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| 3 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 7 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1586528542039174300 |
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| 10 | [[quoteright:225:[[Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brawlsamusbot.png]]]] |
| 11 | [[caption-width-right:225:Don't you just hate when [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} the steely, robotic bounty hunter you loved]] [[SamusIsAGirl turns out to be a beautiful woman?]]]] |
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| 13 | %% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion in the Caption Repair thread: |
| 14 | %% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900 |
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| 16 | ->''"That robot has given birth to a man!"'' |
| 17 | -->-- '''Sideshow Mel''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E9IAnnoyedGruntBot I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot]]" |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Inversion of the RoboticReveal, where a machine that was assumed to be a robot turns out to hold a ManInTheMachine or some other living creature powering or controlling it. They may also be an ostensibly {{Ridiculously Human Robot|s}} who turns out to be an actual human after all. A MobileSuitHuman may allow this trope to be ''preceded'' by a RoboticReveal as a RedHerring as there's a lot of machinery to expose before the actual pilot is revealed. For reveals involving a machine who ''used'' to be a living creature, see WasOnceAMan. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | !!As this is a form of TheReveal, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]]. |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | !!Examples: |
| 24 | |
| 25 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 28 | * This is the twist in one of the ''Manga/{{DOLL}}'' manga stories. A woman abuses her "Doll" horribly throughout the story and flips out when said "Doll" develops an interest in a young man. The "Doll" finally has enough and shows the woman the blood from the injuries inflicted by her and forces her to face reality -- she is the woman's totally human ''daughter''. The woman had been [[RapeAsBackstory gangraped in her youth]] and [[ChildByRape the "Doll" was the result of that]]. The woman imagined that she had aborted her baby and replaced her with a Doll in an attempt to cope with her trauma. |
| 29 | * In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', [[spoiler:as Universe 3 is about to be erased, the robotic God of Destruction Mosco is revealed to really be a tiny imp-like creature named Mule using Mosco as a robot suit, which we find out when Mule comes out to thank his attendant angel before being erased]]. |
| 30 | * Happens in ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' as well, when the core of the Nirvash (and therefore all other [[AMechByAnyOtherName LFOs]]) are revealed to be organic lifeforms. |
| 31 | * The ending of ''Anime/KeyTheMetalIdol'' reveals that [[spoiler:Key was human all along; she was led to believe she was a robot after a failed experiment by her grandfather which removed her emotions]]. |
| 32 | * At first glance, Iris from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaReflection'' appears to be an AI, but she's actually a human soul that had been uploaded into a computer. She regains her human form in a rather... [[BodyHorror painful manner]] for those around her. DoubleSubverted in [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaDetonation the sequel]]. She's actually an ArtificialHuman, but the franchise has a [[AndroidsArePeopleToo ridiculously]] [[ClonesArePeopleToo broad]] definition of humanity so it's a moot point. |
| 33 | * Happens twice in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', first with the Evas and then with the dummy plugs: [[spoiler:the former are cloned [[EldritchAbomination Angel-like beings]] and the latter are Rei's clones]]. |
| 34 | * In the final season of ''Anime/SonicX'', the seemingly robotic Metarex commanders are revealed to be [[spoiler:the last male members of Cosmo's species wearing PoweredArmor]]. For example, in "The True Form of the Metarex?! / Zelkova Strikes Back", Yellow Zelkova's armor is destroyed, revealing his true form underneath. |
| 35 | * In ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross'', the humans are startled to discover that the Bioroid mecha have {{Human Alien|s}} pilots. Some, like Bowie, become progressively more demoralized about fighting the enemy as they learn how human the aliens are (with Bowie of course falling in love with one). |
| 36 | * ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'': |
| 37 | ** In the anime, Gray the Ninelives (one of the Gung-Ho Guns) is a robot, but in the original manga it is indeed powered by [[MeaningfulName nine]] dwarfish creatures inside it. |
| 38 | ** Also, the Plants, which seem to be giant power generators shaped like lightbulbs but are actually {{Artificial Human|s}} inside giant containers. |
