History Main / GoodOldRobot

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': In the vein of R2-D2, [=B2EMO=] is a decades-old salvage droid owned by the Andor family. He's visibly scuffed and dented, one wheel is a replacement, his battery can barely hold charge any more and he's developed an ElectronicSpeechImpediment, but the Andors still keep him around for companionship. Showrunner Creator/TonyGilroy has stated in interviews that [=B2EMO=] was written to be the droid equivalent of an OldDog.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': In the vein of R2-D2, [=B2EMO=] is a decades-old salvage droid owned by the Andor family. He's visibly scuffed and dented, one wheel is a replacement, his battery can barely hold charge any more and he's developed an ElectronicSpeechImpediment, but the Andor still keep him around for companionship. Showrunner Tony Gilroy has stated he was written to be the droid equivalent of an OldDog.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': In the vein of R2-D2, B2EMO is a decades-old salvage droid owned by the Andor family. He's visibly scuffed and dented, one wheel is a replacement, his battery can barely hold charge any more and he's developed a RoboticSpeechImpediment, but the Andor still keep him around for companionship. Showrunner Tony Gilroy has stated he's the droid equivalent of an OldDog.

This is often AnAesop (and not even a very hidden one) where the old robot will be shown to have a much more developed (and human-like) personality, while the new models will be more able and better looking but unfeeling. It can be justified if robots learn humanity from humans over time and thus the old robot is more developed in this way. However, it may just be sentimentality -- the character has a relationship with the old robot that a ReplacementGoldfish wouldn't fulfill. If the character believes that AndroidsArePeopleToo, the idea of ''replacing'' a friend or adopted family member with a newer model would probably be unthinkable.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/StarWars https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/r2forever.png]]]]

* ''Film/PacificRim'' has a HumongousMecha example: the heroes' mech, Gipsy Danger, is less advanced and more worn-out than their rivals' mech, Striker Eureka. . . which incidentally makes it perfect for the mission to destroy the creators of the Kaiju.

This is often AnAesop (and not even a very hidden one) where the old robot will be shown to have a much more developed (and human-like) personality, while the new models will be more able and better looking but unfeeling. However, it may just be sentimentality -- the character has a relationship with the old robot that a ReplacementGoldfish wouldn't fulfill. If the character believes that AndroidsArePeopleToo, the idea of ''replacing'' a friend or adopted family member with a newer model would probably be unthinkable.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* This comes up in ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' a few times. The first season of ''[[Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Stand Alone Complex]]'' has an episode revolving around an old model of gynoid which were still popular because they were easy to customise. Another episode has the CEO of a company use what is essentially a box with four legs as his body, as he likes the old-fashioned style. The manga explains the box isn't that old-fashioned; it requires extremely sophisticated simulated sensation of body in order to avoid insanity due to sensory deprivation. The man just likes to advertise that he gave up his body to the company, so to speak; they sell organs donated by people who prefer cybernetics, which are cheaper and faster to get than cloned organs.

* Creator/DCComics' Star Hawkins -- Space Detective! His robot secretary, Ilda, is very much an antique model - Star admittedly can't afford better, but he wouldn't get rid of her even if he could. (Except in ''Twilight'' [or "Let's make all our goofy sci-fi characters DarkerAndEdgier"], where he says he'd have junked her if he'd had a chance. But [[CanonDisContinuity that wasn't the real Star Hawkins]].) An even better example is Stella Sterling in ''Whatever Happened To ... Star Hawkins'', who can ''certainly'' afford a top-of-the-range robot bodyguard, but prefers Automan, a robot who dates back to the 1960s.

* More or less the premise of ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster''.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPlutoNash''. The title character's bodyguard robot can't run very fast and his speech is very noticeable RoboSpeak. But Pluto keeps him around for sentimental purposes. He's also "incompatible" with Pluto's robot maid. Pluto does get a new one at the end, but only so he can make Bruno his club manager. Bruno also has years of "rill-hopping" experience in him from their smuggling days. Also, compared to the other robots shown, Bruno is a lot smarter. He can even intercept phone calls but can't listen to them himself.

