Reflection and Analysis

Voltron: Legendary Defender - Keith Looks Like...

The above picture illustrates the reason why I write Shiro and Keith as brothers. Said picture is brought to you by a wonderful Asian artist over on tumbler named somadian. For those not familiar with the original series, you may be wondering why Keith's dressed in a funny jacket, and if that is somadian's rendition of what Keith would wear once he's the black paladin.

Except that outfit is blue, and the character isn't Keith.

Said character is Ryo, Shiro's younger brother from the original GoLion's series. (Or Shiro from the original series, since they pretty much looked the same sadly.) Did they consolidate Keith and Ryo into one character like Voltron did to Shiro and Ryo, or is Ryo going to appear at a later date? I don't know. However, my reason for writing them as brother's biologically is only partially because Keith looks like Shiro. My real reason is because Keith looks like Ryo of all people. I've been playing around with the idea that they merged Ryo with Keith instead of Shiro, that they look like each other because they're cousins, which means Shiro could be Keith's brother or cousin.

My favorite that I've settled on though is twins, because they do look to much alike. There was a set of twins in Voltron, but they weren't related in GoLions, but really didn't look like twins, so maybe this is the answer to that? I also don't think they'd get along either, Ryo and Keith, as both would be competing for Shiro's attention, but Keith also has Ryo and everybody else comparing him to Shiro. Couple that with the possibility of Keith being autistic, and his twin not, you've got a mess, particularly if Keith is a genius compared to Ryo.

A few people may be thinking, but Keith said Shiro was like a brother, so that most certainly means they are not brother.

Nope.

Here are some lines from the Next Generation episode "Family" for Star Trek.

Picard: Well, I already like his choice in wives. I never thanked you for your correspondence. It made me feel like part of the family.
Marie (his sister-in-law): You're not like part of the family. You are part of the family, Jean Luc Picard.

Some people, like the character Picard struggle with feeling like they belong somewhere, even in regards to family. Keith is that type of character, struggling with figuring out where he belongs. Shiro is the one place he felt like he belonged, but his life would have been very different had Shiro not been a part of it. Where though in the psyche does the "like" stem from?

It likely stems from the fact Keith's not sure if he and Shiro share the same parents. If they don't share the same mom, did his mom steal Shiro's dad away from Shiro's mom? Or did Shiro's dad take in some random kid while neglecting his own? Add to this, Keith's mom is the thing that hurt Shiro, holding him prisoner and taking away the black paladin's arm. Will Shiro still think of him as a sibling if it turns out that he is Galra.

Keith has most certainly accepted that he is Galra, but that doesn't mean there isn't other things he's accepted, like his relationship with Shiro. Shiro though is awesome, and goes out of his way to make sure Keith knows he's not going to push him away. Nobody hugged Keith before that point, and he's also leery of touch, yet Shiro went out of his way to let him know what they just found out didn't matter.

Also, what if Shiro knew this whole time, and was trying to keep it from Keith? The black paladin is also very protective of Keith, hiding how seriously hurt he was, and acting the way he did in the trial. That brings me to the other reason I write them as brothers, the ability to explore family pain and struggles, but also the sense of feeling like one belongs.

Oh, and Ryo is actually an option for a replacement pilot until they get Shiro back. He actually did pilot the blue lion for awhile, only to get killed off in GoLions like his brother, and for him to only be temporary. His potential was never fully explored, and I think they'd be able to explore said potential in the reboot. He wouldn't be flying Blue lion though, but red, as they added in the personality compliments. He was also part of the story involving Lotar.