Line #48 Main/TVHeadRobot


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8	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Securitron_5756.png]]]]
9	[[caption-width-right:350:Security meets CRT.]]
10
11	->'''Retro:''' Hee hee, that thing around your eye makes you look like a panda bear!
12	->'''Pandy:''' That retro TV on your head makes you look like an asshole.
13	-->--''Anime/DeadLeaves''
14
15	ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. An automaton, robot or droid with a television set for a head.
16
17	Say the technology for synthetic skin has not yet been perfected and you want to avoid the UncannyValley. Maybe you don't have much but some spare parts, dwindling funds and a TV at your disposal. Maybe it just [[RuleOfCool looks cool]]. For whatever reason, this is a robot or other sentient being with a monitor onto which they project images or outright words that are [[DeadpanSnarker often]] [[SnarkyNonHumanSidekick snarky]] [[VisualPun responses]] to people interacting with them.
18
19	Not to be confused with a sentient AI or a talking computer. This strictly applies to walking automatons.
20
21	Often speaks through a variant of TalkingWithSigns. Compare/contrast SurveillanceDrone and TheBlank. See also ScreensAreCameras, if they possess the television face, but no discernible sensory equipment with which to actually see. See also NonHumanHead, if the character has a monitor for a head, but is otherwise organic.
22	----
23	!!Examples:
24
25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28	* Lord Canti of ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' has an old-fashioned portable TV set for a head, with a grille serving as his "mouth" that he tries to eat curry with at one point. Kamon even calls him "TV Boy" and tries to pass him off as a walking TV to Ninamori.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
32	* Headmaster Tele of ''Animation/HappyHeroes'' has a TV screen for a head.
33	* Popo from the Korean show ''Animation/{{TELEMONSTER}}'' is a robot with the ability to turn its mouth into a television screen which it has the ability to [[TrappedInTVLand suck people into]].
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Comic Books]]
37	* The Comicbook/{{New 52}} ''Comicbook/{{Earth 2}}'' version of Robert Crane (the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Robotman) has a head comprising a transparent dome containing his brain, with a flatscreen computer monitor on the front.
38	* The people of Planet Robot from Creator/BrianKVaughan's ''ComicBook/{{Saga}}'' all have televisions for heads. How modern and decorative a TV head is denotes wealth, and may be a sort of FantasticCasteSystem. Commoners like Dengo have very boxy heads with grainy monochrome displays. Nobles like Prince Robot IV, his wife, and their son have sleek heads with clear pictures in color. The leader, King Robot, has a flat screen TV for a head that is twice the height of the rest of his body.
39	* Played for horror in an issue of ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'': In an alternate universe, the Functionist Council of Cybertron have replaced the usual means of empurata (surgical disfigurement) with a new one where the victim's head is replaced with a screen, which they "speak" through via displaying text. On occasion, it even plays pop-up ads. Eventually it transpires that the Council is watching people through these screens, and can communicate through them.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Fan Works]]
43	* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. While entering the Array, the crew of Voyager are stopped by a TinCanRobot whose blank faceplate turns out to be a VideoPhone.
44	-->"I am Overlooker Zet of the Central Hierarchy of the Array," announced the face on the [[HistoricalInJoke android phone]].
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
48	* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheMindsEye Odyssey Into The Mind's Eye]]'' features characters with televisions for heads, although whether they are actually robots is up for debate.
49	* Ibor, Synonamess Botch's GiantMook, in ''WesternAnimation/TwiceUponATime''. Unlike most other examples of this trope, it possesses little to no sentience, strictly following Botch's orders without question. Most of the time, it uses its screen to display clips from old movies or other cartoons reflecting some other character's emotional state.
50	* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': The First-Person Shooter in ''[[FictionalVideoGame Hero's Duty]]'', which [[FirstPersonGhost doesn't appear at all to the player]] but is visible as a TV Head Robot to game characters and does have a personality (although not a voice) when the player isn't controlling it.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
54	* The robot GERTY in the movie ''Film/{{Moon}}'' has a screen displaying an emoji in lieu of a face.
