Irmgard Baty was a Nexus-6 android and the wife of Roy Baty.
Biography[]
On Mars, Irmgard and her husband ran a pharmacy, where she managed the beauty products. With a group of fellow androids, the Batys escaped from the planet and landed on Earth. However, within months, most of their group had been eliminated by bounty hunters, so the Batys found Pris on January 3, 1992/2021 at a mostly-abandoned apartment building. They were introduced to the special John Isidore, the building's only inhabitant. As Roy explained a plan for the group to stay safe, he advised Pris to move in with Isidore and when she protested or called Isidore a "chickenhead," Irmgard reprimanded her.[1]
When her husband left the room to set up security measures, she admiringly commented that if they survived, it would be because of Roy. She then asked Isidore if they could do anything to repay him, to which he asked for pre-colonial fiction, but Pris pointed out that they had none.[1]
When Isidore realized that the Batys and Pris were androids, Irmgard advocated for him, noting that he appeared to like and accept them despite their nature. The androids then voted three-to-one to stay at the apartment building. Roy was the one to vote against it, saying that they should instead kill Isidore and go elsewhere, resistant against trusting anyone. This angered Irmgard, who pointed out that Roy was putting too much trust in his own intelligence.[1]
Later that night, the androids commanded Isidore to bring Pris's television to his apartment so they could watch a much-anticipated exposé by Buster Friendly. Irmgard watched intently as Friendly and a research team exposed Wilbur Mercer to be a creation by a Hollywood studio. Though Friendly could provide no reason for Mercer's creation, Irmgard firmly believed that it was for humans to have a way to prove they had empathy while androids did not.[1]
The apartment's alarm system was soon triggered and the androids ushered Isidore out of the apartment to find the bounty hunter. Pris soon left as well, planning to ambush the hunter. Soon, there was a knock upon the door, claiming to be Isidore. Roy opened the door only to reveal the bounty hunter, Rick Deckard. Irmgard told him he would have to Voigt-Kampff test her, but he denied this, as Pris had already attacked him. Roy then opened fire on him and ran to the other room. Irmgard clutched a laser tube, waiting for Deckard to go after Roy so she could shoot him, but he noticed this, apologizing to Irmgard as he shot her dead.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Baty appears only in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and its comic book adaptation. In the film adaptation, Blade Runner, a character cut from the film, named Mary, was supposedly to be based upon her.