Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: Difference between revisions

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[[Ridiculously-Human Robots|Sufficiently humanoid robots]] will have [[Super Strength|super-strength]] and [[Stock Super Powers|other fantastic abilities]]. [[Misapplied Phlebotinum|It doesn't matter what they were built for]].

Sometimes, the robot doesn't even need to be humanoid. Relatively simple non-human robots that perform mundane jobs also seem to be way overpowered and/or over-armed for their designed tasks. A robot designed to do nothing but wash windows will undoubtedly also have enough power to batter though a concrete wall if it has to.

This is especially true for [[Replacement Goldfish]]; something that's designed to emulate a [[Astro Boy|cute 6-year-old boy]] will undoubtedly have lasers, rockets, and invulnerable titanium armor. Fortunately, this often allows them to become a [[Superhero]]. (This may, though, just be their creator's way of ensuring that the replacement does not perish in the same kind of tragic accident that took the original.)

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** For those playing at home, this is a double example. Not only does he have superhuman strength but {{spoiler|has it in an appendage which a robot maid really shouldn't logically have. Unless you're in to that I suppose...}}.

** Kryten is regularly mocked by Rimmer for being designed to clean toilets, especially when Lister and Cat respect Kryten's leadership over his (e.g in the episode Quarantine). Kryten is actually a rather good leader (at least by Red Dwarf standards) so I guess that's a subtle example of this trope.

* The original K9 from ''[[Doctor Who]]''. He was built as a substitute pet for a doctor working on a space station that didn't allow dogs on board. So why's he got a frickin' laser cannon in his nose? [[Rule of Cool]]. If you could make a robot dog with a laser cannon in his nose, wouldn't you?

** Considering the places where dogs stick their noses? No.

* The title character in the Showtime ''[[The Outer Limits]]'' episode "Valerie 23" was a fembot who was specifically designed and created to be a companion for disabled shut-ins or people working in isolated conditions. So why was it built with lethal superhuman strength and a severe lack of impulse control? Worse, after the episode in which this gynoid went dangerously wrong, the series did several other episodes about other androids from the same company going dangerously awry in other ways.

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* The entire inclusion of Tesse, from the Neo Geo fighting game ''[[Waku Waku 7]]'', is based on this trope. Despite officially being designed as a housekeeper and maid, and fighting with brooms and hypodermic needles, she is able to evenly match the other (quirky) fighters.

* Maintenance droids, courier droids, and office-aid androids in ''[[Crusader: No Remorse|Crusader]]'' are all armed to destroy possible invaders.

* One of the villains in the third ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' game is Courtney Gears, a robotic pop star. Nonetheless, she has enough weaponry to engage [[One-Man Army]] Ratchet in battle.

** She's also a [[Dance Battler]], and is perfectly willing to send her [[Mecha-Mooks|backup dancers]] out to kill you first. [[Everything's Better with Spinning|Who pirouette into you.]]

* Building a robotic fuel-injection system de-icer? Sounds like a good idea. Building a robotic fuel-injection system de-icer that's also a sentient AI that controls your entire research lab and is also equipped with the ability to summon rocket turret defenses and release neurotoxin? [[Portal (series)|That didn't work out so well.]]

** [[It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time]]!

* The robots in the [[Descent]] series are quite heavily armed. The strange part is that the majority of these 'bots are mining and industrial robots! Granted, that could be a [[Justified Trope|justification]], as robots used for blasting rock are more than capable of blasting intruders and later on it is mentioned that the robots are modifying themselves. But where are they getting the military hardware? They're mining robots!

** The most egregious offender is the Thresher 'bot from ''Descent 3''. It's a fucking industrial robot but it wields ''twin'' fusion cannons, which happen to be one of the most powerful weapons in the series.

** The novels spell it out more plainly: the robots didn't start using military-grade weapons until they found the military's research lab/weapons cache on Level 17. Before that they were using repurposed mining tools.

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** Remember, this is from [[Crap Saccharine World|before the war]], when things like "user survival" were seldom even considered.

*** Actually, Mr. Handy robots aren't butlers but repair and maintenance robots (in fact, you sometimes find repair tools on destroyed ones in Fallout 2). In this light, the flamethrowers and circular saws make far more sense, as do their modifications into combat tools. The fact that the Vault 101 Mr. Handy is made into a butler speaks more about the resident tinkerer of Vault 101 than the Mr. Handy models.

