History Main / NoWaterProofingInTheFuture

* XJ-9, AKA Jenny, the titular RobotGirl from ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot''. Despite being a creation [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture Twenty Minutes Into a]] [[{{Zeerust}} Zeerust Future]], Jenny zigzags this trope depending on the plot of the episode and/or RuleOfFunny.
** The title song subverts it; she isn't waterproof when a water tower explodes... but she merely rusts over and her electronics are fine.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Droners}}''. In an inversion of IfItSwimsItFlies, all flying drones are designed to be amphibious and can even resist losing parts that leave circuitry expose, or in some cases letting water flow freely through the drone.

* In ''Film/{{Transformers}}'', Ironhide complains that Sam's dog peeing on his foot will cause it to rust. This from the robot that had survived ''atmospheric reentry'' a couple hours before. And landed ''in a swimming pool.'' Granted, urine is generally more salty than water, but he ''survived re-entry intact''. However, given that he is a crotchety old bot, he was likely just looking for an excuse to kill the dog.

* It recently emerged that in the 1960's, the British Royal Air Force very nearly precipitated a major international incident due to [[BritsLoveTea a thermos of tea and a sweet marshmallow biscuit]]. A Vulcan bomber, then part of our first-line nuclear strike force, was patrolling above West Germany with standing instructions to Await Further Orders. (ie, In The Event Of War, Turn Left And Aim At Leningrad). Crew comforts for a long boring flight included the aforesaid tea, and a pack of Tunnock's Marshmallow Biscuits. For those unfamiliar with this confectionery, it consists of fluffy "Italian Meringue" and jam on a biscuit base, rolled in chocolate. Unfortunately, at high altitudes in semi-pressurised cabins, this biscuit had a tendency to depressurise and, basically, explode. Bored aircrews were in the habit of laying bets on how long they would take to pop once removed from the foil wrapper. This practice came to en end when the navigator/bomb aimer unwrapped one, dunked it in tea, and stood it on the top of the instrument console. The inevitable small explosion drove fragments of biscuit and soggy cake ''into'' the Vulcan's crucial onboard electronics and started the count-down procedure to dropping a bomb. Which could have landed deep inside East Germany. While British military policy is to always deny the presence of nuclear weapons in any unit anywhere, this was a Vulcan bomber. The delivery system for nukes, on "standing patrol" over the most sensitive border in the world... not long after the Cuban thing. The crew managed to abort the countdown and make an emergency landing. But just for a moment there, World War III was almost started by a [[ForWantOfANail biscuit.]]

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', an amulet falls into a manhole, and Gretchen tries to recover it with a robotic crane. As it is about to grab the amulet, a ''water drop'' falls into the crane, making it go haywire.

* For being only just upgraded with what's presumably state-of-the-art 31st-century Luthorcorp tech, the Scavengers gang in ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' are easily taken down with the Legion sprinkler system.

* The title alien of ''Film/{{Predator}}'' had a cloaking device which conveniently shorted out whenever he came into contact with water. A little odd when it had been established that their species had been coming to Earth for hundreds of years and thus should've developed an upgrade.
** This effect became [[{{Flanderization}} increasingly pronounced]] as the series went on. In the first film the Predator wades in a river and the device keeps on working for a while, only shorting out well after the Predator drags himself to shore -- heck, this isn't too shabby, all things considered. In [[Film/{{Predator 2}} the second film]] the same shorting out happens when he steps in a puddle. By AVP 2 (game) a single toe in the water will shut down the cloaking device.

* ''Webcomic/{{Cesium}}'': Bob the Robot has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, but his greatest nemesis is [[http://cesiumcomics.com/2013/02/02/Milk spoiled milk]].

** In another episode, one of the Metallikats -- an OutlawCouple mobster team turned into {{Killer Robot}}s -- laughs when [[TheChick Callie Briggs]] throws water at him. Next, she throws an ashtray, and the sand at the bottom starts to interfere with his joints -- with results similar to the usual results of this trope.

* ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'':
** Generally {{averted|Trope}}: the {{cyborg}} bodies and parts of most of the main characters are thoroughly waterproofed, but the danger comes from the fact that they're too heavy to swim if immersed. In [[Anime/GhostInTheShell1995 the first movie]], the Major still goes swimming with the aid of some floatation devices that give her a bit of buoyancy, to provide some real risk in her life; her extreme competence and ultra-durable body leave her in little real danger much of the time.
** However, this is played straight with their [[InvisibilityCloak cloaking equipment]]. The cloaking effects are temporarily disrupted when it comes into contact with water, and is basically useless under constant exposure from sources like rain or fire sprinklers. However, this is portrayed more that the cloak can't keep up with the constantly shifting patterns of water and becoming overloaded trying to mirror it instead of just shorting out and shocking the hell out of the wearer.

** Water was the best way to kill off the tiny robotic pests known as Scraplets. Cybertronian myth about the parasites described water as a "rare compound" which was able to remove the Scraplets without harming the afflicted (as opposed to the only other effective way, powerful acid). This is a case of research failure; water is fairly common in the universe, and a race capable of burning hydrocarbons for fuel would ''definitely'' be familiar with it. Averting this trope, the Transformers thus treated with water are completely fine.
** Played straight elsewhere in the series. An earlier issue featured a [[ChallengingTheChief fight for Decepticon leadership]] between Megatron and Shockwave. The fight ends when Shockwave attacks with a water tower, short-circuiting Megatron (to be fair, Megatron's body was covered in open wounds at the time).

* Averted, though it isn't exactly the future, in ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World''. Some robotic tentacles grab Paul and try to tear him apart. [[NighInvulnerable (It doesn't work.)]] When George asks John why [[MakingASplash he doesn't rust them into uselessness]], John notes that he can't affect them, since he can feel that they're rustproof.

* Averted in ''Literature/DarkLife''. The underwater houses are specifically built so that being deflated and filled with water will do minimal damage (since that's ever-present danger on, you know, ''the bottom of the sea'').

** Evidently averted by the likes of Dr. Gonapus, Dr. Cyborg, and Cyrista's Bane during the FinalBattle, who were all unaffected by the rain.

* Averted to [[RagnarokProofing ridiculous lengths]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': Cid's [[GlobalAirship airship]], the [[CoolShip Fahrenheit]], was underwater and embedded in rock for one thousand years. The corridor lights and control panels still functioned perfectly fine as Tidus and Rikku swam among them and activated them.

* In the ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'' games, [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots sackbots]] explode when exposed to water much in the same way that players do upon contact with electrified surfaces. This only applies to water created by the level creator flooding the map; nothing happens if they're sprayed with water from a Creatinator.
** Averted as of the third game, which allows the player to set a Sackbot to be waterproof or not.

* Averted in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series. The [[VideoGame/SuperMetroid Wrecked Ship]] and [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime Frigate Orpheon]] both still work despite being partially submerged, all suits and weapons (including the Space Pirate's) are not damaged by water, and there was even a plot point in the [[VideoGame/MetroidFusion B.S.L]] about everything underwater still working and actually electrifying the water. Several areas can be described as EternalEngine goes DownTheDrain. All water ever does in Metroid is slow you down until you get the Gravity Suit.

* Averted to great lengths in ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'', since the majority of the game takes place in an UnderwaterBase. To the point that computers and speakers work perfectly both in and out of deep-sea environments.

* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'': Mostly averted, since most of the robots featured ''are'' waterproof. <[[ButtMonkey Auto]] starts crying, then short-circuits> Emphasis on "most".

* Played with in the 80s cartoon series ''[[ComicBook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars Bucky O'Hare]]'', human Willy [=DeWitt=] used a squirt gun as his primary weapon after discovering that the evil Toads failed to waterproof their technology. This was mainly an excuse to let the young hero shoot things without using a deadly weapon, however. Predictably, the Monster (or technological terror) of the Week was almost always waterproof.
** And averted later in the series as Willy attempts to do the same trick but the toads have waterproofed it this time.

* Partially averted in ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers''; we have the robot cat Tom, when trying to place his hand in a fishbowl we see sparks fly but no permanent effects, and he tries a second time after donning a rubber glove with no problems. Later in the episode, he ends up falling into a sewer, violently shorts out but comes out at the end repaired and no worse for wear.

* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'':
** In the episode "Go West Young Scoob" of ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'', when the gang encounter a Wild West theme park complete with potentially lethal West World robots, tossing a bucket of water on the killer robots will make them spark wildly and go inert.
** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' this is averted with the Kriegstafflebots, who were designed for water travel and exploration, equipped with underwater propellers and durability at high pressure.