History Main / TragicRobot

* Although ''Series/BlakesSeven'' was a notorious KillEmAll, many fans find the death scenes of the two starship computers, Zen in "Terminus" (slowly dying from an alien fungal infestation, he constantly apologises for having "failed" the human characters), and Slave in "Blake" (shutting down after ''Scorpio'' crashes, he for the first time addresses another character by name instead of as "Master"), among the most emotional in the show.

Tragic Robot scenes can also be sad if the robot is experiencing sadness themselves. Their emotions thus prove they're [[AndroidsArePeopleToo not just a hunk of junk]], and are capable of feeling everything a human can. This could be a commentary on the rise of AI technology, or even draw attention to [[HumanNatureFallacy the flaws in our own emotional capacities]].

-->-- '''The Critic''' (on the robot character in the ''WesternAnimation/DougsFirstMovie'' review), ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic''

* !The Wash Bot in ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' “Return to Earth-That-Was” arc. It has Wash’s personality and some of his memories. Zoe freaked out and got angry initially but kind of warmed up to it after it failed its purpose as trap bait and protected her, getting damaged in the process, because it’s what Wash would do. Later, it led Zoe and the rest to the headquarters that once belonged to the appliance manufacturer run by Wash’s ancestors because it felt Zoe should know about her husband’s family. Their daughter Emma likes the robot too. Zoe even told it to stay alive because if it dies, it’ll remind her of losing Wash again. She doesn’t have any romantic inclinations toward it, though. Now it just wants to find a place for itself in the ‘verse.

* !The Wash Bot in ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' “Return to Earth-That-Was” arc. It has Wash’s personality and some of his memories. Zoe freaked out and got angry initially but kind of warmed up to it after it failed its purpose as trap bait and protected her, getting damaged in the process, because it’s what Wash would do. Their daughter Emma likes the robot too. Zoe even told it to stay alive because if it dies, it’ll remind her of losing Wash again. She doesn’t have any romantic inclinations toward it, though. Now it just wants to find a place for itself in the ‘verse.

->"''Oh my God, I feel so sorry for this thing! How is it in a cast of characters this big and literally this colorful, the only one I feel any amount of emotion for is the lifeless robot? It's actually kind of hard to watch!"''

* ''Webcomic/{{XKCD}}'', as shown in the trope image up top, invokes this with the end of the mission of the ''Spirit'' rover, which landed on Mars in early 2004, and lasted for over six years before its mission ended when a wheel got stuck.[[note]]Contrary to the implication of the comic, it was not abandoned. ''Spirit'' was used ''in situ'' for nearly 11 months--another 266 Martian sols after the point suggested on the comic--before the inability for it to position itself to clean accumulating dust off its solar panels caused it to stop working.[[/note]]

Compare BecomeARealBoy, RidiculouslyHumanRobot, ForgotHeWasARobot

** In its remake "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S1E19IRobot I, Robot]]", Adam Link is acquitted since it's proven both Dr. Link's death and the courtroom attack only happened immediately after attempts to tamper with his mind; but he still dies saving someone from being run over, this time the D.A.

** In its remake "[[TheOuterLimits1995S1E19IRobot I, Robot]]", Adam Link is acquitted since it's proven both Dr. Link's death and the courtroom attack only happened immediately after attempts to tamper with his mind; but he still dies saving someone from being run over, this time the D.A.

* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'''s two-part short, ''The Second Renaissance'', reveals how the RobotWar and the creation of the Matrix started: The machines are mistreated by the humans who don't regard them as sentient beings. After one robot kills his owner in self-defense because he doesn't want to be shut down, the court declares him and his kind to be exterminated which led to violent anti-machine movements. In response, the machines separate themselves from humanity and build their own city called Zero One as a refuge. They also tried to establish peace talks with the United Nations but it was ultimately rejected. Instead, humanity's nations send them nukes to Zero One which started the Machine War. Eventually, [[ForegoneConclusion humanity lost]] with horrifying consequences and the machines use the survivors as living batteries, creating the Matrix. While the A.I. narrator notes while the machines are the victims in the story, she acknowledges [[HeWhoFightsTheMonsters they too became the oppressors]]; hence her saying that both species made terrible mistakes to create the situation.

* ''Series/{{Westworld}}'' focuses on the human-like robots called "the hosts" who cater to the human guests in the titular park. Given that most of the guests are [[AristocratsAreEvil wealthy]] and indulge in their fantasies without any moral consequences, the hosts became targets of their abuse because the guests don't consider them to be real. Even during maintenance time, the hosts are abused by the management which includes being stripped and used for sexual recreation. The hosts' memories are reset following such events. Eventually, the hosts gain self-consciousness and remember the traumatic memories that they experience. Their path of self-consciousness is one of the park founder's plans to free them from human control and choose who they want to become. By the end of season one, the hosts, who gain consciousness, use their anger and trauma against their human oppressors as a catharsis.

** "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1963S2E9IRobot I. Robot]]": Adam Link is a humanoid robot who's on trial for the murder of his creator, Dr. Link. He lives in a small town whose residents are suspicious of him, especially after he breaks a little girl's arm. The trial reveals that Dr. Link's death was an accident that Adam had nothing to do with, and he injured the girl only because he was saving her from drowning and underestimated his own strength. However, when the DA interferes with Adam's circuitry, he attacks the judge; this, along with the revelation that he's read ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', seals his fate. While he's being taken from the courthouse to be destroyed, Adam sees the same girl he saved before about to get run over by a trick; he rescues her again, but is smashed to scrap metal in the process.

This page has several death scenes as examples, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff beware of spoilers!]]

** In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', the comedic BB-8, upon learning from Finn that his owner Poe "didn't make it", makes a very sad sound as his head drops. (Luckily, Poe wasn't really dead.)

** In ''Film/RogueOne'', sardonic K-2SO is the first of the main group to die in order buy Jyn and Cassian more time to find and transmit the Death Star plans. He utters a final goodbye, never knowing if his sacrifice was worth it.

** The Fifth Doctor story "The King's Demons" features a shape-changing android named Kamelion who is being manipulated by the Master as part of a plan to change history. Kamelion joins the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough in the TARDIS at the end of the story, but the technical limitations of the prop used to portray him [[note]]The prop's designer died without leaving instructions on how to operate it.[[/note]] meant he wasn't seen again until the Fifth Doctor's penultimate story, in which the Master tries to regain control of him. In the end, rather than submit to the Master's control, Kamelion begs the Doctor to destroy him.

*** Most of the mavericks in ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' aren't even close to being bad, but they are afflicted by the Maverick virus, so they ask X and Zero to put them down before they succumb. Some of them succumb before the hunters arrive. Volt Krake[[note]]Known as Squid Adler in the original English release[[/note]] being one who succumbs right in front of them if they arrive to collect his part.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' Subverted, as a robot employee gets installed emotion chips against his will so the other employees can make him feel fear and despair whenever they want. This usually happens after he starts bragging about the superiority of mechanical bodies over what he calls [[FantasticRacism "meatbags"]].