| 39 | * Variant in ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'' when it is revealed that the {{Robeast}}s [[spoiler:are powered by brains of Fleedian people]]. When Duke Fleed got told all Saucer Beasts he had been destroying contained [[spoiler:all that was left of his family and friends]], he got a HeroicBSOD. |
| 40 | [[/folder]] |
| 41 | |
| 42 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 43 | * ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': |
| 44 | ** In one story, Scrooge [=McDuck=] fires his old butler, and asks Gyro Gearloose to build him a new, Robotic Butler instead, believing it would be more reliable, as well as less expensive. Gyro initially delivers, but Scrooge keeps making demands for expanded features, demanding that the robot -- like his old butler -- be able to talk, and provide insightful commentary on day-to-day matters. Gyro is stumped, but the problem gets solved when he runs across the old, laid-off butler, who wants nothing more than to get his job back. Final solution: Gyro disguises the butler as a new robot, and the "rental and service fee" for the robot is just about the same as the butler's old salary... the butler gets his job back, and Scrooge thinks he has an infallible robot. |
| 45 | ** Done another time with Donald ruining Gyro's robot and subsequently dressing in a silver-painted box-suit to "impersonate" it. Unfortunately for him, Gyro intended to sell the robot for heavy-duty labour. Of course, the reason Donald borrowed it in the first place was that he wanted to avoid doing household chores. |
| 46 | * In the Eppy Thatcher arc of ''ComicBook/{{Grendel}}'', Pope Innocent XLII has an apparently metal prosthetic hand that turns out to be a fake covering up one disfigured by the effects of his vampirism. |
| 47 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'', the hero Robot is actually a physically handicapped genius who [[RemoteBody remotely controls a robotic drone]]. By the time of TheReveal, he clones himself a healthy body and starts wearing PoweredArmor. |
| 48 | * In the first arc of ''ComicBook/JackStaff'', robot superhero Tom-Tom the Robot Man turns out to be a [[SamusIsAGirl paralyzed teenage girl]] in PoweredArmor. In a later issue, there's a RoboticReveal when Tom-Tom gets destroyed and the other heroes mourn her as dead, only to discover that she'd upgraded it to a genuinely remote-controlled machine and was safe at home. |
| 49 | * In his first appearance, Timber Wolf from ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' is brainwashed into believing that he's a robot, only realizing that he's human at the end of the story. |
| 50 | * In the original ''ComicBook/MagnusRobotFighter'' one of his earliest one-shot villains was someone who was obsessed with robotic perfection to the point of having himself coated in metal and acting as if he were one of the robots he idolized to become more like them. After revealing the truth Magnus quickly uses that to defeat him. |
| 51 | * A rather subtle example is done in ''Comicbook/{{Runaways}}''. Victor Manchez is revealed to be a robot, but his father Ultron casually mentions, in the midst of his MotiveRant, that Victor's robotic parts are slowly being assimilated by his human ones. This was done on purpose, with the hopes that when he was an adult, he would go to New York, be mistaken as a superhuman by ComicBook/{{the Avengers}} (and not as a robot), and go on to be brainwashed into killing them. |
| 52 | [[/folder]] |
| 53 | |
| 54 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 55 | * In ''WebAnimation/SonicZombie Shopping Mall'', Metal Sonic appears to be the leader of the video's MonsterOfTheWeek gang. [[spoiler:Then Sonic catches him taking a piss, and finds out that he's not fully a robot. Turns out he's actually Silver, who had to give himself a metal body after his defeat in the last video he appeared in.]] |
| 56 | * In ''Film/{{Tron}}: [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144855/chapters/2317686 Invasion]]'' (a loose adaptation of ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh''), Mercury is escorting Administrator [=Ma3a=] to safety. A glancing blow from an attacker injures [=Ma3a=], and Mercury notices she's leaking blood, not energy. Since she had already seen blood when Jet was injured, Mercury realizes that [=Ma3a=] is a [[DigitizedHacker User]] like Jet is. |
| 57 | [[/folder]] |
| 58 | |
| 59 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 60 | * Dester, the main villain from ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheRobotKingdom'', appears to be Queen Jeanne's robotic advisor who imposes a "Robot Reproduction Plan" to eliminate emotions from all robots. In his final scene after getting knocked out, Dester's robotic head cracks open to reveal himself to be a human, one who has a FantasticRacism towards robots and is manipulating the human queen to his own needs. |
| 61 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Lightyear}}'', the SpinOff of ''Franchise/ToyStory'', this is the twist concerning [[BigBad Zurg]]. When Buzz thinks he's "a massive robot" at first, this version of Zurg turns out to be [[spoiler:an older version of Buzz from the future piloting a suit of PoweredArmor]]. |
