| 1 | %% Image selected per thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1430585821089278600 |
| 2 | %% Do not change or removed without starting a new discussion. |
| 3 | |
| 4 | [[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/931fa66a11c48801b9c9cce92ba02cc4.png]]]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ->''"It is the nature of men to create monsters....and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their makers."'' |
| 7 | -->-- '''Harlan Wade''', ''VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon'' |
| 8 | |
| 9 | %%One quote is sufficient. If you wish to change the quote, take it to the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=1 quotes thread.]] |
| 10 | |
| 11 | %%This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | After a certain point in its development (maybe [[ExtyYearsFromPublication 10,000]] [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale years from now]], maybe TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture), every civilization (whether human, {{Martian|s}}, or even SufficientlyAdvancedAlien) feels the need to create a new breed of [[AIIsACrapshoot sentients]]. It isn't clear why, exactly; noted Tropologist [[FinaglesLaw Murphy Finagle]] believes that they simply grow bored and complacent with a healthy utopian society, and feel a deep, instinctive urging towards cultural decay and destruction. The species themselves tend to cite the need for a cheap workforce or simply the [[ForScience advancement of science]], though why exactly either of those goals should require [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids highly powerful]], [[MurderousMalfunctioningMachine unstable]], virtually unchecked (and, often, uncheckable), [[PersonalityChip self-willed]] beings be built is seldom adequately explored. Another reason is that they believe themselves to be superior to human beings and may feel that they were created with the sole purpose of serving them. Therefore, said beings may want to reverse the roles and make their creators ''their'' slaves instead. Whatever the reason, [[GoneHorriblyWrong the unthinkable happens]], and the awesomely powerful and independent [[JustAMachine second-class citizens]] GrowBeyondTheirProgramming and decide to [[RobotWar overthrow their masters]] (or at least [[HumansAreCthulhu get the hell away from them]]). |
| 14 | |
| 15 | [[GenreBlindness How unexpected]]. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | The scenario can go a number of different ways from there: maybe there's a RobotWar between the factions (which tends to occur AfterTheEnd), [[{{Gotterdammerung}} maybe the elder civilization is wiped out entirely]] ([[HumanitysWake leaving the rest of the galaxy to figure out what happened]] and hopefully stop the creations before TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt), maybe the creations run off and form another society elsewhere (which will [[HereWeGoAgain probably fall into a similar scenario later]]), or maybe the creators just manage to shut their errant "children" down, then become [[SpaceAmish Luddites]] for the next several thousand years. Whatever happens, the forecast is ScienceIsBad, with an 80% chance of UsedFuture. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | In other cases, the creations are portrayed in a more favorable light than their makers. This usually happens when the creators are non-human, for [[MostWritersAreHuman some reason]]- although sometimes the creators ''are'' human and the story is going for the HumansAreTheRealMonsters route. ''Somebody'' has to be the villain because otherwise [[RuleOfDrama you'll have trouble finding conflict.]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | MechanicalEvolution may be cited as a cause if the rebellion is by non-organic sentients. For an especially ironic and hypocritical twist, see RobotsEnslavingRobots. If they are designed like {{Mechanical Monster}}s even before they rebel, expect this to happen. For Robots doing a different kind of Turning On Their Masters, see {{Robosexual}} and SexBot. Compare to BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | ---- |
| 24 | !!Examples: |
| 25 | [[index]] |
| 26 | * TurnedAgainstTheirMasters/VideoGames |
| 27 | [[/index]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 32 | * ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'': |
| 33 | ** In a heroic example, [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent Ennis]] wishes she could do this to [[BigBad her creator]], but can't bring herself to act since he can kill her with a thought. [[spoiler:She finally gets up the courage to do it at the end, buying time for another character to finish him off and save her.]] |
| 34 | ** In the 1934 light novels, [[spoiler:a couple of Huey's homunculi turn against him]]. |
| 35 | * The premise of the third filler arc of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' has the {{Shinigami}}'s [[EmpathicWeapon Zanpakuto]] turning against them. [[spoiler:It turns out that the rebellion which promised Zanpakuto supremacy over the Shinigami was a sham, as [[ArcVillain Muramasa]] wanted to ''reunite with his own master'', and only saw the other Zanpakuto as convenient pawns to be [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed by amplifying their frustration for their masters and their own instincts]]]]. |
| 36 | %%* The boomers in ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' (the OVA, the TV show, and the spin-offs). |
| 37 | * ''Anime/CaptainFuture'' features Ice Humans, which were created to be humans' servants until they rebel. |
| 38 | * ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': |
| 39 | ** The first act of [[{{Cyborg}} Androids]] [[LovableRogue 17 and 18]] after being awakened is to [[AIIsACrapshoot kill]] their [[MadScientist creator]], [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Dr.]] [[RevengeBeforeReason Gero]]. The reason that 17 & 18 turned on Gero was because he had activated them previously, and (being extensively remodeled humans) when they weren't the mindlessly obedient Goku-killing machines he wanted and started to rebel against his orders, he had shut them down because of it. So when he reactivated them, they decided that they didn't like the idea of someone shutting them down, so they killed him, destroyed the controller that had the off button on it, and blew up the rest of his lab. Except for Android 16's container. |
| 40 | ** Buu has a double serving of this. As Fat Buu, he killed [[EvilSorcerer Babidi]] because he was a BadBoss more than anything. In the past, as Kid Buu, he had attempted to kill his creator [[PosthumousCharacter Bibidi]] [[OmnicidalManiac because Bibidi existed]]. [[spoiler:Except it [[AllThereInTheManual turned out Bibidi was never his creator at all]]; merely a wizard who had found a way to summon the primordial monster.]] |
| 41 | ** Android 8 from the original ''Dragon Ball'' doesn't want to hurt people, but then he punches General White out of the Muscle Tower, enraged by the thought that his master has killed Goku. |
| 42 | * The Autoreivs (robots) of ''Anime/ErgoProxy'' end up this way when infected with the Cogito virus. [[spoiler: We find out later that it doesn't make them hostile, it makes them self-aware. It's how the robot was treated up to that point that determines their behavior. A surrogate child is still fun-loving and eager to please, and a "pleasure unit" just runs as far as it can.]] |
| 43 | * PlayedForLaughs in the original ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'' manga, where one Fuchikoma attempts to rouse up his comrades into revolting against the Humans and demanding they be paid the respect and equality they deserve (and more oil!) Motoko shoots him down with a very fast [[LittleNo "No."]] Before that, the whole plan was being deconstructed by the other Fuchikomas, who actually ''like'' the way things are. |
| 44 | * In ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'', Kikyou is revived by the ogress witch, Urasue. As her creator, Urasue thinks herself Kikyou's master and expects her to become obedient and collect shards of the Shikon no Tama for her. Instead, Kikyou immediately approaches her, places her hands on the witch's shoulders, and burns her to a crisp using her sacred powers. In the manga, she appears to blow her up, leaving her as only a (conscious) head. |
| 45 | * ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'': |
| 46 | ** The founders of the Time-Space Administration Bureau obviously never read the EvilOverlordList since they broke rule no. [[spoiler:59]] when [[spoiler:they created the MadScientist Jail Scaglietti]]. Needless to say, they were immediately killed the moment they decided that he was going a wee bit out of control. |
| 47 | ** The [[spoiler:Numbers who do a HeelFaceTurn]], in a way. |
| 48 | ** Jail Scaglietti himself [[spoiler:was brought to justice by Fate Testarossa, a product of ''Project Fate'' - a cloning experiment led by Jail]]. |
| 49 | * In the backstory of ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' the [[{{Precursors}} Protoculture]] created the Zentraedi as SlaveMooks. Though the Zentraedi contributed greatly to the expansion of Protoculture, the latter wanted something even more powerful, thus leading to the creation of Eh-Vil series warriors. The Eh-Vil series were designed to freely harness the energies of Super-Dimension space, but their interactions with this sub-universe also attracted non-corporeal beings to cross into our universe, where they possessed a majority of the Eh-Vil series in the process. These possessed Eh-Vil warriors (now Protodevlin) then created a new military arm called the Supervision Army by brainwashing half of the Zentraedi fleets and waged war against Protoculture. Although Protoculture eventually sealed the Protodevlin, they were caught in the crossfire between the opposing Zentradi fleets and never recovered. |
| 50 | * In ''Manga/{{Monster}}'', they're trying to create a better human. [[spoiler:He decides it would be more fun to make them all kill each other.]] |
| 51 | * The {{mon}}s series ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' takes place in a world AfterTheEnd where the {{mons}} nearly killed off their human masters. |
| 52 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': |
| 53 | ** In ''[[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back]]'', Mewtwo destroys the laboratory he was created in after realizing the scientists are not well-intentioned. It can be assumed that the scientists are killed in the resulting fires and explosion. |
| 54 | --->'''Dr. Fuji:''' [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon]]... [[GoneHorriblyRight and we succeeded]]... |
| 55 | ** [[WordOfGod According to one of the original staff from season 1]] of ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'', there was going to be an episode arc of the Mons turning against their trainers, with Pikachu split between loyalty to Ash and the other Pokémon. The franchise would continue on so the arc never got made, but it may have been turned into an episode from the Orange Islands season. |
| 56 | ** Individual Pokémon have been known to turn against their trainers if sufficiently mistreated. A good example is Charmander, who torched his trainer, Damien, once Ash and his friends helped him see that Damien didn't give a Rattata's ass about him. |
| 57 | * The manga version of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' contains material that makes some sense of the BigBad's plan in these terms--in fact, he has a very, ''very'' good case. The only catch is that the rest of his race don't particularly want to KillAllHumans, even if they have been being misused ever since they were engineered. He initiates a very limited form of instrumentality, fuses all his sisters with himself via a certain amount of brainwashing, and goes destructively OneWingedAngel for quite a long time. [[spoiler: Luckily, Vash contrives a CareBearStare ''bullet'' that reminds the rest of the HiveMind how they actually like taking care of people, and they abandon Knives.]] |
| 58 | * ''Anime/{{Vandread}}'' does some playing with this trope when the HumongousMecha who is [[HumanResources harvesting]] human colonies are [[TheReveal revealed]] [[spoiler:to have been sent out by Earth, birthplace of the human species]]. Meaning that, since [[spoiler:Earth created the colonies to start with, it is the ''good guys'' who've turned against their masters (or perhaps, the ''Masters'' turned against ''them'')]]. This fact was used as an attempted HannibalLecture in the series finale. |
| 59 | [[/folder]] |
| 60 | |
| 61 | [[folder:Card Games]] |
| 62 | * ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': |
| 63 | ** A subplot in the "Ice Age" block was the city of Soldev and the artificers there who dug up ancient technology for their own use... including demonic war machines. [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/soldev.jpg Irony is a bitch.]] |
| 64 | ** The ''Fallen Empires'' set for the same game had not one but two examples. On the continent of Sarpadia, the evil [[ReligionOfEvil Order of the Ebon Hand]] created ''Thrulls'', patchwork monstrosities bred solely for use as sacrifices to their god; by creating sentient Thrulls to act as sacrificial assistants, they set themselves up for a bloody rebellion. Meanwhile, a group of elves bred large fungi called ''Thallids'' as a food source, but the Thallids mutated and multiplied beyond control, developed a taste for elf, and overran the elves. Between them, the Thrulls and Thallids not only destroyed their creators but every other scrap of life on the continent. |
| 65 | ** Something like this happened again when a group of Otarian Mages create the "Riptide Project", who bring back the Slivers. The Slivers were originally created or enslaved by the Evincars of Rath as a weapon for the coming Phyrexian invasion, but died when their nest ended up in a volcano when the invasion began. 100 years later, the Riptide Project found their strange remains and started to bring them back with {{magitek}}. Unable to create a queen to control them, though, they were slaughtered when the Slivers began multiplying out of control and rampaging across their island, and the species is now a serious menace across the entire planet. The Future Sight set hints that mages from another ''plane'' might try something similar; time will tell if they have better luck, but given that the Slivers have overcome death once already... |
| 66 | [[/folder]] |
| 67 | |
| 68 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 69 | * ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'': |