* In ''Film/BladeRunner'', the character played by Creator/WilliamSanderson has a house full of "misfit toys", so to speak.
* This was the plot of ''Film/{{Cherry 2000}}''; the male protagonist accidentally breaks his RobotGirl, and her model's out of production. Instead of getting a new model, he hires an ActionGirl to take him to the abandoned factory in the post-apocalyptic wasteland, so he can find another Cherry-model to install the backup memory chip into.

** "Literature/TheBicentennialMan": The Martin family's RobotButler is owned outright, while United States Robots typically only leases robots. They're offended by the Martin family's decision to keep, and eventually [[AndroidsArePeopleToo free]], their robot. To prevent other robots from [[AIIsACrapshoot turning out like Andrew]], they scrap robots after twenty-five years, they start to separate the brain and bodies of robots, and they make robots more [[SingleTaskRobot narrowly-focused]] instead of the more general intelligence that Andrew qualifies as.

---> "Once a robot is in my house," she said, "and has performed his duties, any minor eccentricities must be borne with. I will not have him manhandled."
* Grumps is exactly this to the Bell family in Helen Fox's childrens' novel [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eager_%28novel%29 Eager.]]

** Jenkins, in the composite novel City, was kept on as a Webster family heirloom and ends up outliving the entire human race.

** In "CemetaryWorld", Elmer was made in the last days of EarthThatWas, and was evacuated with the last humans. He's very good with maintaining and repairing machinery.
* In ''Zima Blue'' by Creator/AlastairReynolds, [[spoiler: Zima]] began life as a simple pool cleaning robot which derived 'pleasure' from the color of its pool tiles. The robot's creator made a small fortune selling kits of the design, and used the robot as a testbed for new upgrades. When he died, he passed the robot onto his children and so on, and they continued to upgrade the robot. Eventually, it was given its freedom once it became near-human in intelligence. [[spoiler: The robot continued to upgrade itself, then used bio-augmentation to become near-human. His old programming remained, and he turned into a mad artist that painted entire worlds in "Zima Blue". Eventually, he rebuilds the inventor's pool with recovered tiles, and sheds his augmented mind to live in simple pleasure]].

** [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Bollux Bollux]] in ''Literature/TheHanSoloAdventures'' by Creator/BrianDaley. Bollux is actually a slight subversion, as his only real use is as a mobile hiding place for a highly-advanced hacking/data droid, a Trojan Horse if you will.

* In ''C.L.U.T.Z'', a children's book series by Marilyn Z. Wilkes, the titular robot is an older model who gets along better with the young protagonist Rodney. Newer robot models are designed to be efficient, but the older models like C.L.U.T.Z. were programmed to have fun personalities. In the second book C.L.U.T.Z. meets Rodney's grandfather, who remarks delightedly, "A robot with imagination! Just how they used to make them in the old days."

* The protagonists of ''Series/AlmostHuman''. Kennex "accidentally" destroys his police-issued MX android (emotionless and efficient) partner, so the department saddles him with "Dorian", a leftover DRN (discontinued for having overly-realistic emotions).
* In ''Series/PowerRangersSPD,'' the robot dog RIC (Robotic Interactive Canine). Run down and broken, with replacement parts long out of production, he was given to making any sound ''but'' dog sounds, and annoyed the Rangers until he [[TakingTheBullet jumped into]] MechaMooks' fire to save Syd. Though she had been first in line to just recycle him before, now Syd couldn't bear to, and got the tech-savvy Bridge and Boom to work on him. The result is a DoAnythingRobot that even turns into a "[=K9=] Cannon" for a FinishingMove... though a lot of fans preferred RIC the way he'd been before!
* The last part of the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode ''The Last Day'' centres on this.

