Line #114 Main/SmartPeopleBuildRobots


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9	So your resident [[TheSmartGuy smart guy]] is already [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses bespectacled]], [[SmartPeoplePlayChess a master chess player]], and [[SmartPeopleKnowLatin fluent in Latin]]. How else can you show how brilliant he is? Why, by having him build robots of course! May be {{justified\|Trope}} (said smart guy has a formal education in an appropriate branch of engineering, is a self-taught GadgeteerGenius, etc.) or [[HandWave not]] (said smart guy is a teenager [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands who just happens to, among his many other skills, be able to create from scratch]] a [[DoubleEntendre fully functional robot]]). [[LoveHungry A lonely]] or [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation isolated creator]] might create a robot for the sake of [[IJustWantToHaveFriends having a friend]] or [[PygmalionPlot a lover.]]
10
11	This may be because all nerds are good with technology, so building robots is the next logical step. In [[ScienceFiction Sci-Fi]] stories, expect the creation to be an [[ArtificialIntelligence Artificially Intelligent]] anthropomorphic RobotBuddy. Or [[KillerRobot Evil]].
12
13	The smart guy could use his robot to battle the robots of other smart guys, destroy giant monsters, or [[MundaneUtility do his chores.]]
14
15	Compare and Contrast the RobotMaster, who does this sort of thing for a ''living,'' rather than just as a hobby between many other non-robot related science projects.
16
17	----
18	!!Examples:
19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* ''Manga/DrSlump'': The only reason (aside from RuleOfFunny) why Senbei even tried to build a RidiculouslyHumanRobot in the first place was probably to invoke this trope. However, since Senbei is [[BunglingInventor not that smart]], he created Arale, an extremely ditzy CloudCuckoolander with flawed-eyesight, and accidentally [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids made her]] absurdly [[SuperStrength powerful]]. HilarityEnsues.
23	* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': Chao Lingshen and Satomi Hakase are the #1 and #2 smartest students in the grade respectively and are both part of the Robot Engineering Research Club. To add to this further, they actually ''built'' [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids Chachamaru Karakuri]], one of their classmates.
24	* The Professor in ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'' is age eight and has built a perfectly functional, sentient robot she named Nano. Outside of this achievement, however, she spends about 95% of her time on typical eight-year-old activities like coloring books.
25	* Clemont from ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'' built a robot named Clembot to manage his gym while he and his sister travel with Ash.
26	* In ''Manga/{{Ratman}}'', Dr. Hironobu Andou He built [[RobotGirl Roiko]]... apparently just because he could.
27	* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': Word Of God has it that Barnaby would've gone on to become a robotics engineer had his parents not been killed.
28	* Chigara from ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'' is smart enough to build two Ryders by herself and singlehandedly maintain and upgrade an entire squadron of them.
29	* In ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'', series protagonist Mametchi, who has an IQ of 250, loves to invent stuff and is seen on multiple occasions building his own robots. When he goes to Dream School in ''Yume Kira Dream'', he takes the Robotics class.
30	* ''Anime/VoltesV'': Kentaro Go is a well-respected and acclaimed scientist, even if nobody believed him when he said that aliens were going to take over the Earth. Alongside Mitsuyo, General Oka and Hamaguchi, Kentaro created the titular CombiningMecha, with all it's weapons and energy attacks.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Books]]
34	* [[ComicBook/AntMan Henry Pym]] is an OmnidisciplinaryScientist who builds robots in his spare time. Unfortunately, his main creation is [[AIIsACrapshoot Ultron]], a genocidal robot obsessed with wiping all living beings out.
35	* The ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'''s leader ComicBook/MisterFantastic is considerably smarter than Henry Pym, and he constantly builds all kinds of robots. Unfortunately, his just tend to just [[InTheFutureWeStillHaveRoombas hang around as background detail]]. Well, he did build both his assistant bot(s) H.E.R.B.I.E. and the F.F.'s robot secretary Roberta -- but just how ''[[SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence sentient]]'' those two are is a major case of DependingOnTheWriter, though.
36	* [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Victor von Doom]] fits here because while he's a skilled robot-maker, it's not his primary activity. Nevertheless, his armies of robots are one of the chief ways his intelligence (and evil) are displayed. Besides being frequent stand-ins for Doom himself, they form his army of minions and also do much of the menial work of running Latveria.
