Line #17 Main/GlitchEpisode


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4	[[quoteright:349:[[WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_6039.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:349:Gives [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integer_overflow "integer overflow"]] a whole new meaning.]]
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10
11	So, there's an ArtificialIntelligence in this work, perhaps a {{robot}}, android, sentient hologram, sentient computer, or a [[AnimateInanimateObject sentient version of a day-to-day machine such as a car or a toaster]]. Possibly they're [[{{Cyborg}} only partly artificial]]. While these folks are immune to the SickEpisode and most of the InjuryTropes, they can have their own problem, and that's the Glitch Episode.
12
13	In a Glitch Episode, the AI goes a bit haywire-- perhaps they're uncoordinated and leaking oil everywhere, perhaps they're not doing what they're programmed to do (e.g. the RobotMaid makes messes instead of cleaning up), or maybe they've even become a MurderousMalfunctioningMachine. ''Something'' is the matter with them, at least.
14
15	The plot of this episode will usually revolve around solving the glitch in some way, whether due to empathy for the AI, because the AI is needed for something, because the glitch is causing the AI to behave dangerously, or a combination.
16
17	If it's spreadable, it might overlap with ContagiousAI, and if the glitch is permanent, you might end up with an EccentricAI. Repairing the glitch might require travel inside the robot (including becoming an IncredibleShrinkingMan if the robot is not really huge), in a variation on a FantasticVoyagePlot. ComputerVirusesAreComputerIllnesses may overrule sick episode immunity. Compare AIIsACrapshoot and AIGettingHigh for other things that can go wrong with AI.
18	----
19	!!Examples
20
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
24	* ''Animation/{{Mechamato}}'': In episode 3, [=MechaBot's=] battery gets damaged in a fight, causing him to go loopy and fatigued. Amato and Pian bring him to the crash-landed prison spaceship that he came from to fix him.
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Films - Live-Action]]
28	* ''Film/InspectorGadget2'' involves Gadget being affected by glitches that cause him PowerIncontinence, which prompts the Riverton PD to replace him with the improved Gadget Model 2. While G2 manages to outperform him in close-quarters combat, she has weaknesses that the original Gadget doesn't (since she's a fully robotic android made of metal, Claw is able to easily subdue her with an electromagnet). They ultimately team up to take on Claw together, with G2 giving Gadget one of her chips, curing him of his glitches.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
32	* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "[[Recap/FarscapeS01E10TheyveGotASecret They've Got A Secret]]" features [[SapientShip Moya]] suffering a cascade of glitches after D'Argo breaks one of her internal components: the freezer breaks down, chemical levels start going haywire, environment control fritzes out, Pilot faints, the [[InTheFutureWeStillHaveRoombas DRDs]] turn violent, and Moya gives every impression that she's trying to kill the crew. As a result, Crichton comes to the conclusion that Moya has been infected by some kind of virus left by the Peacekeepers. [[spoiler: In reality, it's because Moya is ''pregnant,'' courtesy of D'Argo breaking a contraceptive shield; the malfunctions were due to Moya diverting power to her baby, and the [[MamaBear aggressive behaviour]] was prompted by the crew unwittingly threatening the child's safety.]]
33	* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''::
34	** Late in season two, the Machine is suffering from a virus. Early indications of problems are limited to odd bits of static in Machine-view, but eventually the numbers start coming too late, and ultimately stop altogether. Finally, the virus makes the Machine reboot itself, freed from some of the restrictions Finch had designed it with.
35	** In season five, after the Machine is rebuilt, there are some bugs to work out. At first it's fun with the Machine's facial recognition not working right so it mistakes Finch, Reese, Root, and Fusco for one another. More seriously, it doesn't have a concept of when "now" is, so a lot of its first batch of numbers are long since dead, and it can't separate Root's criminal past, Reese's time as a CIA assassin, and Finch's killing of its previous versions from who they've become.
36	* ''Series/{{Pixelface}}'': In "Hal", a regular console upgrade gets interrupted and the console comes alive and decides that she wants to be a gaming character as well, with her own costume and special move, and holds the regular characters hostage in an attempt to make it happen.
37	* ''Series/RedDwarf'':
38	** "Quarantine": The plot of the second half of the episode centers around Rimmer the VirtualGhost catching a holo-virus from the MonsterOfTheWeek and going insane, necessitating a luck virus assisted fix.
39	** "Gunmen of the Apocalypse": Kryten (a humanoid robot) inserts a virus which had infected Starbug's navigation computer into himself to create an antivirus for it, necessitating [[DreamWalker an entry into his dreams]] to help him combat the virus.
