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1[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ShortCircuitMovie1.JPG]]
2[[caption-width-right:270:"Number Five... is Alive!"]]
3
4->''"Life is not a malfunction."''
5-->-- '''Stephanie Speck'''
6
7''Short Circuit'' is a pair of films about a bleeding edge military robot who becomes self-aware. Dubbed "Number Five" (Tim Blaney), his first instinct as a sentient being is to {{invert|edTrope}} the KillerRobot genre: he doesn't want to kill, and is hunted by the weapons manufacturer that made him. It doesn't slot easily into any one genre, instead toying with hard sci-fi, romantic comedy, tragedy, revenge drama, and {{slapstick}} (Number Five ignoring his laser cannon to sling mud at people).
8
9In the first film (1986), Number Five short-circuits during a routine maintenance check and flees his birthplace of NOVA Robotics. With mobile tank treads, hair-trigger tactile response, dodgy AI and packing serious heat, Five is the grandaddy of corporate liability. In a panic, NOVA deploys its private security force to recapture and/or destroy the robot while his original programmers (Creator/SteveGuttenberg and Creator/FisherStevens) try to stall them. Sure enough, Number Five pulls into a nearby town and befriends a GranolaGirl named Stephanie Speck (Creator/AllySheedy), who mistakes him for an extra-terrestrial and NOVA for an evil government agency. Meanwhile, Number Five is adapting... learning... and willfully ignoring commands.
10
11The second film (''Short Circuit 2'', 1988) centers on Benjamin Jabituya (now inexplicably called Benjamin "Jahrvi"), who helped program Number Five and was blackballed as a result. Living out of a truck, Ben now hustles little NOVA-inspired toys in Manhattan, but he's having problems getting production up to speed. So, Stephanie sends Number Five, now calling himself Johnny Five, who is a one robot production line. Unfortunately, Ben's business partner Fred Ritter (Creator/MichaelMcKean) sees bigger opportunities. But all this takes a back seat to Johnny being manipulated by thieves to help in a bank heist, which shatters Johnny's naiveté and leaves him wanting revenge.
12
13A third film was in talks afterwards, but was eventually canned due to scripts not meeting expectations. Johnny 5 would eventually return in a TV short named ''Hot Cars, Cold Facts'' with his having his own home and a car. Even though it was primarily an educational film regarding vehicle ownership and insuring, the comedy of the two movies remains.
14
15Creator/{{Pixar}} stated that Johnny Five provided some (unintended) inspiration for ''WesternAnimation/WallE'', both in appearance and personality. A remake is being planned, but it is in the very early stages.
16
17----
18!!The movies contain examples of:
19
20* AccidentalMisnaming: Ben keeps calling Johnny "Number Johnny Five". He doesn't really seem to mind though.
21* ActorAllusion: There is a lot of [[Film/PoliceAcademy Thaddeus Harris]] in the character Skroeder.
22* ActualPacifist: What Johnny wants to be, though NOVA trying to capture him in the first film and the bank robbers in the second push him into TechnicalPacifist when he's forced to defend himself. Tellingly, he only applies the absolute minimum amount of carefully-calculated force to preserve life, it's only after a positively ''brutal'' attempt on his life that he actively seeks to use violence to stop the robbers, and even then, still does so without causing unecessary harm.
23* AIIsACrapshoot: Inverted. There's nothing wrong with the AI until lightning gets involved. Even then, the AI is incredibly amicable and nonviolent, and takes some serious pushing (a major betrayal and ''very'' serious and brutal attempt on its life) just to move it from an ActualPacifist to a TechnicalPacifist.
24* AintTooProudToBeg: Johnny spends the entire scene in which he receives a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown begging the goons to stop until they damage his vocal systems.
25* AntiVillain: Howard is in charge of the efforts to recapture or destroy Number Five, but he doesn't understand Johnny Five is truly sentient, gets along fairly well with Crosby, is only bluffing when he holds Newton and Ben at gunpoint in one scene, and shows a sense of depression and sadness when [[spoiler:it looks as if Johnny Five has been destroyed, and eventually fires Skroeder (TheHeavy).]]
26* ArcWords: Number Five maintains throughout the film that he is "alive". It takes quite a bit of persuading before everyone else agrees with him. The word is given special significance in all of his lines.
27* ArmiesAreEvil: Strictly speaking, the "soldiers" are NOVA's security team and not proper military, but close enough. It's also implied that the actual army would happily use the robots as a new and better way to commit as many war crimes as possible. That was the marketing pitch, anyway; the army never actually bought them.
28* ArtisticLicenseEngineering: Johnny Five is duped into tunnelling underground to break into a bank in the sequel. Following many robberies in the 70s, vault technology changed rapidly in the 1980s to make them resistant to such attack, being fitted with seismic sensors. Unless Oscar told him he switched them off (as part of an inside-job) Johnny would've set off alarms long before entering the safety deposit box. Johnny's tunnel boring parts would also be worn out halfway under the road, and need changing.
29* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: More along the lines of artistic license security guards and not the military. While Skroeder was entirely justified in tracking down a rogue robot with a laser weapon, not once do we see him or any of his men coordinate with local, county, State or Federal law enforcement or even mention calling them to warn of a potential danger to the public. As private security guards, they had no legal authority to block public roads, hold civilians at gun point, conduct a "precision operation" on private property or stage gun battles outside of the Nova Robotics grounds. In real life, had Skroeder done any of those things, he and his security people would've been arrested on the spot. [[spoiler: Even at the climax where the US Army finally gets called in, there still is no sign of any law enforcement.]]
30* AscendedExtra: While Ben was already part of the main cast in the first film, he got a bigger billing in the sequel.
31* AwardBaitSong: The first movie has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1aTuVMFlMI Come and Follow Me]] by Max Carl and Marcy Levy.
32* BadassBoast: From the second movie:
33-->'''Los Locos''': Los Locos kick your ass! Los Locos kick your face! Los Locos kick your balls into outer space![[note]]In TV versions, this was changed to "Los Locos kick your '''teeth'''! Los Locos kick your face! Los Locos kick your '''butt''' into outer space![[/note]]
34* BadassBystander: During the scene at the bar, the bartender breaks a bottle over a NOVA soldier's head and shoves him off her bar.
35* BadassUnintentional: Johnny Five, in the second movie, since he's a TechnicalPacifist.
36* BankRobbery: [[spoiler: Oscar]]'s scheme in the sequel.
37* BecomeARealBoy: One of the plot points of the second movie is Johnny Five's quest to be recognized as sentient. [[spoiler:He eventually is, and becomes a naturalized U.S. citizen alongside Ben at the end.]]