37	* In ''ComicBook/IronMan'', Tony Stark doesn't just build suits of PoweredArmor for himself (and occasionally others). He also builds robots of all kinds, including a [[HumongousMecha giant robot]] named Red Ronin to fight ComicBook/{{Godzilla\|KingOfTheMonsters1977}}
38	* In the [[MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]], both Franchise/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} had SuperIntelligence, and they pumped out and repaired humanoid robots quickly and constantly. Their android-making skills were toned down during the [[MediaNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] and ditched in the 1986 reboot, but before the '90s were over Superman was again building robotic doppelgangers.
39	* ComicBook/RedSkull is a repulsive monster but he's hardly illiterate, and he learned how to design and program autonomous military drones in a few years' time.
40	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Byrna Brilyant is a brilliant scientist, who has made groundbreaking advancements in chemistry, built her own PoweredArmor, created a FreezeRay, and also built a veritable army of robots that look identical to her powered armor.
41	* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': Bruce Banner once built a nifty little flying assistant robot named the Recordasphere. It tagged along on a couple of adventures... and then fell in love with him, tried to kill his girlfriend in a jealous rage, and then sacrificed itself to save his life. [[ButtMonkey Because that's just the way Bruce's life goes.]]
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
45	* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': To get out of cleaning his room, Calvin tries building a robot to do it for him. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Surprisingly]] (at least to him), it turns out that six-year-old Calvin, much as he may love to think of himself as a genius, doesn't actually have the necessary knowledge to build a robot from household materials. He spends all day trying to figure it out, to no avail... [[DespiteThePlan and ends up successfully going to bed without having cleaned his room]].
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Fan Works]]
49	* ''Fanfic/{{Contraptionology}}'': This happens a few times as the science-crazed Ponyvillians start getting hostile, but Twilight Sparkle takes the cake. In a bid to achieve immortality, she constructs a liquid-metal robot body to transplant her brain into. To up the ante further, she decides to test the robot to ensure that her magic will still work, so she loads it with all her magic capability and a programmed personality based on ''Trixie, her rival who hates her''. And in case that wasn't enough goading fate, she then tells Robo-Trixie that she'll wipe her personality once the tests are done.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
53	* Tadashi and Hiro Hamada from ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' as two smart siblings. The former built Baymax, a robotic healthcare assistant, and the latter is incredibly good at building battle-bots.
54	* In the TV movie ''WesternAnimation/HighSchoolUSA'', the two nerds built their own robot that responded to voice commands.
55	* Averted with WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}, who stops short at mere MotionCaptureMecha instead, and a PoweredArmor for his assistant Minion (who depends on it, being a limbless talking fish.) He also has those flying drones that act like dogs. He ends up blowing up some of them ("Daddy's sorry") when pretending to be Bernard, but later reveals he has hundreds more. Played straight in the follow-up short "The Button of Doom", where it's revealed that Megamind programmed his personality into a giant robot.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
59	* Nathan from ''Film/ExMachina'' is a computer genius who left search engine development behind and moved on to create RidiculouslyHumanRobots who are able to pass the TuringTest.
60	* Creator/RobinWilliams in ''Film/{{Flubber}}'' has two, a butler named Webber and a secretary named Weebo. He's also built a machine with the sole purpose of making him breakfast- forget a coffee maker, his is a ''pancake'' maker.
61	* Dr. Morbius in ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet''. Justified since his intellect was enhanced by alien technology.
62	* In ''Film/HighSchoolUSA'', Otto Lipton is a genius who has created a robot that he believes to be capable of going into space, and which accompanies him everywhere.
63	* The film version of Film/IronMan is just as good at robotics as his comic-book counterpart. His house is heavily automated and run by an artificial intelligence named Jarvis. He routinely builds (and rebuilds) complicated systems of robotic arms to put his armor on and take it off. He also has a couple of robot arms in his workspace that he built himself, who he refers to as "Dummy" and "You". It's implied that Dummy is the first robot he ever built, back when he was a kid.
64	* Anakin Skywalker in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' is shown to have a preternatural talent for all things mechanical, in particular robots. Used not so much to show smartness per se, but rather cleverness and precociousness.
65	* Averted big time in ''Film/RealSteel'', where practically anyone with just enough smarts can build robots from scrap.
66	* ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'': the Nerds have a robot they use as an occasional butler.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Literature]]
70	* This is pretty much the beginning of ''Literature/AndyBucketsRobots''.
71	* In the ''Literature/CHERUBSeries'' book ''People's Republic'', Ethan is a geek who is into chess and building robotics, though given that he is a kid and it is not a ScienceFiction series, these are relatively simple robots and do not incorporate things like human-like ArtificialIntelligence and speech.