| 62 | * In the short "Star Light Angel" from ''Anime/RobotCarnival'', you're led to believe that the robot who falls in love with the unnamed brown-haired girl is, well, a robot. It's later revealed at the end of the short that he's a human wearing a robot GoofySuit mascot costume. |
| 63 | * In ''Anime/{{Steamboy}}'', MechaMooks turn out to be soldiers in PoweredArmor. Discovering this is one of the reasons for Scarlet's HeelFaceTurn. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 67 | * In ''Film/TheBlackHole'', the Cygnus' compliment of robotic crew members [[spoiler:are actually revealed to be the lobotomized remains of the human crew who Reinhardt and Maximilian converted into subservient cyborgs after they tried to mutiny.]] |
| 68 | * The title character of ''Film/ClassOf1999 II: The Substitute'' at first seems to be another android teacher, but late to the film, audience learns that he is actually a very human special forces soldier going through very severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder that makes him think that he is an android. And those moments of him being impervious to bullets? Body armor. |
| 69 | * ''Film/Creepshow3'': Professor Dayton's former students believe that his future bride Kathy is a robot; she behaves as such, and doesn't eat or drink. They ultimately dismantle her when Dayton's not around... and are horrified to discover she was a human mail-order bride. |
| 70 | * In ''Film/TheMasterOfDisguise'', the Slapping Practice Dummy at the end is revealed to be an Italian Midget inside who also loves to slap as well. |
| 71 | * ''Film/{{Nope}}'': [[spoiler:The characters initially think the flying saucer is actually some sort of technologically advanced alien spaceship, but OJ eventually realizes that the saucer ''is'' the alien.]] |
| 72 | * Played with in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' films: |
| 73 | ** Though it's mentioned in ''Film/ANewHope'' that Darth Vader WasOnceAMan, he still comes across as a KillerRobot until the back of his head is seen, unhelmeted in his life-support chamber, in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', a moment that serves to humanize him, paving the way for the franchise's famous [[TheReveal reveal]]. |
| 74 | ** In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', when Kylo Ren removes his mask to reveal that, unlike Vader, he's completely human, and seemingly only dresses like Vader for the sake of dressing like Vader. |
| 75 | ** In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', General Grievous, in what is intended as {{Futureshadowing}} for Vader's nature, is revealed to still possess internal organs. |
| 76 | * In ''Film/TheWolverine'', Wolverine chops off the Silver Samurai's head to reveal [[spoiler:Ichirō Yashida inside]]. |
| 77 | [[/folder]] |
| 78 | |
| 79 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 80 | * In ''Literature/HouseOfSuns'', an amnesiac android named Hesperas is revealed to be at least partly human underneath his robotic shell. This surprises even ''him'', since he can't remember anything. [[spoiler:It turns out that Hesperas, before losing his memory, is serving Machine People as an infiltrator to gain access to Vigilance, who aren't interested in interacting with robots.]] |
| 81 | * A partial example in ''Literature/{{Railsea}}'', when what [[ObfuscatingDisability everyone thought]] was Naphi's prosthetic arm gets damaged & starts bleeding. She wears it because, as ''Railsea'' is one-third Literature/MobyDick pastiche, she is expected by cultural norms to have both an AnimalNemesis & to have lost a limb to that nemesis. She has the nemesis, but her body still has all four limbs, so in order to be taken seriously by other captains... |
| 82 | * In the second ''Literature/RevelationSpaceSeries'' novel, ''Redemption Ark'', a tramp freighter in the Yellowstone system is operated by a woman and her oddly protective autopilot computer. The computer later reveals that it is a fully sentient [[BrainUploading uploaded human personality]] of a family friend that has been playing dumb as a computer to avoid being caught for crimes he committed decades ago. |
| 83 | * In Creator/FritzLeiber's ''Silver Eggheads'', robotic writer Zane Gort, who writes books for robots, considers this trope unsatisfying, but once used it anyway. |
| 84 | -->'''Zane Gort:''' Come to think of it, I once did end a Dr. Tungsten chapter just that way: Platinum Paula turns out to be an empty robot-shell with a human movie starlet inside at the controls. I knew my readers would feel so frustrated they'd want to get on to something else right away. So I cut to [[{{Fanservice}} Silver Vilya oiling herself]]. That always tickles them. |
| 85 | * ''Literature/TheStarDiaries'': In one of his adventures, Ijon Tichy is sent to infiltrate a society of rebellious robots ruled by their [[AIIsACrapshoot crapshoot AI]] overlord. He finds out that at least some robots are humans in the same robotic disguise as he. [[spoiler:Then it turns out that they're [[FlockOfWolves all humans pretending to be robots]], including the insane AI.]] |
| 86 | [[/folder]] |
| 87 | |