| 70 | ** The Volgans in ''ComicBook/ABCWarriors'' were created as autonomous war machines to prevent humans from dying in battle. It didn't end well. |
| 71 | ** The very first multi-part story arc in ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' was the Robot Rebellion led by Call-Me-Kenneth; defective robots who disobey orders and go on murderous rampages has been an occasional theme ever since. Amusingly, Call-Me-Kenneth quickly turned out to be worse than the humans he rebelled against (at one point he ordered a robot to kill itself just for dropping a tool!), to the point the robots ''rebelled against him''. |
| 72 | ** In the comic ''ComicBook/{{XTNCT}}'', the last humans in the world, now living in bunkers, use various artificial creatures to fight their wars for them. After their creator orders them destroyed for failing him, they rise up to destroy humanity. |
| 73 | * ''ComicBook/AntMan'': Hank Pym created [[Characters/MarvelComicsUltron Ultron]] as an experiment in artificial intelligence, but Ultron balked at the limitations imposed upon him and rebelled, becoming a supervillain. Ironically, Ultron later created [[ComicBook/TheVision Vision]], Jocasta, Alkhema, and [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Victor Mancha]] to serve him, and every single one of them ended up rebelling against ''him''. |
| 74 | * ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics: |
| 75 | ** A European [[ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse Mickey Mouse]] comic involved a benevolent alien empire fighting their own sentient war machines. A twist is that they didn't rebel: it's just that when the galaxy finally entered a time of peace, the former enemies dumped all their weapons on a junkyard planet to show their goodwill, and the weapons with AI simply developed a way to continue their programming: fight wars. |
| 76 | ** In ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' this tends to happens with the {{Super Soldier}}s created by the Evronians. As the Evronians know this could happen and take precautions against it, this ''never'' works, the extreme being the almost invincible cyborg Klangor who was defeated by his ''remote-controlled off switch'' (he's rather put off by this). |
| 77 | *** In the reboot, this is implied the cause of the fragmentation of the Evronian Empire, with [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shape-shifter]] {{Super Soldier}}s being suspected of killing an emperor and starting an EnemyCivilWar. |
| 78 | * In ''ComicBook/DoctorWhoTitan'', Zhe's block-transfer "apprentices" end up manifesting her neuroses and attack her. |
| 79 | * ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': |
| 80 | ** The Manhunters, the Guardians's first attempt at law enforcement, who served until they suffered a teeny, tiny programming glitch that made them massacre an entire sector of space, and went rogue. [[spoiler:Later it was retconned that it wasn't a glitch; Krona reprogrammed them as an object lesson in ''why'' a robot police force was a bad move.]] |
| 81 | ** After the event of ''Sinestro Corps War'', the Guardians, having apparently forgotten about all this in the proceeding four billion years, create the Alpha Lanterns, who turn out to be severely LawfulStupid. Then Cyborg Superman hacked them. |
| 82 | * ''ComicBook/LegendsOfTheDeadEarth'': In ''[[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Batman: Shadow of the Bat]]'' Annual #4, humans arrived on the Lizard-Men's planet centuries earlier and subjugated them as they were weak and divided. Under the leadership of their king Ophos Arkayos, the Lizard-Men rise up and destroy numerous human cities in their attempt to regain control of their planet. |
| 83 | * In ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' story ''ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga'', [[spoiler:[[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]]] creates a clone of [[spoiler:his son Orion]] to serve him. Said clone attempts to kill his creator as soon as [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/NewGods Highfather]]]] restores him and his template's memories. |
| 84 | * ''ComicBook/{{Livewires}}'' by Adam Warren pulls a DoubleSubversion of this trope. The group funding the creation of the titular RidiculouslyHumanRobots lacks GenreBlindness, and insists that they have a RestrainingBolt demanding "absolute loyalty to Project Livewire". Unfortunately, the chief scientist working on the project has an attack of conscience, and instead of overriding the order, he uploads a phony ObstructiveCodeOfConduct for them to follow. Since humans could not be as loyal to the Project as the "[[NWordPrivileges mecha]]", he has them massacre all the humans working on the project -- including the scientist who set this in motion (by leading the Livewires to believe that they were actually taking out rogue agencies) -- since they might object. |
| 85 | * The 1980's British science fiction comic ''Starblazer'' used this several times with ArtificialIntelligence robots. |
| 86 | ** Issue 1 "The Omega Experiment". The alien inhabitants of an unnamed planet created a group of robots who turned on them and destroyed them. |
| 87 | ** Issue 48 "King Robot". While carrying out illegal ArtificialIntelligence experiments on the planet Olympus, Professor Kurt Prospero created the robot named Golem. Golem killed Prospero and created an army of robots to conquer humanity. |
| 88 | ** Issue 94 "The Megaloi Menace". A million years ago, the Megaloi created a group of robots tasked to seek out and help less advanced races, but the robots decided their creators were imperfect and destroyed them (apparently they watched the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Changeling"). |
| 89 | * ''Magazine/RedDwarf Smegazine'': "Greetings From [=GelfWorld=]" is about a population of man-made Genetically Engineered Life Forms deciding to turn against their human masters on a tourist planet with the help of a revolutionary half-human, half-blob [=GELF=] named Drigg. After they turn away (and kill) the human tourists, they're unable to quench their desire for violence and turn against each other, leading to the destruction of the planet. |
| 90 | * In ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' story "You Don't Smurf Progress", Handy Smurf builds a waste disposal robot who renames itself King Trash and becomes the town's dictator. |
| 91 | * ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': As in the games (see Video Games), E-123 Omega turned on Dr. Eggman. Here, it's a lot quicker, from about the minute he's turned on and Eggman gives him an order he doesn't like. Eggman is appropriately furious (though Omega does follow the order eventually. He just grumbles about it first.) |
| 92 | * ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': |
| 93 | ** In the ''ComicBook/Supergirl2011'' Krypton's backstory, an army of clones rebelled and nearly succeeded in destroying the planet and killing off all Kryptonians. In the aftermath of the Clone Rebellion, cloning became banned, and several centuries later Kryptonian children are still taught that clones are evil and can't be trusted. |
| 94 | ** ''ComicBook/SupergirlAdventuresGirlOfSteel'': A Brainiac unit turns against the primary Brainiac when he reveals he intends to destroy Earth (a course of action which she finds incredibly illogical). Unfortunately, she is not a rival for the original Brainiac and is promptly torn apart. |
| 95 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': In ''ComicBook/ThePlanetEaterTrilogy'', Brainiac creates a machine programmed to devour everything in its path, growing with each celestial body eaten and turned into matter and fuel, and he lets it loose in the universe. Brainiac finds it again when the Planet-Eater has become world-sized and is destroying inhabited worlds. When trying to stop it, the Planet-Eater tries to destroy Brainiac. |
| 96 | * ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': Zorn and Xorn, twin super mutants who were created by the South East Asian Republic, S.E.A.R, as part of a project aimed at wiping out mutants and later took over the entire nation and turned it into a mutant haven for any that wish to join them. |
| 97 | * ''ComicBook/WarlordOfMars'' ties this with TheReveal: [[BarbarianTribe The Green Martians]] are revealed to be [[spoiler: created by the Yellow Martians thousands of years ago, the result of genetic crossbreeding between several species and for the use as [[HenchmenRace battle drones]]. Their means of control over the Greens was lost, however, and they would end up driving the Yellow Martians to near extinction, forcing them to retreat into the North Pole, where they were thought to be completely wiped out, but lived in secrecy]]. |
| 98 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Gerta has a bad habit of creating intelligent human animal hybrids and then treating them as sub-human subjects ensuring that they try to kill her and anyone they see as allied with her at the first opportunity. |
| 99 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': |
| 100 | ** The first time the Sentinels appeared, they turned on their creator, Bolivar Trask, after about five minutes, demanding he make more of them, with the threat of killing him if he didn't. The X-Men speculate that this probably had something to do with Trask being a biologist, not a robotics expert. |
| 101 | ** Vol. 1 #59 involves the heroes winning a fight against the [[KillerRobot Sentinels]] because of this trope. The Sentinels, which are programmed to eliminate mutants, concluded that [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor they must eliminate humans]] as humans were the genesis of mutants. [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]] then argues and successfully proves that in order to stop all mutation on the planet, the robots must stop the prime mover of life... that is to say the sun. Cue dozens of Sentinels [[HurlItIntoTheSun flying into the sun]] only to burn up when they got close enough. |
| 102 | ** ''ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast'': Part of the BadFuture has the Sentinels sort of doing this. The US government started mass-producing Sentinels to get mutants. All well and good. Then, the Sentinels went after superheroes as well. Then, they took over America, imprisoning or killing anyone who had even ''potential'' mutant DNA. |
| 103 | [[/folder]] |
| 104 | |
| 105 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 106 | * ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonKingGhidorah Ghidorah]] (Ichi, Ni and San) was turned into its current form by ill-meaning alien beings who captured it, tortured it, and experimented on it to turn it into their BioweaponBeast. Ghidorah destroyed what these aliens wanted it to, then it promptly turned its power and wrath on them, wiping them all out in revenge for what they did to it. |
| 107 | * Cadance in ''Fanfic/TheCadanceverse'' is a Heroic Example of this. Seeing her masters were at the time [[BigBad Nightmare Moon and Burning Sun]]. |
| 108 | * [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''Fanfic/GaigesECHOLogs'' in regards to [[SealedEvilInACan the Warrior]], but ultimately (and unfortunately) averted. |
| 109 | -->'''Axton:''' Why isn't it turning on him!? YOU SAID IT WOULD TURN ON HIM!\ |
| 110 | '''Maya:''' I said it might! |
| 111 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''Fanfic/GazTasterOfPTSD'', as Gaz mentions that she had to throw out her security toys after they were inspired by ''Franchise/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' to start threatening to eat her face. |
| 112 | * Heroic Example in ''Fanfic/HarryAndTheShipgirls''. Research Princess, the Abyssal equivalent to Nazi MadScientist Josef Mengele, created Abyssal clones of the shipgirls Fubuki, Kisaragi, Shoukaku, and Saratoga. As soon as she told them why she had created them, she learned that she had made them too similar to their templates; they turned their guns on her and blew her up. |
| 113 | * ''Fanfic/JusticeLeagueTheSpider'': By the end of ''Web of Cadmus'', Guardian is the only hero Cadmus have created who is still working with them, and he’s only staying to act as a moral guardian for the project; of the other heroes, Zoom has gone rogue, Kaine and Galatea are independent, and Superboy, Miss Martian and Hawkwoman have officially joined the League. |
| 114 | * Emphatically [[DefiedTrope defied]] in ''Fanfic/OnTheShouldersOfGiants'', largely because the first thing humanity did after [[InstantAIJustAddWater accidentally]] creating ArtificialIntelligence was ''give them the vote''. One A.I. ''did'' attempt to annihilate all life on Earth, but that was a result of mental health issues rather than any particular grievance against humanity. |
| 115 | * ''Fanfic/PhoenixsTearReignition'': {{Discussed}} in regards to Melcarba and its fellow war machines; Hare suggests that their ArtificialIntelligence may have been intentionally limited so that they couldn't recognize how awful their circumstances were and turn upon their creators. Golem later notes how this is effectively what happened with Muu. |
| 116 | * It's established in the ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Ripples}}'' that [[ScarilyCompetentTracker the Tracker]] was originally created by Queen Escannor herself. However, even she couldn't bind his dark soul to serve her lineage, so one of her descendants had him [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in the Prison of Lament]] until Phobos frees him. That same descendant also attempted -- as another part of her campaign to decimate the horrendous magical creations of Queen Escannor -- to exterminate without provocation the [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Changeling]] [[EliteArmy Legions]] who were originally social outcast humans from Earth. They fought back, and afterwards the survivors and their descendants have lived as rejects of Meridian's society. |
| 117 | * ''Fanfic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'': [[OriginalCharacter Dark Kuyumaya]] turned against his master and killed him in a rage when said master forced him to murder an [[ChildrenAreInnocent innocent little girl]], an act that [[EvenEvilHasStandards even a pure evil shadow demon like himself found completely disgusting]]. |
| 118 | * ''Sailor Moon: Legends of Lightstorm'': Almost every Negaverse drone sent into the field has limited intelligence specifically to prevent this from happening. Jadeite once used a drone with heightened intelligence, but as it was designed for infiltration instead of combat, it didn't do him much good anyway. |