72	* Literature/RamaII: Have you met Puck, Bottom, or Joan of Arc yet? They are incredibly lifelike and can relay messages, as well as play Shakespeare, and in Bottoms case, shapeshift smoothly. They're the hobby of one of the astronauts.
73	* ''Literature/{{Ungifted}}'': The Academy for Scholastic Distinction has a robotics class, which Donovan joins.
74	* Kyoko Mori from ''Literature/SpacePirateCaptainMacTaggart'' is the ''Typhoon'''s lead engineer. When she's not at work, she can usually be seen playing with her "toys" and building automatons.
75	* In ''[[Literature/HenryHuggins Henry and the Paper Route]]'', we are immediately told that Murph is a TeenGenius when he reveals that he builds robots in his spare time.
76	* ''Literature/{{Nerdycorn}}'': On the second page of the book, [[TheProtagonist Fern]] is seen building a robot with the help of a machine.
77	* ''Literature/WarsOfTheRealm'': In addition to founding his own tech company and breaking the "light barrier" (accelerating light beyond the speed of light), Benjamin Berg designs a "near-artificial intelligence" program and smartphone OS which he dubs "Alice."
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
81	* In an episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, and Howard, construct a robot named [[FunWithAcronyms M.O.N.T.E.]] for the [[OverlyLongName Southern California Robot Fighting League Round Robin Invitational]], though end up battling Barty Kripke's robot "the Krippler" in a street fight. {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d: There were a few jokes about them being defensive about how nerdy they were perceived by Penny, all the while doing the most geeky thing Penny could possibly imagine. Averted; Howard, who has a Master's degree in engineering, was the one who did most of the work. The other three didn't even know how to open the toolbox.
82	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Being the [[BuffySpeak Smart Girl]] of the Scoobies, Willow apparently has enough knowledge of robotics to fiddle around with the various RidiculouslyHumanRobots they encounter, modifying the Buffybot for their use.
83	* In Season 8 of ''Series/{{Degrassi\|TheNextGeneration}}'' KC, Connor, Alli, and Clare are part of a school team for a robotics competition [[WritingAroundTrademarks modeled]] after [[http://www.usfirst.org/ FIRST]].
84	* Steve Urkel from ''Series/FamilyMatters'' built a robot or two.
85	* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': Resident hacker and electronic wizard Hardison builds Parker, the team's expert thief, a robot he names after her which can crack a safe even faster than she can. She's resistant to the gift at first, but after he explains it was inspired by her, she embraces it and tells him she's going to rename it "Hardy" after him.
86	* Joel Robinson of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' can't control when the movies begin or end, because he used those special parts to make his robot friends![[note]]ROBOT ROLL CALL: Cambot! Gypsy! Tom Servo! Crooooowwwww![[/note]]
87	* On ''Series/MythBusters'', Grant, who formerly built robots for ''Series/BattleBots'', is {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d as this type of TheSmartGuy by the others as a RunningGag.
88	* ''Series/OddSquad'':
89	** Oscar, the Lab Director of Precinct 13579's lab in Season 1, has his own twenty-five Oscarbots, RidiculouslyHumanRobots whose initial sole duty is to make the perfect juice box for Oprah. They can also transform into a CombiningMecha form for combat use, which Oscar activates on two occasions: to show Oprah (who welcomes another chance to fight something after her karate practice session), and to train Olive upon [[spoiler:her promotion to Odd Squad Director of the precinct in the next town over.]] In addition, they also have chainsaws and the ability to fire laser beams for times when they're not in the CombiningMecha form.
90	** Season 2 introduces Oonabots, which are the RidiculouslyHumanRobots that Oona, Oscar's eventual replacement, builds. Although they're directly inspired by the Oscarbots, there are vast differences -- she only builds three robots, their sole duty is to assist Oona around the lab with various tasks (and also [[DancingIsSeriousBusiness dance with people]]), and they require more manual input, needing a person to type specific directions on where to go versus simply pressing a button on a remote.
91	* Some of {{The Smart Guy}}s of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' have an affinity for robotics. The blue ranger [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Billy]] never built one himself but did build a flying car known as the "RADBUG", wrist communicators that allowed the team to contact Zordon, and occasionally did maintenance and repairs on Zordon's assistant Alpha 5. [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Trip]] has Circuit, an owl RobotBuddy that he built. [[spoiler:[[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Andrew Hartford]] built himself a {{Ridiculously Human Robot\|s}} son.]] [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Antonio]] reverse-engineered his Ranger gear by studying a RobotBuddy he was given and was often put to work by the team repairing and completing their other mecha. [[Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers Nate]] has probably built the most {{Robot Budd\|y}}ies of anyone in the series, with three of them being the operating systems for the Zords, and a fourth ending up becoming a Ranger, as well as his brother.
