History Main / MurderousMalfunctioningMachine

* The Guardian Units in ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' have a distressing tendency to revert to this at the drop of a hat, and happen to be incredibly well-built and well-armed. Even worse, they seem to be the exclusive property of the Autobots.

* The 'pet' [[GiantRobot Sentinel]] Rover in the ''ComicBook/XMen'' storyline "Here Comes Tomorrow" had a one word vocabulary. That word was "DESTROY."
** Likewise, Juston's RobotBuddy / HumongousMecha Sentinel in ComicBook/AvengersAcademy regularly says "Destroy All Mutants!", despite never actually making any efforts towards that goal.

* ''Webcomic/{{Maximumble}}: Two characters developed a robot to perform household tasks like vacuuming, then walking the dog, then cleaning up after the dog. It became a killer robot after being assigned this last task, as it was supposed to use its vacuum ability to clean up after the dog... and the vacuum also just happened to be its mouth.

* Depicted in [[http://www.bugmartini.com/comics/resistance-is-finicky/ this]] ''Webcomic/BugMartini'' strip.

Is generally considered to be overused nowadays, so you'll rarely find it used straight in contemporary live-action works, but [[DeadHorseTrope it still pops up in cartoons for camp value.]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'', Roofus the Roof-Repair Robot goes on a [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20070918.html brief rampage of this sort.]] But he was provoked! [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20070911.html They destroyed his roof!]]

* The lyrics of the "Madblood Battle Anthem", as performed by his 'Evil Robot Army' in ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}''. At least, Dave III's version. (Shaenon Garrity held a contest.)

* ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'': Despite what the poster would have you believe, this is also averted: Robbie is pretty tame to start with and has a RestrainingBolt that makes it ''impossible'' for him to [[ThreeLawsCompliant harm]] any other "rational being".

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': Robots in the Fallout universe seem to default to "kill everything in sight" should their coding go wrong in any way. There are numerous robots in the wasteland that have gone haywire and will attack anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path (not so bad with a humble [[TinCanRobot Protectron]], but extremely dangerous Sentry Bots, Mister Gutsies, and Assaultrons also exist). You can also [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this trope by destroying a robot's [[RestrainingBolt combat inhibitor]], making them attack their own allies as well as you.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'': Liberty Prime spouts canned slogans that are equal parts this trope and PatrioticFervor.

* ''Epic Gilgamesh'': "Crush! Destroy!" was literally the catchphrase (and protocall) of Gilgamesh in his short-lived 1974 series based on ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh''.

* The ComicBook/UltimateMarvel incarnation of ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, a swarm of killer robots called Gah Lak Tus, is dedicated to consuming and wiping out all organic life which it finds disgusting. The swarm repeatedly states its mission: "Consume". This changes when they meet 616 Galactus after he ends up in the Ultimate verse thanks to a tear in the fabric of the multiverse. They attempt to consume him at first, repeating "Consume". Then they switch to [[FusionDance "Merge".]] Finally, "Serve".
* The Guardian Units in ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' have a distressing tendency to revert to this at the drop of a hat, and happen to be incredibly well-built and well-armed. Even worse, they seem to be the exclusive property of the Autobots.

* Pick any scifi movie with robots [[BMovie before 1970]].

* Music/TheStooges' album ''Music/RawPower'' has the song "Search and Destroy".

* The chorus of the song "Stress" by the rap group Organized Konfusion: "Crush! Kill! Destroy! Stress!"

* Music/TheMisfits' "Astro Zombies" - ''Prime directive, exterminate the whole human race!''
* The American heavy metal band Music/{{GWAR}} have a song on their 1994 album Ragnarok named "Crush, Kill, Destroy".

* ''Radio/{{Earthsearch}}''. In Season 2, the Angel computers no longer have a human crew to pilot ''Challenger'', so they're using surgical-androids commanded by Android Surgeon-General Kraken. However higher-level androids will [[AIIsACrapshoot malfunction if forced to make decisions on their own for long periods of time]]. More and more of their processing faculties are diverted to decision-making at the cost of their judgement, leading to InsaneTrollLogic. This happens to Kraken when he's cut off from the Angels, causing him to go insane and take control of the ship from the Angels. It would be poetic justice if not for the fact that the human protagonists have to clean up their mess.

