History Main / RobotSoldier

%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!

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** Some take it into CompanionCube territory, with a well-known example being an IED squad nicknaming their robot "Franchise/ScoobyDoo". After it got blown up, the squad was informed that the replacement robot would arrive soon, only for a distraught soldier to say he didn't want a replacement, he wanted Scooby-Doo back.

%%* Creator/DCComics' J.A.K.E., the ''G.I. Robot''.

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* ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'' prominently features very powerful Robot soldiers, who act as the guardians of the titular castle.
* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSteelTroops'' have Doraemon and friends being thrown into a RobotWar as machines from Mechatopia invades earth. Among the Mechatopian invasion force, their main robot soldiers who forms their invasion force's backbone seems to follow some military hierarchy (despite being treated as disposable MechaMooks in the movie), with sergeants and platoon leaders wearing capes and identified by black markings.

* ''Anime/PatlaborTheMovie'': The Phantom is described as a military [[AMechByAnyOtherName Labor]], but appears to be unmanned, having an electronic warfare suite inside its torso instead of a cockpit.

* Creator/DCComics' J.A.K.E., the ''G.I Robot''.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'':

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'': [[spoiler:It’s eventually [[TheReveal revealed]] that the titular character was one of these, being a [[HumongousMecha giant alien war robot]] programmed to [[AlienInvasion attack and destroy other planets]], before he crashed on Earth and [[IdentityAmnesia lost his memory]].]]

* The battle droids from ''Franchise/StarWars'' are robotic soldiers, and they comprise the vast majority of the Separatist military forces during the Clone Wars. Many of them even holds military rankings like sergeants, corporals, and commanders (identified by their yellow markings). They are also the current page image for MechaMooks.
* The titular robots from the ''{{Franchise/Terminator}}'' franchise, which are soldiers, spies, and assassins used by [[AIIsACrapshoot Skynet]] to serve as it's infantry force, infiltrate human society, and eliminate certain targets. Also the Hunter-Killers from the same series, which serve as Syknet's armored and air forces fighting a war against the [[LaResistance Human Resistance]] in the post-apocalyptic future.

-->'''ABC Warrior:''' [[AC:Status?]]
-->'''Rico:''' Bodyguard.
-->'''ABC Warrior:''' [[AC:Commander?]]
-->'''Rico:''' Rico.
-->'''ABC Warrior:''' [[AC:Mission?]]
-->'''Rico:''' Mission? ''(EvilLaugh)'' [[ThisMeansWar We're going to war.]]
-->'''ABC Warrior:''' ''([[BloodKnight rising to its feet]])'' [[AC:War!]]
* ''Film/FutureWorld2018'': Once humanity invented hard AI androids, they were used as soldiers, and this spiraled into a global war which completely destroyed civilization. Ash seems to be one, given her extensive combat skills (why she's made to appear like an attractive young woman is [[{{Fanservice}} another question]]-possibly for infiltration however).

* ''Literature/TheGanymedeTakeover''. RebelLeader Percy X has gotten hold of a weapon that turns illusions into reality, so robot soldiers who are invulnerable to its effects are sent against him.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' included this trope a couple of times:

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has a {{Magitek}} example with the warforged of ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}''. These {{Mechanical Lifeform}}s were created to fight [[TheWarJustBefore The Last War]], but unexpectedly developed sapience and free will even while following their makers' orders in that cataclysmic conflict. Now that the war's over, the warforged have been granted [[AndroidsArePeopleToo legal status as persons rather than military hardware]], but are [[NoPlaceForAWarrior struggling to find a purpose during peacetime]], since in most cases war is ''literally'' all they've known. It doesn't help that peacetime has also introduced the warforged to FantasticRacism: not only are they large and intimidating in appearance, but their ability to work without rest leads many to see them as {{Job Stealing Robot}}s. Some warforged thus become adventurers, while others form TheRemnant with other warforged to continue their military lifestyle.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''':
** The Adeptus Mechanicus fields combat robots, though given the LostTechnology motif of the Imperium, these are presented as an extremely rare and difficult to produce part of their arsenal. Heavy Combat Servitors, which are lobotomized {{Hollywood Cyborg}}s armed with large amounts of weaponry and armor, largely have taken their place.