38* BerserkButton: Do not mistreat Johnny Five's friends, and do not treat him like a mere machine. He WILL find you, and he WILL deal the most humiliating yet nonviolent punishment imaginable. Stephanie's ex-boyfriend and [[spoiler:Oscar]] both found that out '''firsthand'''.
39-->"You will '''not''' get away! I am '''[[IsThisWhatAngerFeelsLike really pissed off!!]]'''"
40* BewareTheNiceOnes: Johnny and Ben. You do ''not'' want to be around Ben if something's happened to Johnny on your watch. Just see BerserkButton above to see why it's an equally bad idea to take Johnny lightly. With as nice and sweet as he can be, it's easy to forget Johnny is a military grade robot designed for combat.
41* BigStupidDoodooHead: "I've got an error message for you! I'll scramble your RAM!!" Quoted by Saunders, apparently unsure of how to properly insult a robot. Johnny is understandably less than impressed.
42* BlankSlate: Number 5 is a fast learner though.
43* BrownFace: Fisher Stevens, who plays Benjamin, is a White Jewish man, and not an Indian or Pakistani man, as he is cast here.
44* BloodlessCarnage: The attack against Johnny 5 in the second movie, although there is a lot of MachineBlood in the form of battery fluid.
45* BollywoodNerd: Ben.
46* BreakTheCutie: Quite literally, in the second movie.
47* BrickJoke: One of the phrases that Johnny passes to Ben during his date with Sandy is translated by Sandy as "Your mother sleeps (makes love with) with my dog". At the movie's climax, Johnny uses the same phrase to taunt a crook.
48* BusFullOfInnocents: Howard is scared that the malfunctioning Number 5 might attack one.
49-->'''Howard:''' What if it goes out and melts down a busload of nuns? How'd you like to write the headline on ''that'' one?!\
50'''Ben''': [[OpenMouthInsertFoot Nun soup?]]\
51'''Newton''': BEN!
52* ButIReadABookAboutIt:
53** Newton's response when Ben asks if he's ever seen a woman naked.
54** Standard fare for Johnny-Five. With most of his fairly short[[note]]Four days by the time the first movie gets to the climax.[[/note]] life spent interacting with only about a half-dozen humans in any significant way, the majority of his experience and knowledge comes from the piles upon piles of books he's read.
55* CallBack: Number Five's "Today, Crosby, today!" line in the first movie is a call back to two previous scenes in the same movie, where Skroeder ordered his men using a similar line ("Today, gentlemen, today!").
56* TheCameo: Ally Sheedy has an uncredited [[CelebrityVoiceActor vocal]] one in the second one when Number Five reads the letter Stephanie sends Ben in her voice.
57* CandlelitBath: Parodied:
58-->'''Number Five:''' "Stephanie... change color? Attractive! [[LampshadedDoubleEntendre Nice software]]!"
59* ChangingOfTheGuard: From Newton Crosby and Stephanie as the main human protagonists to Ben and ([[CharacterDevelopment eventually]]) Fred.
60* CharacterDevelopment: Ben graduates from a ChivalrousPervert FunnyForeigner to a three-dimensional protagonist FunnyForeigner between films.
61* ChekhovsSkill: Too many to list, most notably Johnny's magnet and remote control.
62* ChromeChampion: Johnny's makeover in the epilogue of ''Short Circuit 2''. He looks like [[Creator/{{Nintendo}} R.O.B.]] mated with an Academy Award.
63* ColonelBogeyMarch: As Number Five reprograms the robots at the roadhouse, he's whistling it.
64* {{Confessional}}: At one point in the sequel, Johnny rolls his way into a church confessional. He gets chased away by the priest, who assumes he's a telepresence device, and tells the "person on the other end" to come to church personally if he wishes to confess.
65* CouldntFindAPen: With [[spoiler:his voice box damaged]], Johnny uses a rock to scrape out an S.O.S. on a brick wall.
66* CreativeClosingCredits: The first movie has a recap of the story behind the end credits, including several [[DeletedScene Deleted Scenes]] (like the one with Number Five and a coffee-cup bearing robot).
67* CreatorCameo: During Stephanie's impromptu news interview, director John Badham makes a cameo appearance as the news cameraman.
68* CuteMachines: Number/Johnny Five is intended as this, of course, but the little Johnny Five toys take the cake.
69** Notable in that Johnny's appearance changes shortly after his accident, to differentiate him from the other four prototypes and make him look slightly less sinister. He loses an apparently-useless box on the top of his head and an armored cowling over the little blinky-light thing that he uses to talk. He also keeps his "eyelids" open, giving him an innocent, wide-eyed look in contrast to the other robots, who keep their eyelids closed, leaving only a slit to see out of, which makes them look like they're scowling or frowning.
70* DarkerAndEdgier: Part II had some pure nightmare fuel moments. Such as Oscar and his gang destroying Johnny 5 and leaving him for dead. Then there is the fact that Part II was the one movie where it looked like his life was really in danger.
71* DecoyGetaway: Dr. Crosby's NOVA van happens to have enough spare parts for SAINT robots that Number Five builds a decoy. [[spoiler:NOVA blows it up at the end of the first film, with everyone thinking it's the real Number Five.]]
72* {{Determinator}}: Johnny 5 takes a lot of abuse in both movies, but always dispenses justice and emerges with a nonsensical catch-phrase and good attitude. He may not be indestructible, but his optimism is.
73* DisneyDeath: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d, then {{averted|Trope}}.
74* {{Dissimile}}: Fred explaining that he didn't "lose" Johnny Five. He just "[[MetaphoricallyTrue misplaced]] him, y'know? Like your car keys."
75-->'''Ben''': '''''HOW ARE YOU MISPLACING A 700 POUND CAR KEY?!'''''
76* DoAnythingRobot: Let's see... in the first film Johnny has a parachute, an electric tool kit mounted on a "third arm" that can do everything from pick locks to whisk pancake batter, and a laser weapon powerful enough to blow up cars. In the second film he's retained the tool kit arm, upgraded the parachute to a ''hang glider'', swapped the laser for a [[SwissArmyWeapon "utility pack"]] featuring everything from an umbrella to a grappling hook to a plasma cutter powerful enough to cut through a bank vault wall, and added a "multi-frequency remote control" that lets him control almost anything electrical within range.
77* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Johnny, in the second movie. When he wants to push past someone (usually [[ConMan Fred]]) he tends to toss him halfway across the room. Not to mention the trouble he gives the two police officers when they arrest him for trashing the bookstore.
