History Main / StarfishRobots

* Johnny 5 from the ''Film/ShortCircuit'' movies is a borderline example, resembling a boxy human torso rolling around on a pair of triangular treads.

* Franchise/MassEffect

* Dr. Eggman of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' has been so ridiculously prolific in animal-themed and outright abstract robots that he may very well have half of the examples in existence of this trope:

** ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' has a background character, called Devcon in his reference art, that changes from a mobile missile platform into Film/{{Cloverfield}}.

** Bladed Spinners in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' are stationary hovering robots who have razor-sharp propeller blades. Like Orbinauts, these have also become a staple of Eggman's robot forces. A lightning variant has since been made, completing the FireIceLightning trifecta. From the same game, Zero is an antagonist to [[DropTheHammer Amy Rose]], a resilient human-sized green robot whose only human traits are that it has two arms and a head (albeit a gigantic and heavy one).

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series features the Mr. Handy line of floating butler robots with three radially equidistant arms ([[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids with a claw, buzz-saw, and flamethrower for household chores]]) and eyes. There's also a four armed variant which is inexplicably armed with a [[KillerRabbit concealable minigun]].

** The Class-1-Driller looks slightly like a floating head of a dog. In place of the muzzle it has [[IncrediblyLamePun the muzzles of gatling gun]].

* In the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise most mobile suits are humanoid in nature. However, Mobile Armors are most often non-humanoid, and some are very strangely designed, especially Newtype models like the Braw Bro and Elmeth, as well as the insect-like Neue Ziel.

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'' is replete with these. Though, since most of them are sentient, they wouldn't be classified as robots in the setting's terminology ('robot' implies non-sentience), they'd be called vecs.

* The sentry bot of ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}'' is a dog-sized construct with a small body and a huge elongated head right on top of it, with no recognizable features if you don't consider its headlight as an eye. It skitters along the ground like a spider with its four three-toed legs, and attacks threats with a machinegun nestled under its chin.

* ''WesternAnimation/Amphibia'': [[BigBad The]] [[MindHive Core]] in its original form was a multi-eyed spherical robot with robotic tentacles and glowing orange eyes with lighter shaded pupils, it is way bigger than even King Andrias himself.

* In the ''Literature/{{Rocheworld}} novels, the ''Prometheus''[='=]s AI operates an armitage called a "Christmas Bush,'' a DoAnythingRobot that consists of many tiny modules that communicate with color-coded light beams. It resembles a cross between a GiantSpider, a stick bug, and a christmas tree. It can also split up into many, ever-smaller variations, with functions such as a [[TranslatorMicrobes universal translator headset]] and a dental brace when one character gets her tooth knocked out.

* The Sentinels from ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' are robots with twice as many tentacles as a squid and twice as many eyes as a spider that fly through the air. One scene from the "Second Renaissance" short from ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' shows an offline humanoid robot being passed over by a Sentinel, which symbolizes how the Machines deliberately abandoned humanoid forms to signal their abandonment of their human creators. The Machine City seen in ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' is also filled with many robots that resemble insects and worms, is lined with a defense perimeter of massive, crab-like ships and Neo talks to a HiveMind intelligence [[TheWormThatWalks made up of hundreds of smaller robots]].

* In Literature/RamaII, one of the robots which maintain the space station is built of replaceable segments and looks like a centipede. When it returns to a spare parts point to exchange damaged legs and tools, Nicole jumps on its back and rides it to the top of he pit to escape. Her weight proves almost too heavy for it, and falls backwards a few times, but otherwise continues to go on. In contrast, other bots shaped like crabs, when captured by the crew, mount first a passive and then an aggressive defense, which ends in [[spoiler: one crew member dead]]. The series has more of them; the robotic surgeon the humans bring is not humanoid, and the robots the crew mistakes for fellow cosmonauts at the end of the book are humanoid they are based off Newton crew members - but from the perspective of the Ramans who built them they are starfish robots.

* The inner core of Reapers seem to end up taking a form similar to whatever species was ground up into nutrient paste to make them. However, the outer shell of adult Reapers turn out looking like giant robot squids. But then it's subverted again when you find out their origin. [[spoiler: Turns out, they actually looked like (slightly!) scaled-up versions of the species that formed the first Reaper, the Leviathans. The Leviathans are ''true'' StarfishAliens.]]

* Franchise/TheLengendofZelda

%%* ''Film/MinorityReport'': The insect-like tracker robots.

* Huey, Dewey, and Louie from ''Film/SilentRunning.''

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' features the Guardians, ancient {{Magitek}} machines originally constructed by the Sheikah to help their descendants battle [[BigBad Ganon]], only for them to be possessed by Ganon and turned against Hyrule in the Great Calamity. The standard Stalker model has six segmented tentacle-like limbs and a central rotating laser turret, while a flying variant has several helicopter-like blades and an odd number of eyes. A smaller cousin of the Stalker found exclusively in [[MiniDungeon Shrines]] can have up to three arms for carrying weapons and shields. It should be noted that this variant is designed specifically as a [[OnlyTheWorthyMayPass test for Link]].

* The geth from ''Franchise/MassEffect'' have some pretty strange designs, ranging from the Armature to the larger geth platforms. The standard geth mobile platform, however, bears marked similarities to the quarians (the original creators of the geth).
** The inner core of Reapers seem to end up taking a form similar to whatever species was ground up into nutrient paste to make them. However, the outer shell of adult Reapers turn out looking like giant robot squids. They fit the trope in any case (and rather better than the Geth, for that matter).
*** But then it's subverted again when you find out their origin. [[spoiler: Turns out, they actually looked like (slightly!) scaled-up versions of the species that formed the first Reaper, the Leviathans. The Leviathans are ''true'' StarfishAliens.]]

* Most of the robots that Team Rocket from ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' assemble are either mechanical versions of specific Pokemon or just plain ridiculous designs.

* Cyborgs 0011 and 0012 in ''Manga/{{Cyborg 009}}''. 0011 resembles a flying saucer; its "windows" can shoot adhesives, or 0011 can bring out its legs through them. 0012 serves as the AI for an even bigger mech.
* Most of the robots that Team Rocket from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' assemble are either mechanical versions of specific Pokemon or just plain ridiculous designs.

** In ''Film/ManOfSteel'' and ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Kryptonian service robots look like floating mirrors. The security models can unleash tentacles.

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Kryptonian robots generally consist of egg-like shapes with the occasional oddly-placed appendage and a section devoted to storing a morphing liquid metal that displays images. The world engine uses this liquid metal to form ultra-speedy amorphous tentacles to attack Superman.