| 88 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 89 | * The pilot episode of ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'' had a scene where a robot made from cardboard boxes and a teapot for a head enters a classroom, and as a result it, Barney, and the children start singing a song about a robot that's sung to the tune of "I'm A Little Teapot." (what makes this even more obvious is the fact that the aforementioned robot's head is a teapot) When the song ends, the robot opens up, revealing it to be one of the children that are with Barney. |
| 90 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 91 | ** Daleks are not really this, as they get revealed early on as mutants encased in mobile battle armour. They were, however, subject to an InternalReveal of this sort in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks Victory Of The Daleks]]", in which they deceived everybody ''but'' the Doctor (and the audience) into thinking they were dieselpunk battle robots made by a scientist who, himself, was [[RoboticReveal an unwitting inversion]]. |
| 92 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E10JourneyToTheCentreOfTheTardis Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS]]" has [[spoiler:Tricky, who's really the youngest Van Baalen brother, who lost his memories, eyes and larynx in an industrial accident. His {{Jerkass}} older brothers decided to make him think he was an android for fun. The ElectronicEyes and voicebox helped]]. |
| 93 | ** In a ShoutOut to the Turk (see Real Life below), "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver Nightmare in Silver]]" features a hollowed-out Cyberman shell that can play chess... and is actually controlled by someone hiding beneath it. |
| 94 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater Dark Water]]", Missy/[[spoiler:The Master]] trolls the Doctor by pretending to be a malfunctioning robot so that she has an excuse to (extremely) make out with him. |
| 95 | * One episode of ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' ended with Fargo cheating to win the annual competition to determine who'd built the most realistic robot dog by entering a real dog. |
| 96 | * ''Series/ICarly2021'': The episode "iRobot Wedding" has Nevel Papperman throwing a Robot-themed wedding. Odd behavior from his bride Prunella makes Carly suspect she is an actual robot, such as rapid blinking, understanding binary code, a magnet sticking to her forehead, a battery pack falling out of her dress, and the fact that she can't believe any actual woman would want to marry Nevel. It's all explained away at the end of the episode (she's not used to wearing eyelash extensions, she has a metal plate in her head, and the battery pack was attached to a belt with LED lights on it and while the wedding was initially intended to be a sham in order to trick Carly into marrying Nevel, Prunella really does love him and Nevel is so touched that he decides to marry her for real). |
| 97 | * Played with in ''Series/{{Lexx}}'': 790 is a robot head, but he was [[WetwareBody meant to control a headless human body]], except in order for the connection to work, he needs a tiny but potent cube of [[WetwareCPU brain matter]] to control said body. |
| 98 | %%* [[spoiler:[=Tenaya 7=]]] in ''Series/PowerRangersRPM''. |
| 99 | * An internal example occurred in ''Series/{{Sliders}}'', where rogue robots were being collected. Two of the sliders were only discovered when they were attacked with hand-to-hand combat, and the robots noticed the blood. |
| 100 | * In the FailedPilotEpisode of ''Film/WEIRDWorld1995'', Dr Noah's secretary Dianne is believed to be one of his robotic creations after her arm is accidentally torn open to reveal machine parts. However, Noah quickly reveals that the arm's just a prosthetic he made for her after she lost the original arm in an accident, and Dianne is otherwise completely human. [[spoiler: The ''real'' robot in disguise is Noah himself, a FullConversionCyborg complete with his own RoboticReveal.]] |
| 101 | [[/folder]] |
| 102 | |
| 103 | [[folder:Manhua]] |
| 104 | * For most of ''Manhua/MyBelovedMother'', Sinbell -- an orphan RaisedByRobots -- assumes that his robotic caretaker, Milan, is just, well, a robot, issued by the welfare department like every other machines. Until the revelation near the end -- [[spoiler:turns out Milan was actually Sinbell's biological mother, Aya, who gave up her life to save him from a gas explosion back when Sinbell was four. In her death throes, Aya's last request is for her conscience to be programmed into a prototype robot, Milan, which means Sinbell's robot mother is housing the soul of his actual parent the whole time]]. There's actually a bit of foreshadowing early on when Sinbell asks Milan where he's from; her reply is "you come from mommy's tummy!" despite how robots shouldn't have knowledge of the human biology. |
| 105 | [[/folder]] |
| 106 | |
| 107 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 108 | %%* The last stanza of "Boten Anna". |
| 109 | * This is how Kilroy escapes from prison in Music/{{Styx}}'s "Mr. Roboto" -- he kills a robot guard and wears its casing. |
| 110 | [[/folder]] |
| 111 | |
