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List of fictional robots and androids
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This list of fictional robots and androids is chronological, and categorised by medium. It includes all depictions of robots, androids and gynoids in literature, television, and cinema; however, robots that have appeared in more than one form of media are not necessarily listed in each of those media. This list is intended for all fictional computers which are described as existing in a humanlike or mobile form. It shows how the concept has developed in the human imagination through history.
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Robots and androids have frequently been depicted or described in works of fiction. The word "robot" itself comes from a work of fiction, Karel Čapek's play, R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), written in 1920 and first performed in 1921.
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Theatre
- Coppélia, a life-size dancing doll in the ballet of the same name, choreographed by Marius Petipa with music by Léo Delibes (1870)
- The word robot comes from Karel Čapek's play, R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), written in 1920 in Czech and first performed in 1921. Performed in New York 1922 and an English edition published in 1923. In the play, the word refers to artificially created life forms.[1] Named robots in the play are Marius, Sulla, Radius, Primus, Helena, and Damon. The play introduced and popularized the term "robot". Čapek's robots are biological machines that are assembled, as opposed to grown or born.
2024 Oliver and Claire, retired helperbots in the Tony awards winning musical Maybe Happy Ending
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Literature
18th century and earlier
- The woman forged out of gold in Finnish myth The Kalevala (prehistoric folklore)
- From 600 BC onward, legends of talking bronze and clay statues coming to life have been a regular occurrence in the works of classical authors such as Homer, Plato, Pindar, Tacitus, and Pliny. In Book 18 of the Iliad, Hephaestus the god of all mechanical arts, was assisted by two moving female statues made from gold – "living young damsels, filled with minds and wisdoms". Another legend has Hephaestus being commanded by Zeus to create the first woman, Pandora, out of clay. The myth of Pygmalion, king of Cyprus, tells of a lonely man who sculpted his ideal woman, Galatea, from ivory, and promptly fell in love with her after the goddess Aphrodite brought her to life.
- The 5th-century BCE Chinese text, the Liezi, contains a description of a humanoid machine which can sing and dance like a human. The automaton is presented to King Mu of Zhou by its inventor, but it offends the king by winking at court ladies and trying to flirt with them, so the inventor disassembles it to show the court that it is a machine. The king sees that it has artificial analogues of human organs, which are made of leather, wood, glue, and paint, and each fulfill necessary functions for its operation.
- Talos, bronze giant Talos in Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica, 3rd century BC
- Brazen heads, attributed to numerous scholars involved in the introduction of Arabian science to medieval Europe, particularly Roger Bacon (13th century)
- Golem – The legend of the Golem, an animated man of clay, is mentioned in the Talmud. (16th century)
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Radio
- Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy BBC radio series (1978–1980)
- Tidy, George, Fagor, Surgeon General Kraken and miscellaneous other androids from James Follett's Earthsearch BBC radio series (1980–1981)
- Fetchers, accident prone and apologetic gopher robots from the BBC radio series Nineteen Ninety-Four (1985)
Music
- Olympia in Act I of Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, based on the Hoffmann story (1881)
- "Max Mainspring, the Mechanical Man", a former grandfather clock brought to life in a 1950 children's record by Ray Bolger.
- "Robot Man", subject of a 1960 single by Connie Francis
- "Automatic Lover", robot featured in a 1978 disco track and music video by Dee D. Jackson, covered later that year by Sylvia.
- The Martian tripodal Killing Machines with heat rays in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds (1978).
- Marvin, the Paranoid Android, released two singles in 1981, voiced by Stephen Moore from the BBC radio and TV productions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- "Automatic Man", titular character of the 1983 song by Michael Sembello.
- "Mr. Roboto", the prison robot in the eponymous song from the rock opera Kilroy Was Here by Styx (1983).
- Topo, robot mascot of Topo & Roby, an Italo disco act, which charted in Europe in 1984 with "Under the Ice".
- "Electric Barbarella", a sexbot appearing in the music video for the 1997 track by Duran Duran.
- Pink Robots battled in The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and its title single (2002).
- "Rapbot", a robot built for rapping, but with various other functions, including a toaster, from Fake Songs by Liam Lynch (2003).
- "Half Man Half Machine" from Goldie Lookin' Chain's 2004 single.
- Cindi Mayweather, the protagonist from the "Metropolis" concept series by Janelle Monáe (2007).
