Galo and Lio's Relationship

**Galo and Lio's relationship** refers to the bond between the protagonist and deuteragonist from the film *Promare*. The duo first begin as rivals, both seeing the other as an enemy. However, as Galo realizes the corruption revolving around Promepolis and the Burnish, he soon makes amends as Lio slowly trusts Galo, resulting in their partnership. In interviews, their relationship is described as "boy meets fire" or "boy meets boy."

## History

### *Promare*

After Mad Burnish lights a local Foresight Pharmaceutical ablaze to attract Freeze Force, Burning Rescue is dispatched with Galo on the scene. Here, he officially encounters Lio for the first time. Compared to his duel with Gueira and Meis, Galo and Lio fight for several minutes on end. After the latter's mask is broken off, Galo is shocked to discover someone of the same age as him instead. This results in him being cornered and Burning Rescue stepping in to help. Freeze Force then arrives to deal with Lio and company.

Later on, as Galo talks to Aina at the frozen lake, she suddenly falls with him catching her. However, the young man notices a flame in the sky, dropping Aina herself to go after it. He soon comes across a nearby cave. Here, Lio promptly knocks him unconscious. Galo then soon awakens with his hands tied behind his back and Lio nearby. The firefighter questions him, soon having Lio become frustrated from his ignorance. This results in Galo attempting to make amends by asking to save Thyma and later questioning Kray on his behavior against the Burnish.

During Lio's attack on Promepolis, he accidentally frees Galo from his prison. Galo looks into the sky to see Lio's dragon. He notes him to be crying. Nakashima claims this to not be due to the teal tears themselves, instead Lio's appearance being off and emotional turmoil. This ends up resulting in him seeking Burning Rescue's assistance to help him stop Lio from breaking his moral code against unnecessary killings. During this, Lio soon tries to remove Galo away with teal flames—which are unable to hurt non-Burnish, resulting in the firefighter proclaiming them to be "not hot at all" as he takes him away. From this, the duo fight once more inside Aina's carrier. Galo claims to relate to Lio, having been betrayed by Kray as well. However, Aina suddenly drops them into the frozen lake below, resulting in the discovery of Deus' laboratory.

When the trio encounter the AI within, Deus asks Galo and Lio to pilot Deus X Machina. They oblige. As the mecha launches out, Galo notes Lio's tension, proclaiming that he should uphold his "Burnish pride." The pair only struggle controlling the mech due to Galo finding the machine to be "uncool." This causes the creation of Lio de Galon and a decked-out Matoi by Lio to ease him. All other times, the pair cooperate with no issues. Their battle against Krazor-X is also assisted by this. After said fight, Lio can be seen warming up Galo after their icy finale due to him being non-Burnish. He later protects him once more with his own flames, putting his life over his own and proclaiming Kray to be a monster after Galo's fall. Galo is later found by Burning Rescue, who notes him to be submerged in flames. However, Galo himself is neither hurt nor Burnish as Lio's Promare continue to secure him instead.

As Lio is soon drained of his Promare flames, Galo appears once again due to Lucia and Heris' assistance. He manages to free the young man. Kray then attempts to kill him with no results due to Lio's earlier shielding. After punching Kray for everything, he first attempts chest compressions to revive Lio. He then resolves to use a Burnish form of CPR Lio previously attempted with Thyma via breathing flames into him. This saves Lio. Galo then realizes he had "lit a flame" inside Lio, causing him to demand he fix this. Lio obliges, then soon forms Galo de Lion alongside Galo to save the world. From this, the duo combine forces with the Burnish flames to free them. In the aftermath, the duo fistbump, signifying their newfound trust.

### Soundtrack

A noteworthy feature regarding the pair is the soundtrack due to their various referrals to their relationship. The first of these is Inferno, with the lyric of "lead me to you." From the words of "trails of fire," the song acting as a duet, and Lio being considered his closest relationship in the film, this can be concluded to be referring to him with the song discussing the duo as a whole. Furthermore, with NEXUS appearing during Matoi Tech's introduction, the lyrics proclaim upon Lio's mistrust of others and finding Galo to be but another follower at first. However, as the chorus tunes in, allyship is found as the lyrics "I really like your company" portray the duo with unity. This is more evident during Lio de Galon's introduction.

Gallant Ones is another notable track, playing during Deus X Machina's introduction and the rescue of Lio. "The flicker of the candle light, it hypnotizes like your stare" encompasses Galo's intrigue towards Lio akin to Inferno and Nexus. The lyrics also make frequent mention of oxygen due to the latter scene. In all songs, despite opposing metaphors such as fire and blood, they are made into equals who are the only ones to fully understand each other and the corruption surrounding them hence their newfound partnership.

The final track of importance is Kori ni Tojikomete. According to an interview with Shiho Ochi, Superfly's vocalist, the song is about an unrequited love between the song's fiery protagonist and a cold significant other that seeks distance. The specific wording for love is "恋," which typically refers to a selfish romantic love. According to an archived version of the same post however, a different comment claims the song to be about Galo and Lio with this being changed in later versions. The reason for said change is unknown.

### Outside media

In various official artwork, the duo are together as equals. They can sometimes be seen in tuxedos and interacting with one another in a positive manner. Examples include artwork where Galo places his head atop Lio's and a Newtype piece where Galo and Lio are together with the latter holding a bouquet. A common trait of said artwork has Galo be casually physical with Lio in some regard. Guest artwork for limited Blu-ray editions also depict the duo as allies to where they play sports or feature Lio in a Burning Rescue jacket. Memorial artwork implies them to frequent Pops' pizzeria after the movie due to artwork depicting as such and Kray's fate being revealed to be in a jail cell with pizza.