92	* ''Series/{{Riptide\|1984}}'' (TV Adventure series, not [[Literature/{{Riptide}} the novel]]): GadgeteerGenius sometimes-helper Murray "Boz" Bozinsky has a robot he calls the [=RoBoz=].
93	* Screech in ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' had his own robot that just hung around his bedroom.
94	* ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace's'' smart guy Justin Russo builds a working robot out of household items... so he could dance with it in a "big synchronized robot event".
95	* In the Series/NickVerse show ''Series/Zoey101'', Zoey and her friends construct a robot to battle against a group of [[InsufferableGenius Insufferable Geniuses']] robots.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Music]]
99	* "The Future Soon" by Music/JonathanCoulton has the speaker building a robot army among other random acts of genius. It ends badly.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
103	* OlderThanFeudalism, per the Talmudic legend of the Golem. Judaism is rife with stories of wise Rabbis capable of creating artificial life out of clay, a robot in all but name.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Pinball]]
107	* Invoked in ''Pinball/StarWarsEpisodeI''; as Anakin Skywalker, the player can obtain various rewards by building C-3PO.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Roleplay]]
111	* In ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'', Ivy is granted a superpower that allows her brief bursts of mechanical genius. When it first manifests, she's able to repurpose her computer into a flying drone with rudimentary A.I. She then calls it Ziz and has it serve as her companion.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
115	* ''TabletopGame/D20Modern'' has the Techie [[PrestigeClass advanced class]], which is most easily reached through the [[TheSmartGuy Smart Hero]] class and can eventually learn to build small assisting robots. They're remote-controlled drones with very limited capabilities, mostly to let Techies use certain skills without putting themselves in direct danger.
116	* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
117	** Urza and Mishra, the [[CainAndAbel warring brothers]] who would spend much of the latter's life ravaging Dominaria with their mechanical armies. Urza, the "victor" of the apocalyptic conflict, would also create Karn, the silver golem, although being something of an OmnidisciplinaryScientist, his eventual weapons against Phyrexia were bioengineered warriors known as "Metathran".
118	** Tezzeret, the Seeker is one of the cleverest people in the series, and has a penchant for building automota, golems, and clockwork constructs, among other things. His cards can even turn your artifacts into robots to fight for you!
119	** Saheeli Rai is a technological genius from the plane of Kaladesh. Following the loss of her spark after "March of the Machine", she's settled down with her girlfriend Huatli, who she builds robot dinosaurs for as a kind of love language (a talent that ''greatly'' interests the Sun Empire government).
120	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': One of the talents characters can choose is to craft constructs (essentially magic robots). And typically, magical crafting is done by wizards, the local smart guys.
121	* Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus from ''TabletopGame/WarHammer40000'' sometimes build Cyber-Altered Task units, which are very simple robots used for routine tasks. They ''say'' they're a practical application of [[AveMachina theological principles]], but to outsiders, they seem suspiciously like pets.
122	* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' has Unity, a techno path whose deck revolves around making combat robots. Her masterpiece, a robotic dinosaur called Mr. Chompy, has a plushy version that was part of the top-tier kickstarter that helped fund the game. Similarly, archvillain and Dr. Doom/Lex Luthor expy Baron Blade has quite a few robots that pop up in his [[HeelFaceTurn Luminary]] deck.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Toys]]
126	* ''[[Toys/GogosCrazyBones Gogo's Crazy Bones Megatrip]]'': Stein, an inventor and a reference to the real-life Albert Einstein, built Gosuke, a bio-android who is a Gogo in his own right.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Video Games]]
130	* Gaige from ''The Mechromancer'' DLC for ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' built her RobotBuddy Deathtrap in her garage, intending to enter it in the school science fair as a bodyguard drone. The local AlphaBitch built a ShoddyKnockoff and bribed all the judges so she'd win instead, and gave Gaige a push when she "won", and Deathtrap squished her (she's said to have "exploded") while trying to restrain her for assault. This led Gaige to leg it for [[DeathWorld Pandora]]. Deathtrap can be upgraded with all sorts of goodies depending on what perks Gaige's player takes.
