History Literature / TheMurderbotDiaries

** ''All Systems Red'' has the [[spoiler:showdown with the [=GrayCris=] survey team. Unlike the later entries it's less of a fight and more of a stealth operation where Murderbot and Mensah sneak in as hostages while Gurathin and Pin-Lee rig [=GrayCris's=] warp drive to activate prematurely.]]
** ''Artificial Condition'' finally has Murderbot meet with [[ArcVillain Tlacey]] and her goons. [[spoiler:They know Murderbot is a [=SecUnit=], not an augmented human, but they think that they can control it through its data port on its forehead. Murderbot had had ART disable the port already so the climax consists of Murderbot walking in right into the middle of their hideout, allow itself to get a control module put on its port (which does jackshit), get up and deliver a near effortless CurbStompBattle, killing all of them and suffering next to no damage. Even Tlacey herself ends up being little more than a meat shield]].

** ''Network Effect'' has Murderbot [[spoiler:captured by the Targets. It manages to sneak out and find the MindHive nexus, but Murderbot 2 and the original colony AI have to sacrifice themselves to kill it. Then [=targetControlSystem=] promptly throws its main body against it. It's a massively infested corpse invulnerable to all of Murderbot's weapons -who is already badly injured no less- so it has to haul ass until Three comes to cover its retreat. When they manage to get above ground ART has to ''nuke the body from orbit'' to actually finish it off.]]
** At the climax of ''Fugitive Telemetry'' Murderbot finally figures out who the killer is. [[spoiler: Its Balin, a general purpose bot employed by Port Authority who had previously been helping out in several odd tasks. In truth, it was a very dangerous [=CombatBot=] (albeit a much smaller one compared to the ones in ''Rogue Protocol'') passing off as a regular bot. It was originally send as a spy but when its parent company bankrupted it ended with no purpose and just went along with a regular life on Preservation for '''decades'''. This ended when a bunch of bounty hunters found its codes and took control of it. When Murderbot confronts it Murderbot asks it if there were 2 different bots inside the same chasis (a general purpose one and a combat one) or if it was a [=CombatBot=] alone who had managed to shed its dark purpose yet got controlled against its wishes. Tragically, Balin retorts that, if there is a difference, [[ItsWhatIDo it matters little]]. They briefly exchange blows until they are forced into an open space, and faced down by the entire bot community in Preservation. With its cover completely blown and its mission failed, Balin quietly deactivates without further ado.]]

* KillerRobot: Most people would initially assume that [=SecUnits=] are this, but Muderbot explains that [=CombatUnits/Bots=] are a more accurate approximation. As opposed to [=SecUnits=], whose main function is to protect clients form any and all sources of harm, [=CombatUnits'=] main goal is to plow through anything and/or anyone that gets in its way. They are even quite feared by [[TheDreaded [=SecUnits=]]] themselves.

* MeaningfulName: At least two exmaples:

* KillerRobot: Most people would initially assume that [=SecUnits=] are this, but Muderbot explains that [=CombatUnits/Bots=] are a more accurate approximation. As opposed to [=SecUnits=], whose main function is to protect clients form any and all sources of harm, [=CombatUnits'=] main goal is to plow through anything and/or anyone that gets in its way. They are even quite feared by [[TheDreaded [=SecUnits=]]]themselves.

* KillerRobot: Most people would initially assume that [=SecUnits=] are this, but Muderbot explains that [=CombatUnits/Bots=] are a more accurate approximation. As opposed to [=SecUnits=], whose main function is to protect clients form any and all sources of harm, [=CombatUnits'=] main goal is to plow through anything and/or anyone that gets in its way. They are even quite feared by [[TheDreaded [=SecUnits=] ]]themselves.

** ART in ''Network Effect'', when it [[spoiler:lost it's crew to the Hive-Minders, it resorts to [[KidnappedByAnAlly kidnapping Murderbot]] in hopes it might help it get them back. Completely disregarding Murderbot's own human crew. Not to mention, this is the first time we see ART's bombing capabilities in action.]]

