History WesternAnimation / BigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot

What would you get if [[{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]] was the hero and mentor of ''Manga/AstroBoy''? We're not sure, but this series evokes that question. ''Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot'' (1999-2000) was an animated television series produced by Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision for Creator/FoxKids, based on the [[Comicbook/TheBigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot comic book]]. The Big Guy was the old warhorse robot superhero who was to be replaced by an all-American Rusty; however, Rusty's inexperience forced the Big Guy back out of retirement to serve as Rusty's mentor and partner. Complicating matters was the fact that the Big Guy, Rusty's hero and role model... wasn't actually a ''robot''. Unable to develop a working AI in time, the government secretly converted it into a PoweredArmor, piloted by Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter, who poses as the Big Guy's mechanic to the outside world. The secret has to be kept from Rusty, as well, for fear of what the shock might do to his mind.

The series was based off a 1995 comic book mini-series written by Frank Millar and illustrated by Geof Darrow. As the mini-series was only two issues long, the show expanded quite a bit on the lore and characters.

What would you get if [[{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]] was the hero and mentor of ''Manga/AstroBoy'', we're not sure but this series evokes that question. ''Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot'' (1999-2000) was an animated television series produced by Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision for Creator/FoxKids, based on the [[Comicbook/TheBigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot comic book]]. The Big Guy was the old warhorse robot superhero who was to be replaced by an all-American Rusty; however, Rusty's inexperience forced the Big Guy back out of retirement to serve as Rusty's mentor and partner. Complicating matters was the fact that the Big Guy, Rusty's hero and role model... wasn't actually a ''robot''. Unable to develop a working AI in time, the government secretly converted it into a PoweredArmor, piloted by Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter, who poses as the Big Guy's mechanic to the outside world. The secret has to be kept from Rusty, as well, for fear of what the shock might do to his mind.

* HotScientist: Dr. Erika Slate.

* SheCleansUpNicely: Rusty's [[HotScientist creator]] in one episode.

* BecomeARealBoy: Averted. Rusty doesn't want to become human. When a chance encounter with [[AppliedPhlebotinum alien technology]] starts turning him into a living being, he's very excited by the new sensations, but as the change progresses, very quickly decides it's not a good trade and gets himself switched back. Considering his tagline is 'no pain receptors'...you can see why. However, he is fairly proud of his emotion grid, the one thing that does set him apart from other robots (who are more or less mindless drones or amoral villains) and does allow him to have a more human perspective on situations.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Despite the Legion Ex Machina boasting the superiority of man over machine, [[spoiler:they use their creator, Dr. Poindexter, as their own personal computer, in essence relying on a human for a majority of their plans]].

''Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot'' (1999-2000) was an animated television series produced by Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision for Creator/FoxKids, based on the [[Comicbook/TheBigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot comic book]]. The Big Guy was the old warhorse robot superhero who was to be replaced by an all-American Rusty; however, Rusty's inexperience forced the Big Guy back out of retirement to serve as Rusty's mentor and partner. Complicating matters was the fact that the Big Guy, Rusty's hero and role model... wasn't actually a ''robot''. Unable to develop a working AI in time, the government secretly converted it into a PoweredArmor, piloted by Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter, who poses as the Big Guy's mechanic to the outside world. The secret has to be kept from Rusty, as well, for fear of what the shock might do to his mind.

** British!Slate explains that "Iron Jack" lead the British to victory at Lexington and Concord, then Fort Ticonderoga, before exploding at Bunker Hill. Assuming that the British and American campaigns were unchanged despite Iron Jack's presence, the Battle of Bunker Hill occurred two months after Lexington, and the Siege of Ticonderoga was in 1777, two years after Bunker Hill.

'''Dr. Slate:''' "Looks aren't every thing"\\

* BowelBreakingBricks: The Big Guy, at the opening of one episode, terrifies a villain in an less impressive suit of PowerArmor into ejecting and surrendering in fear (unlike the Big Guy's this fool's armor didn't have anything to cover the pilot). Naturally, ejection occurs out of the back end of the mech.

