Favorite Machine Character

[Slenn]

With the advent or the rising of electronic computer technology appearing in the mid 1900's, media started to include machines as characters in the story, mostly in the form of robots. Today there are a copious amount of famous robot or machine characters that encompass the multi-media entertainment industry. Whether it be books, movies, TV shows, video games, or action figures. What's your favorite machine in the media?

My own favorite? Well, one of them is V'Ger, the supposed antagonist in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Yeah, I know some people don't particularly like the film because it drags on and on. But I felt it was dream like, and it gave me an idea of what transcendence means.

Spoiler

V'Ger is one of the Voyager spacecraft that was captured by a race of machines that understood its purpose. They built this large ship so that Voyager could collect all knowledge that is possible. But after collecting so much, it had to ask itself: "Is there anything else? Is this all that I am?" And combining itself with imagination and creativity is exactly what it needed.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Hello, Slenn.

The original murderous creepy-monotone machine.

 

[Leemaster777]

Welp, can't have a thread like this without mentioning the obvious:

You monster.

 

[Tiger King]

I liked arnies terminator in judgement day (does that count?)
He ruined it at the end when he asked for a vacation.

Failing that I put forward
Skaffen-Amtiskaw
Drone floating artificial intelligence from the book use of weapons.

 

[Queen Michael]

Machine Man from Nextwave. Not the first sotry I read with him, but the best.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Bender and HK-47 come to my mind. They are both comedical characters you can't help but to love!

 

[Miss G.]

DUM-E from the Iron Man films. He's like a beloved imaginary friend and lab assistant with an endearing/quirky puppy-like attitude that will love you unconditionally, and unlike people and pets -will never have ulterior motives or leave you due to old age and sickness. I honestly cried in the theater when

Spoiler

he fell into the ocean as Tony's Malibu home was being destroyed by those extremisified ex-soldiers in IM3. He got better, though, since Tony recovered him and all.

He's also adorable without even having something that resembles a face.

JARVIS counts for almost the same reasons as well, minus the puppy-ish part, with the added bonus ability to be integrated into anything, a battle partner and a calm (English) voice of reason if/when you need one.

 

[Private Custard]

ED-209. He was awesome back in 1987, and he's still a totally menacing machine. Devoid of any emotion (as well as any means to carry out a non-fatal arrest procedure), I suspect he'll always hold a special place in my heart!

 

[SoranMBane]

ED-E, who was one of the best Fallout: New Vegas followers both in terms of his endearing personality and his mechanics even before Lonesome Road went and expanded on both those things.

Spoiler: Plus he's just so darn cute for a big metal ball that shoots lasers.

Some runner-up characters would include GLaDOS, Wheatley, and JARVIS, but none of them can ever really compare to my best little wasteland buddy.

 

[Yuno Gasai]

I'm tied between two three popular characters from Portal.

The first is GlaDOS (of course).

Spoiler

She is an incredibly well-written character, with some amazing lines of dialogue. Following the release of Portal 2, she also has something of a backstory going on, which has really helped to flesh out her character (.. well, as much as one can 'flesh out' a machine, anyway).

The second is Wheatley.

Spoiler

Never mind the fact that he's voiced by Stephen Merchant, Wheatley has limitless charm (and is a bit of a lovable goofball). Again, some of his dialogue is the best I've heard/read in a game, and I just thoroughly loved meeting him in-game. He's wonderful, if a little crazy.

The third is the turret.

Spoiler

How you can run past them, hear their voices and still not love them is beyond me. Especially if you meet the malfunctioning turrets. D'AWWW. <3

 

[Blunderboy]

Well most of my favourites have already been listed, so I'll probably go with these guys.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

I don't know if I'd call him my favorite, but definitely high on the list would be:

Spoiler: HK-47

Also, and I don't know if this applies since the way the question is asked, but I'd say Cortana deserves a spot on the list as well. She may not be a robot or machine since her construction is holographic, but the computers that power her as well as the projections that create her light based form are all machines. So I'm counting it.

Spoiler: Cortana

And lastly:

Spoiler: Dark Lord of the Sith

He is, after all, More machine than man.

EDIT: I really should slap myself for not mentioning him sooner, but:

Spoiler: 2x4b is such a jerky middle name

 

[TallanKhan]

Already been brought up I know, but I don't think HK-47 can be brought up too many times in this thread.

"..and I informed him of his meatbag status"

 

[Adultism]

Persona has the greatest robot of all time.

 

[Little Woodsman]

Fourteen posts in and no-one's said Melfina yet? For shame!

 

[frizzlebyte]

Gotta be a toss-up between KOTOR's HK-47 and Oscar from the Syberia series. They both have the same speech pattern and characteristics, but HK-47's homicidal tendencies color his dialogue a lovely shade of black.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

No love for Legion? He should be carrying his own spin-off franchise.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Optimus Prime, hands down. I've loved most interpretations of his character, plus Peter Cullens voice is something that cannot be matched when it comes to the Transformers.

Spoiler

A non-Transformer one would be Legion from Mass Effect, he was awesome and a very interesting addition to the crew of the Normandy.

Spoiler

 

[GodzillaGuy92]

Spoiler: Figures that the best character in video game history would also be a computer.

If we're being really specific, then the picture choice was to indicate my preference for GLaDOS in the original Portal, given that she was written significantly better in that game than its still-brilliant sequel. (Not to mention her design and articulation. Seriously, she's supposed to be a computer, not a robot.)

 

[Slenn]

Fourteen posts in and no-one's said Melfina yet? For shame!

Melfina from Outlaw Star? I dunno, on the one hand they call her a 'bio-android', which implies that she's part machine. But when they have those internal images of her at the beginning of one episode she appears to be flesh and blood. I feel like the line between machine and biological is a bit fuzzy for her.