-->It sounds all [[HeroicSacrifice self-sacrificing]] and dramatic, telling it this way. And I guess it was, maybe. What I was mostly thinking was that [[spoiler:there wasn't going to be one dead [=SecUnits=] on this embarkation floor, [[TakingYouWithMe there were going to be four]].]] Sending [=SecUnits=] after me was one thing. But they sent [=SecUnits=] after my client. No one gets to walk away from that.\\

** Murderbot goes to great lengths to protect the [[=PreservationAux=]] Survey Team, but most especially Dr. Mensah. Murderbot being designed to have [[TheBerserker excellent offensive capabilities]] makes this even more scary. A very apparent example in ''Exit Strategy'', [[spoiler:when it managed to get Dr. Mensah to the other side of the port, and got cornered by three other [=SecUnits=].]]

** Murderbot goes to great lengths to protect the [[=PreservationAux=]] Survey Team, but most especially Dr. Mensah. Murderbot being designed to have [[TheBerserker excellent offensive capabilities]] makes this even more scary. A very apparent example in ''Exit Strategy'', when it managed to get Dr. Mensah to the other side of the port, and got cornered by three other [=SecUnits=].

* BeserkButton: It's generally not a good idea to mess with a bot or construct's favorite human/group of humans.
** Murderbot goes to great lengths to protect the PreservationAux Survey Team, but most especially Dr. Mensah. Murderbot being designed to have [[TheBerserker excellent offensive capabilities]] makes this even more scary. A very apparent example in ''Exit Strategy'', when it managed to get Dr. Mensah to the other side of the port, and got cornered by three other SecUnits.
-->It sounds all [[HeroicSacrifice self-sacrificing]] and dramatic, telling it this way. And I guess it was, maybe. What I was mostly thinking was that [[spoiler:there wasn't going to be one dead SecUnit on this embarkation floor, [[TakingYouWithMe there were going to be four]].]] Sending SecUnits after me was one thing. But they sent SecUnits after my client. No one gets to walk away from that.\\
-Murderbot

** Miki in ''Rogue Protocol'', who, despite not being designed to engage in any form of combat whatsoever, [[spoiler:charges at a [[KillerRobot Combat Bot]] to save its friends. Even ignoring direct orders from Don Abene, its owner, to protect itself. It decided that protecting her was more important, knowing it would most likely get killed by the Combat Bot.]]

* BadassInDistress: In "Network Effect", Murderbot, [[spoiler:after accidentally dropping a massive Agricultural Bot on itself, gets captured by the alien remnant contaminated targets. ART, its crew, Murderbot 2.0, and Three have to come up with a plan to rescue it.]]

* MeaningfulName: Dr. '''Mensa'''h, who is, of course, very smart.

* AIIsACrapshoot: Thoroughly averted. The series opens with Murderbot musing that it ''could'' go on a murderous rampage, but it would rather just watch its serials. Instead, [=AI=]s seem shaped by how they're treated. ART finds depictions of a human crew dying very distressing. Miki is treated well and [[spoiler:sacrifices itself to save its human friends, defying an order to protect itself first]]. Tlacey's [=ComfortUnit=] is the only [=AI=] to suggest killing humans, but it mostly just wants to escape its abusive, murderous owner. The trope does exist in InUniverse fiction, though, much to Murderbot's annoyance.

* BrickJoke: In ''System Collapse'', Murderbot listens to ART's favorite human Iris be sarcastic and reflects that there's a kind of StrongFamilyResemblance, as she and ART had been interacting closely as something like siblings since she was a human baby and it was a new whatever-it-is and sometimes the way they speak is very similar. Later, on recieving unwelcome news, Murderbot says "You have to be kidding me" and forwards it to Dr. Mensah - who says "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."
* BullyingTheDragon: In ''All Systems Red,'' Gurathin deliberately provokes Murderbot, knowing that it's an "angry, heavily armed" rogue [=SecUnit=], to test if Murderbot is under any outside compulsions or if Murderbot will resort to violence if Gurathin annoys it enough. This doesn't endear Gurathin to Murderbot.

* ButNowIMustGo: The first book ends with Murderbot deciding it can't have a place among the Preservation humans and quietly slipping away. [[spoiler:It ends up coming back a few books later, and chooses to stay, albeit it has many issues adapting to life in Preservation, its new social and familiar relationships and its place in Preservation society]]