Robo Speak: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Are you familiar with the old robot saying: 'Does Not Compute'?"''|'''Bender''', ''[[
Robots, androids, or any other artificially-intelligent machine with the ability to talk to humans very often does so in a flat and monotone voice that's devoid of emotion, with machine-like gaps between each word and/or sentence. In English, a robot may often speak without contractions, even though a contraction would be one of the easiest parts of speech to program a computer to do correctly. Their speech also often includes numerous specialized computer derived robotic [[Stock Phrases]], such as: "affirmative/negative" instead of "yes/no", "file not found", and the classic "does not compute" when [[Logic Bomb|confused]].
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For all their ability to create AI, robot builders of the future apparently have no way of convincingly mimicking human speech, or simply sticking a recording of one saying all the important things into its memory bank.
Robots will also talk to each ''other'' in
Even worse is when they ''talk to themselves'', declaring each thing they do as they do it. Often, this gives the heroes clues or information that the robots would rather keep
Writers may do this out of fear that the audience would be [[Viewers are Morons|too dumb]] to notice that the robot is, in fact, a robot. Or perhaps it's just a misguided attempt to make up for the fact that your average robot can't display most of the more subtle physical indications of intent.
Your [[Robot Buddy]] will almost without exception use
This trope seems to be [[Discredited Trope|disappearing slowly]]. As modern computers get better at duplicating and mimicking sounds, including
A "serious" android in anime, such as a [[Robot Girl]], often talks normally but [[Spock Speak|very formally]] and [[Creepy Monotone|with no inflection]].
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Compare [[Spock Speak]]. See also [[Pick Your Human Half]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==▼
* Subverted and deconstructed in ''[[Ghost in
▲== Anime ==
** There's also a note that when they converse among themselves they really ''are'' "talking" through wireless
▲* Subverted and deconstructed in ''[[Ghost in The Shell Stand Alone Complex]]'' where Section 9's main robot assistants are The Tachikomas who speak and act a lot like little girls outside their professionalism on duty. They eventually come to the conclusion that humans intentionally program robots to [[Robo Speak]] to avoid empathizing with them. At which point the Tachikomas start deliberately speaking and acting more robotic around Major Kusanagi so that she'll like them more.
▲** There's also a note that when they converse among themselves they really ''are'' "talking" through wireless links--it's just rendered as their normal speech for the reader/viewer's benefit. In fact, people with cybernetic enhancement ''also'' speak by wireless transmission.
** Further lampooned in the second season, when the Tachikomas are re-introduced to the surprise of the main cast, and the first one that they see plays a prank on Batou by immediately acting very robotic and saying "HE-LLO I AM A TA-CHI-KO-MA", as if they've been brain wiped. After it manages to produce a shocked look from the entire team, it immediately reverts to giggling and talking like a 15 year old schoolgirl.
* Android R Dorothy Wainwright from ''[[
** Both only feel fit to express emotion when they absolutely have too however, though oddly enough KOS-MOS is explicitly stated to have emotions and Dorothy is explicitly stated not to. Any casual observer would state the opposite ([[Tin Man|Dorothy is almost definitely lying or mistaken]]).
* In ''[[FLCL]],'' the robotic version of {{spoiler|Naota's father}} begins speaking normally, except that he puts pauses in odd places and sounds somewhat emotionless. As he continues talking, however, his voice becomes much more stuttery, the pitch varies wildly and the dialogue becomes almost nonsense.
* The [[Magic Wand|Devices]] in ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'' combines this with [[Surprisingly Good English]] and [[Gratuitous German|German]].
* ''[[
** This is also how the
*** Except when she's [[Motor Mouth
*
▲* [[Mahou Sensei Negima|Chachamaru]], the [[Robot Girl]] of ''Negima'', is voiced in anime by [[Caitlin Glass]], and sounds like [[Star Trek the Next Generation|Data's]] British sister, as described at the end of this page's notes above.
** Her pactio scene hasn't been dubbed yet, but chances are that she'll sound as emotional as she looks in that part of the manga.
* Father Tres, an android in ''[[Trinity Blood]]'', speaks this way, including using "Positive" for "Yes" & "Negative" for "No", and having little to no inflection. Preferred method of attack: [[More Dakka|a fusillade of bullets]] from [[Guns Akimbo]].
* Both Averted
* An interesting example, [[Robot Girl]] Aiko in ''[[Magical Pokaan]]''. Her speech is perfectly normal, until episode 4, wherein a malfunction causes her to realistically stutter and repeat words, along with a very low buzz, similar to wet speakers. Seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQCTzDTxtXE#t=2m26s here].
{{quote|
* Subverted in ''[[Vandread]]'': While the resident robot Pyoro begins speaking that way, due to an accident, he speaks in a ''very human'' way, sometimes even being ''hotblooded'' when he needs to be.