55	* ''Film/RoboCop2''
56	** A variation with Cain; after he's forcibly converted into Robocop 2, he has a screen that deploys from his body instead of being a constant feature.
57	** The first of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=timfETD-N4o&feature=player_detailpage#t=43s failed Robo prototypes]] has a screen covered by a metal faceshield.
58	* The Ghost of Christmas Future in ''Film/{{Scrooged}}'' has only a TV monitor under its cowl, showing either static or a skull-like face.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Literature]]
62	* ''Literature/TheLastHuman2019'': [=SkD=] is a little robot with a [=TV=] screen for a face. It communicates by using emoticon images.
63	* ''[=TVs=] Friend'' by Taro Gomi is about a robot with a TV head.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
67	* Holly from ''Series/RedDwarf'' normally appears as just a face on a screen, but has on occasion moved around the ship in the form of a wheeled robot with a television screen for a head.
68	* Datas from ''Series/TensouSentaiGoseiger'' is pretty much an arcade machine with arms and legs. The screen is his face by default but can also show anything, such as communications, or whatever the MonsterOfTheWeek is up to once detected.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Theater]]
72	* The ''Music/AmericanIdiot'' musical often has images of people with televisions for heads painted in the background.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Toys]]
76	* The reoccurring character of Tee Vee in various ''Franchise/{{LEGO}}'' themes:
77	** Tee Vee first appeared in 2001 in the ''Toys/LEGOAlphaTeam'' theme as a walking television set with legs, before becoming an automated submersible with a TV face in the following release wave. The final iteration of Tee Vee in ''Alpha Team'' though was in an android body losing the TV face.
78	** Tee Vee returned to ''Lego'' as "Seymour Tee Vee" in a 2020 ''WesternAnimation/HiddenSide'' set once again an updated take on its original 2001 form as a walking TV set with legs. A 2021 ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'' set continues the Seymour Tee Vee design with two Wu Bots that are also walking TV sets with the same build style as Tee Vee.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Video Games]]
82	* The Drakel Freak enemy from ''VideoGame/AdventureQuest'' is a cyborg with a TV for its head, with an organic muzzle protruding from it.
83	* The Lord of Games from ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooieNutsAndBolts'' is essentially a tube TV wearing a royal cloak, with a game of ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'' as his "face".
84	* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'': In one first-person area, at the end of a hallway is a Joker mannequin with a TV for a head. [[spoiler:It's actually him.]]
85	* Telly from ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo'' is a RobotBuddy that takes his namesake from the fact that he is a tiny flying TV head.
86	* ROBO_Head of ''VideoGame/CytusII'' has a computer monitor for a head.
87	* In ''VideoGame/TheDishwasher: Dead Samurai'', the penultimate boss has a TV set for a head, and the achievement for beating him is called "Smash Your TV".
88	* Lord Canti (mentioned in the Anime & Manga section) appears twice in the ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy'' series - first as the penultimate opponent in ''VideoGame/BrawlRoyale'', then as a summon for Natalie in ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy1''. He is replaced by an {{Expy}} named TV Boy in the [[CompilationRerelease EBF Collection]] versions of both games.
89	* Emet from ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}'' has a screen for a face with several preset expressions and symbols that he switches between.
90	* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': Securitrons, in appearance essentially a bulky TV on a uniwheel with added shoulder-boxes and attached grabbing/weapon arms. Some texts indicate the screens ''can'' show any sort of image, but all the ones seen has a face, with the face depending on their purpose (and which AI is currently running it). The majority broadcast the picture's bulb-nosed cop, or a soldier if the player takes certain actions, Victor has a stereotypical cowboy, Yes Man is a smiling face, Jane is a black-haired woman, Muggy is a cup of coffee with a face, the berserk Securitrons found in Big MT have ''Film/ATripToTheMoon''-style angry moon faces, and the damaged Big MT Securitrons have angry moon faces that are crossed out.
