Gallery: All Hail Our Robot Overlords! Sci-Fi's Best Bots
01bender-from-futurama
Czech playwright Karel Capek popularized the term *robot* in the 1921 play [R.U.R.](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/01/0125robot-cometh-capek-rur-debut/), spawning a deluge of artificial life forms in popular culture. Wired.com assembled this list of androids, cyborgs and other memorable machines that left their indelible imprints on movies and television shows in the ensuing nine decades. They will be remembered long after their robotic brothers are shipped off to the great scrap heap in sky (located somewhere near the outer edge of the solar system). Got your own favorites? Show your robot love in the comments section below. __Above:__ Bender ------ __Source code:__ Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's hard-to-kill sci-fi spoof [Futurama](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/06/futurama-david-cohen). __Execute win!__ Despite being a suicidal, self-absorbed jerk, can still save face ... and the day. __Major malfunction:__ Does not compute.
02sentinels-from-matrix
Sentinels --------- __Source code:__ [The Matrix](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix_%28franchise%29), The Wachowski Bros.' ambitious but anticlimactic hyperreality factory. __Execute win!__ Lethal machine squids spawned from genocidal supercomputers, yet coded with the capacity for loyalty and love (See: Peter Chung's animated mind-wipe [Matriculated](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matriculated#Matriculated)). __Major malfunction:__ Couldn't save The Matrix franchise.
03roy-batty
Roy Batty --------- __Source code:__ Ridley Scott's smart, wet sci-fi cinema classic [Blade Runner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_runner), based on Philip K. Dick's tech-noir novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? __Execute win!__ Rutger Hauer's [existential replicant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characters_in_Blade_Runner#Roy_Batty) quotes William Blake and finally abandons nihilism for mercy. __Major malfunction:__ Too-short shelf life.
Lucasfilm04r2-d2-and-c-3p0
R2-D2 and C-3P0 --------------- __Source code:__ [Some sci-fi franchise](http://starwars.com/) from [some dude](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_lucas). __Execute win!__ Odd-couple comedy, post-obliterated pluck and an uncanny tendency to be present at the most crucial moments in intergalactic history. __Major malfunction:__ Prone to prolonged lovers' quarrels.
05octus-from-sym-bionic-titan
Octus ----- __Source code:__ [Genndy Tartakovksy](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/09/symbionic-titan)'s stellar American anime series, [Sym-Bionic Titan](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/12/wired-best-of-2010/?pid=2364). __Execute win!__ Next-gen mecha-bot nerd scores with ditzy high-school cheer queen. __Major malfunction:__ Along with Tartakovksy, deserves more attention, credit, episodes.
06data-from-star-trek-the-next-generation
Data ---- __Source code:__ Gene Roddenberry's benevolent television reboot, Star Trek: The Next Generation. __Execute win!__ Comic relief, seeking intellect, gentle spirit, kick-ass strength, [wrapped in Brent Spiner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_%28Star_Trek%29)'s skin. __Major malfunction:__ Only had sex once (I think).
07robotman
Robotman -------- __Source code:__ DC Comics' surreal alt-hero series [Doom Patrol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotman_%28Cliff_Steele%29). __Execute win!__ Saves lives, sells comics, despite his human brain's hatred for his robot body. __Major malfunction:__ Wears underwear. Doesn't come in colors other than gold.
08cylons
Cylons ------ __Source code:__ [Battlestar Galactica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica) 1.0, 2.0., 3.0. ad nauseam. __Execute win!__ The ['70s Cylons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylon_%281978%29) were almost as cool as the Star Wars [Sith Lord](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader) that inspired them. __Major malfunction:__ "Skinjobs" from '00s reboots were supermodels in space. Paging [Dr. Turing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test)!
09wall-e
Wall-E ------ __Source code:__ [Pixar's hearts-and-minds winner *Wall-E*](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2008/06/review-wall-es), in which the bot goes from recycler to adventurer. __Execute win!__ Meek-bot scores superweapon love. Saves humanity from its fat, stupid self. __Major malfunction:__ Saves humanity from its fat, stupid self.
10crow-t-robot-and-tom-servo
Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot --------------------------- __Source code:__ Metafictional multimedia spoof [Mystery Science Theater 3000](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Science_Theater_3000), where Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo hang out on the *Satellite of Love* with their metallic pals, Gypsy and Cambot. __Execute win!__ The funniest robots ever created. End of line. __Major malfunction:__ Not on television anymore; never given their own sitcom.
11ash-and-bishop-from-alien-films
Ash and Bishop -------------- __Source code:__ Ridley Scott's Alien and James Cameron's Aliens, respectively. __Execute win!__ [Ash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_%28Alien%29) is a terrifying sellout. [Bishop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_%28Aliens%29) is a creepy loyalist. __Major malfunction:__ Mostly scrapped from subsequently underwhelming Alien films.
12transformers-2
Transformers ------------ __Source code:__ Hasbro toys and cartoons, [befuddling Michael Bay](http://io9.com/5301898/michael-bay-finally-made-an-art-movie) films. __Execute win!__ Can *transform* their appearance, annihilate whatever, inhale cash. __Major malfunction:__ Unlike Decepticons, Autobots pass as cars and trucks rather than something cool.
13robby-the-robot
Robby the Robot --------------- __Source code:__ The 1956 Freud-meets-Shakespeare sci-fi classic [Forbidden Planet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet). __Execute win!__ The [rubbery Robby robot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robby_the_robot)-overlorded '50s, '60s and '70s television and advertising, and served as role model for Star Trek: The Next Generation's Data. __Major malfunction:__ Can't compete with CGI.
14astro-boy
Astro Boy --------- __Source code:__ [Osamu Tezuka's post-nuclear multimedia franchise *Astro Boy*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_boy), which turns 60 next year. __Execute win!__ Cloned from Mickey Mouse, raised in manga, gave birth to anime as we know it. __Major malfunction:__ Not convincing Genndy Tartakovksy to stay and direct the [not-great CGI *Astro Boy* reboot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_Boy_%28film%29).
15marvin-the-paranoid-android-2
Marvin the Paranoid Android --------------------------- __Source code:__ Douglas Adams' delightful sci-fi series [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy). __Execute win!__ An [existential robot depressed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_the_Paranoid_Android) by his routine servitude? What a concept! __Major malfunction:__ It sucks being 37 times older than the universe when time itself bores you.
16maschinenmensch
Maschinenmensch --------------- __Source code:__ Fritz Lang's 1927 silent sci-fi labor allegory [Metropolis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_%28film%29). __Execute win!__ The most notorious of cinema's robot pioneers. __Major malfunction:__ A [terrorist gynoid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maschinenmensch) straight outta [Pygmalion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_%28mythology%29), who performs riot-inciting erotic dances to destabilize the social order? Paging Dr. Freud!
17terminator
Terminator ---------- __Source code:__ [James Cameron's apocalyptic franchise](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_%28franchise%29) about an unstoppable kill-bot. __Execute win!__ Fearsomely inhabited by muscle champ Arnold Schwarzenegger. __Major malfunction:__ Fearsomely injected Schwarzenegger's political career with robo-roids.
18the-iron-giant
The Iron Giant -------------- __Source code:__ Brad Bird's timeless 1999 animated film, *[The Iron Giant](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2009/08/a-decade-later-the-iron-giants-weaponized-soul-still-stirs)*. __Execute win!__ An interstellar superweapon with a heart of gold and hip friends. __Major malfunction:__ Self-aware maxim "I am not a gun" obsolete in desensitized 21st-century hyperreality.