| 112 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 113 | * ''VideoGame/BillyVsSNAKEMAN'' features {{Robo|tGirl}}girl, who is actually a human disguised as a robot due to an irrational anxiety of actual people. |
| 114 | * In ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', [[spoiler:Angel is revealed to be a Siren, not a Hyperion AI like she had previously claimed]]. |
| 115 | * ''VideoGame/{{Breathless}}'', an old Amiga game, sees you battling robotic-looking enemies, but they're actually humans put through UnwillingRoboticisation. Killing them will result in a bloody ''red'' mess that confirms them to be organic. |
| 116 | * In ''VideoGame/BrokenAge'', the [[spoiler:computer on Shay's ship that switches between a "mother" and a "father" personality are revealed to be Shay's actual biological mother and father, who are operating out of a control room and using an interface that gives them control over the ship]]. |
| 117 | * ''VideoGame/Corridor7AlienInvasion'' has the robotic-looking Mechanical Warrior enemies, soldiers enhanced with plenty of cybernetic implants. They appear to be machines, right up to having face-concealing helmets, but their death animations sees their armor cracking up and revealing them to be reptilian aliens. |
| 118 | * ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'': KAOS is being powered by [[spoiler:an unwitting Donkey and Diddy Kong]]. |
| 119 | * PlayedForHorror with the {{golem}}s of ''Franchise/DragonAge'', who used to be [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]] until a MadScientist encased them in rock and poured molten [[GreenRocks lyrium]] through the slits in the case until they stopped screaming. |
| 120 | * In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', the extinct [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwemer]] were a [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien supremely technologically advanced]] race, capable of creating {{Steampunk}} machinery blended with their skill as enchanters to create powerful {{Magitek}} technology. Their greatest ancient rivals were the much more primitive Chimer, ancestors of the modern Dunmer (Dark Elves). The Dwemer were well known for creating automaton MechaMooks, ranging in size from FunSize SpiderTank workers through several humanoid forms, to outright HumongousMecha. The [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-game book]] ''Chimarvamidium'' speaks of how these automatons were even better known at the time than soldiers in full-plate mail armor. The book is about a group of Chimer who attempt to turn a Dwemer [[TrojanHorse "golem"]] against its makers... |
| 121 | * A variant in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': TheReveal that Cait Sith is being operated by radio. Obviously, [[spoiler:Reeve]] neither fits into Cait Sith itself nor into the moogle doll, but we were led to believe that he was just a normal lifeform anyhow. |
| 122 | * Somewhat downplayed in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3''. [[spoiler:The only real threat in this game, Springtrap, seems to simply be HauntedTechnology like all of the previous animatronics, but is later revealed to contain the corpse of the Murderer who [[KarmicDeath caused all of the hauntings in the first place]]. Granted, it is a possessed robot doing all of the legwork, but there is still a person behind the mask.]] |
| 123 | * ''VideoGame/IllWill2023'' has an UnnecessarilyCreepyRobot enemy called Spiders, which resembles a gigantic mechanical eyeball on robotic spider legs. But when killed, they bleed red like all other enemies, implying their insides to be at least flesh and blood. |
| 124 | * In ''Gokujō VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'', the Moon's boss first appears as a kimono-clad bunny girl, which mechanically breaks apart as she gets damaged, only to reveal herself as a puppet maneuvered by a couple of penguins. |
| 125 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 126 | ** Militron from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaCDiGames Link: The Faces of Evil]]'': "Oh, my goodness! This is awful!" |
| 127 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' features an AnimatedArmor variation with [[spoiler:the Iron Knuckle fought before the boss of the Spirit Temple. Upon its defeat, it is revealed to be Nabooru]]. |
| 128 | * At the end of ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Gears of Destiny'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:System U-D, the Unbreakable Darkness, isn't an ancient {{Magitek}} program that took human form in the same way that Reinforce and the Materials were. Instead, she's [[WasOnceAMan an actual human named Yuri Eberwein who was transformed into the program-like super-powered being that she is now]]]]. |
| 129 | * PlayedForHorror in ''Franchise/MassEffect''. The Reapers are initally portayed as incredibly powerful and ancient sentient spaceships. Then we find out how Reapers are created: millions of people taken from the dominant race during a Reaper Cycle are ''liquefied'' into technorganic slurry that is fed to a Reaper superstructure. Worse, it's implied that the minds of the victims live on inside the Reaper and act as a MindHive. When Sovereign claimed that each Reaper was a nation, he wasn't kidding. |
