History Main / TinMan

* The eponymous character of ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' claims to be a "high-functioning sociopath," insists that he isn't a hero, and scoffs at the concept of caring about the victims of the crimes he solves (namely, because ''caring'' about them won't help him solve the crimes or save lives). However, he is visibly affected in the third episode when [[spoiler:the old woman is killed, the child is taken hostage, and John is strapped to a bomb]].

* On ''Franchise/StarTrek'' Vulcans (such as Spock) pride themselves on being completely without emotion (''that alone'' says it all, but their friends are too polite to call them on it) but clearly have them, while understated. The truth is more that they work hard to be controlled by logic rather than emotion, lest they turn into HotBlooded Psychopaths. However, being the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' universe's answer to [[OurElvesAreBetter elves]], they do irritation and pride ''reeeeeealy'' well.

* In ''{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=4218 Baby Blue professing indifference to Fuchsia's leaving, but the Nerf pitchfork she cuddles was Fuchsia's, and the butterfly painting a gift.]]

TruthInTelevision: What's usually being depicted here is someone who is ''out of touch'' with their emotions, experiencing them without being aware of them. This is not so uncommon in real life! Reasons can include machismo, denial, some mental illnesses (depression!), or certain disabilities (''e.g.'', the autistic spectrum). There's also a personality trait known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexithymia alexithymia]], which is defined by the mind having great difficulty in identifying feelings, distinguishing between feelings and the bodily sensations of emotional arousal, and in describing feelings to other people. Lastly, anger is controlled by a different part of the brain than other emotions, which can explain why a person can be angry, but not know ''why'' they're angry, or lash out in a particular way and unaware that anger is fueling their actions.

->''"I mean, being a robot's great, but we don't have emotions, and sometimes [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry that makes me very sad]]."''

** ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]'' settles the debate once and for all. [[spoiler: At the very least Axel, Roxas and Xion have become canon examples, with Axel, believing to the very end that he had no emotion, being the most obvious one. After experiencing Roxas's memories, Sora concludes that he must have had a heart to grieve for his friends. Xemnas reveals that Nobodies ''can'' manifest new hearts, in the same way the puppet Pinocchio did - he just kept this secret so he could work on turning them all into [[SoulJar Soul Jars]].]]

* [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Heero Yuy]] gets treated as cold and robotic an awful lot by {{Fanon}}, but this runs contrary his own statements and actions. His self-stated life philosophy is "The best way to live your life is by acting on your emotions", and when asked he outright says that kindness isn't needed when you're fighting, but it is the rest of the time. This has been lampshaded by at least one doujinshi in which the ''Wing'' cast is recast as ''WizardOfOz'' characters and Heero becomes the Tin Man.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' plays with this trope on occasion, which such statements as "I don't have any emotions, and sometimes that makes me feel sad".

* Arguably Literature/{{Dexter}}, although less so than in the TV series. He has an awful lot of angst for someone with no feelings.

* {{Dexter}} constantly, ''constantly'' says that he is unable to feel emotions. Some of his actions throughout the series, however, directly contrast this belief (e.g., cutting off a potential victim's rant out of anger when he refers to Dexter's girlfriend as a "[[CountryMatters cunt]]", protecting Rita's children).

* Arguably {{Dexter}}, although less so than in the TV series. He has an awful lot of angst for someone with no feelings.

TruthInTelevision: What's usually being depicted here is someone who is ''out of touch'' with their emotions, experiencing them without being aware of them. This is not so uncommon in real life! Reasons can include machismo, denial, some mental illnesses (depression!), or certain disabilities (''e.g.'', the autistic spectrum). There's also a personality trait known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexithymia alexithymia]], which is defined by the mind having great difficulty in identifying feelings, distinguishing between feelings and the bodily sensations of emotional arousal, and in describing feelings to other people. Lastly, anger is controlled by a different part of the brain than other emotions.

* The TropeNamer from TheWonderfulWizardOfOz. Nick Chopper was an ordinary Munchkin woodcutter who was trying to earn enough money to run off with his fiancee and be a proper husband. Her family didn't approve of him, so they went to the East Witch and had her curse his axe. He ended up a cyborg as a tinner (who was likely working for the Witch) replaced his mutilated body parts with tin. His entire goal of getting a heart was go go back to his girlfriend. Of course, by the time he ''does'' find her [[spoiler: Not only does he find out that she was seeing another fellow on the side (who was cursed in the same way and acts as a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] as he's delighted to not have a heart any longer), she's married to a Frankenstein-style creation the tinner made from the parts of both suitors!]]

*** Leading to a memorable and defining CrowningMomentOfAwesome in [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Discworld/Hogfather Hogfather]]

** Parodied in the SamuraiCat books with a version of the Tin Man that really is cold, heartless, and "pragmatic"--for example, when the heroes find him, they stop him from murdering a baby dingo with his axe to help the mother dingo have enough food. Also, the wise original Scarecrow is parodied as a Cloudcuckoolander of the highest degree.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': a big part of the Sisters' development was outgrowing this mindset. They were "programmed" not to put any kind of value on their own lives and usually carry out their assigned tasks with a deadpan, frozen expression. When they are shown interacting with people outside of their "work", though, it becomes clear that they do have emotions, just as strong as any other human: it's just not immediately obvious (even to themselves) because they never learned how to emote.

