V.I.N.CENT

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V.I.N.CENT is a robot from the 1979 Disney film The Black Hole.

A crew member on board the exploration ship U.S.S. Palomino, V.I.N.CENT was the first to detect the U.S.S. Cygnus, previously thought to be lost, hovering on the event horizon of a black hole. He accompanied the crew to investigate and later met Old B.O.B., an older model robot aboard the Cygnus. V.I.N.CENT's friendship with B.O.B. led to the revelation that the crew was in imminent danger from the captain of the Cygnus, Dr. Hans Reinhardt, who had turned his own crew members into mindless humanoid slaves. V.I.N.CENT also managed to defeat the hulking guardian robot onboard the ship known as Maximillian, saving the rest of the crew and enabling their escape.

V.I.N.CENT's name was an acronym for Vital Information Necessary, CENTralized. His normal means of locomotion was to hover in the air, but he was also equipped with magnetic "feet" that enabled him to travel along the outer hull of the ship. He used a variety of gadgets including a tether cable, retractable laser blasters, extending claws, and a rotary blade.

V.I.N.CENT also shared an ESP link with one of the crew members, Dr. Kate McCrae. In a novel (written by Alan Dean Foster) based on the movie's script, the link is established via an ESP-Module implanted in both Vincent and McCrae.

V.I.N.CENT was voiced by Roddy McDowall.

[edit] Folk Wisdom

V.I.N.CENT seems to have been programmed with an unending amount of folk wisdom and the need to dole it out to his crew mates. When asked by a human crewmate: "Were you programmed to bug me?", He replies: "No, Sir, To educate you." This seems to imply that his behaviour is intentional rather than a malfunction. Some of his notable aphorisms follow:

• A pint cannot hold a quart; if it holds a pint it is doing the best it can.
• There are three basic types: the Wills, the Won'ts, and the Can'ts. The Wills accomplish everything, the Won'ts oppose everything, and the Can'ts won't try anything.
• To quote Cicero: rashness is the characteristic of youth, prudence that of mellowed age, and discretion the better part of valor.
• There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are very few old, bold pilots.
• "All sunshine makes a desert," so the Arabs say.
• A wolf remains a wolf, even if he has not eaten your sheep.
• They also serve those who stand and wait.
• If one dances, one must pay the piper.
• You can't unscramble eggs.