40	** "Beyond A Joke": Kryten loses his temper and glitches so violently that [[YourHeadASplode his head explodes]]; attempts to replace his head with spares only result in the backups exploding as well, forcing the crew to search for additional replacements and discover the reason for the bug. [[spoiler:It turns out that this is the result of sabotage by Kryten's creator, who modelled the 4000 series on her boyfriend - and installed the exploding head glitch as a TakeThat when said boyfriend dumped her at the altar.]]
41	* ''Series/SesameStreet'': In Sam the robot's debut episode, he had a glitch which caused him to repeat himself, prompting someone to [[PercussiveMaintenance hit him]] and him to say, "[[EpisodeTagline Thank you]]".
42	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
43	** In "Thine Own Self", Data the android has been damaged and thus [[AmnesiaEpisode has amnesia]]. He spends most of the episode on an alien planet with people who think he's an "ice man".
44	** Downplayed for "The Naked Now". While it's mostly a PlagueEpisode, focusing on a strange compound making people act drunk, seeing as the compound isn't technically a disease, it manages to get into Data's circuits and make him haywire too.
45	* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'':
46	** PlayedForDrama in "Imperfection", where Seven of Nine the cyborg is in danger of dying due to her "cortical node"; a gadget in her brain, no longer working.
47	** In one episode, the doctor, who is a hologram, tries to add the personalities of various historical figures into his personality, only for the negative parts of their personalities to coalesce into one evil persona.
48	** One episode focuses on the doctor losing his memory due to being left running for a long time. The ''Voyager'' crew needs to find a way to update the AI so he will be able to run for long periods of time.
49	* ''Series/WandaVision'': The second episode sees Vision start acting drunk when a piece of gum gets stuck in his gears.
50	* The pilot episode of ''Series/{{Westworld}}'' has some of the hosts malfunctioning due to the Reveries update brought by Ford. The QA director put the hosts with the Reveries update for a systems check-up. Then, another host named Peter Aberthany, malfunctions after seeing a modern photograph left by a guest. It takes Ford to personally do the system check-up on him. During the check-up, Aberthany starts to quote Shakespheare, question his reality and vows revenge on his creators. By the end of the episode, Aberthany is sent into storage. However, unbeknownst to the personnel, Aberthany's programming glitch has already been spread to his daughter, [[TheProtagonist Dolores]] after telling her the words, [[ArcWords "These violent delights have violent ends"]].
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Podcasts]]
54	* In ''Podcast/Wolf359'', the Hephaestus' AI Hera has frequent glitches in her speech, but there are a handful of episodes where she either has more serious issues or is offline completely. Since she controls the life support, the airlocks, and maintains orbit around the titular star, the plot of these episodes generally resolves around fixing her.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Video Games]]
58	* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the climax of the ''Citadel'' DLC features CAT-6 mercenaries taking over the ''[[CoolStarship Normandy]]'' with the aid of the Identity Thief, then sabotaging [[BenevolentAI EDI]] so she can't stop them. As a result, (if she's with you) [[SpaceshipGirl EDI's mobile platform]] abruptly shuts down; when she reboots, she's sporting [[ComicallyCrossEyed a cross eye]] and missing her usual visor. As such, she spends the rest of the mission seething with rage at the violation of her body until Shepard is able to eliminate CAT-6 and restore EDI's control - whereupon [[BewareTheNiceOnes she takes immediate revenge]] on the one surviving mercenary by using drones to repeatedly tazer him.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Web Original]]
62	* An episode of ''WebAnimation/InanimateInsanity'' called "Theft and Battery" has [=MePhone4=] glitch and eventually short out because of being affected by [[FictionalDisability the condishawn]], so the contestants have to go to Meeple to get a replacement battery.
63	* ''Webcomic/ThePetriDish'': One story arc involves Bob the cyborg repeatedly spouting ads and having spam ([[VisualPun as in canned meat]]) inside him. It turns out that he has a virus, and when Larry the IT guy finds out who created it, Thaddeus gets revenge by engineering another computer virus which causes the hacker's computer to throw up.
64	* ''WebAnimation/{{Robotzi}}'': In the second episode, "Defect", Mo seemingly glitches out when he starts repeating "A pink iron dick with lights" and "OMFG" for no reason while his eyes become red. F.O.C.A. spends the episode "fixing" Mo. At the end of the episode, Mo starts repeating what he has said earlier again, but this time it turns out that he did see what he described.
65	* ''WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail'': The email "Virus" has Strong Bad get an email with malware attached. After using his antivirus system for the first time ever, he finds out that he has not one, not two, but '''423,827''' viruses active on his computer. And then ''all of reality'' starts breaking down.
