Forgot He Was a Robot: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A robot is fleeing, or just running, and, what's this? ''It's out of breath''?!?! Ooops, it banged its head! We'd better put a bandage on that!

The trope for robots whose creators ''forgot they were robots'', [[They Just Didn't Care|just didn't care]], or thought it would be useful to give mechanical characters unexplained human traits, perhaps as a way of humanising them.

 

 

* Lampshaded in ''[[Star Blazers]].'' Just for the heck of it, I.Q.-9 programs himself to be able to hiccup, like a human being. Then he can't figure out how to get rid of them, and spends the HIC! whole HIC! episode HIC! hiccuping HIC!

* Not exactly a robot, but [[Fullmetal Alchemist|Alphonse Elric]] tends to make weeping or out-of-breath noises a lot. He's a disembodied soul bound to a suit of armour. '''He should not be able to do this.''' Then again, he shouldn't be able to walk or talk either, hmmm….

 

== Comic Books ==

 

 

 

== Live Action TV ==

** Like C-3P0, Tom sometimes had references in the script to smiling or, worse, having a look in the eyes... that he hasn't got. To say nothing of them eating, their apparent ability to cry, Gypsy's inexplicable fixation with Richard Basehart, etc.

 

 

== Table Top Games ==

 

 

 

== Video Games ==

** Somewhat justified, because he is an Aperture creation. If they want their robots to sound out of breath (or hell, even ''feel'' they are) they damn sure can make it so.

* Because all the squadmates in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' have the same animations, Legion will often be hunched over and out of breath, or leaning against something, scratching, rolling its shoulders, or whatever else organic squadmates do. Considering that Legion's terminal was made specifically to interact with organics, it is [[Justified Trope|justified]] in some respects that it would act like them.

** Also, synthetic enemies will panic if you light them on fire (or attach a stickybomb to them) just like organics. Strangely, in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', all three main types of enemies ''ought'' to be immune to this reaction (geth are actual robots, while Husks {{spoiler|and the indoctrinated Cerberus troops}} are controlled by cybernetic implants), but aren't.

* In ''[[The Old Republic]]'', Sith Warrior players are fully capable of Force Choking a droid. How, precisely, one ''suffocates a robot'' is not really explored.

 

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* Some robots in the universe of [[Schlock Mercenary]] can feel pain. Lampshaded by one, who mentions they were told feeling pain would cut maintainance costs... but not how much it would ''hurt''.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Captain Future]]'' has both an obvious robot and an android in his crew. In one scene where there is a risk of depressurization in the ship, the latter is seen wearing a space helmet.

'''Bender:''' Fry! ''(Gasp!)'' My skin! }}

* ''[[Transformers]]'' in all incarnations go back and forth on the scale of humanness constantly. They can survive in space but they can make breathing noises. They endure great damage and don't act like they're in any pain but other times they get hit in the face and show about as much pain as a human. They have no blood (with their fuel, Energon, being [[Symbolic Blood]] in incarnations where it runs throughout their bodies in liquid form - constantly seen in ''[[Transformers Prime]].'') but they blush red. The Transformers wiki has a page of considerable size dealing with the matter.

* An episode of ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' featured a group of metal-eating robots who, of course, forgot they were robots (thanks to synthetic skin). They're defeated when, in their frenzy, they tear the skin off each other, and, seeing metal, consume each other.

[[Category:Characters]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]