History Main / Robot

* RobotClown

Mechanical beings brought to life to serve man and hopefully not enslave him: Robots. Robots are one of the staples of science fiction literature, though they have spread beyond it into multiple other genres. So what is a robot? In fiction, a robot is usually a mechanical being that has been built in order to complete some task. The occasional use of the nonfictional variety of robots, which are basically complex machines, can also be seen in fiction in the form of [[ArtificialIntelligence non sentient]] devices such as a SurveillanceDrone. See also SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence.

The word's origin lies with Josef Čapek, a Czech writer, playwright and painter, who coined the term in 1921 for [[Creator/KarelCapek his brother Karel's]] play ''Theatre/{{RUR}}''; the word often gets erroneously credited to the more famous Karel. Ironically, Čapek's robots were ArtificialHumans, not mechanical beings. The name is derived from the Czech word ''robota'', meaning serf labour. The concept of the "mechanical human" itself is much older; in memory of the tale from Myth/ClassicalMythology that Hephaestus, the God of smithcraft, had built machines that moved of their own accord and worked for him, such a being was called an ''automaton'' before the word "robot" came into use. Since a clear distinction between technology and {{magic}} is a fairly modern convention, the ''automaton'' has originally an inherent relationship to the {{Golem}}.

The word's origin lies with [[Creator/KarelCapek Karel Čapek]], a Czech writer and playwright who coined the term in 1921 with his play ''Theatre/{{RUR}}''--although ironically, Čapek's robots were ArtificialHumans, not mechanical beings. The name is derived from the Czech word ''robota'', meaning serf labour. The concept of the "mechanical human" itself is much older; in memory of the tale from Myth/ClassicalMythology that Hephaestus, the God of smithcraft, had built machines that moved of their own accord and worked for him, such a being was called an ''automaton'' before the word "robot" came into use. Since a clear distinction between technology and {{magic}} is a fairly modern convention, the ''automaton'' has originally an inherent relationship to the {{Golem}}.

In early fiction revolving around robots, they were generally labourers or workers who TurnedAgainstTheirMasters in a RobotWar. However, the author Creator/IsaacAsimov found this idea to be absurd: A robot would be designed to work for humans and would never be given the capacity to work against them, thus codifying [[ThreeLawsCompliant the three laws of robotics.]] Over the century, the use of robots in fiction has gone in multiple different directions, leading to a very widespread trope that is difficult to pin down exactly.

-->-- '''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1'''

* RoboticAssemblyLine

!! Subtropes:

* MechanicalInsect: A robot bug or bug with robot-like features.

As a very common supertrope, [=Robot=] lists its subtropes below in index format. For an even more comprehensive list noting related tropes, see also RobotRollCall. Compare ArtificialHuman, SpaceshipGirl and the various {{Cyborg}}s. And of course, beware the RobotUprising.

The word's origin lies with Karel Čapek, a Czech writer and playwright who coined the term in 1921 with his play ''Theatre/{{RUR}}''--although ironically, Čapek's robots were ArtificialHumans, not mechanical beings. The name is derived from the Czech word ''robota'', meaning serf labor. The concept of the "mechanical human" itself is much older; in memory of the tale from Myth/ClassicalMythology that Hephaestus, the God of smithcraft, had built machines that moved of their own accord and worked for him, such a being was called an ''automaton'' before the word "robot" came into use. Since a clear distinction between technology and {{magic}} is a fairly modern convention, the ''automaton'' has originally an inherent relationship to the {{Golem}}.

In early fiction revolving around robots, they were generally laborers or workers who TurnedAgainstTheirMasters in a RobotWar. However, the author Creator/IsaacAsimov found this idea to be absurd: A robot would be designed to work for humans and would never be given the capacity to work against them, thus codifying [[ThreeLawsCompliant the three laws of robotics.]] Over the century, the use of robots in fiction has gone in multiple different directions, leading to a very widespread trope that is difficult to pin down exactly.

The word's origin lies with Karel Čapek, a Czech writer and playwright who coined the term in 1921 with his play ''Theatre/{{RUR}}''--although ironically, Čapek's robots were ArtificialHumans, not mechanical beings. The name is derived from the Czech word ''robota'', meaning serf labor. The concept of the "mechanical human" itself is much older; in memory of the tale from Myth/ClassicalMythology that Hephaestus, the God of smithcraft, had built machines that moved of their own accord and worked for him, such a being was called an ''automaton'' before the word "robot" came into use. Since a clear distinction between technology and {{magic}} is a fairly modern convention, the ''automaton'' is originally closely related to the {{Golem}}.

The word's origin lies with Karel Čapek, a Czech writer and playwright who coined the term in 1921 with his play ''Theatre/{{RUR}}''--although ironically, Čapek's robots were ArtificialHumans, not mechanical beings. The name is derived from the Czech word ''robota'', meaning serf labor. The concept of the "mechanical human" itself is much older; in memory of the tale from Myth/ClassicalMythology that Hephaestus, the God of smithcraft, had built machines that moved of their own accord and worked for him, such a being was called an ''automaton'' before the word "robot" came into use.