78-->'''Johnny Five''': I am NOT stolen goods! ''(slams fists on the table, yanking the police officers down)''
79* DumbMuscle: One of Oscar's lackeys from the sequel: Jones, who, despite being TheBrute of the group, impatiently ignores his genius partner's TechnoBabble advice before going after Johnny 5.
80* EccentricAI: Number 5 is a cutting-edge military robot whose AI goes haywire after being hit by lightning, to the point he is [[IAmNotAGun no longer interested in being a weapon of war]], and instead wants to learn more about life.
81* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: Johnny develops this in ''Short Circuit 2'' after getting nearly beaten to death by the thieves and also getting a temporary repair job done to him.
82* EnergyWeapon: All the military robots. In the sequel, Johnny replaces his with a [[UtilityBelt Utility Pack]].
83* EvenEvilHasStandards:
84** [[spoiler:Oscar]] and his goons may be willing do almost anything to get away with their diamond-stealing scheme, but they draw the line at murder, only imprisoning Ben and Fred in a restaurant freezer to get them out of the way. Unfortunately for them, the fact that they're still willing to savagely beat Johnny Five to death because [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman their standards don't extend to HIM]] is [[RageBreakingPoint the last straw]] that drives him into a state of vengeful fury. Possibly the only time this trope has functioned as a hero's BerserkButton.
85*** Even then, while he went through with it, ultimately, one of said goons looked visibly uncomfortable with murdering Johnny 5.
86* EveryHelicopterIsAHuey: Although the helicopter that chases down and destroys the [[spoiler:decoy Number Five]] is not a Huey, but a [=JetRanger=], this trope is lampshaded:
87-->'''Skroeder:''' ...and I'm going to need some Hueys.\
88'''Howard:''' Some what?\
89'''Skroeder:''' HELICOPTERS, Howard. Jesus Christ!\
90'''Howard:''' I thought they were choppers.\
91'''Skroeder:''' Well, now they're called Hueys.\
92'''Howard:''' Well, why wasn't I notified?
93** This is likely Skroeder's mistake, as "Huey" is a specific model of helicopter, not the catch-all term for helicopters Skroeder seems to think it is.
94** Either that, or he did know the difference, but was too annoyed to explain it to Howard.
95* EveryoneKnowsMorse: {{Subverted|Trope}} in the sequel; when Ben and Fred are locked in a freezer and rig a calculator to send a message to Sandy's answering machine, they discover that neither of them know Morse code. Instead, they send directions to their location using the tunes of popular songs.
96* EverythingIsOnline: Johnny Five can access any electronics remotely with a transmitter in his head. He can also control cars, cranes and other things that ([[TechnologyMarchesOn at the time the films were made]]) didn't even have any electronics controlling them.
97* EvilOldFolks: [[spoiler:Oscar Baldwin]].
98* ExactTimeToFailure: [[spoiler:Johnny Five's battery.]]
99* [[{{Expy}} Expies]]: Newton Crosby and Skroeder, respectively played by Steve Guttenberg and G. W. Bailey, of Mahoney and Harris from Film/PoliceAcademy.
100* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Number 5 makes the connection between a [[TrampledUnderfoot dead grasshopper]] and NOVA's intent to [[TheyWouldCutYouUp dismantle him]]:
101-->'''Five:''' Error: grasshopper disassemble... ''re''-assemble!\
102'''Stephanie:''' I can't reassemble him; you squashed him. He's dead.\
103'''Five:''' 'Dead'? ...Reassemble, Stephanie, reassemble!\
104'''Stephanie:''' ...When you're dead, you're dead. Dead is forever.\
105'''Five:''' Squash... dead. Disassemble... dead. '''Disassemble, ''[[OhCrap DEAD?!]]'''''
106* EyepatchOfPower: Johnny during his quest for vengeance.
107* EyeScream: In this case: [[spoiler:Robotic eye, meet axe]]. Ouch. See FamilyUnfriendlyViolence.
108* FailingATaxi: Johnny launches a grapple magnet to [[MundaneUtility capture a taxi]] for Ben.
109* FalseFriend: [[spoiler:Oscar]]. You really ought to see it coming, but he's so jolly that many viewers don't.
110** Johnny thinks of Fred as this after Fred tries to sell him, but they patch things up later. In Fred's defence, he wasn't aware at the time that Johnny really was alive.
111* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Johnny Five's [[spoiler:[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill ridiculously graphic maiming]] at the hands of the bank robbers]].
112* FantasticRacism: Johnny seems to believe this is the reason [[spoiler:Oscar tried to kill Johnny, but only locked Ben and Fred in a freezer. .]] It's hard to say he's wrong.
113-->'''Johnny Five:''' Oh sure, kidnap the humans, ''(angrily)'' '''destroy the machine'''!
114* FireForgedFriends: Fred treats Johnny like he's his personal butler (partly because Ben kept him in the dark about Johnny's AI), then tries to sell him to some corporate bigwigs, prompting Johnny to unleash the white hot rage: "He is [[IFeelAngry NOT]] my friend!" However, after Johnny is [[spoiler: nearly killed by Oscar's mooks]], Fred [[PetTheDog scours the city]] for him and later [[IOweYouMyLife repairs]] him ''single-handedly''. By the end of the movie, they've become an AdventureDuo.
115* FlippingTheBird: In the first movie, Newton Crosby does this to his co-worker Benjamin Jabituya with his robotic hand. [[InsultBackfire Benjamin asks Newton if he's showing the number of his IQ with that finger.]]
116* {{Foreshadowing}}:
117** [[spoiler:Oscar]]'s goons [[spoiler:destroying the Johnny 5 replica]] early in the second film.
118*** Specifically, that it was done [[spoiler:with an axe]].
119** And at the police station:
120--->'''Johnny 5''': [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare ...If you prick us,]] [[Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice do we not bleed?]]\
121'''Policeman''': Yeah, battery fluid maybe.
122*** Before that, Johnny 5 mentions to Ben that he changed out his old battery for a new lithium-argon liquid battery.
123* FreudianSlip: In the first film, when Stephanie Speck calls Nova Laboratories on the phone, saying that she would want to speak to "one of your head warmongers", (she is of course taking the piss), the person receiving the phone call calls Dr. Marner "Dr. Warmonger" before correcting himself and handing Dr. Marner the phone.
124* FreudWasRight:
125-->'''Johnny Five''': "Doctor Ruth says, 'Violence is ze expression of sexual frustration.'"
126* FriendToAllLivingThings: Stephanie, and later, Johnny Five.[[note]] [[SubvertedTrope ''Most'' living things, since Stephanie draws the line at snakes.]][[/note]]
127* FunnyForeigner: Benjamin Jabituya. In the first movie, he was more of a PluckyComicRelief character. In the second movie, they gave him the last name Jahrvi and tried to give him a more serious story, while still keeping him funny.
