V.I.N.CENT

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V.I.N.CENT is a robot from the 1979 Disney film The Black Hole. His name is an acronym for Vital Information Necessary, CENTralized. V.I.N.CENT's normal means of locomotion is hovering, but he is also equipped with magnetic "feet" that enable him to hang from metal walls or even travel along the outer hull of a ship. V.I.N.CENT uses a variety of gadgets including a tether cable, retractable laser blasters, extending claws, and a rotary blade. He can also retract his helmet, using it as a protective shield.

V.I.N.CENT was stationed on board the exploration ship U.S.S. Palomino and, despite his mechanical status, was considered a valued crew member by Captain Holland. He was the first to detect the U.S.S. Cygnus, previously thought to be lost, hovering on the event horizon of a black hole. V.I.N.CENT 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 its 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 shared an ESP link with one of the crew members, Dr. Kate McCrae. (In the novelization by Alan Dean Foster, the link is established via an ESP-Module implanted in both Vincent and McCrae, while in the movie the source of this ability is left unexplained.)

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

[edit] Folk wisdom

V.I.N.CENT exhibited a tendency to dole out folk wisdom to his fellow crew mates, and was ready with a "penny's worth of philosophy" for any situation. At one point, crewman Charlie Pizer (Joseph Bottoms) inquired whether V.I.N.CENT was programmed to bug him; V.I.N.CENT. replied, "No, sir. To educate you."

Some of V.I.N.CENT's 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.
  • "It's only dinner," said the spider to the fly.
  • The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
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