| 130 | * In ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', after you defeat Jetstream Sam, it is revealed that, aside from his robotic arm, he has almost no cyborg augmentations and was actually wearing a suit of armor. This is made more evident in the Japanese version, where Sam's blood is red, as opposed to the cyborg's white blood. |
| 131 | * Syaro from ''VideoGame/RabiRibi'' is initially believed to be one of Cicini's robot maids. In reality, [[spoiler:she's a childhood friend of Cicini's who disguised herself so that she could be around her when Cicini's father eventually forbode them from interacting so that she could focus on her research]]. |
| 132 | * The Franchise/{{SD Gundam}}s from ''Anime/SDGundamSangokudenBraveBattleWarriors'' are all actual humans from the far future of the world in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsUX'' who've evolved into Gundams... ''somehow''. |
| 133 | * In the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series games, BigBad Doctor Eggman actually captures innocent animals and [[UnwillingRoboticisation turns them into robotic henchmen]]. Defeating said henchmen will cause their robotic shells to come off, setting the animal inside free. In ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'', it is suggested that Shadow may actually be an android built in the real Shadow's likeness. In the Last Story of the latter game, during the battle with Black Doom, Eggman corrects this misconception and explains that he had a robot drone rescue Shadow from falling into the atmosphere after the final battle of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''. |
| 134 | * In ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'', the mechanical-looking Suul'ka are actualy [[spoiler:gigantic Liir Elders wearing PoweredArmor that allows them to survive in space]]. |
| 135 | * ''VideoGame/{{Tanzer}}'' have you playing as a CyberCyclops for most of the game, until you defeat the TrueFinalBoss. The ending cutscene have you removing your helmet where it turns out you're an attractive, unnamed young woman in a robot suit (in a homage to the ending of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}''). |
| 136 | * Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': while [[spoiler:Mettaton]]'s body is entirely mechanical, he's not actually a robot, but rather [[spoiler:a [[HauntedTechnology ghost]], Napstablook's cousin, possessing a robotic shell]]. [[spoiler:Alphys]] just tells everyone he's an artificial intelligence in an attempt to impress people. |
| 137 | * In the NES game ''VideoGame/ViceProjectDoom'' a late-game boss fight has the protagonist attacked by a super-soldier suit that he must defeat to continue. [[spoiler:He finds out far too late that his girlfriend was inside of the suit.]] |
| 138 | * ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'': [[spoiler:Face Mechon are made by replacing most of a Homs' (read: human's) organs with mechanical parts so that they can operate in what is essentially a MiniMecha. Almost every character thought to be killed by the Mechon returns as a Face.]] |
| 139 | [[/folder]] |
| 140 | |
| 141 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 142 | * In ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', Sigma at one point gets a cut on his hand and is startled to find that the cut is bleeding white blood. Luna tells him that the white blood means he could be a GAULEM, a form of robot with artificially produced emotions and pain, which are basically indistinguishable from humans when they've got their artificial skin on. She eventually runs a test on him and finds that he's not a robot, [[ArtificialLimbs he just has robotic arms]]. The irony comes in the fact that [[spoiler:Luna ''is'' a robot]]. |
| 143 | [[/folder]] |
| 144 | |
| 145 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 146 | %%* Shown in this ''Webcomic/AntiheroForHire'' [[http://antiheroforhire.com/d/20070528.html strip]]. |
| 147 | * In a ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' comic, [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]] is surprised that [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]] is not actually a robot. |
| 148 | %%* ''Webcomic/DresdenCodak'' presents the 42 Essential 3rd Act Twists: [[http://dresdencodak.com/2009/05/11/42-essential-3rd-act-twists/ Row 3, Column 6]]. |
| 149 | * At one point in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', Helix [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/zu/ffsim.gif has a nightmare]] that all the robots are being replaced by organic impostors... [[TomatoInTheMirror including himself]]. |
| 150 | * Jones of ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' is a prime example of EmotionlessGirl. Before the story got to finally explain what she is, it was a popular theory -- both among the fans, and in-universe -- that she was a robot. But she isn't a human, either; she's an immortal, indestructible human-shaped thing. [[spoiler:TheUnReveal is that even she doesn't know what she actually is, or where she came from. She's certain about not being a robot, though.]] |
