Robo Speak: Difference between revisions

* Both Averted & used in ''[[Cannon God Exaxxion]]''. The cheap, massproduction [[Mecha-Mooks]] used by the Riofaldians talk in heavy robo speak. The Terminal Drone type robots even use a more "techno"-looking [[Useful Notes/Fonts|font]]. The main character's [[Robo Girl]] partner & other robots created by his grandfather don't, since they're designed to pass for human. It averts one of the major robospeak cliches, as well. We never see the Riofaldian robots talking out loud to each other, only to organics. There's one scene that depicts a robot sending a comunication requesting backup, wich is represented by a speach baloon filled with what looks like barcodes.

* 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].

* 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.

 

 

* The '''''LASER COWS''''' in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' speak like so;

'''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.

** A [[Lampshade Hanging]] from ''Mutant X'' #1:<br />'''Havok:''' "This is what's so irritating about fighting these things. The nonstop encyclopedic recitation of things I've known about since puberty!"

* 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:

** 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 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:

 

== Live Action TV ==

*** 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.

** 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.

** 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.

* ''[[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.

'''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 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.

'''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.

* ''[[Starcraft]] II'' has damaged Dominion Adjutant and Raven speaking like this.

* While not exactly a robot, Chaos Lord Ledgermayne of ''[[Adventure Quest Worlds]]'', who is a being made of living magic, speaks calmly and coolly in a computerized fashion. And that's not all, it also refers to itself as "we" or as "this form". It's kind of like a magi-borg!

** Of course, needless to say, Ledgermayne lets out a rare and truly single non-[[Robo Speak]] exclaimation in the form of a [[Big No]] when Drakath gives focuses his Chaos magic into the Supreme Arcane Staff, allowing the hero to use it to convert Ledgermayne back into the mass of mana from which it was made.

* The classic NES game ''[[Bionic Commando]]'' featured a boss robot that would begin the battle with the statement: "PI PI PI... WE HAVE FOUND AN INTRUDER... WE ARE GOING TO ATTACK"

* Red Tornado in ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]''. His [[Mirror Universe]] counterpart even prefaces a [[The Reveal|reveal]] with "Revelation:"

* ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'' special "The Hoboken Surprise":

*shrug* }}

** Also referred to in "Herring Impaired" when Julien attempts to imitate Maurice:

"End. Transmission." }}

* The Berbils from ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011)]]''.