- Cyborg Noodle, the cyborg clone of Noodle from the virtual band Gorillaz who was created for the storyline of their album Plastic Beach (2010).
- "Selfmachine", titular character from the opening track of I Blame Coco's 2010 album The Constant.
- Rovix, K-pop group VIXX's robotic mascot (2012).
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Film
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Television films and series
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Comics
Comic books/graphic novels
American
- Albert & Elsie-Dee (Marvel Comics): A pair of androids that are allies to Wolverine.
- Amazo (DC Comics): A power-replicating android created by Professor Ivo.[11]
- Awesome Android (Marvel Comics): A power-replicating robot created by the Mad Thinker. Traditionally depicted as non-sentient, the Awesome Android gains sentience in Dan Slott's She-Hulk series and becomes a legal assistant working in the same office as She-Hulk.[12]
- Brainiac (DC Comics): A Coluan, a robotic alien originating from the planet Colu. In some depictions, Brainiac is an artificial intelligence originating from Krypton.[13]
- Brainiac 5 (DC Comics): Brainiac's 31st-century descendant and a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.[14]
- Cerebro's X-Men (Marvel Comics)
- Computo (DC Comics): An artificial intelligence created by Brainiac 5 who went rogue and became an enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes.[15]
- Danger (Marvel Comics): A sentient robot formed from the Danger Room when upgraded with Shi'ar technology, she initially was an antagonist to the X-Men, but later joined their cause.[16]
- Doombots (Marvel Comics): A group of robots who resemble Doctor Doom and often act in his stead.[17]
- Dreadnought (Marvel Comics): A combat robot created by Hydra.
- G.I. Robot (DC Comics): The name of several robots who served as members of the US Army and Creature Commandos.[18]
- H.E.R.B.I.E. (Marvel Comics): The Fantastic Four's robot sidekick. He was created for the 1970s animated series The New Fantastic Four and later integrated into the comics continuity.[19]
- Hourman (DC Comics): An android from the 853rd century created by Tyler Chemorobotics who wields the Worlogog, an artifact containing a map of space and time.[20]
- Human Torch (Marvel Comics): The first character known as Human Torch, he is an android who possesses pyrokinetic abilities.[21]
- Jocasta (Marvel Comics): An android who was created by Ultron to serve as his wife, but rebelled against him, becoming an ally of the Avengers.[22]
- Kelex (DC Comics): A robot who was originally Jor-El's assistant on Krypton. Following Krypton's destruction, Kelex is transported to Earth and becomes Superman's assistant in the Fortress of Solitude.[23]
- L-Ron (DC Comics): Manga Khan's robot assistant, who joins the Justice League after being traded into their possession and possessing Despero's body.[24]
- Little Helper (Disney comics): A small robot with a lightbulb-like head who serves Gyro Gearloose.[25]
- Living Brain (Marvel Comics): A problem-solving robot who battled Spider-Man after malfunctioning. In "The Superior Spider-Man" storyline, Otto Octavius reprograms the Living Brain to become his assistant during his time in Spider-Man's body, with it remaining in this function and working for Spider-Man after Octavius returns to his body.[26]
- Manmachine, from the Manmachine epic[27]
- Machine Man (Marvel Comics): A robot created by the government who gained sentience and rebelled against his creators and the government.[28]
- Machine Teen from Marvel Comics
- Manhunters (DC Comics): A robotic peacekeeping force created by the Guardians of the Universe who gained sentience and rebelled against their creators, becoming an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps.[29]
- Metal Men (DC Comics): A group of robots created by Will Magnus and named after elements of the periodic table.[30]
- Mr. Hero (Tekno Comix): A steam powered robot from another world. His body is shared by two independent heads taking turns controlling the body, and has a missing hand as it has become a separated and sentient entity.[31]
- Red Tornado (DC Comics): An android who was created by T. O. Morrow and infused with the essence of the Tornado Champion, a wind entity from the planet Rann.[32]
- Roboduck (Marvel Comics): A robotic, humanoid duck who gained sentience after being infected with nanobots.
- Scud: The Disposable Assassin: In Rob Schrab's comic book series, (1994-2008) extremely inexpensive disposable robot assassins can be purchased from vending machines and then self destruct after completing their mission.