* While most of the enemies in ''VideoGame/BeyondSunset'' falls under MechaMooks, being generic-looking robot units, the red drones however appears to be part of some mechanical armed forces, being clad in military gear and trained in using weaponry.

* An important part of the backstory of ''Videogame/CaveStory'' involves a war, in which an army (or several from various factions) was sent to conquer a powerful treasure on a remote island, native [[KillerRabbit Mimiga]] creatures be damned. [[spoiler:Though it's not [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots immediately obvious]], the player character [[TomatoInTheMirror is one such robot]]. Initially, he meets several NPC's who wonder if he's "a soldier from the surface". Then Professor Booster clarifies that he is a ''robot'' soldier. Shortly after, you meet Curly Brace, another robot and a veteran of the same war as him -- but from a third-party faction with [[NoManShouldHaveThisPower a slightly different objective]].]]
* In ''Videogame/DistantWorlds'', the "Robotic Troop Foundry" allows an empire to manufacture robot armies.
* In the ''VideoGame/Earth2150'' franchise, the last game ''Earth 2160'' finally introduces infantry to the earlier 3 factions. The UCS soldiers are Skelebot9000 with an old fashioned gatling gun as an ArmCannon.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' has had three robot armies so far: the robot armies controlled by the [[MasterComputer Calculator]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutTacticsBrotherhoodOfSteel'', [[RobotMaster Robert House's]] Securitron Army from ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', and the [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots Synths]] controlled by the [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Institute]] in ''VideoGame/Fallout4''. The pre-war USA also had several models of robot soldiers supplementing their human army, many of which roam the wastes [[AIIsACrapshoot killing anything they encounter]] after two hundred years of decay. Of course, only their MoralityChip tends to be damaged, you can generally expect their movement systems, weapon systems, and SelfDestructMechanism to [[RagnarokProofing work like new]].
* ''VideoGame/TheFermiParadox'': When a civilization becomes technologically advanced enough they can construct whole robot armies, and several of the game's [[RandomEvent random events]] revolve around them.

* ''Videogame/MegaManX'': Some [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Reploids]] of the verse end up betraying humanity and became destructive for one reason or another, called "going Maverick". In response to that, Doctor Cain formed the Maverick Hunters, an organization filled with robot soldiers to fight these Mavericks. They're put into distinct units such as "Marine Unit" or "Arctic Unit" to cover activities in different areas.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', with enough [[TechnologyLevels research]], robotic armies can be built for either planetary defense or invasion. They cost somewhat more than regular armies for the same offensive strength, but they have twice the health and don’t take morale damage.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has [[HoldTheLine Mann Vs. Machine]] mode, which pits six players against hordes of their robotic counterparts. The robots are more or less the equals of the base players, but are disposable and expected to die in droves anyway because their AI is pretty bad and the human players have tons of purchasable powerups. There's also a slightly-too-literal example in the [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Soldier_Robot Robot Soldier]], which, thanks to using the Soldier's existing voice lines, comes across as a giant CloudCuckoolander RoboticPsychopath.
* ''Franchise/StarWars''

* ''Mutant Football League'' features [=BruiserBots=], the remains of a US Army project built to combat a demonic invasion in the wake of the fourth world war. Being a BlackComedy, they took to playing football like homicidal, armored ducks to water and are content to simply prove the superiority of silicon over their organic counterparts. On the field they're as tough as the proverbial brick latrine and half as fast, making them natural choices for linemen and linebackers, but can also prove invaluable as hard to kill quarterbacks.
* In 2019, a former designer revealed that in the ''Videogame/MightAndMagic'' games preceding HOMM V, this is what [[spoiler:the Angels]] actually are. They are self-aware androids created by the Ancients who were sent out across the galaxy to hunt down the Kreegans wherever they appear.
* Tactical Dolls from ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline''. Depending on the faction, they range from specialized combat models with barely any humanoid features to civilian [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots A-Dolls]] equipped with fire control software and a firearm made anywhere between [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece the 19th century]] and the late 2010s.
* ''VideoGame/RedAlert3'': The tutorials inform you that all soldiers and vehicles destroyed are in fact extremely lifelike robots, so don't feel bad about butchering them. [[spoiler:It turns out this is entirely true in the Imperial and Soviet campaigns where the American president/Emperor were robots all along.]]