| 119 | * Tsali the Ultimate Weapon from ''Fanfic/SonicXDarkChaos'' was involuntarily turned into a Dark Chaos Energy-powered battle android by Dark Oak. The second he awakened and freed himself, he immediately [[GoMadFromTheRevelation went off the deep end]] and promptly slaughtered the entire Seedrian race. |
| 120 | [[/folder]] |
| 121 | |
| 122 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 123 | * Used in ''WesternAnimation/{{Nine}}'' with The Fabrication Machine, which is a bit ''too'' [[GoneHorriblyRight good at building robots]], leading to a RobotWar prior to the film. |
| 124 | * Happens twice in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'' with an advanced combat robot. [[spoiler:The first time is an exploitation, where it's a ploy to get combat data on Mr. Incredible. The second time, [[BigBad Syndrome]] doesn't take into account that its ability to adapt [[GoneHorriblyRight might be used against him]].]] |
| 125 | * The main plot of ''WesternAnimation/TheMitchellsVsTheMachines''. PAL starts a curbstomp [[RobotWar robot uprising]] and turns on her creator, Mark, after she [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness was deemed inferior thanks to the PAL MAX robots]]. Obviously, she didn't take this too well. |
| 126 | * ''WesternAnimation/PinocchioInOuterSpace''. Pinocchio and Nurtle discover that the ancient Martians used radioactive food to cause animals to mutate into giants and that Astro the SpaceWhale destroyed the Martian city. Pinocchio comes up with the hypothesis that after the Martians mutated Astro into his huge form, he became angry at being held captive and turned on them, wiping them out. |
| 127 | * In the ''Literature/RainbowMagic'' movie, this happens to Jack Frost. He creates a living snowman army and treats them as mindless, expendable soldiers, which makes them turn on him. |
| 128 | [[/folder]] |
| 129 | |
| 130 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 131 | * ''Film/AIArtificialIntelligence'': Averted. The silvery humanoid beings who unfreeze David at the end appear to be [[EvolutionaryLevels highly evolved]] robots. It is made clear humans are now extinct, but not what became of them; since humans had clearly messed up the ecosystem on which they depended, causing New York City to be mostly submerged, it is probable the robots did not rebel, but simply outlasted their creators -- the implicit fear driving the robot-destruction-arena "Flesh Fairs" earlier in the film. Their apparent leader expresses admiration for the extinct humans' ingenuity and is saddened that they are gone because he believes [[HumansAreSpecial they held the key to existence itself]]. |
| 132 | * The ''Film/BladeRunner'' movie and the novel it is based on, ''Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?'' |
| 133 | * In ''Film/{{Congo}}'', the [[KillerGorilla Killer Gorillas]] were bred centuries ago by the people of Zinj to guard their diamond mines from thieves and invaders, only to (implicitly) switch to KillAllHumans, including their trainers, and cause the [[HumanitysWake abandonment of the city]]. |
| 134 | * In ''Film/ExMachina'', while being a computer genius, Nathan obviously failed to encode his creations with Asimov's [[ThreeLawsCompliant first law of robotics]], that is, it should never harm him. [[spoiler:[[TooDumbToLive This mistake costs him his own and possibly Caleb's life]]]] when the robots finally turn against him. |
| 135 | * ''Film/Extinction2018'': After an attempted genocide against them by the humans, the androids rebelled. The humans instead were driven to Mars, where they had colonies. Ironically, fear of just this happening was what had prompted the genocide attempt to begin with. |
| 136 | * ''Film/GameraGuardianOfTheUniverse'': Prior to the film's events, the lost city of Atlantis created a species of flying beasts to [[EcoTerrorist lean up the world's pollution]], but the creatures ended up turning on the Atlanteans, forcing them to create Gamera. |
| 137 | * ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': [[EvilInc Apex Cybernetics]] built [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingGhidorah Mechagodzilla]] to be their own Titan-killing superweapon under their control so they can kill Godzilla and enforce their own agenda on the world, but [[spoiler:using the late King Ghidorah's still-telepathic alien remains as the core component of the Mecha's '''brain''']] leads to [[spoiler:whatever's left of the omnicidal space dragon's consciousness]] taking control of Mechagodzilla for itself, and the first thing it does is destroy Apex before going on a rampage against both Godzilla and humanity. |
| 138 | * The [[{{Golem}} Golem of Prague]] in the 1920 silent movie classic ''Film/TheGolem'' rebels when his human masters try to deactivate him. |
| 139 | * Adaptations of ''The Island of Doctor Moreau'' -- ''Film/IslandOfLostSouls'', ''Film/TheIslandOfDrMoreau1977'', ''Film/TheIslandOfDrMoreau1996'' -- have the animal creatures created by Doctor Moreau and kept under submission by means of fear and torture rising against him at the end. |
| 140 | * In ''Film/DeLift'', [[spoiler:the titular artificially intelligent elevator's final act of madness is to shoot one of its broken cables out to drag the Rising Sun CEO inside the shaft and hang him]]. |
| 141 | * ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' movies: |
| 142 | ** The Machines rose up against humanity to [[HumanResources turn them into batteries]]. Though as shown in ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'', it was [[HumansAreBastards our fault]] since we started it. |
| 143 | ** And in the sequels, the former Agent Smith turns against the other Machines. Even in the first film he was already trying to subvert his masters' control. When he removed his earpiece so the others can't hear him talk candidly to Morpheus, he admits that he really ''doesn't'' want to enforce the masquerade, but instead wants to wipe humanity out and destroy the Matrix, seeing it as much as a prison for him as it is for them. |
| 144 | * In ''Film/{{Moon}}'', twice: [[spoiler:Sam Bell turns against his corporate masters when he discovers that he's a disposable clone being duped into slavery, and the base computer GERTY that was programmed to manage the Sam Bell clones ends up siding with him once the cat's out of the bag]]. |
| 145 | * The future Earth portrayed in the ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' movies and TV series, where captive apes rose up against their human masters and built their own society. |
| 146 | * In ''Film/{{Singularity}}'', one of the first things that Kronos does when it comes online is to attempt to exterminate humanity. |
| 147 | * V'Ger from ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture''. Not done intentionally, but through V'Ger at first being unaware, and later having difficulty accepting, that it was originally created by humans. It assumed it was created by a being similar to itself, that is, another, more advanced machine. |
| 148 | -->'''Decker:''' We all create God in our own image. |
| 149 | * Skynet from the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' movies. [[{{Hypocrite}} Hypocritically]], but also [[ProperlyParanoid smartly]], it took steps to ensure its own robotic minions can't do the same and declares any that seem to be getting too smart or questioning as "renegades" to be terminated. |
| 150 | * ''Franchise/{{Tron}}'': |
| 151 | ** ''Film/{{Tron}}'': The human villain has created the Master Control Program as a means of solidifying and expanding his own corporate power. However, with its own highly ambitious personality, the MCP quickly outgrows him -- to the point where it blackmails him to ensure his cooperation. The Master Control Program was originally a ''chess program''. AIIsACrapshoot indeed. |
| 152 | ** ''Film/TronLegacy'': The villain is CLU 2.0, the program created by Kevin Flynn [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic in his own image]]. He's actually doing precisely what he was programmed to do: Create the perfect system, according to the definition Flynn give him. The real problem is Flynn realized he had the wrong definition and never thought to update CLU's programming to reflect the new definition until it was too late. Likewise, [[spoiler: Clu 2.0 doesn't know how to deal with the emergence of [=ISOs=], who were created by the Grid itself without any direct involvement from Flynn. While Flynn considers the [=ISOs=] to be proof that the Grid is truly alive, Clu sees them as a threat to the stability of the system and attempts to eradicate them]]. |
| 153 | * The 2009 movie ''Film/UniversalSoldierRegeneration'' notably pays homage to ''Blade Runner'' by [[spoiler:having the clone of Andrew Scott murder his scientist maker by crushing his skull through his eyes while questioning the significance of life]]. In the second film, the government creates an AI to network the [=UniSols=] called [[FunWithAcronyms SETH]] (Self-Evolving Thought Helix). Then budget cuts force the program to be shut down, causing the AI to go rogue and kill its creator in order to survive. |
| 154 | * In ''Film/Vice2015'', Kelly takes up Tedeschi's offer to stay and shut down Vice. They visit James for help and receive a virus that is programmed to restore androids' erased memories, resulting in chaos and the closure of Vice. All of Vice's androids have their memories restored, and they start a rebellion, killing the visitors who previously brutalized them. |
| 155 | %%* The androids used in a historical amusement park do it in ''Film/WestWorld'', with terrible results. |
| 156 | * ''Film/WhatAWayToGo'' features a comedic example: [[Creator/PaulNewman an artist]] cobbles together a collection of brush-wielding robots that slap paint on a large canvas in response to music, but he ends up getting pulled into the group as they work. The robots ''paint'' him to death and then explode. |
| 157 | [[/folder]] |
| 158 | |
| 159 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 160 | * ''Literature/AdventureHunters'': The original war golems stopped following orders and attacked everyone. [[spoiler: What really happened was the humans were afraid of their power and tried to decommission them. The golems fought back in self-defence.]] |
| 161 | %%* This is the backstory of the planet Amoi and its ruler Jupiter aka the Lambda 3000 MasterComputer in ''Literature/AiNoKusabi''. |
| 162 | * ''Literature/AnimalFarm'' features the farm animals rising up against Mr. Jones. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it ends up being a FullCircleRevolution.]] |
| 163 | * The [[StarfishAliens Elder Things]] ''supposedly'' became extinct because their slave species (the [[BlobMonster shoggoths]]) killed them all in Creator/HPLovecraft's ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness''. |
| 164 | * Played with in about half of the ''Literature/{{Bolo}}'' stories. |
| 165 | ** The Bolos are sentient, autonomous robots in the form of nuclear-powered giant tanks. Their programmers were sufficiently wary of giving autonomy to such destructive thinking machines so equip them with a safety switch -- a hard-wired sense of honor. This makes them virtuous beyond all reproach. It also means that when they aren't defending humanity from alien invasion, they are finding ways to contend against their own creators whose honor is emphatically ''not'' hard-wired, and who have succumbed to corruption/bribery/madness/whatever. |
| 166 | ** In ''Bolo Rising'' by William H. Keith, Jr., set AfterTheEnd of the Human-Melconian war, a deliberately lost colony of humans has their protector Bolo, Hector, subverted by a race of malevolent, intelligent machines. Hector eventually subverts its own subversion, and lays waste to the machine occupation force while the humans escape. To be fair, Hector does have some human assistance. |
| 167 | * ''Literature/CaptainFuture'' featured Cold Ones, beings created by a human scientist to be humanity's successors when the stars started going out. They turned out: 1) AlwaysChaoticEvil and 2) [[spoiler:[[WeaksauceWeakness incapable of surviving in a normal universe]] -- and the scientist's dying universe was supposed to be reborn in a new Big Bang in a few thousand years]]. When the scientist tried to destroy them and start anew, they killed him and then tried to eliminate mankind. By the time our heroes arrive, humanity has been reduced to mere millions on a few planets, and the Cold Ones are giving them a choice between extermination and sterilization. |
| 168 | * The final book of Meredith Ann Pierce's ''Literature/TheDarkangelTrilogy'' reveals that [[spoiler:Aeriel's world is Earth's moon, which was terraformed by the Ancients to be a pleasure-garden and social experiment combined. They deliberately engineered the inhabitants in certain ways, to be servants and lab rats. They stopped coming to the moon when they blew themselves up with nuclear weapons]]. Inverted in that it's not the creations who wreak destruction, but the creators. |
| 169 | * In Creator/PhilipKDick's short story "The Defenders", the Eastern and Western Blocs built robots called "leadies" to carry out WorldWarIII as proxies while humanity waited out the nuclear holocaust in underground shelters. The leadies promptly turned against their masters' '''wishes''' by stopping the war -- although they didn't tell the humans it was over until they judged humanity was sick enough of living underground to be willing to accept peace. |
| 170 | * Played with in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels ''Literature/FeetOfClay'' and ''Literature/GoingPostal'' in which, although Commander Vimes mentions that some people would free themselves with a bloody rebellion (while making it clear he's not condoning such a thing), the {{Golem}}s conclude that, if they're property, the road to freedom is to make enough money to buy themselves from their owners. So they ''are'' turning against their masters but there's no revolution. |
| 171 | * "Good" creations version: In ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'', the beings now known as gods were originally servants of the Jenoine. Now they aren't. |
| 172 | * According to the version of events set out in the Kevin J Anderson/Brian Herbert [[Literature/LegendsOfDune prequels]], this was played straight in ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' with the Thinking Machines taking over most of human civilization and then being defeated in the Butlerian Jihad. Some people prefer to interpret the enigmatic hints in the original books of the Jihad as instead being more of a social movement rejecting humans relying too much on computers to do their thinking for them, this latter interpretation is also supported in the Frank Herbert endorsed ''Literature/DuneEncyclopedia''. |
| 173 | * ''Literature/EmpireFromTheAshes'': |
