Talk:List of fictional robots and androids
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Folks, I'm not sure exactly who should be listed here. I'd say definitely manufactured "machine persons" (what is generally called a "robot"). I'd say definitely manufactured organic persons (like the "robots" of R.U.R. and the Replicants of Blade Runner. Do we want computer persons like HAL, Colossus, and Wintermute/Neuromancer to go here?
- For the record, there's now a List of fictional computers for such characters.
I would definately nominate Asimov's R. Daneel Olivaw, and R2D2 & C3PO from Star Wars -- WojPob
So add 'em to the page, already. :-)
I can't believe that I'm contributing to this (not that I haven't in my time read science fiction, and I'll admit to knowing who all those robots listed above ARE), but I object to 'famous' and think it should always be 'robots in literature' or 'english-language poets'. As soon as you put 'famous' on a page dedicated to inventors of plumbing fixtures someone comes along and adds his comprehensive list of inventors of plumbing devices and it ceases to be 'famous.' Just call it 'robots in literature' and I'll promise to go away :) --MichaelTinkler
Serious objection here or just goofing on us?? I'm certainly willing to listen to this if serious. Thanks.
- a serious objection to the use of the word 'famous', which is always (honestly!) vitiated by additions of lots and lots of minor characters and/or leads to squabbles about the meaning of 'fame'. People have started lists of 'famous physicismts' and 'famous novelists' only to be inundated with names. So as a practice I think wikipedia is better off with " noun in literature" rather than "famous noun in literature". --MichaelTinkler
Behold! Page has been renamed Robots in literature. Thanks for your input.
I'd like to see the names in chronological order. That would give a brief history on how the concept of robots evolved overtime. Alphabetically order is okay too, but not as good.
Second that motion! (Lots of robot stories in the late 30s for some reason; curious what was in the air then. My guesses would be that the Depression, Taylorism, and changes in industrial production would have to have been an influence, but would defer to someone more knowledgeable about the period.) - RjLesch.
- Problem is, we always know where to put something on the list in alphabetical order, but might not have a good enough idea of chronological order offhand. Alpha is easier. If we can, I'd advocate having both lists (alpha and chronological). People can add things to the alpha list on the fly, and the pedants can come along later and add them to the correct spot on chronological.
- And I'd like to see the Taylorism entry for Wikipedia if anyone feels up to writing it.
In 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' film Klaatu was the alien, the robot was Gort. Is this also true in the book?
No, the robot was named Gnut in the book. I imagine they changed it for the movie to forestall the confusion: "Why is the robot named Newt, again?" Nuffle
Cylons -- Battlestar Galactica (according to the novelizations, Cylons were simply humanoid aliens wearing mechanical armor. Don't know if this was true in the TV show, but this is the literature page...)
The way I remember this is... The decision was made to make the Cylons inorganic robots for TV because of rules existing at the time specifying a maximum number of people who could be killed on TV per hour. If the Cylons were machines, we could blow away thousands of them, no problem! I think the leader of the Cylons was supposed to have been the last remaining organic Cylon of the race who originally built them.
Maybe this page should be renamed Robots in fiction or Robots in Science Fiction. That would cover books, films and TV. --Stephen Gilbert
- So would "Literature", theoretically. Input requested: Which should it be, "Literature" or "Fiction"?
The labels "First appeared in film" and "First appeared on TV" do not make sense. Almost all films or TV programs are based on written material, such as books, novel, scripts. So techically, these robots all appeared in print first. Perhaps these labels should say "first popularized or made known in film/TV" etc. Any better choices of word? (April 19, 2002)
According to the style manual, books get italicized and shorter works (short stories, etc.) get quote marks. I have restored the quote marks to the titles that are not books.--MTS
What about Asimov's Norby?
- What what about Asimov's Norby? If you mean "Shouldn't Norby be in the list?", then the answer is of course "Yes", and I'm not sure why you didn't just add him yourself. -- Paul A 01:47 Apr 9, 2003 (UTC)
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[edit] Golem and biological robots
Golem is a robot? I certainly think we can be a little looser here than the Wikipedia definition of robot suggests, but the Golem I think falls outside a reasonable definition. A robot should be based in large part on technology (be it mechanical or electronic). While you could make an argument that clay-shaping is technology, clearly the main animating force of the Golem is divine/magical. A robot is a type of artificial person, but not all artifical persons are robots.
- Not necessarily electronic or mechanical. Karel Capek's robots in R.U.R., as well as Philip K. Dick's Replicants are organic. Ausir 14:12, 13 Apr 2004 (UTC)
- Are the replicants and Capek's Robots really robots? I'm a bit rusty on the exact origins of the creatures, but I don't believe humans created by genetic engineering should be considered robots, even if grown in vats (sheesh, where else but wikipedia could I write a line like that?). If they are considered robots, then clearly Frankenstein's Monster is also a robot. I believe that technology must not only be substantially present in the creation of a robot, but in the continued functioning. Nuffle 09:53, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)
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- Capek is the one who invented the word "robot". Are you telling me that the first robots ever named robots are not actually robots? And Frankenstein was created out of dead bodies, while replicants and Capek's robots were created from scratch. Ausir 11:05, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)
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- Yes, I'm suggesting that Capek' Robots may not be robots. As the Wikipedia robot page says, "Although Capek's robots were organic artificial humans, the word robot has come to refer to mechanical humans." I agree partly with this statement; the term robot has changed meaning to refer to electronic/mechanical devices and not artificial men. I suggest a new heading in this page for influential fictional non-robots, including the Golem, Philip K. Dick's Androids & Replicants, and Capek's Robots.
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- Maybe we'll just change the title of the article to "List of fictional robots and androids"? Android covers both mechanical and organic artificial humans. Ausir 14:53, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)
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- Sounds like a good solution to me. I'm a bit new here, though, and don't know how to do this. Nuffle 17:03, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)
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- Done. Ausir 22:53, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)
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- Isn't the term Cyborg more correct to use for bilogical robots than Android? Just asking. EisenKnoechel
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Are robots from Star Wars being deliberately left out?
[edit] Rebel Robots
While robots rebelling against their masters is a common theme, is Zed the rebel robot in The Ed and Zed Show the only case where the audience were on the robot's side? PatGallacher 11:44, 2005 Jun 11 (UTC)
[edit] Xombie
It is disputed whether or not these guys are actually robots. They make breathing sounds when they talk and the survivng humans may not have the amount of resaurces needed to make robots with military strategies so it would be a bit easier to have robot suits.
[edit] Tin Woodman
I have removed the Tin Woodman from this list as he most definitely is not a robot, android, or any form of manufactured or replicated being. Unless we are to insanely include Long John Silver for his pegleg, Captain Hook for his missing hand, and all of us for our dental fillings, Nick Chopper comes out. He's just taken artificial limbs further than usual. B00P 11:57, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Robots in literature
I am working on the robot page and have found that the literary section didn't really fit with the page. I have moved the material that was there to the Robots in literature page and removed the redirect to List of fictional robots and androids, replacing it with a note about that page. The page clearly needs a good copyedit and wikify, which I will look at once I've finished on robot, but if anyone wants to dive in, please do so. Kcordina 10:50, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