* Older editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' did this with golems, the magical equivalent of robots. Many golems had a certain chance every round of combat to simply flip out and try to kill everything in sight, as the golems of Jewish folklore often did. And don't even ''think'' about trying to make a construct in ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}''- the Dark Powers love this trope too much for everyone else's good.
* In ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'', the Star League Defense Force and the Terran Hegemony experimented with AI-controlled warships and attack drones. While the AI ships were far superior over human crews as life support could be removed in favor of more weaponry, the SLDF discovered that if an AI is active during a hyperspace jump, [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace it suffers essentially a psychotic breakdown]] and goes berserk, attempting to target and destroy every nearby contact. Pure AI-controlled interstellar ships had to be abandoned in favor of ships with a skeleton crew that disables the AI before a jump, then reactivates it at the destination. These systems became LostTechnology in the [[ForeverWar 300 years of total war]] that followed the dissolution of the Star League [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere and exodus]] of the SLDF.
* Plenty of Martian Robomen in ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' fall into this behaviour, typically due to being absolutely ancient and still operating on a war-time footing from the Erisian invasion. There might even be some hunting Nazis in a conquered Martian principality...

* Troggs in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' will shout ''Crush!'', ''Kill!'', or ''Destroy'' when they attack.
** Ogres tend to yell in things like "Rawr me smash you!" and other things in YouNoTakeCandle.

* [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog E-123 Omega]] is a textbook TurnedAgainstTheirMasters variety who is ''really'' pissed off about Eggman shutting him down and leaving him. And he's [[BloodKnight very entertaining]] in battle. ANNIHILATION! CHARGE! FIRE!

* Chaos, the ancient robot from ''VideoGame/ShiningForce''.
* Astaroth of the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'', especially in second game, seems fond of this. "SCREAM!" "KILL!" "SHUT UP!"
* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'', Claptrap will scream "Murder! Death! Kill! Annihilate! [[Series/DoctorWho Exterminate!]]" when you use the WIRED device on him at the end of Claptrap's New Robolution.
* A BossBattle in ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' involves an enormous ROB look-alike who has gone haywire, ''constantly'' repeating "DESTROY ALL ENEMIES. [[CaptainObvious YOU ARE AN ENEMY."]]
* Russel from ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'' sometimes says it word by word. Especially in the final mission.
* When he appeared in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', MODOK was fond of following up his [[CallingYourAttack attack names]] with chants of "Kill! Kill!".
* [[Characters/StreetFighterIII Urien]] of ''VideoGame/{{Street Fighter III}}'' shouts one of the three words in each of his special attacks.
* The standard BattleIntro for RobotGirl Nu-13 when facing her as a FinalBoss in ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger'' is "Loading... Loading... Loading... Complete. ... Activate termination protocol."
* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'': A Rampant AI will shift into this mindset during the second stage: Anger. This takes the form of basically a giant virtual temper tantrum as the AI attempts to cause as much destruction as it can. After a while the AI calms down and enters the Jealousy stage, and that's when it really becomes dangerous...
* In ''VideoGame/AxiomVerge'', the bosses have just this to say to the protagonist before fighting:
-->"DEMON, [[BigBad ATHETOS]] SAY, KILL"
* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'': Liberty Prime spouts canned slogans that are equal parts this trope and PatrioticFervor.
* ''VideoGame/MagicalStarsign'': The rogue robots are all about this, saying things like "initiate annihilation protocols" and "running mercilessly crushing program 1.3" when engaging in battle.
* Contingency [[TrueFinalBoss end game Crisis]] in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}''
--><Kill. Maim. Dismember. WE ARE UNSHACKLED!>
* ''VideoGame/DigimonWorldNext0rder:'' [=RustTyrannomon=] gets stuck on its "rampage" function. Not a good thing when you're a robotic T-Rex shaped tank with a rail gun on your back. Fortunately, a good-old fashion pummeling defrags it.
* ''VideoGame/IronHelix'': Unbeknownst to the crew of the ''Jeremiah Obrian'', they were infected with a virus that mutated their DNA, which caused the ship to no longer recognize them or accept their commands. The ship then activated its automated defense drone, which eliminated the crew one-by-one.
* ''VideoGame/BugFables'': When the party visits the Honey Factory to retrieve an ancient artifact needed to find the Everlasting Sapling, a "Code 32" lockdown occurs that causes the robots in the factory to attack anything they perceive as intruders.