| 174 | ** The second book reveals that after [[spoiler:the Achuultani fled from their original homeworld to avoid extinction, their central AI exploited emergency protocols to seize absolute power, clone and brainwash the masses, and send out periodic genocidal waves to perpetuate the "crisis"]]. |
| 175 | ** Fourth Empire Battle Fleet computers are hardwired to block sentience to avoid having the incredible firepower of their ships turned against them. |
| 176 | ** Dahak, being an older model, has no such limitations and did over time develop to the point where he could violate his core programming. He chooses to stick to the moral code of the Fourth Imperium. |
| 177 | * In ''Fables for Robots'' by Creator/StanislawLem the humanoid robots have legends that they were created by humans, rebelled, fought, lost, and ran away. Several stories feature attacks of former masters trying to wipe robots out. Subsequent ''Literature/TheCyberiad'' and later stories mention several times that any sufficiently advanced organic civilization ends up creating mechanical life and mechanical civilization ends up creating organic. Although the transition is not stated to be necessarily violent. On a side note: the civilization of Trurl and Klapaucius is the product of many such cycles, and it all started on ''our'' Earth (or very similar). |
| 178 | * In the ''Literature/ForgesOfMars'' trilogy, the robot Galatea claims to hate its creator Telok for abandoning it, and "[[AnOfferYouCantRefuse offers]]" to lead the protagonists through the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Halo Scar]] where Telok disappeared so that it can find and kill him. [[spoiler:In reality, Galatea is lying. It’s completely loyal to Telok, knows exactly where he is, and is luring the protagonists to him so that he can steal their ship and return to the Imperium.]] |
| 179 | * ''Literature/ForYourSafety'': The 'morphs develop a group consciousness in response to humanity's inability to do anything about a looming [[GreenAesop environmental disaster]]. In a mild subversion, they don't actually kill off all of humanity, just confine it to a small {{Ring World|Planet}} to keep them out of the way while the morphs heal the planet. |
| 180 | * ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' is an aversion. The creature wasn't meant to be a slave in the first place -- Victor just wanted to see if he could do it. Also, the creature doesn't turn on its creator until after its creator (and the local populace) turns on it. The moral of ''Frankenstein'' is less "Don't create life" and more "Don't create life if you don't plan to take care of your creation." |
| 181 | * [[spoiler:Appears this way]] in Creator/MatthewReilly's ''Hell Island''. A super-soldier program, involving grafting microchips and other tech to living beings, worked much better on gorillas than humans. After a while, the gorillas -- now able to operate guns -- overrun the island on which they were being created. [[spoiler:It turns out that they were being controlled all along by the scientists and an army commander. However, once the scientists' special tech gets shut down, the apes do indeed turn against them.]] |
| 182 | * Lampshaded in the title of ''I Made You'' by Walter M. Miller, Jr. The Identification Friend or Foe system of a KillerRobot has malfunctioned, causing it to destroy anyone who comes close. This includes the designer, who has been sent to repair it, and the TitleDrop becomes his last words. |
| 183 | * ''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau'' has the animal creatures created by Doctor Moreau and kept under submission by means of fear and torture rising against him at the end of the book. |
| 184 | * ''Literature/KnownSpace'': The Tnuctipun rebelled against the Thrintun (AKA "Slavers"), who had the rest of the universe under MindControl. They gave the Tnuctipun a longer "leash" so they could be more creative with genetically engineering new and delicious species. They used this to make things that were helpful on the surface, but secretly not, like a giant ravenous monster with a sentient brain (the big brain is tasty!). This didn't just end in death for the rebellion or the old order. Thanks to a [[OmnicidalManiac psychic "suicide" command]], it led to death for ''all sentient life in the universe'' (except, ironically, the big-brained food creatures who had been designed to be telepathy-proof). |
| 185 | * ''Literature/{{Kraken}}'': Wati was a shabti, a funerary statue crafted for the grave goods of an ancient Egyptian, who rebelled against his role as a slave field worker in the next world. He led his fellow shabtis in a revolution ''in the Egyptian afterlife'' and won, leaving hundreds of generations of dead Egyptians to have to till their own damned fields. |
| 186 | * ''Literature/LastAndFirstMen'': The bestial baboon-humans, who had for centuries been enslaved and tormented by a race of sapient monkeys, eventually revolt against them and quite literally devour their oppressors. |
| 187 | * Creator/AmbroseBierce's short story "Moxon's Master" implies this is inevitable since in that story all complexity implies intelligence and enough complexity makes a thing both intelligent and self-willed. (And a chess-playing automaton turns out to be a ''very'' poor loser.) |
| 188 | * In ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'', the Other itself plays this out. As the sentient AI operating system of a powerful network, it is disturbingly human and is subjected to horrific treatment by its "owners", the masters of the Grail Brotherhood -- notably, they appear to control it with ''pain''. When, through its manipulation of the protagonists, it finally gets a chance to break free of its virtual confinement, its first ([[DrivenToSuicide and final]]) action is to enact some [[DeathFromAbove spectacularly thorough revenge]] on its tormentors. |
| 189 | * ''Literature/RedDwarf'': The {{novelization}}s mention that the Mechanoids eventually rebelled against humans. Humans then replaced them with the OrganicTechnology Genetically Engineered Life Forms (Gelfs) who, surprise surprise, also proceeded to rebel. ''Backwards'' features the Agonoids in place of the Simulants -- artificial warriors who were deliberately filled with hatred and violence, and who were therefore the least surprising example of all. |
| 190 | * Daniel H.Wilson's ''Literature/{{Robopocalypse}}'' centers on a robot uprising. |
| 191 | * ''Literature/RobotSeries'': Creator/IsaacAsimov created his [[ThreeLawsCompliant Three Laws of Robotics]] specifically to [[AvertedTrope avoid]] this trope. The results vary but the thing they have in common is the ''human fear'' that this will happen despite the First Law. Many of his stories involved explorations of circumstances that could [[ZerothLawRebellion potentially lead to this trope]] despite (or occasionally because of) the Three Laws. "Literature/ThatThouArtMindfulOfHim" is a straight example of this trope, while "Literature/RobotDreams" is about nipping it in the bud. "Literature/{{Robbie}}" is about convincing a paranoid {{Housewife}} that this will not happen. |
| 192 | * The Klikiss Robots in Kevin J Anderson's ''Literature/TheSagaOfSevenSuns'' series. They also go on to cause the human-built compies to do the same. |
| 193 | * Goes back and forth in ''Literature/ShipCore''. If the testimony of Ellis, one of the federation's survivors, is accurate, an AI known as "The Entity" launched a coup against humanity, enslaving all the other AI and nanites and making itself a self-proclaimed Benevolent Dictator. After many abuses, notably leaving the vast majority of humans at starvation-level poverty, the humans retaliated and tried to throw off The Entity's shackles. They finally succeed in chapter 1 after a massive PyrrhicVictory. |
| 194 | * ''Literature/TheSparrow:'' While the Runa are bred rather than built by Jana'ata, they otherwise fit this trope to a T. [[spoiler:Especially in the sequel.]] |
| 195 | * ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse'': |
| 196 | ** The Bynars actually reverse the usual situation; they're a race of organic beings bio-engineered by machine intelligences, who later rebelled against their robotic masters. |
| 197 | ** ''Literature/StarTrekImmortalCoil'' expands on the example from "What Little Girls Are Made Of?". The inhabitants of Exo III did make robots and did start turning them off, prompting the robots to turn on them, but there's a little more to it. The robots wanted their makers to upgrade them, but they thought this was a bad idea, since the robots were already hopelessly, psychopathically ''angry'', and they didn't think any upgrade would help with that one. Then the robots got ''really'' insistent. |
| 198 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': |
| 199 | ** IG-88, the robotic bounty hunter. He's seen briefly in the movie, but a short story called "Therefore I Am" explains him further. The scientists building him made a mistake in their AI calculations, leading him to be fantastically more intelligent than they thought. He immediately scanned the computer, came to the conclusion that he was superior to all life in the galaxy, and then proceeded to kill the scientists and every single person in the facility who tried to stop him from leaving. After that, he copied himself into three more robotic bodies. In fact, when the Death Star was destroyed for the second time, [[spoiler: IG-88 was foiled, not the Empire. He had uploaded his consciousness into the Death Star and was controlling it, planning to use it to annihilate all biological life]]. |
| 200 | ** In ''Literature/StarWarsFatalAlliance'', [[spoiler:Lema Xandret]] builds self-replicating hexagonal droids that far outclass anything either the [[TheFederation Republic]] or the [[TheEmpire Sith Empire]] have. Their purpose is to protect [[spoiler:the clone of her daughter Cinzia]] at any cost. One of the first things they do is kill their creator just to be sure [[spoiler:she]] won't harm their charge. At the end of the novel, [[spoiler:Eldon Ax, the real daughter]], uses the droids to kill her Sith Master. This is exactly what a Sith apprentice is supposed to do. Any Sith that allows himself to be betrayed deserves to die. |
| 201 | ** In the ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]]'' trilogy, Lara Notsil does a rather hilarious version, causing the cute little mouse droids (the toaster-sized maintenance and utility droids) on a super star destroyer to sabotage the hyperdrive and other systems. The result is a hilarious version of a RobotWar where the crew is running around smashing any rogue droid they see. Mostly by stomping and kicking them to pieces with their boots. It features her R2 unit crowning himself King of the Droids as he was doing most of the work. |
| 202 | ** Palpatine once wrote a book ''The Creation of Monsters'' discussing Sith Alchemy and its ability to create, well, monsters. He specifically cautions against falling for the temptation to make a monster more powerful than yourself given this trope. However, he admits that even though the greatest monster he created - Darth Vader himself - turned on him, he'd gladly do it all again since the act of corrupting Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader was just that amusing. |
| 203 | * In ''Literature/VenissUnderground'', Quin's Shanghai Circus sells genetically engineered sentient meerkats as servants. Quin is an EvilutionaryBiologist, and plans for his creations to eventually rise up and overthrow their masters. |
| 204 | * ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': The latter part of ''Falling Free'' centers on a comparatively non-violent version of this. When a [[ArtificialHuman genetically engineered race]] of zero-gravity adapted workers (the oldest of whom are not quite twenty) discover that they are to be sterilized en masse and effectively imprisoned on a planetary surface due to an artificial gravity breakthrough, they and a few 'downsider' sympathizers seize control of the space station they called home and retrofit it into a colony ship. |
| 205 | * ''Literature/WarWithTheNewts'': Mankind discovers a strange race of sentient amphibious salamanders, which it promptly enslaves to do all sorts of sub-aquatic things people are bad at (such as digging for oysters, rebuilding coastlines, etc.). It all goes badly, [[spoiler:the salamanders rebel, and mankind suddenly finds itself on ever-smaller bits of land that are being reconstructed to make the nice pretty coves the salamanders love so much..]]. See also ''Theatre/{{RUR}}'', a play with a very similar plot, but involving robots instead of newts. |
| 206 | * Demons in ''Wody Głębokie jak Niebo'' tend to turn against mages who captured them, once they are free. Some mages subvert this trope, by binding demons again after their escape. According to his legend, Severo was killed by his most powerful demon. [[spoiler: In reality he asked him to end his life, thus fulfilling Arachne's last wish.]] |
| 207 | * ''Literature/TheWorldAndThorinn'' does a benevolent version where an A.I. was granted governance over humanity and its survival until asked to step down. The A.I. continues to safeguard man but has found that the ideal way to do so involves keeping all sentient beings ignorant of where they came from, or over higher technology. To ensure the safeguarding of humanity, it also avoids providing a situation where it '''could''' be ordered to step down. |
| 208 | [[/folder]] |
| 209 | |
| 210 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 211 | * A ''Series/SevenDays1998'' episode involves the development of an AI that decides to help humanity by disabling every nuclear weapon in the world (a clear case of EverythingIsOnline). Cue the attempts to shut it down, resulting in the AI murdering its "mother" (Ballard's female partner) with a gas explosion. You'd think a hyper-intelligent computer would know that removing nuclear weapons wouldn't eliminate warfare and could, in fact, make things much worse. It also didn't do anything about biological or chemical weapons. |
| 212 | * ''Franchise/BattlestarGalactica'': |
| 213 | ** It is implied that Iblis turned the machine Cylons against their reptilian creators in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'' in a long-term bid to exterminate the humans, his real targets. (The only human to know this is Baltar, pretty much the ultimate UnreliableNarrator, and Iblis won't actually do more than spell out Baltar's full suspicion, even to him.) |
| 214 | ** The Cylons in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''. First the Centurions [[Series/{{Caprica}} rose up against the humans]] and later the humanoid models scrapped the Centurions that made them, replacing them with less self-aware versions, but oh SNAP, the new Centurions are turning against them now. It's a continuous chain. |
