What Is This Thing You Call Love?: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Hakase''': Wait... Robot capable to feel love {{=}} nobel prize, right?}}

* In ''[[SD Gundam Force]]'', the question is the subject of a Zako Zako Hour... two of them. And they still don't figure it out.

* ''[[Tenshi ni Narumon]]'': Noelle many times asks people around her about stuff like love, hugging, kissing, happiness etc. {{spoiler|because she's a 1/3 third of an angel soul and doesn't understand the concept of love. The same can be said in case of Mikael and Silky. This is a major theme of the series as well}}

* In ''[[Parallel Trouble Adventure Dual]]'', the love the cyborgized D has for Kazuki enables her to regain her humanity (as well unlock the full potential of the ultimate weapon).

=== Literature ===

* Satirized in [[Harry Harrison]]'s short story ''The Robot Who Wanted To Know'', published in Fantastic Universe magazine in March 1958. Sophisticated robot librarians designed to think independently often focus on a particular area of interest; Filer 13B-445K's interest is human concepts of love and romance. After reading up on it he wants to experience it personally and goes to some lengths to disguise himself as an attractive man for a costume ball. Naturally the busty heroine ends up falling for him and is outraged to discover his mechanical identity. He responds by [[Logic Bomb|nosediving into a paradox spiral and self-destructing]]. Workers examining the wreck later find a malfunction in the central pump and joke that "you could almost say he died of a broken heart".

* [[Tanith Lee]]'s ''The Silver Metal Lover'' is possibly the ultimate hack at this subtrope. It combines the above two stories with a Cinderella motif.

* Satirized (like everything else in that book) by ''[[The Red Tape War]]'', in which XB-223 asks for clarification on a specific passage of ''[[Fanny Hill]]'', then later falls in love and is spurned by another computer. [[Hilarity Ensues|Wangst ensues]].

* In Simon Morden's "Theories of Flight", the A.I. Michel declares his love for Petrovitch after finally comprehending the meaning of love. Too bad the man was already married. Still, rather cute how Michel always calls Petrovitch by his real name: Sasha.

 

* The Doctor from ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'', while much more emotionally adroit than Data, has had this applied to him a couple of times, in "Lifesigns" (although there he seemed more confused by the concept of physical attraction than by that of love) and "Real Life", which was about his exploration of the nature of familial love, which he ends up understanding ''too well''.

* Both averted and played straight in ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]''. Sharon (Athena) and Valerii (Boomer) can love, but (corporeal) Number Six does not seem to get it. Somewhat justified as it has been established that different model numbers have different psychological patterns - and the Eight model has been described as being one of the most emotional, while the Sixes seem to be far more sexual in nature - in other words, it may simply be a case of love (Eight) versus lust (Six). On the other hand, it's also established that Caprica Six effectively had to "love" Saul in order to become pregnant, and it is the wavering of her faith that he loves her back that results in their child miscarrying. So even the Six line seems capable of it, though it may be more difficult for them.

* Sora of ''[[Ever 17]]'' asks Takeshi this very question, which he interprets as mere curiosity. {{spoiler|During her route she suffers a sort of breakdown/split personality when seeing Tsugumi and Takeshi together}} on the gondola where her emotional, irrational self and coldly efficient side start arguing.]]

* In ''[[Persona 3|Persona 3: FES]],'' {{spoiler|the player has the chance to have a social link with the resident robot girl, Aigis. Throughout the social link, she begins to slowly understand what it means to be human. On the final day of the social link, she confesses her love to the main character, believing that she has found out exactly what it means to love. D'awwwwww.}}

* In ''[[Mass Effect|Mass Effect 2]]'', when asked about why it specifically chose a piece of Shepard's armor to repair itself with, Legion reacts with what seems to be its version of a blush and says: "[[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|No data available]]".