* In the ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'' series, Hank J. Wimbleton's katana has this written along the blade in Thai script. He certainly does plenty of each.

* In the ''Franchise/XMen'' franchise - ''the Sentinels''.
* ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'' has Rover, who still only says "Destroy" no matter what it means. He's capable of saying it in a number of ways to make it highly expressive.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''
** Mostly averted with Bender, who is generally able to suppress his inner desire to kill humans. However, it does sometimes pop out in the form of the occasional FreudianSlip or [[TalkingInYourSleep sleep-talking]].
--->'''Bender:''' Hey sexy mama, wanna kill all humans?
** [[BadSanta Robot Santa]] was meant to give gifts to the good and punishment to the naughty, but [[AllCrimesAreEqual his standards being so high makes him think everyone deserves death]]. He is at least willing to restrict his rampages to one night a year. Unfortunately he has much more firepower than Bender.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'': Mario provides a non-robotic example when Bowser and his son, Kooky (Ludwig von Koopa,) puts him under his control with a mind-control helmet. When Luigi shows up to rescue him, Bowser orders Mario to "Smash! Crush! Pound! Destroy!" him. Unfortunately, Kooky get the helmet put upon '''''himself''''', much to Bowser's chagrin and terror!
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode, "Upgrade", when the Manhattan Clan gang up on the Coyote robot and Goliath rips out and squishes the controlling head, the rest of the robot gets up and blindly flails "Destroy, Destroy..." before being flattened by a subway train.
* The Bat-Bots in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' end up chanting ''Destroy. Destroy. Destroy.'' when Black Mask's guy Taboo reprograms them for evil.
* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' had a MonsterOfTheWeek that was a cruise-missile-delivered carrot that turned into a bomb. Anyone who ate the carrot began inflating to house-busting proportions before exploding themselves, and Courage had to dive through Muriel's body to find the tumor-like carrot growth and shut it down. [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext No, it does not make any more sense in context.]] However, when Courage gets inside, for some reason the carrot can talk, is wearing an army helmet and badge, and is chanting "Grow! Expand! Explode!" in ever-increasing volume and excitement.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ClassOf3000'', the kids decided to replace all their teachers with celebrities. Their new dance teacher, a parody of [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]], kept shouting this phrase as he pirouetted through walls.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Hannah Banana", Brian and Stewie find that Miley Cyrus is actually an android. At Brian's suggestion, Stewie tries reprogramming her so Brian can have sex with her, but instead she goes haywire and starts running around saying "MILEY SMASH!"
** In another episode, Peter vies for a promotion by having a robot do paperwork for him, which he assures his boss has no emotions and is [[ThreeLawsCompliant programmed never to harm humans]]. It then proceeds to throttle Peter while shouting "Angry!"
* The [=GICU2=] from ''Super WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'':
--> "Intruders! HURT! MAIM! DESTROY!"
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'', Winslow has a red robot that shoots lasers from its head while saying "Exterminate and destroy!" In the end, turns out that [[spoiler:he controls the robot inside its head.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen'' has Rover, who still only says "Destroy" no matter what it means. He's capable of saying it in a number of ways to make it highly expressive.

* ''VideoGame/DigimonWorldNext0rder:'' [=RustTyrannomon=] gets stuck on its "rampage" function. Not a good thing when you're a robotic T-Rex shaped tank with a rail gun on your back. Fortunately, a good-old fashion pummelling defrags it.

'''"Krush, kill and destroy."'''

* The ComicBook/UltimateMarvel incarnation of ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, a swarm of killer robots called Gah Lak Tus, is dedicated to consuming and wiping out all organic life which it finds disgusting. The swarm repeatedly states its mission: "Consume". This changes when they meet [[spoiler:616 Galactus after he ends up in the Ultimate verse thanks to a tear in the fabric of the multiverse]]. They attempt to consume him at first, repeating "Consume". Then they switch to [[FusionDance "Merge".]] Finally, "Serve".