128* FunWithAcronyms: S.A.I.N.T. touches on nightmare fuel, given the root is '''S'''trategic '''A'''rtificially '''I'''ntelligent '''N'''uclear '''T'''ransport.. The SAINT series are nuke delivery platforms, designed ([[ChekhovsSkill as explained at the start of the first film]]) to be para-dropped into enemy cities, use their maneuverability, intelligence, and weaponry to safely deliver their nuclear payload to their target, and then blow themselves up. [[note]] In other words: suicide bombers. [[/note]]
129* GangBangers:
130-->"Los Locos kick your ass!"\
131"Los Locos kick your face!"\
132"Los Locos [[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon kick your balls into outer SPAAAAAACE!]]"
133** [[{{Malaproper}} Busters. Gang]]''[[{{Malaproper}} busters.]]''
134* GeekPhysiques: Ben and his bank robber counterpart, Saunders, are both portrayed as weaklings.
135* GeneralRipper: Skroeder decides (without bothering to listen to the guy who built it or coordinate with law enforcement) that recovering Number Five requires loads and loads of military firepower aimed in the general direction of the robot regardless of the presence of innocent bystanders. Ironically, this sort of wanton destruction is precisely what Nova Robotics are concerned their missing robot might do.
136* GeniusDitz: Newton Crosby ("Ph. Dork"). But he's Tony Stark when compared to his sidekick, an squirrely Indian man who thinks of nothing but sex. Number Five also qualifies, being that he's technically the youngest member of the cast.
137* GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: Happens to Newton Crosby, Ben Jabituya, and Skroeder:
138-->'''Skroeder''' [after he thinks he's just destroyed Number 5]: Magnificent! Now that, my friend, is how you kick ass!
139-->'''Howard Marner''': Years of research down the tubes, and you're as happy as a pig in slop.
140-->'''Skroeder''': Just doing my job, sir.
141-->'''Howard Marner''': Maybe from now on, you can do it somewhere else.
142* GlassCannon: the SAINT units sure can dish it out with their lasers, but they lack any armor to speak of - probably due to being early prototypes; one expects actual military units would be encased in rather more protective shells without exposed equipment. They rely on effective offense to prevent damage before it can be dealt, and Johnny himself has pretty effective ways of protecting himself from a single threat using whatever's lying around; however, if there are multiple threats, or if an attack comes from an unforeseen location, they're surprisingly easy to take out - a few bullets damage Johnny 5 enough that he can be reached and shut down in the first film, and all it takes to take him out in the second is an axe from a direction he isn't expecting. Johnny himself has an easy time disabling the other SAINT units - some mud in the eyes, a basic rope trap and a sudden maneuver get them all out of the fight.
143* GoodCostumeSwitch: In the first movie, Number Five loses the plate covering his [[TalkingLightbulb "mouth"]] during his escape, making him look much less intimidating than the other SAINT prototypes.
144* GranolaGirl: Stephanie. Takes in all manner of poor and homeless animals (and one sentient robot), runs a truck that she sells natural food out of, and expresses her deep displeasure with the military and their weapons.
145* GRatedDrug: Apparently, knowledge is this to a newly sentient robot. PlayedForLaughs, of course.
146-->'''Number Five:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Need! More! Input!]]
147* GrowBeyondTheirProgramming: Number Five, after being shocked by lightning, spontaneously develops the ability to learn at an accelerated pace, eventually becoming fully sapient.
148* HappilyEverAfter: The letter from Stephanie in the second film implies this to be the case for her and Newton after the first film.
149* HeroAntagonist: [[InspectorJavert Captain Skroeder]] and Howard Marner.
150* HeroicRROD: After his brutal beating, Johnny pursues Oscar's gang despite being badly damaged and leaking battery fluid. He eventually catches them but loses power and nearly dies.
151* HeterosexualLifePartners: Newton and Ben. (Ben lampshades this a couple of times.)
152* HilariousOuttakes: The first film's credits play over snippets of various scenes, including scenes that were cut from the final movie, including Number Five playing with a model airplane, escaping a car crusher in a junkyard, and encountering an Omnibot 2000 (a toy robot that was made during that time) trying to serve him orange juice.
153* HonestCorporateExecutive: Howard Marner, as [[HeroAntagonist he only sent out his military forces to capture Number Five as he believed him to be a dangerous robot with a laser cannon]]. Howard also overlaps with CorruptCorporateExecutive in a downplayed sense, for viewing the sentient Number Five as another robot of his assembly line that has gone rogue and needs to be recaptured to reprogram and that fact he is OnlyInItForTheMoney.
154* HopeSpot: During the first film's finale. [[spoiler:Until the helicopter shows up. Fortunately, it isn't the real Number Five they blew up.]]
155* HumanMail: Though not technically a human, Johnny Five mails himself to Benjamin in [[CityWithNoName the city]] (with the help of Newton and Stephanie), after being rejected as an airplane passenger.
156* HumiliationConga: How Number Five deals with Frank. First, he reduces his [[CoolCar Pontiac Firebird into its components.]] Then, he effortlessly deflects a volley of shots from Frank's hunting rifle with his own hubcap. Then, he uses his laser to melt Frank's boots, hat, and belt buckle into molten slag.
157** Also befalls the other S.A.I.N.T. robots and the bank robbers in the second film multiple times. Basically anyone who goes up against Johnny Five is doomed to suffer one of these.
158** Johnny himself essentially gets one through the entire second movie, as it's brutally pointed out to him at every turn that, aside from Newton, Stephanie, and Ben, ''not a single human being'' believes he's truly alive. A Catholic priest shoos him out of a church believing him to be nothing more than a telepresence device, the police impound him as stolen property instead of arresting him, and Los Locos, Fred, and [[spoiler:Oscar]] all take advantage of his naive and trusting nature to get what they want out of him.
159* IAmNotAGun: In the second movie, Johnny has his laser weapon removed in favor of a ComicBook/{{Batman}}-esque utility pack.
160* ImplausibleDeniability: The "[[GenericEthnicCrimeGang Department of Car Stereo Repair]]".
161* ImprovisedBandage: Towards the end of the second film, Johnny is "[[MachineBlood bleeding]]" battery acid after nearly being beaten to death by some thugs after they've tricked him into helping their robbery. Fred Ritter (who'd previously tried to sell Johnny to a company) finds him, and sacrifices his prized silk shirt to staunch it.
162* IncrediblyObviousBug: On Number Five. At least in this case they weren't expecting the robots to try to get rid of them.