91	* One of the late-game enemies in ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' is a robot with a CRT monitor for a head. However, the screen is used only to display its BlackBeadEyes.
92	* The enemies in ''VideoGame/IronBrigade'' are the "Tubes", an army of killer TV-headed robots.
93	* Dr. Graaff from ''VideoGame/IronMarines'' has a TV face on his torso. It also shows which personality and mode he's currently using -- an [[KillerRobot angry red face]] for Assault Mode, and a [[NiceGuy happy green face]] for Assist Mode.
94	* Everyone in ''VideoGame/JobSimulator'' appears to be some kind of hovering computer monitor with a digital face on the screen and a coffee cup welded to the side.
95	* ''VideoGame/MetallicChild'': Pan, one of [[PlayerCharacter Rona]]'s friends aboard [[SpaceStation the Life Stream]], has a screen that he uses to make eye expressions.
96	* [[PunnyName Monita]], the host of ''VideoGame/NintendoLand'', has a computer monitor for her face. Her look is that of a modern flatscreen, and somewhat resembles a UsefulNotes/WiiU [=GamePad=].
97	* Neon J. of ''VideoGame/NoStraightRoads'' is a cyborg who has a sonar screen for a head from surviving grievous wounds in the [[GreatOffscreenWar Border Wars]]. Oddly enough, he's still capable of breathing despite having no visible nose or mouth, as seen when having a coughing fit after 1010's defeat.
98	* A variant in ''VideoGame/{{Observer}}''; [[spoiler:when Dan Lazarski connects to the mind of the killer that stalked him through most of the game, one of the first things he sees is a group of people staring at him with boxy [=TVs=] for heads, all showing twitching human mouths in black-and-white.]]
99	* The dozens of Vidbots scattered throughout the first dream world of ''VideoGame/{{Obsidian}}''. They appear nothing short of televisions on metal poles without any visible means of locomotion, but they can move anyway; their "faces" usually show just the nose and mouth of a human in black and white, some of them have buttons or spindly mechanical arms and hands depending on who does what, and none of them [[ObstructiveBureaucrat tolerate broken rules, not even the receptionist.]]
100	* Alt from ''VideoGame/PopNMusic'' is a computer monitor-head robot.
101	* In the ''[[VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles Ravenhearst]]'' game's numerous sequels, TV Head ''Mannequins'' are something of a signature gimmick of the Dalimar clan. Although none can walk on their own, some move about on track-wires and make gestures sufficient to qualify as "robots", not just odd TV-stands.
102	* In ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'', Site Lambda includes a robot [[spoiler: with a brain scan of Catherine Chun inside]] that uses a flat-screen monitor to communicate.
103	* ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'': In the sequel, we are introduced to Lise Project, which is a female robot with a big computer screen for a head. She normally displays a simple feminine face with eyelashes, but her head displays error signals when she is damaged or near the edge of a platform.
104	* Mr. Entertainment, host of ''VideoGame/SprintVector'', has a monitor for a head that looks like a RaygunGothic television. The image on it changes depending on what he's talking about.
105	* Nearly every robot in ''VideoGame/{{Stray\|2022}}'' has a monitor for a head, with a simple dots-and-lines face on their screen that can change to display symbols of their emotions or activities. One of the notable exceptions is Midtown's police force, the Peacekeepers, whose members opt for security cameras instead.
106	* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'':
107	** Mettaton is a big metal box on a wheel with a monitor that often shows a big "M". [[spoiler:Then you flip his switch, and [[BishonenLine becomes a humanoid]].]]
108	** Though he's not really a robot, [[spoiler:Photoshop Flowey]] has a TV for a head, which displays [[spoiler:Flowey's crazed face, a real greyscaled human head, and the six human [=SOULs=]]].