131	* In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', [[TheSmartGuy smart girl]] Lucca has built at least one robot before she joins the party, and the skills and knowledge necessary to repair and reprogram a robot from the distant future to be her friend and party member. This was likely a lot easier because [[spoiler:it was left there to be repaired by humans so it could be a spy for the main computer.]] Still impressive considering the era she grew up in was in a late middle-ages technology level.
132	* Jennifer in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea\|HourOfDarkness}}'' built [[RobotBuddy Thursday]] at an early age.
133	* Nepgear of the ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' series loves her robots and tinkering with stuff with general.
134	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Tails, especially in ''VideoGame/TailsAdventure'' where he's been shown to have a little robot buddy called T-Pup. T-Pup later made the jump to ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' where he became Tails's DoAnythingRobot sidekick.
135	* ''VideoGame/StardewValley'': Maru's ten-heart event involves her unveiling her biggest project yet, a robot helper named "[=MarILDA=]". [[spoiler:[=MarILDA=] promptly [[InstantAIJustAddWater decides she wants to determine her own life]] and [[DoAnythingRobot flies off to explore outer space]].]]
136	* Pascal in ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' built mechanized versions of Asbel and Sophie in certain skits and can use them in her artes.
137	* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': Doctor Alphys is the Royal Scientist of the Underground, famous for creating the entertainment robot known as Mettaton. However, It's later revealed that Mettaton is a ghost monster and Alphys simply created a robotic shell for her friend.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Webcomics]]
141	* Inverted with ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel'', where [[TheDitz Ethan]] somehow manages to make his X-Box and Gamecube into sentient Robots. Ethan is eventually explicitly made out to be a GeniusDitz, capable of focusing for seven seconds a day on doing things the collective efforts of humanity fail to do.
142	* [[{{Cyborg}} Kimiko]] of ''Webcomic/DresdenCodak''; why wait for someone to come along and say [[WeCanRebuildHim We Can Rebuild Her]] when you could just do it yourself?
143	* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', the title character has a particular aptitude for steampunk robots. As do many other [[MadScientist Sparks]] in their world, though some prefer biology.
144	* Kat in ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt''. Annie also does it at first, but she just pieced together parts of a disassembled robot.
145	* Subverted in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Equius is the resident robotics expert yet he doesn't seem to be particularly bright. Played straight, however, with Dirk.
146	* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' resident supergenius Molly likes to build robots. The only one who became sentient was made out of a milking machine. The robot lion was given the brain of a Platform/{{Colecovision}}. Another two were [[SteamPunk steam-powered]] and ''[[{{Snowlems}} made of snow]]'' (they melted).
147	* Sean 'Dark Smoke Puncher' [[Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja McNinja]] is the family computer nerd and fills his free time by building robot super animals. His father does not approve unless the robots hurt someone.
148	* In ''Webcomic/{{Nukees}}'', Plasma Physics major Danny built a giant, robotic, nuclear-powered ant for the government, though Gav tends to borrow it for rampages against Greenies. Gav on the other hand is more inclined towards software, such as Teri the Turing-grade calculator pet that escaped into the internet and infected most of the world.
149	* In ''Webcomic/OHumanStar'', this shows up a lot, seeing as every character so far is [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs a robot, a roboticist, or both.]]
150	%% * It's eventually revealed that the [[FunWithAcronyms B.I.L.L.]] series of robots were built by local OmnidisciplinaryScientist Caroline. Though despite playing the isolated and lonely inventor, she really dislikes them being robot boyfriends.
151	[[/folder]]
152
153	[[folder:Web Original]]
154	* Linkara of WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall has a side hobby of building several robots of various types, and artificial intelligence to go with them. He directly [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this during a battle with [[spoiler:Lord Vyce,]] noting that “There is something I have a special talent for: I am ''very'' good at building robots.”
155	** Doctor Linksano also counts, as he was the one who created the Cybermats that serve as Comicron One’s security force.
156	* Danny from ''WebAnimation/BravestWarriors'' builds a robot version of Chris in season 2. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that he's the group's tech guy.
157	* Music/DoctorSteel, building an army of giant robots to take over the world.
158	* The mysterious John M. Shea from ''WebOriginal/SheaScientificFilms'' was a prolific mid-century inventor, with one of his creations being an underwater ROV that was in use by the early 1960s.
159	[[/folder]]
160
161	[[folder:Western Animation]]
162	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' covered this trope a couple times.
163	* The Brain from ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' has been shown to occasionally build robots.