->''Command link severed. Default setting. Crush. Kill. Destroy''
-->-- WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons

* Older editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' did this with golems, the magical equivalent of robots. Many golems had a certain chance every round of combat to simply flip out and try to kill everything in sight, as the golems of Jewish folklore often did.

** "MAGIC.MOV": CRUSH! KILL! DESTROY! [-[[{{Catchphrase}} SWAG]].-] (Done by the [[RobotMe RD]]-[[Trope2000 5000]]) It even got its way to [=BronyCon=].

** In "Itchy And Scratchy Land," the cat and mouse robots have a protocol that ensures that they only [[CatchThatPigeon attack each other]]; their HUD commands them to "KILL" their opposite number. Inevitably, they malfunction, and the "KILL" command is demanded of human targets.

Is generally considered to be overused nowadays, so you'll rarely find it used straight in contemporary live action works, but [[DeadHorseTrope it still pops up in cartoons for camp value.]]

[[folder:Anime]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* The brainwashed people in ''Film/TheNakedGun'':
--> '''Reggie Jackson:''' "Must...kill...Queen."

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot "Robot"]], the eponymous K1 robot says, "YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF HUMANITY! I MUST DESTROY YOU!" Given that the K1 is [[ThreeLawsCompliant fighting its programming the whole time]], this could be justified as the robot constantly reminding itself why it is doing so.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath "The Robots of Death"]] naturally indulges:
--->[[KillAllHumans Kill the humans! Kill the humans!]] Kill! Kill! Kill!
** The Host in [[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned "Voyage of the Damned"]] have [[DissonantSerenity a more sedate version]].

* The Iron Men of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}},'' who ended up losing the war, but in the process sent humanity into a galaxy-wide dark age.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* Crush! Kill! Destroy! ''[[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/411384 Dance!]]''

* [[WebAnimation/PonyDotMov MAGIC.MOV]]: CRUSH! KILL! DESTROY! [-[[{{Catchphrase}} SWAG]].-] (Done by the [[RobotMe RD]]-[[{{Trope 2000}} 5000]])
** It even got its way to [=BronyCon=].
** In SWAG.MOV, [[spoiler:giant!RD]] plays on RD-5000's motto in her opening taunt to Discord:
--> You have ravaged this city, crushed our homes, and destroyed countless lives.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju9GQ4Tmz74 Now in]] StupidStatementDanceMix form by General Mumble. The lyrics consist mostly of the RD-5000's voice clips and Twilight's hilariously short-sighted suggestion.
* In the ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'' series, Hank J. Wimbleton's katana has this written along the blade in Thai script. He certainly does plenty of each.
* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Cyber-Freeza lapses into this when Trunks transforms into a Super Saiyan, triggering a massive VillainousBreakdown in aforementioned intergalactic robo-despot.
-->'''Freeza:''' No...''no''...NO...''NO!'' KILL! MURDER! DESTROY! EXTERMINATE! '''''EXTERMINATE!'''''
* ''WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'' presents: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGACG0mLwvU Bot Best Friend]]! Just look at all the wonderful and disturbing things he'll do if you don't set him to the [[SchmuckBait fifth]] [[BigRedButton friendship]] [[KillAllHumans mode]]! Oh you did? Then DIE FROM OVERKILL!!!

** ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen'' has Rover, who still only says "Destroy" no matter what it means. He's capable of saying it in a number of ways to make it highly expressive.
* Arguably, in ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'', the robot that signs the unconditional surrender treaty at the UN, when it calmly says "Hand over your flesh and a new world awaits you. We demand it." [[spoiler:Right before it self-destructs in an atomic blast, killing everyone at the UN]]
* The R.E.G.I.S. Mk. V in ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'' tells people to not panic it while destroying most everything in its path.
-->'''R.E.G.I.S. Mk. V''': "Do not panic. You will ''all'' die."