Merchandise also involves them as a duo in some regard. For example, they are currently the only *Promare* representatives for both Nendoroid and Figma series. Various acrylic straps feature them together. The *Monster Strike* crossover with Trigger properties features them after evolving Galo's unit. Said unit is an aqua type. Their artwork features the duo fistbumping as Lio de Galon poses in the background. In gameplay, they may occasionally use their decked out Matoi for a special strike shot. On February 14th, 2022, the film's English distributor GKids made a Valentine's Day themed tweet proclaiming their first meeting as 'love at first sight' as well as adding the film to their holiday-related sale.

The storyboard book reveals several cut scenes regarding the duo. For example, in earlier revisions of Lio's attack, Galo was to instead hold Lio as they are suspended in the air by Aina via rope. No fight would occur. Lio would also lose his angered form during this. Furthermore, Galo is fully shown driving after Lio at the frozen lake. This is implied in the final version though. According to the Collector's Edition script, Galo was to ask Lio if he'd like a position at Burning Rescue after serving time in jail. As this was seen as too cruel, the idea was scrapped.

## Symbolism

*For symbolism, go here.*

Both of their last names, Thymos and Fotia, come from Greek meaning "spiritedness" and "fire" respectively. Lio's first name is that of lion or Sun in certain contexts. Galo's name on the other hand is that of rooster in Portuguese, a likely reference to Galo de Barcelos. As the story revolves around a man being saved from his own execution thanks to a roasted rooster, this potentially inspired staff. The tale of Prometheus also plays a factor into the story through characters such as Dr. Prometh and several events, with Lio's torture in the core and later rescue by Galo resembling the titan's punishment in certain aspects.

A notable fact is the nicknames for Deus X Machina's other versions, Lio de Galon and Galo de Lion. In Japanese, the usage of the particle de is used to imply "from" or "at." In this context, this makes it appear as "Galo from Lio" and "Lio from Galo." It is also used to indicate the material of an object, with another possibility being "Galo made of Lio" for example. Spanish and Latin, on the other hand, has de mean "belong." Thus, this changes the context to "Lio belongs to Galo" and "Galo belongs to Lio." Galo de Lion is also depicted with four horns. Staff claims the amount of horns on Burnish armor signifies their power, implying the duo to be stronger together.

While rescuing Lio, Galo uses a Burnish form of CPR via mouth-to-mouth. The camera focuses on the shot for several moments. When including the lighting and foreshadowing during Thyma's rescue, the scene falls into the Kiss of Life trope akin to media such as *Snow White* or *Sleeping Beauty*. After Galo's rescue of Lio, he proclaims that he lit a fire in him and demands that he do something about this. The literal translation can also be heard as "take responsibility." To take responsibility is fairly common in romantic Japanese media or parodies of it. Furthermore, Galo is instead upset due to lighting a fire in the English and Japanese dubs.

As admitted by staff members, alongside making later animation easier, Lio slowly losing his clothing is meant to represent him connecting to Galo as the movie goes on. His armor is an indication of this, featuring sharp edges that tower those below despite his true appearance. The various belts adorning him signify restraint. After his attack on the pharmaceutical and later on Promepolis is when he begins to show himself to Galo more. At the very end, his chest is completely bare like Galo's as the start of a new beginning follows.

## Gallery

*For Galo's full gallery, go here.*

*For Lio's full gallery, go here.*

Galo and Lio's fightTitle cardsIn the caveGalo stops LioDrift compatibility at it's finestGalo observes Lio's MatoiThawing off GaloCPRThe aftermath
## Trivia

* Of the duo, only Galo appears in both shorts and the film itself. Lio is only present in *Lio-hen* and *Promare*.
* During Galo de Lion's transformation, a heart shaped cloud can be seen.

### Intertextuality and References

* Galo's strap for his compression sleeve resembles the character 'メ' which is in reference to Me-gumi (team M). After Lio takes off his shirt, his white belts form the same character. Wakabayashi claims that this was to show them as equals.
	+ He also claims the same with their torsos both being bare.
* *Skullgirls* has the character of Annie's 29th color palette be Galo and Lio with Annie herself as Lio. Sagan is Galo.

### Story Concepts

* In production, Lio was to be the protagonist with Galo occasionally written as the Burnish motorcyclist instead according to interviews and concept art. This was scrapped however as rewrites occurred.
* Early artwork depicts two children with blue and blonde hair. These are early versions of Galo and Lio when the story had them as young boys with the pink haired woman to be Aina in her 'onee-san' design stage.

### Miscellaneous

* In a piece by Gunyasu Shunpei, Galo is shown standing above a laying Lio who features a smirk on his face. When questioned about the subject on a Twitch stream, Shunpei merely stated it to be "up to interpretation."

2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Some notes from the Promare panel yesterday!!!"
3. ↑ "Promare" *Spoon2di* vol. 53
4. ↑ 映画「プロメア」特集 澤野弘之インタビュー
5. ↑ エンディング主題歌PV解禁！, Internet Archive
6. ↑ @GKIDSfilms "Love at first sight! 😅Get PROMARE and more fiery animation 20% off at the GKIDS Store!❤️‍🔥 Shop our Valentine's Day Sale at http://GKIDS.com/Valentine Wayback Machine
7. ↑ *Monster Strike Promare Promotion* Wayback Machine
8. ↑ Japanese *Promare* Collectors Edition
9. ↑ Japanese Grammar Lesson 10: The Particle で
10. ↑ Spanish Prepositions: The Definitive Guide
2. ↑ In storyboards, he is occasionally depicted with his vest at the ending. This was changed in the final product.