* ''VideoGame/{{Anachronox}}''. PAL-18 was originally built as a toy (the series is considered valuable collector's items) but is custom-equipped with hacker software and functional weapons. And Mystech capability. And self-awareness. And the personality of a bratty eight-year old. All in all making him far more useful than anything manufactured recently.

*** It's explicitly stated that Dr Cain didn't [[WellIntentionedReplacement fully understand some of Dr Light's schematics]], which makes all 1st generation reploids less "newer models" and more [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct inferior]] [[FollowTheLeader imitations]] of X, who is really the latest in a long line of models by a very skilled scientist.
* Joey in ''VideoGame/BeneathASteelSky''. Even though he's built from scrap parts found in garbage dumps in the Australian wasteland where Roberts' tribe lives, he manages to interact with, even outsmart, more modern robots/programs. Also, his circuit board seems to be compatible with most robots they encounter ([[spoiler:Even the latest type of artificial human LINC has created.]]).

* In ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}'', Bucket uses a forty year old repair drone chassis despite having access to better models. It's for sentimental reasons, as it's the body Cabot gave him when they [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight split off from the Marshals]], though that hasn't stopped him from making some [[ArmCannon modifications]].

* Bender of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is obsolete as of the debut of Robot 1-X in "Obsoletely Fabulous." The episode went through a complicated process of getting Bender and the older robots to accept the 1-X, and then the 1-X inexplicably disappeared and hasn't been seen since.

** Three episodes into the [[UnCancelled Un-Cancellation]] (and ten years into the show's timeline), Bender finds Flexo, an identical bending unit, in a hazardous waste bin. As Flexo begins to explain that bending units are now considered dangerously outdated ("We overheat, we're radioactive, we cause [[CurseCutShort erectile dysfu]]—"), Bender slams the lid back on the bin before an incoming Farnsworth can overhear him. By the finale of the same season, Bender himself admits that his circuitry is "twelve years out of date."
* Happens on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'', when Rosie is apparently outclassed by a later model of robot, and runs away when she sees a salesman giving them the hard sell.
** This trope came up fairly often on the series (particularly the 80s revival), as Rosie is considered a long-obsolete robot model by the Jetsons' future's standards.

* Helper from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' is certainly of the money-saving variety. Dr Venture prefers to repair or reuse his father's old tech than invent his own.

This is often AnAesop (and not even a very hidden one) where the old robot will be shown to have a much more developed (and human-like) personality, while the new models will be more able and better looking but unfeeling. However, it may just be sentimentality -- the character has a relationship with the old robot that a ReplacementGoldfish wouldn't fulfil. If the character believes that AndroidsArePeopleToo, the idea of ''replacing'' a friend or adopted family member with a newer model would probably be unthinkable.

* In the ''Manga/KareKano'' [[ShowWithinAShow play within the manga]] ''Steel Snow'', the main character keeps 'Antique', an old robot, around because it resembles his first love.

** In "The Literature/BicentennialMan", Andrew (later known as Andrew Martin) is owned by the Martin family. Most other robots are leased and recycled after a number of years. After Andrew's "individuality" annoys the CEO of U.S. Robotics, the company buys back all old robots (the Martins refuse to sell) and destroys them. The company even later begins to reduce the intelligence of the robots, with all higher functions being done by central computers in communication with the robots. Sort of like [=PCs=] today, where you can buy netbooks and/or browser OS.

** In the short story ''Light Verse'', a wealthy socialite and artist refuses to fix her old robot butler, finding his eccentricities charming, [[spoiler:but it turns out that it was the malfunctioning robots who were creating her art]].
** Robbie, from the short story of the same name, is a robot babysitter to a little girl. The family tries to junk him, but it becomes apparent that Robbie and the child are much too attached to each other for that to be an option.

* Carl from ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons'' is the lowest tech thing the family has, apparently built when Lewis was just a kid. His son inherits it.