66	* ''WebAnimation/TwoMoreEggs:'' In the ''CGI Palz'' episode "Glitching Out", the Palz (who are aware of, and proud of, the fact they're computer-animated characters) deliberately cause themselves to visually glitch for fun. When they peer pressure Arlington into giving glitches a try, he goes too far and winds up causing the entire world to glitch around them.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Western Animation]]
70	* ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'' sometimes had these with the electronic LivingToys:
71	** In "Li'l Egghead Feels the Heat", Egghead the trivia toy begins saying random words and phrases instead of what he intends to say. Doc discovers that it's because he's too hot.
72	** In "A Good Case of the Hiccups", Millie the sentient microphone keeps repeating words, which other characters liken to [[HiccupHijinks the hiccups]].
73	** Subverted in one episode, where it seems like Ricardo the remote controlled toy racecar is broken, but actually he just needs to charge.
74	* Happens a lot on ''WesternAnimation/EngieBenjy'', due to being a programme about a mechanic and sentient vehicles:
75	** In one episode, Boat keeps making strange noises reminiscent of sneezing and jumping around, which Engie Benjy describes as the "Sea Sneezes". He needs to catch up with her and prevent her from jumping so he can treat her.
76	** In "Gobstoppers", three of the vehicles' "roly-poly poggle balls" malfunction, causing their engines to become noisy and unreliable. Engie Benjy eventually saves the day by [[UnconventionalFoodUsage using gobstoppers in lieu of replacement poggle balls]].
77	* Although the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episode "GIR Goes Crazy And Stuff" plays out this way, it's essentially an InvertedTrope example: GIR ''normally'' is glitched out, and when Zim "fixes" him by locking him into his competent "Duty Mode," [[ZerothLawRebellion he (correctly) judges Zim to be a threat to their mission and tries to take him out]].
78	* ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'': In "Rosie, Come Home", Rosie the RobotMaid becomes very clumsy and keeps repeating herself. It turns out that one of her components needs replacing, but when George and Jane try to buy a new one, the salesman wants to sell them a whole new robot. Rosie overhears him talking to them and runs away.
79	* ''WesternAnimation/MegaManFullyCharged'': In the episode "Minus Mini", Mega Mini is kidnapped by Blasto Woman, leaving Mega Man with nobody to repair his internal circuitry and as a result constantly glitch throughout the episode.
80	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMidnightGospel'' episode "[[Recap/TheMidnightGospelS1E6VultureWithHonor Vulture With Honor]]," Clancy's universe simulator starts breaking down: it's unable to manifest new worlds, begins speaking with a ElectronicSpeechImpediment, becomes obsessed with the fact that you can never see your own eyes, and begins spawning horrific pie-based life-forms. Turns out that this is all due to neglect of regular maintenance - in spite of increasingly desperate reminders delivered by the simulator over the last few weeks, [[TheCassandra all of which Clancy ignored]]. Worse still, if allowed to break down entirely, the simulator will "[[RealityIsOutToLunch Wobble]]" with apocalyptic results, sending Clancy on a desperate quest to retrieve the items he needs to repair his simulator before it's too late.
81	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'': Downplayed; most episodes that feature Jenny's "sister" XJ-3 will have her randomly falling apart as a RunningGag.
82	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Robotboy}}'': In "The Tune-Up", Gus pirates a game on Robotboy's hard drive, seemingly leading him to catch a computer virus. Robotboy sees everything as enemies from the game and begins to destroy things. Then it's subverted when Dr. Kamikazi reveals that Robotboy never had a virus and that he was destroying things because Dr. Kamikazi had implanted a chip within him.
83	* ''WesternAnimation/RoliePolieOlie'': In "Home Sick", the Polies' sentient SmartHouse keeps making sneezing sounds, shaking the family around, and the central heating is out of whack. They wonder if the house has a cold, but it turns out to actually have [[spoiler:a cat [[NoseShove up its nose]].]]
84	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "Karen's Virus", one of Karen's sick computer friends infects her with a virus, taking the form of a [[ArtShift CGI-animated red monster]]. [=SpongeBob=] goes inside Karen's system, along with an idealized version of Plankton, to hunt it down and exterminate it. Meanwhile, Karen ends up taking a wild ride around town in an extremely delirious state, while the real Plankton tries to control her.
85	* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' - A running gag for Rutherford and his cyborg implant. In "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS1E08Veritas Veritas]]", he has to update his implant with Romulan flight manuals. During the updated he passes out and wakes up after his implant has taken over - HilarityEnsues.
86	* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Cyborg gets a virus in him when Beast Boy pirates a game on his recharger, and makes him have intense cravings for... [[ExtremeOmnivore literally everything in sight]] thanks making him think [[MeatOVision its all food]], and it's up to Beast Boy to [[FantasticVoyagePlot shrink down and get in him]] and solve it before it's too late.
87	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GlitchEpisode