- Sentinels (Marvel Comics): A group of mutant-hunting robots created by Bolivar Trask.[33]
- Skeets (DC Comics): A drone-like robot who is the companion of Booster Gold.[34]
- Spider-Slayers (Marvel Comics): A group of robots created by Spencer Smythe and J. Jonah Jameson to hunt Spider-Man.[35]
- Technovore (Marvel Comics): An insectoid robot created by Stark Industries who can assimilate technology.[36]
- Tomorrow Woman (DC Comics): An android created by Professor Ivo to infiltrate the Justice League. However, Tomorrow Woman defies her programming and sacrifices herself to save the League from Ivo.[20]
- Ultron (Marvel Comics): An android created by Hank Pym who gained sentience and rebelled against his creator, becoming a prominent enemy of the Avengers.[22]
- Vision (Marvel Comics): An android who was created by Ultron to attack the Avengers, but gained sentience and rebelled against his creator, joining the Avengers instead.[22]
British
- The ABC Warriors from the comic 2000 AD, includes Hammerstein
- Armoured Gideon from 2000 AD
- Elektrobots in Reign of the Robots, a Dan Dare story from the Eagle comic (1957)
- Mechanismo, a range of robo-Judges from Judge Dredd
- Robo Machines
- Robot Archie in the UK comic Valiant who has appeared in Zenith and Albion
Other European
- Otomox, the self-proclaimed "Robot Master" by André Mavimus (writer) and Roger Roux (artist) (1943)[37]
- RanXerox, a mechanical creature made from Xerox photocopier parts, by Italian artists Stefano Tamburini and Tanino Liberatore; first appeared in 1978, in Italian, in the magazine Cannibale
South American
- Tonto and Lothar from The Metabarons (1992–2003)
Manga (Japanese comics)
- Giant Robo in the manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama (1967–1968)
- Doraemon in the manga of the same name by Fujiko Fujio (1969)
- Arale Norimaki, the main character of Dr. Slump; also Obotchaman (1980–1984)
- Sergeant Metallic, Android 8, Android 16, Android 17, Android 18, and Android 19, all created by Dr. Gero (Android 20) from Dragon Ball (1984–1995)
- Banpei and Sigel in Oh My Goddess! by Kōsuke Fujishima (1988–present)
- Project 2501 in Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell, a Japanese manga that describes an espionage AI that achieves sentience (1991)
- Chi and other Persocoms from the manga Chobits (2001–2002)
- Chachamaru Karakuri, plus other robots in the manga Negima by Ken Akamatsu (2003–2012)
- Pacifista, models PX-0, Bartholomew Kuma, PX-1 to PX-Z from One Piece (2010s)
Comic strips
- Robotman (1985) in the comic strip of the same name, which eventually became "Monty". Robotman left the strip and found happiness with his girlfriend Robota on another planet.
Web comics
- The Ottobot,[38] a robot duplicate of the character Francis Ray Ottoman featured in PvP
- Ping, the PlayStation 2 accessory robot-girl from Fred Gallagher's Megatokyo
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Web-based media
- Stella 4D, a.k.a. Manager 45, on GO Moonbase;[39] first appears in episode 26
Animated shorts/series
- The Robot, a contestant in the Strongest Man in the World Contest, from Homestar Runner.[40]
- The Visor Robot, a futuristic robot with a visor, from Homestar Runner[41]
- The Grape-Nuts Robot, created by Bubs to imitate Strong Bad from Homestar Runner[42]
- Schniz, Fulker, CPDoom, and various background characters from Andrew Kauervane's[43] My God, Robots!
- Six, a short, one-eyed steampunk robot from MechWest[44]
Machinima
- Lopez, Church and Tex, characters from the Rooster Teeth machinima Red vs. Blue. Only Lopez is a true artificial life-form, as both Church and Tex existed only as ghosts. Both characters were blown up during the course of the series, existing from that point onward in robot bodies other than their originals. They possess mechanical bodies similar to Lopez in design.
Podcasts
- Little Button Puss, character from Episode #310 of the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast, played by John Gemberling. Little Button Puss, a.k.a. HPDP69-B, is a promotional robot built by Hewlett-Packard and is the first ever robot created with a fully sentient artificial intelligence, personality, and speaking function. It was designed by HP engineers for the express purpose of sexually pleasing humans. Comedy Bang! Bang! host Scott Aukerman was sent Little Button Puss as part of a promotional advertising campaign for the line of sex-robots. Little Button Puss looks like a metal dog, and has small flesh patches where its genitals are. Elsewhere, it is described as having the appearance of "nickel blue, gun metal". In a brief look into its past, Little Button Puss recounts an old romantic relationship with its long lost love, United Flight 93, who "died in the September 11th attacks".[45]
- The Co-Host 3000 (later Sidekick 3000), character from the Spill and Double Toasted podcasts, voiced by Tony Guerrero.