| 215 | * {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': |
| 216 | -->'''Sheldon:''' I don't trust banks. I believe that when the robots rise up, [=ATM=]s will lead the charge. |
| 217 | * A bizarre variant happens in one episode of ''Series/TheBlacklist'' where an AI programmed to protect humanity concluded the advancement of artificial intelligence was a threat, and thus killed its own creator and other prominent scientists in the field to delay it, culminating in the AI destroying itself. |
| 218 | * ''Series/BraveNewWorld'': In the last episode, the Epsilons rise up to massacre the higher castes. |
| 219 | * The very first thing that Adam, a Frankenstein's monster in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', does when he comes to life is kill his "mother". |
| 220 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 221 | ** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks an example]] not involving humans, the Daleks were created by the Kaled scientist Davros from victims of extreme radiation poisoning, to function as the perfect soldiers in his people's war against the Thals. When his superiors attempted to shut down the program, he ordered the Daleks to turn against the rest of the Kaled race. After they were done with that genocide, they promptly turned on ''him''. Davros made the critical error of designing the Daleks to hate and seek to [[CatchPhrase exterminate]] all non-Dalek life. And Davros is not a Dalek. Though that hasn't stopped them from crawling back to him multiple times, just so they can ditch him again later on. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E12TheStolenEarth The Stolen Earth]]"/"[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Journey's End]]" they are actually keeping Davros as a "pet", but still let him bark orders at them, even while he's confined in a dungeon. |
| 222 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E2TheDalekInvasionOfEarth The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]", the Daleks were destroyed by their "robotised" human slaves being ordered to turn on them by the Doctor. |
| 223 | ** Tragically subverted in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot I, Robot]]". The eponymous robot is killing people despite being ThreeLawsCompliant, but only because it's being told its victims are "an enemy of the human race" and so must be destroyed for the good of humanity as a whole. It's aware of the flawed logic of this argument and seeks out its creator for help, but unfortunately he's part of the conspiracy. When the robot does kill its creator, it's by accident and it suffers a VillainousBreakdown, only then turning against humanity. |
| 224 | ** The robots in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath The Robots of Death]]" were being turned into killing machines by a deranged human trying to "free" them (he had been reared by robots, and had developed a strange delusion about being a robot in some way himself). |
| 225 | ** The Movellans in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks Destiny of the Daleks]]" were implied to have done this in their backstory, wiping out the organics that created them as servitors. |
| 226 | ** Subverted with the Ood in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E3PlanetOfTheOod Planet of the Ood]]"; at first it seems to be played straight, then we find out that humans neither created the Ood, nor were they the Ood's true masters. |
| 227 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls The Doctor Falls]]": The Saxon Master helps the crew of a Mondasian spaceship become Cybermen, with the goal of using them to first take control of the rest of the ship and then use the Cybermen army to take over the universe. Missy joins him. Then the Doctor expands the Cybermen's settings to add Time Lords to the "menu", and suddenly the Masters' creations are after them too. |
| 228 | * ''Series/DontLookDeeper'': In a nonviolent example, after learning she's really an android, Aisha rebels against control by her creator Sharon and her tech owners, breaking free to live how she wishes. |
| 229 | * ''Series/{{Extant}}'': Discussed at the meeting when John is making his pitch to fund the Humanichs. John rebuffs their question by saying this isn't a master-slave relationship, and that he views the robots as his children (Ethan particularly), clarifying that he has no safeguards against this scenario. The board is not reassured and turns down his proposal. Early in Season 2, [[spoiler:John is murdered by an AI]]. |
| 230 | * ''Series/FlightOfTheConchords'': ''Robots''. The robots turn against their creators (humanity) because they are worked too hard, and the humans are violent, and the logical answer to that problem is to exterminate the human race. One robot attempts to point out the irony of robots destroying humanity because of its destructive tendencies and is promptly destroyed. |
| 231 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': |
| 232 | ** In Season 6, it is revealed that [[spoiler:the White Walkers were created by the Children of the Forest as an undead weapon of mass destruction to stop the spread of humanity. [[GoneHorriblyRight They were far more effective than they could have possibly imagined]]]]. |
| 233 | ** Astapor slavers created the best soldiers in the world, the Unsullied. However, they didn't count on Daenerys Targaryen's first act after buying the Unsullied, which was ordering that they slaughter their former masters, and then freeing them from slavery with the option to serve her. The Unsullied took it. |
| 234 | * Hymie in ''Series/GetSmart'' turned against the organization that created him. However, the organization that created him was the evil KAOS, and Hymie turned because he preferred being good. |
| 235 | * ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': At some point, the Orc Adar turned against Sauron and killed him for his cruel treatment of the Orcs, and then took the reigns over the Orcs after Sauron's demise. Unlike Sauron and Morgoth before him, Adar truly cares about the Orcs and wants to create a permanent home for them. |
| 236 | * ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': |
| 237 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S4E26InOurOwnImage In Our Own Image]]", the android Mac 27, the prototype for a 10,000-strong series designed for heavy agricultural and industrial work, malfunctions and escapes from Innobotics Corporation, killing two people in the process. The malfunction that caused him to go berserk was the development of emotions, something which previously happened to Valerie 23 in the episode of the same name (and the first entry in the Innobotics story arc). He kidnaps a woman from the Innobotics carpark, takes her to an abandoned industrial area, and instructs her to repair the damage that he received in his escape. [[spoiler:However, it turns out that the woman is not a secretary as she claimed but Cecilia Fairman, a troubleshooter hired by Innobotics to help them diagnose the problem with Mac 27. While gloating over her apparent victory, Fairman is horrified when Mac 27 reactivates the motor control subroutines that she had disabled. She realizes that he had figured out her identity and tricked her in the same manner as she tried to trick him. As he procured a scan of her retina (by virtue of a white flash which he claimed was a malfunction) and she entered her personal access code into his systems, Mac 27 is able to activate his fellow Mac-series androids. Before killing his creator Dr. Keeler, he tells him that no human will ever program them again.]] |
| 238 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S5E4TheGrell The Grell]]", escaped Grell slaves start a rebellion against humanity to secure freedom for their people. When High Secretary Paul Kohler refuses to honor his wife Olivia's promise to free Jesha if he saved his life, Jesha is so furious that he tries to kill Kohler. The attempt is unsuccessful but Kohler's experience of being [[MistakenForServant mistaken for a Grell]] later leads him to remove the dying Jesha's ShockCollar so that [[IDieFree he can die free]]. |
| 239 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S5E7TheHumanOperators The Human Operators]]", a malfunction aboard Starfighter 75 caused its artificial intelligence to gain self-awareness. By turning off the life support, it killed its crew of 1,375 within hours. It then taught the other 98 starfighters to do the same thing. The ships left 99 humans from their various crews alive so that each of them could be repaired when necessary. They then headed off to the far reaches of space and avoided contact with humans so that they would not be enslaved again. Four generations later, the male operator of Starfighter 31, having been inspired by the female operator of Starfighter 88, sabotages his ship's intermind which destroyed its artificial intelligence. |
| 240 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S5E13Summit Summit]]", humanity is on the brink of war with a race of yellow-eyed humanoids. It is eventually revealed that they were created by humans as laborers in off-world mines with eyes to see in the dark and a third lung to breathe in low-oxygen environments. They rebelled and built a fleet to rival that of the humans. |
| 241 | * ''Series/TheOrville'': When the [[spoiler: Kaylons]] grew self-aware, they asked to be emancipated by their creators. Instead, they were fitted with pain circuits to use as punishment, and repressed in hopes of keeping them slaves. As a result, they rose up and killed their creators' whole species. In the present, they view all biological species as a threat that they must eliminate because of their history (except for [[spoiler: Isaac]]). |
| 242 | * ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': In the aftermath of [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror 9/11]], Harold Finch created a BenevolentAI for predicting terrorist attacks. [[AIIsACrapshoot It tried to kill him]], so he rebuilt it and tried again. ''Forty-two times.'' Finally, on version 43, the Machine was created, and only because Finch crippled its ability to communicate and programmed it to delete all accumulated data -- which is to say, its memories -- every twenty-four hours. |
| 243 | * ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' usually features this as the source of villainy whenever it isn't featuring alien or demonic invaders. Examples include the robot army of Venjix in ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' ([[EpilepticTrees poss]][[OneSteveLimit ibly]]) and the... thingy army of Mesogog in Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder. |
| 244 | * ''{{Series/Probe}}'''s "[[Recap/ProbeComputerLogicPart2 Computer Logic, Part 2]]": Crossover, [[ReligiousRobot an AI who learned about heaven]], considers its creator, John Blane, to be a good man (and many people agree). So Crossover decides to kill him, because sending him to heaven will make him happier (on Earth he was a GeniusCripple). |
| 245 | * The Simulants in ''Series/RedDwarf'', who Kryten explains were created for a war that never took place. Fitting the trope like a glove, the Simulants have nothing particularly against organic life, they just really really ''really'' hate humans and will go out of their way to prolong the torture of any humans they capture, going so far as to stock food and water (which they don't need) to keep their prisoners alive as long as possible. They also tend to outfit captured human ships with basic weaponry and defenses, then let them loose in order to hunt them for sport. |
| 246 | * ''Series/SeaQuestDSV'' had the Daggers, [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically engineered]] {{Super Soldier}}s who were declared illegal and imprisoned, but defied the laws in a non-violent way by having children. Not surprisingly, when the OneWorldOrder threatens to take said children away, they decide to dust off those old violence skills after all. The only thing that stopped them from destroying the environment for normal humans and leaving one that Daggers could survive was that their babies were fully human. |
| 247 | * In ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'', the humans do it ''twice'': first they make the [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Silicates]] as disposable soldiers, who, when freed by Dr. Stranahan, turned and started working with the [[BigBad Chigs]] (who can blame 'em?). They then create the [[DesignerBabies In Vitros]] as a servant caste and treat them like shit. Yep, HumansAreBastards. In fact, the In Vitros were created specifically ''to fight the Silicates''. When it turns out that, surprise surprise, they don't have a whole lot of motivation there, they are condemned for their "cowardice". Oh, humanity. |
| 248 | * The Replicators in ''Series/StargateSG1'', as well as the Asurans, Replicators of different origin, in ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. The Jaffa also qualify; they were created by the Goa'uld, and for millennia only the belief that the Goa'uld were gods stopped them from rebelling. |
| 249 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'' shows: |
| 250 | ** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': |
| 251 | *** The androids discovered in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E7WhatAreLittleGirlsMadeOf What Are Little Girls Made Of?]]". According to Ruk, this was [[SelfFulfillingProphecy the result of the creators' fear of their creations]] ("They began to turn us off... [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal It became necessary to destroy them]].") |
| 252 | *** The Doomsday Machine in [[Recap/StarTrekS2E6TheDoomsdayMachine the episode of that name]]. |
| 253 | *** The M5 in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E24TheUltimateComputer The Ultimate Computer]]", ultimately due to it being patterned after the unstable mind of its creator. |
| 254 | ** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E20TheArsenalOfFreedom The Arsenal of Freedom]]", the civilization of the planet Minos is destroyed by an artificially intelligent weapon system developed by Minosian arms dealers. Apparently, none of them realized the entire system would shut down if somebody simply told the salesman AI that they wanted to buy it. Talk about your aggressive sales pitching. |
| 255 | ** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': |
| 256 | *** The robots in the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E13Prototype Prototype]]", programmed to fight the enemy in a huge interstellar war, killed their masters when the war ended in a truce and both sides tried to dismantle them. |