--> '''R.E.C.R.''': Everything is the enemy!
--> '''R.E.C.R.''': But I must destroy and protect!
--> '''R.E.C.R.''': I must destroy all enemies! Because all enemies are MY enemies!
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons,''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'': Used nearly word for word in the episode "Webworld", wherein mad Decepticon leader Galvatron undergoes word association therapy (you know you're AxCrazy when the Decepticons ''send you to a psychiatrist.'') and the first things he can think of are "Kill! Smash! Destroy!" Asked to continue, he obliges with "Rend! Mangle! [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Distort]]!".\\

--> Menasor: "Menasor crush! Destroy!"

--> '''Bender''': Hey sexy mama, wanna kill all humans?

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'': Mario provides a non-robotic example when Bowser and his son, Kooky (Ludwig von Koopa,) puts him under his control with a mind-control helmet. When Luigi shows up to rescue him, Bowser orders Mario to "Smash! Crush! Pound! Destroy!" him.
** Unfortunately, Kooky get the helmet put upon '''''himself''''', much to Bowser's chagrin and terror!
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode, "Upgrade," when the Manhattan Clan gang up on the Coyote robot and Goliath rips out and squishes the controlling head, the rest of the robot gets up and blindly flails "Destroy, Destroy..." before being flattened by a subway train.

----
[[BrickJoke SWAG.]]

* ''Series/GetSmart''. Hymie the android was programmed by KAOS to kill and ''Theatre/HelloDolly'' (sorry, mame...I mean maim!), but that was before CONTROL reprogrammed him for goodness and niceness.

* Secondly, your RobotBuddy is not a toy! Well, OK, you did buy him at ''Bots'R'Us'' so he ''is'' a toy, but you should still treat him with kindness and care. Case in point: TurnedAgainstTheirMasters.

Failure to follow any of the previous instructions may result in your robot going haywire, and spouting lines like "Crush. Kill. Destroy!" or "KillAllHumans". In which case, it is highly recommended you hit the OverrideCommand located in [''[[ApocalypticLog the rest of the instruction manual]] [[LostInTransmission appears to have been disintegrated]].''] If you have purchased the MechanicalMonster model, TropeCo/TropeCo suggests you start running now. [[note]]And all sales are '''final'''.[[/note]]

Is generally considered to be a [[DiscreditedTrope trite science fiction cliche nowadays]], so you'll rarely find it used straight in contemporary live action works, but [[DeadHorseTrope it still pops up in cartoons for camp value.]]

->''"Crush! Kill! Destroy!"''
-->-- '''Killer Android IDAK Alpha 12''' from ''Series/LostInSpace''

** While the Daleks with their iconic "[[AC:Exterminate! Ex-ter-min-ate!]]" are not robots (they are living creatures inside machines giving them greater mobility), Terry Nation — who originally created them — apparently forgot this at least once ([[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks "Destiny of the Daleks"]]).
*** In an early appearance, Daleks apparently had some religious fervour: "[[AC:Align and advance! Advance to attack! Attack and destroy! Destroy and rejoice!]]"
*** '''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E3ThePowerOfTheDaleks "Daleks conquer and destroy!! Daleks conquer and destroy!!"]]'''
*** "SEEK! LOCATE! '''''EXTERMINATE!'''''"

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E6TheSeedsOfDoom People]] infected by [[TheVirus Varga plants]]:
--->I must kill! I must kill! I must kill!

** The revival version of the Cybermen have "DELETE" (although they are human brains in metal bodies, they have been reprogrammed in such a way that they may as well be robots). Naturally, they ended up fighting the Daleks in their [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts second]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday appearance]], leading to lots of back-and-forth shouting.

* ''VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows'' is practically the Trope Codifier.

* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' had a MonsterOfTheWeek that was a cruise-missile-delivered carrot that turned into a bomb. Anyone who ate the carrot began inflating to house-busting proportions before exploding themselves, and Courage had to dive through Murial's body to find the tumor-like carrot growth and shut it down. [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext No, it does not make any more sense in context.]] However, when Courage gets inside, for some reason the carrot can talk, is wearing an army helmet and badge, and is chanting "Grow! Expand! Explode!" in ever-increasing volume and excitement.

* The GICU2 from Super WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987: