Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Top 5 Robots of All Time

Well it's been a while since my last post and a while since my last top 5 list, so I decided to grace you, my valuable readers, with my picks for the best robots ever created from any medium. In order from great to amazingly awesome.

5. KITT from Knight Rider
So he's not your traditional robot, but he is an artificial intelligence inside a mobile metallic structure, so that's close enough for me. (Besides, every top 5 list should have one unorthodox choice in it.) The suave voice coupled with the sleek black exterior make for one very cool cat. And it doesn't hurt that he could also turbo jump over just about anything.

4. Gir from Invader Zim
He is wonderfully inept, and the best part of the show. Not only is he immensely quotable ("I need them or my head will explode. It does that some times.") he also serves to keep the show from getting too dark and twisted (though it does come pretty close when he's not around).

3. Marvin the Paranoid Android from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Eternally depressed and pessimistic, Marvin brings a laugh to every page he's featured on. You would think someone with a brain the size of a planet would find something to be happy about or find something more useful to do than park spaceships, but I guess that wouldn't be nearly as funny.

2. R2-D2 from Star Wars
The guy is a walking (well, rolling) Swiss army knife. Add to that his ability to communicate a wide range of emotions through beeps and squeals and you have the most endearing character in the Star Wars saga. And if you haven't, check out the real story behind his rise to fame in R2-D2: Beneath the Dome.

1. Tom Servo from Mystery Science Theater 3000
He is wonderfully expressive despite having inarticulate arms and no eyes. He has a fine singing voice. He looks good in a dress. He can plug hull breaches just by sitting on them. And most importantly of all, he makes fun of really bad movies. He's so awesome, it's no wonder that he is the one that gets to be carried into the theater while that other one has to walk in on his own.

Of course the list wouldn't be complete without a couple honorable mentions, so here they are:
The Robot from Metropolis - One of the first robots captured on film, and a wonderfully creepy one at that.
The Transformers - I can't pick one over all the others, but it's hard to deny the coolness of something that is both a robot and a car.
G2-9T from Star Tours - Listening to this guy while standing in line is almost better than the ride itself. Almost.

2 comments:

aelthwyn said...

I love G2-9T! I have to agree that I go on that ride at least half for standing in the line =) which is why I'm sad that they have the fast pass for it now because you don't get to stand very long inside the actual building, you have to wait outside in the boring sun, ug. I always liked watching that video they had too that advertized all the places you could go on Star Tours (even though they really should have actually made the ride have different options like that). Do they even have that video playing anymore. hm....I wonder if you could buy it off ebay, heh =P

Herch said...

He is one of the most memorable moments I have from when I first rode the ride, way back in 1987. "Will you wait for me? I'll get off in a few years."