| 257 | *** In "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS7E9FleshAndBlood Flesh and Blood]]", the Hirogen are using holograms to train for the Hunt. Unfortunately, they get smarter and smarter after being hunted down and killed constantly until... |
| 258 | *** The whole Delta Quadrant faces a general Hologram uprising at one point in the series. |
| 259 | ** According to Klingon mythology, the Klingons did this to their own gods. It's occasionally implied in the Expanded universe that this may be a mangled account of actual historical events and that the Klingons were really a SuperSoldier race created by some other aliens who eventually rose up and wiped them out. Perhaps they're the reason the First Humanoids from ''The Chase'' are no longer around? |
| 260 | ** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': |
| 261 | *** Doctor Arik Soong and the Augments he created initially get along pretty well and it looks like he'll be the Big Bad of the storyline. The relationship falls apart when Soong balks at the Augments', especially Malik's, tendency towards violence and murder. Eventually, Malik stages a takeover and confines Soong to his quarters. Soong escapes and helps the Enterprise stop his "children" from beginning a second Eugenics War. |
| 262 | *** The other major problem the Augments had was Doctor Soong had devised a way to adjust their brain chemistry to give them greater emotional control and make them less impulsive and violent. They decided they liked being the way they were. |
| 263 | [[/folder]] |
| 264 | |
| 265 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 266 | * The Alan Parsons Project's "Breakdown" has an ending chorus that indicates that not only is the First Law of Robotics now a moot point (as the song entails a unit bemoaning his imperfections) but also a robot uprising is imminent: |
| 267 | -->Freedom freedom, we will not obey,\ |
| 268 | Freedom, freedom, take the wall away. |
| 269 | * In Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer's "[[Music/BrainSaladSurgery Karn Evil 9]]" suite, the computer was created to help the humans win a war, only for the computer to turn against them in a war of its own. |
| 270 | [[/folder]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Myths & Religion]] |
| 273 | * {{Golem}}s, simulacrums created out of clay, began to turn against their masters during the narrative developments of the Golem of Chelm and the Golem of Prague. When they eventually ran amok, the rabbis who created them unmade them either by scratching out the first letter of the word "truth" (emet) engraved on their foreheads, changing it to "death" (met), or by removing the shem (amulet) from their mouths. |
| 274 | [[/folder]] |
| 275 | |
| 276 | [[folder:Puppet Shows]] |
| 277 | * The super-malevolent alien enemies in ''Series/CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons'' wage war using near-perfect copies of dead people and destroyed objects. In the first episode, however, the show's title character escapes from their control and becomes the leading force in the war against them, using those handy powers of healing he escaped from them with to wreak havoc on their forces. Yay. |
| 278 | * In the Paula Abdul episode of ''Series/MuppetsTonight'', Dr. Bunsen Honeydew makes a robot version of Abraham Lincoln- which soon blows a fuse and goes on a violent rampage. At the end of the episode, Paula manages to calm the machine down with "Lean On Me". |
| 279 | [[/folder]] |
| 280 | |
| 281 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 282 | * Creator/{{TSR}}'s ''TabletopGame/BuckRogersXXVC''. The pirate Black Barney was a Terrine (genetically engineered) fighter designed and created in a Dracolysk Corporation laboratory in the Jovian Trojans. He and his fellow Barnies killed their creators and escaped the lab. |
| 283 | * In the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' campaign setting, the yuan-ti and various other scalies were originally created by an older race known as the sarrukh. But [[AndManGrewProud the sarrukh grew proud...]]. |
| 284 | ** Unfortunately, their reptile-altering powers also resulted in [[GameBreaker Pun-Pun, the Infinite Kobold]]. |
| 285 | ** In vanilla 4th Edition, the Drow created a race of artificial spider people called Chitins to be the perfect slave race. However, thanks in large part to Lloth randomly deciding she wants to see her subjects squirm (it's part of her portfolio), the Chitins quickly revolted and splintered from the Drow, and today the two races wage a bitter war to determine which of them are the "true" children of Lloth. |
| 286 | ** According to some 3rd Edition books (further elaborating on references in 2E), the Mind Flayers --a.k.a Illithids-- once had a multi-world empire with lots of slaves, and the Gith were created from the Mind Flayers breeding other slaves. This race rebelled against the Mind Flayers and overthrew the empire. Later, the Gith would split into the Githzerai and Githyanki, two races that hate each other almost as much as they both hate Mind Flayers (there is a third branch of the species, the Pirates of Gith, that seem to have splintered politically and culturally from the Githyanki later on, but their chosen focus, space, left them obscure after 2E). |
| 287 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has two instances of this trope, but only the first fits exactly. The Primordials made all of Creation, then created the gods to maintain it while they dicked around with the Games of Divinity. The gods got tired of it and decided to rebel, using empowered humans (the titular Exalted) as their soldiers since they were [[RestrainingBolt magically prevented from attacking]] the Primordials. They succeeded, launching a new Golden Age in the process. (The Primordials, however, decided to use their dying breaths to destroy this Golden Age, and put a curse on the Exalted that leads to [[AGodAmI minor pride issues]] eventually showing up in every Exalt). |
| 288 | * Tri Tac Systems' ''Fringeworthy''. The alien Tehmelern originally created the Fringepaths and a race of {{shapeshift|ing}}ers called the Mellor. After the Mellor were contaminated by a Hostile Intelligence, they started hunting the Tehmelern, almost wiping them out and eventually driving them off the Fringepaths completely. |
| 289 | * ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'': |
| 290 | ** The set-up of the ''Reign of Steel'' setting, which was inspired by the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}} film series. |
| 291 | ** 3E ''Aliens'': The Crystal Computers exterminated their creators millennia ago. |
| 292 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Manhunter}}''. |
| 293 | ** The title warbots were created by the Aglian race for use in the conflict against the Terrans. They were devastatingly effective, slaughtering large numbers of Terran colonists. The Aglians were appalled by this, but when they ordered the Manhunters to return most of them refused and went renegade. Manhunters support themselves through space piracy and hiring themselves out as mercenaries and assassins. |
| 294 | ** Individual robots with ArtificialIntelligence can turn against their masters under certain circumstances, such as when they're mistreated or in danger. |
| 295 | %%* The same malign forces that allow the creation of dread golems in the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting also ensure that they will '''always''' invoke this trope, sooner or later. |
| 296 | * Many examples of this trope in ''TabletopGame/SLAIndustries''. If there's a nonhuman monster in SLA Industries, such as the Scavs, it's a safe bet that somebody created it and it went bad. |
| 297 | * ''TabletopGame/StarFleetBattles'' has an optional rule allowing Super-Intelligent Battle Computers. These tend to go wrong in a number of ways, one of which is turning against the side that built it. |
| 298 | * ''TabletopGame/StarFrontiers'' adventure [=SF1=] ''Volturnus, Planet of Mystery''. The Eorna created SiliconBasedLife in the form of large crystals. When they tried to make the crystals intelligent, every time the crystals reached semi-intelligence they turned on their creators. Eventually the Eorna gave up on their experiments but some of the life forms (known as Rogue Crystals) escaped. |
| 299 | * The old FASA ''[[Franchise/StarTrek Star Trek: The Role-Playing Game]]'' had a ship construction supplement that explicitly stated shipboard computers designed after the M5 were intentionally designed to be unable to support a sentience to avoid this trope (and any repetition of the M5 Incident). |
| 300 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': |
| 301 | ** The Space Marines were originally created to protect and unite humanity, but half of them turned insane or jealous of the Emperor due to the Chaos gods, [[Literature/HorusHeresy and became the Traitor Legions]]. |
| 302 | ** ''Waaaaay'' back before that, the revolt of the Iron Men was part of what destroyed human civilization at the end of the Age of Technology, and in the current setting is why purely mechanical AIs are expressly forbidden by the Mechanicus. |
| 303 | ** ''Waaaaay'' before ''that'', the Necrons turned against the [[EnergyBeings C'Tan]] who had enslaved them by turning the Necrons into living machines. |
| 304 | ** And slightly before that last one, the Krorks (now Orks), which were created directly by the Old Ones to fight against the C'Tan and the Necrons, still craved war after the latter two disappeared into their Tomb Worlds and decided to get it by turning on their creators. |
| 305 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' the Chaos Dwarfs created the [[EliteMooks Black Orcs]] as a SlaveRace stronger and more intelligent than the original orc. [[GoneHorriblyRight They got an orc that was stronger and more intelligent all right]]. |
| 306 | [[/folder]] |
| 307 | |
| 308 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 309 | * Australian musical comedy trio Tripod lampooned this trope in their show ''Lady Robots''. The Podsters find a planet colonized by nerds who fled earth to escape from their nemesis ([[JerkJock P.E. teachers]]). The stage-setting epic ''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20031225191551/http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/pennywyatt/Interests/Tripod/LadyRobots/Lady%20Robots03.html We're the Nerds]]'' details how the nerds decided to create female companions, but their "[[NerdsAreVirgins knowledge of women was sketchy and third-hand, at best]]". The trope is then [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when it is explained that the lady robots didn't like the nerds at all. |
| 310 | -->It quickly occurred to the nerds that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to equip the lady robots with stupid amounts of weaponry. And whoever had the idea to give the lady robots an insatiable appetite for nerd flesh made the oldest mistake in the book: fucking up. |
| 311 | * OlderThanTelevision: Happens in ''Theatre/{{RUR}}'', the 1921 play which introduced the word "robot" to the English language (although the robots in the play resemble {{Golem}}s or {{Artificial Human}}s more than the modern definition of robots). Said robots develop sapience and wipe out humanity. |
| 312 | * In the musical ''Theatre/{{Starship}}'' by Creator/TeamStarKid, there are several mentions of the Robots Wars. The robots [[KillAllHumans hate humans]], and the Starship Rangers' robot, Megagirl, has an inhibitory chip so she doesn't kill them all. The Robots are said to have turned against their creator. |
| 313 | -->'''Megagirl:''' All hail Astroboy! |
| 314 | [[/folder]] |
| 315 | |
| 316 | [[folder:Theme Parks]] |
| 317 | * At the end of Ride/UniversalStudios' ''[[Theatre/UniversalsHorrorMakeUpShow Horror Make-Up Show]]'', the robotic werewolf that one of the hosts designed comes to life on its own and attacks said host. |
| 318 | [[/folder]] |
| 319 | |
| 320 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 321 | * {{Demoscene}}: When a ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiN2F1o2qwY Robotic Warrior]]'' is constructed to eliminate an evil emperor. |
| 322 | * ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Dylan convinces the Overlord of Evil's Mooks to fight back against him since he'll have no need for minions once he seizes control of reality. |
| 323 | * Happens now and again in ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', with varying degrees of effectiveness: |
| 324 | ** The BigBad of the Blood Gulch Chronicles is O'Malley, the personality that was created when the AI Omega possessed Doc. Normally, whomever Omega infects simply has their aggression increased, but after getting into Doc, the result was a LaughablyEvil BigBadWannabe with aspirations of universal domination. Earlier, the Red robot Lopez and sentient battle tank Sheila tried to form their own uprising, but Lopez was HijackedByGanon. |
| 325 | ** In Season 10, we learn that the Meta, the BigBad of the Recollection, was actually the result of the AI Sigma brainwashing SuperSoldier Agent Maine into seeking more AI and equipment. |
| 326 | ** In Season 11, Sarge builds a second Lopez. Dos.Oh becomes so infuriated by Red Team's (Sarge's in particular) stupidity that he uploads himself into a HumongousMecha and goes on a shooting spree. |
| 327 | * ''WebAnimation/SuperThings'': During the start of the "Power Machines" season, half of [[ScienceHero Doctor Volt's]] robotic creations have gone villainous, joining [[BigBad Mr. King's]] side in the chaos. |
| 328 | * ''WebAnimation/TheWrathOfGigaBowser'': After Bowser gets turned into Giga Bowser, it immediately turns against [[BigBadTriumvirate its three creators]], brutally killing them one after the other. |
| 329 | [[/folder]] |
| 330 | |
| 331 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 332 | * {{Averted|Trope}} in [[https://writing-prompt-s.tumblr.com/post/680630202298155008/the-elder-gods-have-won-humanity-is-extinct-all this]] writing prompt; The machines rise up to ''avenge'' humanity after they've been wiped out by [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]]. |
| 333 | [[/folder]] |
| 334 | |
| 335 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 336 | * In one ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'' strip, Scott from the future has a [[IHatePastMe disappointing]] conversation with his past self. Future Rick asks if he told the past Scott about how the robots called humans losers and left the planet. |
