History Main / HostileAnimatronics

* ''Franchise/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' (probably the TropeCodifier of the mid-to-late 2010s) revolves around playing a deadly game of "Red Light, Green Light" with killer animatronics at a shabby family pizza joint [[spoiler:{{haunted|Technology}} by the ghosts of murdered children]]. The player has to keep an eye on Freddy Fazbear and his friends and make sure that they don't get past the player's meager defenses. Exceptions are the Phantom Animatronics (as they're phantoms), the Nightmare Animatronics (as they're nightmares), Glamrock Freddy ([[spoiler: unless he runs out of power or when he's possessed by Burntrap]]), the Sun version of the Daycare Attendant ([[spoiler:and Eclipse once Sun's and Moon's personalities are merged]]), and Glamrock Bonnie ([[spoiler:as he was destroyed before Vanny could reprogram him into a straight example]]).

Damaged animatronics turn up the scary factor and invoke the robotic version of BodyHorror, with missing eyes or GlowingEyesOfDoom, other missing or visibly broken parts, exposed and sparking wiring, etc. (Sometimes they're so damaged they shouldn't logically be able to move, but chalk that up to the RuleOfScary.) Long-forgotten, decayed animatronics at an abandoned family restaurant or AmusementParkOfDoom may behave like giant, super strong versions of a VengefulAbandonedToy. But, surprisingly often this kind of character turns out to be a TragicMonster when sentient. After all, it was originally built to make children happy, but something went wrong and turned it into a killer.

* In the ''Literature/KingdomKeepers'' series, the {{Mooks}} usually take the form of animatronics wandering outside the attractions where they are usually found.

SubTrope of KillerRobot. Compare CreepyMascotSuit, which often goes hand-in-hand with this trope because they both resemble anthropomorphic animals, and MonsterClown, another trope about a source of light-hearted entertainment being evil. May be combined with RobotClown.

The origins of this trope lie in a phenomenon called the "uncanny valley." This is when something has human-like features, but doesn't imitate them closely enough, and so a person looking at it feels unsettled or frightened. Animatronics built for children are typically bright and colorful, and behave in a friendly manner, but sometimes lean too close to the valley and make children scream in terror instead of delight. They're also huge (taller than a grown man), strong, and made of metal, making it easy to imagine them accidentally harming a child. Even more so if they start [[AIIsACrapshoot malfunctioning]], [[ElectronicSpeechImpediment st-st-st-stuttering and g-g-gliiiiiitching when they speak]], or have their programming hijacked to turn them into killer robots.