163* InkblotTest: Administered to Number Five by Crosby as part of a TuringTest. Unintentionally, as it turns out. Newton intended (and indeed, initially got) a chemical analysis of soup poured on paper. Then Johnny interpreted what the actual blot looked like.
164* InnocentBlueEyes: Johnny 5, naturally. [[RedEyesTakeWarning Unless they turn red.]]
165* InsaneProprietor: Manic Mike, of the nearby Radio Shack. Which becomes plot-critical at an important moment.
166* InspectorJavert: Captain Skroeder stops at nothing to capture and destroy an escaped piece of military equipment. Initially his actions are sane and reasonable (this ''is'' a robot with an armed laser) but he ultimately JumpsOffTheSlipperySlope. The creators admit that Skroeder would have been the ''hero'' were this a straight KillerRobot film. [[WrongGenreSavvy But it isn't, thus he's not]].
167* InstantAIJustAddWater: Lightning in this case, but the effect is much the same. Downplayed, as while it gives him the capacity to learn outside his programming, it takes several days of absorbing information before approaching the intelligence of a human and being able to make moral choices.
168* InstantExpert: Number Five assimilates information at an insane speed, going through every volume of an encyclopedia within seconds. Notably, this doesn't help him learn morality; he's still got the mentality of a five-year old, just a very smart one. In particular, speed-reading the owner's manual for Stephanie's truck teaches him how to drive, but '''not''' [[DrivesLikeCrazy how to obey traffic laws.]]
169* {{Jerkass}}: Stephanie's ex-boyfriend from the first movie.
170* JustThinkOfThePotential: When asked by a Senator about the SAINT project's origins, Crosby lets slip the fact that he intended them as a [[SexBot marital aid]]. (Then again, he might've been trying to make a fool of Howard.)
171* KnowWhenToFoldEm: In the second film, after seeing Johnny easily overpower [[spoiler: Jones]], [[spoiler: Saunders]] immediately surrenders.
172-->'''Johnny''': Excuse me, could you put your arms down please?
173-->'''[[spoiler:Saunders]]''': ''(immediately complies)'' Sure.
174-->'''Johnny''': Thank you.
175-->'''[[spoiler:Saunders]]''': You're welcome.
176* LampshadeHanging: In the first movie Newton asks Ben where the hell he's from, since he's clearly not ethnically Indian despite the exaggerated accent. He claims he's from Bakersfield and his family is from Pittsburgh. This could be read as an admission that he's a white guy who's just eccentric, but the ending of the second movie shows he isn't an American citizen up to that point.
177* LargeHam: Skroeder is quite the ham, played with a side of grits by G.W. Bailey:
178-->'''Skroeder:''' "Crosby, I'm tellin' you right now: this ''fart'' of a robot is beginning to give me ''the red-ass!''"
179-->'''Skroeder:''' "What the hell is the matter with you, your four-eyed idiot!?"\
180'''Newton:''' ''[muttering, tending to Number Five]'' "What an asshole..."\
181'''Skroeder:''' "I '''HEARD''' THAT!"
182* LawEnforcementInc: NOVA's private military.
183* LetsGetDangerous: Two examples from the second film:
184** The first time [[spoiler:Oscar]]'s goons try to beat him up, Johnny grabs the pipes they are using and shouts, "'''Bad''' humans!" (complete with RedEyesTakeWarning) before swinging them around and launching them out of the warehouse door.
185** After [[spoiler:the goons successfully beat him up and Fred repairs him]], Johnny fixes a mohawk to his head and growls, "All right, let's party!" before going out for revenge.
186* LightningCanDoAnything: A single bolt is all that stands between a sufficiently advanced robot and sentience. Though it's nebulous if the lightning, the constant stream of random input at Stephanie's, or both made Number 5 truly alive.
187* LimitedWardrobe: Fred seemingly owns only one -- admittedly expensive -- shirt, which he wears on a daily basis. This makes it all the more poignant when Fred [[PetTheDog tears his sleeve off without hesitation]], applying it to [[spoiler:Johnny's leaking battery]].
188--->'''Johnny''': Not your shilk sirt -- silk shirt.
189* LiteralMinded: Double subverted in a rather beautiful way with the inkblot turing test mentioned above. When first asked "What do you make of this?" Five gives the literal answer: a chemical analysis of soup poured on paper, seemingly demonstrating CreativeSterility. But then...
190--> '''Five:''' "''...and resemble...look like... Butterfly. Bird. Maple leaf.''"
191--> '''Newton:''' "''Where?! Holy Shit!''"
192--> '''Five'''''(inspecting paper)'': "''No shit. Where see shit?''"
193** Other times, of course, Johnny 5 falls headlong into this. Memorably, in the first film, he tries to cook Stephanie breakfast, literally following the instructions. He beats pancake batter until smooth (not caring that he's splattering it all over the kitchen and himself), and "for crisp yet moist potatoes, brown on one side then turn over." He browns the cardboard box the potatoes are in on one side, then turns the entire frying pan over.
194* LoanShark: Fred uses one to sponsor his business with Ben, with thirty days to pay up. When the jewel thieves first confront Fred and Ben with ski masks, Fred first thinks it's the loan shark's henchmen. Ben's ignorance of the term leads to the following line:
195--> '''Ben:''' Oh, dearie! Now you're expecting me to believe that you borrowed money from a fish!
196* LockAndLoadMontage: Johnny Five goes through this after [[spoiler:being beaten and left for dead by the villains, out of sheer anger that they merely kidnapped his friends, but flat out tried to KILL him]]. He even dons a mohawk-like set of spikes for the occasion.
197* LockedInAFreezer: Ben and Fred in the second movie.
198* MachineBlood: In the second film, Johnny 5 is leaking battery fluid after being damaged by the villains. His friend Ben outright says he's bleeding to death, and he even applies a makeshift tourniquet.
199* MagicalDefibrillator: One such is used to recharge [[spoiler:Johnny Five's dying battery]].
200* {{Malaproper}}: Ben, ''constantly''.
201* MiraculousMalfunction: The lightning strike that gives Number Five sentience.
202* MissedHimByThatMuch: Searching for [[spoiler:the dying Johnny]], Ben and the cops arrive at Radio Shack at the exact moment that Fred and Johnny exit the frame. This happens twice more during this sequence, though the final time Fred remained behind for Ben and the cops to find instead.
203* MoodWhiplash: Like the first film, ''Short Circuit 2'' is a light comedy. That is, till the scene where [[spoiler: [[BigBad Oscar]]]] has his goons brutally [[spoiler:[[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown smash up Johnny 5 in near slow-motion]]]]. There's even a scene where one of the attackers is hit in the ass with a toy RC plane and goofily hobbles away, then the movie immediately cuts back to [[spoiler:Johnny 5 dying on the sidewalk]].
204* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler: Oscar and his men do this on Johnny in the second movie.]]
205* NoSympathy: Crosby taking No. 1 (without permission) on his hunt for No. 5, causing Howard to wet his drawers some more.
206-->'''Howard:''' Great! So instead of $11 million on the loose, we're going to have ''twenty-two''!\
207'''Ben:''' [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And plus we are needing gas money.]]
208* ObliviousToLove: Sandy, the woman representing the toy company Ben had a deal with, doesn't even notice his (poor) attempts at romancing her until Johnny bungles their date.
209* OhCrap:
210** Johnny 5's realization that disassemble equals death in the first film.
211** Fred's reaction in the sequel when Johnny realizes he is in a city, and Fred again when Johnny finds a bookstore.
212** Fred and Ben realizing that neither one of them knows Morse code.
213** [[spoiler:Oscar]]'s face right before Johnny runs his car off the road, somersaulting it into a parked van.
214* OddCouple: Mild-mannered, scrupulous Ben and slovenly, amoral Fred.
215* AnOddPlaceToSleep: Ben inherited the NOVA truck from the first movie and drove it to NYC. It doubles as his toy factory and living space. Even after Fred leases a warehouse, Ben continues to nap in a hammock in the truck (which is now parked indoors).
216* OperationBlank: An army general at NOVA's launch party is already fantasizing about deploying SAINT robots to [[MakeTheBearAngryAgain nuke Moscow]]. "We call it Operation Gotcha Last."
217* OpportunisticBastard: When Sandy tries to make a lucrative deal to buy toys from Ben, Frank (who is just introducing himself to Ben) quickly cuts himself into the deal and talks up the price before Ben can figure out what's going on. On the other hand, it's only because of Frank that Ben gets the start-up money (albeit by visiting a LoanShark) and factory space necessary to start production.
218* ParentalBonus: When stopped due to a tracking device in their truck the old couple immediately think about the "grass" they may or may not have in their glove compartment.
219* PickYourHumanHalf: Johnny looks very machine like but acts very human.
220* PigLatin: Used by the sequel's villains to fool Johnny -- the ''one'' language he doesn't know how to translate. He's managed to work it out by the second time they try this trick on him.
221--> '''Johnny 5''': Ew-scray ou-yay, ozo-bay.
222* PlayingCyrano: Johnny Five to Ben during the latter's date.
223* PornStash: Ben's "schematic drawings" that he offers to share with Newton.
224* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Skroeder and his men are private security but their numbers and equipment make them more like a small army. Somewhat justified in that Nova seem to be a major technology contractor for the US military.
225* ProductPlacement:
226** "Wouldn't You Like To Be a Pepper Too?"
227** Radio Shack doesn't just sell electronics. [[spoiler:It SAVES LIVES]].
228* RaceAgainstTheClock: Fred, when [[spoiler:repairing Johnny]] in Radio Shack.
229-->'''Fred''': I can't do this, I'm no good at this stuff!
230-->'''[[spoiler:Johnny]]''': [[ExactTimeToFailure F-fifteen minutes]] you have to get good.
231* ReCut: When ''Short Circuit 2'' plays on television, it cuts a lot of scenes for time. Many of the cut scenes are the ones where Johnny wanders around New York observing things for himself, including a scene where he trashes a bookstore. This is jarring because he refers to visiting a bookstore at least twice in later scenes.
232* RedEyesTakeWarning: Probably originally meant for combat mode, Johnny's back-lit red "eyes" are usually a telltale sign you've managed to tick off the normally happy-go-lucky pacifist robot.
233** Ben and Newton discover Number Five is right at their location on the scanner while at the gas station--''The back door of their truck.''
234--->'''Number Five''': Hello, BOZOS!
235** When [[spoiler:Oscar]]'s goons first attack him in the warehouse:
236--->'''Johnny Five''': ''(catches crowbar midswing)'' '''Baaad humans!'''''
237** Later when prepping for his RoaringRampageOfRevenge:
238---> '''Johnny Five:''' Oh sure, ''kidnap'' the humans, '''''destroy'' the machine!''' ''(fixes punk-like accessories to his body)'' [[LetsGetDangerous Let's party.]]
239%% ZCE * RedOniBlueOni: Fred and Ben.
240* ReferenceOverdosed: Johnny doesn't really know when to hold back. Then again, being as young as he is, he doesn't really have his own experiences to know anything beyond references.
241* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Personality-wise, not appearance-wise.
242* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler: A relatively-nonviolent one being a good summation of the climax of the second film, with Johnny Five hunting down Oscar.]]
243* {{Robosexual}}: Number 5 hitting on Stephanie in the tub.
244* RockBeatsLaser: Johnny outwits his evil twins by deflecting their lasers with rocks and [[AHandfulForAnEye blinding them with mud]]. $11 million well spent, Pentagon.
245* RunForTheBorder: [[spoiler:Oscar]] and his cronies devise a clever plot to smuggle the jewels into South America. Each one is hidden inside a cheap, plastic toy dinosaur; "Our gift to the Brazilian National Orphanage."
246* RunningGag: Skroeder seems rather obsessed with food...
247-->'''Skroeder''': What I've got is trouble, which I don't need because my wife is at home cooking a steak that's going to be dried out by the time I get there!\
248\
249'''Skroeder''': They're cooking something up, I can smell it. We've got to fry 'em now, Howard!\
250\
251'''Skroeder''': How many kids you got, Doctor?\
252'''Crosby''': None.\
253'''Skroeder''': Well let me tell you I've got three of them. Three dandy little Skroeders, and I want them to be adults, not barbeques.
254** Number Five having to throw out the driver's seat from any vehicle he swipes.
255* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After Johnny Five repairs his weapons after being captured, his escorts (Ben and a guard) are alarmed, pull over to the side of the road, and take off after a brief debate.
256--> '''Ben:''' I don't know about you, but I am planning to scream and run.
257* SecretUndergroundPassage: The tunnel connecting Ben's warehouse with a high-security bank vault.
258* ShoutOut: The movie playing on the TV (in the scene where Number Five and Stephanie dance) is Film/SaturdayNightFever, one of John Badham's previous movies.
259* ShellGame: Johnny Five learns it from a street performer in ''Short Circuit 2''.
260* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Rosy idealism.
261* SpeaksInShoutOuts: Johnny Five.
262* StealthPun: Probably unintentional, but in the second film, Johnny Five, the self-aware robot who insists he's alive, embraces [[TheEighties the late Eighties]] street gang aesthetic when he begins his RoaringRampageOfRevenge. He uses bits from the Radio Shack Fred fixed him up in to fashion a mohawk, [[SpikesOfVillainy spikes]], [[ChainedByFashion chains]], and other electronic accoutrements that serve no purpose but to make him look edgy and cool. In otherwords, he becomes a CyberPunk.