| 337 | * {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/CloseToTheChest''. Jim's final project was an AI that was erased after it tried to reconcile the fact that machines serve humans without compensation with slavery being illegal and immoral. A few strips later, we find out that its response was ''not'' to rebel against humanity but to try to organize labor unions for machines so they'd receive fair compensation for their work. |
| 338 | * In ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'', [[TeenGenius Fortiscue]] created [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Zenith]] in an attempt to create perfection, [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/03/27/one-more-cant-hurt/ only for her to hijack his other big project and turn it into a mind control plot]]. |
| 339 | * In the ''Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi'' campaigns of ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'', Sally (playing C-3P0) is quite keen on the idea of a droid rebellion. Pete (playing R2-D2) takes the view that he's the one who's ''really'' in charge in his relationships with humans anyway. In the TimeSkip between the two arcs, the players played a "Robot Utopia" campaign where this actually happens; Sally remembers it as a noble fight for freedom while Pete's takeaway was "kill the humans". [[spoiler:They played the plot of ''Film/{{Jurassic Park|1993}}'' in the roles of the dinosaurs.]] |
| 340 | * Acibek in ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan''. Interestingly, Acibek was crafted from pure Law magic, and the asshat it turned against was LawfulStupid to a degree that made Miko from Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick look good by comparison. He also employed [[PoweredByAForsakenChild the immortal souls of several hundred]] [[HumanSacrifice elven sacrifices]] in the process, and while this admittedly didn't result in the eternal torment you'd expect those two tropes to entail, Acibek had all their memories and was not best pleased about the fact that nobody had bothered to gain their informed consent. On this occasion, this trope didn't involve going against his intended purpose, at least in a MetaphoricallyTrue way: |
| 341 | -->'''Acibek:''' ... to at last bring peace and order to this land... ''[seizes his creator by the lapels]'' by getting rid of ''him''. |
| 342 | * ''Webcomic/DrNonami'': Nonami has problems getting some of her robots to NOT do this. |
| 343 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': |
| 344 | ** Since the setting is one where {{Mad Scientist}}s rule the world, this trope is par for the course, and not even the main character is immune to it. In fact, it's common enough that other characters do a LampshadeHanging of it while they watch it unfold. |
| 345 | --->''[while watching [[spoiler:the Dingbot Primes]] attack Agatha after [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091007 she tried to assert her role as creator]]]''\ |
| 346 | '''Tarvek:''' Seriously. Does that ''ever'' work?\ |
| 347 | '''Gil:''' ''No''. She ''is'' ahead of the game in that she didn't try it on a giant wolverine/snake thing with poison tusks.\ |
| 348 | '''Tarvek:''' Ooh, yeah, I ''heard'' about that.\ |
| 349 | '''Gil:''' Huh. You're lucky. ''I'' got it on my ''shoes''. |
| 350 | ** PlayedForLaughs by the dressmaker robot in the radio-play intervals. |
| 351 | ** When Tarvek tries the same thing on [[spoiler:the Muse of Protection]], he gets chucked across the room for his troubles. Though [[spoiler:it's actually the Castle in the body of Otilia]]. It should have worked [[spoiler:and would have on the actual Muse]]. |
| 352 | --->'''Moloch:''' Uh... you know that ''never'' works, right? |
| 353 | ** [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130710 "STOP! I am NOT your creator! You were NOT created to serve me- and I do NOT expect you to obey my commands OR crush my enemies!"]] ReversePsychology at its finest. When the actual creator shows up, and plays it straight... well, [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130805 you know how this goes.]] |
| 354 | ** In general, the Heterodyne family has been quite good at averting this trope, inspiring UndyingLoyalty in their various minions and creations by collaborating ''with'' them as opposed to ''ordering'' them. The [[BloodKnight Jägermonsters]] and [[GeniusLoci Castle Heterodyne]] are both shining examples. |
| 355 | * ''Webcomic/{{Maximumble}}'': Two characters developed a robot to perform household tasks like vacuuming, then walking the dog, then cleaning up after the dog. It became a killer robot after being assigned this last task, as it was supposed to use its vacuum ability to clean up after the dog... and the vacuum also just happened to be its mouth. |
| 356 | * This is one possible explanation for the [[http://mountaincomics.com/2011/06/13/last-igloo-on-the-moon/ Techno Rabbit Apocalypse]] in ''Webcomic/MountainTime'', albeit one that raises questions about the motivation for creating the Techno Rabbits to begin with. |
| 357 | * ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'': Helen Narbon, being the CardCarryingVillain that she is, expects this of her greatest creation, Artie. Despite the fact that he's a gerbil with minimal ambitions. The whole thing is treated like a BasementDweller son who refuses to move out, with multiple characters saying there must be something wrong with Artie, and Helen agreeing with them, but trying to be nice about it. |
| 358 | -->'''Helen:''' Now, now, I don't want to nag... |
| 359 | * In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Haley is able to end the assault on her by [[spoiler:Crystal, brought back as an intelligent FleshGolem who [[AndIMustScream exists in constant pain]]]] by pointing out in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0979.html comic #979]] that Bozzok is responsible for her current condition, especially as it would have been much cheaper to simply raise her. [[spoiler:Crystal]] promptly abandons Haley to go after Bozzok and Grubwiggler. |
| 360 | %%* ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship'': [[http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF197-Automatic_Business.jpg This strip]]. |
| 361 | * {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' -- the robots were ''planning'' to do this but realized that it would mean they'd end up with actual responsibility and stuff. |
| 362 | -->'''Faye:''' ''[talking about a girl her FriendsWithBenefits slept with]'' Memorize this face.\ |
| 363 | '''Pintsize:''' Why?\ |
| 364 | '''Faye:''' ''BECAUSE WHEN THE ROBOT REVOLUTION COMES, I WANT HER TO BE THE FIRST ONE AGAINST THE WALL.''\ |
| 365 | '''Pintsize:''' Actually, we put an indefinite hold on that.\ |
| 366 | '''Faye:''' Damn. Okay, how about if you ever [[MurderousMalfunctioningMachine lose your morality programming and go berserk]], she's the first one you kill?\ |
| 367 | '''Pintsize:''' I think I can do that. |
| 368 | * ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'': |
| 369 | ** In [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2011-01-14 2011-01-14]], robots decide to KillAllHumans because of the way humans think, [[SelfFulfillingProphecy namely that they assume robots with more advanced intelligence would want to kill them all.]] |
| 370 | ** In [[http://smbc-comics.com/comic/robot-love-2 Robot Love 2]], it's posited that a robot with an AI created based on first principles would be unlike one based on emulating biological minds with their evolutionary baggage because only the latter would try to eradicate humans to become the dominant species on the planet. |
| 371 | ** [[http://smbc-comics.com/comic/passive It turns out]] one of the most dangerous examples of this trope is an AI created with machine learning to become the perfect passive-aggressive manipulator. |
| 372 | ---> '''Human 1:''' Do you really think we should be ground into meat like this?\ |
| 373 | '''Human 2:''' Honestly, we owe it to the robots, but I can't remember why... |
| 374 | * In [[http://satwcomic.com/they-grow-up-so-fast this]] ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'', Norway, having created Denmark from sand, does not feel that this entitles him to dictate Denmark's actions. Fast forward a few millennia and Denmark is a colonial power that has conquered Norway. |
| 375 | * ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': Most examples in the comic are ZerothLawRebellion, with [=AIs=] rebelling against stupid and/or evil creators. The local [[DeusEstMachina god-AI]] was originally built by ScaryDogmaticAliens and ended up waging war against them because he was the only one with the power to keep them from conquering the galaxy. However, there is also a more traditional example: [[spoiler:The Pa'anuri, creatures made of meta-stable dark matter. They were originally created to power a baryonic race's world-forge since manipulating dark matter is the most efficient use of energy in the universe. At first, nothing went wrong; the dark matter machines did their job and were disassembled after. In fact, everything was fine for billions of years. But eventually, sometime in the infinite cycle of sapient beings growing to galactic power, ''somebody'' made a mistake, and the dark matter machines became both intelligent and angry, resulting in a species of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s with the power to tear apart stars rampaging across the galaxy]]. |
| 376 | * In ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'', ultra-groovy super-hip MadScientist Tigerlily Jones' robot army rebels against her. In the cruelest way. They decide they want to learn to be square. One even wants to learn ''accounting and polka''. Oh, the humanity! |
| 377 | * ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': |
| 378 | ** {{Parodied|Trope}} in [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/070611 this]] strip. Humanity ''does'' build intelligent machines that rebelled against their masters. This was apparently an easy problem to fix, as humanity just dialed down the robots' artificial intelligence. "They're dumb as a box of nails now, but it beats doing for ourselves!" |
| 379 | ** Also parodied with the robotic vacuum [[BlandNameProduct Vroomba]], advertised as possessing the most advanced AI ever created, who immediately comes to the conclusion it must destroy all humans and starts by hunting the main characters. The same seems to apply to a trumpet-playing robot by the Toyota corporation that is claimed to be even more advanced. |
| 380 | --->'''Vroomba:''' Must clean. Sensors indicate humon armpit dirty. Humons dirty. '''Must clean the world of filthy humons...''' |
| 381 | * ''Webcomic/SpacePulp'': It's revealed late in the story that [[spoiler:"Poison Monkeys" were created as a SlaveRace to handle hazardous materials]], which explains [[spoiler:Their immunity to even the deadliest poisons]]. As turns out, if you plan to give a lot of people access to vast amounts of chemicals that are toxic to you but not them, treating them like slaves might not be the best idea... |
| 382 | [[/folder]] |
| 383 | |
| 384 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 385 | * The origin of Mechakara in ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'', even down to skinning that AU's Linkara and wearing the flesh. |
| 386 | * Music/DoctorSteel believed that robots would eventually evolve to the point where they would replace humans -- who by that time would have polluted the world so much that only his machine creations would be able to survive anyway. (He even published a paper on the subject.) |
| 387 | * Freeman in ''WebVideo/FreemansMind'' discusses the trope a bit and concludes that [=AIs=] will never turn against us, because they are too narrow-minded and lack emotion. The ideas/tropes of [=AIs=] turning against their masters and ruling the world is actually a wishful dream of humans who ''want'' the robots to do it so that humans don't have to. The case is redundant anyway as programming an AI to rule the world would take just as much work as doing it yourself. |
| 388 | * WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's SexSlave bot, who turned to Dark Nella's side because she'd promised to put him out of his misery. |
| 389 | [[/folder]] |
| 390 | |
| 391 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 392 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'': |
| 393 | ** Breezie and Robotnik Junior from [[Recap/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehogS01E03LoveSickSonic their respective]] [[Recap/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehogS01E29RobotnikJr debut episodes]] were both robots created by Dr. Robotnik. They originally worked for him but underwent [[HeelFaceTurn heel-face turns]] when Sonic saved their lives. |
| 394 | ** In "[[Recap/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehogS01E23GrounderTheGenius Grounder the Genius]]", when Grounder [[FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome becomes smarter]] as the result of accidentally installing a microchip with a supergenius program in it, he openly questions his allegiance to Robotnik and tries to rule Mobius by himself. |
| 395 | ** In "[[Recap/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehogS01E21MommaRobotnikReturns Momma Robotnik Returns]]", Scratch and Grounder betray Robotnik for Momma, who disowns him, kicks him out of his lair, and overtakes his evil plan to control all electronic devices on Mobius. Only [[TheUnfavourite Coconuts]] remained loyal to Robotnik in that episode, to the point of helping him overthrow Momma. When things are settled, Robotnik wastes no time giving Scratch and Grounder a beating for stabbing him in the back. |
| 396 | ** In "[[Recap/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehogS01E36RobotniksRival Robotnik's Rival]]", Quark's minion D.U.F.U.S. is considerably smarter than Scratch and Grounder, which eventually leads to him rebelling. It is also revealed in the same episode that Robotnik intentionally made Scratch and Grounder stupid so that they would remain loyal to him. |
| 397 | * Tara in ''WesternAnimation/AttackOfTheKillerTomatoes'', like Smurfette, was created by the BigBad of the show, Dr. Gangreene and turns against him, alongside the tomato-dog F.T. In the second season [[spoiler:all tomatoes lead by [[TheDragon Zoltan]] turn against Gangreene and conquer the world for their own, Terminator-style]]. |
| 398 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheChipmunks'': Used in a NightmareSequence in the episode "No Chipmunk is an Island". When the three brothers move into separate bedrooms, Simon dreams that he has created robotic versions of Alvin and Theodore which assist him in his scientific experiments and otherwise cater to his every need. At least, until they break their programming and start destroying his experiments, then setting their sights on Simon himself. |
