The original concept is a deliberate inversion or update of the Tarzan mythos, the syndicated comic strip which Russ Manning had previously illustrated. Where Tarzan was a human raised as a "noble savage" feral child by African great apes who saw the world through his naturalistic upbringing and opposition to the rules and limits of civilization, Magnus was a human raised by a benevolent robot named 1A, who saw mankind becoming an ever more decadent and complacent human civilization doomed by its ever-increasing dependence on robots. In one case, the hero is a throwback to a hardier and more naturalistic time. In the other, he is a creation of science sent to carry the message to the rest of humanity that Man must control his own destiny and carve out his own path, rather than become little more than an overfed herd of cattle tended by robots. In both incarnations of Magnus, Robot Fighter, he lives and operates according to his own set of rules and because of this, is considered an outsider and something of a threat to the established order of things.