Zentraedi history and legends.  Though later at least in the books we find out most of that history is bunk designed by the Robotech Masters to keep their troops in line.

When Breetai decides to join forces with the SDF-1, Exedore is the one who shrinks down and goes to negotiate.  It's funny when he tries to explain singing and starts belting out an off-key rendition of a Lynn-Minmei song.

He's on the SDF-1 during the final battle against Dolza and afterwards remains "micronized" to work with the humans on rebuilding and trying to integrate Zentraedi into society.  In the books at least he also works with Dr. Emil Lang on finding the secrets of Protoculture.

When the SDF-3 goes to find the Robotech Masters, Exedore, Lang, a clone of the original Zor named Rem, and an old Robotech Masters scientist named Cabell work on developing the new weapons used by the Robotech Expeditionary Force like the Cyclone cycles and a new Protoculture matrix.  Exedore also spends a lot of time on Haydon IV, studying its artificial intelligence.

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Dr. Emil Lang

The interesting thing about Dr. Emil Lang is that he's only shown twice in the TV series.  Once when they create the "pinpoint barrier" and then later when they create a barrier to cover the whole SDF-1.  There's never any explanation given to why his eyes are almost entirely black.

Most of his character comes from the book.  In those he's kind of the Einstein of Robotechnology. 

After the SDF-1 crashes on Earth, he's part of the team to explore the ship.  Interfacing with an alien computer, he gets sort of a brain boost that reveals a lot of the secrets of Protoculture to him.  It's also what makes his eyes almost entirely black.  He's on the SDF-1 when it accidentally folds to Pluto and stays with the ship to the end and helps create the SDF-2 and SDF-3.

With Exedore and Cabell, he helps to create a lot of the weapons used in the third generation series.  He's with the SDF-3 when it folds into another dimension.  He eventually gives himself another Protoculture boost that allows him to elevate himself to the same level as the Invid Regess and Haydon.  He doesn't have the same power as them but he's able to influence them so they don't destroy the universe.  And then Lang is gone.

In the books there are a couple of other connections not seen in the TV shows:  Scott Bernard works in his lab after the SDF-3 reaches the Robotech Masters' homeworld; Scott is supposed to be his nephew.  Lang's first assistant is a Dr. Lazlo Zand, who stays behind to study Dana Sterling and create the weapons used by the Army of the Southern Cross.  Zand got his own brain boost to try to be like his mentor.  But Zand doesn't even get a couple of appearances in any show; he's entirely a creation of the books.

In the same way, Exedore and Emil Lang are a Dynamic Duo pretty much created for the books.