109	* ''VideoGame/VsHexMod'': Hex is a robot basketball player with a computer screen for a head, on which displays his face and even the arrows corresponding with his singing. The [[DVDCommentary developer commentary]] states he runs on Windows 10, and you can even play games on him.
110	* ''VideoGame/{{Wrack}}'' has Exo's last mecha, a giant robot whose head is a computer screen displaying it's controller's expressions... as an emoji. Be wary when this face (D-:<) comes up; it's about to release a difficult GroundPound attack.
111	* ''VideoGame/{{Inscryption}}'': P03 is a [[spoiler:plot twist antagonist]] of Inscryption. It has a TV head/screen face, which can change its facial expressions.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Web Animation]]
115	* Robo-san from ''WebAnimation/RobosanAndWanchan'' has a television set for a head, on which is displayed the wide dots that serve as his eyes.
116	* The TVMen from the ''WebAnimation/SkibidiToiletSeries'' are sharply dressed robots/cyborgs who have television sets for their heads, from which they can emit purple or orange light to hypnotize or immolate their enemies. Out of combat, their screens show static, which changes to a "c:" smiley to congratulate their allies.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Web Comics]]
120	* The Objectheads in ''Webcomic/{{Pilot}}'' have electronic devices in place of heads. When it comes to what it is, they run the gamut; Some have old, box televisions, some have flatscreens, while others have phones. Jerry, while not an Objecthead, has a monochrome display instead of a face. It displays a question mark most of the time, but can display other things as well.
121	* ''Webcomic/ThePropertyOfHate'''s [[NominalHero RGB]] is, if not an actual robot, at least a TV-Headed... [[MysteriousPast Something]]. His head is an actual [=TV=], by the way, and can be used to watch cartoons, although his consciousness sort of disconnects while this is happening.
122	* ''Webcomic/RiceBoy'' has The One Electronic (T.O.E.). Instead of pictures drawn by the author, he projects scenes from movies and television shows much more like, well, an actual TV. [[FridgeLogic He also smokes.]]
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Western Animation]]
126	* D'nerd from ''WesternAnimation/TheBotsMaster'', whose head resembles a computer monitor that displays a yellow face with eyes approximating NerdGlasses. It's demonstrated in the show's opening that he can display different images on his face-screen.
127	* In Creator/HannaBarbera's ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleRascals'' episode "Science Fair and Foul", Buckwheat's home-built robot has a TV set for its head.
128	* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' brings us Mike the TV, whose screen is [[{{Cephalothorax}} both his head and torso]].
129	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': Karen, Plankton's "computer-wife", alternates between being a stationary computer and an old computer monitor placed on a thin pole attached to a base with wheels and arms. One episode has her and Plankton going through a rough patch in their relationship and Plankton upgrades to a newer, [[HartmanHips curvier]] computer bot with a sleeker monitor.
130	* ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'' has TV Monster, a robot built with a TV screen. It's used by the [[BigBad Skeleton King]] for communication while he's in the [[SupervillainLair Citadel of Bone]].
131	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'':
132	** [[RobotMaid Tutor Bot]] has a screen for a head that he uses for lectures, a direct ShoutOut to [[Anime/{{FLCL}} Lord Canti]].
133	** Wreck-Gar's head was specifically designed to resemble a TV set, [[MythologyGag playing off how]] the G1 Junkions were [[AliensStealCable obsessed with Earth TV programming]].
134	* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': Dr. Venture builds G.U.A.R.D.O. to handle security while Brock is away. The hulking robot has a monitor for a head, which displays the (nebbish and non-threatening) face of Dr. Venture himself.
135	* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "[[Recap/WeBareBearsS3E23IcyNightsII Icy Nights II]]", Ice Bear's nemesis Barry the Bro-grammer has an army of MechaMooks with smart-phones for heads that emote by displaying various emoji. Near the end of the episode, Ice Bear and his old friend Yana encounter a much larger version with a tablet computer for a head.
136	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TVHeadRobot