* ContinuityNod: In episode 7 Rusty is traveling through the internet and visits his favorite Online Game 'Magitek Warriors' in attempt to escape Number 4 of the Legion Ex Machina. Episode 8 shows Rusty playing the same game before being called to a mission with Big Guy.

** Argo meets it's destruction [[HoistByHisOwnPetard by its own hand, literally.]]

** Turns out that whoever designed Rusty's frame, and made the weapons choice failed to take into account Newton's laws of motion, specifically, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The problem with Rusty's aim has little to nothing to do with his targeting computer, or software, but has everything to do with the fact that his light, streamlined frame simply can not handle the recoil, even going so far as to blast him backwards the very first time he fires. Not only can Rusty hit targets with fists, improvised weapons (like an I-beam) or by throwing projectiles, not to mention getting routine diagnostics that shows nothing wrong with the system itself, when he temporarily gets his head attached to a bigger, and therefore heavier body, his accuracy with the nucleo-protonic gun improves tremendously. Likewise, Earl's superior accuracy is due to the fact, that even though he's the same size, he's heavier than Rusty due to a bigger focus on armor and weapons than speed and agility.
** Big Guy suffers from this when he can't immediately end a fight with his guns. At times he can be firing his machine guns at an opponent at ''point blank range'' and still run out of ammo, with nary a single shot landed. For Big Guy, it is briefly explained, and easily missed, that his targeting system is designed for '''siege-weapon''' gun-mounts due the sheer size of his weapons. As such, when Big Guy can stand still, his accuracy is incredibly acute. But when he's on the move, Lt. Hunter has to manually adjust his aim, and the accuracy plummets.

* MoreDakka: Big Guy has ''four'' often used heavy machine guns folded in his elbows, plus two seldom-used [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile dispensers]] next to them. He also has a number of recurring weapons like a [[EnergyWeapon forehead laser]], [[ArmCannon retractable wrist cannons]], a shoulder mounted [[GatlingGood gatling gun]], and a couple minor one-off weapons.

* RobotKid: Rusty is just a child, which probably explains why he is so inexperienced. Dr. Slate, his inventor, even acts as his mother. This is because Dr. Slate realized that the Human Emotion Grid needs to develop on it's own rather than be programmed "fully formed". [[spoiler: We later see what happens if a robot is just fitted with an Emotion Grid without any kind of nurturing: Dr Gilder. He ends up having childish tamper tantrums and later completely snaps after being told to "act his age" one too many times.]]

* ThreeLawsCompliant: Averted with most of the robots and A.I.s unless they have [[PersonalityChip Human Emotion Grid]] which seems to act as an MoralityChip. This is even subverted with the Legion Ex Machina whose unstable emotion grids cause at least two members to have complete psychotic breakdowns.

* AdaptationalBadass: Rusty. In the comic, he existed only to get [[TheWorfEffect stomped flat by monsters]] and annoy Big Guy. While he still does that in the cartoon, he manages to become a genuinely effective (and likeable) character.

* BrandX / NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Averted with references to such celebrities as [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Jerry Seinfeld]] and product such as a Sony UsefulNotes/PlayStation being blatantly mentioned (probably because the show was produced by Sony's Australia-based animation division, and they distribute Seinfeld for syndication).

** British!Slate explains that "Iron Jack" lead the British to victory at Lexington and Concord, then Fort Ticonderoga, before exploding at Bunker Hill. Assuming that the British and American campaigns were unchanged despite Iron Jack's presence, the Battle of Bunker Hill occurred two months after Lexington, and the Siege of Ticonderoga was in 1777.