164	* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': Jeremie Belpois, TheSmartGuy and MissionControl of the Lyoko Warriors, is a TeenGenius with a preference for computers and robotics. A couple of episodes have had him creating robots as a solution to an obstacle, and the reason why he became involved in the whole mess (and dragged his future FireForgedFriends into it) was that he reactivated the supercomputer that held Lyoko (and XANA and his future friend Aelita) when he was looking for parts to use for his robotics projects on the abandoned factory near his school.
165	* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': In "Courage VS Mecha-Courage", [[AsianRudeness Di Lung]] builds the episode's titular Mecha-Courage; he then proceeds to ''incredibly''-[[ArrogantKungFuGuy arrogantly]] [[UnsportsmanlikeGloating boast]] about how easily said machine can beat Courage in a fight...and largely [[CurbStompBattle isn't wrong]], except for the fact that [[LogicalWeakness he apparently forgot to give it enough battery life to enable it to live long enough]] to be [[MadeOfIron able to actually kill someone who is as physically durable as Courage]].
166	* Dexter of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' does a lot of advanced robotics. One of his specialties is [[HumongousMecha giant fighting robots]].
167	* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', all the smart guys build robots and battle them at a place called "[[FightClubbing the Robot Rumble]]".
168	* Buckwheat in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleRascals'' often builds robots using BambooTechnology. One was designed to clean Waldo's yacht, and another was Buckwheat's project for the school science fair.
169	* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Max, the local TeenGenius, has somehow built himself a hovering, ''sapient'' RobotBuddy.
170	* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' the Professor builds the '''Dy'''namic '''Na'''notronic '''Mo'''nobot for the girls to battle a giant fish. Despite the fact that the resulting damage is no worse than any other time the girls save the city, the Mayor tells him to never use it again. The only other appearance of the Dynamo is when the Mayor himself accidentally pilots it and destroys the city.
171	* Jet from ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' is quite the child prodigy himself, and is already handy with tools, but he eventually builds his own robot clone called 'Jet 2'. This inspires Sydney to do the same later on. Also, Sydney's mom is a robotics engineer.
172	* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', Rick Sanchez builds a small robot [[MundaneUtility for the sake of passing him the butter on the dinner table]]. The robot is also smart enough to have an existential crisis upon realizing that its ''only'' purpose is to pass butter for Rick.
173	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
174	** Inverted in one episode. Homer & Bart try to build a robot for the ShowWithinAShow "[[Series/RobotWars Robot Rumble]]". But they can't get it to work, so Homer makes a "robot" that's just him in a metal suit. They make it to the finals, where they're matched up against five-time returning champs Professor Frink and son. Bart & Homer, being dumb, can't build a functioning robot.
175	** Played straight with the Frinks, who built a kickass fighting robot.
176	** Homer once did throw out a half-finished robot he built. It could talk and had brooms for arms. The robot looked very sad.
177	** Lisa built a robot called Linguo for her school science fair. He was designed to correct grammar.
178	** In one episode depicting the future, Martin Prince built himself a robot who went to a prom with him. When Martin got too friendly, the robot felt DrivenToSuicide and auto-destructed himself.
179	* Played straight and inverted in ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom''. Tails and Dr. Eggman both create robots for a robot fighting tournament. The inversion is when Knuckles, who is dimmer in this continuity compared to the others, makes his own robot to enter. [[http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Hypno-bot Tails]] and Eggman's robots look like something you'd expect from a prodigy and a 300 IQ scientist. Knuckles' [[http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Vacuu-Fan_2000 robot]] is a cardboard box with wheels and vacuum cleaner parts attached to it.
180	* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode ''Back to the Barn'', Pearl and Peridot try to settle a dispute over who is a better engineer (and therefore who should lead their latest project), by building and dueling in their own robots made from spare parts found in the Universe' family barn.
181	* ''WesternAnimation/Superbook2011'': Professor Quantum builds Gizmo, the DoAnythingRobot who accompanies and assists Chris and Joy during their time-travelling adventures.
182	* High schoolers Roland, Martin, and Elise in the infamous ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' episode "B.O.T."
183	* Toby, WesternAnimation/WordGirl's most intelligent ArchEnemy (not that there's a lot of competition for the title), builds giant robots to carry out his Evil Plans.
184	* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown''. Jack Spicer is ''very'' vocal about being an evil genius and builds robots for a variety of tasks including combat. However, he is also the most incompetent villain in the series and is ridiculed by ''everyone'', making him a definite ButtMonkey and an IneffectualSympatheticVillain.
185	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SmartPeopleBuildRobots