The story focuses on a traditional romantic pairing between Alita and Hugo. It lacks explicit queer characters or romantic arcs that challenge heteronormative structures.

Alita disrupts gender hierarchies by serving as the primary agent of action. She possesses physical dominance and combat proficiency that far exceeds her male counterparts.

Iron City acts as a multicultural melting pot with diverse physicalities. Cybernetic aesthetics serve as a metaphor for varied origins within a stratified social landscape.

The film critiques systemic inequality through the divide between Zalem and Iron City. It frames survivalist vigilantism as a necessary response to oppressive, elitist institutions.

Cyborgism is used to explore bodily fragmentation and physical difference. Alita’s unique neuro-mechanical state is framed as a source of autonomy rather than an object of pity.