%% * AliensAndMonsters

* RaceLift: The entire Quark Industries. While in the original comic book series Rusty is [[spoiler: at first]] a Japanese-based Manga/AstroBoy expy, in the series Rusty becomes a fully American creation, meant to be the dynamic, more advanced next-generation of robotics. As such, the generic, Japanese background scientist with a talking monkey in the background became Dr. Axel Donovan, the corrupt, greedy and cowardly president of Quark Industries (and a thinly disguised metaphor of the sterotypical "capitalist dude"), and the whole Q-Industries became an American megacorporation.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Decommisioning Big Guy in favor Rusty, who hadn't even had any basic training, quickly proves a mistake since the more advanced, but inexeperienced robot gets beaten in his first outing. By the same token, Rusty shows that he was expected to replace Big Guy for reason given his greater firepower and working with Big Guy does allow to prove his worth.

* RealityEnsues: Decommisioning Big Guy in favor Rusty, who hadn't even had any basic training, quickly proves a mistake since the more advanced, but inexeperienced robot gets beaten in his first outing. By the same token, Rusty shows that he was expected to replace Big Guy for reason given his greater firepower and working with Big Guy does allow to prove his worth.
** After being damaged by Argo, Rusty fears that he will be scrapped. Despite Donovan's dislike for him, Rusty's damage was nothing that couldn't be fixed, so he would not be scrapped.
** ''Sibling Mine'' has Rusty reluctant to fight an alien, leading to his prototype Earl being sent out as a replacement, who appears to be a better sidekick. That proves a mistake as the alien was GoodAllAlong, and when Big Guy attempts to give new orders, Earl sees him an enemy for "defending the enemy" and blasts his head off, showing why he was just a prototype and why he was dismantled and put in storage.
** The Legion X Machina build a replica of Big Guy in ''Double Time''. Since they didn't know Big Guy was really PoweredArmor, not to mention their disdain for human emotions, their imposter quickly gets noticed.

* VillainHasAPoint: Given that AI are established as having no rights in this world (one episode has a more primitive, but still clearly intelligent, robot being casually scraped), it's somewhat hard to not feel a bit of sympathy for the Legion Ex Machina.

''The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot'' (1999-2000) was an animated television series produced by Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision for Creator/FoxKids, based on the [[Comicbook/TheBigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot comic book]]. The Big Guy was the old warhorse robot superhero who was to be replaced by an all-American Rusty; however, Rusty's inexperience forced the Big Guy back out of retirement to serve as Rusty's mentor and partner. Complicating matters was the fact that the Big Guy, Rusty's hero and role model... wasn't actually a ''robot''. Unable to develop a working AI in time, the government secretly converted it into a PoweredArmor, piloted by Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter, who poses as the Big Guy's mechanic to the outside world. The secret has to be kept from Rusty, as well, for fear of what the shock might do to his mind.

* {{Camp}}: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU_ljMDJ4uk theme song]] and Big Guy's [[EagleLand American]] [[CatchPhrase catch phrases.]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: ''Frequently''. "Double Time: Part Two" gives us quite a good one coupled with [[VisualPun The Legion Ex Machina's Number Two being shredded by a ventilation fan.]]
-->'''Rusty''': Number Two just hit the fan!
** Recurring minor villain Big Rig, first introduced attempting to smash the Lincoln Memorial with a MiniMecha is implied but never outright stated to be a white supremecist.

* VisualPun: In "Double Time: Part Two", brushing shoulders with GettingCrapPastTheRadar, Rusty says "Looks like Number Two hit the fan, as Legion Ex Machina's Number Two is shredded alive by a ventilation fan.

* MoreDakka: Big Guy has ''four'' often used heavy machine guns folded in his elbows, plus two seldom-used [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile dispensers]] next to them. He also has a number of recurring weapons like a [[FrickinLaserBeams forehead laser]], [[ArmCannon retractable wrist cannons]], a shoulder mounted [[GatlingGood gatling gun]], and a couple minor one-off weapons.

* LiterallyShatteredLives: Number Five gets frozen solid when a tank at a cryogenic tank farm ruptures, freezing him solid. Rusty then proceeds to shatter him.