Dr. Saotome founded and directs the Saotome Getter Ray Research Institute, dedicated to studying the energy source Getter Rays. He designed and oversaw the Getter Robo series, originally for space exploration but later repurposed for Earth's defense. The fates of his children—Tatsuhito, Michiru, and Genki Saotome—significantly impact his path across continuities. In the original manga, he displays pragmatic moral complexity, testing pilots like Ryoma Nagare by sending lethal assailants. During a Dinosaur Empire attack, he kills brainwashed staff members, including his son Tatsuhito, to prevent casualties, privately mourning afterward. He recruits Hayato Jin and reluctantly accepts Musashi Tomoe as a pilot after Musashi forcibly takes the role. As conflicts escalate against the Dinosaur Empire and Hundred Demons Empire, he oversees upgraded Getter models like Getter Robo G. He collaborates on a sacrificial plan with Musashi that annihilates an enemy army but costs Musashi’s life. His Getter Ray obsession intensifies during Shin Getter Robo events. Excessive radiation exposure accelerates his mental decline, causing detached behavior—conversing with spectral enemies and showing indifference to Benkei Kuruma’s disappearance into a Getter Ray cocoon. His fixation peaks when urging Ryoma to pilot Shin Getter Robo against alien invaders; moments later, he and his staff perish in Getter Ray fallout during the Institute’s destruction. In the Armageddon continuity, his antagonism follows distinct events: discovering daughter Michiru infected by alien Invaders during Getter Robo G testing, he fights them but becomes infected himself. Driven mad, he is seemingly killed by Hayato Jin, who frames Ryoma for the murder. Invaders resurrect and control his corpse to build bio-organic weapons like the Metal Beast Dragon. Piloting this machine as a primary antagonist, he employs psychological tactics using illusions of deceased loved ones against the Getter Team. Briefly regaining sanity in his final moments, he thanks the team for stopping him and dies destroying the Invaders within him. His legacy persists posthumously. His spirit appears in Getter Robo Go to persuade Hayato to pilot Shin Getter Robo. Hayato later leads the Saotome Institute, develops new Getter units, and calls Getter Robo Āḥ "the last of Saotome’s machines," positioning himself as the scientist’s successor. Across media, Dr. Saotome’s pioneering research and morally ambiguous choices directly influence every major conflict in the Getter Robo saga, with adversaries consistently targeting Getter Ray technology.