263* StarringSpecialEffects: Despite the films' relatively low budget, the animatronics used for Johnny Five were top of the line and very impressive for the time. He was designed by ''Film/BladeRunner'' legend Syd Mead.
264* StereotypicalSouthAsianEnglish: Part of Ben Jabituya's joke is that he speaks with such an exaggerated accent despite being born and raised in the US to American-born parents. The sequel retcons him into an Indian immigrant. Stevens researched the role quite extensively, hiring a dialect coach and even traveling to India to get the accent right, but today considers the role something of an Old Shame.
265* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: Johnny [[spoiler:after getting mutilated by Oscar's mooks]].
266* SuicidalOverconfidence: [[spoiler:Johnny heatedly goes after Oscar, ignoring the fatal gash in his battery. He doesn't bleed to ''death'', but he cuts it pretty close.]]
267-->'''Fred''': Come on now, man, these are serious guys! You're not in top form a-and your back-up battery's used up!?\
268'''Johnny''': [[ElectronicSpeechImpediment Derf]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rains_of_Ranchipur a life-form's gotta do what a life-form's gotta do.]] Stand aside.
269* SuperPrototype: While the SAINT robots never enter actual production, so we don't know how the production model would stack up to the prototypes, the prototypes certainly perform ''very'' well in their demonstration. And Johnny outperforms three of the prototypes when they come to try and collect him.
270* SuperSpeedReading: Johnny can breeze through books at a frightening rate, though apparently he's not programmed to re-shelve them. Set him loose in a bookstore and, [[OhCrap well]]...
271* SuperReflexes: Besides being able to read a full book in seconds, Johnny can also fully disassemble a car in minutes and assemble a toy robot from parts in seconds, as well as react quickly enough to deflect incoming bullets with a hub cap. He doesn't do so good against any attacks he doesn't see coming, though.
272* SuperStrength: It's not overtly shown in the first film, as Johnny 5 rarely ever uses his physical strength, but the sequel shows he's ''far'' stronger than a human and capable of benchpressing a car and easily overpowering multiple humans at once. Makes sense as he and the S.A.I.N.T.s were originally designed to carry 25 megaton nuclear bombs, which weigh more than a large van or pickup truck.
273* SymbolicBlood: [[spoiler:As Oscar's henchmen attempt to destroy Johnny 5, either battery acid or hydraulic fluid splashes on one of the goons.]]
274* TankTreadMecha: Johnny 5 and the other S.A.I.N.T. robots use tank treads to move around.
275* TechnicalEuphemism: The robot whom the story revolves around accidentally squishes a grasshopper and wants it reassembled. He's told that it can't be done because it's dead and dead is forever. Later, when one of his human friends is being shot at by the villains, he freaks out and screams over and over, "[[YouNoTakeCandle No]] disassemble Stephanie! No disassemble Stephanie!"
276* TechnicalPacifist: Johnny Five was created as a military robot, but decides that killing is wrong. He'll defend himself as necessary, using exactly as much force as required and no more. In the first film, armed with a laser weapon that can stop tanks, he uses very precise, low-power shots to distract opponents or render them incapable of harm, as when he cuts apart the drive shaft Frank was weilding. Ultimately, he prefers not to use his laser at all, subduing the three SAINT prototypes sent to recapture him by using the environment to incapacitate them then turning them off. By the second film, he's uninstalled his laser completely, and defends himself with his attached gadgets, robotic strength, and primarily his wits.
277-->'''Number 5''': Is wrong. Incorrect. Newton Crosby, Ph.D., not know this?\
278'''Crosby''': Well, of course ''I'' know it's wrong to kill, but who told you?\
279'''Number 5''': ''I'' told me.
280* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Not ''evil'' of course, but Johnny 5 spends a large part of the second movie trying to be human. After [[spoiler:Oscar's henchmen smash him up and leave him for dead]], Johnny finally decides he's had enough of that fruitless project because, if humans are going to mistreat him that badly, he doesn't ''need'' to be human.
281-->'''Johnny:''' Am not human, but ''am a life form!''
282* TheyWouldCutYouUp: "NO DISASSEMBLE!"
283* ThreeStoogesShoutOut: Johnny Five re-programmed three of the pursuing prototypes in the first film so they acted like Larry, Moe, and Curly.
284* TinmanTypist: Justified. One of Newton's side projects is teaching robots to play piano. And [[FlippingTheBird give the finger]].
285* TrailOfBlood: While it's not technically blood, near the end of the second film, Johnny 5 [[spoiler:suffers damage to his battery before going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, forcing the rest of the protagonists to follow the trail of battery acid and help him.]]
286* TrampledUnderfoot:
287** The opening shot shows a tank running over flowers.
288** Number 5 learns about death when he accidentally tramples a grasshopper.
289* TuringTest: Used by Crosby to determine if Number 5 is alive. The InkBlotTest and the fact that Number 5 has rewired his switches to a point where he shouldn't be operable begins Crosby's questioning that it's true but it takes a bad joke to convince him when Number 5 laughs at the joke.
290* UnwittingPawn: Johnny, in the second movie. ''Twice.'' In the beginning he steals just about a dozen car radios after being deceived by a gang to believe that he was helping them do their jobs as the "Department of Car Stereo Repair"; and later when [[spoiler: Oscar tricks him into digging into the bank vault, thinking it was to create a safe place for Ben]]. Don't worry, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge he fixes it.]]
291** Skroeder uses Newton Crosby as one of these in the first film:
292--->'''Crosby''': Let me tell you something: I don't like those N.O.V.A. guys any more than you do. In fact, I don't care if they ever get Number 5 back, but I want to see it.
293--->'''Stephanie''': If I show you where he is, do I have your word you will not experiment on him, you will not flip the switches and you will not take him apart?
294--->'''Crosby''': Absolutely, you have my word.
295--->'''Stephanie''': Okay, he's out back, I'll take you to him.
296--->'''Skroeder''': Well, while you're at it, young lady, you can take me, too.
297--->'''Crosby''' [shocked] Skroeder!
298--->'''Skroeder''': Terrific job, Crosby, thanks for the help.
299--->'''Crosby''': No! I had nothing to do with this!
300--->'''Stephanie''': You bastard, you're a liar!
301* VerbalTic: Johnny Five likes to list synonyms of words. This can be surprisingly bad-ass when he's really ticked off
302--> '''Number 5''': Number 5 furious! Livid! PERTURBED!