== Webcomics ==▼
* The '''''LASER COWS''''' in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' speak like so;▼
{{quote| Auditory Response: '''Moo.'''<br />▼
'''Grass Length Deviation Detected. Resizing In Progress.''' }}▼
** Though they're also capable of speaking normally ("Get your hands off me"), so apparently this speech pattern is a conscious choice on their part.▼
== Comic Books ==
* The Sentinels in ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' also fit, as does the Danger Room.
** A [[Lampshade Hanging]] from ''Mutant X'' #1:
* There was a comic where Hercules rode a chariot across space. He was given a robot by some aliens to could record his adventures for them, and abuse the robot's credit card. The robot spoke in the same "Question: Is this wise?", "Statement: Thank you" fashion, at one point saying:
{{quote|
** Corrective statement: The Rigellian Recorders were introduced in Lee and Kirby's [[Thor]]. Qualifier: The humor potential lay unused until Roy Thomas's run on the book.
** Shockwave, when penned by Simon Furman, often begins trains of thought in the same way, using even longer words like 'observation', 'interrogative' or 'hypothesis'.
* The robots in the original ''[[Magnus, Robot Fighter]]'' series were particularly stilted examples, with pauses between each word. The [[Valiant Comics]] version justified
== Film ==
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* Somewhat averted by Jarvis in ''Iron Man'', the AI of Tony Stark's computer - though it's difficult to tell when he's being genuinely polite and when he's being sarcastic.
* In Grandma's Boy, videogame programmer J. P. sometimes does this for no clear reason.
* Deliberately averted with C-3P0 on the original ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogy, since he is a protocol droid fluent in six million forms of communications and mannerisms, played straight with the [[Mecha
* [[
** Other robots in the Robocop world, however, play the trope straight. Notably one ED-209.
== Literature ==
* Replicated with hilarious results in [[The Dark Tower
* Appears in the third Oz book, "Ozma of Oz," with Tik-Tok, a wind-up robot (though not called that since the word was not yet in circulation) who speaks in mon-o-tone and in-flex-i-ble ca-dence. He is an early example of loyal [[Robot Buddy]].
* The Golems in the [[Discworld]] are an interesting example. Even Though They Speak In Perfect Grammar, They Capitalize Every Letter And They Do Not Use Contractions.
* In the [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] novel ''Sonic and the Silicon Warriors'', our hero is trying to taunt a computer ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]) and has little success, until he unleashes an epic stream of invective in the spirit of this trope:
{{quote|
== Live Action TV ==
* Averted in ''[[
** However, in Demons and Angels, Holly exclaims that "An electrical fire has knocked out my voice recognition unicycle!" and later in the episode says "The phrase 'cargo bay doors' does not appear to be in my lexicon." in a more robotic-sounding voice.
** In the episode "Inquisitor", a version of Holly in an altered timeline has no inflection to her voice. "Unauthorized entry. Intruder alert, intruder alert..."
* The archetype would have to be the Cylons from the original ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' or Robot B9 from ''[[Lost In]] Space''.
* Daleks in ''[[
** The Cybermen from the same series aren't as bad, but they still don't use contractions, speak unemotionally in an electronically distorted voice, and overexplain everything they do.
*** In the very first appearance of the Cybermen way back in 1966, they had ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGsXq9LU-Y4 bizARRely INflecTED SING-song voiCES]'' because it was assumed by the production team that that was how computers would actually speak. Fortunately it was quickly realised how ridiculous that sounded, and their more well-known buzzing monotone voices were introduced from their second appearance.
** However, in the episode "Doomsday", the Daleks and Cybermen have an awesome [[Expospeak Gag]] [[Volleying Insults]] contest, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu1_AguulJ8 right here]. Perhaps they just cancelled each other out.
{{quote|
** An early attempt to create a rival to the Daleks resulted in the invention of the Mechonoids, giant spherical robots that were about as threatening and maneuverable as a garden shed. They also had voices that made the Daleks sound positively eloquent in comparison. Fortunately they never returned (except in the spinoff media).
** Would K-9 count under this? Affirmative, mistress! Vocalizations within accepted robo-speak parameters!
** Let's be honest here, if there's an even partially mechanical monster in a Doctor Who episode, it's invariably going to announce its killing intent in a repetitive manner.
{{quote|
** The Daleks' speech patterns and catchphrases are often lampshaded. An example from ''The Stolen Earth'': when a Dalek is shot in the eyestalk with a paintball gun, it burns off the obstruction and proclaims, "My vision is NOT impaired."
** The scene from the "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" story, where the library's systems replay a recording of a harried survivor's last words, and ''edits them for content'' to come out in a clipped, impersonal monotone (even the screams), is probably a lampshading of this trope.
