How to make The Reveal that someone's a robot plausible?

Say the main character is a rookie cop who was almost killed by a robot, only realizing that he himself is a robot (a Super Prototype, if you will). So he kicks ass and such.

However, it will leave some plotholes. Is there a way to Hand Wave things like having injuries before, having to use "bathroom activities", eating, etc. I can make his "childhood" more like just an implanted fake memory, and maybe I can make the eating sensation more of a program to make him "taste" something, but what about the rest?

Any reason that robots can't/don't have biological components? A human brain in a mechanically enhanced body makes a cyborg nominally "human". Perhaps a synthetic electronic brain in an enhanced vat-grown body would be a "robot" - with enough biological components to mimic human biological functions and enough mechanical components (including the brain) to make "him" seriously kick arse.

Perhaps he's an amnesia patient who's true identity has never been discovered. The story would start with him in a hospital bed. He has been discovered in some sort of accident, and he had absolutely no ID. The hospital releases him and he immediately uses his robotic instincts to stop a crime in progress, thus earning him a substantial money award, just enough to live off of for a few months until he finds a job. Due to the experience, he figures he must've been a skilled crime fighter before the accident, and then tries to become a cop and succeeds. That would account for a lack of childhood or any past experiences before his creation, and can even explain how he's avoided having injuries, since he'd only have to be functioning for a very short amount of time before making the discovery, and he could be very good at avoiding injuries.

Nah he's a full robot. As for the memory thing, the secret organization that made him already provided him a fake yet vivid memory, as well as fake passports, I Ds, records, and such. He will take note that he rarely feels ill (mostly due to malfunction?) and his "wounds" recover fast.

edited 8th Sep '11 1:08:42 AM by Ookamikun

How often, in fiction, are people actually shown eating and pooping? If it's mentioned at all, it's usually very brief, in a sentance or maybe two*

. If you don't go into details for anyone, I'm sure you can keep it a surprise. Or maybe have it mentioned once or twice*

^{something simple, along the lines of "You want some?" "Nah, I'm not hungry."}

and then followed up by some introspection at the critical moment*

^{"Oh my god, I haven't eaten a bite in a week straight. I'm a robot!"}

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Well, how about a design that mimics the human body, including an artificial digestive system? They derive power from that instead of having to plug into an electrical outlet. (Why anyone would design a robot that way I have no idea, but hey maybe you can make it work. They're purposely designed to camouflage into the human population, maybe?)

edited 8th Sep '11 8:57:53 AM by Merlo

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am...

Unless they were intended to mimic humans, there's really no reason.

Nous restons ici.

I'm not sure you could derive enough power to run a robot from the amount of food a human normally eats. We get it from this long complicated chemical process; the most straightforward mechanical way to do it is just burning it, which is insufficiently efficient. The most plausible way I can think of for him to never have had to plug in or whatever is that he's actually got radioisotopes in him a la the Rat Things in Snow Crash; any other method would have required him to have access to a high-density power source at some point. If the period of time from discovery to revelation is low enough, maybe you could handwave that he has very good batteries that can hold a charge for months. (Though given the power requirements involved, I'd like to see those batteries.)

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

Watch Blade Runner?

And better than thy stroke; why swellest thou then?

Nanotech, if it's avalible?

Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.

You still have power requirements. Though I suppose with nanotech you could get sufficient efficiency out of breaking down normal human food.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

Actually the reveal is pretty much right off the first episode. A rookie cop realizes his life is a lie and that he's a robot, and pretty much some of the citizens in the city are robots in hiding who became feral due to some glitch.

You said that the character had a false memory. How long was it from the time when this memory was implanted and he was set loose (before which, presumably, he was doing whatever the other robots did vis-a-vis plugging in) and the reveal (after which he would presumably do the same)? If it's too long a gap, then you have to account for him being powered somehow—it's obviously not a believable revelation if he's been plugging himself into the wall all this time and then acts surprised that he's a robot.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

The robots are pretty much self-reparing and self-sustaining, hence they are made from a hidden factory. Resting apparently works. The Super Prototype main character however is awakened first and was supplanted with false memories to see him live as a regular human being.

You may (or may not) want to explain that. It would certainly break suspension of disbelief for me to have robots that apparently never need power. I personally like the idea of the nuclear-powered Rat Things from Snow Crash; that gives you most of the same thing without the problems. Of course, you have the problems with nuclear isotopes in your body, but you know, one step at a time.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

Well he is powered by Infinite Energy (some sort of energy that self regulates) that's why he has a Breath Weapon.

If that sort of tech is available, then it had better have had some sort of really major effect on society. I'm thinking like Schlock Mercenary levels. One thing that really bugged me about Dragon Ball Z was the offhand comment that the androids were powered by 'infinite energy reactors', and...no elaboration, no effect, no reason but to justify their being Nigh-Invulnerable. (Of course, this is the world where you can carry a house around in your pocket with a car and three motorcycles, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.)

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

That's why the robots are integrated into the community - to hide them. They're supposed to be superweapons for superpowers around the world.

Also, the fact that they have false memories (or used to be, before the glitch) will be a factor too - like an adopted kid just realized his adopted father became a berserking war machine.