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''Robots Have No Tails'' is a short story collection by Creator/HenryKuttner. The collection was first published in 1952. The five stories in the collection were originally published in ''Magazine/AstoundingStories'' between 1943 and 1948 under the byline "Lewis Padgett".
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''Robots Have No Tails'' is a short story collection by Creator/HenryKuttner. The collection was first published in 1952. The five stories in the collection were originally published in ''Magazine/AstoundingStories'' between 1943 and 1948 under the byline "Lewis Padgett".
Padgett".[[note]]This pseudonym was often used for Kuttner's collaborations with Creator/CLMoore, but Moore went on record that these stories were all Kuttner.[[/note]]
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* ExactWords: Exploited by Joe from time to time as a form of rebellion. An example is his description of the "small brown creature" that only he can see in "Ex Machina", which is accurate as far as it goes but leaves out several important details such as [[spoiler:the fact that it's [[MiniatureSeniorCitizens Gallegher's grandfather]]]].
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* OrwellianRetcon: In the original magazine publication, the inventor's name was 'Galloway' in the first story and 'Gallegher' in the second, because Kuttner had moved house and mislaid his notes and forgotten what he'd named the character. He stuck to 'Gallegher' for subsequent stories, and reprints of the first story, including in ''Robots Have No Tails'' also use 'Gallegher'.
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* SecondLawMyAss: On his first introduction in "The Proud Robot", Joe is entirely disobedient, refusing to obey any order until Gallegher demonstrates that he remembers the purpose for which Joe was constructed. Even afterward, Joe is rude and unhelpful, and frequently avoids obeying instructions.
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extracted from Henry Kuttner
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''Robots Have No Tails'' is a short story collection by Creator/HenryKuttner. The collection was first published in 1952. The five stories in the collection were originally published in ''Magazine/AstoundingStories'' between 1943 and 1948 under the byline "Lewis Padgett".
The stories are comic science fantasy and feature an inventor named Galloway Gallegher, who reaches unimaginable heights of genius while drunk, which invariably causes trouble when he wakes up the day after with a hangover and no idea what his latest creation is supposed to do or how to operate it.
The supporting cast includes Joe the robot, one of Gallegher's inventions, who [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids possesses many amazing capabilities that are entirely irrelevant to his primary function]], and is also a self-centered jerk who refuses to obey any instructions other than the one he was built to perform.
The stories are: "The Proud Robot", "Gallegher Plus", "The World Is Mine", "Ex Machina", and "Time Locker".
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!!These stories contain examples of:
* TheAlcoholic: Gallegher has a severe and probably hereditary drinking problem, which the stories [[PlayedForComedy play for comedy]].
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Vanning]] in "Time Locker"
* DrunkenMaster: Gallegher's genius is activated only when drunk.
* FutureSocietyPresentValues: The distant future that Gallegher inhabits is distinctly similar to 1940s urban America.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Gallegher in "Time Locker", when he realizes [[spoiler:that Vanning had reached into the future and crushed ''himself'']].
* LaserGuidedKarma: In "Time Locker", AmoralAttorney Vanning sees a small person attempting to take illict bonds he's hiding in the AppliedPhlebotinum for a client, and squashes the person. [[spoiler:Turns out that all things are contracting faster than Galloway[=/=]Gallegher realizes and Vanning sent himself to the Malebolge.]]
* PhysicalGod: Horrifyingly, one of the main characters in "Ex Machina" is revealed to be a ''de facto'' god.
* RoboticPsychopath: Although he's frequently likened to Narcissus and is definitely autosexual (in the sense of being sexually attracted to oneself), Gallegher's robot Joe also seems to legitimately have narcissistic personality disorder. The extent of his autocracy extends ''far'' beyond SecondLawMyAss.
* SingleTaskRobot: Gallegher's robot, Joe, was created after Gallegher set out to create a simple device for a single purpose, went overboard and ended up with a DoAnythingRobot with all kinds of extra abilities -- which refuses to obey any order not relating to the original single purpose.
* SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids: Gallegher's robot Joe possesses a wide variety of amazing functions that are all completely incidental to the robot's primary function. Played for laughs.
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: The driving force of the Gallegher stories.
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The stories are comic science fantasy and feature an inventor named Galloway Gallegher, who reaches unimaginable heights of genius while drunk, which invariably causes trouble when he wakes up the day after with a hangover and no idea what his latest creation is supposed to do or how to operate it.
The supporting cast includes Joe the robot, one of Gallegher's inventions, who [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids possesses many amazing capabilities that are entirely irrelevant to his primary function]], and is also a self-centered jerk who refuses to obey any instructions other than the one he was built to perform.
The stories are: "The Proud Robot", "Gallegher Plus", "The World Is Mine", "Ex Machina", and "Time Locker".
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!!These stories contain examples of:
* TheAlcoholic: Gallegher has a severe and probably hereditary drinking problem, which the stories [[PlayedForComedy play for comedy]].
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Vanning]] in "Time Locker"
* DrunkenMaster: Gallegher's genius is activated only when drunk.
* FutureSocietyPresentValues: The distant future that Gallegher inhabits is distinctly similar to 1940s urban America.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Gallegher in "Time Locker", when he realizes [[spoiler:that Vanning had reached into the future and crushed ''himself'']].
* LaserGuidedKarma: In "Time Locker", AmoralAttorney Vanning sees a small person attempting to take illict bonds he's hiding in the AppliedPhlebotinum for a client, and squashes the person. [[spoiler:Turns out that all things are contracting faster than Galloway[=/=]Gallegher realizes and Vanning sent himself to the Malebolge.]]
* PhysicalGod: Horrifyingly, one of the main characters in "Ex Machina" is revealed to be a ''de facto'' god.
* RoboticPsychopath: Although he's frequently likened to Narcissus and is definitely autosexual (in the sense of being sexually attracted to oneself), Gallegher's robot Joe also seems to legitimately have narcissistic personality disorder. The extent of his autocracy extends ''far'' beyond SecondLawMyAss.
* SingleTaskRobot: Gallegher's robot, Joe, was created after Gallegher set out to create a simple device for a single purpose, went overboard and ended up with a DoAnythingRobot with all kinds of extra abilities -- which refuses to obey any order not relating to the original single purpose.
* SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids: Gallegher's robot Joe possesses a wide variety of amazing functions that are all completely incidental to the robot's primary function. Played for laughs.
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: The driving force of the Gallegher stories.
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