History Main / TinCanRobot

* The [[https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Satan%27s_Robot?file=Satan%27s_Robot.jpg "Republic Robot"]] from several old Republic Pictures films of the 1930's-1950's, is the TropeCodifier, appearing in ''Film/UnderseaKingdom'' (1936), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterious_Doctor_Satan Mysterious Doctor Satan]]'' (1940), ''Film/ZombiesOfTheStratosphere'' (1952) and ''Film/CommandoCodySkyMarshalOfTheUniverse'' (1953).
** Spoofed with [=R2ScrewU=] in ''Film/JMenForever'', a GagDub of the above movies.

* The [[https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Satan%27s_Robot?file=Satan%27s_Robot.jpg "Republic Robot"]] from several old Republic Pictures films of the 1930's-1950's, is the TropeCodifier.
** ''Film/UnderseaKingdom'' (1936)
** ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterious_Doctor_Satan Mysterious Doctor Satan]]'' (1940)
** ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombies_of_the_Stratosphere Zombies of the Stratosphere]]'' (1952)
** ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando_Cody:_Sky_Marshal_of_the_Universe Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe]]'' (1953)

[[folder:Pinballs]]

** Most of the Hyperion bots from ''Borderlands 2''. Claptraps would be an example if not for all the personality, though it's basically a chippy and personable UI wrapper built around a sociopathic core.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBotsMaster'': While all the BOYZZ [[HomemadeInventions look like they've been assembled from scrap]], most of the more combat-oriented BOYZZ are at least pretty humanoid proportion-wise. Some of the non-combatant BOYZZ better fit the bill, while still looking roughly humanoid. The biggest standouts from that group are Genesix, with binocular eyes and a mouth that's a simple clamp, and Cook, who has a drum-shaped head with [[EyeOnAStalk stalk eyes]] and a long, skinny neck that connects it to his round body.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBotsMaster'': While all the BOYZZ look like they've been assembled from scrap, most of the more combat-oriented BOYZZ are at least pretty humanoid proportion-wise. Some of the non-combatant BOYZZ better fit the bill, while still looking roughly humanoid, such as Genesix (who bears a passing resemblance to [[Film/ShortCircuit Johnny 5]], and Cook, who has a drum-shaped head with [[EyeOnAStalk stalk eyes]] and a long, skinny neck that connects it to his round body.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBotsMaster'': While all the BOYZZ look like they've been assembled from scrap, most of the more combat-oriented BOYZZ are at least pretty humanoid proportion-wise. Some of the non-combatant BOYZZ better fit this bill, while still looking roughly humanoid, such as Genesix (who bears a passing resemblance to [[Film/ShortCircuit Johnny 5]], and Cook, who has a drum-shaped head with [[EyeOnAStalk stalk]] and a long, skinny neck that connects it to his round body.

%%* Arguably XR, XL and 42 from ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand''.

* The Robobrains from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' fit the bill, unusually having [[WetwareCPU glass domes filled with a living brain]] for heads and very heavily resembling The Robot from ''Series/LostInSpace''. The Protectron models, meanwhile, look suspiciously like Robbie the Robot from ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet''. The Synths in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' notably avert this by being distinctly humanoid, especially 3rd Generation Synths, which are nearly completely identical to humans in almost every way. Because AIIsACrapshoot, this is a point of major contention for Wastelanders, who are used to dealing with the obviously artificial tin-can robots of the previous games.

* H.E.L.P.E.R. from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', the epitome of the robot buddy as seen by pop culture in the 1950s. True to the spirit of the show, he was apparently actually built in the 50's and was described as "geriatric" and "senile".

** The little flying robots used by Spidey's enemy Armada.
** Also the cobbled-together robots built by Future Max.
** Finally there's the silver-age Spider-Man villain The Living Brain, featuring the greatest mechanical mind 1964 could offer.

* [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards's]] little flying HERBIE robots.
* Elektro from ''Fin Fang Four.''
* Gyro Gearloose's helper Little Bulb from the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse.
* All versions of COMPUTO from ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes''.
* Doctor Doom's purple MechaMooks.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'': The Sentinels.

* Portrayed quite literally in ''Series/TheSiflAndOllyShow'', where Sifl builds a robot literally made out of a tin can to use as a stand-in host for Olly, until Olly returns and destroys in the middle of it singing the 1980s song "I Know What Boys Like" by The Waitresses.

Compare UsedFuture, RealRobot. Compare and contrast with StarfishRobots. See also ForgotHeWasARobot for when this robot starts acting like a RidiculouslyHumanRobot. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant No relation to]] TinmanTypist.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. The episode "Legends" opens with the League fighting an anime-style HumongousMecha, then when the mecha blows up it throws them into a RetroUniverse out of a 1940's comic--when a giant robot turns up there, it's the classic 1940's TinCanRobot.

* The [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Fleischer]] ''WesternAnimation/{{Superman|TheatricalCartoons}}'' series featured "The Mechanical Monsters", used by the inventor for a series of robberies.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer builds one of these out of a mailbox for Bart to enter in a ''Series/RobotWars''-style TV show. Justified in that Homer was secretly working it from inside, having realized he had not the faintest idea how to actually build a robot. When it doesn't work, he instead wears it like armor and ''pretends'' to be a robot.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' has many, such as E-123 Omega.