** And he sucks at [[Dating Sim]]s despite clocking in 75 hours of gameplay. No joke.

 

=== Western Animation ===

{{quote|''I said I was human, not a girl.''}}

** Parodied again in "Last Tap Dance in Springfield" when Homer is watching 'Cyborganizer' a sitcom about a filing robot,

{{quote|'''Cyborganizer''': I can streamline any procedure, except this thing you call ''love''.}}

* Played for laughs in a science fair on ''[[Fairly Oddparents]]'' where Timmy's (now genius) Dad tries to convey the emotion of love to the scientific community. Cue a robot going "WHAT IS LOVE!? DOES NOT COMPUTE!" and blow up. Only to also have all the scientists in the audience go "LOVE? Is that an emotion?" and blow up as well.

 

== Alien Examples ==

=== Literature ===

* In ''[[Animorphs]]'', the parasitic, mind-controlling Yeerks have no concept of romance -or even gender- in their natural form, since they reproduce by merging with two other Yeerks and then dissolving into hundreds of young, effectively killing the parents. There are at least two examples in the series of Yeerks who had human hosts betraying their superiors after being caught off-guard by their own emotions and falling in love with each other. In another book of the series, Jake and Cassie manage to disable the warlike impulses of the entire [[Tyke Bomb|Howler race]] by infecting their [[Hive Mind|collective memory]] with its first exposure to love.

* The Atevi of the ''[[Foreigner (novel)|Foreigner]]'' series do not have words for "love" or "friendship", since they are biologically incapable of feeling any form of affection. The inability of humans to communicate these concepts is one of the major motifs of the series, as is the inability of humans to comprehend the nature of Atevi relationships.

* In Sergey Volnov's ''Army Of The Sun'', an alien is nostalgic for the days before humans taught the galaxy that there's more to mating than just the physical act. Now, a whole new set of rituals is added to the usual sex. Of course, this was more of a case of humans forcing their culture on other species due to a bad case of [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|Humans Are Bastards]].

* In [[Mikhail Akhmanov]]'s ''Invasion'', the [[Human Aliens]] Faata live in a caste-like society, where each caste is [[Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke|genetically-engineered]] for a specific role. Everything in their society is rational, which means that there's no room for emotions like love. When Lieutenant Commander Pavel Litvin of the United Earth Forces is abducted by the Faata, he meets a lower-caste Faata female named Yo. When he later escapes, he finds Yo in a hibernation chamber that helps the Faata bypass a [[Star Trek|Pon Farr]]-like state. Since he takes her out of the chamber before it's done, she tries to jump him. Apparently, he decides that they have enough time to teach her about the human concept of sexuality. From that moment on, she forgets all about her Faata masters and follows the big, strong Earth-man. Later on, they get back to Earth and get married.

 

* In the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion", Kirk's assigned gladiatorial trainer has lived her whole life as a slave and is ignorant of normal culture. She asks him, "What is love?" Kirk proceeds to [[Boldly Coming|show her]].

* Early episodes of ''[[Mork and Mindy]]''.

** In "Four to Doomsday", the television serial, Monarch asks what love is after Nyssa mentions it.

{{quote|'''Enlightenment''': The exchange of two fantasies, Lord.}}

* There's one episode of ''[[Sesame Street]]'' where the yip-yip aliens [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY5y9a05ceQ&feature=channel discover two people in love] and try to figure out what it is. Incredibly, the two lovebirds never notice the incessantly yip-yipping aliens right in front of them.

 

=== [[Comic Books]] ===

* Marvel's Shatterstar came to Earth as an alien gladiator, bred in a test tube for the sole reason of fighting in the pits on Mojoworld for the entertainment of the Spineless executives and only interested in fighting. As he lives on Earth for longer and longer, he's slowly learning about human culture, including human emotions and sexuality. This lead to a relationship with fellow ''[[X-Force]]'' and ''[[X-Factor (comics)|X-Factor]]'' teammate Rictor, as well as a sudden interest in [[Anything That Moves]] in the latter title.