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' has [[KillerRobot Killbots]], which are in such sufficiently high demand that multiple inventors have made their own versions. Notably, {{General|Ripper}} [[MilesGloriosus Zapp Brannigan]] once defeated an army of Killbots by [[WeHaveReserves sacrificing "wave after wave" of his own men]] to get them up to their preset kill limit of '''''[[BeyondTheImpossible 999,999 each]]'''''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', the overwhelming majority of [[EvilOverlord Aku]]'s [[EvilArmy military forces]] consist of [[MechaMooks expendable war robots]]. The most common of them are the [[MechanicalInsects insect-like Beetle Drones]]. Some of Aku's [[HiredGuns mercenaries]] and {{bounty hunter}}s are more humanoid variants, including the [[HitmanWithAHeart morally conflicted assassin]] [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots X-9]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', [[EmperorScientist Dr. Robotnik]] uses a myriad of robots as military forces, ranging from his [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190725165914/http://info.sonicretro.org/images/thumb/f/fc/Swatbots2.JPG/300px-Swatbots2.JPG SWATbot infantry]], to automated [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190725171000/https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/8/8b/SatAM102-Stealthbot.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20091101201251 stealth aircraft]] and [[SurveillanceDrone surveillance drones]].
* George Pal's short cartoon ''WesternAnimation/TulipsShallGrow'', made [[WartimeCartoon two years after the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands]], features a peaceful village in Holland being overrun by the "Screwballs", an army of mechanical soldiers who seemingly live only to conquer and destroy. It ends on an optimistic note when the Screwballs are caught in a sudden rainstorm and are paralyzed by rust.
* In "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson", at the end of the eighth season of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bart and Lisa attend and graduate from a military academy, and the Commandant's commencement speech is as follows:
-->The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. And as you go forth today remember always your duty is clear: To ''build and maintain'' those robots. Thank you.

** The Terriphont Entente were an AntiHumanAlliance from the ''Warhammer 40K'' universe that often carried out raids on the Xek-Tek Sector and used armies of {{Mechanical Monster}}}s as their soldiers. A Space Marine viewpoint character in the story compares the Confederacy's battle droids to the Terriphont's mechanical monstrosities and finds the Confederacy's droids to be lacking.

** The Terriphont Entente were an AntiHumanAlliance from the ''Warhammer 40K'' universe that often carried out raids on the Xek-Tek Sector and used armies of MechanicalMonsters as their soldiers. A Space Marine viewpoint character in the story compares the Confederacy's battle droids to the Terriphont's mechanical monstrosities and finds the Confederacy's droids to be lacking.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': As in canon, the Confederacy of Independent Systems relies on vast armies of robot soldiers, from the [[MechaMooks B-1 battle droids]] to elite killing machines like the droidekas. This, ironically, makes them even more hated by the Imperium of Man than the Galactic Republic, as ArtificialIntelligence is literally considered Satanic in Imperial theology.