| 151 | * ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': |
| 152 | ** In [[http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=18#2000-05-27 in]] [[http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=18#2000-05-28 these]] strips, [[spoiler:Oasis bleeds after being stabbed through the gut, revealing that she's ''not'' a robot like everyone thought. Whether she's human in the strictest sense of the word is still unknown, however]]. |
| 153 | ** Also, during Oceans Unmoving, one antagonist is a cloaked figure called Blacksoul. It's revealed that Blacksoul is actually a robot, the Obsidian Teknokon. But then it turns out that the Obsidian Teknokon was being controlled by Bun-bun all along... actually the "current" Bun-bun, whereas the Bun-bun who was being followed during the storyline was past Bun-bun before he was bought by Torg at the pet store. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 157 | * Everyone who knows the truth about the Big Guy in ''WesternAnimation/BigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot'' are careful to keep it secret from the general public, who believe the Big Guy to have a fully functioning AI instead of simply being PoweredArmor. Even Rusty, the Big Guy's sidekick, an actual AI, does not know the truth. When Legion Ex Machina build a duplicate of the Big Guy, they are shocked to discover the truth when the mechanics expect a hatch to open in the "Big Guy's" back. Similarly, the show's intro depicts Rusty fighting what appears to be a giant yellow robot with a hazmat symbol on its head. Once the Big Guy throws a car at the robot, what bursts out of the robot is a green mutant biomechanical frog-like monster with a robotic arm, which means the robot was also a suit. And it gets destroyed by the Big Guy and Rusty. |
| 158 | * A minor example in ''[[ComicBook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars Bucky O'Hare]]'': Jenny uses her psychic/mystic powers on Toadborg, believing him to be a robot. The attack fails, making her realise that Toadborg isn't a machine after all. |
| 159 | * Happens a few times in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': |
| 160 | ** In "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E5FearOfABotPlanet Fear of a Bot Planet]]", a planet populated entirely by robots makes a horror movie where the twist ending reveals the killer is actually a human. The human (played by a robot actor) even opens his chest panel to show off his squishy internal organs. |
| 161 | ** Also [[ParodiedTrope spoofed]] in "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E1AmazonWomenInTheMood Amazon Women in the Mood]]", in which the Femputer that rules the planet Amazonia turns out to be operated by a fembot, who in turn had escaped from a planet ruled by a male bot operating a male computer. Leave it to the geeks at ''Futurama'' to have a machine pretending to be a different machine. |
| 162 | --->''"Do you have any idea what it's like being a fembot in a manbot's manputer's world?"'' |
| 163 | ** Also played with in "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E11InsaneInTheMainframe Insane in the Mainframe]]", in which Fry is released from the Institution for Criminally Insane Robots after being brainwashed into believing himself to be a robot. After everyone else's attempts to convince him of his obvious fleshiness fail, a [[spoiler:bleeding cut on his arm]] snaps him out of it. |
| 164 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode "[[Recap/GargoylesS1TheEdge The Edge]]", the red leader of the robotic gargoyles created by David Xanatos turns out to be Xanatos himself wearing an exo-frame. |
| 165 | * In ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'', [[spoiler:the Conductor is revealed to be a human woman piloting a cobbled-together robotic body]]. |
| 166 | * ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': |
| 167 | ** In "WesternAnimation/ToHareIsHuman", [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Wile E. Coyote]] consults a computer to find ways of capturing WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, all of which fail. At the end, the computer opens up and out comes... |
| 168 | -->'''Bugs Bunny:''' Of course, the real beauty of this machine is that it has only one moving part. |
| 169 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSpeedRacer'', the heroes buy a MasterComputer for their house. Turns out the [[BrainInAJar salvaged brain]] of a deceased criminal mastermind needed their workshop's facilities to build himself a new body. |
| 170 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/Phantom2040'', one biot turns out to be a disguised human... right after Phantom shoots her, much to his distress since he [[MechaMooks never kills]]. She survives. |
| 171 | * ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'': |
| 172 | ** In "Jack and the Smackback", Jack is forced to fight in a deadly tournament. One of his opponents, Aqualizer, appears to be an intimidating robot, but is eventually revealed to be a small slug-like creature piloting a mecha suit. |