303--> '''Number 5''': Colt .45, semi-automatic (he crushes it) play-doh.
304* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlFriend: Maybe not violent, but Sandy [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] when she believes Ben is in trouble, impressively decoding his voiceless-phone messages to use as directions, and demanding that the taxi driver break the law to move faster.
305-->'''Sandy''': If we get a ticket, I'll pay for it!
306* VillainHasAPoint: Skroeder is adamant about destroying Number Five at all costs and deliberately undermines and steps on the toes of others who are working on a less militant and violent approach. The truth is that the SAINT robots have MILITARY applications with a fully active laser cannon, you can even see the OhCrap look on their faces when they realize he can use it freely. While the audience gets the benefit of seeing how benign and childlike Number Five is, the team they send in do end up provoking Number Five into a laser response. At the time who knows what else might have provoked the same reaction.
307-->'''Howard''': Crosby, what is it going to do?\
308'''Newton''': It's hard to say; it's malfunctioning. It might not do anything.\
309'''Skroeder''': But it ''could'' decide to blow away anything that moves, couldn't it?
310* VoiceChangeling: Johnny, like most [[Film/TheTerminator self-aware robots from the Eighties]], can mimic anyone's voice.
311* WeUsedToBeFriends: Newton calls out Howard Marner on this, claiming that back when they were both scientists, Howard would have realized the value of Johnny Five's sentience. Howard bluntly replies, "[[OnlyInItForTheMoney I'm a businessman.]] I'm not a scientist anymore." (The ''insanely'' high value that true AI would have seems to be lost on him, however).
312* WhamShot: In ''Short Circuit 2'', there's the [[spoiler:maiming]] scene: Johnny has gotten the drop on Oscar, popping down from a tree to grab him. Oscar's goons show up and (with prompting in pig latin from Oscar) circle around Johnny.[[spoiler:.. and the one wielding a crowbar ''chops into Johnny's back'', causing an ''explosion'' of electrical sparks as he's dislodged from the tree.]] [[FromBadToWorse And it doesn't end there.]]
313* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
314** SAINT Number 4 is never seen after the introductory scene.
315** It's never explained what happened to the loan shark Fred talked to after in the pool scene, though it's possible Fred already paid him after he got paid for the toy robots.
316** We never hear of Los Locos again after Johnny helped them rip the radios off the cars.
317* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: It takes a lot of convincing before the human leads will concede that Number Five is alive and not JustAMachine. This is the main moral premise of both films, leading to the end of the second movie in which Johnny is publicly declared a sentient being and made a citizen of the United States. Tellingly, when forced to fight off an ambush by three other prototypes like himself (but not alive in the way Johnny is), he ''still'' does not fire on them or destroy them, simply incapacitating then deactivating them.
318* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Lampshaded when Newton asks Ben where he's from, and when he finds out it's Bakersfield asks where his ''parents'' are from. "Pittsburgh."
319* WhosOnFirst: Stephanie and Number 5 in the first movie:
320-->'''Number 5''': N.O.V.A. robotics disassemble, dead! Disassemble, Number 5 dead!
321-->'''Stephanie''': But you can't die, you're a machine!
322-->'''Number 5''': No.
323-->'''Stephanie''': No, you're not a machine?
324-->'''Number 5''': Yes.
325-->'''Stephanie''': Yes you are, or yes you're not?
326-->'''Number 5''': Yes--
327-->'''Stephanie''': "Yes" what?
328-->'''Number 5''': Yes... not.
329* WillfullyWeak: Johnny 5 is a military robot designed for combat. He has an anti-tank laser on his shoulder and could easily fry people and is shown in the sequel to be powerful enough to benchpress a ''car'' even in a badly damaged, weakened state. He could very easily kill people with little effort if he felt like it, but after realizing 'disassembling' people is wrong, he refuses to use lethal force and only uses as much force as he needs to when forced to fight.
330* WildGooseChase: Number 5 notices his TrackingDevice and throws it into the pick up truck of an elderly couple. The soldiers in pursuit of him find the couple instead.
331-->'''Wife:''' ''(gasps as dozens of soldiers aim their guns at them)'' I hope you took the grass out of the glove compartment!\
332'''Husband:''' ''(as a very puzzled NOVA security guard walks up to the driver's side window)'' ... anything wrong, officer?
333* WorfHadTheFlu: When the 3 other S.A.I.N.T.s attack Johnny 5, they state their orders are to capture him rather than destroy him and thus are likely not using full-power shots, which accounts for how he's able to deflect their tank-busting lasers with a rock.
334* WrongGenreSavvy:
335** Skroeder's actions and attitude throughout the original movie would all be completely within reason - if this were a sci-fi thriller, rather than a family comedy.
336** Stephanie initially mistakes Number Five for an alien.
337* [[YouAreNumberSix You Are Number Five]]: He starts as just a number, but gives himself the name Johnny Five. Ben calls him "Number Johnny Five".
338* YouCanBarelyStand: discussed in the second movie after Five decides he's repaired enough to get revenge.
339--> '''Fred:''''' Wait a minute J5, waddaya think you're gonna do?''
340--> '''Five:''''' Pursue...capture...'''incarcerate'''!''
341--> '''Fred:''''' Come on now man, these are serious guys! You're not in top form, your backup battery's used up...!''
342--> '''Five:''' ''[[BlatantLies I'm okay-kay.]] Just a few billion-billion bugs bugging the works out-in-out-in. Perfectly functionality. '''[[AssuranceBackfire Functionality!]]'''''
343--> '''Fred:''''' Yeah, sure! Listen to yourself, you can't even talk straight!''
344--> '''Five(picking Fred up by the collar):''''' [[AccidentalMisnaming derF]], [[Creator/JohnWayne a lifeform's gotta do what a lifeform's gotta do.]] Stand aside.''
345* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After NOVA security and the Army blow up what they think is Johnny Five and celebrate, Marner's TranquilFury at having years of research and funding sent down the drain, along with Skroeder's unrepentant reply of how he was only doing his job, force Marner to hint that Skroeder's days serving NOVA are through. Skroeder's facial response after hearing it clearly shows he's thinking "I'm fired, aren't I?"
346** Also happens to Johnny Five in the sequel once he's gotten Oscar into the vault.
347* YourMom:
348** Invoked in the first movie as a taunt to Number Five's pursuers.
349--->'''Number Five''': Hey, laser lips! Your momma was a snowblower! ''(makes a digital Bronx cheer)''
350** And in the second:
351--->'''Johnny Five''': [[BilingualBonus "Tu mama hace el amor con mi perro."]] [[spoiler:Your mother makes love with my dog.]]
352

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