* ''VideoGame/RedAlert3'': The tutorials inform you that all soldiers and vehicles destroyed are in fact extremely lifelike robots, so don't feel bad about butchering them. [[spoiler:It turns out this is entirely true in the Imperial and Soviet campaigns where the American president/Emperor were robots all along.
* ''VideoGame/{{Z}}'' is set in a war between two different robot empires,; MegaCom Corporation and TransGlobal Empires

* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', the overwhelming majority of [[EvilOverlord Aku]]'s [[EvilArmy military forces]] consist of [[MechaMooks expendable]] [[KillerRobot war robots]]. The most common of them are the insect-like Beetle Drones. Some of Aku's [[HiredGuns mercenaries]] and {{bounty hunter}}s are more humanoid variants, including the [[HitmanWithAHeart morally conflicted assassin]] [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots X-9]].
* The titular ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' are autonomous robot soldiers fighting an [[ForeverWar ongoing civil war]] between AlwaysLawfulGood and AlwaysChaoticEvil counterparts. Several stories see new characters being "born" for the sake of some tactical advantage (such as the Dinobots, Stunticons, Trypticon, and more throughout [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers the original cartoon]]).
** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' features a unique take on this by having the Decepticons actually be descended from Cybertrionians originally designed as military hardware, as opposed to the civilian based Autobots. Naturally, this means that individual Decepticons are much more powerful but not necessarily [[UnskilledButStrong skilled]], forcing the heroes to use clever gambits or sheer numbers to even the odds.

* ''Literature/TalesOfTheBountyHunters'': The IG droids were designed to be assassins by the Empire. However, it worked too well when IG-88 [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters turned against them]], enlisting its fellows along with other droids in a clandestine [[RobotWar revolution to overthrow organic beings everywhere]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' has Coalition forces with their various models of [[SkeleBot9000 Skele-bot]], plus the Northern Gun entity and Triax Industries producing various kinds of robots which can be programmed and armed for security, law enforcement support, and military use. The ''Mechanoid Invasion'' book also shows various kinds of combat robot deployed by the Mechanoids, including two different models of humaniform robot as frontline infantry -- the SkeleBot900 "Thinmen" and the diminutive "Runts"; an ironic joke among the Mechanoids, which is lost on most humanoids.

[[folder:Fanworks]]

* ''Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K'': As in canon, the Confederacy of Seperatist Systems relies on vast armies of robot soldiers, from the [[MechaMooks B-1 droid troopers]] to elite killing machines like the droidekas. This, ironically, makes them even more hated by the Imperium than the Galactic Republic, as ArtificialIntelligence is literally considered Satanic in Imperial theology.

* ''ComicBook/ABCWarriors'' follows the exploits of an ever changing group of robot soldiers, drawn from different regiments but initially built to fight in the Volgan War. They're seen as expendable (if expensive) cannon fodder by their human commanders. The robots themselves think differently, and several of them have made the humans pay for their callousness.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' has Coalition forces with their various models of [[SkeleBot9000 Skele-bot]], plus the Northern Gun entity and Triax Industries producing various kinds of robots which can be programmed and armed for security, law enforcement support, and military use. The ''Mechanoid Invasion'' book also shows various kinds of combat robot deployed by the Mechanoids, including two different models of humaniform robot as frontline infantry; an ironic joke among the Mechanoids, which is lost on most humanoids.

* The battle droids from ''Franchise/StarWars'' are robotic soldiers, and they comprise the vast majority of the Separatist military forces during the Clone Wars. They are also the current page image for MechaMooks.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "I, Robot", the robot Adam was created by Dr. Charles Link as an experiment. When Dr. Link lost his funding, he was forced to find alternative sources of finance. To that end, he entered into business with a defense contractor who wanted him to create an army of robot soldiers. Adam was to be the prototype. When Dr. Link attempted to erase his memory files, a malfunction caused Adam to reactivate and he killed his creator.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', the overwhelming majority of [[EvilOverlord Aku]]'s [[EvilArmy military forces]] consist of [[MechaMooks expendable]] [[KillerRobot war robots]]. The most common of them are the insect-like Beetle Drones. Some of Aku's [[HiredGuns mercenaries]] and {{bounty hunter}}s are more humanoid variants, including the [[HitmanWithAHeart morally conflicted assassin]] [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots X-49]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'': [[spoiler:It is eventually [[TheReveal revealed]] that the titular character was one of these, being a [[HumongousMecha giant alien war robot]] programmed to [[AlienInvasion attack and destroy other planets]], before he crashed on Earth and [[IdentityAmnesia lost his memory]].]]