* VIVIT of the ''[[Seihou]]'' series, a [[Robot Maid]] who runs on <s>Getter Rays</s> <s>Spiral Power</s> Saboten Energy who also happens to be an advanced combat android. The maid part is, well, because [[Covert Pervert|her]] [[Dirty Old Man|creator]] had a [[Meido]] fetish.

* ''[[City of Heroes]]'': The Clockwork of [[Mirror Universe|Praetoria]] were designed to clean the streets, wash windows, and help citizens in their day-to-day lives. However, their creator [[Mad Scientist|Neuron]] decided they also needed plasma emitters, laser guns, and electric blasters built in. This is justified in story, as they are programmed to stop any criminal activity they see and help the police if needed. That being said, they are pretty much the ''only'' group of NPCs that will not attack you on sight in a world where [[Everything Is Trying to Kill You]].

* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] in ''[[Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict|Unreal Championship 2 The Liandri Conflict]]'' - Liandri advertise the strength, mobility and AI adaptability of their newest domestic robot by entering one in the year's Unreal Tournament. Devastation's curvy chassis is lampshaded in her bio, which states it was modeled after a "popular adult holoactress" to boost sales.

* Some of the [[Schizo-Tech|mechanical enemies]] in [[World of Warcraft]] are like this. The harvest golems in particular, were ostensibly built to harvest crops. Naturally, [[AI Is a Crapshoot|they go berserk]] and attempt to "harvest" the players (often with Defias bandit help).

* Some of the [[Schizo-Tech|mechanical enemies]] in [[World of Warcraft]] are like this. The harvest golems in particular, were ostensibly built to harvest crops. Naturally, [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot|they go berserk]] and attempt to "harvest" the players (often with Defias bandit help).

* Orianna in ''[[League of Legends]]'' was the daughter of a [[Mad Scientist]] and died in an accident while training for a League tournament. She was [[Dance Battler|rebuilt]] as the "perfect daughter" with [[Uncanny Valley|spastic mechanical movements]] and an [[Creepy Doll|emotionless voice]] but a perfectly functional "protector", a mechanical ball complete with EMP and gravity weapons. Although her powers are justified by firstly his desire to stop anything else happening to her, and secondly because ''not'' making her incredibly dangerous would have been a bit of an obstacle to joining the League.

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** The general [[Hand Wave|explanation]] for any robot that does not make a lot of sense to make, like half of Cossack's fleet, are the results of being drunk. Sort of a scientists version of [[Drunken Master]].

* Given a good [[Lampshade Hanging]] (and arguable [[Justified Trope|justification]]) in [http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=980417 this] ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' strip.

* Subverted in ''[[Freefall]]'', where most robots are [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1500/fc01457.htm made of cheap plastic and aluminum], and are weaker than the average human.

** Many of them in turn are far more intelligent than their function warrants. Most notably Helix is a glorified autonomous forklift, yet he's sentient enough to develop hobbies and sense of humour. This is amply explained by the fact that the robotic factories that created virtually all of the robots we've met, being forced (due to damage sustained during the initial colonization) to use the Bowman Adaptive Neuronic Network, originally designed to 'uplift' animal species. Thus the robots become smarter as they get older... regardless of their designed purpose.

*** This runs into some serious civil rights issues, because many government officials view robots and artificial intelligences of any kind, including animals uplifted using the BANN, to be property as a function of their artificiality, yet most such entities are far better equipped mentally than even most humans (and certainly all the [[Pointy-Haired Boss|government officials]] the comic presents) to argue as to why that's not the case.

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** Also subverted in another one, where after many other attempts to replace Carl's body Frylock decides he'll put it on his super-powerful robot. Upon Shake's questioning he suddenly realizes how unwise it would be to heavily arm someone ''whose body they destroyed'' and questions what he was thinking.

* ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' had synthoids, and not only are the ones (illegally) made as "personal company" just as strong as ones made for combat (training), they're actually ''stronger''.

* The 1980 animated version of ''[[Richie Rich]]'' had Richie's robot maid Irona, who was basically a [[Do-Anything Robot]] and, consequently, a walking [[Deus Ex Machina]].

* The 1980 animated version of ''[[Richie Rich (comics)|Richie Rich]]'' had Richie's robot maid Irona, who was basically a [[Do-Anything Robot]] and, consequently, a walking [[Deus Ex Machina]].