** Averted in the episode "The Face of Evil", where the monster of the story is a computer called Xoanon. It has no voice of its own and instead speaks in the voices of multiple people, sometimes all at once - including the Doctor's own voice.
** Possibly the ultimate aversion is the computer BOSS in ''The Green Death,'' which not only talks in a resonant, emotional voice but even hums along to Wagner while plotting to take over the world.
* ''Almost'' averted in ''[[Star Trek:
** Data did properly use some contractions in the future parts of the TNG finale "All Good Things", set 25 years after the end of the series. Of course this future was completely averted by {{spoiler|the destruction of the ''Enterprise''-D in ''Star Trek: Generations'' and Data's own death in ''Star Trek: Nemesis''}} but it does show that he could have developed the ability over time.
** Somewhat [[Truth in Television]]
** Soong did it to distance Data from [[Evil Twin|Lore]].
*** Given that Data isn't supposed to use contractions a number of them slip through in various episodes, though presumably these are just oversights on the part of the actor/director.
**** There were a few that got by before it was established that contractions were taboo.
** In the episode "Contagion," Data is infected by a computer virus that disables some of his functions. While infected, he reverts to robo-speak.
** The ships' computers especially show the evolution of what the writers expected such a computer to sound like. In ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''. Homaged in the Captain Proton holodeck program, with Satan's Robot who always talks this way. "SUR-REND-DER!"
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Kiva]]'', the Henshin Belt of Keisuke Nago/Kamen Rider IXA is the only Heisei Belt so far that, although in Engrish, states out everything in robo speak.
{{quote|
'''Nago:''' Hensin!
'''IXA Belt:''' Fi-su-to O-n! (Fist On!) }}
** When he goes to his "Rising" [[Super Mode]], the driver turns it into ''four syllables.'' RI-I-SING-GU! You know you've got a bad case if it takes a viewer a while to realize that the device is actually speaking English. And ''so many [[Kamen Rider]]'' computer voices speak in [[Gratuitous English]], but in [[Surprisingly Good English|an understandable enough manner]] that they few words they get are coherent ("[[Kamen Rider Ryuki|Final Vent!]]" "[[Kamen Rider 555|Standing by. ... Complete]]."
* ''[[The Late Late Show]]'''s Geoff Peterson. Overlaps with [[Stylistic Suck]] since he tends to keep repeating the ''same'' phrase or two throughout the monologue leading the viewer to assume "he" can only be programmed to store a few phrases at a time.
* Vicky from ''[[Small Wonder]]'' was a [[Robot Kid]] posing as a human who talked like this; it usually - but not always - went unnoticed by the supporting cast.
== Video Games ==
* The droid HK-47 from ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' plays with this trope. While protocol droids and the like speak normally, HK has distinctly stilted phrasing.
{{quote|
'''Player''': You don't need to call me master, you know.
'''HK-47''': Query: Don't I? I was under the assumption that organic meatbags such as yourself enjoyed such forms of address. }}
** A scene in the first game hints that most of HK-47s personality and speech quirks were accidental errors in his programming that his creator found amusing enough to keep. HK himself seems rather proud of them, becoming insulted when asked to talk normally.
* Cammy, Juli and Juni use Robo Speak in ''[[Street Fighter]] Alpha 3,'' when they're brainwashed.
* Siarnaq in ''[[Mega Man ZX]] Advent'' sounds like a DOS prompt, in fact. It's apparently just extreme [[The Stoic|stoicism]] after being [[Left for Dead]] by his pals.
** ''[[Mega Man (
* While not exactly monotone, E-102 Gamma from ''[[
** E-123 Omega from ''[[
*** In ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006
* The security robots in ''[[
** The
* The mechanoids in ''[[Thief]] II''. Particularly creepy in that, when idling or patrolling, they spout religious phrases.
* The turrets in ''[[Portal (
** In ''[[
* Valve's GoldSrc game engine, which ran the original [[Half Life]], its expansions, and many others, included a fairly simple speech synthesis system (of the word-based create-sentences-from-a-fixed-vocabulary type, although the voice could be inflected, sped up and slowed down, and the words chopped up and reassembled to create new words with a little creativity) used for the enemy Marines, the Black Mesa Announcement System (a.k.a. Vox), and the HEV suit. The degree of roboticity varies: Vox is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh32mC-dor0 inhumanly low-pitched and has a robotic rhythm], the HEV suit [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU0HttdfxkE still has a robotic rhythm but an otherwise human-sounding voice], and the Marines are [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLWUHoeYHlc closest to being passable as human aside from sounding like they're speaking through walkie-talkies] (warning: some profanity and possible mild spoilers).