** C-3PO and R2-D2. Both droids are over sixty years old yet are still in excellent condition even next to the more modern BB-8. They are also the only two characters to appear in all nine films of the Skywalker Saga.

** C-3PO and R2-D2. Especially C-3PO in the prequels.

** Three episodes into the [[UnCancelled Un-Cancellation]] (and ten years into the show's timeline), Bender finds Flexo, an identical bender unit, in a hazardous waste bin. As Flexo begins to explain that bender units are now considered dangerously outdated ("We overheat, we're radioactive, we cause [[CurseCutShort erectile dysfu]]—"), Bender slams the lid back on the bin before an incoming Farnsworth can overhear him. By the finale of the same season, Bender himself admits that his circuitry is "twelve years out of date."

** Three episodes into the [[UnCancelled Un-Cancellation]] (the year 3010 in the show's timeline), Bender finds Flexo, an identical bender unit, in a hazardous waste bin. As Flexo begins to explain that bender units are now considered dangerously outdated ("We overheat, we're radioactive, we cause [[CurseCutShort erectile dysfu]]—"), Bender slams the lid back on the bin before an incoming Farnsworth can overhear him. By the finale of the same season, Bender himself admits that his circuitry is "twelve years out of date."

** Three episodes into the [[UnCancelled Un-Cancellation]] (the year 3010 in the show's timeline), Bender finds Flexo, an identical bender unit, in a hazardous waste bin. As Flexo begins to explain that bender units are now considered dangerously outdated ("We overheat, we're radioactive, we cause [[CurseCutShort erectile dysfu]]—"), Bender slams the lid back on the bin before an incoming Farnsworth can overhear him. By the finale of the same season, Bender's circuitry is "twelve years out of date."

** Three episodes into the 2010 [[UnCancelled Un-Cancellation]] (3010 in the show's timeline), Bender finds Flexo, an identical bender unit, in a hazardous waste bin. As Flexo begins to explain that bender units are now considered dangerously outdated ("We overheat, we're radioactive, we cause [[CurseCutShort erectile dysfu]]—"), Bender slams the lid back on the bin before an incoming Farnsworth can overhear him. By the finale of the same season, Bender's circuitry is "twelve years out of date."

** Three episodes into the [[UnCancelled Un-Cancellation]], Bender finds Flexo, an identical bender unit, in a hazardous waste bin. As Flexo begins to explain that bender units are now considered dangerously outdated ("We overheat, we're radioactive, we cause [[CurseCutShort erectile dysfu]]—"), Bender slams the lid back on the bin before an incoming Farnsworth can overhear him. By the finale of the same season, Bender's circuitry is "twelve years out of date."

** 1-X reappears in the movies, but considering it got ''sliced in half'', it seems unlikely that it'll appear in the new season.
** It has reappeared in the new season... in Robot Heaven.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov likes this trope.
** From ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'': R. Daneel Olviaw, even before [[spoiler:he aged 20,000 years]]

* An episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' features a down-on-his-luck boxer in an age when all boxing is done by prizefighting robots. His old Mark 3 boxer-bot is no match for the new Mark 7s that litter the profession, but darn it, the Mark 3 is ''his'' robot. [[spoiler:When his robot malfunctions, he enters the ring himself pretending to be a robot. This does not end well for him.]]
** This episode was based on a short story by Richard Matheson, the same story that was loosely adapted into ''Film/RealSteel'' several decades later.

* More or less the premise of ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster''. More or less.

* Grumps is exactly this to the Bell family in Helen Fox's childrens' novel [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eager_%28novel%29 Eager]].

** In the short story AllTheTrapsOfEarth, robot servant Richard Daniel was kept around so long the Barringtons even gave him a last name.
** In CemetaryWorld, Elmer was made in the last days of EarthThatWas, and was evacuated with the last humans. He's very good with maintaining and repairing machinery.