 

=== Video Games ===

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'''s Commander Shepard lampshades this trope and [[Mars Needs Women]] in a bit of optional dialogue, commenting that, according to old movies, humans have everything an alien species could want: "Oceans, beautiful women, this emotion called love..."

 

=== Western Animation ===

'''Ndnd:''' "No, 'wuv'! With an Earth 'w'. Behold!"

'''Lrr:''' "This concept of 'wuv' ''confuses and infuriates us!''" }}

{{quote|'''Zoidberg:''' "Hmm, this 'love' intrigues me. Teach me to fake it!"}}

{{quote|'''Fry:''' Tell her you just want to talk; it has nothing to do with mating!

'''Zoidberg:''' I just want to talk; it has nothing to do with mating! ''[to Fry]'' Fry, that doesn't make any sense! }}

{{quote|'''Zoidberg:''' I'm confused, Fry. I'm feeling a strange new emotion. Is it love when you care about a female for reasons beyond mating?

'''Fry:''' Nope. Must be some weird alien emotion. }}

* Ben often baffles other aliens with his strange, compassionate human ways in the ''[[Ben 10]]'' series. In the first series, he spares the opponent he and Kevin defeat in a forced gladiator game, causing the runner of the games to muse, "Mercy? What a novel concept." In the ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Alien Force]]'' episode "Primus," Azmuth makes it clear that he would rather let himself and the three teens die than show Vilgax the secrets of the Omnitrix, and asks Ben what in the world he thinks he's doing when he starts making a deal with Vilgax to save his friends. He also basically teaches a Highbreed "what is this you call friendship" in a [[Strange Bedfellows]] episode.

** To be fair to Azmuth, his willing to sacrifice all their lives probably had more to do with trying to prevent the fall of the entire galaxy, i.e. the greater good, rather than him not understanding the concept of friendship. Ben just wasn't willing to make that kind of sacrifice for the sake of the galaxy.

 

== Human Examples ==

* In [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Stranger in A Strange Land]]'', Michael ([[Blue and Orange Morality|having been raised by aliens]]) takes a long time to catch on to human emotions. He has the worst time with love and humor.

 

* Parodied by [[Benny Hill]]...

{{quote|'''Leading Lady:'''(to leading man) What is ''this'' thing called, love?

* [[Wonder Woman (TV series)|Wonder Woman]]: Paradise Island is an uncharted island within [[Bermuda Triangle|the devil’s triangle]], home of the immortal Amazons. [[Lady Land|The youngest of these immortals have never seen a man]] and when pilot Steve Trevor lands there, the Amazons have those strange feelings:

{{quote|'''Princess Diana:''' … ''When I look at Steve Trevor, I feel things. Things I've never known before''.}}

 

=== Theatre ===

* It can also be a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder: Although the affected person will still understand what love ''is'', they may experience "emotional numbing", so that they are no longer be capable of feeling certain emotions, such as love or happiness.

** In some cases, the person can feel it, but is unable to recognize it.

 

== Demonic Examples ==

* In [[Stephenie Meyer]]'s short story ''Hell on Earth'', demons do know about love, but treat it as a very dangerous and unpleasant thing. They themselves try to avoid it like the plague, but the demon who's a main character is shocked to learn that some demons that are careless can still fall in love with mortals and give up their immortality as a result. {{spoiler|At the end of the story, she is trapped in the power of an angel's descendant and begins to feel love as well. In a bit of a twist, she still is utterly miserable and horrified to be caught like that and the story ends with her desperately plotting on how to escape.}}

 

* The [[Our Demons Are Different|demon Anya]] in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', after she loses her power and is trapped in human form, falls in love with Xander. And apparently granting wishes to scorned women for thousands of years didn't do much to teach her about love.

* ''[[Angel]]''. [[Eldritch Abomination|Illyria]], having revealed that she can adopt the form and memories of her dead host 'Fred' Burkle, offers to do so for [[Heartbroken Badass|Wesley]] (Fred's former [[Love Interest]]) in order to understand intimate relationships. Wes is outraged by this suggestion and refuses to speak to her for a while.