* Organization XIII (high-functioning members of an EmptyShell breed of enemy) from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' may be an example, but we're '''[[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman not]]''' [[InternetBackdraft going]] [[{{Natter}} there]].

->''"I mean, being a robot's great, but we don't have emotions, and sometimes that makes me very sad."''

* Jeremy from {{A Cruel God Reigns}} is this with an element of the {{Stoic Woobie}}. After [[spoiler: not being believed when he admits he was sexually abused]] and [[spoiler: working as a prostitute in Boston]], followed by Ian then bringing him back to England, Jeremy actively denies feeling any towards sex, pain, love, or really any emotional attachment. Luckily though he seems to be on the [[BecomeARealBoy path to recovery]].

* Data on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was more often a Tin Man, much to the curiosity of his friends (and viewers), who often contested the point. In one episode, he sacrificed his emotion chip because it had threatened his friends by making him do some pretty damn nasty stuff. In an instance of him telling the Doctor that he was incapable of giving his child love, she looked skeptical and said she found that hard to believe (even the strawman Admiral who originally wanted to take the daughter away for study was convinced they shared an emotional connection by the end). The series also notes at other points that while he doesn't have a precisely emotional response, his systems do react in ways that mimic emotional response--for example, he cannot "miss" people, but his subroutines become used to the presence of certain persons and their absence can affect him.
** Doctor Soong himself put it best.

** In the episode "The Schizoid Man", this trope is taken literally when Dr. Graves whistles "If I Only Had a Heart" while talking to Data in his laboratory [[spoiler:and while inhabiting Data's body after his body's death.]]

He's incapable of emotion, [[InformedFlaw or so he says]]. Really he's as compassionate and sensitive as the next guy, or more so. In fact he's probably the [[NiceGuy nicest guy]] in the series. It's [[IncrediblyLamePun ironic]], don't you think?

* In ''Zepplins West'' by Joe R. Lansdale, the TinMan and the FrankensteinsMonster enter into a gay relationship. Anthropomorphic personifications of PlugNPlayTechnology.

* Data on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was more often a TinMan, much to the curiosity of his friends (and viewers), who often contested the point. In one episode, he sacrificed his emotion chip because it had threatened his friends by making him do some pretty damn nasty stuff. In an instance of him telling the Doctor that he was incapable of giving his child love, she looked skeptical and said she found that hard to believe (even the strawman Admiral who originally wanted to take the daughter away for study was convinced they shared an emotional connection by the end). The series also notes at other points that while he doesn't have a precisely emotional response, his systems do react in ways that mimic emotional response--for example, he cannot "miss" people, but his subroutines become used to the presence of certain persons and their absence can affect him.

* The T-800 in {{Terminator 2}}. He is cybernetic robot assassin who can not feel pain or emotions. However when Sarah and John Connor turn on the T-800's learning chip, he is able to understand the value of a human life and emotions, yet he's doomed to never be able to express them. This can all be sum up in one phrase: "I know now why you cry, but it is something I can never do", as he [[FinalFirstHug lovingly hugs John like a father]] before going to his death.
** In {{Terminator}} 3 when the T-800 growls "Desire is irrelevant, [[PunctuatedForEmphasis I. AM. A MACHINE.]]"
* Played with a little in the ''RoboCop'' series, especially in ''RoboCop II'', during the scene in which Murphy has to look his wife in the eyes and tell her that he [[BlatantLies is just a machine that doesn't remember her.]]

* In ''Videogame/MassEffect'', The Geth teammate Legion has shades of this. Despite having a robotic manner and being an aggregate of 1183 VI programs, he often talks about morality, purpose, and the meaning of life. His opinions on freedom sound suspiciously [[{{Transformers}} familiar]]. Occasionally, his "I'm an emotionless robot" facade cracks, such as when confronted with betrayal or unpleasant revelations, when asked pointed questions about his illogical behavior, or when playing ''[[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow_Broker_Dossiers/Legion Galaxy of Fantasy]]''.
* in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', Lamia Loveless was made with emotions, but considering her circumstances, she only prioritizes her mission and thinks emotions are useless. Only after various missions with her new friends that she starts discovering that she has emotions and starts valuing them.

* [[GundamWing Heero Yuy]] gets treated as cold and robotic an awful lot by {{Fanon}}, but this runs contrary his own statements and actions. His self-stated life philosophy is "The best way to live your life is by acting on your emotions", and when asked he outright says that kindness isn't needed when you're fighting, but it is the rest of the time. This has been lampshaded by at least one doujinshi in which the ''Wing'' cast is recast as ''WizardOfOz'' characters and Heero becomes the Tin Man.

* [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Rei]]'s Japanese voice actor has said Rei "Has feelings, but doesn't know what they are".

* Jeremy from {{A Cruel God Reigns}} is this with an element of the {{Stoic Woobie}}. After [[spoiler: not being believed when he admits he was sexually abused]] and [[spoiler: working as a prostitute in Boston]], followed by Ian then bringing him back to England, Jeremy actively denies feeling any towards sex, pain, and love. Luckily though he seems to be on the [[BecomeARealBoy path to recovery]].