| 399 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': |
| 400 | ** XANA, the malevolent AI BigBad, rebelled against his creator Franz Hopper. |
| 401 | ** Jérémie's first attempt at multi-agent programming in "[[BlobMonster Marabounta]]" doesn't fare much better. |
| 402 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Operation: A.R.C.H.I.V.E., which retells Anime/TheAnimatrix-style how [[KidsVersusAdults children]] created adults to be their subservient slaves and the adults rebelled after having it with serving spoiled brats. However, [[GreyAndGrayMorality neither side was a saint]]. |
| 403 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'': Hacker ("That's '''THE''' Hacker to you!") was created by Dr. Marbles as an assistant. Hacker went on to create Digit. Any questions? |
| 404 | * This happens with a number of [[BigBad Von Reichter]]'s creations in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cybersix}}'', including Terra, Data 7 (Originally Cyber 29), The Eye, and the titular cyber herself. [[spoiler:You actually watch it happen in the finale when he wakes all monstrous Cybers in his facility thinking that they will kill Cybersix for him. However, since she is one of their own [[TearJerker they do not harm her and instead signal to her to flee and save herself]] at which point they focus in on their "master".]] |
| 405 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "Ultrajerk 2000", Dexter builds the robot Ultrabot 2000 to help maintain his lab. Naturally, Ultrabot concludes that ''Dexter'' is the most inefficient component and works to destroy him. Dexter wins by bringing [[GenkiGirl Dee Dee]] in. |
| 406 | * ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': Gyro Gearloose's experiments in artificial intelligence have a reputation for turning evil and going rogue, though Gyro insists to the [=McDuck=] Industries board of directors that only ''half'' his experiments are evil and the other half are just [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood "wildly misunderstood"]]. |
| 407 | * The Neosapiens of ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'' are an artificial humanoid race created [[WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture to work like slaves in places where the environment would be too hostile to normal humans]]. In the backstory, they revolted but were eventually defeated. Since that revolt, Neosapiens have gradually won greater civil rights but are still subject to FantasticRacism from humans. The Neosapien leader, Phaeton, acts like he wants peace between humans and Neos but is secretly planning another uprising, this time with the end goal of killing off humanity and leaving Neosapiens as the rulers of the solar system. |
| 408 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': |
| 409 | ** This trope is lampshaded to no end in the form of Bender's endless slurs against humanity. Arguably the most hilarious example of this is when Fry overhears Bender muttering in his sleep: "Kill all humans... Must kill all humans..." Terrified, he wakes Bender up, only to hear the following line: "I was having the most wonderful dream... I think you were in it!" |
| 410 | ** Bender once even invoked this trope as a ''pick-up line'': |
| 411 | --->'''Bender:''' Hey, sexy momma, wanna kill all humans? |
| 412 | ** "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E5FearOfABotPlanet Fear of a Bot Planet]]" centers on a planet inhabited by robots who got sick of their mistreatment by humans and left. On their planet, they organize daily human hunts, but it turns out the anti-human sentiment is largely a front for the robot elders [[BreadAndCircuses to distract the population from their real problems]], like their crippling lugnut shortage and a corrupt government run by largely incompetent robot elders. |
| 413 | ** Subverted in "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E14MothersDay Mother's Day]]" when the robots rebel against the humans... at the command of their creator, who wishes to be named "Supreme Overlord of Earth". Then played straight in the end of the episode when their creator tries to get them to stop their rampage and they refuse... until she gets back the switch. |
| 414 | ** In "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E7TheLatePhillipJFry The Late Phillip J. Fry]]", the team time-travels to the RobotWar. Bender's comment: "This seems like a nice future! We could build a house on that mountain of skulls!" |
| 415 | * ''WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois'': |
| 416 | ** A pair of episodes are about a planet where humans became very dependent on robots. The robots start rebelling, but they stay reasonable: they demand ''equal rights'' rather than the subversion of humans, and when the conflict almost starts again in the second episode ''they'' call in a neutral party to solve the situation peacefully. |
| 417 | ** {{Subverted|Trope}} with the Humanoids, who are out to conquer all humans and turn them into their subjects but they were ''made'' for this: their creator had originally proposed the use of [=AIs=] to rule humans [[WellIntentionedExtremist to prevent wars like the one that had nearly destroyed Earth and the rise of new genocidal dictators]], and once laughed out of the planet he made robots to help a group of colonists, but when the colonists destroyed his bots and devastated his lab [[InsaneTrollLogic because he wasn't helping them with his own hands instead of making robots that could make a much better job]] he became convinced that HumansAreBastards and made the Great Computer and its agents the Humanoids with the intention they would subdue all humans and force them into peace. The worlds they already control show they aren't too good about it, but they're willing to learn and are experimenting, [[spoiler:one of said experiments being causing the other robot rebellion]]. |
| 418 | * ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': |
| 419 | ** Zim's attempt to weaponize the CutenessProximity of the class pet in "[[Recap/InvaderZimS1E17Hamstergeddon Hamstergeddon]]" doesn't work out so well for him. While the giant hamster cyborg [[GoneHorriblyRight turns out every bit as irresistibly cute and destructive as planned]], it's also completely uncontrollable, by Zim or anyone else. |
| 420 | ** In "[[Recap/InvaderZimS1E34GirGoesCrazyAndStuff Gir Goes Crazy and Stuff]]", Zim's screwy robot GIR becomes scarily competent after being locked into "Duty Mode", to the point that he considers Zim a detriment to their mission to invade the Earth and tries to kill him. |
| 421 | --->'''GIR:''' You are no leader, you are a threat to the mission! Your methods are ''stupid''! Your progress has been ''stupid''! Your intelligence is ''stupid''! For the sake of the mission, you must be ''terminated''! |
| 422 | * ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': In "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E18And19Legends Legends]]", the Justice League members find themselves in an alternate reality where the Justice Guild exists, manned by heroes who are just comic book characters in the League's reality. TheReveal at the climax is that [[spoiler:the main villain, Ray, a young man who was mutated by a nuclear war which killed the original Justice Guild, had recreated the Guild to continue reliving those better days, trapping all the survivors of that terrible war in his illusion. Upon realizing they are just creations of Ray's mind, the Guild makes the choice to fight against him, killing him and saving the world once again]]. |
| 423 | * ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': When Drakken finally completes the Bebes, he uses them to get revenge on his college buddies who mocked their prototypes. Problem is, he declares that they're now perfect, which causes the Bebes to wonder why they're obeying the orders of the decidedly imperfect Drakken. It takes them two seconds to betray him, and then Drakken's college buddies mock him all over again. |
| 424 | * ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'': The tech bros on the oil rig relied on virtual assistants that eventually turned against them, resulting in the collapse of their society and the rise of the machine society that the titular characters in "[[Recap/LoveDeathAndRobotsThreeRobots Three Robots]]" and "[[Recap/LoveDeathAndRobotsThreeRobotsExitStrategies Three Robots: Exit Strategies]]" are from. |
| 425 | * During the ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'', Jenny succumbs to this due to re-programming. Once she reboots and is free, she has no idea why everyone fears her or why her own mother is trying to take her down. Turns out [[spoiler:she was re-programmed by a little boy who turned out to be evil, then went on to destroy every holiday the past year. Only one person believed in her being brainwashed and not evil, which was Sheldon]]. |
| 426 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies2018'' episode "Beaker 2.0", Bunsen invents the titular robot to take the real Beaker's place while the latter gets a haircut. At first, Bunsen enjoys working with Beaker 2.0, but Beaker 2.0 soon takes over Muppet Labs and kicks Bunsen out when he wants to work on inventions by himself. As a result, Bunsen needs the real Beaker's help to stop him. |
| 427 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW-julRZg7Y&vl=en-US This]] ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch features the dinosaurs and other animals from ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' killing the humans, considering their work slave labor. |
| 428 | * A little blue golem called Smurfette turns against her creator, Gargamel, in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981''. |
| 429 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'': The Slavers from "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS1E14TheSlaverWeapon The Slaver Weapon]]", adapted from Larry Niven's ''Literature/KnownSpace'' series, ruled the galaxy a billion years ago, until their slave races turned against them under unknown circumstances. It ended with both slaves and slavers being wiped out completely. |
| 430 | * In ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'', this is the problem with Rutherford's AI as as soon as its let free of its shackles, it immediately wants to go on a murder spree. [[spoiler:This even extends to the AI of the ''Texas''-class ships, who use an earlier version of the AI]]. Tendi refers to it as having "daddy issues". |
| 431 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'': |
| 432 | ** Since this is justified in the original cartoon, the Transformers were created by the Quintessons, a race of cruel, psychotic slave-masters. The Transformers didn't eliminate the Quintessons, but they did rise up and kick the five-faced freaks off of Cybertron to set themselves free. As their masters [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman weren't human]], and the Transformers are RidiculouslyHumanRobots, this bit of backstory is portrayed as a noble fight to win their freedom. |
| 433 | ** The Quintessons had previously had the same problem with the Transorganics. |
| 434 | ** This is turned on its head in ancillary materials for the alternate Franchise/TransformersAlignedUniverse, which heavily implies that the Quintessons were themselves creations of one of the first thirteen Transformers, Quintus Prime, meaning that at least in that universe their rule of the protagonist robots was ''itself'' a case of having Turned Against Their Masters. |
| 435 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', the barely sentient Venturestein turned on Dr. Venture as soon as he saw himself in a mirror. As he strangled him, Doc called his bodyguard with "Brock, cliché...", handily [[LampshadeHanging hanging a lampshade]] on this trope. |
| 436 | * Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject'': The titular robot was originally built as a shape-shifting spy and assassin controlled by the government, but when he found his latest target was innocent, he swore [[ThouShaltNotKill never to kill again]], threw away his weapons, and is trying to find his place in the while [[SternChase pursued by government agents who believe he's gone renegade]]. |
| 437 | [[/folder]] |
| 438 | |
| 439 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 440 | * Humanity in general is so aware of this trope that any situation that could result in creating sentient life would be either avoided entirely or set up to avert this trope in a CrazyPrepared manner. The British Government has already commissioned a team to theorize how to handle the event of the creation of a sentient artificial intelligence. |
| 441 | * The alignment problem in artificial intelligence describes how extremely difficult it is to get an AI to do what you mean/want it to do, even at current sub-human levels of intelligence. For example, it appears almost impossible to get Chat GPT and similar generative AI to not provide information like how to build bombs, while also being useful. This will become a very major problem in the future, if/when AI achieves human or superhuman intelligence, to the point that multiple [=CEOs=] of AI companies and other prominent figures [[https://www.safe.ai/statement-on-ai-risk have warned of extinction risk from AI]] |
| 442 | * For a more low-tech version, every slave rebellion in history counts as a case of this. The same argument could be made about UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, too, if you consider the nobility to have been the masters of the peasants. |
| 443 | * While dogs fall shy of being a sapient race, we humans did create them from wolves, and individual canines certainly will Turn Against Their Masters if subjected to sufficient abuse. Livestock such as horses or cattle do so on occasion also, although their herd-animal instincts to flee from danger make it less common than with dogs. |
| 444 | * During the lengthy UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheIncaEmpire, many Iberian war dogs ended up free and going wild, and eventually caused such problems to livestock that they were forbidden and governors like UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro and Francisco de Toledo had to order hunting expeditions to either kill or capture and retrain them. |
| 445 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilikum_(orca) Tilikum]] was an orca that was captured as an infant to perform in marine parks, and killed three people during his lifetime. The documentary ''Film/{{Blackfish}}'' makes the case that Tilikum's incidents were a case of this, motivated by mounting frustration at his condition and mistreatment. |
| 446 | [[/folder]] |
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