 

{{quote|'''Mao:''' Acidic or basic? What's it's formula?}}

* Sanctus from ''[[Devil May Cry]] 4'' {{spoiler|mocks Nero and Credo on their efforts of rescuing Kyrie with "Held back by love" and "Love..? For a sibling?" respectively. While Sanctus was originally human, he's all but demonic by that point}}.

 

== Undead Examples ==

* [[Our Vampires Are Different|Spike]] in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', once he's got a [[Government Agency of Fiction|government]] issued microchip in his noggin preventing him from harming humans, finds to his frustration his [[Slap Slap Kiss|obsession with Buffy Summers morphing into genuine affection]]. This cognitive dissonance eventually impels him to begin a [[Arc Fatigue|long]] [[Heel Face Turn]] culminating in a quest to [[Become a Real Boy|restore his human soul]].

* ''[[True Blood]]'' has an interesting variation on this when Eric (vampire) and Sookie (human) are discussing his [[I Love You, Vampire Son|relationship]] to Godric, who turned him into a vampire.

** He's also fond of the rabbit the rest of the group jokingly got him as a mount. At least, he keeps it with him, and hasn't immolated the little guy yet. In fact, after Richard was sent to another plane, the little rabbit started crying; they later had a happy reunion, complete with running to each other on the beach. Lets not forget his battlecry:

{{quote|'''Richard:''' For PONY!}}

 

== Villainous Examples ==

=== Literature ===

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' - Harry is initially protected from Voldemort by the magical protection his mother's love gave him because Voldemort, who was raised as an orphan and appeared to be heading towards ruthlessness as far back as childhood, could not comprehend love. In the fifth book, Harry learns from a prophecy that love is the one power he has that Voldemort does not.

** In the sixth book, it's revealed that Voldemort basically had no love in his life when he grew up. His father was under the influence of a love potion when he was conceived and his mother died instead of using magic to save herself to care for him. As a result, it is explained that he has absolutely no understanding of love or friendship and loves absolutely no one. It's probably because of this that he fails to realize {{spoiler|that Harry's friends and loved ones will continue to fight in his name, even after Harry seemingly dies}}. A less extreme example is Bellatrix Lestrange who, [[Word of God|according to Rowling]] loved no one except for her twisted obsession with Voldemort. Actually, a major theme in the books is love. If someone doesn't love or care about anyone at all, chances are they're totally evil.

** [[Truth in Television|That last sentence is reasonably true of this world, too.]]

** And later on, he considers it a weakness, which Goliath calls him out on.

* ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'': Fauna points out that the few things Malificent doesn't understand are love, kindess, and the [[Good Feels Good|joys of helping others]]. Hence why Flora points out that if they shelter the princess themselves (selflessly helping someone at their own risk), Malificent wouldn't be able to expect it so easily.

 

== Other ==

=== [[Anime]] ===

 

=== [[Literature]] ===

* In ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'', the [[The Fair Folk|Sitha]] Aditu befriends the young human Simon while the latter is in captivity in the Sithi's forest city. Due to her [[We Are as Mayflies|slightly longer perspective]] on life, she finds the human obsession with love and sex to be somewhat amusing, and teases Simon mercilessly to this effect. Later, she even goes so far as to break up Simon's would-be tryst with a peasant girl under the pretense of being his "fairy lover".

 

* ''[[A for Andromeda]]''. Fleming explains to Andromeda (a synthetic woman created and controlled by an alien-designed [[Master Computer]]) the difference between right and wrong ('nasty' and 'nice') by pinching and then stroking her. Later on Fleming grabs her for a snog, though by that stage she has already started to develop emotions, including concern for his life.

* ''[[Fringe]]'': The episode ''August'' is about an Observer who saves a girl from dying in a plane crash, in violation of the Observers' rule against interference, and eventually sacrifices his own life to protect her. As he's dying he explains why to September: