Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!
Roboto® Bio
Real Name: Robot Model 9041
Originally built by Man-At-Arms® as a chess opponent for Man-E-Faces®, the robot companion was nicknamed Roboto® and later given a heart-shaped emotion program which altered his speech patterns. Under the influence of this new programming, Roboto® came to understand the desire for freedom and upgraded himself for battle so that he could join the Masters of the Universe® in their fight against evil. Roboto® serves as chief strategist for the Masters and uses his unstoppable robot strength in heroic combat.
Portrait Art Source: Original cardback
Roboto’s bio closely follows the 200X origin from the Mike Young Productions cartoon, where Roboto was built as a chess opponent for Man-At-Arms. Personally, I find this a much more boring origin than the one from the Filmation series, where Roboto was an alien who crash-landed on Eternia, but because Mattel doesn’t have access to the Filmation cartoon it’s understandable they went with the 200X origin.
So yeah, this bio basically follows the exact plot of the Roboto episode. In fact, this may be the most bland bio yet…I guess there is the question of the “heart-shaped emotion program,” which, while having a nice allusion to the Tin Man, seems like a rather bizarre thing for Man-At-Arms to do. And I do like that Roboto’s “real name” is a reference to the original Roboto’s product code.
I want to know which member of the Eternian court suffered from such a paucity of imagination they nicknamed the robot “Roboto.” Does this mean Orko is actually an orc?
On a side note, we’ve now officially caught up with all the published bios so far! I know a lot of future bios have already been revealed, but I prefer to have my figure review (and bio scans) done before I do the discussion, so I’ll wait until I’ve reviewed Grizzlor to do his bio. In the meantime, I’m trying to decide if there’s anything else I can start reviewing. I’ve been toying with reviewing the old mini-comics on a weekly basis. Thoughts?
I think that doing the mini comics would be a great idea. For me personally i know very little about the mini comics. and i have just started to read what i can on the .org
dude, the mini comics is cool, but i have to ask… there were a ton of toy lines that did bios… why stop at motuc? you could branch to C.O.P.S., GI joe, TMNT, all kinds of properties… is this just a case of poe knowing which side of his bread is buttered, or had you not considered branching bio discussions to other properties? i mean, especially in light of the other vintage properties likely on tap for new figs soon, i'd think there's an opportunity to mine here. then again, i'm not the guy w/ his thumb up the zeitgiest's keister… that'd be you.
oh, and onto roboto's bio… yeah, the emotion chip is a little tin man/commander data for me, but it explains the odd detail. even as a kid, i didn't know why he needed a visible heart… too easy a target, as his mini-comic showed. make that thing shaped lke a bomb and no one would have touched it. thank god in eternia, they only make tech that looks like it's function… no sushi flash drives for them!
once again, we get iconic weapons and no mention of function, but we get plenty on the esoteric heart chip. for example, the claw is a gripping hand, great, the axe, it chops, good… the laser… heat gun? concussive blast? light beam? now, on the surface, this seems like "we'll leave it to your imagination" kind of thing, like you'd do for a child… but they've already shat all over orko as a childhood memory, so that's inconsitant logic… which is not to say it's false, just inconsistant.
adults love technical details! ask the trekkers! give us details, is his cannon stronger than the one trap jaw employs? is he a better shot than man-at-arms? if he takes that thing on mythbusters, can he ignite the boat in the harbor by bouncing his laser off the mirrors of archimedes? if you're crafting an adult version of the mythos, kill the kiddie crap and give me the stuff i want to read… tech specs!! we already have at least 5 degrees of wizard, i want a laser rating too!
@dayraven: The main reason I'm not thinking of doing bios from other properties is I'm just not that into them. If I were, I'd definitely do them.
I suppose I could do them for the old Playmates TMNT line…
Go for the mini-comics Poe! Would love to read their reviews.
"Heart-shaped emotion program?" I didn't know programs had shapes. What shape is Microsoft Word?
The whole chess playing robot angle is absolutely idiotic. Why would you build a robot for something a simple computer program could do. It's like that awful episode of TF: Animated where the dad builds a robot for the the little girl that just plays one freaking song. I mean we have iPods today that hold thousands–why would a future scientist build a robot to play only one?
I like the name.
The bio is pretty vanilla… French Vanilla…
On MAA's defense He tried giving his first Robot a tape Deck program so he could record and learn human behavior… The robot ended up in the Royal Dumpster.
If the Emotion chip fails or breaks down; does it mean that Roboto will turn into Billy Ray Cyrus?
This is a rare instance where the Filmation has a one-up over MYP.
I’m not a fan of the glorified chess super computer back-story. I much prefer the Filmation take. This bio is just plain boring. All (well, most) of the characters have rich back stories, and Roboto was essentially built in Man-At-Arms’ lab in his spare time in-between inventing stuff to protect Eternia.
It just makes Roboto feel dispensable, like he could die, but as long as they had a backup they could make another. I’m okay with Faker being built in a lab because I consider Faker to be more like Frankenstein’s monster.
Dayraven mentioned Commander Data, and I think they share a lot in common. Data was a one of a kind being, he wasn’t simply replaceable. If he died in that would be it, he’d be gone (lets just completely ignore Nemesis), they couldn’t simply replicate him or have Soong build another. Think if Data had been simply an android rolled off the assembly line, standard for every starship, a lot of what was the essence of the character would have been lost.
I prefer to think of Roboto as one of a kind. Although if he was a member of a race of technological beings, that’s cool too, it’s much more interesting than simply being built in a lab. It just gives so much more to play off of and raises many more compelling questions. Who built him? Why was he out cruising around in space? What lead him to crash-land on Eternia? Etc…
@Snarf! Snarf! (aka) Doc_OCK_4MUGEN: only if mrs roboto shows up on the "rock of love" bus.
MotU minicomics and original Playmates TMNT bio would make great reviews!
Do it! =D
I like this bio. I differ from some of my fellow posters in that I don't like the idea of him being an alien robot from another planet. I just don't like that.
I'm fine with him being a chess player. Star Wars has robots for all kinds of mundane functions so a robot that was designed to potentially help with strategies sounds like a good idea to me.
@dayraven:
as long as Roboto's daughter is not moonlighting as the wig wearing International Robot pop star Mary Binary… I hear she's famous on Etheria.
BTW I agree with your post on the lack of specs, especially on a robot. Here's hoping for a MOTU "ULTIMATE GUIDE" like it has been done with Marvel, DC, TF, and I think there were plans for a GI JOE guide…
I can already hear Lt. Spector's "Logistics wouldn't allow it" speech.
Yes to mini comics. No to TMNT bios (unless it turns out that Shredder was their father…)
@Snarf! Snarf! (aka) Doc_OCK_4MUGEN: mary binary… that's got legs homes. take this pun to the streets!
I never knew how to look at his head / face. Was the red thing part of a lower jaw or mouth? Like Trap-Jaw?
Or was it some kind of shield / mouth thing? Like Optimus Prime? This sort of thing has haunted me for years.
Always figured he was built by Man-At-Arms, and up until THIS bio, I ALSO thought the "chess" origin was bunk. But I can see it now. He was just a basic robot / computer program that played Man-E-Faces' Robot Mode. Man-At-Arms adds his "heart shaped emotion program" and he just evolves into the closest thing "sentient" can be for a robot. Then he just builds himself up. Works for me, I mean, he's just a robot. And he might be a great tactitian, but he's gonna kind of just stand there adding nothing to the conversation when the Masters have routed Skeletor for the day.