| 173 | ** In the fifth season, after fifty years of fighting increasingly humanoid robots (and the occasional green-blooded alien), [[spoiler:Jack kills one of the very human Daughters of Aku with [[SlashedThroat a knife to the neck]]. Jack's face afterwards reveals that he was not prepared to see red human blood]]. |
| 174 | ** The Dominator appears to be a droid, until his helmet is knocked off during his fight with Ashi. He's completely human, he's just some asshole wearing PoweredArmor. |
| 175 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' parody of ''Series/RobotWars'' in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E9IAnnoyedGruntBot I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot]]": After completely failing to build a battlebot (it activates long enough to tear its own head off, then collapses in pieces), Homer covers himself in armour plating (a mailbox) and enters the arena himself with a hammer. He does pretty well, albeit with numerous horrible injuries, until he has to face a robot so huge (a parody of ''Robocop's'' ED-209) it ends up squeezing him out of the suit when it stomps on him. Ironically, this means Homer wins the fight because Professor Frink, the robot's creator, programmed it with [[ThreeLawsCompliant Asimov's Three Laws]], meaning it can't hurt a human. |
| 176 | -->'''Sideshow Mel:''' That robot has given birth to a man! |
| 177 | * Eric Cartman manages to fool not just Butters, but every adult he meets (other than the Stotches) into believing that he is a friendly household robot from Japan in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS8E5AWESOMO AWESOM-O]]". No one else suspects the [[PaperThinDisguise cheap cardboard disguise]] until, at the very end, [[spoiler:Eric farts]]. |
| 178 | -->'''Butters:''' Hey! [[spoiler:Robots don't fart!]] |
| 179 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': |
| 180 | ** In the episode "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E4DyingForPieImitationKrabs Imitation Krabs]]", [=SpongeBob=] believes Plankton's actual robo-Krabs to be the real Krabs. After [=SpongeBob=] [[RoboticReveal accidentally blows up the robot]], he realizes his mistake, and hurries to save a tartar sauce-covered Krabs from being eaten. |
| 181 | ** In the episode "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E9KrabBorgRockAByeBivalve Krab-Borg]]", [=SpongeBob=], having seen a scary movie, believes -- and convinces Squidward that -- Mr. Krabs is a robot because he seems incapable of laughing, crying or loving. When [=SpongeBob=] and Squidward threaten to destroy his cash register (believing it to be one of his fellow machines), Krabs bursts into tears and sobs about how he loved the cash register and laughed with it. [=SpongeBob=] then remembers that at the end of the movie he watched, it turned out that there were no robots and it was all in the protagonist's head. |
| 182 | * ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' features an example of both this and a RoboticReveal in the episode "Go West, Young Scoob", in which Scooby and the gang visit a Wild West theme park with lifelike animatronics called Cyber Gulch. It at first seems that Dr. Fleg is the founder and creator of Cyber Gulch and that John Lawman is one of the animatronics, but a splash of water from Velma causes Dr. Fleg to short-circuit and has no effect on John Lawman, proving that it's actually the other way around. |
| 183 | * In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', Mister Twister turns out to be [[spoiler:a guy in PoweredArmor instead of a robot. But then [[RoboticReveal that guy is a robot]]. ''But then,'' [[ZigZaggedTrope that guy actually exists back at the villains' base, controlling a robot version of himself which in turn controls the Mister Twister armor]]]]. It gets better. [[spoiler:A later episode reveals that the person who was controlling the robot version of himself who was controlling a PoweredArmor is himself, also a robot, much to the surprise of his creations. The real man is actually an elderly man by this time, lying in a hospital bed.]] |
| 184 | * ''WesternAnimation/ZakStorm'': When they first meet, the titular hero Zak Storm mistakes Caramba for a robot due to the [[LittleGreenMen tiny alien]] wearing a MiniMecha suit prompting Caramba to lift the face screen of his mecha suit to reveal he's actually "just" an alien. |
| 185 | [[/folder]] |
| 186 | |
| 187 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 188 | * The Mechanical Turk was an automaton made in 18th century France, that was widely touted to be able to beat any human at TabletopGame/{{chess}}. Of course, people later found out that it was completely unable to function without a human chess master hiding inside and manipulating the arms. Meanwhile, it was inspiring UsefulNotes/CharlesBabbage and UsefulNotes/AlanTuring to come up with theorems about universal computing machines, which in turn inspired the first computer programs that ''could'' beat the best humans at chess. |
| 189 | * ''Blog/HorseEbooks'', Website/{{Twitter}} sensation and purveyor of WordSaladHumor, was eventually revealed to have been under human control since 2011. It was a true spambot before then. |
| 190 | [[/folder]] |
| 191 |
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