** The qualities of the voices are different in translations. For instance, ironically enough, in German, Vox is completely human-sounding while the HEV suit is given a monotone that not even Vox has in English.
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* Averted with Yumemi Hoshino in ''Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet''.
* The Early 1990s versions of the ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' computer games had mech startup and critical damages in a feminine Robospeak. "Critical Hit. Heat. Sink." "Critical Hit. Engine." "Shutting. Down." etc.
* [[Robot Girl]] Tio from ''[[
* In ''[[Star Control]] 3'', the Daktaklakpak precede HK-47 in the department of stilted phrasing. They sound like they're reading off scientific papers. "Clarification 1: Daktaklakpak is shortened form of complete species name. Clarification 2: Complete species name of Daktaklakpak contains complete assembly and maintenance instructions for Daktaklakpak race. Conclusion: Daktaklakpak name ''is'' 'big deal'!"
* Robo of ''[[
* ''[[Disgaea]]'': BEEP BEEP Thursday fits this trope BEEP BEEP
* [[
** [[
* Illusion's H-game ''Artificial Girl 3'' has a variety of personalities the player can assign to a girl he creates, one of them ([[Emotionless Girl|the N type]]), has some
* Nu-13, the final boss of ''[[
* Fracktail in ''[[
** Similarly, the Robot Peach Castle speaks in incredibly stilted
* ''[[No More Heroes]]: Desperate Struggle'': {{spoiler|Dr. Letz Shake.}} "Do you remember me. Question mark."
* ''[[Dystopia (
* Malco in ''[[
* ''[[
* While not exactly a robot, Chaos Lord Ledgermayne of ''[[
{{quote|
** Of course, needless to say, Ledgermayne lets out a rare and truly single non-
* The classic NES game ''[[
* The Soldier of ''[[
▲* The '''''LASER COWS''''' in ''[[
▲'''Grass Length Deviation Detected. Resizing In Progress.''' }}
▲** Though they're also capable of speaking normally ("Get your hands off me"), so apparently this speech pattern is a conscious choice on their part.
== Western Animation ==
* Parodied a few times in ''[[
** Another ''[[
** There was also one where the leader of the robot Mafia was trying to teach another robot a lesson. The robot starts begging (not in
** In the commentary for an early episode, the [[Word of God]] noted that when people auditioned for the voice of Bender they tended to use a "robotic" voice, which wasn't what they were looking for.
** One of the few times Bender actually did use
*** And yet he ''still'' manages to contribute to the episode's Big Flashy Musical Number.
** There's also the episode where Fry goes insane and thinks he's a robot. He ends up speaking robo-speak even though his best friend is a robot who does not talk that way.
** "Robo-Puppy preparing to lick cheek. Robo-Puppy commencing cheek-licking. Licking in progress. Licking complete."
** And the robot at the pizza place who speaks in a New York accent, but when Fry asks for anchovies on his pizza the robot responds in
*
* In ''[[Invader Zim]],'' GIR tends to use a rather brusque and aggressive variant of
* Thunderstick on ''[[
* Of all the robot characters on ''[[Transformers]]'', Megatron's toady Soundwave was the only Robo-Speaker, despite the fact that he transforms into a tape player, and would be expected to have an even firmer grasp of sound than the other
** Omega Supreme talked in robo-speak, but this was [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that his mind was damaged in a failed attempt by Megatron to reprogram him as a Decepticon. This left him emotionally stunted, and this was reflected in his speech patterns. He ''could'' speak normally, with effort, but rarely chose to.
** In ''[[Transformers Animated]]'', Perceptor, the Autobots' ultimate scientist, speaks with a voice synthesizer as an homage to [[Stephen Hawking]]. According to the creators, he deleted his personality to make room for more facts.
* In the ''[[
* Red Tornado in ''[[Batman:
* ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'' special "The Hoboken Surprise":
{{quote|
"Why. Did we. Start talking. Like robots?"
*shrug* }}
** Also referred to in "Herring Impaired" when Julien attempts to imitate Maurice:
{{quote|
"I do NOT talk like that!"
"Yes. You. Do."
"Now that's just your robot voice."
"End. Transmission." }}
* The Berbils from ''[[Thundercats 2011
== Real Life ==
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** Best [[Lampshade Hanging]] ever.
* Stephen Hawking's famous near-monotone voice synthesizer. He has turned down many offers to improve and humanise the voice, saying that it's become the voice that people expect him to have. And of course it is recognised the world over.
* [[Image Boards|Anonymous]]'s [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ Youtube video] messages to [[Scientology]] are all done in
* IBM's "Watson" system. He actually sounds less roboty than Stephen Hawking's synthesizer. It still uses the "string pre-read phonemes together" method. It sounds a bit like the [[Star Trek:
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Robo Speak]]
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