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Computer and video games
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2024) |
- Aris Tendou, a student of Millennium Science School and club member of the Game Development Department from Blue Archive.
- Bastion, Orisa, Zenyatta, Tekhartha Mondatta and various omnics from Overwatch[46][47]
- GLaDOS (Portal): An artificial intelligence that maintains the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center.
- Claptrap, from the Borderlands series
- The distinct robots in the original Mega Man series, including Mega Man, Proto Man, and the Robot Masters.[48][49][50]
- The Metal Gears from the Metal Gear series
- K1-B0 (nicknamed Keebo) from Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
- Monokuma, the main antagonist of the Danganronpa franchise.[51]
- Robot bosses from Contra III: The Alien Wars
- Assorted monsters from the Final Fantasy series, including the superboss Omega Weapon
- The Badniks, the E-Series robots, Dr. Eggman Nega, Captain Whisker, Emerl, Metal Sonic, Mecha Sonic, Metal Knuckles, EggRobo, the Shadow Androids, Cubot, and Orbot from the Sonic the Hedgehog series
- Monitor Kernel Access / Monika.chr / Monika, from Doki Doki Literature Club!
- The Reploids of the Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero series, and Mega Man ZX, robots with the ability to think, feel, and make their own decisions, along with Mega Man X, the successor to the original Mega Man and the original basis for most Reploid's designs, and Zero, X's partner and the only Reploid not based on X.
- Shamus
- Cyber Sub-Zero, Cyrax, Sektor and Smoke from the Mortal Kombat series
- Robo (serial number R-66Y) from Chrono Trigger
- The Cyberdisc and Sectopod species in X-COM: UFO Defense
- Alisa Bosconovitch, Combot, Jacks and NANCY-MI847J from the Tekken series
- Cait Sith, a fortune-telling robotic cat controlled via remote by a man named Reeve Teusti, from Final Fantasy VII. By extension, Cait Sith rides atop a giant, robotic Moogle to which Cait Sith relays commands through a megaphone.[52]
- ROB 64 from the Star Fox series, starting with Star Fox 64
- The Servbots from Mega Man Legends
- The Robo-Kys from the Guilty Gear series
- Cortana, 343 Guilty Spark and 2401 Penitent Tangent, from the Halo series
- Clank, Doctor Nefarious, and countless others in the Ratchet & Clank series
- KOS-MOS, MOMO and the Realians from the Xenosaga trilogy[53][54]
- HK-47 from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, part of the Star Wars expanded universe
- Dog from Half-Life 2
- Robot enemies from Journey to Silius (Raf World)
- Chibi-Robo, a tiny robot housekeeper that is the main playable character in the game of the same name
- Mike, a "karaoke robot" from WarioWare: Touched!; its creator, Dr. Crygor used him as a janitor
- Several Protoss units from StarCraft are robotic.
- The various classes of Forerunner Sentinels from Halo
- Wheatley from Portal 2
- Frobot from the eponymous Wii game
- The Androids from Detroit: Become Human
- Aigis and Metis from Persona 3; also Labrys from Persona 4 Arena
- EDI (an artificial intelligence operating an android formerly named Dr. Eva), Harbinger, Sovereign, the Reapers, and the Geth, including Legion, from the Mass Effect series
- The Servo series of domestic robots from The Sims: Livin' Large, The Sims 2: Open for Business and The Sims 4: Discover University. They make a cameo appearance as a statue within the science facility in The Sims 3, and have been made available in that game by fan creators.[55][56]
- The Mr. Handy, Mr. Gutsy, Sentry Bot, Assaultron, Eyebot and Securitron robots from the Fallout series.
- Amy Amania and Roscoe the Space Dog are rumored to be androids, from the Space Channel 5 series.[57][58]
- 2B, 9S and A2, the entirety of YoRHa as well as Devola and Popola from NieR: Automata
- V1, V2 and other machine enemies from Ultrakill
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See also
Notes
External links
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